Anyone in Birmingham Alabama?

In case anyone happens to come across my blog and lives in Bham, or in the area, I would love (and need) to hear what venues and vendors you love in the area!
I am a blogger for BhamBride, and we need some info on vendors and such to write about and tell the bham community what all is out there for you to find!
Even just a name and what you did there. (i.e. a hotel you attended a wedding at, a caterer you love, people you know who will be professional waiters, ect.)

Anything would be awesome to hear!
Thanks! :)
-Taylor Perkins
Post a comment below or email me at:
taylor.high-heel-events@hotmail.com

Super Bowl Sunday

Today is that day.

Today is the day where thousands upon thousands gather around tv screens across the country, with bags of chips and cans of soda popping open, beer resting peacefully in coolers, greasy wieners with toothpicks stuck in them and maybe pots of chili sizzling on stoves, and people dressed in one of two color combinations, all to watch THE football game of the year.

Although some people who are bigger college or arena football fans might be more excited for their big game that would have already happened one or two months ago. But never the less, if you watch football, or just like sports in general, you will be watching the Super Bowl.

People who don't even really care about football even watch it. Probably because they: 1. have friends throwing a party, 2. get to eat the best snack food, and drink, and 3. commercials. Who doesn't love Super Bowl commercials?! My friend today was talking to me earlier about Skyping later, and even mentioned maybe "during commercials." I was dissaponted he'd say such a thing! He tried to come back with, "you can watch every commercial on the internet!" And I strongly brought back, "Um that is not the point. Super bowl commercials are fun because you watch them *during* the Super Bowl!" :) He couldn't over rule that.

Anyway, my point being, it's a grand day in the name of sports, but it's also slightly sad when you know it's the end of football season for the year! However, when you are like me, cheering for a college who didn't quite have the best season, it's almost a nice feeling knowing football is over... for now. And we can look forward to start again in just over 7 months!

But here's a little thought for the day to go along with all this big day chat:
What would it be like if we had a day, once a year where we celebrated Jesus Christ and everything that matters with Him, as amazing and fun as we celebrate a football championship??
Oh wait.. I think it's called Christmas..

But somehow the world took over even that. What if non-football fans decided to take over "Super Bowl Sunday" call it Super Sunday, and it wasn't just about football anymore? People who didn't like football would start having "super parties." And us football fans would be super confused and super annoyed.

Easter is another one.
We Believers just want to celebrate the certain days in the year that are powerful in our faith, and for our faith.
I mean, don't get me wrong, if you don't like the meanings of (or dont believe in) Christmas, Easter, (or watching football,) you don't have to celebrate it. Nobody made that a law. (at least not yet..) So just do your own thing! Have a super duper board game night, or a superlicious pie eating contest, with other people who don't like it.

But please, don't ruin the party for the rest of us who want to celebrate (whatever day it is) for the reason we even made it a holiday! And for those of you who agree with me, don't forget to celebrate, at least in your heart, every day you're alive in and because of Christ. He is the reason for every season.

Back to the football field from my commercial break:
This year is a little more fun for me because I don't mind either team. I'm a Denver Broncos fan, so besides them, the other teams are just all the other teams. Except for the only two NFL teams I do care about, in meaning, I highly dislike them. The Steelers and the Packers. That was not a fun Super Bowl last year.. it was a no win for me either way. Kind of like when Alabama played LSU in college football this year.. twice! I didn't want to pull for either team. :/ lol

Now, NY Giants or NE Patriots?! Or maybe for some people *cough, women, cough* the question is, Eli Manning or Tom Brady? Haha!

Choice of chips? :::> Chips and salsa, and cheddar Ruffles.

Drink of choice for the day? :::> Cooers or Corona will do just fine. ;) and maybe some Dr. pepper for a good chug refreshment.

Party people? :::> a couple of friends and my parents. (WOW, what happened to the day when I had friends and parties?!?!? lol I have apparently grown up and become just slightly boring. I've decided when I get married one day, I'm going to throw an AWESOME Super Bowl party for my husband and his buddies. Well and my buddies too. Hahaha, what?! I'm an event planner! ;)

Well, anyway, go Giants!! ;)

Oh oh and one more last note: Happy 21st Birthday to Mr. Winslow Carroll!!! Party on, good sir. ;)

My Friday nights...

Ok, so I feel like the most uneventful night of my week is always Friday night. It's sad. Not always, but I remember even back in highschool somehow my Friday nights were always the ones that didn't ever have plans.

