Thursday, September 30, 2010

New Local Service: Connect To Catering!


I've recently discovered a new local tool that I wanted to share about here: Connect To Catering. It's a local website that organizes and categorizes restaurants in Alabama that offer catering - you can look up caterers by city, and then they are grouped by the types of food they offer. Once you pick the restaurant you want to go with, their entire catering menu comes up and lets you select exactly what you want with pull-down menus, and leave notes for the caterers!

They have all of the minimum order and delivery policy information, so you know exactly what you're getting into.

This is awesome to me, because a) I hate making phone calls (the internet is SO MUCH EASIER!), and b) when I DO think about making phone calls, places aren't open anymore. AND this way the catering menu is in front of me, so I can take my time and figure out exactly what I want to order, rather than having to ask a million questions over the phone. With this service, you can place your order anytime, receive a confirmation email, and then the caterer just calls you to take down your payment info - super easy!
I was not compensated in any way to write this post - I just thought that the business was a brilliant idea and wanted to share!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

October Meet-Up - Date Changed to 10/22

***** I already changed this on the original post and tried to let everyone know that already RSVP'ed, but wanted to make sure that the change got in the feed - our next meet-up will be on 10/22, not 10/15. Details are below. *****

Our next meet-up will be on Friday, October 22nd at 11:30am. We'll meet at iCantina on Highway 119 off of 280. I know this is a little further out of town than usual, but I try to move it around so that it is convenient for different groups of people, and since we've never had a meet-up this far down 280, I figured it was time.

This date should also put us on alternating week from the Birmingham Lunch Bunch - our last few meet-ups have accidentally coincided, and I know that there were a lot of people that wanted to attend both but couldn't.

We always have great conversations, both about and not about Social Media, and a ton of fun! And from what I've heard, iCantina is amazing - this is the same restaurant that has a location in the Martin Biscuit Company building downtown. I'm already looking forward to trying their Guacamole!!

If you can come, be sure to RSVP so that I can save you a seat. But if you find out that you can at the last minute, still feel free to join us! I hope to see you there!!

The hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet .

iCantina's address is:
6801 Cahaba Valley Rd.
Birmingham, AL
(205) 408-4110

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Amy's Extraordinary Alabama: Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer

By Amy

I'd heard of Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer by Warren St. John in passing, but never gave much thought to reading it. Even though I enjoy Alabama football games I don't know that I would consider myself a die-hard fan. So when my sister-in-law gifted our father-in-law a copy of the book I read a few pages and knew I wanted to read it. Of course it helped that Alabama was having such an amazing season. Reading over that last line I might need to clarify and say the football team at the University of Alabama, just in case anyone who is not from Alabama and not familiar with Alabama football is reading this.


Having grown up in Birmingham, Alabama, Warren St. John readily admits that growing up in Alabama is "possibly the worst place on earth to acquire a healthy perspective on the importance of spectator sports." And having been born and raised here myself I have to agree.


After moving to New York to attend Columbia University, St. John begins to realize that maybe this obsession we all have with football here in Alabama is a bit different. As he writes, "It was quite an adjustment to go from coutning up a record number of wins under the Bear to the inexorable accumulation of a record number of losses at Columbia. And just as disconcerting: no one at Columbia seemed to mind." He really begins to wonder about the strangeness of it all when home for Thanksgiving he sees a couple at Legion Field in a RV being interviewed by the local news. They tell the reporter they missed their daughter's wedding because she picked the Alabama/Tennessee game day to get married.


So in his search for answers to the question of why sports can turn otherwise sane people into raving lunatics he seeks out the community of RVers who travel to each Alabama game.


Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer isn't so much a travel story, but St. John's own experiences as one of those hard core fans who follow their team.


Having grown up in Alabama myself I understand the almost religious nature of college football here. Honestly the only people I know who aren't Alabama or Auburn fans are a rare few that did not grow up in Alabama and my mother, who belongs in the small minority of those who don't really care for sports. According to St. John my mother belongs in a minority outnumbered by atheist in our state. A fact I have no problem believing.


