turkey day

Posted on December 10, 2014 by tandem in love

oh goodness. i have been so behind with blogging/posting. life has been so hectic and busy. i’m trying so hard to squeeze in some much needed sleep as well…which i have been terribly lacking in. that does not make me happy. i love sleep. loooooove it. but of late, i have been so very sleep deprived and that is no bueno. hello…that is why they call it beauty sleep and i am currently no beauty…just way tired looking!

anyhoo, i’m finally posting about thanksgiving. yeah…that was how long ago? but better late than never, non?!

we started off our morning right. relaxing, coffee, and just us being together. olive took her nap and after that, we gathered our stuff together and headed over to aunt wendy’s. they always have thanksgiving ‘dinner’ early. usually around 1:30pm. so, it always works out for us because my family has always had thanksgiving dinner around dinner time…6-7pm. we are able to split our day between both families.

we got to aunt wendy’s and settled in. we had brought a birthday cake to celebrate olive’s first. she was born one day before thanksgiving last year, so this year, it fell on thanksgiving day! the food was ready within the hour, i grabbed a plate for olive first. i fed my little babes her first thanksgiving meal {it was only colostrom last year!} and then grabbed a plate for myself! yum. the food was good…and very, very unhealthy! just keeding…it was all fat free 😉

[olive not having a meltdown in auntie missy’s arms]

[daniel and missy ready to give miss olive her birthday present]

[birthday gifts from auntie missy]

[my little babes]

[daniel and olive…cousins]

[me and lori]

[gramma and olive]

[‘lunch’ is served]

[darling morgan and miss olive]

[sister grace]

after we ate, we hung out for a bit. we caught up with the family and olive played around. she has to get warmed up and become familiar with her surroundings before she gets comfortable. once she is, she will start to explore and become friendly with the people around her.

after a bit, we decided to break out her birthday cake since the other desserts were being served. we lit her birthday candle, brought out the cake to the dining room table, and sang happy birthday! she didn’t even wait for us to sing. she saw the cake and dug her finger right into it! ha!

after her cake, we chilled for just a little bit longer and then headed over to my parent’s house to another round of thanksgiving dinner and birthday cake!

[birthday cake!]

[before we sang, she had already stuck her finger in the cake! // make a wish!]

***

when we arrived at my parent’s house, we were delighted by the cute little presents waiting for miss olive! my sisters did such a wonderful job putting her presents together! so sweet.

my sister kim was downstairs, still whipping up our delicious dinner. we all pitched in to help finish it up while the kids played around. every year, my sister kim always makes the yummiest thanksgiving dinner. it’s soooo good! everything is delicious, tasty, and savory. my favorite dishes are the brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. this year, though, i was really loving the mushrooms. like i said before…it’s all fat free!

[cutest gift…a ‘target’ shopping cart and goodies inside!]

[if you’re vietnamese…you’ll know what’s inside the container thuy is holding!]

[cheers!]

[my sweet brother dan]

[thanksgiving table]

[happy birthday olive!]

[here comes the food!]

[cheers!]

[the boys were super excited mom found the wishbone!]

[bennett ended up with the winning part]

once we were done with dinner, we relaxed a bit at the table, and then the clean up began. of course, in old school fashion, all the women cleaned up while the kids and the men chilled.

after the dishes were done and the food was put away, we brought out olive’s birthday cake. kim and thuy got olive the prettiest cake and candles! it was covered in sprinkles! who doesn’t love sprinkles?! we sang happy birthday and she made a ‘wish’. so perfect!

[my sweetie]

[olive with her crazy aunties]

***

after cake, the big kids were super excited to decorate cookies. every year, i bake a few dozen sugar cookies {a blog post to come!} and bring them over so the kids can have fun decorating cookies! it’s creative, fun, and yummy {maybe a few get eaten before it’s all done 😉 } it’s entertaining to watch them, how creative different they all are and what fun designs they come up with on each cookie.

[fun festive decorated cookies]

[olive and grandma]

while the kids decorated cookies, we opened up olive’s birthday gifts from her aunties and cousins. i loved every little detail! the purr-fect card, the ‘target’ cart, the french word blocks, the best baby book {it’s so fun and interactive}, and the cutest, coziest cat hat for miss olive! so perfectly thought out and alls so useful! olive is so lucky to have such generous aunties!

