Best Post of the Week: Week 204

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!

Red Mountain Park: The Ideal Weekend Destination!

Looking for a way to enjoy this fantastic Memorial Day Weekend?

You need to visit Red Mountain Park.

On Sunday, My husband Chris and I set off for grand adventure: Zip Lining at the park (along with our giveaway winners, the Haleys.) We dumped our kids with the grandparents at Church, and as they would be spending the night, we had an entire date day and night ahead of us.

So clearly, we skipped with giddiness, Hansel-And-Gretel-Style, down the trail.



Aside from the Zip Lining, the trails alone are a fantastic reason to visit the park. Winding along the ridges of Red Mountain, there are currently ten miles of trails with two scenic overlooks and three historic Ore Mines. There’s even a treehouse that I have yet to discover – I have a feeling that I'll come across something new on every visit to the park!

It was a perfect day for our adventures - slightly hazy, on the verge of rain but never even sprinkling, and feeling nearly temperatureless.

(At least that’s what we call it, regardless of it’s scientific incorrectness.)

We arrived, signed our waiver agreeing that we would sue not for, among other things, panic and/or hurt feelings, death, or unwelcome touching (SPOILER: none of which happened), then hiked to the zip lining location with our two guides, David and Katie. The walk was relaxing, the forest was breathtaking, and the platforms high in the trees beckoned.




I got hooked up and to the top of the first platform. I was swimming in excitement – I adore heights of all kinds.



I looked down at Chris, who isn’t quite as in love with heights as I, but fortunately, he seemed equally excited.



We zipped across the first line, and it was amazing. We went much faster than I thought we would, and landing (and staying landed) was a challenge in itself (one which, by the end of the course, I found myself to be quite the expert at. Not that I would brag.)

After the first zip was a rope bridge. And by rope, I mean a singular piece of rope.



It was somehow easier than I expected, and then we were back to zipping.

Chris managed to get one photo of me zipping, though not nearly as graceful and free-feeling as I imagined that I looked.



I promise. I really looked like this on every other zip.



Three of the zip lines were very long, and let us coast at up to sixty feet in the air. It was indescribably exhilarating to fly through.





The course (which consisted of seven zip lines, the rope bridge, and one rope swing) ended at the Hugh Kaul Beanstalk Forest, the other adventure available at Red Mountain Park. Seeing the course got me excited to try it, as well.




We rappelled off of the last platform breathless, excited, and more than a little shiny.



I am so excited that Birmingham now has the wealth that is Red Mountain Park, and I plan to spend many days there this summer exploring their fantastic trails and adventures. I hope you join us!

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Disclosure: I was given two passes to try the zip lines, as well as two to give away on my blog. But I’ve been itching to try it for a while anyway, and will definitely be zipping again. All opinions are my own.

Best Post of the Week: Week 203

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!

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival Shows off Tastes of Alabama and More.

May 31 - June 2 is the weekend to be in Atlanta. The Atlanta Food and Wine Festival is an unbelievable event, offering opportunities for everyone to enjoy as well as specialized tracks for the dedicated foodie.

I was able to attend last year, and it was fantastic. I would recommend it to anyone - even if you just attend the tasting tents. Dozens of the best chefs in the southeast come together to offer a collaboration of the most creative and delicious food that you will ever eat.

Last year, one of my favorite dishes was Banana Kataifi (banana wrapped in shredded filo glazed in Greek Honey), served with flourless chocolate cake and yogurt sorbet.




One of the most inventive (and genius) ideas I saw was Pimento Cheese deviled eggs - how delightfully southern is that??



It was at The Food and Wine Festival last year that I was able to learn so much more about one of our beloved Birmingham restaurants, Jim N Nicks. The strides they are making in rekindling Alabama's pork industry is so exciting.

Alabama chefs involved in the weekend include Drew Robinson, Chris Hastings, Chris Lilly, Frank Stitt, and James Boyce.

Many options are available to enjoy this great event. Getting tickets for the Tasting Tents will take you on a culinary journey of the South where you can embark upon tasting tours, such as Southern Sweets, Seafood, and Southern Regions from other parts of the globe. The day passes offer three learning (and eating!) experiences, the tasting tents, and a one year subscription to Food and Wine Magazine. There are also many special dinners, where chefs from all over the South come together and collaborate to create a fantasy meal for you to enjoy.

This event is a world-class festival and they will ensure that you feel cherished and filled with the best food that the South has to offer.

Best Post of the Week: Week 202

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!

The Color Run - Giveaway!

After seeing everyone's photos and hearing the stories of The Color Run in Birmingham last year, I was truly disappointed that I had missed out. The Color Run is a five-kilometer, un-timed race in which thousands of participants are doused from head to toe in different colors at each kilometer.

The fun continues at the finish line with a gigantic “Color Festival,” using more colored powder to create happiness and lasting memories, not to mention millions of vivid color combinations.

Doesn't that look amazing??

And The Color Run is coming to Orange Beach / Gulf Shores Alabama on May 25! Could you possibly need any more of an excuse for a beach trip?

