Mountain Marketplace is a unique blend of artists and vendors showcasing their art and merchandise. A variety of mediums will be represented including watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, pottery, sculpture, photography, ceramics, mosaics and handcrafted jewelry. Along side the art will be businesses such as Arbonne, Pampered Chef, Discovery Toys, Sassy Sisters and Thirty-One to name a few. You can find the marketplace at Bluff Park United Methodist Church, 733 Valley St. in Hoover.

Cost: Free

When Tony Petelos steps to the podium later this morning at the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Region event , it will mark the first time that the city’s mayor has taken part. The mayor of Hoover will join Birmingham mayor Larry Langford and seven (7) area county commissioners, speaking before a sold-out audience of more than 450 people at the Harbert Center to give an overall picture of the metropolitan area’s present situation and future plans. Both mayors have already made their speeches to their respective cities; Petelos spoke to Hoover earlier this month, with Langford making his remarks on Tuesday.

For those of us unable to attend (or for those that are just curious), myFoxAL.com will be streaming the event, available through this link beginning at 11:30 a.m.

No, it’s not nearly as cool as having video from their performance in Vatican City (which you really should take a look at), it is a chance to hear Spain Park’s director talk about how great an experience this opportunity to perform for the Pope was to the students and the parents that accompanied the band on the trip.

It’s also a chance to make sure folks know that this exists, since the school was identified both in the text and in the intro to the piece as Spring Park High School. Oh well… the fact that they were able to perform was most important.

The hopes and dreams of area fashionistas were granted last week as Seattle-based Nordstrom announced that they had signed a letter of intent to open their first store in Alabama at The Riverchase Galleria. The announcement was one of two from the high-end department store on the day. They also announced plans to open a second Nordstrom in Minneapolis, MN; the company also operates a Nordstrom and a Nordstrom Rack at the Mall of America.

The folks at General Growth Properties must be extremely excited, as both of the new locations are in shopping centers owned by the publicly traded, Chicago-based company. The lucky cities may have to wait for a while before they can enjoy their new shopping destinations: the 143,000 square foot store at The Galleria is scheduled to open by Spring 2012; the folks in Minneapolis don’t have to wait quite as long for their new 172,000 square foot store at Ridgedale Center (Fall 2011). In both cases, the stores may open earlier.

Here’s an invite to come by and taste the holiday drinks and tastes Starbucks has to offer this season — eggnog latte, gingerbread latte, peppermint mocha and more. Best part, it’s free. We like free and think free Krispy Kreme donut day and free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream day should be national holidays. Don’t worry … we’ll let you know when those events are too.

If you own anything with the current Birmingham Barons logo, you better hold onto it. The team is holding a press conference today where they will be unveiling a new team logo and uniform for the 2008 season. The Birmingham Business Journal has more information about the unveiling and we will attempt to get information from the team later today.

A quick scan of the MILB.com and MLB.com online shops show that Barons merchandise has already been removed in anticipation of the announcement. But you still have a chance to grab some stuff from the official team online store (at least until it’s gone).

UPDATED: 1:18:58 p.m., The new logos can be seen after the jump.

Tonight folks have two opportunities to learn more about “the longest, biggest, heaviest constitution in the world” at screenings of “It’s a Thick Book,” an entertaining and informative documentary on the subject.

The Hoover High School Auditorium will show the documentary at 6:30 p.m. while Mountain Brook High School’s Fine Arts Center will present it at 7:00 p.m.

Check out this trailer for the film:

It’s less than hour long and is a good introduction to the issue of reforming the state’s constitution.

If you can’t go, you can always watch the video online by clicking here.