welcome to our new home!

welcome into our new home!!  it really is a pretty & wonderful place.  i cannot tell you how much happier we are than i even imagined we would be.  so blessed.

above is our gorgeous kitchen!  white cabinets, a big new fridge, pretty pretty tile backsplash, & gorgeous light grey marble countertops.   the one upside to having ridiculously gorgeous yet unbelievably impractical marble countertops - i now know to never put them in my own home.  i will enjoy their beauty for two years.  & only cuss at them every now & again :)

{my pink mixer looks fabulous against the white & grey}

{our magnetic spices!

blakey's idea.  genius.  so practical.

& so pretty.}

 {our view from the kitchen into the living room.

great entertaining space.}

our kitchen/living room/grand room is very cozy.  & i truly mean that in a positive way.  after having way more square footage than we knew what to do with in our awesome loft, it's nice having it all together. 

do you like our big mirror??  blake's impulse buy at ikea.  it fits the space so well!  & the sheep skin rug in front of the tv - impulse buy # 2. 

 {i spy little guy!}

you didn't think i would let the wedding wall go, did you??  it's back!  & even more wonderful.  check out our huge homemade chalkboard frame!  a DIY is coming your way soon.

off to the side of our kitchen/living room is our dining room that looks like it is floating in a tree.  a gorgeous view!  

then you walk into our master bedroom with a view of the back patio.

 {storage for days!}

& possibly my favorite room in our home: the bathroom.  it is so bright & cheery!  & the shower is absolutely divine.  blakey & i say every day that we feel like we are on vacation.  a two year vacation - i could get used to this!

{do you spot the deer & peacock?}

 {more storage!!}

the best upgrade of all: our laundry is in our home!!  dirty laundry, no big deal.  a wrinkly shirt, not a problem.  $50 not spent on laundry a month, fabulous!

our second bedroom is the perfect space for our study & workout room & blakey's closet.   

{where the blog posting magic happens}

there you have it, friends!  our new home!  please come visit anytime!  you are always welcome.

love love,

kjp.

our chef is famous!

roscoe is famous!  our chef at urban was highlighted in birmingham magazine this week.  they did an article on the awesome foods he likes to grill for summer, outside of the usual beef & pork & chicken routine.  which really is the perfect article for roscoe - he is definitely not the "usual" chef.  & that is one of the reasons he is so great.

check out the entire article HERE.

{my favorite grilled watermelon salad on herbed greens}

if you google "roscoe hall II", you can learn that he is also a pretty fantastic painter.  & he works as a food stylist on some national magazines.  but this was the first time he had an entire article on his food.  pretty cool.

love love,

kjp.

now that is a manly burger.

byrds made dinner for us!!  he chose the meal, found recipes, & grocery shopped all on his own!

i love third year.  & i love my husband.

so what does this manly man cook?  manly burgers, of course.  half pound of ground beef.  half pound of ground pork.  one link of chorizo.  that's all you need.

add a little worchestershire, garlic salt, & bacon salt to the ground meats.  moosh moosh moosh moosh.

{why bacon salt?  because julie & ben got it for us

& bacon has to make this manly meal better, right?}

split the mooshed meat into four parts.  chop up the chorizo & put half of it in the middle of one patty.

top the patty + chorizo with another patty.  

 {that's one manly burger!}

& grill away!

{shot glass to catch the drippings, of course.}

 {look at those grill marks from our indoor grill.}

oh, he did not stop at just meat, my friends.  he also picked up an onion, a bell pepper, & some mushrooms.  so we carmelized those suckers for about thirty minutes in olive oil & a little red wine.

add a delicious fresh bun & some yellow mustard.  amazing!!

 {well done, husband!}

& to make the wife happy, he bought some vegetable sides too.  love us some v. richard's sides.

yummmmmmmm.

looks like we have a new chef in the family.  dave, you taught him well.

love love,

kjp.

happy friday, little liam!!

i got to meet my sweet friend sarah's adorable baby boy yesterday!!  liam is so small & super cute with tons of brown hair & dimples.  the lamb shirt was pretty stinkin cute too.   he was being quite the good boy, letting sarah, marybeth, & i have a little girl time.  he just wanted to snuggle with mom & he was happy.

so good to meet you, liam!  i cannot wait to watch you grow from baby boy to big kid.

happy friday to you, friends!!

love love,
kjp.

thankful thursday - my grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary!

{juanita & jack's first picture together in 1940}     {& my precious grandparents in 2012}

my wonderful & adorable grandparents are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary today!!  70 years.  absolutely amazing.

they have taught me so much about love - love for a spouse, love for a family, & love for friends.  a true inspiration for true love & devotion.

a sweet article was in the norman transcript for their anniversary & you can see it {HERE}.

happy anniversary, grandma & grandpa!!  blakey & i hope to be just like you two & celebrate ours in 68 more years :)

love love,

kjp.

our little gingerbread house.

we absolutely love our new home!  i think it looks like an adorable gingerbread house.  {certainly there is a real term for this type of architecture.  but gingerbread house makes me happy, so i'm stickin with it.}

blakey, tanky, & i have certainly fallen in love with our new neighborhood, our great neighbors, & our fantastic yard.  we are so happy to finally have a little outdoor space to enjoy birmy.  we've already spent multiple evenings on our patio while chatting with neighbors & planning fun get togethers.

 {the view of our gorgeous pecan tree!!}

{pecans!!!}

oh, tanky loves getting to run around & be off of his leash like a big kid.  he never strays far from mom, of course.  but he can definitely get a sprint or two in to wear out his three year old self.

& we are going to have a group garden!  with a white picket fence.  i cannot wait to have an herb garden to pick whatever herbs i want for dinner!

you must love a place with character...

{city of birmingham manhole covers as stepping stones}

{a "cold" faucet in the concrete.  why not??}

& one of my favorite parts of living in the highlands: we get the beauty & quietness of top floor living but with main level access from the back.  no more carrying groceries up stairs.  yessss.

love our new home!  i'll show you pictures of the inside soon!

love love,

kjp.