Birmingham

I had another great business trip to Birmingham last week filled with lots of great people, food, and beer. Strangely, on my connecting flight home, I ended up seated next to a former boss of mine. The other odd part of my trip was something I heard on the radio while sitting in traffic one morning: "When you go to the Cracker Barrel, don't order the wheat toast, or folks'll think you're from Ohio." Is that really an Ohio stereotype?

Superior Grill
My buddy and I discussed sports and work at the bar all night before being absorbed into the group of regulars. Southern people are so nice and chatty. Given how little I go out in Ohio, I guess I do not really know enough to say people are any different here. I had a burrito, my friend had a quesadilla, we split a queso dip, and we both had a few happy-hour margaritas. I'm usually all about beer, but the margaritas were amazing. I would definitely return to Superior Grill for dinner and/or drinks.

Superior Grill Margarita - Source

Superior Grill Bar - Source

Maki Fresh
I've been wanting to meet up with the guy from the third-party recruiting agency who found me on LinkedIn and recruited me for my position, but it's just never worked out until now. We had lunch at a great little sushi place where I ended up having chicken instead of fish because I couldn't pass up trying something called The Vulcan, which was amazing. I was kind of afraid when they brought out chopsticks, but I did alright (but did not finish my lunch - so bad with chopsticks). Unlike most of my Birmingham pals, this guy has a young family, so it was nice to hear about what it's like to raise a family in Birmingham.

Maki Fresh - Source

On Tap
One of my buddies knows how much I like wings and beer, so we went here to have some good wings and beer. We started with the fried ravioli appetizer and hardly touched our wings because we were so full. He and his daughter enjoyed our leftovers a few days later, and I heard that the wings were pretty good. I had some Abita beer and two Alabama beers. I love traveling and drinking different beers. This was a really neat little place, and I'd definitely go there again (and maybe skip the appetizer so I can actually eat my wings!).

On Tap Wings - Source

On Tap - Source

Taziki's
I has lunch here my first time in Birmingham, and it was great. All I remember about that is I had lamb. This trip, Taziki's catered our seminar. We had tea, salad, rice, potato, chicken, taziki sauce, pita chips, and hummus. I was all about the rice, chicken, and taziki sauce. It looks like Taziki's is opening more and more locations, so I hope they make it to Ohio in the near future. Our seminar was for both accountants and actuaries. I thought accounting continuing education drew a lively crowd... Jeez. One of the speakers made a few really funny jokes ("death <boring stuff>, but it may have an adverse effect on the policyholder"), and our crowd of 60 remained silent.

Taziki's - Source

Twenty-Six
One of my friends invited me out to a Nashville songwriters music night, and we stopped for dinner and a really great, hip seafood place downtown before heading to WorkPlay. I had a Westbrook White Thai, one of my favorite Southern beers, and shrimp with cheesy grits. It was amazing. It's the kind of meal that gives you a nice, warm feeling in your belly when you think back to it. I need to have shrimp and cheesy grits again soon.

Twenty-Six - Source

Westbrook White Thai - Source

WorkPlay
There were three lovely ladies from Nashville sitting on stage with their guitars, taking turns singing and playing songs they'd written. It was really neat. I had a Strawberry Abita and a Good People Coffee Oatmeal Stout, and I bought my favorite Nashville songwriter's CD. World, watch out for Stephanie Lambring.

WorkPlay - Source

WorkPlay - Source

Stephanie Lambring - Source

Do I seem really enthusiastic about everything in Birmingham? I would totally move there.

Financial Self Improvement

When I was five, I would read with a flashlight under my blankets for hours every night. When I was 12, I read all sorts of personal finance and investment books and invested my babysitting money in the stock market. When I was 18, I checked out over a dozen books on credit cards before applying for my first credit card. I've always loved reading, learning, and personal finance.


Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office - Source

Earlier this week I decided to re-read Lois Frankel's Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers. I of course had to check out three of her other books as well: See Jane Lead: 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work; Nice Girls Just Don't Get It: 99 Ways to Earn the Respect You Deserve, the Success You've Earned, and the Life You Want; and Nice Girls Don't Get Rich: 75 Avoidable Mistakes Women Make with Money.


Nice Girls Don't Get Rich - Source

I read Nice Girls Don't Get Rich (the other books are in transit to my library branch) and put a hold on two books Frankel mentioned: Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide and Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to Up Your Earnings and Change Your Life. I also checked out some of the magazines (or rather their websites) Frankel recommended: Money, Market Watch (formerly Smart Money), and Kiplinger. I love the articles on investing and retirement planning and current events, and I plan to check these three sites at least weekly.

I've been reading about personal finance for 15 years, and I'm a CPA with a master's in accounting, and I still got a lot out of Nice Girls don't get rich. My biggest takeaways are to keep up on things via financial magazines or sites, to seek out seminars on investing, and not to sell myself short salary-wise. It is so easy to not negotiate or to settle for the market rate or to ask for just under the market rate to have a better shot at landing a job. If you know you're better than average, you should ask for a better than average salary.

I can't wait for my other books to arrive!

Milwaukee, Day Six and Miscellaneous

Mars Cheese Castle
Somehow we made it five days in Wisconsin without enjoying some of the fantastic cheese, so we stopped at Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha on our way home. Oscar got to try a bunch of free samples and pick out a bag of cheese curd. We ended up with white cheddar, and it was delicious. We loved the cheese so much that we just decided to call it lunch. If the tavern had looked kid friendly, we probably would have ordered lunch and beer there. Mars Cheese Castle has a pretty nice beer selection, and it was really hard to not buy tons of things. I picked out a six-pack of Milwaukee Brewing Company Outboard and a four-pack of Horny Goat Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. The Outboard is a cream ale, and I really love it. I haven't tried the Horny Goat yet, but I have high expectations for it. Update: OH, MY. The Horny Goat is amazing.

Mars Cheese Castle - Source

Milwaukee Brewing Company Outboard - Source

Horny Goat Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter - Source

RiverWalk
The art-filled two miles of walkways on either side of the Milwaukee River downtown is fantastic. We walked on the RiverWalk and across the many beautiful bridges dozens of times while we were there. I love downtown Milwaukee. Oscar keeps asking if I can find a job there and if when we buy a house next year it can be in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee RiverWalk - Source

Milwaukee RiverWalk - Source

Milwaukee RiverWalk - Source

Brewers Games
The Brewers stadium is a lot smaller than ours, so our typical cheap nosebleed seats offered a much better view. Also, the stadium has a fantastic retractable roof that was closed while we were there. We got to experience fireworks indoors because they still set off fireworks each time the Brewers hit a homerun. I kept taking off and checking my glasses because all of the smoke from the fireworks made me think my glasses were dirty. The Brewers were great. Oscar has decided that they are now his favorite team because they have more strikeouts than our hometown team. He has requested that we wear our Brewers the next time the Brewers come to our city. I'm kind of shocked, but I can definitely get behind a team called the Brewers. The stadium has a great play area that Oscar loved. Our ballpark treat was candied pecans. I think we're going to have to buy some to snack on at home.

Milwaukee Brewers - Source

Miller Park - Source

Milwaukee, Day Five

The Safe House
Somebody recommended this place to us, and Oscar looked forward to visiting the spy-themed restaurant our whole trip. The entrance in an alley, and the door just says International Exports, Ltd. We went in, and there was nobody there. I'd read online that someone would be there to ask us for the password or to make us to something silly to get in, so we figured they were closed and were going to leave when I figured out how to make it from the first room into the restaurant. Oscar loved the secret passageway. One of the local breweries makes special Code Beer for the Safe House, so I ordered a beer with my lunch. The Code Beer mug is a souvenir, and refills in the mug on any visit are just $2.75. I really liked Code Beer and will definitely bring my mug back if we return to Milwaukee. We were given a spy mission that gave us hints about cool things to explore and observe around the restaurant. Even leaving the restaurant was a fun adventure. You don't leave the way you come in. Oscar and I both had a blast and would definitely go back.

