Life lately & Sidewalk Film Festival recap

 

Oh there has been SO much fun stuff happening lately. Which is good, because after the post-wedding high I was on a couple of weeks ago after Torry & Nicole's wedding, I definitely needed to keep the momentum going.

I've lived in Birmingham for about seven years now (I think) and for some reason I had never made it to Rickwood Field until a couple of weeks ago. It's been on my list, but it's kind of one of those things where you really need a reason or an event to go there. Luckily the real estate firm I work for played another firm in a softball game, giving me the perfect excuse to finally make my appearance to America's Oldest Ball Park.

I have to say that I was not disappointed. It truly is a beautiful, historic sight to see and I felt an excitement knowing that I was sitting in the stands and walking on a baseball field where greats like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Jackie Robinson have played. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the movie 42 about Jackie Robinson and you can catch some glimpses of Rickwood Field for yourself.

The rest of my past two weeks have been spent taking advantage of restaurant week at Cantina, Slice, Vittoria and Rojo. I also finally managed to get over to Steel City Pops with J one week night. After the not so great dinner I had made us, it was a welcomed treat :)

Then this past weekend was the long awaited Sidewalk Film Festival. I've written about Sidewalk before. It's one of my favorite things that happens in Birmingham every year. It just unfortunately happens to fall on the weekend of my niece's birthday. So I didn't get to see quite as many films this year because of course, baby girl will always come first. Even so, the films this year seemed to be better than usual. Not sure if that's because J picked most of them or if the movie options were just better general. Either way, I'm great with it.

Here's what we saw at Sidewalk and I can recommend that you see all of them—but especially see the ones with an asterisk by them:

• Lil Bub & Friendz - This was about the Internet meme and cat phenomenon, with a big focus on Lil Bub and her owner Mike.
• *Muscle Shoals* - An incredible documentary about the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama and how it produced some of the greatest recordings in history, thanks to FAME Studios owner Rick Hall.
•  The Suspect - A narrative feature about a small town that gets hits by a bank robbery and the racial profiling that takes place during the case.
• Good Ol' Freda - A documentary about Freda Kelly, the secretary of the Beatles during their 11-year tenure as a band. *A must-see for any Beatles fan.*
• *No Place on Earth* - A documentary about a Jewish family who survived the Holocaust by living in a cave in the Ukraine for almost two years during WWII.
• *Ain't Them Bodies Saints* - Ruth and Bob enter a shoot out with the local police after a bank robbery. When a sheriff gets shot, Bob takes the rap and is sent to prison, but later escapes and comes back for Ruth and his daughter. This is their love story.

I think one of the things I love most about Sidewalk is the opportunity to stay after the movie for the Q&A session. I don't take advantage of it after every film since I am sometimes rushing off to the next one, but it's such an incredible thing to have a director or producer or actor from the film standing in front of you and giving you the chance to ask anything about the film or the process or the budget or anything!

Seriously, if you haven't been to Sidewalk and you live in Birmingham...next year is your year to attend.

The dish on Birmingham: a love letter to my town

I can't lie. On Monday, when driving home from an amazing long weekend of camping at the Ocoee River in Tennessee, I actually groaned out loud as we approached town and I saw the "skyline" of Birmingham (that is, if you can consider four tall buildings a skyline?).

But the thing is, even though I groaned, I truly do love this place.

As I think I heard someone say recently, Birmingham is a city that is neither too big nor too small. But like the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it's 'just right.' I like that it's not so big that I am too timid to get out and explore roads to see where they will take me and who they will take me to. And it's also not so small that there isn't anything to do on a random weeknight. I always feel like I could run into anyone that I know at any moment when I'm out on the town, but suprisingly I very rarely do.

Don't get me wrong, Bham definitely has its fair share of problems. Traffic can be annoying (though I know we have it easy compared to many other cities), jobs (or at least really fun, cool ones) can be hard to come by and of course there is the always ongoing political mess that I don't even completely understand (or want to understand for that matter).

