long overdue

Posted on June 18, 2014 by tandem in love

andrea and i were finally able to set a date for lunch. oh em gee…it was way, way too long overdue for a girly gab session with her!

hc and the gals headed to the grandparent’s house, so i had the morning and early afternoon to myself! that is such a rare thing for me! when I am at home, i always have olive, so to not have her is an odd thing for me. i’ve got to learn to appreciate my time without her {i mean, i do enjoy it but it’s not often so it’s not easy to acclimate}! i do love being with that little gal all the time!

i headed out and quickly cruised to the city. i met andrea at her house. we needed to go over some event planning {some future fun stuff in store} and fine tune some of the details involved. after our gab session and hashing out some great ideas, we headed out to brunch.

our choice to manger? the savoy. it was a beautiful day and we traipsed our way to the restaurant. none of us had ever tried this place so we were quite curious about it. we walked into some cool decor and we were seated right away.

[the menu]

[love the barstools]

[fresh daisies]

andrea and i ordered the same plate…the granola pancakes {yum}. of course we ordered a side of bacon with it {i love bacon!}! annndddd, to wash down all that food, i requested coffee and orange juice as well. a perfect brunch combination.

we conversed, caught up, and had a really good time. i love hanging out with these two! after brunch, we walked back to andrea’s place and then headed out to do some fun errands together.

[the wonderful couple]

[granola pancakes and bacon]

[my girl]

[coffee and juice…i love the juice glass it was served in]

after a few fabulous hours together, i headed back home. it was a wonderful time spent with these two wonderful people. i’m so happy we were finally able to catch up and spend some quality time together.

xoxo

may snapshots

Posted on June 16, 2014 by tandem in love

here are a few of some of my favorite may moments…

i usually keep the pics separate {keep it fresh!} but i included some of my instagram ones from may…if you would like, please follow me on instagram here 🙂

of course my may loves revolve around food, desserts, hc, and olive. in no particular order 🙂

[olive flipping over in her crib for the first time]

[such a funny gal]

[olive being cute // trying out the thai place by our house on a beautiful sunny day]

[my lanky little girl and her sophie]

[eating some healthy stuff]

[my cutie, stylish nephews]

[yummy, fluffy, sweet cake]

[enjoying a cozy nap in my arms]

[mini burgers // playing peekaboo]

[baby girl really enjoying her daddy’s beer]

[just being too cute]

[olive’s fabulous godparents]

[morning cuteness]

[nice look, nice hair miss olive // cousin love]

it was a beautiful month. sunny, warm, and bright. we were fully settled in our home, i loved the warm weather we were experiencing, and i was so excited olive was baptized in our gorgeous church.

cheers to another fantastic month ahead!

xoxo

happy father’s day

Posted on June 15, 2014 by tandem in love

happy dad day to the world’s greatest father!

[olive, eight hours old, and daddy]

i’m so excited to celebrate this special day together with our presh daughter, olive! i know hc is a fantastic father to grace but it’s awesome to celebrate him being an amazing dad to our olive.

thank you for being a strong partner in raising her. you love her, play with her, dress her in cute outfits, and completely dote on her in so many ways. there are many, many moments you guys share that are too cute for words, i love watching you both interact! it makes my heart melt!

***

[photo by kate headley]

happy father’s day to my dad. the most amazing, loving father anyone could ever ask for. he has given so much to us as a family, i am forever grateful for all his sacrifices and all the love he has given. i am so fortunate to be surrounded by such terrific, kind, loving men!

happy father’s day to all the wonderful dads out there!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on June 13, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to…

may 2008. hilarious. this picture. it was back in the days when i actually toted around an inexpensive, little, digital camera {and it’s so blurry}!! lol. my how times have changed.

well, this pic was taken at one of my favorite brunch spots, mhenry. it’s such a yummy eatery up in andersonville. it was the first time matt actually ate a breakfast item {every time, prior, when we would meet for brunch, matt would always order a lunch entree}, this time he actually ordered the blackberry bliss pancakes {what?!}!

annddddd…this was the first time i went out with olivia! we had become pretty close from work and would walk home/towards the bus together but it was our first official make plans outside of work outing. two special firsts with two special peeps!

it was quite a fun time together. we enjoyed a delicious brunch, as usual {you can’t go wrong at this place}, and terrific conversations between the three of us. the perfect combination of life…great friends and tasty food!

cheers to life!

happy friday y’all!

xoxo

father’s day gift ideas

Posted on June 12, 2014 by tandem in love

father’s day is coming up!

i’ve compiled a list of gifts {with the help of hc’s hints}, that are a possibility of giving for this upcoming dad’s day!