The Safe House entrance - Source

Safe House Code Beer - Source

Classy Girl Cupcakes
Since we'd only had dessert once so far on our trip, I thought it might be fun to grab some cupcakes. Our original plan was to visit The Chocolate Factory and order a turtle sundae, but we decided to go with cupcakes when we realized the only Chocolate Factory within walking distance was permanently closed. Classy Girl Cupcakes are $2 apiece. Oscar and I both love frosting and tend to eat just the frosting or the frosting and the top half of the cupcake. The cupcakes themselves weren't great, but the icing was amazing. This place is right across the street from a park with a playground, so we played for a while after we picked out our cupcakes, and Oscar made some friends.

Classy Girl Cupcakes - Source

Classy Girl Cupcakes - Source

Brick 3 Pizza
We were in the mood for pizza, and this was close to our hotel. Their selection includes fun things like macaroni and cheese pizza. Oscar had a slice of cheese, and I had a slice of macaroni and cheese with bacon and pepperoni. They've got two shelves of local beer in a little refrigerator for $3.75. I tried a Hinterland White Cap. This was a good, relatively cheap meal, and we'd definitely eat there again. A big group of moms and kids came in while we were there, and quite a few loners came in for takeout.


Brick 3 Pizza - Source

Hinterland White Cap - Source

Milwaukee, Day Four

The Dogg Haus
We were out trying to track down one of the food trucks and stumbled across this place. They have five locations around the city. The employees were really friendly. I had a Cajun dog and fries, and Oscar had a corn dog and chips. My Cajun dog had two different kinds of hot peppers and was delicious. We both said we'd eat there again if we go back to Milwaukee.

The Dogg Haus on Water Street - Source

Buck Bradley's
This was another place that made it's way onto our radar because it offers free shuttles to and from Brewers home games. Oscar was again the only kid in the place, but I didn't feel like a bad parent for bring my kid to a bar/restaurant because they had a kids menu. Oscar had some really great looking chicken tenders, and I had a brat and a Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout. The brat was from Usinger's, a really great local brat place across the street from the restaurant. It was by far the best thing I ate on the trip. The bun was buttery and toasted, and it made the brat taste that much better. I sadly was not wild about the beer.

Buck Bradley's - Source

The restaurant side of Buck Bradley's - Source

Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout - Source

On the shuttle ride back from the game I wanted a beer and asked the driver if he happened to take credit. He did not, and he insisted that I grab a beer anyway. I grabbed a Pabst Blue Ribbon because it was that or Miller Lite. PBR originated in Milwaukee but is now based in LA. Again, it is so funny to have a big name beer and call it local.

Milwaukee, Day Three

The King & I
It rained and rained and rained this day, and Oscar and I didn't feel like venturing too far with our umbrellas. The King & I, a great Thai restaurant, is right across from our hotel, so we just placed an order and ran across the street to pick it up. We split the Tofu Triangle appetizer, the Pud Thai with pork, and the King & I Banana dessert. We both loved everything, but Oscar especially loved the triangles. The dessert was really great. We got coconut ice cream along with a banana I initially thought was a free eggroll. We broke up the crunchy, mushy banana on top of the coconut ice cream, and it was out of this world.

The King & I Thai Restaurant - Source

Milwaukee Brat House
Quite a few places in Milwaukee offer their customers a free shuttle to and from Brewers games, and to save on parking we decided to eat dinner at these wonderful places on game nights. I was really excited about trying Milwaukee Brat House because I love brats. Given its name, I was expecting the Brat House to be more of a restaurant than a bar, but it definitely felt more like a bar that happened to serve food. Oscar was the only kid there, but the place has a kids menu, so it must be kid friendly. I had a brat on a pretzel bun, and it was pretty great. Oscar had the grilled cheese, and he really liked it. A lot of places don't really grill their grilled cheese, so we were happy to see crispy bread and melted cheese. I ordered a Lakefront Be Gone, and the waitress brought me two because it was happy hour.

