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Lynlee strongly believes in and supports residential growth in Birmingham. Since obtaining her license in 2014, Lynlee has completed over 400 transactions totaling over $155 million dollars of real estate sold in the area. "I have made a huge effort to be intimately engaged in the central city and surrounding "city suburbs" from Forest Park to Homewood, Mountain Brook and Vestavia, so that I can provide the greatest benefit to my clients, which I strongly believe is market knowledge". Her greatest motivation is her clients: She says, "Success to me is doing what I love every day and knowing that my contributions positively impact my clients, my company, and my city and that I have produced the highest quality work."
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Birmingham's Leading Women
With Mother’s Day this month, all eyes are on moms… But it’s not just the biological mothers who have made an indelible impact on us. It’s the family members, mother figures, teachers, colleagues, peers, friends and neighbors doing awesome things in our communities, pouring into our livesmaking themselves unforgettable and irreplaceable.
This month is about recognizing a few of the movers and shakers, builders and makers who make Birmingham magic. From a dynamic female dental duo to a fine jeweler designer to an organizational wizard, this issue showcases a variety of local women who inspire with their creativity and vision.
Inside these pages you’ll hear from local tech entrepreneur and head of Birmingham Bound, Maria Underwood, on Birmingham’s emergence as a tech hub. My friend—and the most voracious reader I know—Lizy Matthews provides her recent book recommendations. And we go behind the scenes with Debra Riffe, an artist I’ve admired since I first saw her work at the Kentuck Art Festival.
Our Birmingham Lifestyle team wishes you a beautiful month of May. Thank you for reading, contributing ideas and supporting our advertising partners. We’ll see you around town!
May 2023
PUBLISHER
Kali McNutt | kali.mcnutt@citylifestyle.com
EDITOR
Denise K. James | denise.james@citylifestyle.com
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Denise K James, Lizy Matthews, Kali McNutt, Maria Underwood
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Mary Fehr, Sam Evans, Faith Holley
Corporate Team
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Steven Schowengerdt
CHIEF SALES OFFICER Matthew Perry
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER DeLand Shore DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA Mindy Hargesheimer
ART DIRECTOR Sara Minor
OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Janeane Thompson
WEB APPLICATIONS Michael O’Connell
AD DESIGNER Matthew Endersbe
LAYOUT DESIGNER Antanette Ray
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your own publication at: citylifestyle.com/franchise CITYLIFESTYLE.COM/BIRMINGHAM | Birmingham Lifestyle™ is published monthly by Lifestyle Publications LLC. It is distributed via the US Postal Service to some of the Birmingham area’s most affluent neighborhoods. Articles and advertisements do not necessarily reflect Lifestyle Publications’ opinions. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without written consent. Lifestyle Publications does not assume responsibility for statements made by advertisers or editorial contributors. Information in Birmingham Lifestyle™ is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but the accuracy of all information cannot be guaranteed.
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inside the issue The Ladies’ Issue MAY 2023 ON THE COVER DEPARTMENTS 10 Lifestyle Letter 14 City Scene 16 Business Monthly 18 Locally Sourced LIFE + CULTURE 20 Must See ARTS + CULTURE 26 How To HOME + DESIGN 30 Outdoor Adventure TRAVEL 34 Local Limelight HEALTH + WELLNESS 38 Inspired By LIFE + CULTURE 40 Our Town ARTS + CULTURE 26 30 34 FEATURED 20 Carving Memories Debra Riffe holds the line, bringing new life to old stories 26 Call to Order Clara Schoen provides turnkey solutions for organized, intentional spaces 30 Ladies Day Out (on the Water) Savor a getaway at nearby Smith Lake 34 The Art of Building a Business Drs. Deanne Vail and Julie Webb are the faces of Homewood Photography: Mary Fehr Local artist Debra Eubanks Riffe at home in her studio. 20 12
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city scene
Where neighbors can see and be seen.
1-7: Guests enjoy The Arc of Central Alabama’s Shamrock Shindig at Haven. The Arc supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
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Photography by Tosha Gaines
MAY 2023 CITY SCENE
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1-7: Attendees and panelists enjoy the fourth annual Contenders Collective hosted by Battle Republic and held at Red Mountain Theatre.
