little pumpkin patch

Posted on October 8, 2014 by tandem in love

our morning started off very sweet. olive and i had our wonderful snuggle session and after that, i got a lot done around the house while olive played in the living room. cleaning and organizing, two of my favorite things to do {yeaahh, that’s right…boo ya}.

i put her down for her morning nap {as usual, she went down later than expected} and after she woke, we scurried on our way to meet dana for brunch. we were cruising but as soon as we hit the city, traffic was a mess. they closed down part of congress, so we had to detour down michigan ave. {yuck!!}. who the heck would ever drive down michigan avenue if you had a choice?! what a hot mess. we slooooowly drove down the avenue until we hit lsd. phew. finally! once we were on lsd, we cruised to our destination.

we had decided on brunch at mhenry’s. oh, how i love this place. it’s yummy and good. it’s a quaint little restaurant tucked away in andersonville. they seriously have the best pancakes {ok, it’s tied with the bongo room}, amongst other delicious breakfast/lunch items.

i parked the car and we ran towards the restaurant {eekkk! we were so late!}.

finally, we were reunited with our darling dana! we settled in and excitedly started our gab session. dana was so happy to see olive! she’s not a baby person at all but she adores little miss olive. so much so, we joke around how olive is really her baby ’cause dana loves, loves asian babies {well, at least, in this case half asian!}.

[my cutie pie]

i was totally feeling like an egg and bacon breakfast. so, a tasty omelet was in order. it also came with potatoes and fruit. annndd to wash it all down, i had ordered a mix of orange and grapefruit juice {my favoreeete, yum}.

[orange/grapefruit juice, leeks/dandelion/ scallion omelet, and a side of bacon]

[oh, she’s soooo silly]

well, here came the real test. dana has been so jelly of kt + kar‘s connection with the babes. olive, from the get go, has loved being in their arms and totes lets them hold her. hmmm, dana, not so much. every time, i mean every time dana has tried to hold miss olive, she has had a melt down. click right here and here for some proof.

after brunch, dana was ready to go. she was ready for the challenge. she was ready to hold miss olive and not have her cry! i passed little o over and ta da!! magic. miss olive was calm as could be. dana was super delighted and happy to be holding olive without her crying! so, of course, i went picture cray. yay! her bad spell had passed and olive was a happy babes in her arms!

[dana sUPer ecstatic that she is holding o and o isn’t crying!!]

[closing the place down]

[yum fresh baked cookies…i got mexican wedding cookies for myself and chocolate chip for dana!]

after brunch, we had a bit of time, so we walked over to gethsemane to peruse some of their flowers, plants, and october goodies. i wanted to get a head start with some fall decorating, so dana and i picked out a few fun pumpkins for the house.

[going to gethsemane flower shop]

after walking around the beautiful garden center, i purchased a bunch of cute little pie pumpkins {plus some white, some striped, and some gourds} and we parted ways. dana needed to get herself to a jnf meeting and i needed to get home {and olive needed her afternoon nap!}. it was a wonderful and successful afternoon spent with our darling dana. olive is her new bestie and we can’t wait to see her again soon!

xoxo

kt + kar

Posted on October 4, 2014 by tandem in love

olive got to see her pink aunties. yay! olive and i had a late start {as usual!}. she woke up later and napped late, so therefore we were behind! as any mom knows, getting out of the house with one kid {let alone two, three, or more kids!} can get hairy. i remember the days when i could wake up, get ready, leave early, and just chill. now it’s always rush, rush, rush because i’m always late!

thank goodness traffic on the ike was light. we cruised down to the city and got to the restaurant in no time. we met the ladies inside and gleefully got hugs all around. karen and katie are baby crazy. well, probably kar just a little more than kt. as soon as we walked in, karen cooed and ahhh’d over olive. it’s too presh. i love how they dote on her and olive loves it back.

