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]

life.

i love this.

birthday girl.

9:37am thursday november 6, 2008
happy birthday parker!
[yesterday she found a hersheys kiss and put the whole thing in her mouth]

illustration.

i love this illustration, its by danny roberts. beautiful.

i go to atlanta in four days. its also parkers birthday is four days.

the gamber.

Slow down, we've got time left to be lazy
All the kids have bloomed from babies into flowers in our eyes.
We've got 50 good years left to spend out in the garden
I don't care to beg your pardon,
We should live until we die.

We were barely 18 when we'd crossed collective hearts.
It was cold, but it got warm when you'd barely crossed my eye.
And then you turned, put out your hand,
And you asked me to dance.
I knew nothing of romance, but it was love at second sight.

I swear when I grow up, I won't just buy you a rose.
I will buy the flower shop, and you will never be lonely.
Even if the sun stops waking up over the fields
I will not leave, I will not leave 'till it's our time.
So just take my hand, you know that I will never leave your side.

It was the winter of '86, and all the fields had frozen over.
So we moved to Arizona to save our only son
And now he's turning to a man, although he thinks just like his mother,
He believes we're all just lovers he sees hope in everyone.

And even though she moved away,
We always get calls from our daughter.
She has eyes just like her father's
They are blue when skies are grey
And just like him, she never stops,
Never takes the day for granted,
Works for everything that's handed to her,
Never once complains.

You think that I nearly lost you
When the doctors tried to take you away.
But like the night you took my hand beside the fire
30 years ago to this day
You swore you'd be here 'til we decide that it's our time
Well it's not time, you've never quit in all your life.
So just take my hand, you know that I'll never leave your side.
You're the love of my life, you know that I'll never leave your side.

You come home from work and you kiss me on the eye
You curse the dogs, you say that I should never feed them what is ours.
So we move out to the garden and look at everything we've grown.
And now the kids are coming home
I'll set the table

You can make the fire.

-fun.