Photography by Jenn Davis Imagery
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A round-up of exciting news from local businesses.
IV concierge and house calls offered through Restore Hyper Wellness
Interested in IV therapy? Restore Hyper Wellness now offers concierge IV therapy house calls, making IV therapy accessible anywhere. Ideal for family or groups of friends or colleagues, these customized IV care plans suit individual needs.
“We’ve added a more intentional process to help members and customers develop the best program for them to optimize their health and wellness cost-effectively,” says Steve Olson, owner of Birmingham's Restore Hyper Wellness. restore.com
Meta Fitness Liberty Park is open for business!
The second location of Meta Fitness is officially open in Liberty Park's Cahaba Station. Helmed by Hunter Freiberg and his team of trainers, Meta's second location has the same motto as the original gym founded by Matt Crane, Mike Smith and Scott Cannon — transformation together. Meta offers an elite, personalized, one-on-one fitness experience to ignite transformation in a spa-like atmosphere. Trainers are available for all ages and abilities. metafitstudio.com/liberty-park
BUSINESS MONTHLY MAY 2023 business monthly
“I enjoy understanding the uniqueness of each individual that I serve. I listen to your story and goals and make an actionable plan to get there.”
(205) 259-6447 | abeonawealth.com 2208 University Blvd., Ste. 102 Birmingham, Alabama 35233 Investment advisory services offered through Navigate Wealth Management LLC. Holistic Wealth Management | Retirement Planning | Investment Management Financial Education | Tax Planning | Charitable Planning | Cash Flow Planning 16
Mary Meadows Livingston, CFA, CFP® - Founder, Abeona Wealth
Since 1992, Grace House Ministries has provided stable, Christian homes to Alabama girls in foster care on our residential campus in Fairfield, AL. By providing 24/7 family care, a first-rate education, and services that extend beyond high school, Grace House equips girls to break generational cycles of poverty and abuse and empowers them to create transformational changes in their own lives, families, and communities. Learn more about how you can get involved at www.grace-house.org 205.786.4663 www.grace-house.org info@grace-house.org V @gracehouseorg LEARN MORE 17 | CITYLIFESTYLE.COM/BIRMINGHAM MAY 2023
MONSTERS, MURDERS AND MARRIAGES
Three books to dive into for spring
These picks are page-turners, no romance novel in sight — instead, we have short stories in which life changes in a few pages; an uncomfortable mystery; and a lyrical novel on the foibles of Gods. Time, truth, and unfortunate encounters with Gorgons are all to be savored.
Games and Rituals
by Katherine Heiny
These stories are crafted with arch humor or precise misery, not a word to spare. “Bridesmaid, Revisited” sees the protagonist don an inappropriate bridesmaid dress for a day’s work; the practical and existential causes are relatable yet hilarious. “Turn Back, Turn Back” hasn’t an ounce of humor. It is a precise detail of a marriage and family falling apart, set in a single evening. Somewhere in between, “CobRa” follows a woman cleaning house Marie Kondostyle—will her husband be included?!
I Have Some Questions for You
by Rebecca Makkai
Stone Blind
by Natalie Haynes
This gorgeous novel tells the story of Medusa engagingly. The characters are so accessible, they might be bickering families overheard at a restaurant. It’s hard to remember they are named Perseus, Andromeda or Poseidon. Yet when one asks “what makes a monster” or “is it a minute or a century that has passed,” the poignance is the stuff of myths. All books are available locally at Little Professor Bookshop.
Bodie revisits her New England boarding school and the circumstances of her roommate’s murder decades later. An athletic trainer was convicted. With the internet, cyber sleuthing and the jog of memory, she wonders whether they imprisoned the wrong man. This thriller teems with modern issues of the Me Too movement and social media voyeurism. No one comes off scot-free in this page-turner.