But as an optimist, I like to look at the bright side. I like to look at all the amazing things my city has to offer:

• Railroad Park, an award-winning urban greenspace that hosts free exercise classes, concerts & other events
• a beautiful new stadium downtown for our minor league baseball team, The Birmingham Barons
• incredible restaurants including those owned by award-winning chefs like Chris Hastings & Frank Stitt (but let's be honest, you're more likely to find me at the J. Clyde, Rojo, El Barrio, Saw's or Slice)
• UAB Health System—one of the top four largest academic medical centers in the country
• a pretty decent music scene thanks to venues like The Bottletree, Workplay and the new Iron City
• new developments including an entertainment district downtown and the revitilization of the Avondale area
• three top-notch colleges: Samford, Birmingham Southern and UAB, which was recently named the 10th best medical school in the nation by the U.S. News
• a variety of offerings for the outdoor enthusiast including 50 miles of biking and running trails at Oak Mountain State Park, more biking & running trails plus a zip line at Red Mountain Park and boulder fields for climbers at Moss Rock Preserve
• the unbelievably gorgeous renovated Historic Alabama Theater, which hosts concerts and their summer and holiday film series
• the Sidewalk Film Festival, which I think is the coolest event Birmingham hosts all year long
• and of course plenty of great shopping opportunities at both small boutiques around town and larger stores at the Summit

I swear my list could go on and on, but I'll stop here and hope that I've covered most everything I love about my (now) hometown. I'm sure I left a few things off, but I can always save those for another day.

And honestly, when you get down to it, it's not just about the awesome things I can do in Birmingham, but it's more about the awesome people that I get to share my adventures with. I have been so fortunate to have developed my framily here in Bham and now I've started to branch out with other great friends, thanks to the tons of people I have met through the climbing gym and church.

Basically what it all comes down to is, if they say 'home is where the heart is', then my home is in Birmingham—whether I live here forever or not.

Or to make that a broader statement, as the group Alabama sings "My home's in Alabama, no matter where I lay my head."

ps. If you want to see/read an entire 40 page piece on the state of Alabama which will be featured in the upcoming Delta Sky magazine, you can find that here.

Life lately

Guide to Birmingham Dining, vol. 1

Just in case anyone out there is planning on visiting or moving to Birmingham anytime soon and you need some food for thought, I figured I'd throw out some of my favorite restaurants I like to frequent. And yes, this is just volume one because there are so many good places to eat here. So expect a volume two, three, four later down the road.

{one} Rojo
Cuisine: Mexi-American
Address: 2921 Highland Ave.
What to expect: Hipsters and country clubbers—believe it or not. Oh and dogs.
Pricing: $10±
You should try...to get there early or late. I'm a firm believer that the only way to really experience Rojo is by sitting on the patio and to do this you have to find the "perfect" timing.

{two} Niki's 

Cuisine: Soul food (southern meat and three)

Address: 1101 2nd Ave. N. (& niki's west is at 233 Finley Ave. West) 

What to expect: A lot of vegetables to choose from in the buffet line.

Pricing: $10±

You should try...to go on your lunch break and know what you want before you get to the counter to order, they are usually in a hurry!

{three} Dreamcakes

Cuisine: Cupcakes and other desserts

Address: 960 Oxmoor Rd.

What to expect: A cute bakery with beautiful, creative delicious dessert concoctions

Pricing: $3±

You should try...the wedding cake cupcake. It's simply sugary deliciousness. 

{four} El Barrio

Cuisine: Mexican with a twist

Address: 2211 2nd Ave. N.

What to expect: Fresh, unique Mexican dishes and a long wait. This place is still hoppin, so get there early.

Pricing: $10-$20±

You should try...the vegetarian tacos. I'm the least healthy-type-of-eater out there and I love these. Omg, AND the cheese dip with chorizo. Do not leave without getting that!

{five} J. Clyde

Cuisine: Bar food/American and Southern fusion

Address: 1312 Cobb Lane

Pricing: $10-$20±

You should try...the chicken fingers and sweet potato fries. I know there are other things on the menu, but I honestly haven't made it past this option or the burger. 

{six} Davenport's 

Cuisine: Pizza

Address: 2837 Cahaba Rd.

What to expect: A kid-friendly restaurant with the best thin crust pizza ever. 

Pricing: $10-20±

You should try...the meat lover's special. (unless you're against eating meat, that is.)

Bon appetit!