So this afternoon, guess what I did? I went appliance shopping with my parents. Now there is a bright side to this. I am VERY excited we finally were able to buy a new dish washer. Our old one, (current one,) was/is awful. We practically had to hand wash our plates before even putting them into the dishwasher. Beats the purpose of even having one.

Anyway, now that I realize that was probably a very boring paragraph to read, I'll move on. I am going to see One For The Money, with my best friend tonight. She is reading the book series and cannot wait to see the movie. It does look good, so I'm excited too. But even that isn't till 9:30. So what am I going to do until then? (because even my parents are headed to dinner with friends. Sometimes I have to admit they have more of a life than I do. I guess they deserve it considering they've been married 35+ years)

Anyway, I am going to go to Michaels. Ya know, that ultimate over priced craft store? Where you can find the most intense homeschool moms, the older women who scare you by how much they scrapbook, or the random kids (with no lives.. Oh wait.. I mean more than me!) taking the scrapbooking and other assorted crafting classes? Yeah, that one. Ok ok, maybe it's not THAT bad there. And I know scrapbooking isn't a sin, it's a major hobby for some. Either way, I'm obviously headed there soon, because they have what I need to make an incredible birthday gift for someone. :) I'm super excited for this gift and hope it turns out ok. Can't say more in case that person happens to read this. But maybe I'll post a picture later on.

So does anyone have suggestions on how to make fun Friday night plans when you realize at 4pm on a Friday, that you haven't made any plans?? My bestie and I would be grateful for unique ideas. ;)

Until next time- have a good weekend & keep believing in what a good dose of chocolate (and a glass of wine?) will accomplish for your sanity. Or maybe just mine..

Yeah, it has been awhile!

Well between leaving Alabama to come home, Christmas, out of town guests, and the new year beginning, I have thought about my poor blog, yet failed to write anything new. So now here I am! It's a new year, it's a new way, and I'm trying to get excited about my life again! Haha.

Any ideas how to do that? :P

Uh well, I'll get to that later. I'd like to share my excitement on getting things accomplished.
In the past month, I have finished what seemed to be an awfully drawn out homework assignment that haunted me for months. (not to mention my grade was far beyond what I had even hoped for!)
I finally got around to cleaning out my closet, and ended up rearranging it to perfection.
I made a couple of calls and wrote a couple emails that have been long in the wait. I even accomplished finally making a sticky note reminder that I need to make a dentist appointment, and an eye appointment. The true gold will come when I actually do those two things. But to get me that far, I had to start somewhere!

(I watched an entire series of The Office, late at night, when I should have been sleeping... It's an accomplishment since I needed to catch up!)

I even went skiing after New Years! Although I love the sport, I was too lazy to get my butt back on the slopes for the past 4 years.. So to me, it was good for my health. ;) (oh, and I accomplished a black diamond, all while having a nervous breakdown!)

My room also looks quite good after I finally got to rearrange some stuff and make it look a lot less cluttered and "teenager like."

I'm turning 21 in two months! Ok so that might not be an accomplishment but it's very very exciting! And hey, I made it to the legal age without ever trying to buy a drink without showing ID! lol.

I guess right now, while my life is so random, all over the place and uneventful, I am just more excited about the little things.
So cheers to the unmentioned, the dreaded appointments, the unknown future, and my amazing looking closet in this new 2012!

God bless you this week. :)
And God help the Broncos.

Xoxo!

As the excitement builds up. . .

Last week, I was at what's called Life Group, which is a "small group" from the church I'm currently attending (while staying in Alabama for the fall). Anyway, we were discussing the sermon from Sunday, like usual, and one of the guys made an interesting point in regards to how people think about something exciting. Joy, actually.
He started on the memory for him when the movie, Inception, came out about a year and half ago or so. He told us how when that movie came out, he thought it was incredible. So incredible that he wanted everyone to know, and asked anyone he talked with for weeks to come, if they had seen it. He shared how when he would find someone who loved it as much as he did, then his excitement for the movie grew that much more. He went on to explain how we all do that in one way or another. If one person likes a certain episode of a TV show, and then they start talking with someone else who found that episode as great, too, then they both share their amazement or excitement, or whatever it may be, and it grows together to become even bigger. Same with cooking, a sale, scripture, book, song, ect. Do you see where I'm going with this? (Or do you even get what I'm trying to explain?? lol)