LOCALLY SOURCED | LIFE + CULTURE ARTICLE BY LIZY MATTHEWS
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Carving Memories
Debra Riffe holds the line, bringing new life to old stories
ARTICLE BY KALI MCNUTT | PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARY FEHR
Debra Riffe asks me to sit down and watch a short video. The film, made in 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Campaign, shows over 32 of Riffe’s linoleum block prints depicting Civil Rights activists and foot soldiers. These black and white images of cooks, maids and other extraordinary everyday people of the movement are set to music with a chorus repeating “dedicated to service, never nervous ‘bout holding the line.”
An afternoon spent in Riffe’s home studio is about much more than learning the technique of linoleum block printing—it’s about listening, learning, teaching.
In 2018, Riffe decided to pursue her art full-time after a long career in graphic design—including 20 years at Birmingham City Hall, where her office happened to be the exact office once occupied by Eugene “Bull” Connor. She fondly recounts weekly conversations in that very office with her late friend Colonel Stone Johnson, an unsung hero of the movement and the unofficial bodyguard of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.
Always an artist, Riffe received her BFA from Howard University College of Fine Arts, Washington D.C.
“In school, I’d always take a sketchbook with me wherever I went and a camera—35mm. Fast-forward,
MUST SEE | ARTS + CULTURE
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and I got married and had kids. I enjoyed going to soccer games, but I always felt like I needed to be doing something, so I started doing small needlepoints.”
Using images from those sketchbooks— drawings mostly of Southerners and African Americans—Riffe designed her own needlepoint canvases. “I was just doing it to amuse myself. I’ve never wanted to sell them. I decided after my first art show that these are my legacy, and I want to keep them,” Riffe muses.
Later, with her kids in high school, Riffe became interested in the art festival circuit. In order to create enough art to sell at a festival, she turned to a new medium— linoleum block prints. The first tapestry she converted to linoleum block print was titled “pickin’ fo’ fried green tamatas.”
The Bluff Park Art Show was Riffe’s first as an exhibitor. “Everything I had was black and white; the rest of the artists were using color,” Riffe recounts. “I didn’t sell anything until the very last day.” She still remembers that first patron who encouraged her to keep coming back to the show.
INSPIRED BY MEMORIES, INSPIRED BY HISTORY
Outside of Civil Rights history, Riffe’s art is inspired by both her own childhood memories and those she elicits from her audience. “A lot of my ideas now come from asking ‘what did you see when you walked into your grandmother’s house when you were 10 years old?’ I take the time to listen. For those of us fortunate enough to share time with grandparents, there is always the
one memory. Everyone has a story to tell, they just need someone to listen.”
She shows us photos of her great-grandfather and recounts the story of being a rambunctious, curious young child in D.C. whose mother sent her to live with her grandparents in Tupelo, Mississippi, where she finished high school. She learned to drive in her great grandfather’s truck—“as he was losing his ability to drive, I just needed a licensed driver in the car with me!” she quips.
“Now I want everything I do to be part of a narrative. I feel it is my duty to share the story of Civil Rights history. Art is supposed to stimulate you and make you ask questions,” Riffe states. After viewing the works in progress and themes behind her current body of work, we are excited for the conversations they will surely provoke.
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
Riffe will be a featured artist at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in September 2023, where her older works will be showcased. Additionally, her 24-panel narrative work within the current “Lightplay” exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art will travel to the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University.
In January 2023, four original linoleum block relief prints and woodcuts were acquired by the Library of Congress to be displayed in the permanent collection.
Riffe’s work continues to be displayed at Canary Gallery, where longtime friend and gallerist Libby Pantazis bubbles with enthusiasm when discussing the artist’s latest creations.
MUST SEE | ARTS + CULTURE 22
“A lot of my ideas now come from asking ‘what did you see when you walked into your grandmother’s house when you were 10 years old?’ I take the time to listen. For those of us fortunate enough to share time with grandparents, there is always the one memory. Everyone has a story to tell, they just need someone to listen.”
