fall in birmingham

This past weekend the Radcliffes came to town!! We have loved having all of our visitors since we have been living in Birmingham. We ended October with beautiful cooler weather and changing leaves. The trees here are gorgeous and we had fun collecting some for mom to take back to her preschool class.

We had a fairly low key weekend with the fam but enjoyed the taste of Birmingham tour along with the Saint George Middle Eastern Food Festival downtown. Thanks for coming to see us Mom, Dad, and Michael - we love you!

if you come to visit...I insist we buy matching scarves from chickadee!

we visited the vulcan statue

while the men watched the florida georgia game...I took mom to all my favorite new places. we had a mid-afternoon snack at dreamcakes of course!

at dreamcakes they were carving some fancy pumpkins {and watermelons} - I loved the floral motifs

Happy Halloween!

we are the ruffles

We were all feeling a case of the wedding blues post the June nuptials so we decided to get together for the third time this year in one of the South's premiere cities....for a fall ruffles rendezvous of course! Since I moved to Birmingham, the original ruffles destination, we decided to head to the peach state for some big city eats and shops.

It was so wonderful to get together with all my nearest and dearest - oh how I miss them. We had a fabulous time, as always, and can't wait for where 2012 will gather us.

of course ruffles love to give and be given gifts :)
katie came this year and brought us each a hand adorned wine goblet!

I brought some gifts from my new town - dreamcakes are a must and then a little happy gift from chickadee!

we headed to taqueria del sol for and eyeopening dinner on friday night and it was mucho delish

I had the roasted chicken enchiladas and plenty of chips, salsa, and guac to go around

rian met her first friend of the night that recommended cafe intermezzo for dessert which was dessert heaven! the menu was the size of a novel and had fun anecdotes, etc. like this little snippet on coffee.

we spent saturday exploring virginia highlands on a beautiful fall day! our sweet high school friend kelly traveled from athens to spend the day with us!

I fancied the fresh floral arrangements in the boutiques

we happened upon the most delightful chocolate shop...cacao. they do chocolate from bean to bar and let me tell you it's some kind of good. everything from their treats to the interior design of their storefront.

I indulged in a fig and balsamic truffle and a lavender orange macaroon

we had a fantastic brunch at murphy's

meghan, mc, heather lane, and kelly

lane, katie, rian, sister, and pamela

saturday night dinner was at jct kitchen and it was so good! I've been waiting to go there for a year. one of heather's dear friends from college, julie, joined us for dinner. I was so happy to finally meet her in person - we've been e-mailing interior design ideas for years.

sister debuted her new edgy vintage outfit!

on sunday we brunched at canoe and had some delicious seasonal fares...

photo shoot along the chattahoochee river

love you sister.

"we're the three best friends that anyone could have"

awkward family photos!
did you know lane ruffle is pregnant :)

my sweet tallahassee friends - I'll be back to you soon!

family visit

The Micas came to visit us this weekend in Birmingham!! They also came for the Florida/Auburn game...but mainly to see us :) And when they arrived they arrived with a mum in hand from Tallahassee Nurseries. It meant so much to me as I have been trying real hard to not buy, you might say, frivolous items these days.

We had a fun day on Friday giving them the tour de Birmingham. We'll be giving my parents a similar tour at the end of October when they come to visit! We stopped by Chickadee and took them to see where David spends quality time learning and studying. And of course we managed to take them to some of our old and new favorite eats like Saw's BBQ, Slice and Klinglers.

One thing's for sure, we love our families! We have been blessed by several visitors since we've lived in Birmingham and we say bring it on - the more the merrier!

Thank you Micas for taking care of us this weekend. We love you and miss you already!

alli came too!!
first stop, saw's bbq...then a dreamcake cupcake for dessert!

so proud of my law student!

david gave us a great tour of cumberland. it is a beautiful school and we know exactly where our private school tuition is going ;)

david's advice for aspiring lawyers: go to a school with a nice library - you'll be spending a lot of time in there. not too shabby, cumberland.


a very cool conference room

they are so proud too!

they were sweet and got us a pumpkin too!
who says you have to have a front porch for fall decor?!

we're going to the zoo!

We had quite the busy weekend this past weekend! Sister and Sally Kate came up for weekend visit to AL-A-BA-MA {that's how Sk pronounces it} and Heather Lane and Paul joined us too! Friday was my day off from the store, as I had to work on Saturday. But the girls know their way around this town and they entertained themselves. They did come by Chickadee where Sally Kate proceeded to try on all the purses and hats and strut her stuff around the store! Paul went to the Mississippi State vs. UAB game and David....studied.

On Sunday, we took Sally Kate to the Birmingham Zoo! She's been so excited about going and we all had a wonderful time. Living in a big city has so much more to offer.

It was a quick weekend but much, much needed. I miss those Tallahassee lassies so much!

before our houseguests arrived on friday, I attended the charlotte moss lecture at the birmingham botanical gardens. it was a lovely time and I added another signed book to my collection.

I came home inspired and created this.

some beautiful fall colors to enjoy! I miss doing more with flowers since we've moved.

at the zoo!! sk loves to pose these days...usually with her hands on her hips - she's quite sassy ;)

the children's zoo had a wonderful petting area and we learned sally kate is quite fearless. she liked to greet each animal first...

...then sit down and get to know them...

she loved the carousel ride!

she and uncle david had the best time...I love seeing them together.

we saw callie the elephant

then we took sk into the aviary with the lorikeets...sister stayed outside! sally kate was fascinated and of course wanted to make friends.

sally kate was not afraid to hold them either!

sister and I wore our new matching scarves from chickadee!

Also, today is the best father-in-law's birthday!! Happy Birthday to you Mr. Mica! They are all coming to visit us next weekend and we can't wait to show them our new city and home! We love you.