Milwaukee Brat House - Source

The back, where the shuttle dropped us off - Source

On the shuttle back from the game, I bought a Miller because I found it amusing that I could drink a Miller and say I was having a local beer.

Milwaukee, Day Two

Milwaukee Boat Line
We loved the riverboat cruise we took in St. Louis last year, and so I was really hoping to find something similar in Milwaukee. When I came across 90-minute history and trivia cruises that covered not only the Milwaukee River but also Lake Michigan and the harbors, I was so happy. Oscar and I loved the cruise and got some great pictures, and we enjoyed the brats we bought onboard for lunch. Part of me really wants to do this again before we leave because it's so great.

Milwaukee Boat Line's Vista King - Source

Honeypie
This looked like a cute little restaurant when I checked it out online, and I was kind of surprised to see that although the restaurant was pretty packed, Oscar was the only kid there. There were Trivial Pursuit cards on our table, and Oscar kept himself occupied and quiet our whole time there by reading the cards. Honeypie has these delicious $4 cupcakes, so Oscar and I just split the soft pretzel appetizer so that we had room for our cupcakes. Being on vacation is so much fun. I had a Vintage Jinja Ninja and a Dark Horse Amber Ale (from MI, not WI) to drink with dinner. Jinja Ninja easily makes my top five favorite beers list. Oscar chose a vegan banana chocolate chip cupcake, and I chose a mint cookies 'n cream cupcake. They were amazing. We probably wouldn't go back just because Oscar was the only kid there.

Honeypie - Source

Dark Horse Amber Ale (sadly I couldn't find a Jinja Ninja picture) - Source

Honeypie Cupcakes - Source

Milwaukee, Day One

Classic Slice
I have been sick the past week and still have no sense of taste or smell, so while I can say the food had great texture, we have to go with what Oscar has to say about the actual taste of the food. He loves pizza, and he says this is by far the best pizza he has ever had. He loved it so much that he asked if we could eat there a second time, and that's saying a lot because he loves to try new places. I had a slice of cheese, and he had a slice of pepperoni. He also had a delicious looking chocolate-covered, sprinkle-covered cookie, and I also had a New Glarus Spotted Cow and a Sprecher Black Bavarian. I was so excited about drinking Wisconsin beer and then so disappointed when I realized I still couldn't taste anything. Oscar went through $3 playing Jr. Pac-Man before and after we ate, and then he checked out the cool playground across the street. We had a great time and would (will, if Oscar has his way) go back.

Classic Slice - Source

New Glarus Spotted Cow - Source

Sprecher Black Bavarian - Source

Citizen

I've been reading about how important it is for a businesswoman to have a good watch, and so the other day I bought my first non-Timex 1440 watch. It caught my eye as I browsed JC Penney's selection of women's watches, and while I kept trying to talk myself into buying something cheaper, part of me just knew that this was the one. It was marked down from $475 to $356, and I had a 10% off coupon and lots of JCP cash, so I went for it. It arrived on Monday, but I was out of town all week, so tomorrow will be my first day wearing it. I've never had diamonds before, so I'm pretty excited.

Citizen Eco-Drive Bella Diamond Accent Watch - Source

While I'm in no rush to buy another watch, I do enjoy seeing what's other there. There is one other watch that I like, and it's also Citizen. Silver is my favorite metal, and I prefer simple but feminine watches. This other watch is a little bit bigger, bulkier, and darker, but I really love the way the metal and the ceramic look together. Also, the diamonds on the black face are stunning. I usually wear cardigans to work, and this watch looks like it would go better with a blazer. If I start wearing blazers more often, I'll almost definitely buy this.

Citizen Eco-Drive Stainless Steel and Black Ceramic Diamond Accent Watch - Source

While I don't mind dropping some cash on a nice item I plan to use for a long time, I am not the type to spend a lot on a trendy item. Watches with white bands seem really in right now, and I think a white band would look great with my black and gray cardigans. I don't want to wear crystals or crocodile-printed rubber, so it may be a challenge to find something I like. This Relic watch isn't bad, but there's a bit too much silver for my liking.

