Category Archives: Alabama

Alabama Beaches

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manateeWhen you think of Alabama, you probably don’t think of manatees, do you? Well, you should. A fourth-grade class in Mobile has proposed the gentle giant, which has been showing up lately in coastal rivers and waterways, be named Alabama’s state marine mammal. In fact, my state is going all beachy this year with its new license tag that replaces the previous “Stars Fell Alabama state license plateOver Alabama” design, which, ironically, I always thought looked like a T-shirt you’d buy at the beach. I love this new tag and can’t wait until it’s my turn to get one. I always have bought a “Helping Schools” tag before but I think this time I’ll go with the standard tag and simply give the school of my choice $25 directly. Some folks in non-beachy Alabama aren’t happy with this emphasis on sun and sand, but I’m all for it. Our 50 miles of Gulf coastline is some of the most beautiful anywhere, and if you get manatees thrown in as a bonus, who could resist? Not me. There are only 6 1/2 hours between me and that gorgeous white sand, but for the times I can’t get there — like, sadly, now and most times — at least I’ll be able to look at my license tag.

Photography

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Danielle McCann PhotographyThese photos were taken by a young woman who’s starting her photography Danielle McCann Photographybusiness in Florence, Alabama, and I am so impressed both with her and her talent. Danielle McCann was friends with both my daughters when they were all in high school together — she and my older daughter were in the same class and she and my younger daughter shared the same goofy sense of humor. Since then, Danielle has started her professional photography business, gotten married and had a baby daughter who’s about the same age as my older daughter’s son. In fact, the two mommies have decided on an eventual arranged marriage between the kids and prepared the two families to become in-laws. Danielle snapped these shots when the babies had a play date together recently. Even though they’re just casual shots she didn’t set up, her talent and creativity show through. I’m so proud of these young people who have drive and determination and ambition, mixed with strong doses of integrity and optimism. When I look at my daughters and their friends and the stability and values they believe in, I know the future’s in good hands. Go to Danielle’s blog at http://dmccannphotography.blogspot.com/.

Baby Showers

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Baby giftsI love getting baby-shower invitations, because who doesn’t Baby showersall adore all those sweet tiny baby things? And I would never express a preference for baby-girl things over baby-boy things because I’m having so much fun shopping for my precious 11-month-old grandson, but there’s just Baby giftssomething about little and pink and frilly that makes us grown women go sort of silly. We can’t help it. And guests got a delightful dose of that baby-girl femininity this past weekend at a shower for the daughter of a friend of mine. So much Baby shower decorationsfun! As much as I like to be sophisticated and grownup —  no, really, I do —  I cannot resist miniature pink baby buggys filled with candy. And one of the best things about baby showers in my Alabama town is shopping at the Baby’s Room, our local baby store. Expectant moms go there to pick out shower presents, parents-to-be shop there for nursery furniture and giddy grandmas go there to buy those gorgeous and impractical outfits only grandmas can get away with. Plus, I love the way the Baby’s Room folks do gift registries: You’re assigned a cubicle and you physically put what you’d like in your cubicle. Friends and family members shopping for you get to see and touch and feel your choices before deciding. (Coming in and perusing the cubicles is also a good way to keep up with who’s pregnant.) The best part of Baby’s Room shopping? The free and beautiful gift-wrapping. Actually the best part is that the Baby’s Room owners and staff make you feel special just for coming in. That’s the way shopping used to — and should —  be. Check it out at http://www.thebabysroomstore.com/.

Snow and Paul Harvey

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SnowBreaking news! It’s snowing in Alabama!!! We don’t get winter very Snowoften around here, but the weather folks were right this time. It’s a soft and lazy couple inches right now but supposed to get worse as temps stay below freezing and the snow continues all morning. I took these photos on our back deck looking into the backyard where earlier this week we were sitting out on the deck enjoying a glass of wine and some wonderfully Snowwarm temperatures. Now we’ve got a “major winter storm.” I know, I know — for all y’all used to blizzards and snow drifts and  shoveling your car out of the driveway these are Snowpictures of spring-like weather, but believe me this is big-time Southern winter. And we love it! Makes me want to hunker down, bring in more firewood or, really, turn the logs on and make another pot of coffee. It does not make me want to find some snow boots and mittens and a scarf and a jacket and go out tramping around. I love snow. It’s beautiful and wonderful — and best viewed through a window. Which is why my part in ski vacations is to stay warm and dry at the bottom of the slopes and nod and applaud enthusiastically as family members shoosh on by: “Good job! Nice run! Way to go!” I’m really good at that.