The route will take you through The Wharf and along the intercoastal waterway, allowing for a beautiful view while you get pummeled with five different colors!

I have one free registration to give away! If you would like to enter, just follow the instructions in Rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a quick giveaway - it ends at midnight this Thursday! So hurry and enter, and help spread the word!

But if you don't win, use the promo code "COLORBAMA" to get $5 off. Plus, if you register in a team of four or more, you get another $5 off, for a total savings of $10 per person. If you're a team, you get to pick a groovy custom team name, anything from The Roy G Biv All-stars to We Sweat Rainbows.  You then get to run/walk together and “help” each other get really colored up over the 5 color kilometers.  There is no “relay” component and team members can finish together as a unit or separately.

So hurry and enter, and best of luck!

Best Post of the Week: Week 201

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!

May Blogger Meet-Up Scheduled for 17th!

Our next Alabama Blogger Meet-Up will be May 17 at Shane's Rib Shack on Valleydale Road. We will meet from 11:45 - 1:30, and would love to have you join us! Rebecca Kinney is our host, and this is the perfect opportunity for bloggers in the southern part of town to more easily attend a meet-up.

To RSVP, please comment on this post or join the Facebook Event. If you cannot access the Facebook Event, then that means that you are not yet a member of our Alabama Bloggers Facebook Group - please join us! It's a great place to share posts, tips, and information about blogging in Alabama.

The hashtag for the event is #AlaBlogMeet - help us spread the word on Twitter.

I hope to see you there!

Congratulations to Y'all Connect Winner!

Congratulations to Leslie Wiggins, the winner of one ticket to Y'all Connect!

For the rest of you, you can still use the Promo Code ALABLOGSWEET for $30 off regular tickets!

Best Post of the Week: Week 200!

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!

Southern Fried Scribes Project - You Can Help!

Matt Jones and Jessica Masterton, two fiction candidates in the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Alabama, are trying to bring free creative writing workshops to Alabama’s Black Belt this summer. 

Greensboro, located about an hour and a half south of Birmingham, is a town of a little under 3,000 people.  Locals may know Greensboro as home to Pie Lab, a café offering hot coffee and delicious pastries in a salvaged and retrofitted space downtown, but it is also the site of HERO, Hale Empowerment and Revitalization Organization, who plans to help host the workshops for high school students this summer.

Southern Fried Scribes, a project born from a love of creative writing, a passion for teaching, and personal experiences with limited creative opportunities as children, will kick off this June and run through the first week of August.  Matt and Jess hope to not only offer students a different outlet and approach to writing, but also to help participants gain confidence in how they encounter and begin to explore their own voice.  Combining directed writing exercises with various artistic mediums, the workshops will introduce students to collaborations between photography, performance, and other fine arts through the works of local community artists.

In August, Southern Fried Scribes will conclude with a public student reading in which all of the participants will showcase the work they have produced over the summer.  Along with the reading, Matt and Jess will be printing, publishing, and providing an anthology of student writing and community work, a book of stories, pictures, and artwork that are all local to Greensboro and Hale County. 

To be able to offer the workshops for free to students, Matt and Jess have been fundraising on Kickstarter, a crowdsourcing website, and have until May 2^nd to reach their fundraising goal.  So far, they have received generous support from family, friends, Alabama artists, and the University of Alabama, but with their campaign deadline drawing near, they are trying to reach out to as many people in the community as possible. 

If you’d like to see how you can help, check out their fundraising campaign here and scroll through all of the neat perks that they are offering to people who donate to Southern Fried Scribes.  Receive everything from a flash fiction postcard to a copy of the printed anthology to creative writing mentorships for kids when you donate as little as $5. 

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Matt Jones is a Truman Capote Fellow and a fiction candidate in the University of Alabama MFA program. He is originally from Houston, TX and now lives in Tuscaloosa with his dog, Bagheera. Jessica Masterton is a Truman Capote Fellow and a fiction candidate in the University of Alabama MFA program. She is most recently from Minnesota, and while she does not own a dog, she is often covered in dog hair.

Giveaway - Y’all Connect Conference! {$129 Value}

On July 23, Birmingham will once again have a major social media conference: Y’all Connect. Focused on helping companies use social media tools wisely and efficiently, many experts will be teaching the basics of corporate storytelling.

The conference’s director, Wade Kwon, explains the value in this skill: “Many bloggers already know how to tell a good story about their kids or their lives, but businesses often stumble when talking about their own histories. We can help. Instead of selling and marketing, they will find ways to attract fans and customers through good stories and strong engagement.”

The speakers at Y’all Connect will include familiar Birmingham icons as well as national experts, all of whom utilize social media tools with great expertise. So far, this fantastic group includes James Spann, Ike Pigott, Andrea Weckerle, Nichole Kelly, Peter Shankman, Whitney Breaux, Shelly Kramer and Mack Collier.

"Y'all Connect is a conference aimed at CEOs and marketing managers who want to show how their companies stand out,” Kwon explains. “They may have used blogging and Facebook and Twitter, but aren't sure how to use them wisely and efficiently.”