Although my husband's family doesn't take an RV to each Alabama game, they very rarely miss an Alabama home game. My father-in-law supports the University of Alabama, his alma mater, without waver. Crimson and white, houndstooth, elephants and Roll Tide are in the blood in our family, with the exception of one sister-in-law who graduated from Auburn.


Life stops for Alabama football games. My dad, who is serving overseas with his national guard unit, set his alarm to wake up in the middle of the night so he could watch some of the Alabama games this past fall. Imagine a bunch of Alabama soldiers when the hub housing the wiring for everything burned knocking out their means of watching the Alabama/Auburn game during Alabama's glorious 2009 season.


So it should come as no surprise that reading Rammer Jammer was like seeing our family's life played out on the page without the RV aspect. The obsession, joyful moments of a win, and the depressing moods of a loss described by St. John need no explanation. I see it in my husband and countless others each Saturday from August to December.


So have you read Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer? What is life like in your family during Fall or better know as Alabama or Auburn football?


You can also visit St. John's blog here. (Be sure and scroll down and watch the YouTube video of the little toddler -- well, unless you're an Auburn fan. Don't say I didn't warn you if you do though.)

Monday, September 27, 2010

October Meet-Up Announced!

****NOTE DATE CHANGE*****

Our next meet-up will be on Friday, October 22nd at 11:30am. We'll meet at iCantina on Highway 119 off of 280. I know this is a little further out of town than usual, but I try to move it around so that it is convenient for different groups of people, and since we've never had a meet-up this far down 280, I figured it was time.

This date should also put us on alternating week from the Birmingham Lunch Bunch - our last few meet-ups have accidentally coincided, and I know that there were a lot of people that wanted to attend both but couldn't.

We always have great conversations, both about and not about Social Media, and a ton of fun! And from what I've heard, iCantina is amazing - this is the same restaurant that has a location in the Martin Biscuit Company building downtown. I'm already looking forward to trying their Guacamole!!

If you can come, be sure to RSVP so that I can save you a seat. But if you find out that you can at the last minute, still feel free to join us! I hope to see you there!!

The hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet .

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Win a $55 Shopping Spree to CSN Stores!!


CSN Stores is an internet mega-mart, consisting of over 200 online stores where you can find everything from cookware to cribs to wardrobes!!

You can find a listing of all of their stores here, where you will find excellent drill-down and search capabilities in each one! Their websites are set up very well to help you locate exactly what you need.

If you would like to try out CSN stores for yourself, they have offered a $55 gift certificate for us to give away to one of you! Simply leave a comment on this post of what you might go shopping for.

You can earn up to four extra entries if you:
  • Tweet, blog, OR Facebook about this giveaway
  • Follow CSN Stores on Twitter or Facebook
  • Subscribe to OR Follow Alabama Bloggers
  • Follow Alabama Bloggers on Twitter

(be sure to leave separate comments for your extra entries.)

Best of luck! This giveaway is open until Monday, October 4th. The winner will be randomly selected and posted here on Tuesday, October 5th.


Disclosure: I received no compensation or review products for this giveaway. My opinions are always my own.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Best Post of the Week: Week Sixty-Seven


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Fishlips Seafood Restaurant

By Leigh Bratina


Hoover has a new restaurant. It's called Fishlips and is located in the shopping center that houses Hobby Lobby, Piccadilly and in fact neighbors Dale's Southern Grill and Shono's Japanese Grill. I visited Fishlips with my mother and father, at my father's recommendation.


Ron and Kim Tomlinson are the owners of the newly opened Fishlips. The Tomlinson's live locally in Hoover. He teaches English at Oak Mountain Middle School, and she owns a hair-and-nail salon in Hoover. They both wanted to start a restaurant as a family business.


