when i look back on it.

last week was a pretty busy week indeed.

from finally purchasing our christmas tree on wednesday and actually decorating it on saturday {thank you mila for the two-hour nap you took, it really helped out your mom and dad!}.

buying a classic seasonal treat for me to enjoy with my afternoon tea that i have been routinely drinking and LOVING lately.

then working off those christmas-shaped delights by running half of a half marathon...not quite my goal of a "half-marathon post-baby before the end of 2011", but close!

introduced mila to mr. claus. she didn't mind the red-suited man at first but quickly saw through the synthetic beard and decided she'd had enough. it was pretty obvious when she broke into a bloody murder scream. seriously, blue in the face shrieks. and i'm very sorry to the woman in line behind me, she told me to leave mila on the fake santa's lap because those pictures are "the best". i'm all about capturing the moment but i just couldn't sit there and not do anything, so i immediately saved her. mila, you'll thank me later.

and we even made a little update to m's room. an early sorta christmas present but at least now some of her books have a place to call home. and a pretty cute place at that.

a few things i'm working on.

posture. because everytime i look at a picture of myself, i'm slouching and it just isn't doing anything for me. maybe me and this little booger need to have a few dates or i just need to make a couple stops by the yoga studio. either way, i'm on a mission.

quit dressing my daughter like a real housewife of new jersey when she goes to parties. love the top. love the swimsuit. love the hat {special gift from her cousin/pen pal}. but may just have to quit putting all three together.

let these two have more dates more often. and maybe one day, sooner rather than later, arrange a long overdue kansas city road trip so they can actually hang out together. you know, because justin needs a few beard tugs from his baby niece.

actually completing my daily to-do lists. i.e. the u.s. government thought mila's last name was spelled g-i-g-n-a-L and apparently it's MY responsibility to fix THEIR mistake. i've been putting it off and putting it off but i think today really is the day that i straighten the gov. out!

and finding a coffee table. R.I.P. the little gem at the bottom of this image that we sold in the garage sale a few weeks ago and hail to something new and wonderful to grace our hideously tiled floors.

so here's to getting things done!

loving.

this mobile for M's room

this shoe organizer for when mila moo takes those first few steps

this girl on the right, because she came all the way from ny {by way of memphis} to meet my little girl

last weekend before mila?

after about eleven years together {off and on during the lovely time period known as 'college'}, in possibly four days {maybe more...hopefully less}, nick and i will have a new addition to the family. and i think i speak for both of us when i say that our last weekend alone couldn't have been spent any better.

nick left work a little early and most of friday afternoon was spent working in the yard and cleaning the patio.

{cobweb-free patio}

{pollen-free deck}

{pruned garden}

{freshly mowed back yard}

and that night we enjoyed a lovely dinner at one of our favorite corpus restaurants {the yardarm}.

{love him}

{six days pre-'guess date'}

saturday, nick got an urge to clean out the pond that these little friends call home.

and later, my mom and i took a serious pregnant walk around the park a couple times.

{enjoying the CLEAN patio}

and now, sunday, i'm enjoying what could be the healthiest {and BEST} salad i've ever made.

{kale + freshly picked tomatoes +

cucumbers + sunflower seeds +

sesame seeds + poppy seeds +

shallots and lemon agave dressing...

with ak-mak crackers}

mila's room.

expect lots.

and lots.

of pictures.

so much for a 'lazy' sunday.

there is still much work to be done, but my new workspace {tomorrow marks my first day 'at THE office'} got a big nudge in the right direction.

i really don't know when my urge to change nearly every wall in my house from white to 'anything but white' will die. although, surprisingly, i actually love white walls....in the right space but our house just isn't that 'space'. so color it is and color it shall be. i'm still waiting on a new desk chair and a few other office necessities but until they arrive, i think i will be just fine working in this *new* room.

on another weekend note, the south texas summer is quickly approaching and with it brings lots of fresh produce that we took full advantage of this past saturday and sunday.

this thing weighed no less than eighteen pounds- no lie -had barely enough room in the refrigerator for it. luckily i realized this half-way into dicing it up, because that gave us a chance to use my very neglected juicer and drink our dose of lycopene with some strawberry + watermelon juice.

one thing led to another and before i knew it, i was filling two gallon-size containers with various juices.

and then the husband came in with some fruits from el jardin.

and if THAT wasn't enough, nick's mom has been so generously sharing some of her hand-picked tomatoes with us. nearly every year her tomatoes dominate her garden, leaving barely anything else to compete with them, fortunately it is a welcomed takeover.

mila loves all of you.

just as much as i do {she just doesn't know it yet}.

{vanity case by lalé bela}

{baby bloch}

{rattle blocks by oeuf nyc}

{cushion by donna wilson}

{egmont doe lamp}

i think we should all be best friends.

{karen walker shades}

{marvellous mug by lisa stockley, london}

{cosmetic bag from lisa stockley, london}

{towels from lisa stockley, london}

{hansel from basel}

{need supply co.}

because you're all lovely and i think you would make my transition into motherhood that much smoother.

and cuter.

signed,
your new b.f.f.