[a cat card for my cat baby]

all in all, it was the best ‘first’ thanksgiving for miss olive! we had such a wonderful time celebrating her birthday, eating the most delectable foods, and spending time with our dear family. pure success in the ‘it’s a wonderful life’ department. woot. woot.

xoxo

fam jam night

Posted on December 8, 2014 by tandem in love

it was a friday night and it called for a dinner night out with the fam. after doing some fun holiday activities, we all met up at a restaurant in hinsdale called vistro. a cool vibe eatery by paul virant {owner of vie & perennial virant}. it was bustling and busy. we scored a close parking spot and cruised on in. we originally had a high table but that wasn’t going to work with ms. olive. so, they were super kind and accommodating to us! they quickly relocated us to a booth. i was quite pleased at how wonderful they were with our situation.

[olive doesn’t get a high chair…she sits on the table like a lady]

[famille]

[pouty]

we sat down and ordered some delicious apps and beverages. the crispy tuscan kale and brussels sprouts were soooooo good. i could have eaten those two dishes as my main meal. seriously. so yum. but i did not regret my burger. that was delectable as well.

i loved the vibe of the restaurant. it was quite cozy, warm, and friendly. the service was fantastic and everyone was so nice. obviously having a baby {who wants to move around} can be a challenge at a restaurant but everyone thought she was a cutie. duh, of course. olive wanted so badly to walk everywhere in the place…i tried my best to not have her interfere with other patron’s meals. we cruised around the tables and walked into the hallway where the bathrooms were and turned back around to our table. and then maybe start over again.

[festive cocktails]

[this brussel sprout dish was soooo tasty!]

[kim doing her best RBF]

we were doing pretty well throughout the meal but near the end, it was time to go! she started to get a bit fussy and it was close to her bedtime.

we had a great time being silly, relaxing, and noshing on some super savory food. it was a wonderful end to a great day.

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on December 5, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to december 2008.

our friends and family gathered together at 10pin for a holiday bowling party. nerdy hc and me decided to get matching bowling shirts personalized with our names on them {from strange cargo in wrigleyville…i love that store!}. ha! it’s a shame we have never worn them since. i guess that means we need to go to another fun, bowling party soon. dust off the duds and roll some balls!

we had just started dating here, barely together for two months in this photo! look at us! we look so fresh and happy; i’m loving our ‘looks’. anyhoo, we met up with everyone {my sisters and a bunch of friends}, bowled our hearts out, and noshed on some yummy not good for you food.

it was a swell time. we were loving our bowling shirts and loving each other. ah, the start of our relationship is so sweet to reminisce in. when we first met, it was quite rocky {at least on my part…as many of you know, i didn’t take to hc at first} and then we fell hard. december was a wonderful month for us. it was full of love, laughter, good times, and newness.

so, a bowling party like this was a fabulous memory we now revel in. we got all geeked out in our shirts and had a great time bowling with everyone. or at least i tried my best to avoid getting my balls in the gutter 😉

[heine and deuce]

what are some of your favorite memories with your significant other?? what holiday pasts have you done that brings you joy? hopefully nothing bad that the ghost of christmas past will remind you of {not scrooges allowed}!! i hope it brings a smile to your face when you reminisce! happy friday y’all!

xoxo

olive & santa claus

Posted on December 3, 2014 by tandem in love

we were so excited to have scheduled a visit with santa claus! so, dream works has created and built ten {i think it’s ten, or is it seven? anyhoo} led lighted santa clause houses throughout the u.s. and oakbrook center has one! it’s a good thing we made our appointment early because it is now booked throughout the season! we were so excited to have experienced this journey to see santa claus, what a unique idea it is!

we packed ourselves up and headed out to oakbrook. we were running a bit behind but that was no matter because, unfortunately, santa was also running sooo behind! we waited in line for quite some time {that sucked…especially since we made an appointment!} and it was so cold out…boo! the guest service folks were kind enough to let us step away and warm up inside a store and not lose our spot in line. we needed to because it was way too cold outside for miss olive! after a very, very long wait, we were finally up next! woo hoo!

[pretty cool, huh? the images actually change]

[waiting out in the cold for santa // coat by zara]

[red nosed reindeer]

[auntie kim making a pit stop by]

[fiona, donkey, and shrek]

[my little baby warming up]

they gathered us inside the ‘foyer’ of the house and we were welcomed in by a few elves. we waited there, another ten minutes or so, before we were finally greeted by another elf! she brought us into another room and talked about how we were going to meet santa! buttttt, santa had snuck away! shrek and donkey appeared and said we needed to go to the north pole to see santa, he had gone back and we needed to find a way to meet up with him!

[we are finally inside! waiting to see if santa is behind the curtain]

[nope, santa isn’t here!]

[shrek and donkey telling us that we need to build a sleigh to get to the north pole!]

our little elf then led us into another room, a top secret room where we could build a sleigh ride to fly to the north pole. we spent some time in there building our cool sleigh! it was so interactive and fun!