Demian DeLorenz is the executive chef at FishLips. If his name sounds familiar is it because his father is Arman DeLorenz, who was once one of Birmingham's most prominent restaurateurs and owner of notable Birmingham dining establishments that included some of the city's finest and most popular eateries, from Prairie Fire Grille to Crepes Egg-Setera to Original Joe's to Nonna Rose to his pride and joy, Brazil. Unfortunatley the elder DeLorenz came upon some hard times in the form of bankruptcy and lost all five of his restaurants. Now you can find him working in the kitchen as chef under his son. Demain DeLorenz is the one who is responsible for writing the menu and creating the exciting dishes featured on the menu.


Speaking of the menu, it is one that consist of both American and seafood dishes that typically run $10-15 per entree for dinner. I happened to dine at the lunch hour, when prices are slightly less. We found the place to be crowed on this lunch hour, but were seated right away. The menu offers many wonderful sounding choices, from their homemade shrimp and corn chowder ($3.99 cup, $5.99 bowl) to the Jumbo Lump Crabcakes ($7.99) to the Shrimp and Grits, which features a new twist on an old southern classic with a pan seared grit cake blackened shrimp in a roasted tomato and lemon butter sauce ($13.99).





We started our meal off with an appetizer of Buttermilk Battered Onion Rings and an order of hush puppies with spiced ranch dressing. The rings and hush puppies were absolutely delicious, although the rings a bit over salted but otherwise very tasty. The hush puppies were crisp, but soft inside with bits of corn. The spiced ranch was a nice compliment to the crispy rings, we ate cocktail sauce with the puppies.


For our meal, we selected the FishLips Taco ($7.99) and Shrimp Po-Boy ($7.99). The Fishlips Taco is actually a suggested appetizer, but makes a perfect and appealing lunch. The Fishlips Taco consist of grilled white fish and tomato compote. It really was a feast for the eyes, an artful presentation of tacos with lettuce and the tomato compote and a drizzling of what I detected to be balsamic vinegar and honey. Delicious!

The Shrimp Po-Boy actually comes with mayonnaise (though we opted for it to be left off) as well as, lettuce & tomato, a side of perfectly cooked french fries, and a mayo based cole slaw. The shrimp was delicately fried, not at all greasy. A nice lunch option.


I heard one patron raving about the chicken quesadilla being especially good, something to consider for future visits. And there will be future visits.


The chef came out and checked on us personally. He was very friendly and concerned that we were happy with our meal, which we were. Overall a good experience. We will definitely go back.


Fish Lips Seafood and Grill

(205) 987-7200

1843 Montgomery Hwy S

Hoover, AL 35244

http://www.fishlipsalabama.com/;

View Menu

*Leigh is a full time mother, a part time photographer and writer. Her photography and written work is featured in several professional business and local publications. She owns her own photography business, Photographic Memories. Leigh resides in the Alabama with her three children and husband "Big Daddy". You can read more of Leigh's daily adventures by visiting any of her three blogs: Tales from Bloggeritaville , Plates and Places , as well as Photographic Memories

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Newly Listed Alabama Bloggers!!!

We've gotten quite a number of new blogs listed in the past couple of months - the list below is of everyone that I just added to The List!! Be sure to go visit them and welcome them to the site!!!

Suzi at Sheer Fab Junk in my Trunk
Potential Birmingham (Birmingham)
Beverly at Beverly's Photo For The Day (Foley)
Doc at Mod Mobilian (Mobile)
sodahoney at Old Folks vs New Technology
Nichole at Nakins Goes Blogging (Madison)
Christopher at dZine (Birmingham)
Joey at Joey Kennedy's Blog and Column
Christen at Baker Lane Gang
Jon Lewis at The Injury Board Blog Network (Birmingham)
Julie at Just Say Julie (Round Rock, Texas)
Tarin at Frost Family Farm (North Alabama)
The Brown Recluse at Margaret's Musings and Head Noise
Courtney at Southern Soiree (Birmingham)
Judi at Judi's Mind Over Matter (Birmingham)
Matt Gray at BeGreen-BeSeen
Jen at Hey Y'all!
Beth at The Neat Get Neater (Birmingham)
Scott at RSS Birmingham (Birmingham)
Green Door Girl at Green Door Designs (Auburn)
Hope at Crafty Hope (Fairhope)
Amanda at Fake Ginger
Meg at My Fuller Life
Nanci at MomTV
Cynthia at The Geek Wife (Birmingham)
Phillip at Florida Life (Florida)
Gina at Whiskey on the Rocks
Rambling Round at The 3R Ranch
Birmingham Mom (Birmingham)
Hannah at Simply Add Coffee (Birmingham)
Christina at Pretty Little Nest (Birmingham)

Welcome to all of you - so glad you could join us!!