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Call to ORDER
Clara Schoen’s business, The Home Organized, is about much more than eye-catching, color-coordinated snack bins and the eradication of junk drawers. It’s about understanding the needs, pain points and lifestyles of clients to implement elegant, customized and maintainable organizational systems. The result? Highly functional living spaces that bring joy and ease to daily life for The Home Organized’s in-the-know clientele.
After establishing her business in Mobile, Schoen and her family moved to Birmingham two years ago. By connecting with local architects and interior designers, she was able to build on her mostly referral-based business. Today, The Home Organized has five organizers, along with additional services such as moving assistance, luxury assistance and stage-to-sell.
All new clients of The Home Organized start with an hour-long consultation. “We want to know if someone is right or left handed; we want to know about their schedules and habits—we don’t want to do a blanket one-size-fits-all organization,” Schoen explains.
HOW TO | HOME + DESIGN PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARY FEHR
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Clara Schoen provides turnkey solutions for organized, intentional spaces
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HOW TO | HOME + DESIGN
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Home designed by Amanda Hickam of Harper Harris Design
To ensure a home is positioned for seamless functionality from the start, Schoen often works alongside designers, builders and architects in the planning stages—noting it’s ideal to minimize the number of steps it takes to get to essentials in the kitchen, bathroom and closet.
Her eye for detail is apparent when she glances inside a work-in-progress pantry, for example, and notices a row of acrylic bins are not the exact same height. “This needs to be fixed!”
Longtime clients such as Ragan Cain of the lifestyle brand The Frances Flair rely on Schoen for home organization as well as frequent organizational refreshes. Cain has also enlisted The Home Organized to assist with packing and moving.
“We strive to be full service—if someone wants to sell antiques or needs a rug cleaner—we want to be that knowledge base for them. Most people don’t have time for donation runs—things get left in the back of the car. Life moves fast; we want your home to be a peaceful, intentional reflection of you and the way you live,” Schoen says.
For those clients who want a more high-touch approach, The Home Organized offers a luxury assistant who can come in weekly to maintain organization systems. This may include checking expiration dates on foods, re-labeling and re-folding.
Of the initial editing process Schoen states, “We start with the easy things like a pantry before we move on to more sentimental items. Your home isn’t a storage unit for other people’s stuff. It’s your house and your prerogative as to what you want to keep.”
“We strive to be full service—if someone wants to sell antiques or needs a rug cleaner—we want to be that knowledge base for them. Most people don’t have time for donation runs—things get left in the back of the car. Life moves fast; we want your home to be a peaceful, intentional reflection of you and the way you live.” —Clara Schoen
Kitchen and closet featured in this story designed by Amanda Hickam of Harper Harris Design. Styling by Kathleen Varner. Visit thehomeorganized.com to learn more.
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Kathleen Varner’s party closet
LADIES DAY OUT
(ON THE WATER)
ARTICLE
BY DENISE K. JAMES | PHOTOGRAPHY BY FAITH HOLLEY
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | TRAVEL
Savor a getaway at nearby Smith Lake 30
The next time you get your friends or mom and sister to shirk responsibility for a day or a weekend, take a break from the familiar “lunch and shopping” itinerary. This is the time of year to visit Smith Lake, one of the cleanest bodies of water in the country and boasting about 600 miles of pristine shoreline, according to Jeff Tolbert, owner of Trident Marina. Best of all, Smith Lake is close enough to Birmingham that it doesn’t trigger travel anxiety — yet its beauty will make you feel worlds apart from any regular routine. At just one hour’s drive from the Magic City, Smith Lake makes the perfect day trip or weekend getaway.
“The lake is clear, deep water — plus, there are cliffs and beautiful scenery, and the atmosphere is perfect for Instagram and other photo memories,” Tolbert says, with the trademark relaxed smile of someone working by the water. “I’ve always viewed the lake as one of the best-kept secrets in the South. It’s an easy place to get away and experience the lake lifestyle — which is to get out on the water, have fun with family and friends, and unwind from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.”
