christmas and the new year!

christmas is over. here are some snapshots of our christmas this year.

christmas morning!cookies i made. specifically elephants for jessica!
christmas tart from carlo's bakery, aka the cake boss.
miss potato head i made for pk.
its almost new years. i cant believe a whole year has gone by. parker is now almost 14 months old. i have been living in new jersey for 11 months. i have been single for 11 months. i have been hurt, happy, sad, excited, disappointed, surprised, and overjoyed this year. i can only hope that next year is better than this one.

my new years resolutions thus far:

1. have parker sleep in a crib in her own room.
2. secure a good paying job in my industry.
3. start buying house things so i have furniture and stuff to call a home.
4. eat healthier.
5. lose weight.
6. go to the movies more often.
7. be craftier and sew more often.
8. be in a mature stable relationship with a man.
9. be the best mother daughter sister friend i can be.

wah wah.

you know what sucks? coming across pictures from five months ago that make you realize someone was lying to you. i guess thats one good thing about facebook. dont go somewhere people are taking pictures and forget to mention that someone else might be there with you. woops.

i guess some people think its okay to lie. or break promises. and then drag you in the mud.

in better news, i had a nice day with my dad. all of my shopping is done. we ate fajitas at chilis and had chocolate desserts. i watched a fish called wanda for the first time. and it was so funny.

patrick and amy are on their way. i cant wait for them to be here.

this time next year i hope to be in my own house, starting new traditions and continuing on the old ones. i also hope to have back all of my christmas decorations that someone doesnt want to give back.

favorite toys.

this toy is a lifesaver.

for anyone who has a child that likes to take your telephone or remote, or anything electronic and put it to their face and walk around, this is the toy for you. its kind of annoying but it says things in french and spanish. its makes ringing sounds and sings. it really keeps parker entertained. its cheap too.

i want to buy all of these.
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but most likely ill end up with this because it is only $20.
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coming together.

i have been crafting all day.

i went shopping to pick up supplies to make the shed at work into a gingerbread house.
mary and i are working on it tomorrow.

i wrapped all of the christmas presents that i have so far.

i have been baking a lot. this weekend i made red velvet whoopie pies with peppermint cream cheese filling, and some with vanilla bean cream cheese filling.
tonight i am making the old stand by, tollhouse cookies with m&ms. nothing fancy.
i decided i want parker to have the complete nancy drew series. i got her first installment this weekend.
i made some ornaments today, nothing crazy. i bough glass balls and filled them with stuff. the first one is just scraps of red fabric with some glitter.
this one i like the best. its just scraps of white fabric.
the last one i made didnt turn out as good as i wanted it to, but i only spent about five minutes making it. i cut up a lot of scraps of paper and wrote 2009, parkers 2nd christmas etc.
parker has been getting into the tree a lot recently. i want to put the presents under the tree, but if i do, i am going to have to put the coffee table in front of the tree so she doesnt pull all of the bows off of the presents again.

i worked for hours tonight on other presents for people that i cannot show at the moment. after christmastime i will show everyone what i have been working on!

i am very happy to say that i am officially moving back to atlanta january 15th. i found the perfect house with ro. i am so excited. its so cute. im signing the lease this week and putting down the deposit.
now all that needs to happen is for me to get the internship and to meet a nice man!

christmas crafts.

here is the crime scene from monday.

i made stocking for everyone. parker already had a really cute one from last year.

here is the beauty queen.

wintertime girl.

blooooood.

i had the most fun filled christmas time weekend.
friday night - love actually and cookie baking with katy ashlee and elysa
saturday - i decorated my tree and watched the holiday with elysa
sunday - decorated ninas tree and made cookies with her roommate while listening to the vince guaraldi trio.

today i had planned on making ornaments and new stocking for amy, pat, my dad and i. i was all set up to finish the stockings when on my way down the stairs i stepped on the hammer. the side where you pull out nails. sliced my foot open. blood was dripping eveywhere and i was home alone with parker. i had to make it to my phone, wrap my foot up with a paper towel, get parker in her car seat, and drive myself to the hospital.

