the beautiful isle of palms.

a sunrise on the beach must be one of the most beautiful sights in the world.  enjoying it with your husband, your dog, four of your best friends, & their two dogs - an absolute delight.  we watched the puppies run & play in the sand & in the ocean for the first time all together.  they frolicked & jumped for joy & made all of us smile.

we all went for a run or for a walk or for a fish on our first morning at the beach.  it was the perfect way to start our week of vacation.

{amy & ogden & lola}

{our wonderful family}

{tank & maudy having the time of their lives.}

when the sun was fully up & a little warmth took over, we all headed back to the beach for a day of fun in the sun.  the girls got some rays while the boys threw a football for hours.  joy for all.

{my beautiful friends}

{matt & elyse & baby rogers!}

{the mcgs}

for our last afternoon, we all headed back to the beach to enjoy it all one more time.  the pups ran & chased & played their hearts out.  the fellas threw the football as long as their 30-year-old shoulders would allow them {or maybe even longer, if we're being honest :)}.

{run pups run!}

{the fellas}

{the men & their pups}

{best photo ever.}

{& the ladies}

{#mcportgers}

truly a trip we will never forget.  

love love,
kjp.

oklahoma - great food. cute kid.

y'all.  we had so much fun in oklahoma.  it was, as always, so wonderful to be home, to be with our families, & to spend time with each other.  & to be quite honest, this post is really just to brag that:

a.) oklahoma actually has great food &
b.) my nephew is pretty much the cutest little man ever.

for brunch in norman, syrup is the place to be.  this super hip little breakfast boutique is cozy & delicious.  oh, & their coffee is divine.  stumptown coffee out of portland oregon & baristas that know their stuff.  well done, norman, well done.

pub w is a fantastic american pub with delicious fresh baked pretzels, awesome burgers, & an impressive beer menu.  i certainly see this place many more times in our future.  "he was a wise man who invented beer".  i agree, plato.

& for dinner, the porters all went to the mule in oklahoma city.  a super fun gourmet sandwich & beer joint in the plaza district.  if we lived in okc, we would definitely frequent the mule.

oh!  & did i mention how stinkin cute my newphew is?!  allow me to show you:

{yummmmm.  birthday cake.}

{he's so good at sharing}

{father & son cheering on those sooners}

{i love you, little man!}

{& back to sweet home alabama}

love love,

kjp.

my mom + the mountains.

a couple weeks ago, i met up with my sister & little man & headed to the mountains to see our mom!  mom & ray retired & moved into their dream mountain home in angel fire a year ago.  they absolutely love the cool mornings, the beautiful mountains, the tall trees, & the ever frequent wild animal sightings.

our first new mexico meal was at a fantastic mexican restaurant in santa fe.  we enjoyed a delicious mexican beer, spicy salsa, & fresh guacamole made tableside.  real mexican food with a gorgeous view.   so good.  little man totally agreed.

each morning we woke up to find deer in my mom's front yard!  they even let us come out onto the porch before running back into the woods. so neat.  

each afternoon we would find little hummingbirds buzzing around the hummingbird feeders on the porch.  have you ever actually seen a hummingbird?  they fly around so quickly & make so much sound while flying.  those little wings flap so quickly that it sounds like they are buzzing around.  pretty cool.

the views around the neighborhood are simply stunning.  malcolm & dakota {my mom & ray's sweet boxer} loved going on walks with us to enjoy the beautiful views & the fresh air.

{hello mountains!}

after spending a lot of our time outside, we went inside to play play play with little man!  oh my goodness, i had missed my nephew.  he really is the best.

{bath time fun with mom & grandma!}

{doin' a little swing dancin'}

{dakota was happy to help with every meal}

{he loves me!  he loves me not...}

{little man with grandma & poppa ray}

a lovely weekend with the lovely family.

love love,

kjp.

thankful thursday: sunrise sunrise.

the sun wakes up so early in alabama.  just this week, the sun has begun rising with me on my way to work in the 5 o'clock hour.  & that makes me incredibly thankful.

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

love love,
kjp.

fun in philly!

oh my gosh, blakey & i had so much fun in philadelphia with julie byrd & benny boo & mr malcolm!  this was my first time to philly & it certainly lived up to the hype.  big city, much history, so much identity, great food.  & my sister is there!  & my bro-in-law!  & my nephew!  i am already looking forward to going back for more.

{so you are not confused by the lack of malcolm pictures...

mr malcolm will get an entire post to himself.}

wednesday morning, julie & i headed out to do our thanksgiving grocery shopping super early.  as it turns out, grocery stores are not bad places to be the morning before thanksgiving... if you arrive right when they open.  win for us.

{most beautiful pear display i've ever seen.

well done, whole foods folk.}

it would not be a love, the porters' vacay post without me showing you some awesome food we ate.  after our grocery shopping, julie took me to their favorite brunch spot in their neighborhood, green eggs cafe.  i wish i had a picture of their amazing peanut butter & jelly french toast or their tiramisu french toast or smoked lox benedict that we had on our second green eggs cafe breakfast.  or the gigantic red velvet pancakes that really is the size of a cake.  they are all a work of art.  but so was my super delicious apple & vermont cheddar melt with mushroom bisque.  so good.  

you can not go to philly without having a philly cheesesteak.  it's a rule.  & although pat's & geno's are the most famous cheesesteak joints, tony luke's is the best.  & we go for the best.

you also have to know how to order.  good thing we brought ben along to teach us.  "a whiz whit".  that's what you should get.  a philly cheesesteak with cheese whiz {not provolone.  whiz is the way to go.  you can turn up your nose to processed cheese all you want.  but not on a philly cheesesteak.} with peppers & onions.  oh my gosh, yum.

believe it or not, we did take some time out from eating to see philadelphia!  our first stop was the comcast center in center city.  it's the tallest building in philly & home of the "comcast experience", a beautiful 2,000 square foot LED screen that runs shows eighteen hours a day.  this day was the first day of the holiday video.  it was so festive & so fun.  

& at the end, it snowed in the building!  merry christmas time!

next up, LOVE park!  christmas village was up in love park, so we got to walk through the festivities while enjoying some tasty mulled wine.  love christmas time!

{funny fact: the sculpture was much smaller than we imagined it.

& then seeing it in these pictures... it's smaller than it looks!

weird.}

after walking through beautiful city hall, we went to reading terminal market for some tasty treats!  originally where farmers sold their produce, the market is full of all kinds of vendors from fresh fruits & veggies to fresh meats & seafood to chocolates & candies to jams & amish cookies & so much more.

{delicious cannolis!}

on our night out in the city, we went to this awesome farm to table called the farmers' cabinet.  one side had a beer bar with all sorts of manly reclaimed wood & chalkboard-esque beer signs.  the other side had a snazzy liquor bar with a seriously good beverage menu.  & the back was a fancy little restaurant with a seriously good food menu.  if we lived in philly, we would frequent the farmers' cabinet.

philly, you were so lovely to us.  looking forward to it again soon.

love love,

kjp.