Dori DeCamillis

Today the beautiful and talented Kendra Thornton shares a few of her favorite things about her home city of Chicago, and I give my take on good stuff in Birmingham. Kendra is a former communications director at Orbitz, a travel advocate, TV spokesperson, PR businesswoman, and mom of 3. 
photo by Jais Stanfield
Why I Love Birmingham by Dori
I moved to Alabama almost 20 years ago after spending 3 years traveling all over the country fulltime. Of all the places in the lower 48, I chose to settle in Birmingham because of a long list of practical and poetic reasons. I’ve not regretted it for a day. Besides its amiable climate, lush and mountainous terrain, easy to navigate layout and amazingly friendly people, there are a host of excellent things to do.
Dining
It surprises people to know that Birmingham is home to a few of the very best restaurants in the country. Chefs Frank Stitt, owner of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega, and Chez FonFon, and Chris Hastings, owner of Hot and Hot Fish Cl…

My paintings are featured on The Wall Breakers, an uncommonly refreshing art site. It features a wide variety of interesting work and the commentary is to the point, unpretentious, and insightful. It stands out by showing current and relevant work while keeping an uplifting tone. I never see post I don't like. James Scully wrote some good comments on my work.

I had a fantastic weekend at Camp McDowell at the Alabama Folk School for
OLD TIME MUSIC & CRAFTS WEEKOctober 31 - November 3, 2013

The four day workshop included music and art classes by world-class instructors. Only a few of the classes and their teachers represented here. 

Above: Doug Baulos teaches a book binding and decorative papers class. I was amazed at how many highly professional projects they completed.


These are the woods through which you walk to class. Pretty much paradise. You can hear banjos and fiddles echoing through the woods from the various classes.

Eric Thompson of Berkeley, CA taught beginning Mandolin. See his bio below.

Suzy Thompson of Berkeley taught intermediate fiddle. 
Part of bio from Eric and Susie's website: These virtuoso roots musicians specialize in the down-home sounds of the American South. Their musical palette includes Appalachian story-songs and bluegrass breakdowns, classic country blues, Louisiana Cajun dance music, and paso dobles fro…