Joy is something that grows with more joy. It's like putting 1 + 1 = 2. Joy + Joy = MORE JOY. (Omg I'm doing this in math terms?!? I hate math...) ANYWAY! Back to what I was saying.. If we are truly excited about something, we like to share that with someone else we know will find it exciting as well, because we know that feeling we get when the excitement builds up and gets bigger than just your own. The guy at study last week brought his whole explanation down to this: what if the "movie" (the thing we are most excited about) is Jesus? And I thought about how not only is that a good point and good thing to think about, but also you can break it down in more ways. Like yes, if I am excited about Christ, and what He's done in my life, or a friend's life, or in my church, community, or on a mission trip, then I should share that joy with others. But also, say I'm hurting; I'm frustrated with whatever details in life, maybe if I share that with my peers, the people I trust, my family in Christ, then the strength of God builds up even more. No it's not excitement or joy, but I'm talking about the building up aspect of the whole. Encouragement builds up; Strength, power of Christ, His love. It's why we have brothers and sisters in Christ, to be there for each other to lean on. Like last week, I was looking around the room at the 10 or so people there, and I was thinking 'I bet it's a whole lot harder for Satan to get in here and try to mess with so and so's mind, or so and so's heart, or so in so's strength. Because when the body of Christ comes together, it's a strong place to be!'

Just some thoughts. . . :)

"I just want to dance to this in the middle of the street!"

"What kind of music do you like?"
"Well, pretty much anything. I'm not to picky unless it's scream-o or hard rap."

(Sorry, this one is long! But it's a large topic ;)

That was always my answer to that top question to anyone who cared to ask. I mean I really always have been that open to music. I liked almost anything and it really depended on my mood, current placement and timing to set my more specific preference. I'm one of those girls who will blast the pop music and dance around my room while getting dressed, or play the more "summery tunes" with my windows rolled down mid July, or play the soft elegant and slow jazz classics late at night with candles burning. I really can't ever say what music I prefer over all.

Scream-o, although, I had many guy friends who scared the living day lights out of me by blasting it in a room or car full volume, with no warning for my innocent ears. But hosently, I just could never enjoy listening to it when I couldn't even understand the words and when I could, it was always shortly followed by some type of "AHHHHHHH" "GAHHHHHHHHHH" or "GRRAHHMMNAAHHHHYEAH!"
Sorry boys.

Hard rap? Ya know, the "real" rap. The everything's depressing or about how you f'ed up my life (excuse the language) kind of stuff. The dirty sounding rap. Yeah, just couldn't ever truly enjoy that either...

Then here was an issue I've always had. I'm not so patient when it comes to finding new music. I have to love the first few beats of a song in order to listen through it all and decide by the end if I like it or not. Then, when I want to hear a new band I've heard is popular, or give some artists whom I've read about a try, I never know where to start. It's like if I didn't start following them from their first single or album, then I never know how to start listening to them, their albums, or their different style of tunes. I'm trying to work on that.

People just start telling or showing me new stuff to listen to. It's easier, haha. Like recently, I was introduced to the beautifully and mysterious lyrics and notes of Josh Ritter. He is actually from my neck of the woods in Northern Idaho, and yet I had never heard him until I moved to Alabama for the fall. Strange I know. I'm starting to expand my musical taste and branch out to artists I may, just naturally and not intending to, skip over on my pandora playlists or my other music "rooms."
Like I said before, I really don't mind listening to anything, but all at the same time, I tend to stick with just one thing for a while until I finally get bored and find something new. I also am one of those people who if I hear, and have a new favorite song, I won't play it on repeat, however I will play it probably every 5 songs or so for a few days, because if it's that good, then I just can't get enough!! Until I really have had enough and it does finally get old after I've played it a thousand times. ;)

My iPod: I'm all about the playlists. I rarely (but more now, than before) just go to one artist or album and play through just those songs. What I do is make a new playlist whenever I want to make a new mix pertaining to the particular mood I'm feeling. And so becomes the bountiful long list of my playlists-mixes that are everything from "something to sleep to" that consists of some Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, and some other slow, soft and "sleepy time" songs. My "chill Space" consists of some Coldplay, Owl City, Michelle Branch, Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz. My "time for a shower" mixes (no worries, they have code names ;) break out the *sing your pretty little shampooed covered heart out* to Train, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift, Mika, Katy Perry, or other top hits you can bust a move to, while singing all the lyrics, of course. ;) Most of those are doubled in my party or super happy upbeat playlists as well. My "Going to Big Ben" list are songs I was currently enjoying while wishing I was able to board a plane to Great Britain for a few weeks or more. Grace Potter, Folk Implosion, Florence + the Machine, Lou Barlow and Kings of Leon all were apart of that occasion.