[breakfast of champions…olive’s cereal puffs]

[karen playing with olive and her teddy bear]

karen played and played with olive. baby girl soaked it all up. kar was olive’s new best friend. they giggled together, laughed together, and smiled together. olive loved watching karen, anxiously waiting for her next funny move that would entertain her.

2sparrows was industrial inside. it was cool looking and the menu options sounded delicious! i really, really wanted to get the maple bacon doughnut for hc but {boo} he was still traveling. and that meant it would not be fresh, so that was a no.

i was really feeling a classic breakfast. so eggs, toast, and bacon were in order. the bacon was perfectly crispy, the eggs over easy were cooked just right, and the toast was thick and hearty. i was loving every bite.

[eggs over easy, bacon, and greens]

all through brunch, karen was picture cray cray. she snapped and snapped pictures of olive like she was the freakin’ paparazzi! she seriously got the best pics of her though!

[auntie karen was camera crazy…]

[say cheeeese olive!]

[fox tee and jeggings from carter’s]

after brunch, we decided to do some errands with karen. we hit up party city for some birthday supplies {her friend’s birthday!} and possible halloween costume ideas. we played around with wigs, we put fun things on olive’s head, and picked out some cool birthday decor for karen’s friend.

[hanging out at party city]

after perusing for quite some time, we finally settled on some fun choices and checked out. kar and kt were going to continue on with their afternoon shopping but me and the babes decided to call it quits. it was close to her afternoon nap and i knew she would knock out in the car and get a good one in, so off we went!

it was a fun afternoon with these two lovies. olive absolutely adores her two pink aunties! they are so sweet and loving towards her. until next time my ladies!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on October 3, 2014 by tandem in love

this lovely pic takes us back to 2007.

carol and ted just celebrated their anniversary a couple of weeks ago and it made me think about what a great time their wedding was! they were married at lake forest academy, a beautiful, beautiful place! it was a perfect day, the weather was warm and sunny, the ceremony was perfect, and the reception was a blast. don’t we all look so tan and fresh in this photo?!

[jaime, pam, marina, carol, and moi…we are missing, from the picture, the other bridesmaid kelly]

carol and i have been friends for years. to date, we have been friends for about 29 years?? omg…does that just age me?! ok, just keeding. we’ve been friends for only 20 years and we met when we were just wee little ones at 5 years old 😉

we were neighbors and our families still live in the same houses! our infamous first meeting is still talked about with lots of laughter. just ask carol about the monkey bars…hahaha!

carol and i have been through everything together. we met at such a young age and have grown up together with life’s ups and downs. we went to middle school and high school together. i was probably at her house more than i was at my house! her parents would call me the other daughter. when she came home from college and switched schools, i practically lived at her apartment in chicago that she shared with jaime and amber.

although she currently lives in seattle with her husband and two beautiful children, we remain close as ever. friends for life, friends forever. or how bout best friends forever. whatever cliche statement you want to say, it fits. i’m lucky to have such a wonderful, longtime friend in my life!

having a friend like this is hard to come by. reach out to a close friend and say hi today. life is too short to let simple, meaningful gestures like that pass you by! happy friday y’all!

xoxo

rain, rain, go away

Posted on October 2, 2014 by tandem in love

it started out as a dreary, cold, rainy morning. bummer. hc and i wanted to go to downtown hinsdale, stroll around, and shop. we drove there and got coffee at the starbucks {first things first!}. we decided to grab some grub and to wait out the icky weather. we stopped into a little mom and pop restaurant called page’s. it was cramped, old, and not the cleanest but hc really wanted to eat there. he can’t pass up a greasy joint evah!