If you’re stuck inside today, be sure to read about Paul Harvey, who died on Saturday. Back in the early 1980s when I was a newbie newspaper reporter, I was thrilled — absolutely thrilled — when Paul Harvey read on air a story of mine AP had picked up on this new phenomenon of Elvis Presley impersonators. I focused on a young boy — I think he was 6 or 7 — who was making a local name for himself by donning a white sparkling jumpsuit and belting out “You Ain’t Nothing But a Hound Dog.” Thank you for that, Mr. Harvey. You never knew what you meant to a young journalist in east Tennessee. Read more about this influential man at http://www.abcrn.com/harvey/.

Consignment Store

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Name that store! Here is your chance to have a hand in a new business opening up in Sheffield, Alabama — and your chance to help a friend of mine. My talented and creative friend Susan and her talented and creative daughter-in-law, Freda, are opening a furniture and home-decor consignment shop. They can’t decide on a name for it and need y’all’s thoughts. Here are the two choices they’re considering: Repeat Street and Upscale Resale. They like them both equally and so are sort of stuck in the middle. Or maybe you’ve got something better. They’re open to all suggestions. What do you think? They want as many ideas as they can get so please poll your friends and pass this along so they can get lots of input. Vote here in the comments or e-mail me at cathylwood@gmail.com by Wednesday night– and then, of course, you’ve got to plan a trip to Sheffield to see their shop. Knowing them, it will be fabulous.

Update: Looks as if Upscale Resale is winning. Thanks to all for your help! Susan and Freda don’t need to make a decision until Wednesday night, so there’s still time to chime in if you’d like.

Update No. 2: Upscale Resale it is! I think cyber-voting is the way to go now when it comes to naming new businesses. Anybody else got something that needs naming???

Friendship

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Dinner with friends

If you’re like me, your friendships with your girlfriends are some of your most Shoe shopping with friendsvalued relationships. We are so blessed to have these smart, strong and talented women in our lives. I am in awe of my friends and grateful every day that they let me hang around them: My high-school pals who gratefully have allowed me to grow up and out of my geeky phase, my college roommates who know the real me but love me anyway, the moms I raised my children and many many glasses of wine with, my margarita- and book-loving co-conspirators who can smell a shoe sale from 10 miles away and the wonderful women I continually am privileged to meet and get to know. What would we do without these special people? I recently witnessed once again the healing power of friends and laughter (and shoe shopping, of course) when a friend needed our help preparing for her husband’s funeral. Read about it in my newspaper column, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090220/ARTICLES/902200301. And while you’re at it, you’ve got to read this wonderful piece from national columnist Sharon Randall: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090221/ARTICLES/902210301. It’s her birthday list of life lessons she’s learned so far. And I don’t know her, but from her list I think she’d make a good friend, too.

Fashion

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Billy Reid fashion designerFlorence, Alabama, is a small Southern town known as the home of W.C. Billy Reid fashion designerHandy, Division II football powerhouse University of North Alabama and two famous and successful fashion designers. Natalie Chanin is one of those designers (see yesterday’s post for a look at her newest collection) and the other is — have you guessed it yet? — Billy Reid. Billy was born in Louisiana and grew up in Texas (Florence is his wife’s hometown), and his men’s and women’s clothes are evocative of a gently elegant and quietly genteel Southern way of life. He has stores in New York, Dallas and other cities, but the flagship store is in downtown Florence. It’s in a gorgeous 1833 house called Pickett Place that glows with family antiques and photographs — well worth the trip to Florence just to wander around and admire. Like his friend Natalie, Billy always is friendly and gracious — they both have that Southern way of making you feel they’ve waited all day just for the chance to talk to you. They each see their work not only as businesses but as connections for reaching out and reminding others of the art and food and history and craft that’s around every street corner and county road in Alabama — and your hometown, too. Check out Billy’s Web site at http://www.billyreid.com.

And if you’re like me and have to enjoy New York’s Fashion Week vicariously, check out these Web sites: Vogue’s http://www.style.com/ for photos and complete coverage of each show (don’t forget The Sartorialist for photos of off-the-runway fashion); http://www.nytimes.com/pages/fashion/index.html for intelligent discussion and background; and http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/ for the Fugly Girls’ signature and hilarious snarkiness. But we laugh because it’s true.

Fashion

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Alabama ChaninI always forget that I know an honest-to-goodness bona fide famous fashion designer. Actually, I know two. These are normal-looking regular people whom you can see any day walking around my small Alabama town, yet they’ve got fashion awards and magazine and newspaper spreads from around the world. And they know the Vogue folks by first names. Cool! I usually just think of these two as extra-nice people who are so sweet to always say “hello,” but when New York’s Fashion Week rolls around, I remember how special they really are.

