a house is built of walls and beams, but a home is built of love and dreams.

Why I LOVE Birmingham and will miss it:

1. See my favorite Birmingham restaurants. This enough is reason to love it.

2. It's kind of under the radar, but the art scene here is definitely present. Sure, we have a nice museum. But there are always art festivals going on somewhere. Magic City Art Connection ALWAYS has something going on.

3. Birmingham has a pretty legit music scene. All of the big names come here, but there's definitely plenty of the coffeehouse shows to go around. And around. And around. And on the off chance that a musical artist is on tour and doesn't come here, chances are they'll probably

hit Atlanta, which is close enough.

4. There are all different kinds of people here. Birmingham isn't just for yuppies or baby boomers, people of every age, race, nationality, etc. are here.

5. Like Goldilocks taking baby bear's porridge because it's "justttt right," Birmingham's size is just the same.

6. 4 hours from the beach. 2 from Lake Martin. 2 from Atlanta. 3 from Nashville. Holla.

7. The shopping is pretty legit. Big chain stores, small boutiques, specialty stores...you name it, we've got it.

8. While we may not be New Orleans (pre-Katrina) or Mobile with old French charm or St. Augustine with Spanish influenced architecture, we've still got plenty of cuteness to go around. Just take a drive through some residential parts of Homewood.

9. You want to learn defensive driving and/or navigation? Try driving around this city. There are some crazies out on the road. And all of the one way streets, random alleys, and weird turns are sure to get even the most seasoned drivers turned around.

10. As sappy as it sounds, this is where my roots are. My family is here. My friends are here. This is familiar. This is home.