my dear friend dana and i planned a quick afternoon date.
she is hosting seder this year at her new home, so she’s been working hard and practicing her cooking skills for the upcoming dinner at her place. we felt very honored that dana had invited us to experience seder with her and her family. hc and i are super, super bummed because we can’t go. so sad! it happens to fall on a day that we have a zillion things planned and it cannot be cancelled. boo. we are very sad that we will be missing out this wonderful event. the food sounds delicious…brisket {slow cooked by dana’s dad!}, zeroah {lamb}, matzo, maror {horseradish}, karpas {vegetable/celery/parsley}, eggs, red wine, & lots of desserts. her friends and family will all be there and we will miss out on this special religious occasion and all the wonderful food!
[olive cried every time dana tried to hold her!!!]
dana trekked on over to our place and toted her homemade matzo ball soup with her so we could taste test her creation. she warmed up the soup on the stove and served me a bowl. i was waiting in anticipation to try it! yum. it was delicious! it was flavorful and filling. the matzo was very dense and had soaked in the broth; with each bite, every mouthful of matzo was tasty and savory. i felt very special to be taste testing her handmade creation for a very important occasion in her life!
[the delicious matzo ball soup {huge matzo!} // so good]
after the matzo ball soup, we noshed on some cubbie donuts. yes, you read that right. cubbie donuts. dunkin donuts partnered with the cubs and created a donut to support their cubs charity! how awesome is that?! i love doughnuts. that was our sweet treat after lunch. they were so scrumptious. every bite was like heaven in my mouth.
[the cubbie donut…only sold in chicago-land dunkin’ donuts, for a limited time, to support the cubs charity!]
after eating, we just hung out and caught up on life’s latest happenings. dana had a jnf meeting to get to mid afternoon, so after hanging out for a bit, she had to go. so sad. olive and i were having a great time with her! well, we were so excited to have tried her matzo ball soup and hc was super excited to have a pot of soup waiting for him at home!
a little something from the past. noooo, i’m not pregnant again!!!
last year {a few days from now…on hc’s birthday and a few days from another soon to be major event in our lives!}, is when i first saw our baby olive. when i first her heard her heartbeat {best sound ever}. i was so amazed, overwhelmed, elated, happy, joyous, that i cried and cried when i saw our baby on the screen. it was a reality and a dream come true.
i almost couldn’t believe that we were pregnant! what a journey we were starting on…how it’s led us to this miracle of ours, our baby girl who amazes us everyday. we feel so blessed to have had a beautiful, healthy baby girl who makes us smile at every moment!
[olive’s 8 week photo…literally a little peanut!}
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13
the second half of our vacation was filled with rain, intermittent sunshine, and sporadic warm temperatures.
on wednesday, after a homemade breakfast by the hubby himself, we decided to head back to the outlet mall. just hc and myself. last time we were there, it was a bit difficult to shop with all the kids. so we wanted to head back to really take a look at stuff, take our time, and get a chance to try things on. it was a lovely day and it was very nice to get a chance to spend some alone time together.
i got olive dressed and left her with gramma and papa to have a day at kiddie land! she had a great time with them while we were away having some fun adult time!
[olive wearing corduroys due to the cooler temps and pretending to be shy]
after some shopping, we came back to relax. everyone kind of did their own thing that day, which was a change of pace. later on that afternoon, hc and i went on a walk with olive and jane. something we haven’t been able to do at all with the long winter that we have had!
[a lovely, lovely walk on the beach…olive loves the ocean!]
after a stroll on the beach, we came back and i did an outfit change for miss olive. she had to get dressed up for her first time at a bar! her outfit du jour was a gift from grace marie herself!
our restaurant of choice was duffy’s. home of “world famous” burgers. a dirty little bar joint. it had lovely plastic chairs and bleached cleaned table tops. it had a very simple menu, burgers and chips…no fries! i ordered the mushroom swiss burger and a side of potato salad. yummy…but i wouldn’t call them world famous. i’d call them good burgers.
olive was a hit at the bar. a lot of the patrons just adored her, how could you not love a baby in a cute outfit like that?!
[duffy’s tavern…world famous burgers]
[olive’s first time at a bar! she was most interested in sophie]
after dinner, we came back to the house to…guess what?! yesss, relax. we got comfy and chilled. olive was so relaxed that she found it super funny pooping while sitting on daddy’s lap! so classic and i’m so glad we snapped a pic of that special moment!
[olive literally pooping on daddy’s lap with a very content smile on her face]
on thursday, it was olive’s four month birthday! yay! papa always insists on having cake on olive’s special day. so that morning, we had a breakfast coffee cake to celebrate! i also dressed the little peanut up and shot her four month photos! i love my cutie pie.
[olive’s four month photo on vacay]
this day, we had tickets to the pittsburgh pirates and new york yankees pre-season game, thanks to aunt wendy.
