current obsessions {volume 6}

first of all, are all my birmingham people doing well?! we've had another round of storms sweep through, spawning tornadoes and some nasty weather. fortunately, the birmingham area itself seems to have received minimal damage, and all is well on my end. having these storms arrive around the april 27th, 2011 anniversary was no fun, and i know it caused everyone a lot more heartache than necessary. last night was supposed to be round 2, but we just got a little rain! thank goodness that's over.

here's what i've been loving lately!

01. bracelets from ann taylor + stella & dot - my mother was sweet enough to give me these as a sort of easter present. she knows my tastes - hey, because it's pretty much her taste. these are all i've been wearing lately.

02. birmingham print by evelyn henson - is this not the most adorable thing?! i had to have it! i'd like to put it in a bigger frame & mat it but this will do for now. it looks so cute in my bedroom.

03. railroad park - i spent 3 afternoons after work here last week, plus a saturday evening picnic. the weather is just perfect. laying out here on a blanket is my new favorite thing. plus, after the sun sets, you can walk over to the 18th street light rails.

what are your current obsessions?

birmingham spotlight: icebox coffee

disclosure: icebox coffee provided me with some of their delicious coffee in hopes that i choose to review it on floral frocks. i am not being compensated for this review aside from the coffee itself. i only write about or recommend products i enjoy and feel my readers would enjoy as well. and uh, as you'll see in this review, i am totally obsessed with this stuff.

am i a coffee snob? i wouldn't say so. but in recent years i've become more aware of different types of coffee and what i prefer. i enjoy my cream and coffee syrups - i'm not a straight up sugar kinda gal. i also consistently prefer iced coffee over hot coffee. hot coffee is for when you're in a rush. iced coffee is for a spring evening on the porch.

i was browsing the pepper place market website when i came across a company called icebox coffee. y'all, my heart skipped a beat! i immediately stalked their website and social media and decided i need to get my hands on this stuff, one way or another.

icebox coffee can be enjoyed hot or cold, and is created via the delicious cold brew method. coffee grounds are steeped in water overnight and then strained to yield beautiful, rich and perfectly smooth coffee that is to die for! i took one sip of this stuff, set down my cup and said, "wow, that's deadly." now there is ok coffee, there is acceptable coffee, but icebox falls into the "damn good" category. i mixed it up with some caramel syrup and cream and it tasted like a milkshake - smooth, full of flavor and rich in just the right ways.

started by bebe goodrich, a new orleans native with extensive cold brewing history and experience, icebox coffee has brought authentic cold brew flavor to the birmingham area since 2012. and man oh man, is it good. i had the pleasure of speaking with bebe on the phone and getting to know more about the business and how she got started, and the story is truly fascinating. icebox coffee grew from her garage to a full fledged brewing operation happening in downtown birmingham. thanks to its popularity, icebox coffee has expanded and can be purchased in alabama, tennessee, texas, georgia, virginia, north and south carolina, and online!

with birmingham bloggers taking off, i've really become focused on local businesses and how to best utilize BB to interact with all things birmingham. supporting the incredible startups and resources we have right here in town has become a passion of mine, and icebox coffee is a perfect example of a local business that is well on its way to the top.

i'm off to purchase the 32 ounce new orleans blend because i've already polished off the 16 ounce bottle. oops. hello, new addiction.

y'all check out icebox coffee at www.iceboxcoffee.com, and give them a follow on twitter! also, check out the list of vendors at pepper place market, you never know what you'll find. go birmingham!

instagram diary - springtime journeys

maybe i've had a little too much of a good time for the past 2 weeks (the gym is calling my name, i'll just put it that way). i've been happily exploring some new birmingham spots, revisting my old favorite (hello j. clyde!) and spending time with my family. my parents & grandparents came up on friday, and we trekked over to collins bar (new obsession) & el barrio. saturday, we ventured to pepper place farmer's market, followed by red cat for coffee. next, lunch at slice, followed by an afternoon at avondale brewery for black warrior riverkeeper's earthfest. aaaand finally, dinner at vino in mountain brook. this was my first time at vino and i was thoroughly impressed. see? what a birmingham-tastic weekend. (yeah, my parents did still get me a chocolate bunny for easter. never too old).

birmingham bloggers has seen a great turn out, and i'm hoping to organize a meetup in may. if all goes as planned, i'll have those details sorted by the time the april end-of-the-month newsletter reaches member inboxes. exciting!

lemon squares: a springtime dessert

i love baking for the seasons. as soon as springtime hits, i'm thinking of light, fluffy, fruity stuff - though i'll take a cupcake year round. i remember my mother making these lemon squares, and had to ask her for the recipe. i'm not entirely sure where it came from aside from my grandmother - possibly southern living? - but she scanned the little card & sent it to me. cute right?

this recipe is incredibly simple, gooey, buttery, tart and delicious. they're a perfect spring or summertime dessert, and probably would taste even better on a picnic or at an outdoor party. so, just in case you cannot read my mother's handwriting, you'll need:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 2 cups unsifted flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 & 3/4 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup flour

01. preheat your oven to 350 degrees. combine the first 3 ingredients with an electric mixer. this forms a sort of dough that will be your crust. press the dough into the bottom of a baking pan. (sizes? who needs sizes?)

