Birmingham Restaurant Review - Ovenbird

After my graduation our family took us out to eat. Dinner was my pick, so I chose a new restaurant who's Instagram photos had me drooling. And since it was a celebration, it was a little more upscale than we normally eat, and I loved every bite. The restaurant is tucked away in the garden corner of Pepper Place.

Ovenbird specializes in tapas (small plates to share)  and dishes that are cooked over an open fire, inspired by South American cooking. It is owned by Chris Hastings - one of Birmingham's most well known chefs at the Hot and Hot Fish Club. This seems to be a restaurant he can express his talents in a more modern way, but still clings to Southern cuisine. Everything was incredibly flavorful, and as delicious as it was beautifully presented. The live fire cooking style and the spices used in most of the dishes, even down to the simplest carrots, gave everything a deep and smokey flavor. I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Deviled eggs with romesco (pepper sauce)

Beef fat candle (basically the drippings from the best beef roast your grandmama could ever make.)

 (Alabama Shrimp and Clams)

(Grilled Octopus - Jesse's pick)

(Pork belly with Swiss chard and and zucchini)

(Beef Shoulder with sweet potato)

(Roasted Chicken)

(the best carrots I've ever eaten)

(Burnt Espresso Cream)

It was so nice to share this meal with our parents- although I think the menu and restaurant style was a little intimidating to them. :) There were a couple more dishes on the table that I didn't photograph, including my own dinner (!!!) which was Rockfish and summer vegetables in a delicious broth. Every bite of everyone's meal was delicious (and yes, I tried them all).

We would definitely go back here! Their menu changes with the season and what is fresh that week, so I'm sure there is always something new to try. 

Overall Rating:

Summer Favorites

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6

Summer is in full swing in these parts, with our 100 degree daily temps. And while sweating is not my forte, I do enjoy this season. We've been spending the evenings in the park walking or playing a round of disc golf, and we are looking forward to #6 on this list this weekend!

This zip up blanket is rather toddler-mom of me, but it's been handy even without kiddos! It has replaced towels at the beach because it's much larger and easier to shake off the sand. Birmingham has several movies in the park over the summer, and this is perfect to grab and go.

I purchased these Teva sandals a few years ago and every summer I think, "These are my all-time favorite shoes." Many of you are Chaco's fans, and while I can't speak to Chaco, these Teva's are excellent! They are super comfortable, great for the outdoors, dry easily, and I like the adjustable velcro straps across the width of the toes. And while they are definitely outdoor shoes, they aren't so grubby that I don't wear them with some casual outfits.

The IT Cosmetics CC Cream is pretty fabulous. I've wanted to find some makeup that wasn't as full coverage as my normal foundation to wear on more relaxed days when a "full face" is not necessary. Or in situations, like at the beach or hiking, which is why I love the SPF 50 in this formula! I received a sample, but was immediately sold, so I'll look into purchasing this soon.

When thinking about sunny, summer days I have to put a plug in for your eyes! Protect them from from the sun too with UV protective sunglasses. I'd also always recommend polarized lenses for your sunnies, like my Maui Jims. I've had my prescription Maui's since working in optical in college, and they are some of the best money I've ever spent! If you're a glasses only wearer, I'd highly suggest a pair of Rx'd sunglasses from your optometrist - you will love and cherish them!

I am all about the sunscreen to protect my fair skin, but I'd like a little summer glow too! My favorite sunless tan is Tanwise Foaming Mouse. It applies well, doesn't have an orange tint, and it doesn't have that typical fake tan smell. You'll want a mitt to apply it, and work fast!

Okay, this last one is a bit much, but Jesse recently got us this inflatable kayak and it's been a blast! He's had his eye on one of these for quite a while now, researching as usual. Neither of our cars are capable of transporting a "real" kayak, so this works great for us. It fits in the trunk, then we spend a few minutes pumping it up, and we're good to go! It paddles more like a canoe, but we did push the limits by putting 4 people in it while on the lake at Oak Mountain. We will try it again just the two of us before taking it down the river.

New Beauty Favorites - Round 3

A new beauty product here and there helps keep me sane. I realized I haven't posted any beauty favorites since November, and I have a few to share with you. (see previous beauty-related posts HERE and HERE)

1. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle - Reviews of this product are floating around Pinterest, which is where I saw it first. It's raved about as a cheap deep conditioner that works great, and I have to agree. I've only used it once, because it's something I will probably use once a week or so when my hair feels really dry. You apply it after shampoo in the shower then leave it on for 3 minutes to do it's magic, then rinse. My hair felt SO soft afterwards and smelled amazing. A little like a tropical vacation (no complaints there)!  It weighed my hair down some the day of application, but was back to normal after another morning's shower, however its effects are long-lasting!

2.  Freeman Anti-Stress Face Mask - For a spa feeling at home use one of these Freeman masks (also very affordable). Many of them have great reviews. I chose the Anti-Stress Mask which is supposed to "balance moisture while purging clogged pores."  I'm not sure if it does all of that, but it feels refreshing as you apply it. You wait for it to dry, then wash it off with warm water. My skin felt smooth and refreshed afterwards. It was a little drying in places, so I followed with moisturizer.