[olive and i struggling to get a goodie photo in…um, fail?]

so, we plopped down and ordered some greasy food. we actually ordered a lot…but in the end, it just disappeared! how did that happen?? hee. i got eggs over easy, hash browns, bacon, and pancakes. yum. olive got lots and lots of cereal puffs. we ate, olive giggled and screamed, and we filled our empty bellies up.

after breakfast, we walked back outside and it was raining. boo. we were super bummed because the weather was just not cooperating. it was cold, dreary, and rainy. a bad combo for wanting to walk outside. so, we decided to head on over to oakbrook. there, they have awnings and it’s more protected and easier to shop around. of course, on our way there, the day took a turn and the weather had become super sunny and warm! natch.

we spent the rest of the afternoon there and had a great shopping day! hc got some new things and we browsed around for olive. baby girl needed a new fall wardrobe {new, cozy fall clothes on the horizon}! we had a lovely time walking around and checking out some new, fun stuff.

lately, i’ve noticed how big olive has gotten {watch out…total mom stuff coming}. i mean, she’s less a baby and more a little girl. oh, it makes me a wee bit sad. very bittersweet. i’ve enjoyed so much of her baby stage but now she is starting to show her independence. i like that she likes to entertain herself and can be on her own, but at the same time it makes me miss her totally dependent baby moments. i love her so much right now. we have such a bond and i’m amazed at how lovey she is. i love her hugs, kisses, and laughter. she is so freakin’ quirky and cute.

for example, the photos below…she was being so cute and funny. she kept swinging her legs back and forth and making funny faces. kids, they are so innocent and sweet. they totally live in the moment with such joy.

our day ended up being fun {well of course it did}, rainy day or not, we will always have a swell time together! cheers to olive’s cuteness!

xoxo

happy october!

Posted on October 1, 2014 by tandem in love

it’s october. oh, how i love you october. it’s one of my favorite months. it kick starts all the holidays {i loooove holiday season!}. i love that it’s a ‘spooky’ month. i love that halloween is this month. i love to see all the leaves change into their vibrant colors for their last hurrah. you can wear, buy, collect all sorts of boots and throw on a cozy sweater and scarf to keep toasty warm!

i love that first chill in the air. ya know, that morning you feel that coldness and you know old man winter is starting to creep up on you {stay away mr. winter!}. you smell the aroma of burning leaves, you watch the sunset burn across the sky. you see people scatter pumpkins across their doorsteps and decorate their doors with autumn leaves. i’m about to fill our house up with the smell of pumpkin candles and spice. so nice 😉

i’m excited that fall is here. i look forward to trick o treating. i can’t wait to buy olive’s halloween costume…hmmmm, what shall she be? {most likely something to match her cousin’s minecraft costumes} suggestions welcomed! i’m ready to decorate the house with fall accents. i’ve been scheming up some great, festive ideas for decor! we’ll be spending more time indoors, so it’s time to get it all cozy inside, don’t you agree?!

autumn to do list:

1. apple picking

2. pumpkin carving

3. trick o treating

4. decorate the abode

5. jumping into a pile of leaves

6. buy a new pair of boots

7. drink hot cider and eat an apple cider donut {again}

8. go on a hay ride

9. eat a caramel apple

10. eat anything pumpkin(y) {cookie, latte, pie}

hmmmm, with this list, i might have to add in exercise to negate all those extra calories! or maybe not. hehehe.

what’s on your autumn to do list? i hope it’s full of fall type activities, goodies, and fun! happy october everyone!

xoxo

simple night

Posted on September 30, 2014 by tandem in love

we had a low key, simple night out with the fam. i love moments like these. we can get together, have dinner, hang out, and shop! us gals can really shop. i don’t know how and why. it cannot be explained. were we born with the shopping gene?? yup, i think we were. there is such a thing as a shopping gene, right? some people are born with it and others are not. when you have the shopping gene, you can shop for hours on end. you are able to go to one store, to the next, to the next, and the next without getting bored or exhausted. yes, that is what me and my sister’s have. the unique shopping gene. 😉

well. we started out the evening with a tasty dinner at cpk. we had our usual server, our usual order, and the usual routine. the boys colored and i fed olive her dinner. hc ordered a pizza and i wasn’t super hungry {what?!}, so i ordered a bowl of soup. split pea soup…delicious, add a dash of ground pepper and it totes is a meal!

[selfie and cpk]

[chunker cheeks]

[coloring]

[my love]

[these two being silly!]