The first is Natalie Chanin. She’s the owner and designer of Alabama Chanin, a company in Florence, Alabama that creates handmade one-of-a-kind clothing and home decor. Under Natalie’s direction, local artisans — many of them former textile workers who lost their jobs as the mills closed — use recycled and organic as well as new materials to make these breathtakingly whimsical works of fiber art. Natalie has the soul of an artist combined with the practical good sense of a business owner. And she’s not greedy — she shares! She’s written a lovely and inspiring book with instructions for several of her signature projects (“Alabama Stitch Book”) and regularly holds hands-on workshops where she passes on her secrets. She’s a vibrant part of the community and throws an everybody’s-invited picnic and open house every year. Go to her Web site, http://ad.dev.alabamachanin.com, where you can see more photos from her latest collection, learn more of her story and even order your own Alabama Chanin original.

Tomorrow: Who’s the other famous fashion designer living in Florence, Alabama? Come back and find out!

Valentine’s Day Gifts

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See's Red Satin HeartSee's best Valentine's candyForget eggs Benedict and mimosas — the contents of a See’s Candies Red Satin Heart make the best Valentine’s breakfast. Ever. My favorites are the lemon and raspberry truffles, the luscious and buttercreamy Bordeauxs and the milk molasses chips. Yes, indeedy. I’m telling you that See’s is the most-accessible best candy ever. Your local mall probably has a See’s kiosk set up this weekend — it’s the one with the six-deep crowd gathered around it today. Be a Valentine to yourself and indulge. Just save the Rum Nougat and the Dark Chocolate Butter for me, please. Visit http://www.sees.com for more.

My son-in-law, a high-school art teacher, is one of the best artists I know. He does pottery, drawings, prints, etchings, Jason Behel artworkJason Behel artworkphotography and just about anything else he decides he wants to explore. He’s a big, bald sort of scary-looking guy who you’d never suspect could create such beautiful and whimsical art work. Such as this Valentine’s Day card he made for his wife/my daughter. He made it from heavy cardstock and treated the outside to resemble a piece of finely worked leatherwork. When you “unlock” it, the card opens to reveal an intricate cutout scene of their little Jason Behel artworkfamily — the two of them and their 10-month-baby who’s also known as Cutest Grandbaby Ever and Capt. Adorable — and a heartfelt message. It made my daughter tear up. And ask him why he’d made her arms so long. A minor detail (and she does sort of have long arms). Anyway, I wish I had a tenth of this talent. Also, I wish that they could move right next door to me and he could spend all his time doing art that would sell for enough money that would make them comfortably happy and they could take care of their families and we could all sit around all day eating See’s candy and being extremely grateful for our good fortune. Also, I wish everybody a happy Valentine’s Day — which seems a little more attainable.

Valentine’s Day

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valentines-day-0161It was Valentine’s elegance when my friend Susan hosted valentines-day-018cooking club. She and her daughter-in-law are the most creative people I know. They excel in using simple everyday items in innovative ways. Like these table decorations. Mixed in with the shiny heart garlands are vintage costume jewelry and clear goblets filled with water and topped with upside-down silver Christmas-tree balls for some metallic reflection.They then tied everything together with valentines-day-020red and white linens. And see those white cards on the table? Those were our place cards. Susan had written “What I love about you …” descriptions for each of us. We had to read them all and guess which one went to which person. Fun, fun, fun! Valentine’s touches were valentines-day-025everywhere, like the red ribbon Susan tied around the cake stand to highlight the heart-topped petit fours. Now, I know that up North petit fours are what y’all call those little torte-like cakes, but here in the South (well, at least my part of it), petit fours are tiny two-bite-sized cupcakes with melt-in-your-mouth icing decorated with colors and themes of your choice. The best come from Victorian Tea Room in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. No occasion around here is complete unless there are Victorian Tea Room petit fours. Visit http://www.victoriantearoomcatering.com, tell them Cathy sent you and you valentines-day-030valentines-day-0191might talk them into shipping you some. Susan even gave us extras in the Valentine’s candy boxes she gave us that also has miniature fudgy brownies and heart-shaped mini pink chocolate-chip cookies. Almost too pretty to eat. Almost. She got the boxes at our local big-box arts and crafts store, but almost everything else was what she had on hand. We were all impressed and felt special and pampered. We also immediately assured our newest member most of our cooking-club meetings are not like this. In fact, when it’s at my house everyone’s just happy I remember to vacuum up the cat hair. But we’re glad we’ve got people like Susan to show us how it should be done.