pool day! or best birmy staycation ever.

this weekend, blakey planned the greatest day in birmingham ever!!  we headed out to ross bridge for a day of fun at the resort's pool & spa.  our own little vacation right here in alabama.

i have the best husband ever.  but you already knew that.

 {the lovely waterfall that we laid next to all afternoon}

{our gorgeous view}

{cheers!!}

 {& what better meal by the pool than a cheeseburger?!}

 {my hunky husband}

after more sun than we had gotten in almost two years, we each headed into the spa for a massage.  love.life.

what a happy happy day.  

love love,

kjp.

blueberries & nutella.

there are a few key ingredients that, regardless of what i put them in, people will be so so excited about them.

right now, blueberries & my housemade nutella are it.

"what?!  you put blueberries in dirt?  i must have it!"

so i decided to throw them both into one item.  it was crazy.  people could almost not contain their excitement.  {ok ok. exaggeration.  but hyperbole is the essence of story telling.  right, julie byrd?}

but seriously, they were pretty darn delicious.  blueberry & housemade nutella muffins.  yummm.

happy weekend, friends!!

love love,

kjp.

how many different ways can they be adorable?

this is what our bed has been like the last few mornings:

seriously, could they be any more adorable?

love love,

kjp.

coffee & a book.

on sunday morning, i sat at a coffee shop & drank a gigantic cup of coffee, ate a blueberry muffin, & read my book.  it was wonderful.  working all six of the days a week urban is open, i hadn't gotten the chance to do it in awhile.  i had almost forgotten just how much i love coffee shops.

coffee & books, one of my favorite combos.

every once in awhile, that is even better than a sermon.

love love,
kjp.

let's go to the park!

going to the park on a beautiful spring day has become one of our favorite things to do!  enjoy some sun, a nice breeze, & a day outside.  it's so wonderful!  & beautiful birmingham has no shortage of pretty parks.  we have two favorites right now.  the first is rhodes park {HERE & HERE & HERE}:

 {blakey on our blanket & tanky sniffing everything he can}

 {our view of the gorgeous huge trees from our blanket}

the railroad park is the other favorite.  {HERE & HERE & HERE}  a gigantic green space with a great view of downtown & UAB's campus.  & a good running trail too.  so we run run run & then lay down in the grass for a little bit of sun:

 {a walk to campus afterward to have a coke with blakey before call}

& the very best part of our park days:

{a tired little guy}

hope you had a beautiful weekend too!

love love,

kjp.

a happy spring friday to you!

isn't the spring beautiful?!  it is supposed to be in the 70s today with a little sun & a little cloud & a little breeze.  it is going to be a lovely day.

the spring also means the beginning of blueberries.  & i have a new gigantic-sized crush on blueberries.  blueberry scones... blueberry cookies... blueberry chocolate muffins... & blueberry cupcakes with honey cream cheese frosting...

in case blueberry isn't your thing, i made hummingbird cupcakes with honey cream cheese frosting too...

happy spring friday, my friends!  i hope you get to enjoy the gorgeousness of it this weekend!

love love,

kjp.

thankful thursday - our anniversary is coming up!

blakey & my two year anniversary is in 12 days!!  can you believe that??  we've already been married for 718 days.  that's so cool.

as my husband knows, i love celebrations.  i love making any little thing a celebration.  so our anniversary = big celebration!  & he is planning it all this year!

we are going to the beale street music festival in memphis!  & staying at a picture-perfect gorgeous southern bed & breakfast just south of memphis.  it is going to be so much fun!

& he already bought the tickets, booked the room, & even scheduled tanky to stay at his favorite boarding place.  my husband is pretty darn awesome.

i am thankful for him.  today & everyday.

i hope you can think of something today for which you are thankful.

love love,
kjp.

a lot of fun & a lot of food.

like most porter vacations, our weekend could easily be summed up in two words: fun & food!  we spent  a lot of time outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather, we walked around beautiful birmingham, & we, of course, played with tanky.  one goal of my every day life is to wear out that little guy.  & lisa is so good at it!  grandmas.  smart ladies.

two afternoons were spent playing ball with the little at our new favorite rhoades park in highland:

{step 1. throw the ball as far as you can.}

{step 2. tanky ruuuuuuun back with the ball, happy as a clam.}

{tanky loves grandma!}

{hehe.  technology.}

{blakey & his parents!}

{LOVE self timer pics}

{the porters!}

& like every good porter vacation, at least half of our time was spent eating!  we had to take lisa & dave to birmy's best restaurant, gianmarco's.  {seriously, a 90% like rating on urbanspoon with over 1200 votes.  that's impressive.}  gianmarco's opened a wine bar behind their restaurant that we now love too, possibly even more.  {birthday celebration HERE}  it was a fabulous meal!  we enjoyed some delicious wine & amazing food on the beautiful patio.  perfect meal.

{waiting at the gazebo with our glasses of wine!}

& after all of that fun & food, we were a little tired.  & full.

 {nap time day 1}

 {nap time day 2}

{seriously nap time day 3}

thank you so much for coming, lisa & dave!!!  visitors are welcome any time in sweet home alabama.

love love,

kjp.

let's fry some fish!

the weather is getting warm in sweet home alabama & that means it is time to fry some fish!!

the mcgowans had us over for a good ole southern {or texas.  whichever.} fish fry!  ogden found some fabulous catfish from the fish market, breaded it in louisiana fish fry, & let those suckers sizzle away in the gigantic fryer.  oh my gosh.  it was so good.

& i'm from oklahoma, so i know good catfish.  this was fantastic.

 {dr og & his fish}

in addition to the fabulous meal {oh yeah, i should mention how amazing amy's potato salad & lemon bundt cake were as well.  really really amazing.  & i don't like potato salad.  but i do really really like dessert when i don't make it :) }, we love spending an evening with our wonderful friends!  fun in the sun, a cold beverage or two, a photo shoot with the two fancy schmancy cameras, a little texas washers, & a little southern cornhole.  it was a lovely evening! 

a few photos i borrowed from marybeth's new super cute blog, front porch lemonades: 

 {my pretty friends!

sarah, you were missed!}

 {the adorable baskets & picnic paper for our fish}

then we continue with my iphone pics...

 {how fantastic is this searsucker coozie amy got me for my birthday?!} 

{my love}

let all of the hot weather fun commence!

love love,

kjp.

a birthday duet

my in-laws were here over the weekend!!  so we got to celebrate lisa's birthday.  one of her favorite desserts is "the duet" from a fabulous little wine bar in norman called blu.  it is a slice of brownie topped with chocolate, a slice of classic cheesecake, & grapes rolled in sugar.  oh, & it is delicious.  so i recreated my version for our birthday dessert!

brownie & chocolate & cheesecake & sugary grapes for breakfast?? yes, please!  the coffee will make is sound more like breakfast, i think.

happy birthday, lisa!!  we had a fabulous time with y'all this weekend!! 

& i will tell you all about it this week.

love love,

kjp.

fun with tanky.

blakey & i have recently discovered how awesome our super long hallway is for playing ball with our little guy.  he will chase after green man & sprint back as many times as we will him.  especially if treats are involved.  & he will get so darn tired from it.

it's pretty awesome.

 {he is very good at sitting for green man}

 {intense face before you throw it}

 {go, tanky, go!}

 {my love!]

& later things just got a little silly...

love my boys.

love love,

kjp.