happy engagement {party} to elyse & matt!

the mcgowans hosted an engagement party with us for elyse & matt this weekend!  the weather cooperated quite beautifully for our backyard party.  we celebrate our wonderful friends' engagement with a southern soiree - an evening of paper lanterns, whiskey punch, & a few paula dean favorites.  it was so much fun to celebrate these two with our friends & so many of theirs.

our southern soiree menu was quite delicious.  we had pulled pork sliders with pickled onions.  {have you ever pickled anything??  amy made these amazing little gems.  i must try pickling things!}  we had amy's family's pimento cheese dip.  delicious!

mrs paula dean's south georgia caviar:

 {super easy & tasty recipe.

link above.

add salt & garlic, of course.}

& no southern meal would be complete without a tasty treat or two!  we had pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese filling, which turned out to be everyone's favorite.  oh, how i love pumpkin season.

& of course red velvet cupcakes too.

 a huge congratulations to the lovely couple!  we are so happy for you two.  & are happy for a reason to throw a party :)

love love,
kjp.

mom's new puppy!

{dakota}

my mom & ray got a new puppy!  an adorable little boxer named dakota.  we cannot wait to meet her in december when we go home for christmas.

she looks so much like tanky as puppy!  what do you think?

{my t guy}

happy friday, friends!

love love,

kjp.

thankful thursday # 41.

on this week before thanksgiving, we are thankful for so many things.

i am thankful for my wonderful husband who shows his love for me every day.

i am thankful for our families that we miss so dearly.  & super thankful that we are going to hang out with every one of them in the next two months.

i am thankful for our friends.  our friends from norman that we still talk to weekly on fantasy football.  my college friends that i gchat with on a regular basis.  our med school friends that are way too busy but know we miss them.  our birmy friends that have made us feel so welcome in this new state.

i am thankful for my tanky.  he is the best snuggler in the world.  & probably the cutest too.

i am thankful for my fuchsia monkey.  my first pet.  she still greets me every morning with a lot of purrs.

i am thankful for my wonderful job.  i am so blessed to have a job i truly enjoy.

i am thankful for a night out with great friends last night & a great meal.

i am thankful for an engagement party with friends this weekend & my sister & ben coming to town next week.

& i am thankful for God showing His love to us every day.  His patience with us when we need it.  His encouragement when we need that too. & His amazing blessings.

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

love love,
kjp.

let's get it on.

do you watch the sing-off?  you should.  it is fabulous.

the show is all types of performances by acapella groups.  they are really really good.

& probably my favorite so far is:

seriously good, right?

& that adorable girl.  she's a kappa.  at ou.  that's right.  rah rah for kkg.

you should watch the show.  monday nights.  they are down to 4 groups.  & we will get to vote for the winner.  you should probably vote for pentatonix :)

love love,
kjp.

a huge gigantic yay.

{via all of our new favorite obsession pinterest

& originally blondebirdie.com}

my sister & benny boo are going to be here one week from today!!!

a huge gigantic yay.

i love my sister.  & benny boo too.

love love,

kjp.

a potter wars birthday!

i finished the super scary baking job i told you about last week! 

& i must say, i am a little bit proud of myself.  mostly for accomplishing something that i wasn't sure i could do.  & a little bit because i actually did a pretty darn good job.

first up, star wars cookies!  i used these williams-sonoma cookie cutters.  they were much easier to work with than i expected.  as for the decorating, i have never made royal icing, so this was the ultimate learning experience.  if you want to decorate cookies, ABSOLUTELY watch this video from joy of baking.  it is a super helpful step-by-step instruction.  thank you, joyofbaking.com! 

i also know nothing about star wars.  so i had to look up a lot of pictures.  but they are cute little guys:

 {darth vader.  i did know this one!}

 {& yoda!

blakey always calls tanky "yoda",

so i knew this one too.}

& then a harry potter book cake.  chase wanted a white cake, & delicious white cake with white buttercream, i can do.  since it had to be in the shape of a book, i got to slice off the ends...& then eat the slice.  it was yummy :)

there was quite a bit of fondant work on the cake.  although fondant sounds super intimidating, it really isn't.  once you roll it out super thin {takes some arm muscles!}, it can make a cake look so pretty & smooth.  & shaping little figurines is like working with play-doh.  this cake was so much fun. 

{the awesome feather thing is snitch.
it's a game ball.
& no, the feathers are not fondant.  they are real feathers.
i liked the effect.}

 {harry's wand with the page detail in the background}

 {the sorting hat:

yes, i totally just googled that}

 {harry's awesome black glasses}

{love piping.}

chase, i hope you loved your birthday treats!  it was a huge growing experience for me.  i learned a ton.  & i learned even more about believing in myself.  

love love,

kjp.