[pizza! pizza!]

we actually went shopping before dinner {because there was a wait} and before dinner ended, i ran out to pick up a few things for miss olive at babygap {a fav store of mine for the little missy}. the fam finished up at the restaurant and hc came over to tell me they were headed over to nordstrom. i made my purchases at babygap and we walked our merry way over to nordstrom kid’s shoe department. i could spot them from across the store…all three cuties had their balloon in hand!

olive was having a great time playing peek a boo with her balloon and reagan. oh, reagan. he is the sweetest with her…always doting on her and being such a great, big cousin to little olive. it is so sweet to watch. as you can see, she was all smiles!

[peek a boo]

[weeeeee! weeeeee!]

after much strolling, shopping, and a whole lotta fun, it was time to go. the usual…get miss olive home and start her nightly routine for bedtime!

having family close is the best thing. easy dinner. easy company. easy shopping partners. God bless my family and yours!

xoxo

olive’s second date

Posted on September 29, 2014 by tandem in love

we were super excited to have a date with kim and brady! olive had a fun playdate with mr. jett recently and now she’s on her second date with mr. brady!

it was definitely long overdue. the last time we saw brady and kim, was when brady was 5 months old! so, we were looking forward to having a fun day with the both of them.

we packed ourselves up {after a long morning with olive…she went down for a late nap and boom! we were behind schedule} and headed on the road. it was a long ways to get to kim’s house. her and mikey just bought a house way up north {about 43 miles from our home}! i was super excited for them…we know the gleeful, satisfied, wonderful feeling of owning your own home, so we couldn’t wait to see it!

we pulled up to the beautiful brick front home and i pulled olive out of the car, walked up to the door, and rang the bell. i was greeted by bruster, kim, and cutie brady! yay! i pulled olive out of her car seat and she immediately started to explore her new surroundings. it was total cuteness overload! as olive crawled around, brady followed. they were curious about each other, although olive seemed more curious and intrigued by all the fun toys!

[housewarming gift & brady’s birthday present]

[helloooo…we haven’t seen each other since i was two mo. old and you were five mo. old!]

[brady was so cute…he’d walk to his chair and plop down like a little cool dude]

[such a little sweetheart]

brady was soooo sweet. he would give me hugs and kisses. i was in love! too adorbs. he’d walk up, just fall into my arms, and give me smooches. it was beyond presh. moments likes these are to die for! these babes are soooo stinkin’ cute.

kim had ordered and picked up lunch for us {at a place down the street from her}! so kind! we immediately started chatting up a storm. oh, there was so much to catch up on. our houses, our kids, the days of our lives 😉 brady and olive were having a swell time playing together. olive was so fascinated by all of brady’s toys! baby girl only has 1/10th of what brady has! so she was in play heaven!

we gabbed for quite a bit when i realized we had ordered food and hadn’t eaten yet! so kim and i ‘sat down’ to eat. i had ordered the breaded portobello mushroom sandwich and fries. it was delicious but a bit hard to eat with olive in my arms and i’m feeding her cereal puffs! so i forked the mushroom apart, left the bun, and gobbled on the fries. yum.

[breaded mushroom sandwich and fries]

[my cheeky babes]

[the beautiful momma and the handsome babes]

[brady gets so mesmerized by the tele!]

[we couldn’t get a proper pic of brady because he was glued to the movie! so adorbs // pic by kim]

[pic by kim]

[we both so wanted a pic with the two babes sitting in the chair together…this is all we got!]

