The Parkers

Wedding Dress Shopping with CCC!

It seems that the last several blog posts have been wedding-related... I guess that's what happens when two of your very best friends in the whole world are engaged! When Carrie planned a last minute trip to Atlanta to go wedding dress shopping I was ecstatic! Really. I could hardly contain my excitement. The wedding dress is my most favorite part about weddings. It sets the tone of the whole event.

I wanted to make things festive for when Carrie arrived. Sugar cookies seemed like the perfect option. I ran to Michaels, grabbed some cookie cutters and went to work. I love doing things like this. My dream job would be to own a bakery and decorate cookies and cupcakes all day. So fun.

Right before we went out for fish tacos and margaritas! We could live off of fish tacos.

ready to go pick out her WEDDING DRESS!!

Our morning started early. We got up at 6:00 and were on the road by 7:15 energized and ready to go! We arrived at the secret location right on time and were thrown into a room full of beautiful gowns. This really was a team effort. Carrie was literally diving into dresses.. We felt like little girls playing dress up. There was one moment when I was trying to zip Carrie up and she COULD NOT stop laughing.. We didn't have time to waste giggling! We needed to zip up, examine, and move on to the next dress! It really was a fun process.. and a successful process too! The third to last dress was the one she chose. All along we had both been saying, "that one is pretty..." This was the first time we used the word "love." Not revealing any details, I will say that it is totally Carrie. Can't wait for May 7th!

AHHH!!!

I can hardly contain my excitement! Tonight, Carrie and Andrew got ENGAGED!!! It's so wonderful and exciting. Carrie, I love you! And Andrew, we have waited for you for a long time! Thank you for loving my dear friend so well. It takes a special person! :) CONGRATULATIONS!

Ginna's Wedding Shower!

This past week we have been snowed in. Atlanta got some crazy snow and work was called off for me for the entire week! It was great. I loved being at home, but I did get a little bit of cabin fever. I was so thankful for Ginna's shower to look forward to. My mom and Natalie drove up from FL, picked me up and we drove into Greensboro together. It felt like we were going home.

It was so much fun to celebrate the bride-to-be! We ate delicious food and showered her with gifts. It was so wonderful to be with old friends!

Ginna, the beautiful BRIDE!!!

happy shower day!

Ginna gave us aprons, embellished by Dorothy as hostess gifts!

the banner I made for the shower. It worked perfectly over those windows! I am grateful to my mother-in-law for giving me a sewing machine and teaching me how to sew!

I made this cupcake tower for my brother's wedding.. Used it again for Michelle's shower last spring, and now again for Ginna's!

So much fun! Congrats Ginna!

holiday funk

I have been in a holiday funk the past few days at work. After having 2 weeks off, it's so hard to get back into the normal routine! Over break I was staying up until after midnight and sleeping until 9 or 10am. I even threw in an afternoon nap when I could. It was lovely. Today I came straight home after work.. I didn't have kids at the private practice, so it was nice to come home at 4:30 instead of 6:45... I had every intention of taking Toby for a run, but it was rainy and my body felt completely drained. I wanted to do something fun, so I decided to make white chocolate chip cranberry oatmeal cookies using my new Kitchen Aid mixer! I love it. The pistachio green makes me happy.

I have been wanting this cute candy stand ever since I saw it in Carrie's kitchen a year ago! It was on clearance at Williams Sonoma, and I got it! It's the perfect size.

He was my baking buddy tonight while Brian was out. Sweet little Toby, looking so handsome, waiting for me to throw his new squeaky ball which I immediately regretted giving him. When Carrie called, I had to lock myself in the bathroom so I could hear her! The squeaking is so loud! But since he didn't get a walk, I figured he needed something fun to play with. :)

The cookies were quite tasty! I highly recommend this recipe taken from food.com. The only thing I did differently was I used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose. I froze half the dough to make another day. YUM!

It's 9:00 and I am going to BED. Must get out of the holiday funk!!! Tomorrow is a new day. I have high hopes that it will be better!

White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups oats

3/4 cup dried cranberries

6 ounces white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°. In large bowl using an electric mixer combine the sugar, brown sugar and butter; mix well to cream together. Add in egg and vanilla until combined. Add the cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flour and mix well. Fold in oats, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips. Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Merry Christmas!

birthday dinner & jingle jog!

One of my most favorite things is trying out new restaurants, and my birthday was the perfect time to do it! A friend at work recommended Agave in Cabbagetown, an eclectic southwestern It was fabulous. Fun atmosphere, high energy, tasty margaritas, and impeccable food. The guacamole was the best I've ever had.. Everything tasted amazing and was so beautifully presented. Come visit us and we will take you there!!!

I had the stuffed trout with crawfish, onions, mushrooms, and basil over Spanish rice with a roasted tomatillo sauce.

Brian had the herb and chile marinated steak over roasted yellow corn & goat cheese mashed potatoes topped with a smoked chile and honey BBQ sauce.

Since the Thanksgiving Day 5k was so fun, I signed us up for an even more festive Jingle Jog! Both Brian and I have been sick this week, so we weren't sure if we'd be able to run it. The alarm went off at 6am and Brian said, "Are we really doing this?" I pulled the birthday WEEKEND card and said "YES!" And we did. So did Toby! It was in the 30s when the race began, but the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful day. Running with a dog in the midst of thousands of runners and hundreds of dogs was a bit challenging, but we had a great time!

Look at all of the red and green!

Jingle, jingle, jingle..

Toby was so tired. As soon as we crossed the finish line and were waiting in line, he collapsed. And he has been sleeping ever since we got home.

this weekend

I have been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time.. Carrie and Andrew came to visit! I have been dying to meet this guy. They came over to our place for dinner and then we went to brunch and the park the next day. Carrie and I even managed to squeeze in a little shopping on Saturday. It was lovely, despite me being sick.. I did not want a little cold to get in the way. It was so great to hang out all together. Thanks for coming, guys!!

Carrie made this awesome chocolate cake with peppermint icing for an early birthday celebration