Homewood & A Very Happy Birthday

Today is my dear hubby's birthday (Happy 48th Birthday, dear Peter...he loves to tease me about being 50 already, the brat!). Working Girl was busy last night making his favorite chocolate cake. I cheated & bought a yellow box cake, but made the frosting from scratch. This is his favorite cake. We'll celebrate tonight with his mom & grandma & have New York style pizza, salad, & this wonderful chocolate cake. It's been an eating frenzy this week....keep reading.

Thank you all so much for your well wishes on my new job! I appreciate it SO much. My first week has been a whirlwind & things are going well! I'm really enjoying the job & I think I will really settle in & be very happy there. That breakfast I mentioned was Thursday & OMIGOSH...was it wonderful. The mother of one of the guys in the office wanted to bring breakfast to all of us & she did a fantastic job with it all. I heard she really enjoys baking & did she have a spread....homemade quiche, mini pecan muffins (which we all LOVED & want the recipe), huge fruit tray, roll-up sandwiches, bagels, biscuit & sausage, pound cake, & coconut cake. It was more like brunch & we all thoroughly enjoyed it. I asked them if we were going to get this every week...cause I love to eat! :)

To celebrate my new job last week, I met up with Tricia & Sandy (2 of my empty nester girlfriends) & they took me to lunch at a great place called Prairie Fire Grill (had fabulous crab cake salads & the most delicious bread pudding for dessert). I should have taken pics! Then we went to Homewood for the afternoon. Homewood is another older part of Birmingham that is very charming, fun to shop, & a great place to hang out with the girls. I now work 5 minutes from here, so will be able to get out at lunch & browse if I want to. It's very charming with old fashioned type shops. You park on the street, like the old days and walk around. Just like we used to shop back when towns were smaller & we had main streets or squares with lots of neat shops...remember that? Yes, before malls were born. Don't get me started on malls.
These 2 shops are my favorite down here: At Home & Harmony Landing
These are 2 houses we passed in the neighborhood. This is a very desirable neighborhood to live it, because it's so close to downtown B'ham. Also pricey!
Aren't these cute Spanish bungalows?

This is inside the At Home store. They have all sorts of furniture, accessories, light fixtures, dishes & glassware...all sorts of things for the home. They are more rustic in feel.
Some pretty pieces of furniture & lamps.
Table settings done very creatively & colorfully.
A bed is all made up for showing.
Basket of pretty turquoise balls. I picked these up, but never figured out what they are made of.

Lamps in a vignette.
Tricia (L) & Sandy (R), two very sweet gals that I've met since I moved here. Can you believe that Tricia is 60?! I was in shock when she had her birthday in the spring & told us her age. She looks fantastic. She will probably kill me for telling her age, but I can't get over it.
Me & Sandy...ooooo, that's a bad pic of me (my hair is not cooperating this month!). Sandy & I are the same height, but she's a skinny little thing, about 2 sizes smaller than me. Check out her arms, she does competitive water-skiing & that girl has some strong arms & legs...and a tan all the time. She's from CA & just moved here last year. I think she's had to adjust to the South just a little bit. Frontdoor of Harmony Landing.
They sell rugs by the foot.

More beautiful vignettes.
Garden accessories & florals. They make custom florals, very pretty.
More florals
Entry table with florals & lamps.
Cupboard.

Another store out on the sidewalk. This is a rustic lodge store.
Three Sheets is a really nice linen/bedding shop.
Lamp repair shop. This store is crammed full of lamps & lamp parts.
Soho Sweets.
So cute inside & they have homemade ice cream. Yummy!

Hope you enjoyed the tour of Homewood. It's a fun place to shop too so if you get a chance...GO! This is not the place for bargains, but a great place to look.

We are having a major heatwave this week (over 100 everyday this week). September can't get here soon enough for me!