B-metro - The magazine of metro Birmingham living

by Anna Slaton Gilmore In 2008, at 31 years old, I found myself very content with life. I had been happily married to Justin for three years. Life was fulfilling and more than I could ask for. A few years earlier, I had started a business designing wedding flowers, and it was thriving. Travelling and… Read More

A businessman readies a last century business for a new century world. By Joe O’Donnell    Photo by Beau Gustafson The formula is deceptively simple. Fresher flowers. Same day delivery. That has become the mantra at Norton’s Florist, the old-line Birmingham florist founded in 1921 that has thrived under the ownership of Gus Pappas. Pappas… Read More

Written and Photographed by Liesa Cole When I was a young girl, those annual summer road trips to Grandma’s house in rural Georgia always commenced in similar fashion. Upon arrival, we’d unfurl ourselves from the Buick sedan, untangle our cramped legs, and slip in the creaky back-porch screen door that slapped shut behind us with… Read More

Jonathan Fuller and Alan Gardner bring professional theatre, and Superior Donuts, to Birmingham. Written by Tom Wofford Six years ago Jonathan Fuller and Alan Gardner brought professional theatre back to Birmingham without using a theatre. The show was David Mamet’s American Buffalo, and the two City Equity Theatre founders put it up almost on the… Read More

Suzanne Collins, creator of The Hunger Games phenomenon, started her creative journey at the acclaimed Alabama School of Fine Arts. How does the scope of that accomplishment impact the vision of today’s asfa students as they plot their own course for the future? My teenaged daughter is normally pretty active, wandering around the house, at one of her… Read More

ProStart Academy’s Gary Burley combines his two greatest passions. by Les Lovoy, Photo by Beau Gustafson Gary Burley is a large man. It’s no surprise he spent 10 years in the National Football League, where he played for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Atlanta Falcons. His size may be imposing, but his smile is contagious. When… Read More

One of our favorite signs of Spring is the return of the Pepper Place Saturday Market. It’s downtown’s friendliest meeting place and it’s filled with the freshest produce, the prettiest flowers  and the most colorful people you’ll ever want to run into. Join us for a lemonade and a little music. Photography by Virginia Jones This is The Year of… Read More

The Alabama Pheonix Festival celebrates imagination as the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and people explore their inner superhero, warlock or sci-fi character. Photography by Chuck St. John Make-up by Somica Spratley A forum for celebrating the creativity and imagination that science-fiction, fantasy and superheroes foster, the Alabama Phoenix Festival was born from the desire to break through the sterotypes often associated with… Read More

Mandy Majerik propels her third-generation floral business to national acclaim. Written and photographed by Kelli Hewett Taylor Floral designer Mandy Majerik, owner of HotHouse Design Studio in Birmingham’s Lakeview district, has become a Southern-fried rock star in the national and international floral industry. When Majerik, 31, speaks at national conferences and flower shows at least… Read More

A true wonder of the culinary world, meringue is essentially egg whites and sugar, ingredients that undergo a miraculous transformation when infused with air. The result is a floating, billowing affair that serves as muse for countless lofty creations. Produced/styled by Mindi Shapiro Levine Recipe development & food styling by: Marian Cooper Cairns Photography by: Mary Britton… Read More

Mary-Margaret McCord and Homewood boutique Theodora, winners of the Birmingham Fashion Week/B-Metro Facebook model competition, show you how to do a cool, Spring wardrobe. Photography by Chuck St. John Fashion Styling by Theodora Hair by Mark Hyde Make-Up by Laura Eason Locations thanks to Jill Buker and Kent and Julie Stewart Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.