[building our sleigh on the computer!]

after we built our sleigh, we were then led into another room where our computerized sleigh came to life! we all jumped onto the sleigh and held on tight for our trip to the north pole. it was soooooo cool. we loved it! it was so realistic and fun. we flew through the sky with shrek, fiona, donkey, and other friends, they led us to the north pole.

[we were flying to the north pole! it was so awesome!]

after our sleigh ride, we finally landed in the north pole! we were almost there, santa was within reach! we waited in another room and waited our turn to see him! as you can see…olive was loving it {not}! i knew she would completely freak out once i handed her over. oh em gee. i could not stop laughing. my poor baby girl was having a freak out. and that santa…he was so stinkin’ cool. he didn’t break a sweat and handled her like a pro! the pics down below are too presh.

[this one is our favorite…ha!}

yay! olive’s first visit with santa was a success{?}. well, it was for us, although i think olive might argue that. hehe.

happy holidays y’all!

xoxo

winter tablescape inspiration

Posted on December 1, 2014 by tandem in love

christmas is upon us {woo hoo}! the holidays are a magical time. i’m so in the mood to decorate and be jolly {even after a few crazy whirlwind weeks i’ve had}! decking the halls is such a favorite pastime of mine. i love getting creative and thinking of different ways to brighten up the house in a very festive way. nothing feels better than a dressed up home, all cozy and pretty.

december is all about entertaining, having family and friends stop by {anytime}, and having a cup of peppermint hot chocolate ready for any of your guests! with all that in mind, i’ve been scheming up some grand ol’ ideas for a festive, fun winter tablescape. i love modern, earthy, and bright aesthetics. so, as you can see down below, the elements i picked out in my mood board definitely reflect my descriptive words!

runner from goldandglamour // holla sign from ohdierliving // candles from restoration hardware // name plates from lhcalligraphy // napkins and placemats from restoration hardware // glass and gold ornaments from serena and lily // gold chargers from trisheye // fraser fir garland from poeboy tree farm // stockholm walnut extendable table form modani

i love the walnut table from modani. it’s the perfect foundation and color to the whole winter scheme. it lends to the organic feel of the decor and sets the tone for the entire holiday look of the table. i love the sleek, edgy, and clean lines of the design but it’s softened by the organic material of the table and warm color.

the next layer would be the fun and modern runner! how cool is that pattern?! i love the black and white stripes, accented by the gold dots. it’s like tim burton partnered with kate spade and they created this table runner! this pattern and color adds the perfect pop of pizzaz to your holiday table. i love this design because i want it to stand out, especially since the rest of the decor is more muted and neutral. this runner will perfectly balance out the look whole of the table.

this holla sign is a favorite of mine! it’s so fun and festive! it’s a conversation piece and adds the right amount of holiday charm to your table decor. i’d place this sign right in the center of the table, on the runner, and flank it with white candles in varying heights. i would then place the pine garland in and around the center pieces and extend it out to where you have enough room for your end place settings. i would then scatter and entwine the glass and gold ornaments into the pine garland to finish off the holiday look.

last but not least, to finalize your winter tablescape, i would then place these lovely gold chargers on top of white placemats {and white napkins with walnut colored wood napkins rings} and place white plates onto the gold chargers to balance out the look. i am so in love with these wood calligraphy name plates {they can also be painted gold by the seller or left natural}, it’s the perfect and final touch to your festive, holiday winter table spread!! one last idea…add/tie a sprig of thyme to each name plate to complete your table design!

viola! there ya have it! a beautiful winter tablescape that is perfect for any party this holiday season. *sigh* it definitely has inspired me to have a dinner party this month! i hope you have been inspired too. tell me my lovies, what’s your decor must have for the perfect winter tablescape??!

xoxo

happy thanksgiving + hb to miss olive!!

Posted on November 27, 2014 by tandem in love

i am thankful for sooooo many wonderful things in my life.

i am thankful for my hubby charming of 3/6+ years. he is the light of my life and i am so grateful for him. he {insert cheesy line} really does complete me.

i am thankful olive was born on this day last year and it’s been the best ride of our lives thus far. she is the most wonderful little person evah. she brings us so much joy, laughter, and love. i am still amazed that we did this…created the most perfect little human being.

i am thankful for my wonderful, wonderful family {my cooking crazy mom, my giving and loving dad, my two beautiful sisters, and my cool dude brothers}. they have been the most supportive people in my life. when the tough gets going, they are there for you. no matter how hard i fall, they will always be there to pick me up and i am incredibly thankful for them.

