it's.

oh so quiet over here on the blog front. i wish i could say the same for our days and nights but that just isn't the case. it seems that the holidays have already started to hit us pretty hard which means we've had somewhere to be and some place to go nearly every day/weekend for the past few weeks ( although last weekend was a quiet few days of rest ). so here a few photos to fill you in on what the gignac family has been up to.

plus a quick trip to houston to visit this guy ( which we'll be having down here in a couple weeks to honor in a mini furniture showcase, email me for the info! ). and my runaway sous chef.

and OH YEAH! happy november!!

hey october!

how'd you get here so darn fast?!?! on this last weekend of september, mila showed us that she really is after her dad's heart ( as if she hadn't already won it over ). from sitting in the seats for a whopping TWO quarters during the game.

to showing us her new love for popcorn. a gignac ( ahem, carraher {nick's mom's family}  ) staple.

but now the week month must begin. full of recipes i want to try. projects i want to start. and of course projects i NEED to finish. and dreams of changing this house in all kinds of new ways.

happy monday!

tomorrow.

we're taking our little family on the road again for another little weekend trip.

i'm starting to learn a little more about car travel with a little in tow. and how to travel with an almost toddler instead of a nursing baby that at one time wanted to be nowhere but in my arms ( so not the case anymore ).

we're making a quick stop in austin before we head to college station on saturday. really hoping to squeeze in at least a couple of minutes here ( and of course here, but that's for purely selfish reasons ).

and OH YEAH! have y'all seen these family pictures? if i could have our family photographed in any way possible, this would be it! love their house too :) like a fourth member of the fam i tell you.


hope everyone has a splendid weekend!

what our weekend.

looked like.

we spent much of the time preparing to celebrate, celebrating and recovering from celebrating our friends' wedding. it was a lot of fun but also a reminder that my internal clock has certainly made a bedtime shift from midnight-ish to oh, i'd say eight-ish? either way, it was a great time and we're so glad that we could share in the festivities.

today has me cleaning and getting ready for an old friend to come visit. wondering how i never knew about THIS place. sending a return to these people {more on that story later, but for now, let me just say that the whole return process made me realize why and just how much i love that company}. and making these {recipe original found here} for breakfast tomorrow morning

tacos for everyone!

for cousins. and uncles. and brothers. and brother's girls-friends. and moms. and seesters ( especially those with birthdays ). and husbands & daughters. basically it was just a really nice evening spent with the ones we love.

but today we rest. while also celebrating the graduation of a very dear friend ( congrats barett! ) and a future wedding.

a lot of time.

spent in and around the water. from an early morning fishing trip last friday to celebrating the fourth of july at our beach house. it was a lot of sun. a lot of pruney fingers. and a lot of fun. so glad that our good friends could join us!

happy monday.

oh!

so THAT'S what a perfect sunday looks like.

in addition to starting the day off with a nice cup of coffee with some dear friends, we also enjoyed brunch with some more family just before going to the beach. these photos really make me realize just how fortunate i am to have such a wonderful family that i love so much.
xo

weekend in the sun.

with lots of friends. lots of food. and lots of laughs with the little ones.

and remember that fanTAStic run i had last sunday? well yesterday i didn't have quite as much luck {more on that later this week}. but it's safe to say that my loss was this guy's gain. he beat me in our little weekly running mileage challenge by a longggggg shot. but i quickly forgot about my loss by escaping to one too many episodes of a new favorite of mine. i held out for a long time but i'm officially hooked {ms. deschanel's on-set wardrobe has a lot to do with it}.

so excited.

about an upcoming mini-holiday to austin that my cousin and i are going to take. back in the day, she and i were road trip queens so it'll be just like old times hitting the road with her. but even better this time around because we'll both have our little angels with us. probably didn't ever think we'd be taking THIS kind of road trip. but i think i speak for us both when i say that i'm excited for the adventure. we're thinking about staying here because it pretty much looks like perfection in a hotel. but if anyone has any other kid-friendly, downtown hotel recommendations, we're all ears.

