Figs

Joey and I both have childhood memories associated with figs. Joey's Granny would give him a shotgun at the very mature age of 8 or so along with the instruction To Kill the Mockingbird(s) who were eating up her figs. God bless Jackson in the '90s ;) My memories don't conjure up such hilarity, but my grandmother, Phyllis Jean, and my great grandmother Twila Grace each had fig trees. Phee still makes fig preserves which are oh so good. She and I agree, what else are you supposed to do with figs? I especially have memories of Mamaw making her strawberry fig preserves, which was so delicious. I loved nothing more than spreading bright red preserves on toast with butter when I was a little girl....I still like it as a slightly less little girl.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that one of our trees in the backyard was indeed....fig. So I called up my beautiful Phee and asked her to embellish her great figgy wisdom upon her first grandchild. She sent me the recipe for the strawfiggy preserves that Mamaw made. So Joey and I gullumphed to the store, bought some mason jars and set to picking and peeling figs. I did a little (a lot) research as to how one is supposed to sterilize the jars, which was honestly the hardest part of the whole thing for a recovering germaphobe (My darling coworkers have given me this label...I'm not sure I like it, but it might be true. I digress). I don't want to get botulism, and after all, we've had our share of severe bouts of food poisoning and other tales of woe in this two-person household, thanks very much. So I probably sterilized them more than necessary, but what can I say, I'm a dreamer...and I dream of not getting botulism.

Our toils made two and a half full jars of preserves! It was a fun little Saturday project and brought back fond memories of home and family. The figs are still comin', so I plan to give away my loot to lucky friends in the area. If you'd like to try your luck at fig preserves and need a recipe or tips on how to stay botulism-free, let me know and I'll be glad to share.

Yours in figs,

Bond. Dad Bond.

What can I possibly say about my Dad that will adequately encompass his essence? I'm not sure I can, but I'll do my best.

He's the snappiest dresser I know. He works harder than a workhorse, yet still has tons of energy....always. He drives a Maserati and refers to himself as 007. He's never met a stranger. He can drive you bonkers, but you can't help but be sucked in by his charm. He has 5 daughters, 1 son and loves to talk about all us in detail....to everyone. He is very proud of his Italian heritage. His appearance very much deceives his true age. I got my full head of hair from him, and I hope I also inherit the anti-aging gene. He's a fan of potty humor....also got that from him. He absolutely has a mischievous side and a slight love of the dramatic. He's a truly great lawyer. Yes, it's accurate to state I've never met anyone quite like my father (and you probably haven't either if you've had the pleasure), but I'm very glad to say he's mine.

Papala's birthday fell on the last weekend of January this year, and he invited Maya and I to come into Houston to celebrate. All of my little sisters are dancers, and every year they attend a competition/workshop held in Houston; and it usually falls around my dad's birthday. So I drove in after work, and Maya flew in - we all had a great time! It was lovely to get to see my sisters in action and of course hang out with them for the weekend. I can't believe how fast they are growing. And little baby boy is just getting cuter and bigger by the moment! Since Michael has been born, I think this is the first time all 6 siblings have been together in one place, and I'm so glad we were all able to come together to celebrate the birth of the one and only Skip. My only regret is that we didn't get a photo of us all together - shoot! I love you Dad - wishing you the happiest of birthdays! Looking forward to your visit to Austin this weekend!

Girls will be girls - Isabella, Fleur and Maya

Making his 10-minute birthday wish....as he would say, when you have 6 kids, you need a lot of wishes, baaazing! And then he would slap you on the head if you're his kid. Thanks Dad... 

The Holiday Season

Hi Everyone! I'm behind per usual, as things have been a little hectic - lots going on and we're excited for 2012, but for now, I must close out 2011...it's the blog rules that I've just made up.

December was a fun and busy month! One of my best friends stopped over for a night with her husband. Although they were just passing through, we had a lovely night visiting and being generally awesome. I love my Doctors Guidry! We decided not to have a tree this year (Christmas with the Kranks?); it just didn't make sense with us beginning to move out of our town home (plus our ornaments are still in Louisiana...whoops) and with us going back to Louisiana for the holidays. We still got into the spirit...and you KNOW we sent Christmas cards! See previous post. 

This is what I come home to - Joey Crocker!

We got "tacky" with new friends

We attended my company's holiday party at The Driskill Hotel, Austin

Love these girls!

Handsome arm candy :)

I mean, somebody has to get the party started...might as well be us!

