my mom & alabama the beautiful!

i've been mia for a few days because my mom came to visit me in birmy!!!  & we were super busy hanging out, eating, walking around alabama the beautiful, & hanging out with the t guy.

it was all so wonderful.

on our first day, we had a lunch at a downtown restaurant i've been really wanting to try.  mix is a super urban bakery run by one of my pastry school chefs.  the bread is seriously fantastic.  he knows what he is doing.

after lunch, we headed out on our girly day of fun.  first stop: pedicures!  my mom has only had 2 pedicures ever?  what?!  oh, they are so lovely, aren't they?  she needs to treat herself more often.  then we walked around downtown homewood doing a little shopping.  we found a dog store that had deer antler chew toys & mom bought her grandpuppy one.  he LOVES it.  & he loves her.  it was a great combo.

for dinner friday night, we went to one of the best restaurants in birmingham - bottega cafe.  we had a couple of glasses of wine & some scrumptious pizza on the patio.  it was quite the perfect evening.

on saturday morning, mom hung out at urban while i did a little baking.  she got to drink coffee, eat my scones, read a book, & people watch.  oh, people watching at urban.  one of my favorite activities.

the gorgeous fall weather sent us to the botanical gardens to enjoy the day.  the leaves have just begun to change in birmy, which means the next month is going to be even more beautiful than ever.  we walked among the bright flowers & tall trees & shiny sun.  it was so lovely.

the girls told me about a super cute cafe in mountain brook to take my mom for lunch called olexa's.  it did not disappoint.  this adorable restaurant is decorated to feel like you are sitting outside in the middle of paris eating a great meal.  it was a neat afternoon.

& because it was saturday, it was football time!

the ou vs ball state game didn't quite make the tv schedule in alabama {62-6.  well done, sooners.}, so we did a little cooking too.  the homemade salsa was delicious as always.  {recipe HERE.  i left out the cumin, which turned out quite nicely.}

we picked up the penzey's catalogue when we were there the previous day & found a sweet potato & black bean enchilada recipe.  so strange, right?  we had to try it.  it was quite good!  the flavor combinations were definitely interesting but went together very nicely.  {find the recipe HERE.}

on sunday, mom went to church with me.  we had special guests from haiti, india, & nigeria that sang songs in their home languages.  what a neat experience to share.

then we ate brunch at a favorite neighborhood gem, zaza or trattoria centrale as they now call themselves.  we ran into some urban regulars, had tasty lattes, & dined on a really delicious brunch.

afterwards, we took tanky on a walk around railroad park.   he reallllllly needed to get some energy out.  he was showing off just how cute/annoying he could be for mom all weekend :)

when blakey got home from his retreat, we introduced mom to alabama bbq at jim 'n nick's.

we finished off our lovely weekend with a little shopping at the summit.  mom helped me pick out some thanksgiving decorations for our feast this year.  {julie, ben, amy, & ogden: we are so excited!!!}  & i finally bought the red jeans i've had my eye on at urban outfitters for weeks.  i'll let you know if i ever actually wear them.  red jeans...can i really do it??   they just yell boomer sooner at me, which makes me love them.

it was truly a wonderful weekend getting to hang out with my mom.

love you, mom!!!!!

love love,
kjp.