i am thankful for my fantastic in laws. dick and jane are the most loving parents and friends. they have always been there for us and we are so appreciative of them!

i am thankful for so many, many more things! i am grateful for my health and the health of my loved ones around me. i am thankful for the beautiful house we live in and how much more beautiful it will be as hc works so hard on the remodeling of it. i am thankful for grace and what an amazing big sister she has been to little miss olive. i am thankful for my friends, who love me for who i am and i get to engage in mindless gossip talk with them. i am thankful for so much beauty in my life. period.

stop yourself and think how wonderful this world we live in can be, stop to smell the roses, see the glass half full, enjoy the people around you, slow down and be kind and thoughtful.

this thanksgiving, count your blessings and give someone a great big hug to make their day a little brighter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST LITTLE BABES!!!!

xoxo

chill night

Posted on November 17, 2014 by tandem in love

hc came home from work and brought home some ingredients for me to make it a mexican meal night {woot, woot}, so cheesy quesadillas it was {does that say cheesy cheesy??!…natch}. i first whipped together some guac to go with our chips and eventually to dollop on our meals! most folks will say gauc should be simple, salt, pepper, a dash of lime but i do like mine to have a touch of tomatoes and onions {preferably red onions}. yuuuuummmmmm.

[ingredients]

we broke open some coronas and lime and cheered our way to some yummy food. i started out cooking the sliced chicken on the skillet {a bit of olive oil…is that mexican?? 😉 }, on high heat. after the chicken was cooked {no pink!}, i scooped it out and threw in sliced onions {i have to always have a kick to it!}. i then threw the chicken back in {medium heat} and threw on some seasoning and water. like i said, it needs a kick, some flavor.

after the chicken was cooked. i threw some mexican rice into a pot of boiling water and started that, so it would be nice and fluffy once the cheesydillas were done. i then took the chicken and folded it into some tortillas. i buttered one side of the tortilla, threw a whole bunch of cheese on top of the chicken and folded the tortilla in half. normally, i would cook the quesadilla on a skillet until the cheese was melted and the shell was a toasty brown but i decided to put it in the oven to see how it would turn out.

um, i definitely prefer the skillet method. the oven did it’s purpose but i didn’t like how the tortillas turned out. a little too crispy for my taste. but all in all it was all so delicious!

[cheers!]

olive enjoyed her snacks and eating bits of my rice and chicken in-between. she loves eating! hc and i noshed on our food, drank our beer, and reveled in olive’s antics.

[eating her cereal puffs]

it was quite a chill night. i had a great time making dinner and relaxing with my darling family. we were stuffed, satisfied, and ready to hit the couch and put on a movie after dinner. cheers to simple meal nights!

xoxo

october snapshots

Posted on November 15, 2014 by tandem in love

warm, cold, outstanding october has passed us by! it was a great month full of changes and fun. it was olive’s first halloween! the leaves changed, the weather changed, the ’tis the season’ is starting to creep up on us!

we had a fabulous time soaking in october’s glorious offerings. i loved the days when the sun was shining bright on cool temperature days. we had the best time doing fun activities such as apple picking with the family for reagan’s birthday, doing seasonal baking, carving pumpkins, and trick or treating.

olive and i spent a lot of time together. hc pretty much spent the entire month of october traveling for work, so we had a lot of girly time! she’s getting so big and developing a big girl personality!

i love october for it’s change of leaves, the vibrant colors are so beautiful. i love how it’s the start of the best holidays. i get so excited to decorate for the season. there’s something warm and inviting about this months {albeit the temperature change!}. maybe it’s because mother earth starts to shut down for the cold winter and we begin our indoor hibernation, where we get to spend a little more time being closer together, warming ourselves up with burning fireplaces and hot chocolate.

[her new thing…putting sticks and such in her mouth like a cigar]

[date night]

[cheeeese!]

[first time falling asleep outside of her scheduled nap times]

[how she likes to drink her bottle…swinging her legs back and forth]

[learning to walk with papa]

[playing around // sign language for more]

[my halloween outfit]

olive’s first halloween was pretty cool, we loved her little lamb costume and she did collect a whopping three pieces of candy in her awesome black cat treat bag. i tried my best to outfit her in cute little festive outfits and she was the best apple picker of us all! so many wonderful firsts for miss olive this past month!

anyhoozle, we seriously had the best time this past october with all the fun things we did! i think novembers snapshot are going to be just as swell! 😉

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on November 14, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to 2012.

here we are at beer hoptacular in chicago. we were quite excited to attend! we had purchased tickets along with my sisters, brother in law, hc, and miss dana. we also had other friends joining us there as well.

