Turning the Tables on Her Teens

Melinda Thompson's I've had it up to here with Teenagers

By Laura McAlister Journal Editor She may refer to them as trolls and little wretches, but really she loves them as only a mother could. Melinda Rainey Thompson is referring to her teenagers, of course. She has three of them, and the chaotic lives they live is the topic of the Homewood resident’s newest book, Read More…

Chummy Mummies: MOMS Club Brings Mothers and Children Together

Over the Mountain MOMS Club

By Laura McAlister Journal Editor Stay-at-home moms need networking, too. Thanks a local club, they’ve got it in the Over the Mountain area. The Over the Mountain MOMS Club is a local chapter of the national MOMS Club. It offers moms and their little ones a chance to meet others in the area through meetings, Read More…

Family Style

Joelle Salon

By Laura McAlister Journal Editor When Dona Bullock decided to get back into the salon business, the award-winning hairstylist wanted an intimate spot where her clients would feel at home. Now, nearly a year after Joelle Salon opened, she and her daughters have accomplished just that. Dona, with her daughters Mandie Joelle Powell and Danielle Read More…

Beyond the Garden Gates

Beyond the Garden Gates: BBG Tour Invites Plant Lovers to Homes, Downtown Park   The Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ 2012 Glorious Gardens Tour presented by Leaf & Petal will feature seven gardens June 2-3. Event hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June 2 and noon-5 p.m. June 3. Tickets, which allow access to all the gardens, are Read More…

Room to Grow

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Story By Donna Cornelius; Photos by Lee Walls Jr. You’ve heard of English cottage gardens, with tumbled riots of color; Italian gardens, grand and symmetrical; and Southern gardens, filled with regional favorites like azaleas and camellias. For one Over the Mountain gardener, inspiration came from an unexpected place: the Land Down Under. Landscape architect Jane Read More…

Caroline Clark Inherited Her Green Thumb – and Some Favorite Plants, Too

Story By Laura McAlister; Photos by Lee Walls Jr. When Mark and Caroline Clark built their home in Vestavia Hills about three years ago, they designed it after a famous plantation home in New Orleans. With its grand white columns and wrought-iron balconies, the house is almost a spitting image of Oak Alley Plantation on Read More…

SPECIAL TICKET OFFER: BRAVO! Birmingham

BRAVO! Birmingham

  The Birmingham Music Club, for over a century your home for great music in Alabama, is proud to present its Second Annual BRAVO! Birmingham production.  Once again directed by the incomparable Carl Dean, this is a star-studded evening of music and dance that the whole family will love.  This festival event will be Friday, Read More…