3. Elf products - stay tuned! I'm going to write a whole post on this to share my thoughts on these super affordable products!

4.  Tanwise Dark Sunless Tanning Mousse - You can great an excellent review of this product HERE from a blogger who has tried ~40+ sunless tanning products.  As a very white girl who is not risking her fair skin to cancer, I appreciated her trial and error testing of sunless products and was happy to hear the results.  I quickly snagged this recently at Sally's (on sale!).  I am used to a tanning lotion, so applying this mousse was a little difficult just because I was working with a different product. I applied it with a tanning mitt (which I would say is a must with this mousse). I tested it first with just my legs and went a little light over the knee areas and wound up with paler knees (mistake).  The second time I put lotion on my knees and elbows, and it went on without any streaks or splotches. It's color is great - not orange at all, and it barely (barely) has a smell. Most sunless tanners do, but this was is ever so faint and I don't think anyone else would pick up on it as you wear it.

5. Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm - While shopping at Ulta there is always a coupon for $3.50 off of $10 worth of non-highend products, so I used this item as a filler and basically got it for free. My sister-in-law had told me good things about these tinted lip balms, and I've enjoyed having one on hand to put on a little color while moisturizing my lips at the same time. I will reach for this instead of regular chapstick because it moisturizes so well.

6. Laura Mercier Foundation Primer - I mentioned this primer HERE, but haven't gotten back to you on it. I replaced my Benefit stick primer (mentioned here) with this one. I really enjoyed the Benefit primer, but it didn't last very long for the price. I researched and price checked to get the most for my money and decided on the Laura Mercier Primer. I've used it for a couple of months now and have really enjoyed it. It helps my foundation last all day, is not heavy, and only takes a little to cover my whole face, so I expect this tube to last a long time (several months, maybe longer). There are oil-free and moisturizing versions as well, but since I consider my skin to be neither oily or dry (somewhere in between), I went with the basic primer.

New Beauty Favorites

Hello ladies!

Let's have a little beauty chat.  I've added some new products recently to my "arsenal" that I'm kind of in love with.  Most of this stemmed from my recent obsession of watching beauty reviews on Youtube and reading beauty blogs. Along the way I decided to invest in better beauty products than what I was using. I'm not into trying all kinds of new products really, I just want to find the best products for me.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I had replaced my pricier Estee Lauder foundation with Revlon Colorstay, and I also found a great eye liner. Since then I've been in search of a great palette of eye shadow, a primer, and a new moisturizer. Here's what I've found ( + a couple more):

1. Naked Palette (by Urban Decay) - I know, I know. It's all the rage in beauty land to be an owner of this infamous palette. I didn't really care about joining them, but after watching different reviews I realized all the perks this offers. You get such a wide variety of colors here, which I realize are mostly all shades of brown, but that was just what I was looking for. The palette I had prior had 4 neutral/brown shades, and in comparison, the shadows from the Naked palette blend together so much better. I also like that all but two of the colors have shimmer.  And their greatest quality is that they stay in place all day! With other brands I've used I would put it on in the morning and by that night it would nearly be gone. Now, this was definitely a splurge for me (well, really I used a gift card, so it was free-to-me) but it does come with a nice brush and a travel size of Urban Decay's eye primer which works really well.  A little bit goes a LONG way with these shadows because they are so pigmented, so I expect this palette to last a long time.

2. Benefit Primer - Earlier I mentioned my Revlon Colorstay foundation, and while I love it and believe it is one of the best long-wear products out there, by the end of the day it has faded some. It's something to do with my skin, which is not really oily or dry. It just sucks it up or something - but not as bad or as quickly as other foundations I've tried. Not being one to want to keep re-applying makeup throughout the day, I gave this primer a try. People talked about how it's a miracle product and keeps your makeup perfect all day. Not true. Other people say it dries up and makes their makeup look splotchy.  Not true for me. It comes as a stick, and I just draw lines with it all over my freshly-moisturized face and smooth it in with my fingertips. Then I immediately come behind it with foundation on a brush. So if some of the reviews are so bad, why do I like this?  It's a tacky kind of formula, and does grab onto the foundation and keep it on and looking fresh for longer. I definitely notice a difference when I do where it versus days that I don't. I would be willing to try a different primer in the future, but I think I will keep a primer in my makeup bag.

3. CND Vinylux Nail Polish - This polish makes me excited. Apparently it's supposed to be a salon only product, BUT you can buy them on Amazon (and probably other sites).  They come in a large variety of colors, and they are supposed to last for a week.  The key is to use the color and the top coat together, and it will cure in natural lighting, similar to gel-polish. I hate when I paint my nails and the next day they are so chipped it's time to take it off.  With this polish I notice the tips of my nails wear down a little, and occasionally there has been a chip, but overall it's the best polish I've ever used.