Be sure to go show some Southern Hospitality to these new members!!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

September Meet-Up Still Planned for Friday!!

We WILL be meeting this Friday for September's meet-up! I've gotten a few RSVP's, and it will be great to meet, whether we have a small group or a large one! But, be sure to RSVP if you plan on coming - since it's Restaurant Week, I want to make sure that we have proper reservations!!!

Here are the details:

We will be meeting at Dodiyos in Homewood on Friday, September 24th at 11:00am, Where you can take advantage of the three course, $10.10 Restaurant Week Menu, or order off of their normal (and quite delicious!!) menu.

If you decide to take advantage of their Restaurant Week promotion, here is a link to their menu for the event. And don't worry, they DO have non-overly-Greek things on the menu if any of you are scared of Greek Food.

The hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet.

Hope to see you there!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Best Post of the Week: Week Sixty-Six


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Meet-Up Input and Feedback?

I announced our September Meet-Up location and date on Monday, but haven't heard back from any of you yet. Since I usually have 10-15 RSVPs or responses by now, I figured I better check in and see if we need to reschedule.

Is the date bad? Everyone too busy? Other things going on?

Is the location inconvenient, unappetizing, too expensive, etc? (The Restaurant Week price is $10.10 per person for three courses, but I'm pretty sure you can order off of their regular menu as well)

Let me know what you think, and keep an eye out for adjusted plans as I figure out what would work for everyone this month.

Thanks!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

NOVICA Winner

The Novica.com giveaway randomly picked winner was Leigh from Tales From Bloggeritaville! Congrats, Leigh!

Monday, September 13, 2010

September Meet-Up - Birmingham Restaurant Week!

I really went back and forth as to whether to take advantage of the exciting and new Birmingham Restaurant Week for our next meet-up, or to meet at what I look forward to all year, the Greek Food Festival. I finally decided on Restaurant Week, because the Greek Food Festival (which is SO worth you going to sometime that weekend) can be very crowded and loud, which would make it VERY challenging to find each other.

But, I still went with Greek. For those of you who haven't tried Dodiyos in Homewood yet, you definitely are missing out on some of the best new dining in town! And, I know, it's had the reputation of having a long wait, but I've found that as long as you BEAT the lunch or dinner crowd, there's no problem.

So, our next meet-up will be on Friday, September 24th at 11:00am at Dodiyos in Homewood. If you need to come late, feel free to, but be sure to let me know you're coming so I can try and save you a seat.

Dodiyos is participating in Birmingham Restaurant Week, so if you decide to take advantage of that great deal, here is a link to their menu for the event. And don't worry, they DO have non-overly-Greek things on the menu if any of you are a big scared by the most amazing cuisine in the world.

...not that I'm biased.

If you can come, be sure and RSVP - I'll probably call ahead and save us a table. And be sure to get the word out on Twitter - we always have a great time!! The hashtag is #AlaBlogMeet.

Hope to see you there!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Best Post of the Week: Week Sixty-Five


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Score For Your Team Winners!!

Score For Your Team copy
The Score For Your Team Football Carnival is officially over, and Alabama has emerged victorious for the second season in a row!!

The official score was:

Alabama: 71
Auburn: 36
Tennessee: 11
Penn State: 11

And now for the winners!!