how cool is this driftwood dock? it’s woodsy {anything wood is a fan favorite of the hubs}, simple, and would look very nice out and about in your home. a wonderful way to charge your techy toys without it looking cumbersome or junky!

my hubs is a beer loving kind of guy. so, i think this lovely beer holder is a great gift to give because one: it’s really cool looking…loving the grey wood finish. two: it’s perfect to be able to tote several beers out to the back yard to your guests. three: it has the bottle opener right there! how convenient 😉

hc is a fabulous chef. he makes the greatest meals, i am a lucky gal! i found this awesome tandem bike cutting board that can be personalized. it would be a fun gift to give and a special reminder that he is an awesome dad every time we are in the kitchen together cooking {or i’m in the kitchen and he’s doing the cooking!}.

i die over these bbq sugar cookies from oh sugar events! i love the novelty and i think it’s a great add on, delicious, sweet treat to any father’s day gift you do end up giving. on a personal note, i think i’d be the one who ends up eating all these tasty cookies anyways!

what dad doesn’t want a really cool shaving set? years ago, i bought hc a set like this. he loves it. it looks awesome and is pretty cool looking sitting out on the sink. it’s classic, old fashioned, and practical.

a hc request. he hinted about this lovely tent to me a couple weeks ago. since he enjoys camping with grace and now we have a huge, spacious backyard…it’s the perfect gift to give to him! he needs to replace the old tent he has and whether they go to a camping ground or set up shop in our backyard, this is a great compact tent to tote around!

these watches are marvelous. hc was eyeing a watch like this at a men’s boutique we were shopping at on southport last summer. so, i am suggesting this as a gift to any dad out there who loves wood, watches, and a fun conversation piece!

well, there you go! a few ideas to help out or inspire you to get your dad or your husband a fantastic gift for this special day. hurry up, lovies…father’s day is coming up quick. get that hard working dad something wonderful to show him that you care and let him know he’s the greatest dad in the world!

xoxo

a day at the zoo

Posted on June 11, 2014 by tandem in love

it was a beautiful, sunny day. we had a very relaxing morning. we stayed in, had coffee and breakfast, and chilled. olive took a nap mid morning and we planned on heading to the zoo after her siesta.

you can never predict what olive will do and we were hoping we would get out to the zoo earlier {we wanted to get out late morning but instead, we left early afternoon}, her nap was for quite a long time. once she got up, i had to feed her, get her ready, get myself ready, make sure grace got herself ready, and then we could finally head out the door!

when we arrived at the zoo, it was a madhouse! there were at least 25 buses leaving the grounds. kids were leaving the zoo in herds! good timing on our part, that meant it wouldn’t be as crowded. we bought our tickets and trekked inside, ready to explore.

[the crazy, busy zoo]

[waiting to see the animals]

[excited to explore]

[a very warm day]

we were excited to see the new baby bison! it was so adorable to see, the baby was side by side with her momma. she was like her shadow, nuzzling and following her mom…it was so sweet to see. brookfield zoo hasn’t seen a newborn of this species since the 70’s! what a cool moment to experience.

[bison // can you see the baby bison that was born on may 31st?]

[my pensive girl]

[can you spot grace?!]

as we were walking through the zoo, they had little stations set up to give temp tattoos. i asked grace if she wanted one! we looked at the examples and she decided upon the wolf. it’s a pretty cool process, she airbrushed it on and then sealed it with a powder. it turned out great!

[grace getting a wolf tattoo]

while we were at the zoo, i totally regretted that i had not found a sun hat for olive yet. honestly, i had been shopping around for the past month looking for a hat. boutique after kid’s boutique, i still hadn’t found a hat i loved. so now when push comes to shove, i’m out and about with olive in the direct sun and i needed a hat! so, i had to buy one there! i was glad to have found a plain, white, cotton canvas hat. it was really what i was looking for {most kids sun hats have crazy prints and patterns all over it, and i’m not a fan}, i wanted a plain white hat for olive so it could match with all her outfits. voila! it was meant to be!

[a fishy world // olive in her new sun hat]

grace and i had a wonderful time watching the penguins. one of our favorite spots. they were so cute. waddling around, peeking out from the little caves, and there was one penguin that kept on showing off! he would swim around in the water, do flips, turns, and swirl around in the water.

[humboldt penguins]

[heading our way to the big cats]

as we were heading our way to see the big cats, we saw a pop up shop where you can pet stingrays. so cool. grace was hesitant because we had to buy tickets but i insisted! it was something fun and interactive for grace. she had such a great time! she said they were slimy and smooth…ewww, gross.