[exhausted from her all day birthday celebration at kiddie land with grandma and grandpa]
it was raining from the moment we woke up, but we were on track to go to the game. we bundled up {it was much colder than i thought…such a bummer since we were going to be sitting outside! the weather report lied to us! it was suppose to be 70 and sunny!} and headed out to the field.
we got there and right away, we had to get our hot dogs and beer! after noshing on our bites, we headed into the stands to find our seats. we sat there in the rain, watched them play ball, and ate a lot of junk food. an american classic outing. after a few hours, we decided to head out but not before we perused the souvenirs shops.
[me and gracie trying to keep warm and dry at the pirates and yankees game]
[classic – baseball and hotdogs]
[rich and grace]
[go cubs go!]
we then ran into an area where they were selling memorabilia and auctioning off baseball souvenirs. missy was eyeing a ryne sandberg autographed framed photos and rich was interested in a ron santos signed baseball.
the starting bid for the ball was small, so rich decided to bid on it. missy decided not to buy the ryne sandberg frame so hc and i decided to buy it for her! it would be an early birthday/christmas gift! i snuck off to buy it while rich led the group the other way. when they came back to the memorabilia area, we surprised her with it!
rich won the bid on the baseball, missy had her ryne signed frame, and we were ready to go home!
[missy and rich attending the pirates and yankees game and going home with cubs memorabilia // an autographed ryne sandberg and an autograph ron santo ball]
once we got home, we were inundated with fun stories of olive’s great day with gramma and papa! they ‘took’ olive to ‘kiddie land’ {aka she rode ‘roller coaster’ rides on a blanket pulled across the floor! so cute!}.
missy, jane, and wendy decided to go for a walk and then sit outside at the bar and have a drink. i debated on going with them but decided against it. it was a bit too chilly for me to sit outside…walking outside, yes, but not sitting. so they left for their walk, while the kids, rich, and papa were at home.
rich and i decide ourselves to go on our own walk with little miss olive. it was so lovely! we had such a great time walking through the neighborhood and checking out the local shops {knick knacks, surf shops, restaurants}. we found some fun ornaments, magnets, and shoes to buy! it was so awesome to walk around, enjoy the weather, and spend some alone time with hc and olive!
while we were at the surf shop, hc found these awesome minnie mouse type sunglasses for olive! when we got home and walked through the door, i called out to jane. she came walking over and yelled in joy how cute olive looked in her new sunglasses! i agree…she is so cute!
[i wear my minnie mouse sunglasses at night]
[look at those cheeks!]
instead of heading out to a restaurant to eat for dinner, we decided to order food from skinny’s. after placing our order, missy and hc drove over to pick up our food. it was quite yummy but you definitely don’t stay skinny eating from skinny’s!
[dinner from skinny’s]
on our last full day of vacation, again the weather was not good beach weather, so we decided to check out the northern part of the island. i was super excited when jane presented to me that morning the onesie that i gave them for mother’s day last year! she had brought it with her on vacation! i gave her that shirt on that celebratory day last year to announce i was pregnant with little miss olive! i was so excited for her to wear it…it was her size, perfect timing!
[gramma brought the onesie i gave them. it was a baby announcement that i was pregnant, a gift for her on mother’s day! it looks perfect on olive!]
we drove up north to anna maria pier {which took 7 minutes from our beach house!} and walked the town and headed our way towards the pier. it was quite lovely walking it! after the pier, we found a restaurant to eat at, the waterfront.
olive was high maintenance during our lunch! she needed her diaper changed and there was no changer in the bathroom! that is so annoying! so hc and i walked around the corner {we were eating outside}, and put our portable changer on the sidewalk and changed the peanut! after that, she needed a feeding! so as usual, i fed her while i ate. we like to eat together 🙂
[a walk on the pier]
after walking the pier and eating lunch, we wanted to walk the area…there were a lot shops to look at! half of our group got tired out. so jane, missy, and i decided to stay and continue to shop. we had a really great time! there were a lot of cute island shops to look at.
the last store we looked at, i found some really, really cute stuff for olive! there was this darling animal swaddle blanket from angel dear. it was their farm yard swaddle…so charming! i had to have it for her! i also purchased this beautiful wood puzzle toy for her. i am obsessed with wood toys and especially this brand of toys. it reminded us of a banyan trees in florida!
after shopping the town, we headed back to the car and took the short car ride home to the house. olive was up and doing some tummy time…isn’t she’s so darling?! before our hodge podge of a dinner {clearing out the pantry before we headed home meant a mixed bag of goodies for supper!}, hc and i decided to go for a final walk around the island. we strapped olive in her carseat, took out the stroller, and enjoyed a very serene, beautiful walk around the area {being at the beach and ocean is so gorgeous!}.
[olive doing some tummy time…so adorbs]
when we got back, we finished packing for our trip back home and snacked on very random food for dinner! we woke up very, very early the next day and packed up the rest of our goods and headed to the airport. so sad…bye bye anna maria island, it was a very good time!
olive was a doll on the plane ride back! she fed, she slept, and she cooed. when we landed, it was home sweet home chicago! annnddd it was cold! yuck!