RENT YOUR BOAT
If you’re thinking to yourself, “But a boat is expensive, and the upkeep is always a lot of work,” don’t worry. Tolbert and his team have you covered. In Tolbert’s own words, the marina is a “one-stop solution” for everything needed to have a great day (or a few days) on the water, boat included. Just show up at the marina on a sunny morning, and Tolbert and his crew will have the vessel gassed up and waiting for you. At the end of a fun-filled
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day of sunning, boating and catching up with friends, simply return the boat to your original launch point — the Trident team will take care of everything else.
“We have ladies who come rent our boats all the time — in fact, I’d say it’s half men and half women for boat rentals,” Tolbert notes. “Our rental boats are all new and are all high-performance, so you can engage in water sports if you choose to.”
STAY FOR THE DAY
For a day trip, Smith Lake is a perfect destination at just one hour from Birmingham. Tolbert suggests gathering a group of friends, renting a boat so it’s ready when you arrive and spending the day on the water with snacks and beverages. “There's a number of coves and places to tie up the boat, swim, listen to music and have fun,” he adds.
After you return the boat at dusk, head over to the Trident Marina Grille for dinner. The Grille serves a rotating seasonal menu — including some off-season specials — with fresh produce for salads, juicy burgers and the famous fish tacos for which they are known. “If you don’t want to worry about cooking, and you just want to have a meal by the water, we offer that,” Tolbert says.
STAY FOR THE WEEKEND
Prefer to soak in the relaxation of Smith Lake for a whole weekend? We don’t blame you. For the ideal itinerary, Tolbert recommends booking a vacation rental through either Airbnb or VRBO and arriving Friday, ready to unwind and savor the lake setting, perhaps with a bonfire. On Saturday morning, gather your crew and get out on the lake with your rented boat for the day. That evening, enjoy live entertainment and a cocktail or three at the Grille. “A lot of our live music is classic rock, country — fan favorites,” Tolbert says. “We have plenty of green space and outdoor lighting, and all the bands perform outside, perfect for dancing.”
On Sunday, take the morning to sleep in, and depart Smith Lake feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the week ahead. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself scouring Smith Lake real estate for a permanent vacation home after a visit or two.
“That’s how people fall in love with Smith Lake — they spend a day or two here, they realize it’s just an hour or two away, and they want a lake home,” Tolbert says. “Because of the proximity and the quality of the water in the lake, it’s one of the fastest real estate markets in the South. It’s a great getaway not too far from home.”
OUTDOOR ADVENTURE | TRAVEL 32
Since 1992, Grace House Ministries has provided stable, Christian homes to Alabama girls in foster care on our residential campus in Fairfield, AL. By providing 24/7 family care, a first-rate education, and services that extend beyond high school, Grace House equips girls to break generational cycles of poverty and abuse and empowers them to create transformational changes in their own lives, families, and communities. Learn more about how you can get involved at www.grace-house.org 205.786.4663 www.grace-house.org info@grace-house.org V @gracehouseorg LEARN MORE no representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. FAMILY LAW • ESTATE PLANNING • MEDIATION FAMILY LAW IS OUR PASSION 205-874-8680 | WWW.CRITTENDENPARTNERS.COM 33 | CITYLIFESTYLE.COM/BIRMINGHAM MAY 2023
The Art of Building a Business
ARTICLE BY DENISE K. JAMES | PHOTOGRAPHY BY SAM EVANS, RHYTHM CREATIVE
LOCAL LIMELIGHT | HEALTH + WELLNESS
Dr. Vail with patient
Drs. Deanne Vail and Julie Webb are the faces of Homewood
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Dr. Webb with patient
Even while Dr. Deanne Vail was growing up in Huntsville, she already had an idea of the kind of life she wanted – and it wasn’t one where she’d be woken by her smartphone in the dead of night to rush off to a hospital, leaving family wondering when she’d return. Although she was interested in medicine and had volunteered at a hospital in college, when pondering what field suited her best, she chose dentistry for the work-life balance. “I always knew I wanted kids,” she says. “I took a realistic look at what different careers would entail — plus, I knew I wanted my own practice one day.”
