giving thanks 2013.

thanksgiving 2013 was a huge, incredibly delicious, & amazingly fun success!  blakey, tanky, & i joined amy, ogden, & lola at their home for a fabulous day of celebrating.  very sadly, the rogers came down with a horrible stomach bug & quarantined themselves.  they were very missed.  but we persevered through, found all of the missing ingredients, & even had delicious alternative dishes.  our traditional day of thanks with the mcgs - a birmingham tradition we will certainly miss & always look back upon with the fondest of memories.

{ogden's brined & fried turkey - incredible.}

{TL: surprisingly tasty store-bought, pre-frozen dressing.

TR: amy's perfect traditional green bean casserole.

BL: my herbed, cheesed, & mashed potatoes.

BR: my jalapeño creamed corn.}

 {amy's gorgeous pumpkin pie!}

 {& my thanksgiving tradition - grandma's pecan pie.}

somehow we did not take a single photo of humans on this thanksgiving.  but just know - we looked adorable & festive & happy & young & like we didn't eat 1,000 times more food than necessary &… :)

tank & his girlfriend lola had almost as much fun as we did.  while lola & i napped in front of the fire & the others watch lots & lots of football, tank destroyed a kong toy & went to town with the squeaky ball.  please oh please enjoy the video above.  

giving thanks always.  especially today.

love love,

kjp.

introducing mr & mrs caric!

cari & aric are married!!  & the celebration was even more amazing than you could've imagined.  it was the perfect combination of winter & oklahoma & fancy details & fun & love.

{with our wonderful & amazing friend}

{the gorgeous white bouquet}

{the most adorable little white tutus for the most adorable four flower girls!}

{baby lainey}

{big girl harper}

caric had a true colorado whiskey barrel for the guests to sign wishes to the bride & groom!

the ceremony & reception were held in beard lounge in the oklahoma union.  it was a beautiful, cozy setting with a fireplace behind the alter, couches for the family, dark wood, & ou beauty.  after the ceremony, the chairs were taken out to make way for a dance floor & party space!

{loved spending the weekend with my dear armstrong!}

{a little sparkle}

{the oklahoma sower looking all festive}

{rah rah kap kappa gamma!}

{true man love}

{party with the porters!}

{love love}

even though i had the opportunity to "talk wedding" so wonderfully much with cari in the months prior, she did keep a few things secret from me.  including these fantastic fuchsia & white caric bracelets!

{blakey & i sported our caric wedding weekend bracelets on our way home}

OH!  & the very best surprised: CARIC wedding cups!!  you know about our love for cups.  these were fantastic.  

it was truly the most wonderful wedding weekend for the most wonderful couple.  we are so insanely happy for you two.  so much love & blessings on your marriage. 

love love,

kjp.

pecan WHOOPIE pies!

to prepare for an amazing thanksgiving week, i made pecan pie whoopie pies!  brown sugar pies with brown butter spiced filling & candied pecans.  mmmmm... tastes just like thanksgiving.

blakey & i are headed to philadelphia next week to spend the holiday with my wonderful sister & brother-in-law & murph man & our nephew!!  i bet he's grown so much since we saw him a month ago.  & i bet he's even cuter.  we are cooking a small thanksgiving meal that has turned into not a small meal.  it's going to be amazing.

happy beginning of thanksgiving week!

love love,

kjp.

my pretty apple pie.

fun fact friday: julie & i have made pecan pies for thanksgiving every year for years & years.  i say "pies" because before we moved apart it was at least three a year.  quite often more.  each year, i would convince her to make her amazing pie dough & i would do the filling & topping.  we are a fabulous pecan pie team.  {well, we are a fabulous everything team too.}

so when i was asked to make an apple pie with a cheddar crust for a special work dinner,  i was really really wishing i had paid a bit more attention to her amazing pie dough making skills.  oops.

even with my super shaky nervous hands, the pie turned out quite pretty!  & i hear it was quite delicious.  my dear work friends didn't save me a piece.  rude!  just kidding :)

as tom, urban's owner, said... the secret's out.  i'm going to have to make more pies.

maybe i'll get to try one of those.

happy friday!

love love,

kjp.