Smoke-free, way to be!

Healthy Lung Club



Breathing easy at Shelby's in Pelham!

 

My younger birthday parties would have themes like Barbie, Cinderella, and spend-the-night fun, but now that I am in my twenties my parties have taken on different themes. This year's theme being SMOKE-FREE! While I love going out, dancing, listening to music, etc., a fun night on the town can be easily ruined by having to inhale a bunch of smoke. Usually in the summer you have the choice of being outside, which helps with the air quality. Sadly, when it is in the 30's outside, you don't have that option. Therefore, being born in February, I decided to choose some of my favorite smoke-free spots at which to celebrate my 27th birthday. Is this a sign of maturity? I think so!  Let's face it, I don't clean with vinegar and baking soda and use aluminum-free deodorant during the week just to fill my body with carcinogens on the weekend!

Here is a list of some of Birmingham's smoke-free facilities for a night out that does not require a shower before you climb into bed!

Birmingham's Best for Smoke-free Entertainment:

Bottletree—There may be some weird stuff going on here, but you won’t find anyone flicking their Bic.

Comedy Club Stardome: I laugh much harder now that I know my favorite comedians are working in a safe environment!

Grey Bar—Excellent outdoor seating & no smoking inside either!

Shelby's –Another home run from the Grey Bar owners, who know what works…smoke-free facilities & clean bathrooms!

Birmingham's Worst Offenders:

Back 9—More like “I’ve had to go BACK to the doctor NINE times because there’s tar in my lungs!”

Starz Karaoke--Because the smoke really damages my singing ability. Yeah, THAT'S why I sound terrible...--

Barrister’s Tavern—You can pretty much smell the smoke from 31.

Fox and the Hound—This place is just not cool enough to warrant fumigating my purse after a visit.

 Anti-lamers, we want to know what spots you hit when you want to breathe easy! Also, please give us a heads-up of the spots in Birmingham where we need to bring along our oxygen tank!

Sunday Fun Day

Note: Erin is much less blurry in real life.

A note to our fan base: We promise that the Anti-Lame Campaign has been doing a whole lot of anti-lame things. Unfortunately, when you're so busy being anti-lame, it becomes difficult to find the time to write about your anti-lame adventures. We do, however, promise to do better in the coming months to let you all know about upcoming area events and anti-lame ideas.

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After several weeks of after hours meetings, out of town trips, and very little down time, I deemed yesterday “Sunday Fun Day.” And what does such a day look like to this Anti-Lame blogger? Well, I’m glad you asked.

1. Worship with my community of faith (that has become a whole lot like family)

2. Brunch at Bottletree Café

3. Exploring the city

4. Perusing discounted books

5. Frozen yogurt

6. Matinee movie

Sunday began as any Sunday should, in my opinion, with worship.

A group of Anti-Lamers then traveled to the Avondale area of Birmingham for brunch at Bottletree Café. Bottletree is a fun, quirky restaurant and music venue with kind employees, delicious food, and an atmosphere unlike any other.

I had the BLTree, a sandwich on focaccia bread with avocado, egg, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. It came with a side of fruit and I ordered a cup of coffee. The next time I visit Bottletree I will have to ask what kind of coffee they brew, because it was fantastic. The sandwich was pretty tasty, as well.

The BLTree

The Sombrero

Other friends tried The Standard and the The Sombrero. With good friends, good food, and a unique ambiance, Sunday Brunch at Bottletree is something every Birmingham-er/ian must experience.

Next, we explored some areas of Birmingham that we don’t frequent often – Crestwood and East Lake. There are so many different Birmingham neighborhoods, each with distinct personalities, and it’s so much fun to get to know the interesting shops, parks, and restaurants in the different areas.

Enjoying the finer things in life

The weather yesterday was amazing, so no Fun Day would be complete without a nice stroll outdoors and some frozen yogurt. Thankfully, there are outdoor shopping centers to accommodate those whose walking wishes are less…aerobic in nature. Patton Creek has a Yogurt Mountain, so after some walking and bookstore perusing, we popped in for a sweet treat.

Most of my movie-watching these days is made possible by Red Box rentals or Dollar movies, but every now and then I like to treat my self to plush stadium seats and new releases. A ticket to a matinee cost $7.50, and since I snuck in my Dr. Pepper 10 soda, I wasn’t tempted to spend my life-savings on popcorn and a fountain drink.

All in all, this Sunday Fun Day was a smashing success. What are your favorite Sunday activities?

Have yourself a tacky little Christmas!

In the spirit of Christmas, well…not really the spirit of Christmas, but the spirit of excess and pageantry that generally comes with Christmas, many people host or attend a Tacky Christmas party. These are a great way to have an excuse to see friends, make good use of your mom’s old Christmas jewelry, and have a night off from looking cool to indulge your hideous side.