One hundred miles away, Dr. Vail’s future practice partner, Dr. Julie Webb, felt the same way as she embarked on her life path in Birmingham. Dr. Webb, too, wanted to work in medicine, but it wasn’t until she shadowed a dentist that she saw how dentistry mirrored her own skills and interests. “I love to help people, and I love to build things and work with my hands,” she says. “And actually, my favorite character on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was always the dentist!” Fast-forward a few years after dental school – with Dr. Vail accepting an associateship in Huntsville and Dr. Webb also working in Huntsville, followed by Gulf Shores — and the two dentists reconnected in the Magic City while working for American Cast Iron Pipe Company, a firm known for its unorthodox approach to employee health care. Since its inception, American Cast Iron had offered
on-site health, dental and wellness for staff without any insurance companies involved — benefits were simply included as part of compensation. However, due to rising costs, the company was forced to cease health offerings in 2005 — a serendipitous moment for Drs. Vail and Webb, who were swift to reassure the employees they would continue to be their dentists. Dr. Vail had already eyeballed a spot that she felt would be ideal for her dream: the very corner where the practice is now located. Clearly, it was all meant to be.
“Dr. Clark, who had been in this space prior, was buying on Lancaster Road, so this spot was open for rent,” Dr. Vail explains. After she rented the practice location, Drs. Vail and Webb renovated the space together, opening the doors two months later.
If you ask them, the dentists agree it feels natural to work as a team – they complement one another in medical beliefs and approach. Both feel that dentistry is an art form – particularly cosmetic dentistry, which is the practice’s current focus. “You have to be able to look at someone's smile and see the potential adjustments to enhance it,” remarks Dr. Webb. “Dentistry requires a combination of art, engineering and even physics. There’s a lot involved!”
“I didn’t realize how much artistry I needed in my life until I found myself painting at home during the pandemic,” Dr. Vail adds. “I never thought of whitening and veneers as art, but when I came back to work, I had a better understanding.”
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“I didn’t realize how much artistry I needed in my life until I found myself painting at home during the pandemic,” Dr. Vail adds. “I never thought of whitening and veneers as art, but when I came back to work, I had a better understanding.”
Both Dr. Vail and Dr. Webb agree the surrounding community of Homewood has been a large part of the practice’s success. Not only are the myriad dental and cosmetic services offered at Homewood Family & Cosmetic Dentistry an art form in their own way, but so is building a base of happy, loyal patients who wholeheartedly trust the practice. Doing the right thing by every patient is a cornerstone philosophy for Drs. Vail and Webb – after all, their patients are often their neighbors, and good neighbors build good communities.
“If we have to spend a little bit of extra time on getting something right, that’s OK,” Dr. Webb emphasizes. “I tell my patients, ‘Let me check it one more time.’ I want it to be the best it can be. And my personal philosophy is the golden rule — I feel like our patients are part of my family, and I treat them all like family.”
“We care deeply about our patients and about this practice – because it is ours,” Dr. Vail adds. “Homewood is our community, and giving back to this community is one of our favorite things.”
LOCAL LIMELIGHT | HEALTH + WELLNESS
“My personal philosophy is the golden rule,” says Dr. Webb. “I feel like our patients are part of my family, and I treat them all like family.”
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Dr. Webb with patients
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Make an Impact for Mom
Memorable ways to celebrate the mother figure in your life
The moms and the mother figures in our lives mean everything to us. They deserve the best every day, of course. But at least one day out of the year, we get to shower them with the same love and thoughtfulness they give to us so selflessly.
This year, we hope you’ll consider some memorable ways to make lasting memories with the mom or mother figure in your life. If you haven’t already planned something special, take a look at our list of ideas and circle your favorites. If you have kids, let them join in the fun too!
Whether you decide to spend a day at home or enjoy a day on the town, these innovative celebration ideas will include fun for the whole family and make Mom feel loved. Whatever activity or surprise you land on to show your mom, wife, sister or maternal figure your appreciation for all they do, the most important thing is that you all get to spend some quality time together.
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Take a Flower Arranging Class Mother’s Day arrives just as spring is in full bloom. Take advantage of the season by going to a flower arranging class with mom.
