our new christmas {story} tradition.

when we lived in oklahoma city, blakey & i had a christmas tradition of going to a very merry pops  christmas show every year.  so this year in birmy, we found our new alabama christmas tradition!

each year, the historic alabama theatre shows classic holiday movies in its gorgeous building.  blakey's favorite christmas movie is a christmas story, so we were super excited to see his family tradition & experience the beautiful downtown theatre.

 {literally around the corner from our loft}

originally built in 1927 & costing approx $1.5 million, the theatre underwent a complete restoration in 1998.   it seats an impressive 2500 people throughout three levels.  & a mighty wurlitzer organ adds to the awe.

we were amazed by the gold leaf ceilings & fabulous chandeliers...

inside the auditorium is nothing short of fabulous...

the organist lead all of us in a few christmas carols & then our christmas film began...

merry christmas from alabama!

love love,

kjp.

showing off our birmy to beau & cara.

we love loved having beau & cara in birmingham last week!!! 

& i think they liked our wonderful city too. 

what's not to love?  we showed them the fabulous city + campus view, the gorgeous southern homes, the gigantic trees lining all of the streets...  we ate the best bbq, a fantastic gastropub meal, & maybe a baked good or two...  our friends hosted them at an amazing dinner...  tanky & fuchsia snuggled as much as possible in three days...

&, of course, we showed them the amazingness of blakey's shuffleboard bar.  heck yes.

it was so much fun to hang out with our fam.  we have missed you two!!  & are already looking forward to seeing you next week for our christmas celebration!

love love,
kjp.

sunday funday with my sleepy boys.

blakey was on call all day saturday, so when he got home sunday morning, i decided to enjoy every moment of the cold holiday morning with my boys.

i had absolutely nothing i had to do, so the morning was full of things i love to do.

delicious coffee & a maple pecan scone...

our brightly lit christmas tree...

one of my favorite horrible chick flicks, the wedding planner...

 {matthew mcconaughey, you are so dreamy}

& my two favorite boys in the world dreaming away...

i hope you weekend was absolutely wonderful & filled with many things christmas.

love love,

kjp.

everything is prettier with sprinkles.

{pumpkin whoopie pies

with maple creamcheese frosting

& brown sugar sprinkled on top}

it's so true.

everything IS prettier with sprinkles.

hope you have a marvelous weekend, friends!  9 days until christmas!

love love,
kjp.

thankful thursday # 45.

beau & cara are here!! & i am so happy.

{how is this the last picture we have together??}

yesterday, we ate a fabulous lunch at zaza.  & walked down to urban for a cupcake & chocolate chip cookie dough brownie.  & took a little tour of birmy with the beautiful view on the mountain & vulcan & campus & our awesome railroad park & the best shopping sites.

it was a lot of fun to show off our city.

& today, i am taking beau to eat THE best bbq in birmy - saw's bbq.

& then tonight, we all get to go eat an amazing dinner, courtesy of lisa & dave.  {a huge thank you in advance!!!}

we have the best siblings.

so thankful.

i hope you can think of something for which you are thankful today.

love love,
kjp.

a taste of birmy's hops.

birmingham is pretty awesome.  & two local microbreweries have made it even more awesome.

good people brewing company has been "legally brewing" in alabama since 2008.  but they just recently opened a tasting room at their super cool downtown brewery this year.  across the street from our favorite & frequented park, good people might become our favorite neighborhood hangout. 

we took julie & ben to the gem while they were in town for thanksgiving to try some of the tasty tasty beers.  most boys in birmy love good people's IPA.  not a fan of hoppy beer myself, i do enjoy their brown ale.  they had just brewed a batch of Bret IPA, which the bartender & girlfriend of one of my birmy favorites told me i had to try.  again, i do not like hoppy beers, but it was really really good.

 so happy to have you in the neighborhood, good people!

for date night this past weekend, blakey & i stopped by one of the other new & fantastically spoken about local breweries, avondale brewing company. 

blakey immediately fell in love with their tasting room.  it was the perfect combo of manly rustic & urban sleek.  when he took a moment to look away from one of the big screen tvs, he noted many of the details he'd like to copy in his future man cave. 

we really like avondale's saison - a very flavorful ale.  & avondale's vanilla porter was delish too. 

i have a feeling we'll be back.

birmingham - you are such a cool town.

love love,

kjp.