4. Simple Daily Moisturizer w/ SPF 15 - Time for a confession. Until recently I've been using the same acne-preventing moisturizer that I've used since... probably high school.  It's cheap, smells good, and I get overwhelmed at all the other options on the aisle, so I would just always buy the same ole same.  But I finally realized that I don't have such a big battle with acne anymore, and this moisturizer wasn't doing much for me. Again, overwhelmed by all of the choices, I spotted the Simple brand.  I've received samples in the mail from them as they were up and coming and liked all of their products so far. I chose their moisturizer with SPF15 for my skin, especially since my foundation doesn't have much sun protection.  This is a big bottle of moisturizer and a little goes a long way!  It has a hint of a sunscreen smell right when you apply it, but that goes away quickly.  It feels smooth and clean, but not greasy or oily. I put it on immediately before primer and foundation, and it doesn't feel thick or heavy under those. Definitely a good choice!  I'm considering getting one of their other options for using at night, since I don't need SPF then.

5. Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Suede LipStick - I picked this up a while back, with a coupon and some kind of deal I'm sure. I love this stuff. The color shown above is the color I have (Backstage), and it's quite bold but a pretty fall color. What makes this great is that it goes on like a normal lipstick or lip butter, but seconds after it kind of dries up into a stain. So you have to make sure it's in all the places you want it to be, but none you don't want it to be, and then you're good to go! The color stays on for hours and doesn't transfer much to napkins (or husbands. ;)  ).  I usually like to keep some chapstick around, or another lipstick, to apply over it after an hour or so because it can feel a little dry (like you can't rub your lips together smoothly) and to give it some shine.

If you have any questions for me about these products, please comment below.  You can also share your favorites!  Have you found any tried and true beauty products that you love?

Favorite Things - Kitchen Edition #2

I'm back with another edition of Favorite Things - Round 2 of kitchen accessories! You can read the first edition HERE.  This was also where I confessed my, possibly unnatural, love of kitchen tools and gadgets. I've noticed there are several other things I use fairly frequently that I could rave about. So here is an additional list to add to the other six.

Wilton Verona pan - we registered for Wilton baking pans and sheets for our wedding and received most of them. For some reason I didn't think to get a 9x13 baking pan; you know the most common one to have. I was in TJMaxx [or HomeGoods...one of those] one day and came across the pan you see above. It looked nice, the price seemed right, and I had needed a 9x13 pan (read: family sized box of brownies...for the two of us), so home it came and I fell in love.  For two reasons: 1) the handles - if you bake something that rises up high you won't smash it by taking it out of the oven  2) it is the most non-stick pan I've ever used! I have forgotten to grease the pan several times when makes cake-type recipes and it comes out clean every time. I had to do a bit of Googling because I couldn't remember the "special" name of this Wilton pan. I had never heard of this "special" Verona line of Wilton pans before, or since. On researching for this post I discovered many sizes are available on Amazon!

2. Pineapple Slicer - this handy tool got it's own post HERE, so I'll let you read up on that in case you missed it and save you from more rambling if you didn't.

3. Juicer bowl - I saw a sweet juicer bowl similar to the one above in a magazine recently for over $100. I'm not sure who pays that much to juice a lemon every now and then, but they should feel ashamed of themselves. I thought it was sweet and cute though, so when I found one at Ross for 3 bucks I thought I found a steal. This is completely unnecessary, as you can squeeze a lemon with only one hand, but it does get more juice out than I usual do, and you can strain the seeds out, and you can pour all that you've juiced into a measuring cup to make sure you have enough for your recipe without losing any in the process. (See how I did that? Justification of $3 right there.)

4. Cookie Scoop - this gadget happens to be from Pampered Chef because it was given to me by my sweet sister, Kristi. (Who is a Pampered Chef rep, so if you'd like your own cookie scoop or other items go HERE to order or contact her!)  I'm not sure how I made cookies before I had this. It just makes it so easy to place the dough on the sheet, and it results in "perfectly" shaped and uniform cookies.  Pampered Chef sells a small (1Tbspn), medium (2Tbspn), and large (3Tbspn) scoop. I have the medium size and think it works great for a good-sized cookie.  I'd like to have them all one day though. I could see where the small would be better for maybe making cookies for a large crowd or party where there is lots of food, so the cookies are only a few bites. I know my sister-in-law, Heidi, likes to use hers for filling her cupcake tins so that they are all filled to the same height and result in uniform, domed cupcakes. They are sold elsewhere, but I can vouch for the quality of these Pampered Chef scoops!

5. The Misto - this is a refillable container that you pump to create pressure so that it will mist out oil (or water you fill it with). Aunt Vera gave me this because she had two and likes hers, and I'm so thankful for it. I love refillable products (and should implement more of them into our home) because it produces less waste in our landfills. It also lets us use pure oil of our choice and not additives that are found in store-bought aerosol cooking sprays (why eat more chemicals than you have to?). You do have to pump it often to prevent a stream of oil in place of misting, but it's worth it.

I hope you've enjoyed this edition of Favorite Things! I enjoy sharing them with you, and some of you had fun responses to the last one. Do you have any new favorite kitchen tools?