Maybe you’re already invited to a Tacky Christmas Party, or maybe you want to host one this season. Either way, here are some tips for a memorable Tacky Christmas Party!

1.      Make sure the guys dress up! For whatever reason, guys in Christmas vests & turtlenecks are 10x funnier than a girl in the same get-up. Don’t let those “too cool for school” guys get off the hook! Have a great incentive for the best dressed girl AND guy!

2.      This party is casual (tacky), so don’t serve food and drinks that are too classy. Pabst Blue Ribbon and some sliders are great for a gathering like this, because people will get enough homemade confections in the coming weeks.

3.      If you’re a girl, don’t try to look cute. Cute does not equal funny. Everyone can see you look gorgeous on New Year’s, but this night is about being ridiculous!

4.      Get a group photo. You want this night’s hilarity to be documented!

5.      Have a fun activity that allows guests to mingle/get to know each other. This could be tackily decorating cookies, having a White Elephant gift exchange, or caroling in your tacky gear.

So go hunt through your local thrift store, Christmas decorations box, or mom’s closet and spread Christmas cheer by dressing loudly for all to hear (or see!)

Merry Christmas from The Anti-Lame Campaign!

B-ball in the Ham

This is not a football post. Why? Well, does Birmingham need any additional reminders to be excited for football? Absolutely not. This post is a reminder that the State of Alabama and, more specifically, Birmingham, has got another sport to be excited about: basketball.  For the past couple of years I’ve attended (almost) all of the UAB Men’s Basketball games with my dad and brother.  I never went to school at UAB, but they hooked me with their “fastest 40 minutes in basketball” style, charismatic players, and exciting atmosphere.

UAB is the reigning C-USA regular season champions. Although the loss of guards Aaron Johnson and Jamarr Sanders will no doubt sting a little, I am optimistic about seeing what Ovie Soko and Cameron Moore have in store this year.  The Blazers have a way of playing that makes coming to the games, win or lose, extremely exciting and worth the trip to Bartow Arena. 

I never thought I’d enjoy going to these games as much as I do. If you think you’re too girly to care too much about basketball, allow me to give you some additional reasons to attend a Blazer’s game this year:

1.      People watching. You’ll see some characters, no doubt. Check the student section for some really awful/awesome moves during the “dance cam”.

2.      Good popcorn and Cokes. I am never without either one in the second half!

3.      Guys in basketball shorts. I pretend they’re not, like, 18…

4.      Hip hop. New and classic jams. 

5.      Climate-controlled sports viewing. Football can be MISERABLE. Why get sunburned or frost-bitten if you don’t have to?!

6.      Better halftime shows. I’ve never been big into band music…here you may see an elementary school hula-hooping team, dance contest, or guys doing tricks on bikes. I’d pay just to see that!

I’m sure by now you’re convinced that UAB Basketball is definitely NOT lame. J Go ahead and get your tickets to see them play their biggest rival, Memphis, on January 7^th! This is a game that any sports fan in Birmingham wouldn’t want to miss!

Go Blazers!!

Artwalk, BP, and Free Internet

Here is our ranking on tonight's activities ranked from most to least lame:

1. Artwalk - Sorry guys. I know 99% of the attendees for tonight's Artwalk just loved it. Unfortunately, my art depth is pretty shallow, so most of the creativity was lost on me. I did, however, enjoy coming across many a hipster male with a good beard. On the downside, each bearded man was attached...and not to me.
:( I love that area of town, but I think I may need to take a contemporary art appreciation class to fully enjoy the Artwalk experience.

2. BP - It may sound lame to you, but a convenience store with beverages for less than $2 a piece, after walking down hipster lane where coffee costs twice that (not knocking it...if you checked my bank statement you'd see the Red Cat on there more times than I'd like to admit) it's refreshing to go to a place more my speed. Plus, you always run into interesting folk there. And honestly, those people probably have more in common with me than the hipsters I encountered earlier.

3. Free Internet - Shout out to my alma mater: Samford University. Samford has free internet, upon which I am writing this lovely little blog entry with two fellow Anti-Lamers. After a nice walk around the campus on this gorgeous almost-fall evening, we retired to the food court area and are taking advantage of their awesome free internet. In addition, we are leaving this blog up on four computers when we walk away. Why? Anti-Lame proselytization? Perhaps. Is this the correct usage of that word? Perhaps not.

Moral: Try new things. Sometimes they'll be your cup o' tea...sometimes not.

All in a Saturday

Hello blog-following friends!

If you're less into football than the average Alabamian, have no fear! Saturday in the Ham offers many fun opportunities that do not revolve around "Roll Tide" or "War Eagle" exclamations.

On this particular Saturday, a few Anti-Lamers hit the town and made some new friends in this lovely city of ours.