This conference isn’t focused on theory and motivational speeches - there will be practical takeaways so that the attendees can leave and immediately put new ideas to use to expand their business’ social media platform.

"We expect 500 attendees, with half coming from all across Alabama and the rest coming from out of state. I can't wait to show off my hometown of Birmingham," Kwon states.

There will be a kickoff party on the evening of July 22, then on July 23, sessions and speakers will be scheduled from 8:30-6:00, followed by a closing night party. As such, there will be significant amounts of time for learning and networking.

The conference will be held at the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, and lodging will be available at a discounted rate in the adjoining Sheraton Hotel.

If you would like to attend, I have one conference pass to give away! To enter, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter Widget below:


[CONTEST OVER]

But if you don’t win, I do have a Promo Code for the rest of you: Enter ALABLOGSWEET for $30 off regular tickets!

This giveaway is open until Monday, May 6 and the randomly chosen winner will be announced on Tuesday, May 7

Best of luck!

Best Post of the Week: Week 199

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!

Best Post of the Week: Week 198

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!

Best Post of the Week: Week 197

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!

#AlaBlogMeet Postponed Due to Inclement Weather!

We have rescheduled today's Alabama Blogger's Meet-Up until Next Thursday, April 18.

We will meet one week from today at Jim N Nick's Bar-B-Que in 5 Points South. The time will be from 11:30-1:00, and the discussions are always fun!

This month's host is Mitzi Eaker of Mitzi Jane Media. The discussion topic will be: "What does is take to maintain a successful blog from beginning to reinventing or ending? And how do you know when it is time to end a blog?"

Everyone who tweets about the meetup using the hashtag #alablogmeet and @jimnnicksbbq will be entered into a drawing to win a $20 gift certificate, and the winner will be announced during lunch. 

Feel free to use this tweet or create your own:

Join me at @jimnnicksbbq (5 Points) for #alablogmeet this Thursday 11:30!
http://www.alabamabloggers.com/2013/04/april-alablogmeet-this-thursday.html

Everyone is welcome to join us! RSVP here or on the event in the Alabama Bloggers Facebook Group.

April #AlaBlogMeet This Thursday!

We will be having our April meet-up this Thursday at Jim N Nick's Bar-B-Que in 5 Points South. The time will be from 11:30-1:00, and the discussions are always fun!

This month's host is Mitzi Eaker of Mitzi Jane Media. The discussion topic will be: "What does is take to maintain a successful blog from beginning to reinventing or ending? And how do you know when it is time to end a blog?"

Everyone who tweets about the meetup using the hashtag #alablogmeet and @jimnnicksbbq will be entered into a drawing to win a $20 gift certificate, and the winner will be announced during lunch. 

Feel free to use this tweet or create your own:

Join me at @jimnnicksbbq (5 Points) for #alablogmeet this Thursday 11:30!
http://www.alabamabloggers.com/2013/04/april-alablogmeet-this-thursday.html

Everyone is welcome to join us! RSVP here or on the event in the Alabama Bloggers Facebook Group. 

Best Post of the Week: Week 196

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!

Strength Conference Coming in April!

Strength, a new kind of conference on Social Media, is coming to Birmingham starting next week. On each of the five Monday nights in April, MJM Media is bringing together Social Media experts to lead and guide businesses through the complex and changing field of Social Media.

"The Strength conference has been designed specifically around the greatest online needs of small businesses owners and professionals: social networking, understanding website metrics, and online productivity,"  explains Mitzi Eaker, the conference's founder. "We have brought together experts in the Birmingham area to guide participants weekly, and I will spend a month walking with them and investing in them through the process."

"Strength isn't just a conference that people come to and leave not really knowing what to do when they get back home. I'm looking at this as a month long investment of teaching, guiding, coaching and helping small business owners and professionals build relationships of support with one another so they can take what they learn and implement it and have an online community that will amplify it." 

Mitzi has a big heart for seeing small businesses thrive by sharing their stories, values, and products through online marketing. Just as every business is different, every online marketing strategy should be personalized to reflect your unique brand and connect with your target customers. 

Conference topics will step through both the basic and advanced subjects of social media, including:

• Basics of Social Media Tools
• Creating a Social Media Strategy 
• Creating Content Your Customers Want
• SEO and ROI
• Partnering with Social Media Experts
• Maximizing your Online Productivity  

The speakers include Karla Archer of Archer Creative; Julie Brannon, President of TELP Media and Contributing Editor of The Social Media Monthly; Teri Lynne Underwood, Author, Speaker, and Social Media Coach;

Jerry Brown, Digital Strategist at Infomedia; Emily Lowrey, Founder and Owner of Magic City Post; and myself.

Tickets can be purchased for each night individually ($39.99) or for the entire conference ($129.99.)

The Strength Conference will be beneficial to small business owners, social media managers or marketing executives, and to bloggers who are thinking about starting or already have their own business.

Best Post of the Week: Week 195

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!