[mommy selfie!]

we hung out with them all afternoon {and could have hung out longer, but i’m always on a schedule with olive, and i like to coordinate her naps with car rides 😉 }. we had such a fun, relaxing time. we talked, we chilled, and reveled in all of life’s happenings. it was pretty awesome to be able to just chill in her new house and have our kids running amuck with no worries!

i love kim! just like jodi, our lives are so parallel in major milestones. dating, engagements, marriage, and children! we have been able to connect with so many wonderful events in our lives throughout the years of knowing one another. we feel blessed to have them in our lives!

well, it was another successful date! olive and brady had a grand ‘ol time playing together! i’m hoping it’s not as long of a time in-between before we see each other again! as soon as olive and i drove off into the sunset, baby girl passed out in her car seat and took a good, long nap 🙂

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on September 26, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to a loooong time ago. oh, gosh. i can’t remember what year this was taken. probably 10 years ago…2004? give or take a year. unfortunately, this photo isn’t dated and it’s so pixelated {excuse the blurriness}.

rebecca and i are bridesmaids at a wedding. yes. a wedding. we are wearing long black gowns, black hair flowers, fingerless red netted gloves, and {fortunately you can’t see here} black satin chokers. bex actually took her choker off {smarty}.

oh, becky. b. bex. rebecca. we are long time friends. connected through high school. bonded through college. united through life’s ups and downs throughout these years. we would cross paths as we got older, we would drift through months and months and not see each other, we would reconnect from time to time and everything would feel the same.

life has taken us down some crazy paths {i’m gonna say more b than me} but rebecca and i now sit on similar roads. she’s currently in seattle with her husband and two beautiful little girls {ruby & wren…pretty awesome names, right?!}! i am settled in dg with my husband and our beautiful little olive. we are such family ladies now! life has really changed for us {for the better, duh!} and we are dedicated to raising our wonderful little girls and committed wives!

i am blessed to still have this sassy, fabulous lady in my life! she is one of a kind, unique, smart, lovely, sweet, and fun. i do love, love this picture of us {and yes, i mainly have blond hair highlights}. it captures our personalities so well. spunky, sassafrass b and who gives a crap me.

i hope you take a moment to connect with an old friend or recall a fun, wonderful memory that makes you smile. happy friday y’all!

xoxo

a day dt

Posted on September 25, 2014 by tandem in love

we spent a lovely afternoon in the city. first, we started off at my hair salon, michael and michael. my sisters and i usually book our appointments together. i started seeing misako before she came over to m&m salon {i don’t even remember the name of the old salon…it was on oak st. and i think that might have been it’s moniker}; hmmmmm, 15 years later, i am still getting my hair styled by her.

my sis kim started getting her hair cut by misako many years ago and only a few years ago, did thuy finally cave in and started seeing misako as well! so now it’s a family affair. we all go together and make it a daytime event.

[hanging out at michael and michael salon]

***

this time around, though, i had an agenda. i needed to exchange a hat my dad had purchased for olive. he was really bummed the one he bought was too small and asked me to exchange it. the unfortunate part?? he bought it at navy pier. ugh. i dislike going there! especially on a saturday! the worst day ever to go to navy pier!

anyhoo, it was our mission, so after i got my haircut, we all headed over to navy pier to exchange the hat. we contemplated the idea of pulling the car over and i was to run in but that deemed to be an impossible feat. so, we were going to make it the best afternoon ever at tourista navy pier!

we walked around and finally made it to the area where they have all the little kiosks. we found the little hat stand and traded in olive’s hat for a bigger size. success, although olive wasn’t very happy with us putting different hats and sizes constantly on her little noggin’. or rather, her big noggin’ 😉

we then perused a few different shops, when grace asked if we could eat at bubba gump restaurant. ha! of course we had too. it’s freakin’ navy pier!

[checking out one of many fun shops]

[honestly, i am not sure what grace is doing…]

it was actually a really long wait, so we put in our name and decided to do some more shopping. before we did, we fed little miss olive. she’s so silly…she constantly makes the funniest faces when she eats. so cute! after shopping for a bit, we rounded back to the restaurant and finally got seated!

[funny faces while eating]

[trying to take a cute photo together. uhhhh, she wouldn’t stop putting the stroller cord in her mouth!]