Christian music has me one week, and then looses me the next. There are some great Christian artists out there and some songs I truly love. But there are also a lot that sound all the same. So my Christian music comes in more worship like. I love Tenth Avenue North, and I used to dance to Toby Mac on a dance team (don't judge. That stuff was great to do our poor version of hip hop! Haha I always dreamed I'd one day become a dancer for T.M's crew! *sigh*) anyways, worship like songs are wonderful, and I cherish them. But my musical taste in general, doesn't count here. Lol

"Save the Last Dance for Me" please, Mr. Buble! Like I said on twitter last month, "Oh how the sweet tunes of Frank, Gene, Fred, Ray, Bing, Louis & George make my heart glad. '"They can't take that away from me.."' <3 #Music." That stuff never gets old! It's incredibly romantic and pure guinness of lyrics!

My parents grew up to the sounds of Motown. And from that, I did too. My dad still hasn't moved much further down the road from that era. My childhood memories are full of him singing to The Four Tops, Temptations, Supremes, Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder, and of course the amazing Beatles. I still listen to all of it, of course.

My taste in the classical round, is sad to say, low and almost too small to notice. I really do love the classical instrumentals and that's most likely due to my 8ish years of Ballet. However, I never listened to anything on my own and that should have been changed long ago. So there is another sort I'm trying to get myself to study more of.

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, and considering the date on my calendar, Christmas music is an all time favorite of mine! Probably because Christmas itself is my most favorite time of year! The snow, the families, the romance, the special moments and excitement by all, are all just the decorations on my Christmas tree of why Christmas music is so darn wonderful. It's enchanting. It's classic. It reminds you of years past and years to come, traditions, and memories. It's pure happiness and joy to my ears. Ok, yeah, I know not everyone loves Christmas music like I do. Some hate it. And some don't want to be reminded like that. But I'm just sharing why my love for it seems to grow a little more every year.

May I just say, Spotify and my new friend, Winn Carroll, surly both have lit this "listen to more than the radio has to offer" fire inside me lately.. Thanks to a world that is so easy to do so!
There is just a small hearing to the radio of my life. Anyone interested in sharing their favs?? I'm all ears ;)

Below: my current favorite song. :)

And then the interns got hit on. . .

A Vera Wang wedding dress worn by a stunning Thai (i think..) doctor, and a handsome cutie of a (catholic) groom, put the "cherry on top" on a great wedding. The families were very, very sweet, and there was even a 10 week old puppy for pictures!

When we thought the groomsmen might get carried away drinking *before* the ceremony, we didn't realize our problem would be on the bridesmaids. Tell me, if you are in the wedding, and you know the party is after the ceremony at the reception, then why bring multiple bottles of champagne to the photo session especially when no one has eaten anything all day?? Well, it didn't go too badly, besides no one being on time for pictures. But they were asking for a lot worse. But seriously, if you are asked to be a member of a wedding, it's about the bride and groom. You are there as a witness, and an encouragement, and you really need to learn and remember where you need to be at exactly what time, and how you need to be prepared. People these days think its ok to arrive a half hour late to rehearsal, or arrive to pictures and disappear to the bathroom to finish your hair and chit chat away.. Seriously? This is not about you.

One other thing I realized tonight. Unless you have a dance floor covered in people who are dancing, it's probably best to not play the super dirty sexy songs. Because it's awkward when you play one, and there are only three (probably drunk) bridesmaids on the dance floor trying to "shake their thang." I guess I could say, you could just not play those songs altogether (and I mean I'm talking the really dirty songs), but there are people who like and want some of them played, but hopefully paying for a good dj means paying for good discernment.

Also not a good idea: using sparklers. I have to admit, they are beautiful in pictures. But scary to get a big group of people, who have been drinking, to try and light them, and then shake them at the newlyweds coming through a cloud of sparks and smoke. And then trying to distinguish them all. Note to self: when the drunks throw the still sparkling sparklers *towards* the water buckets, but not *into* be careful when trying to pick them up. And make sure, especially in the dark, that you are not picking up the wrong end...... :( (ouch.)

Ok that was a lot of downers.. The wedding was good, it really was. Little issues here and there, but altogether it went pretty well, and the couple seemed very happy. Which is the important part. I wasn't at the church during the ceremony, but I take it everything went just fine.

One thing I've started to see more of: using the bridesmaids bouquets as table centerpieces, or some part of decoration for the reception. Since flowers are very expensive, it's not a bad idea to coordinate it to where anything from the ceremony can be transferred to the reception to decorate two places with one work of art.

The reception was a party, but there were quite a few people who left pretty early on. It was a late wedding though. I mean to have a 40 min long catholic ceremony starting at 7pm, and not doing pictures till after, does make for a late night for everyone involved. Uh well, I'm sleeping in in the morning! ;) goodnight!