BB Surfbrds logo colr

The $10 Baha Burger gift cards go to 5 random winners picked from everyone who participated, regardless of team. They are:


Wild Woman of The Wilder Side of Life

jennifer of Dust Bunny Hostage

Tracy of Feed-Sack Cooking

Mrs. Graves of Family Plots

Nick of Cupboards


TAZlogo_horizgrnweb

And the winner of the tailgate party for 10 people from Taziki's was picked randomly from the participants from the winning team, and that is:

Maggie of The Horton House

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who participated! And a special thank you to our awesome sponsors!!!! Be sure to thank them as well!!!

If you're one of the winners, please email me at rachel@alabamabloggers.com so that I can get your contact info.

Thanks!

Monday, September 6, 2010

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY - Don't Miss Your Chance to Win!!

Score For Your Team copy
Today is the last day to join the Score For Your Team Football Carnival!!! You have until midnight to enter by either:

1. Linking up a blog post about football,
2. Putting a button on your sidebar, and/or
3. Tweeting or facebooking about the contest!!

SIX PEOPLE will be winning amazing prizes from Baha Burger and Tazikis, so don't miss out on your chance to enter!!! Check out this post for all of the details.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Best Post of the Week: Week Sixty-Four


It's time to link in your best post of the week!

The purpose of this column is to make it easier to keep up with each other's blogs, so that even if we don't have time to read all of the Alabama Blogger blogs every day, at least we get the week's highlights.

So, link up, tell us why you linked that post, and let's start reading! And remember - the best way to get new blogging friends is to comment on other people's posts, so be sure to say "hi" to your neighbors when you visit!

p.s. - please feel free to interpret "this week" as loosely as you like!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Other Birmingham: Problematic highway exchanges

Fiona contacted me from Birmingham UK with a series of posts contrasting the two Birminghams. She visited our Birmingham and saw many similarities with her own, and wrote a fascinating series of posts on them. She has kindly offered for some of them to be reprinted here - I'm sure you'll find them as intriguing as I did!
By Fiona Cullinan

Malfunction Junction, Birmingham AL

It was while standing on the top of Vulcan The Iron Man (more on Brum and Bham’s high and low-level Iron Men in a future post) that my local host Daniel Walters pointed out Birmingham’s Malfunction Junction.

The busiest intersection in Alabama (260,000 vehicles daily) has been churning through traffic since 1970. Here, Interstates 20, 59 and 65 criss-cross in a pretty four-pronged near-cloverleaf that regularly sees motorists weave across multiple lanes to get onto their desired route (sound familiar, Brummies?).

Hence its rep as a stoopidly regular accident blackspot, the most notorious of which was the explosion of a gas truck in 2002, which killed the driver, damaged the bridge, and required demolition and reconstruction (achieved in just 38 days).

According to the informative Bham Wiki, the junction’s ‘tight turns and short merging distances’ are pretty much to blame. Speed restrictions through Alabama’s Malfunction Junction were imposed in 2007, reducing the limit from 60mph to 50mph, although some consider anything less than 85mph ‘downright sissy’ - check out more Birmingham AL rules of the road.

Spaghetti Junction, Birmingham UK

Aka the Gravelly Hill Interchange where the longest motorway in Britain, the M6, meets the A38(M) Aston Expressway in Birmingham, with a few other A and B-roads, three rivers, three canals and two railways lines thrown into the maze-like mix.

It’s not uncommon to be heading for the high road north to Scotland and suddenly find yourself on the low road south to London instead, such is the confusion of the looping, multi-layered, three-pronged Celtic knot of roads.

‘Spaghetti Junction’ was first named by a local newspaper sub-editor (my old job by the way) after seeing an aerial picture of the directional maze. Other Spaghetti Junctions have since been named around the world but Birmingham’s is the first/best-known.

Maybe it was a 70s thing, but Spaghetti Junction was built at the same time as Malfunction Junction, opening in 1972.

Although it’s a confusing and frustrating concrete jungle to many, it’s actually quite pretty with its forest of supporting pillars and urban concrete curves. It was the subject of a Birmingham Flickrmeet in June 2007.

Spaghetti Junction, © Ted and Jen/Flickr
If you haven't linked up and introduced yourself yet, be sure to go here to do so!