First, we hit up Pepper Place Market, located in the Lakeview District. We were hoping to come across the Limin Lady, a sweet lady who sells the best mustard ever. Unfortunately, she was not present at this week's market. We did, however, meet some very nice folks at Three Knot Shop who make amazing frames out of reclaimed barn wood. Their products are BEAUTIFUL and pretty reasonable, especially considering their quality. For those of you who are not familiar with barn wood, it is wood that has been exposed to the elements and weathered, giving it a grayish hue. The wood used at the Three Knot Shop is between 70 and 90 years old and is mostly from Wilcox County, Alabama. This is a new business, so be sure to support them!

While at Pepper Place, we grabbed some food from the always delicious Red Cat Coffee Shop. I highly recommend the Burmese Frappe (a blended coffee drink flavored with coconut and vanilla) and the Almond Croissant. Sooooooooo good!

Now, I'm not a huge football fan (please, don't throw stones!), but we decided to "watch the game" and grab lunch at the same time. Slice Pizza & Brew in Lakeview just opened this July, so we headed down the street to try out this new local establishment. It wasn't as busy as I'm sure some suburban sports bars were, but there were several people there enjoying the game(s) and some delicious pizza. We tried the Super Cheese Pizza (which two people could NOT finish) and a Yellowhammer Saison. The pizza was awesome and the beer wasn't too bad either. They'll soon be carrying beer from the Avondale Brewing Company, and I look forward to having their Spring Street Saison with my pizza on my next visit. All in all, Slice was great and we're planning on making it our game-day venue...and you should, too!

Next, what Saturday is complete without a bit of shopping! We stopped by two places today - Mia Moda Boutique and the Clotheshorse, both in Vestavia. Mia Moda has tons of funky, trendy, and unique clothing and jewelery. Their staff are really friendly and will give you honest opinions on whether something looks good (or not!). The Clotheshorse is an upscale consignment shop for clothing, shoes, and accessories. One thing we recommend is that you pay attention to the tag colors. Similar to DWS, the Clotheshorse rotates their merchandise by offering sales based on the tag color. New items have a certain-colored tag and are not on sale, but there are normally items marked 25%, 50% and 75% off.

We got some great deals on items for our fall wardrobe! All the items below cost us $59. (One of the cashiers said that she paid over $100 just for a pair of shoes very similar to the ones on the left.)

The Clotheshorse puts out new merchandise every day, so be sure to check them out!

The moral of today's story is...while we appreciate football Saturdays in Alabama, there's so much more out there. Although, we're sure some of you may disagree:)

Bethdog (and Webbie)

Here at the Anti-Lame Camp, we appreciate just about anything that makes life more fun, less mundane, or somehow more interesting. The topic of nicknames came up the other day (a topic of which I have strong feelings toward) and we decided I should do a blog entry about just that. So, here are some of my thoughts on this, in my opinion, lost art. At least it's lost among my friends...hint hint...

Why are nicknames cool?
1. They create a special bond with people: Somehow you feel more of a kinship toward a person when you call them by their nickname. Like they've allowed you to be in their secret club and you've accepted by speaking the "password".

2.  It's kinda like what your parents would've named you if they could see into the future. Most likely, your given name doesn't say anything about your personality, preferences, sense of humor or appearance. Nicknames are more personal, more distinctly you.

3. It is more informal. If you've known a person for years, been across the country and back together, and consider them a best friend, a "birth certificate name" somehow seems too formal. That's where a nickname comes to the rescue! It becomes a term of endearment for a true friend.

4. It helps organize your phone. Let's face it, everyone has at least two Laurens or Johns in their phone. Wouldn't it be easier to call them by a nickname? Most people don't have two friends named Koko or T-Bone.

So...how does one go about getting a nickname? Probably the most organic and lasting way to get a nickname is to have a person(s) give it to you. You don't have much control over it, but you can give your friends this helpful list to ease them along the process.

Tips for a great nickname:

1. Numbers make great nicknames. For example, I have a friend whose nickname is "100" because he doesn't do anything halfway. Another friend who got carded at at PG-13 movie might benefit from the nickname "13" (or even PG for that matter..). Sports stars can use their jersey numbers. George Costanza wanted to name his first child Seven, so there's an idea for a Seinfeld fan. Just keep the number easy to say, because no one wants to yell 1,408 across a crowded room.

2. Nicknames can say something about you as a person. Your favorite band, your favorite brand of cheese, your car model ...whatever makes you unique can be made into a nickname. Plus, it gives some insight into your preferences. 

3. Nicknames can come from existing names. What's cooler than your first name? Probably your last name used as a nickname. Maybe your nickname comes from your full initials, like LAM, or from your first and last initials, such as Edub (for EW). Maybe it's your last name, but cooler. For example, if your last name is Zimmerman, you might be called Zimmy. These are usually easy to come up with and easy to remember!

There you have it Anti-Lamers! Go grab a friend and get to nicknaming! :)
Edub. Webbie. Webster. Just don't call me Erin.