My Perfect Birmingham Saturday

Welcome to “My Perfect Birmingham Saturday,” a column where About Town asks Birmingham residents from different walks of life how they would spend a Saturday in the Magic City if they had it their way (and COVID notwithstanding).

Today’s Saturday was planned by Kitty Rogers Brown, attorney at White Arnold & Dowd and a resident of Birmingham for nearly 25 years. “Birmingham is home,” she said. “Birmingham is where my husband and I have chosen to build our lives, raise our family, and invest in our community. We love it, and we’re working towards a Birmingham that our kids will call home when they’re adults, as well.” Read on to see the different shops she frequents, and what takeout she turns to when she doesn’t want to cook on a Saturday night.

I’ll get up and go ride the Peloton – it’s an obsession I developed during quarantine. I feel like if you’re developing a quarantine habit, exercising more is a good one. Hopefully, while I’m doing that, my husband Tucker will take Rex, our pandemic puppy, for a nice, long walk. We love to go to Jemison Trail – what a gift to our community to have that green space and the ability to enjoy those trails. This puppy has more energy – I can’t tell you how many packages he’s opened for us, how many rugs we’re down. He is very busy.

By the time they get back from that, hopefully our 11-year-old twin boys will be up. When they were little, we’d spend Saturday mornings at the zoo or the McWane Science Center. Now, we’re at scouting events or sports events, cheering them on. Mountain Brook Athletics does a beautiful job with youth tackle football. So we’ll be cheering them on, or drop them off at the golf course to play for a little while.

From there it’s choose your own adventure. If I’m picking, I want to go to The Essential or El Barrio for a lovely brunch. If the boys are picking, it’s Otey’s to watch the early ball games on the patio. That works, too.

Saturday afternoons are my day to run fun errands – not groceries. I get to pop into the stores I want to, like Etc. in Mountain Brook Village. Mary Rose and Meg are wonderful and welcoming, and I always feel happier when I leave.

If I need a birthday gift, I go to Snoozy’s. George is the best. I just tell him “I need a gift for X age,” and whether it’s a gift for a boy or a girl, Snoozy’s hits a home run every time.

I always have some sort of craft or home project going, like needlepoint. We are lucky in Birmingham to have Magic City Needlepoint here – not every town has one. I’ll also go to Little Hardware to get me out of whatever problem I’ve gotten myself into at my house. They are long-suffering and very patient.

I love Shoppe and General, and if I’m looking for a gift for a friend, The Cook Store or Table Matters – there are so many great local spots.

In a dream sequence, I’ll have dinner with all of my friends at Helen, followed by a concert at Avondale – Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires. More likely, though, we’ll have people over at our house watching football. We have a big porch, which has been great during COVID. My husband and I both love to cook; it’s fun to try recipes and cook for our people. Sometimes, we’ll get food in – the Andy Mac Burger Bar from Ashley Mac’s is great for a crowd and easy to handle. Everyone loves Taco Mama, so we’ll get the taco bar and quesadillas.

And that’s a full day.