[pit stopping at the stingray petting pool]

[defending herself against this attack cat!]

[snow leopard]

we were able to see the bisons, aquarium house, african safari, the big cats, and a lot of animals in-between! it was a fun, relaxing afternoon with just us gals. what a fantastic time spent together. i had so much fun with my girls.

xoxo

lunch with matt

Posted on June 9, 2014 by tandem in love

on my day off, i had made plans with matt to meet me for lunch. it so happened to be olive’s six month check up on this day as well.

so i packed the kids up and off we went to the city. it was a gorgeous day and traffic was light. a perfect combination. we found a close parking spot and walked our way to the restaurant. our place of choice was wishbone. hc and i love this restaurant, it’s yummy southern breakfasts are the best. matt had never eaten at this place! crazy to know because i have been eating here since the late 90’s!

[outfit of the day // zara baby shirt, cherokee pants]

we had just arrived at the restaurant when matt walked through the door. we were seated and perused the menu to decide on what to nosh on. grace went with the chocolate chip pancakes…of course {everything chocolate for her}! i chose the combo of two eggs and pancakes. yum! i devoured everything!

[wishbone]

[hanging out]

[sister love]

[eggs over easy, corn muffin, cheese grits, and pancakes]

matt and i caught up on the latest happenings in life. i’m so excited matt and johann are getting married in a few weeks. we talked about what they were planning and doing for the wedding. we seriously can’t wait! we love them and look forward to celebrating their marriage together.

after catching up and eating our delicious meals, matt walked with us to olive’s doctor’s appointment. leave it to me, again, to not even snap a picture of me and matt together! darn it! sometimes being with matt is like swirling around with the tasmanian devil! i get swept up in the whirlwind and forget my purpose!

[smirky selfie]

anyhoo, we trekked inside for olive’s check up. she was weighed and measured and then we waited. and waited for dr. perlman. she finally came and examined my little girl. all was good! i love dr. perlman…she is the sweetest and smartest lady! she is so wonderful with olive.

after her time with the doctor, we waited a little bit longer and then the nurse came in to give little olive her shots. yikes. baby girl had no idea. she was playing and smiling like a champ until the nurse came in and stabbed her twice! she shrieked and then got over it. awww, my cutie.

[at the doctor’s…not her favorite place but was definitely preoccupied and happy for a moment!]

we left the office and walked our way back to the car. i must admit, much to hc’s dismay, i am terrible with paying the meter. sometimes i do, sometimes i don’t, and most of the time i don’t repay, so there is the chance of me getting a ticket for an expired meter sticker!! eekkk. i do it all the time. so, as were walking back, i had no idea when the meter sticker expired! ha! that didn’t stop me from making a pit stop at starbucks with the kiddies!

[i think i have a starbucks problem]

we made a restroom stop, ordered drinks, and made our way to the car. not without forgetting the louis vuitton diaper bag at the starbucks! omg. we were at the car {no ticket btw…and it was expired by 45 minutes…hehehe} and i was ready to put olive into the car when i looked around and screamed, “omg, we left the diaper bag at starbucks!”. thank goodness is was only across the street! grace ran back in and grabbed it. phew!

besides forgetting to snap a picture of me and matt together and forgetting the diaper bag at the starbucks, our afternoon together was absolutely wonderful!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on June 6, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to…

july 2011, i had just received my reception dress and i was so excited!!! i really wanted a fun, flirty, romantic dress to wear later on in the night, during the reception. i wanted to feel just as lovely in my reception dress as i would feel throughout the day in my wedding gown.

it was from sarah seven. a designer i found through my hours of endless scouring of wedding blogs. i totally fell in love with her designs. i knew this was the dress that was going to make me feel beautiful and free. having her custom make my dress was based on a lot of trust. i basically sent in my measurements and she transformed it into this cotton candy confection of a dress. i was super, super happy with the final result. the only alteration i did to the dress was the lace trim on the bodice. it was way too low cut and i needed more coverage.

it turned out perfect and i absolutely loved wearing it during the reception. i didn’t have to fuss with wearing my heavy gown and the added bonus was i didn’t have to run around with my beautiful wedding dress on and have it get ruined while dancing, or anything that could further spoil your dress as the night wore on! with this reception dress, i was could float around, dance like a maniac, prance around like a princess, and end the night by riding off on tandem bike 😉

xoxo

tashina and famille

Posted on June 5, 2014 by tandem in love

tashina flew in to visit her family and we were blessed to be able to meet her mom and dad! tashina’s parents actually live in st. louis, they drove up to o’hare to pick tashina up from the airport and explore a little bit around chicago.