but now im home eating haagen dazs coffee ice cream out of the container with threee stitches in my foot and a sore arm from a tetanus shot.

its beginning to look a lot like christmas!

today is decoration day. im off of work and made a wreath.

then my dad and i decorated the tree.
my neighbor has a really great wreath. i hope that she made it.
last night i went to elysas with katy and ashlee and we baked cookies.
parker helped.
parkers favorite girl.
its snowing really hard today. sticking. see flickr for video!

i did some laundry today and realized i do have quite an affinity for stripes.

i wish.

so pretty.

thanksgiving!

this year im thankful for a lot.

my family. my dad especially, for letting me live with him and taking care of parker and i.
searching for houses with ro.
job prospects.
my darling parker, the cutest of them all!
egg nog and that caramel brulee latte from starbucks.
pacifiers.

here is a photo from tonight. i had my friend oscar from work over for dinner. his family is all in peru so he wasnt doing anything. plus he is peruvian so he doesnt care at all about thanksgiving anyway.


i made lemon meringue pie, bread pudding with a vanilla sauce, mashed potatoes, and cream of cauliflower soup.
my dad made turkey, stuffing, gravy, carrots and turnips, and green beans.
im full and tired.

i miss a lot of people.

tuesday is my day off. i always feel very productive on these days.
so far i have:
researched, filled out, and printed legitimation forms
updated parkers baby book
printed out thank you cards
balanced my checkbook
wished people happy birthday

left to do:
go to therapy
take parker to her one year check up
sew up my jeans nice and tight
take a walk
research thanksgiving recipes
continue looking for jobs and apartments in atlanta
convince someone to be my roommate

busy day. i like it.
i wish i had bought this for parkers birthday. i think its cute.

parker frances koher is one!

parker is now a toddler, as they say. the party was a smashing success.

im going to give a little summary for those who care, although i think the four people that read this were at the party.

all flowers and arrangements done by catherine walther, daves mom. she has a floral design company called arrangements if anyone is in need of anything.
cupcakes made by janine powell! i believe they are snickerdoodle by the wonderful martha stewart.
beautiful cake made by nicole. [her first made-from-scratch cake!]
i made the banner with a lot of different purple and yellow fabrics.
sugar cookies in envelopes.
hats and bubbles made by me. i wish i had more photos of the party hats because there were so many. i had two sizes, one for kids and one for adults.
rosettes in the windows. it doesnt look like a lot, but it was hours of folding, stapling, taping, and hanging to get them done.
petit fours from alon's bakery. candy sticks from cracker barrell, in which my darling julie drove to the ends of the earth to get.
the most fantastic painting done by my friend christy chaffin. what a talent!
i made cake pops. there were lavender m&ms, grape gumballs, lemonheads, mike&ikes, and butterscotch candies. i also made a million pinwheels. there are two pictured here.
we had sparking pineapple juice, sparking lemonade and champagne.
homemade chocolate lolipops made by me!

i got some inspiration from donna hay's annual kids issue. i made mini sandwiches, chicken salad and avacado, and ham and cheese. i also made deviled eggs. i got some kitchen help from jay.

i have many special thanks to dole out.
brittany and jay mehta for hosting a pre birthday decoration session complete with wine and homemade pizza.
lesley graham, nina roussarie, and jessica dorman for helping with decorations!
kyle hale for the use of his camera etc and setting up the photo booth.
nicole wrathell for making the most beautiful purple three tiered cake.
janine powell for making cupcakes.
my mom for making cookies.
kirk whitfield for the use of her apothecary jars.
catherine walther for all of the arrangements and use of all her glassware.
my biggest thanks to my bestie jessica. she lent her workspace, her time, energy, and creativity and really helped me with everything. i love you!

i couldnt have done any of it without all of you!

brittany and matilda.
birthday girl and i.
tutu made by meeeeee.
[all photos taken by lesley graham, nathan perry, and sarah cook]