it was a cooler, rainy day. we {me, hc, and dana} grabbed a taxi and headed on our way to the event. we shuffled along with everyone else in line, stoked to get inside the big black tent to start our beer tasting adventure. when you get there, they give these cute little shot glasses to use. inside was a mecca of beer vendors ready to pour copious amounts of samples for you! it was beer heaven! we skipped from one beer vendor to the next, sampling all sorts of yummy beverages.

it was cute and fun because they also handed out little mustaches to the patrons to wear. uh, hells yes i put a mustache on! i rocked that thing like a champ. it also had free a photo booth that we totally took advantage of! on top of that, they were also giving out chip and stuff…score! tasty snacks to munch on!

after a couple hours of us beer tasting, we were dunzo. we grabbed a cab back to our place and hc and dana passed. out. on the couch. it was too cute. they were both out cold on the couch while, of course, i was a busy bee…cleaning, crafting, and doing random things i needed to get done, waiting for them to get up. it’s so me…i can never sit still or lie down for a nap, even if we were drinking for a few hours. call me cray!

it was a spectacular time, attending beer hoptacular. it is definitely a fun event everyone should at least try once, or twice, or three times 😉

happy friday y’all!

xoxo

abbey

Posted on November 10, 2014 by tandem in love

soooo, long story that i will try to make short {cross your fingers!}. i met abbey more than ten years ago. we crossed paths and instantly became close friends. we had so many crazy moments together. she was my partner in crime. we went out all. the. time. fashion show nights in the city. bars in the city. art shows. dinners. fancy dinners. super, super fancy dinners. eve of the eve parties. shopping dates. pool time. brunches. lunches. you name it, we did it. anything in the city was game.

after years of being close friends, life sometimes takes you down different paths and those paths are not parallel anymore. they veer off into different directions and you loose touch. mine and abbey’s path veered off. seven plus years went by.

last year, abbey reached out to me and i reciprocated. we started to talk via fb and then by phone. we’ve exchanged communication here or there and moved our friendship along. well, abbey contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know that she would be in chicago {she lives in missouri} and wanted to meet up! i was totally game, i was excited to see her. i was glad our schedules worked out perfectly for us to meet up.

i chose for us to brunch at little goat. i was a little nervous it would be super crowded {it usually is and a very long wait} because it was a very, very nice day! warm and sunny. as i walked towards the restaurant, i saw there were no patrons standing outside {a total sign it wasn’t crowded} and was relieved.

i walked in with o and ran right into abbs! it was pretty awesome to see her. she looked great! we hugged and were so excited to see one another. she was so happy to meet olive! she is so great with babies. her sister val just had a beautiful baby boy, lake!

we were seated right away {woo!}. of course abbey and i started gabbing away. i told her, “we better choose what we want to eat or we will never order!”. so, she decided to go with the apple pancakes and a small side of biscuits and gravy. i chose the tuna melt with a side of smoked fries.

[um, it really wasn’t this empty…this space happen to clear out]

[she’s got her other bottom toof coming in!]

[smoked fries]

we gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. there was so much to talk about. we had such a great time catching up. so much has changed! at the time abbey and i were friends, i was ‘single’. not married. still living in chicago. no children. and now all that has changed!

abbey tried her best to get on olive’s good side. olive was being shy. it was too cute to see. i would slide her over to abbey and she would crawl back to me. i would slide her back again, and she would wiggle back to me. the only way abbey was able to get her to stay be her was to feed little o. ha!

[she was being shy]

[tuna sammich]

[yum, yum…the only time olive felt comfortable, when abbey fed her!]

after we finished our meals, we stayed awhile to continue our gab fest. abbey for sure wanted to take pictures in the photo booth. of course! i’m all about photo booths! i love ’em! we wriggled our way in and our bottoms shared the tiniest little round seat. abbs put the money in and we were like…uh, when does the booth take a photo {it was definitely an old school machine}?? duh…as you can see in the first shot, we were soooo caught off guard! but then we got it!

[before we left, we had to participate in the photo booth!]

our day was so fun! it was fabulous to see abbey again after all these years. we had such a good time catching up and i was super happy she was able to meet little olive. i hope our future visits are in closer proximity and we can’t wait to see her again. it was awesome seeing girl!

xoxo

tandem in love

{life is truly beautiful and it should be celebrated + shared.}

Category Archives: c’est la vie

turkey day

fam jam night

flashback friday

olive & santa claus

winter tablescape inspiration

happy thanksgiving + hb to miss olive!!

chill night

october snapshots

flashback friday

abbey