Relic Payton White Leather Watch - Source

Peugeot has two $50 white leather watches that aren't bad looking. The first one is closer to what I think I want in a trendy white watch, but the second one is just so gorgeous with its mother of pearl face.

Peugeot 3008WT Watch - Source

Peugeot 3030WT Watch - Source

I'd rather have a few nice items than lots of cheap items, so I'll probably stick with a Citizen or two and maybe a Peugeot until one needs to be replaced. Even though Cartier and Rolex are out of my price range for now, I did look at quite a few and was surprised that I didn't like any of them. Maybe that will change by the time I can afford one.

Birmingham

I've spent two of the past three weeks in Birmingham, so I want to talk about Birmingham. Everyone outside of work who knew that I was going seemed to think I was going to hate Birmingham. I love to travel, and I love everywhere I go, so I found this sort of puzzling. When I'd ask why, they'd just roll their eyes and point out that it's Deep South.

Somehow this introvert has no trouble making company friends in another state, so my social life on business trips has been amazing. Evidently downtown Birmingham has really been coming back to life recently, and everyone is really excited to see what its future holds. My Birmingham buddies are hip people in their 30s-60s who know of all these great places I never would have found on my own. Here are my favorites.

Hop City
This beer and wine store had dozens and dozens of great things on tap, and their site says they carry over 1900 beers. It was tempting to get a growler of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel to bring back to my room, but I thought I should take it easy while out with my boss. I had a coffee stout and a Scottish ale at the bar.

Hop City - Source

World of Beer
Evidently this place has some sort of points system where you earn a point for every new beer you try. It's a chain bar, but it carries 500 beers (50 on tap) from 40 countries, so of course it makes my list of awesome places in Birmingham.

World of Beer - Source

The J. Clyde
The J. Clyde is a cute little tavern that faces a cobblestone alley - definitely not anything I would have stumbled across while driving around looking for somewhere to eat. I was warned that the beer was great but that the food was iffy. Our veggie and hummus appetizer was great, and my burger and sweet potato fries weren't bad. J. Clyde isn't someplace I would go for food, but I wouldn't mind eating there if I found myself drinking there again. They had lots of Alabama beer on draft along with some other great American and foreign beers. I tried Good People Coffee Oatmeal Stout for the first time here.

The J. Clyde - Source

The J. Clyde - Source

Paramount
This is a neat little bar and game room downtown that opened earlier this year. I don't play pool, and luckily we left Paramount for World of Beer before anybody I was with could start shooting pool. The food there is actually really amazing. We had the mozzarella balls appetizer, and I had the grilled cheese for dinner. Both were excellent. The beer selection isn't outrageous, but given the quality of the selection , the good food, and the game room, Paramount is still a pretty great place.

Paramount in Birmingham - Source

Paramount in Birmingham - Source

The Package Store
This one isn't a bar or restaurant, but it makes my list because I love beer. The lady who took me here just told me that she wanted to take me shopping my first night so that I had supplies on my trip. I was surprised in the best way when we finally arrived at a liquor store with aisles of great beer. One of these days I'm going to have to drive instead of fly to Birmingham so that I can go on a shopping spree at The Package Store. It's so sad going somewhere with great beer and not being able to bring any home.

Source

What did I buy?

Good People Coffee Oatmeal Stout - Source

There is a Good People in the Birmingham airport, and it's always crowded when I leave in the morning.


A few nights, of course, I couldn't be bothered to deal with rain and traffic, so I just brought a book down to the hotel bar and enjoyed my dinner and drinks with Dean Koontz and Catherine Coulter. One night a really interesting older fellow asked about my book and became my dinner companion. We bonded over our love of watches and travel and went on to discuss finance and consulting. It was great. Anyway, the hotel's beer selection is limited, but they do keep one local beer on tap and a few in cans.