HELLO, Birmingham!
Although our summer was both brutal and bizarre (see my previous post), there were several highlights!
My amazing hubby planned the most wonderful birthday/anniversary weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. I have always wanted to visit, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it there.
First off we read at the industrial park until we could check into our hotel (my husband got an amazing deal for two nights at an awesome hotel on Priceline - over 60% off!)
Quick fact: one of my husband's least favorite things to do is shop.
So...the fact he took me shopping for my birthday was a big deal and quite the show of love! He even figured out all the places he wanted to take me to....did I say places??? Yes!!! He took me to several shops and let me shop to my hearts content (with a budget of course). He got discounts for some of the shops too- 50% off from Living Social and Groupon. I'm telling you, he really worked hard to make this amazing and financially affordable!
First on the list was this adorable boutique, Charm.
Charm is a small shop, but packed full of goodies. I had a difficult time deciding between my top two picks (because I loved everything in the store!): an adorable scarf and a vintage necklace. I picked the necklace and to my surprise, they wrapped it up inside the cutest vintage popcorn bag! That vintage cash register, pictured above, is also the one they actually use to check you out with! I LOVED that! Shops like this make it high on my list, because they add such unique little touches to your shopping experience. To top it all off, we talked with the store owner for over 30 minutes and it was the most down to earth, delightful visit. Nothing says charming quite like all that!
We also hit up the Garage Cafe, a local bar and restaurant. I wish I had brought my camera because it was easily one of the coolest looking patios I have ever seen. Check out more of their pics, like the one below, here. Surrounding the entire patio are old buildings FULL of vintage items and garage "junk"...what I would do to thrift through that place! It was truly a unique experience-well worth seeing.
We visited the Botanical Gardens...which was free, by the way (on a roll here)! It was spectacular, in both size and variety. I can only imagine how stunning it is in the spring! If it had not have been so sweltering hot, we would have perused the grounds for hours.
We happened to run into my now, all-time-favorite coffee shop, [urban] Standard. Right across from Charm, it is the coolest coffee shop ever (in my opinion : ). Not only is the food and drink funky, delicious, and affordable, the place is decorated to eclectic perfection! It has the perfect mixture of modern, vintage, rustic, dainty...with personality and warmth. I am not much of a coffee shop goer, but this would be a hot spot for me if I lived in Birmingham.
Before heading back home, we finished off our weekend getaway with a bang...with lunch at Sirin of Thailand. We enjoyed the best Thai food we have ever tasted. It made us want more and more and more...so we bought a ton of Thai ingredients the following week for dinner meals.
Here is the best Thai coconut spicy soup...
Farewell, Birmingham...it sure was lovely! We hope to be back soon!
Love,
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