And we had a lovely, hilarious Christmas filled with the usual craziness - but as my motto surrounding the holidays states, "Tis the Season!" Of course we drove to Louisiana for Christmas, joined by my beautiful sister, who flew into Austin from L.A. We went to a few holiday parties, caught up with as many friends as possible, visited family, had a bonfire, had the slightest car wreck yet again (what is it with going to Louisiana and my car getting hit? Are you trying to tell me something, Louisiana? See here.) played a lot of monopoly ("You should really invest in real estate"... I am quite the heckler when it comes to monopoly fyi) and even had the midnight winnow. My poor mother's house is filled with mine and Maya's "stuff" from yesteryear, and it desperately needed to be sorted and for the most part thrown away!! I think we stayed up until about 3am one night going through all that stuff...so many memories and oh so much crap that is now out of my mom's house - yay!!

Joey and his sweet Mom

Gal pals at a holiday party!
Meredith, Holly, Fleur and Ashley
(totally stole this pic from Ash!)

Fleur, Brenda and Maya

With our littlest sister, Isabella

Love these girls!

The Farm

We stayed on my mom's beautiful farm this time coming home - it was a lot of fun! Polly Browne especially enjoyed getting into all sorts of trouble on the farm. . . oh, that dog.
And of course J-man could walk right out the front door and hunt - dream come true. Although, after a stellar report card and just because we love the guy, Joey got an Xbox 360 from me and a few other family members - so I think it's safe to say that once Christmas day rolled around, he was kinda hooked on the ole boxxy poo. It was great to surprise him this year!!

Joey plays Xbox as the hounds look on...or away rather.

As always, we were sad to leave Louisiana. I hope you all had a wondrous Christmas with your family! Best wishes for 2012!

Much love,

There were never such devoted sisters

Source: swagbucks.com via Fleur on Pinterest

I always miss my sister, but lately I have been missing her so much it hurts! Maybe because it's the holiday season. Maybe because she rocks my face off. Maybe because we are irreversibly connected to one another. Probably all of those. Blessed be the ties that bind.

Miss you Sister! Our reunion can't come soon enough.

Golden Afternoon

Phee's lovely table at Thanksgiving

I hope that you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know we did. This was our first experience "coming home for the holidays" since this is the first time we've lived somewhere else for a long period of time, and it was all I hoped it would be: running around like headless chickens, lots of hugs, puppies, beer, friends, flower beds, CC's coffee stops, vampires, deer stands, with just a hint of a car wreck :)  Tis the season!

Apricot Brie Bites - this is an easy recipe from Louisiana cook and author Holly Clegg that I like to make for parties....they are always a hit and Joey's fav!

We really did have a great time being home - it had been nearly 6 months since my last trip to Louisiana, so it was time! There really is no place like home. But I must say it wasn't quite the same without my sister Maya. She sadly wasn't able to come in for the holiday. Thankfully we'll see her at Christmas. It was wonderful to get together with so many of our friends and family that we haven't seen in so long - it was refreshing to spend time with people who know me best; the people I can laugh, cry and just be myself with. I know it will take some time before we develop close relationships in Austin, but it'll be hard to compare to the ties we have from home. And that's okay! There's a season for everything in life. We enjoyed celebrating the Sabbath at our home church and getting to visit with some of our church family.



Joey got in as much time in the deer stand as possible, perhaps in an effort to avoid my over scheduling him with social appointments :) Just kidding!...but seriously? He didn't get a deer unfortunately, but he did have one in his sight, although she was too small to shoot. Joey is always the valiant hunter!



I helped my mom plants flowers in her beds one golden afternoon - you can learn a lot of things from the flowers! Her new rescue puppy Eleanor looked on. He is too cute and sweet! And yes, Eleanor is a boy...I would explain, but as I've said before, you can't fix crazy.

We had multiple lovely Thanksgiving feasts at our various family gatherings. Between mine and Joey's sides, we always have lots of places to go and delicious food to assist in inducing comas. All in all a wonderful week - let us rejoice and be glad in it! Looking forward to doing it again at Christmas!

Brother?!?

Yep, you read right. I have a brother as of July 14! It's hard to believe -- life never ceases to surprise -- I can honestly say I never expected to have a brother. My dad has 5 daughters to his name, and he never tires of telling everyone he comes in contact just how many daughters he has. Partially, I think, because he wants people to pity him (he calls us high maintenance...ok dad), but mainly because he is very proud of all of us. Ranging from ages 28 (me) to almost 6 years old, I was fairly certain the sibling set was complete. But my dad and his wife were blessed with another child, and amazingly, a BOY! I've read articles about how once you've had about 3 of the same gendered children, it's not likely that you'll get the other sex...you're pretty much marked for either boys OR girls. And since the man determines the sex of the baby, my dad certainly favors girls! He is a proud papa as he adds #6 to Team Ferrara, and I can't wait to see him with a SON! I haven't gotten to meet the little guy since we're in another state, but I hope to see him soon! He's a few photos that have been sent my way. And he's a blonde!!

My brother, Baby Ferrara

Ferrara #5 with Ferrara #6!

Ferraras 001 - 004 with our Dad, James Bond 007 (he refers to us all by numbers, Bond style!)

Fleur