tashina also flew in with olive’s baptism dress! we were so lucky to have her do so…she also did a ‘final’ fitting for miss olive. tashina wanted to make sure olive’s dress fit perfectly, and it did!

we hung out a bit at our house. hc walked them through our new home and our remodeling goals. after gleefully conversing amongst each other, we headed over to my parent’s house so they could meet my dad. unfortunately my mom and my sister, thuy, were at work and missed out on meeting everyone! boo.

as we were leaving, it started to rain – hard! the sky opened up and started pouring all over the earth. we all made it into our cars but not without getting soaked! then as we were pulling out of the driveway, gum ball size hail started to fall! oh my gosh! it was crazy! the hail pounded the cars and the pavement. bang, ping, bang. it was so loud. we were so afraid that the hail would dent all our cars!

we made it to my parent’s and ran inside the opened garage. we watched in awe over the hail plummeting to the ground. wow…what a change in weather. one moment is was warm and sunny and the next, it was dark and stormy! thank goodness all was well after that crazy hail storm and no damage was done.

we briefly hung out at my parent’s house, only because they had to hit the road for that long ride back to st. louis. not before we nabbed a few photos, and off they went! it was so wonderful meeting her parents. they are so sweet and kind. such great, lovely people!

[tashina and her sweet mom]

[visiting dad]

we were fortunate to get tashina back for a day, after her time in st. louis. she came back on wednesday night and we were able to briefly, again, say hi to tashina’s parents. they drove her back up here and had to do a quick turnaround to get back on the road home before dusk.

that evening, hc cooked dinner for us, we drank wine, and hung out for the rest of the night.

[olive is excited to be taking a picture]

the next day, tashina and i hung out with little miss olive. jane did take her for a walk in the morning for about an hour, during that time, tashina and i trekked our way to starbucks for some yummy coffee. we came back, and gabbed our morning away. while spending some time with olive, tashina snapped this cute little photo of her while she was playing on her mat. how adorbs.

we were so happy we were able to meet and meet up with everyone. it was definitely a fab time! thank you tashina for visiting and for giving olive such a beautiful gift! we love you and your family!

xoxo

rainy day together

Posted on June 3, 2014 by tandem in love

i had a day off this past week and was excited to spend it all day with my little olive.

i had a doctor’s appointment downtown that morning, so i packed up olive’s things, got ourselves in the car and headed into awful traffic! i thought that making my appointment midmorning would be fine in avoiding traffic but since it was raining…it made for terrible traffic!

[ready for her outing // carters’s headband, little tots long sleeve onesie, gapkids pants, trumpette socks]

we finally got downtown and we scored a close parking spot! i put together the stroller and ran towards the office. i was already so late! i used to come to this place every month, multiple times a month, while pregnant with olive. so it was different coming back with a five month old…the babes that was in my belly for so long was now chillin’ by my side. so cool.

[hanging out downtown]

[on our way to wicker park]

after our appointment, olive and i went to wicker park to hang out. our old hood…*sigh*. it was a beautiful day out and perfect for a stroll around the neighborhood. we picked up some starbucks and we stopped into a few stores during our walk. on my agenda was to stop by sprout {a favorite store!} and pick up some organic cotton fox pajamas for little miss olive {they are so stinkin’ cute!}. our most favorite footie pj for olive had a fox on it {it was from carter’s} and hc loves to sing ‘what does the fox say?!’ to olive in her fox pj’s! alas, she outgrew them and needed a new one so we could continue our little song and dance with her that she loves!

[oooohhh, banh mi is open!]

[the pretty elementary school on division]

after our stroll around wicker park, we headed home but not without stopping a zillion places along the way!!! we had to go to target to exchange an item, we had to get stamps and drop off mail at the post office, we had to drop off donations, head to babies r us to do an exchange, and pick up some items at buybuybaby! oy! it was a long way before we got home but when we finally did, olive got to chill while i ran around putting things away we had purchased and cleaning things up!

i was finally able to relax a bit with the wee one and we had some quality time together. she’s so cute!

[i love, love this baby]

[capturing sweet moments]

[one photo at a time…she is so serious sometimes]

[since she was born…i love giving/getting baby kisses]

[muwah!]

i then prepped olive’s food {avocados!} and fed her. that is when hc came home! yay! all in all, it was a very busy, hectic day. olive was a trooper and was totally along for the ride the whole way. she was so chill the entire time i had her out {and that was a long time for my little babes}.

we had such a wonderful mommy/daughter day together!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Category Archives: c’est la vie

long overdue

may snapshots

happy father’s day

flashback friday

father’s day gift ideas

a day at the zoo

lunch with matt

flashback friday

tashina and famille

rainy day together