[at bubba gump restaurant]

well, what do you get at bubba gump restaurant?? shrimp, of course! i ordered the southern shrimp, hc got the shrimp sampler, and grace got the fish n chips. the service there is always so fast and very friendly. everyone is so nice there!

our server actually quizzed us on the movie and we got all the questions right! ha! we love the movie forrest gump! she asked us: besides, jenny, who were forrest’s two best friends? which three presidents did forrest actually meet? which leg did lt. dan lose? of the three presidents that forrest met, what did he say to one of them right when he met him after drinking his favorite drink? what is forrest’s favorite drink? hmmm, i think those were all the questions she asked?! that was really fun when she did the quiz!

[rich’s margarita coronita]

[southern shrimp]

[shrimp galore]

after eating, we headed out. it was a great day, starting off with my sisters and me finally getting my mane freshened up! woo! we really did enjoy our day together as a family, at navy pier. it’s always fun for grace and it was great to be able to have a low key, relaxing day together in chicago.

xoxo

farmer’s market

Posted on September 24, 2014 by tandem in love

it’s official. it’s fall {ooohhh, cool coats and boots, here we come!}. but hey, technically it was still summer when we did this. so, with that, we were able to cross off another summer to do on our list! we went to a farmer’s market in downtown downers grove. i heard through others that it was a great place and that it offered a lot of great produce, amongst other items.

i was super excited to explore it. as crazy as this sounds, i have never been to a farmer’s market before. yesssss. it’s true. never. ever. been. although, i have heard so many wonderful things about them, i never really took the plunge to go to one and now here we are. my first time evah and i was soooo excited!

we got up and got ready to go. we knew that there would be food there, so we wanted to hold off and get breakfast at the market. we found a parking spot nearby and strolled our way to the market.

once we stepped inside the lines, we were greeted with such goodies! the first stand we stopped at, the lady was selling pies. all organic, no preservatives, all made from scratch ingredients. they all looked so good. then we saw a stand that made piping hot fresh doughnuts…oh em gee. we turned around and there was a crepe stand. there were so many fresh veggies, fruits, and fun knick knacks to look at. it was all i imagined it would be! chock full of goodness.

[selfie at the market! fresh flower stand behind us!]

[fresh veggies]

we ended up buying veggies at this stand, the carrots were huge! we purchased green beans, carrots, potatoes, and fruit.

[lots and lots of independent stands full of goodies]

[she just woke up from a nap]

[organic mini pies…sooooo delish]

these pies were sooooo good. we gobbled them up! they were perfectly sweet, the crust was delicate and light, and the filling was decadently rich. we will definitely purchase these pies again!

[snuggling her bear]

[apple cider donuts from st. charles]

these cider donuts were to die for. they were so yummy, sweet, and densely cakey. perfectly cakey goodness. i could, seriously, eat three in one sitting.

after we perused the whole place, we started to make our purchases. we picked up veggies, fruit, a hat for olive, donuts, pies, and finally decided upon breakfast. we all wanted a crepe. hc got a paella crepe, gracie wanted a banana hazelnut crepe, and i chose the ham and cheese crepe. we watched the chef make each of our crepes…we were so hungry by then! it was such a popular place, there was quite a line at this stand but we got there just in time, before the rush. we got our crepes right away! woo!

[breakfast! grace with her banana and nutella crepe]

[the chef in process of making my crepe]

[my ham, egg, and cheese crepe]

[enjoying our breakfast in this great weather!]

[as we ate our breakfast, we enjoyed the polka band playing near us!]

after we ate our crepes in the warm sunshine, while listening to the polka band, we gathered our goodies and headed out. i must say, it was a successful visit to the farmer’s market! we headed out with a whole bunch of good stuff. i loved my first time at the market and can’t wait to go again. unfortunately, most likely next year since all the farmer’s markets are closing up shop soon. boo.

nevertheless, it was pretty awesome. i had a fantastic time with my family exploring such a great farmer’s market so close to home. cheers to such great, yummy finds on that day!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Category Archives: c’est la vie

little pumpkin patch

kt + kar

flashback friday

rain, rain, go away

happy october!

simple night

olive’s second date

flashback friday

a day dt

farmer’s market