02. bake the crust for 20 minutes. while it bakes, whip up your lemon mixture.

03. combine eggs, sugar, lemon juice, baking powder and flour with an electric mixer. once your crust has baked, pour mixture on top and bake an additional 25 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. when it's cool, sprinkle confectioner's sugar on top. enjoy!

what are your favorite springtime recipes?

color me rad! tips & tricks

this weekend i did the color me rad 5k run, and it was incredible! such a fun, casual experience and a great workout to boot (our course was tough!). my brother, colin, did the race with me, and we had a blast. i've been in plenty of races, but never one like this, so i wasn't entirely sure what to expect. i won't spoil the whole process for you, but here are some tips & tricks if you're planning on running color me rad:

01. put your cell phone in a ziploc bag - yes! do not forget this! you'll definitely want to take photos before, after and maybe even during the race, but keep your phone safe wrapped in a bag, tucked away in a pack or pocket.

02. don't even think twice about not wearing sunglasses - as annoying as they can be to run in, definitely wear your own pair of shades or rock the ones provided to you. when the color comes at your face, the last place you want it is in your eyes.

03. don't worry too much about buying extra "color bombs" - i found there was plenty of color to go around without spending extra cash.

04. shower right after - i'm not sure what hanging around in dyed cornstarch can do, but i immediately threw my pants in the washer (i didn't even bother with the shirt - it got sacrificed to the color gods, i guess) and found there to be no issues. everything came off in one shower, surprisingly!

have you ever run in a themed 5k?

birmingham bloggers, where y'all at?

since moving to birmingham, i've discovered so much in the blogging world that i was blind to before. we've got an amazing number of bloggers here, and in tuscaloosa too! i have put so much thought into how to best bring these groups together, and i've been wishing for a site, a facebook group, something that put everyone in one place.

we've got the wonderful social media conference y'all connect, in addition to see jane write birmingham - but i want a more casual group with an identifying badge, something bloggers would be able to join. because when you google birmingham bloggers, not much comes up!

i've worked with beth of bethcakes and molly of hey there sunshine and we've finally got a site together! it would mean the world to us if you checked it out, filled out the join form and helped us move this community forward! we can't wait to start hosting events, having monthly meetups, helping one another and making new friends!

follow us on twitter (@bhambloggers), 'like' our facebook page, & visit bhambloggers.com!

post grad tales: cooking

did you make it through college without having to cook? if so, congratulations. i don't know how you did it, and frankly, i'm impressed.

being comfortable in the kitchen isn't something we've all been bestowed with. for some, growing up involved parents or someone else making food, and kids staying out of it. for others, food and cooking were a natural process. either way, once you're "on your own", so to speak, you've gotta feed yourself, right?

this list is more so targeted to those who have little to zero kitchen experience. i've heard many peers say, "i don't know how to cook, and it's so scary to me!" but i am here to assure you it's not. it only takes a very basic level of familiarity to begin experimenting and eyeballing ingredients.

• try it! fortunately, cooking doesn't get much simpler than that. while some recipes are more daunting, there are tons and tons of resources and simple to follow dishes that can get you started. looking for a quick lunch? try this pasta salad recipe. you don't even have to turn on your oven. start with easy recipes to get comfortable in the kitchen. bookmark or print the ones you enjoy, and begin building your own "cookbook" for future reference.
• invest in a slow cooker. if you don't have one of these, get one. now. i mean it. get up, and go get one. they're as cheap as $15, so most any budget can accommodate one. buy a pack of chicken breasts or pork, cover it in bbq sauce, turn it on 'low' when you leave for work and when you come home, you'll have instant bbq for dinner. slow cooker recipes are simple and endless.
• invite a friend over for dinner. if you don't feel too kitchen savvy, invite a friend over to cook with you. whether this friend is skilled in the kitchen or not, you'll have a great experience bouncing ideas off one another - and laughing about how you have no idea how to tell when pasta is done. the meal could be bleh, it could be delicious, but either way, you're getting yourself kitchen acquainted.
• plan your meals + make a schedule. start off each sunday by deciding what sounds yummy for the week, and pick up the ingredients. if you're just starting out in the kitchen, make it a goal to cook 2 nights a week. if you're cooking for one, each meal should provide leftovers for lunches on other days.

the recipe pictured above is for mandarin orange chicken, found here.

this is a blog series on college post-grad life. click here to navigate to the list of posts in the series.