aside from this very exciting little vacay, we're also pretty thrilled to spend some more time with mila's new bff this weekend. it's been a couple days since they got together so i foresee lots of kisses and hugs and toy sharing while they soak up some sun on the beach tomorrow.

and oh yeah! fun eight mile run today {and yesterday. but who's counting?}

happy weekend!

a little vacation.

last week, i took a little vacation from the blog. for some reason, i just couldn't bring myself to sit down and reflect on my thoughts. our latest happenings around town. or share all the perfection that pinterest can sometimes bring.

aside from the a.m. gloomy weather that corpus experienced last week, nick and i were fortunate enough to celebrate our TWO year anniversary here while mila and i spent most of our afternoons filled with sunshine and endless attempts at getting rid of this darn sickness. we finally succeeded {for a few days anyway}, only to wake up yesterday, yet again, with congestion and a nasty cough. so it's back to lots of naps, using anything i can get my hands on as a kleenex and a ridiculous amount of trips to the sauna.

i think our low-key weekend at the beach house may help this thrice recovery though. mila got to get in some Q.T. with her new B.F. {that's BEST friend....not BOY friend} and we soaked in as much salty corpus air as we possibly could.

here's to a very happy monday!

{cough cough}

{sniffle sniffle.......sniffle}

oh sunday.

you make me do things that i really do regret. like eating a five guys burger. it sounded like a good idea but i immediately regretted our decision to go there. so last night i indulged in some frozen bananas for dessert and set out to make these. do y'all ever get these from whole foods' bulk section? i have to take the long journey from my house all the way out to the heb plus on the southside in order to get these little treats. so you can imagine my excitement when i found a recipe for the exact same thing. they can also be purchased online.

i didn't have enough sesame seeds so i added some flax and pumpkin seeds to make up the difference. and i had a little help from this one.

weekend.

:: some delicious "hamburgers" ::

:: my bff ::
 :: playtime ::
:: a cc artwalk kind of friday ::
:: my mom's favorite place - holding BOTH of her granddaughters ::

hope everyone had just as lovely of a weekend as we did!

aurora arts theatre.

last sunday, the husband and i ventured over to a fairly new theatre that's opened up on everhart/holly. we had a bit of an incentive to go see what was showing {a good friend of ours is one of the lead roles} and we are so glad we did.

i think nick mostly enjoyed the 'by donation' beer and wine. but the performances were seriously bragging quality. it was such a nice little sunday date. i think this particularly play runs for about three or four more weekends so definitely make it a 'thing to do' on an upcoming friday or saturday night or maybe even sunday afternoon.

we perused the program for some of the upcoming plays this year and we're pretty excited about quite a few of them {'rocky horror picture show' anyone? and i think the first time mila is introduced to cinderella it might have to be at this quaint little theatre}.

whoa.

that is one seriously full closet. which is why i took tons of old, gently used things to threads downtown. so if you're in the market for seven or citizen jeans, a few dresses from the goose last summer and lots of cute tops and cardigans, head down there and pick away at my former self.
and oh yeah! what's that you ask? are those hardwood floors in that picture??? why yes, yes they are. that's a little something we've been working on this past week. and they're FANNNNNtastic.

a few things.

that have made me incredibly joyful lately.

nick's and my evenings as of late. spent lingering at the dinner table long after finishing dinner, drinking wine and talking about everything and nothing all at the same time {the occasional forty-five minute skype calls with my brother have been pretty nice as well}.

extra time spent on this mat. with these bricks. thank you tara stiles.

and finally seeing how our christmas was documented thanks to my lovely cousin and aunt.

an austin kind of weekend.

in pictures.

m meets two of her aunts :: we visit yet another coffee shop

somebody stole mom's seat :: happy little mila moo

one serious breakfast spread

mila and uncle barett finally meet :: future besties

my love :: future mrs. barbato and me

tonight is for.

relaxing.

hope everyone is having as nice of a sunday as we are.

seeterday.

he did this.

while we did this.

and now we do this {together}.

oh yeah, and somebody's a big girl now.

happy weekend!