Play a Family Board Game
If Mom likes strategizing, challenge her to a friendly board game competition. (And, no, you don’t have to let her win just because it’s Mother’s Day.)
Pick Your Own Fruit
This activity is especially fun if you have a lot of kids who want to get in on the action. Then, when you all get home, you can whip up a treat for Mom with your selections. (Maybe give her a strawberry in a Champagne glass while she waits.)
Book Her a Weekend Away
There’s no day like Mother’s Day to be impulsive! Book a weekend trip for the two of you at a cute B&B in a city Mom has always wanted to visit.
Complete a Jigsaw Puzzle
Find a puzzle with an image you know your mom will love (or make a custom one using a photo of the two of you) and put it together over wine and snacks. You’ll be amazed at how much chatting you can get done while puzzling.
Get Theater Tickets
Go to a play or a musical — lots of towns even host outdoor theater events.
Invite Her To High Tea
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39 | CITYLIFESTYLE.COM/BIRMINGHAM MAY 2023
Whether you make the brews and treats yourself or head out to an official tea house, Mom will love sipping her beverage out of fancy china and snacking on tea sandwiches.
AT THE TIPPING POINT OF MAGIC AGAIN
BIRMINGHAM’S TECH PRESENCE IS GAINING MOMENTUM AT SXSW
Loading our rental car after a long day of networking and public speaking in Austin, a young man on a scooter stopped and asked if we were in town for South by Southwest (SXSW), the biggest tech conference in the country. We said we’d just wrapped up some sessions and that we were in from Birmingham, Alabama to recruit companies to the Magic City. His face lit up — “I’m from Birmingham, too!” His girlfriend rode up on a scooter right as we made the connection. We all stood there, in the middle of downtown Austin, exchanging stories. Before they scooted off, we made them promise to move back home.
Birmingham’s tech scene has been on the rise over the past few decades, largely thanks to entrepreneurs like Matt Jaeh, Shegun Otulana, Dave Gray and Bill Smith, who have been successful in Birmingham and intentionally stayed to reinvest in the city. But something feels different lately. Birmingham is at the tipping point of becoming the next major tech hub, and we felt that energy in Austin.
Birmingham Bound is a nonprofit on a mission to recruit tech startups to Birmingham and to help companies who are already here stay and grow. We help these businesses meet who they need in the tech ecosystem and connect them with Realtors, investors, HR companies – whomever and whatever they need to flourish. We want these individuals to feel at home in our city. We know that on top of Birmingham being a great financial choice for a startup, it’s a phenomenal place to live.
Last year, when I went to SXSW for the first time, I went as a solo female entrepreneur for my social
impact company, Fundrage. I spent the weekend connecting with founders and investors but also having to explain the appeal of Birmingham. Most people I met hadn’t been to Birmingham in decades; they certainly didn’t think of it as a tech hub. I was already up against the odds as a female founder but having to explain what I was doing in Birmingham wasn’t something I was expecting.
I knew then that we weren’t being loud enough about all the incredible companies and founders coming out of our city. Months later, I found myself in my current role as President of Birmingham Bound. This year’s return to SXSW was about loudly claiming our place on the national stage, and we did it with a whole coalition of local organizations by our side.
While we ran into some skepticism, by the end of our time at SXSW, the mention of Birmingham elicited “Birmingham . . . I’ve been hearing that there are good things going on there,” – which was our goal all along .We talk a lot about Birmingham being the Magic City. While that phrase originated back in the late 1800s to describe how quickly the city grew after the discovery of the three key ingredients for making steel, I think we are at that tipping point of magic again.
The current leadership, camaraderie and talent within our tech and business ecosystem combine to create a potent recipe for quick and sustainable growth. Stories throughout this magazine affirm that Birmingham is the place to be in this moment. Now –just like we did with that young man on the scooter in Austin – we just need to call our people home.
OUR TOWN | ARTS + CULTURE
Maria Underwood, President, Birmingham Bound
ARTICLE BY MARIA UNDERWOOD
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“BIRMINGHAM, I’VE BEEN HEARING THAT THERE ARE GOOD THINGS GOING ON THERE”
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