[olive on the plane ride home…so cute!]
it was quite bittersweet, we were so happy to be back and sad to not be on vacation anymore! it was a wonderful week, lots of relaxing, shopping, and exploring…the beach and ocean were amaze. thanks dick and jane for an amazing get away! we love you both so much!
ta da! that wraps up our spring break trip! until next year!
woooooo! we were so excited for our spring break vacation! after this very long, very cold, very awful winter, a getaway to a warm destination was in order!
the locale of choice was anna maria island, off of florida. i am thankful to my in laws for coordinating this whole vacation! olive is a lucky gal to have pretty awesome grandparents who love her so much!
we headed out on saturday morning {4:30 am wake up call anyone?}, off to the airport we went in our pimp escalade limo ride. olive was riding in style! we got to the airport quickly and checked ourselves in. getting through security involved a lot more than we thought. it being the first time we have traveled with olive, we weren’t quite sure what the process looked like. not only did we have to do our usual thing {shoes, laptop, coats, etc.}, we had to break down the entire stroller, take off a wheel, flip the carseat upside down, and i had to walk thru the detector with olive and then get my hands wiped down for any dangerous chemicals! nutty. well, we made it through with no problems {no crazy chemicals on my hands…phew. i didn’t have to brawl with the tsa!} and we merrily went on our way to the gate {way to vacation!} . i immediately was on a mission for coffee. starbucks and food was in order!
[olive’s first time in the airport // breakfast at berghoff cafe]
we waited in quite a long line at berghoff cafe. rich ordered an egg and bacon croissant sandwich with a side of hash for the both of us. we ate and waited for the rest of our party to arrive. once everyone was there, we settled ourselves into the terminal to wait for our boarding time. oh boy…olive started to get fussy. it was past her feeding time and i really wanted to feed her during take off. our timing was a little off and while we were waiting in line to board, she had a melt down! i saw all the passengers eyes widen as this baby of mine shrieked so loud! oy. once we neared the plane, though, she actually calmed down. phew!
[family selfie]
i got to feeding olive right away. she actually fell asleep during take off and was quite calm during the whole flight. only for a few minutes did she fuss but then calmed down. woo! it was a great, non-fussy flight with little miss olive. what a good little traveler!
[olive representing the cubs // take off]
[sleepy olive]
[cutie pie waiting for daddy to rent a car]
[the scary road over the water]
we landed and were so excited to finally be in warm weather! it was warm and a bit humid. we got our car rented and started en route to our destination to the beautiful house on the beach!
the palm trees are such a treat. a novelty for us after a looooong winter in chicago! buuutttt after experiencing florida traffic and how cray cray they drive {i mean seriously cray}, i definitely can say…i wouldn’t want to live that everyday!
we finally arrived at our destination and got to explore the house. it was spacious and new. i loved our bedroom…it was big, had it’s own ensuite, a large flat screen t.v., and a lovely veranda! we were steps away from the beach and the house also had it’s own private pool! sweet!
[olive and aunt missy matching each other and the couch // us checking out the house]
[the beachy fun house decor // relaxing by the private pool]
[this was our walkway from the front of the house!]
[checking out the scenery // palm trees usa]
[we love our selfies]
the most exciting part about arriving in florida?! meeting up with olivia and aaron. since they’ve relocated to fort lauderdale, we haven’t gotten a chance to visit them in the sunshine state. they timed their travels to match ours, they got there just a tad earlier than us {due to our unnecessary detour to the cracker barrel…long story not worth sharing}.
olivia texted me that they were chillin’ at a bar across the street from the house we were renting. she insisted that she would she us pull into the house. so, as we pulled in…i looked around and saw only houses. olivia and aaron were no where to be found. after we got inside and looked around, i texted her, wondering where they were at. sooooo typical olivia, they were at the wrong location. i have no idea where she got the address she had! they weren’t far from us and soon they arrived at the house! yay!
we spent the day basically chillin’. our only big mission for the day was to grocery shop. there was a local grocery store called publix nearby. hello spring break! it was a madhouse there. literally. it seemed like half the island was there stocking up on groceries! we fought our way through and survived. hundreds of dollars later and two full carts filled with food, we were on our way back home.
[selfie time // bruce the cutest puppy ever]
[hc and aaron holding their babies]
[olive’s curly q hair, thanks florida humidity!]
[olive’s first time at the beach!]
[the cute couple before they leave back to ft. lauderdale // as you can tell, olive is super happy]
the rest of the weekend, we walked the beach, we explored the island, lunched outside, and spent time together with this great duo…the best news yet?! olivia and aaron are moving back to chicago! woo hoo! see ya guys in a few weeks!
[aunt wendy consoling olive]
[neidre and olive…she was in desperate need of a nap]
right after olivia and aaron left, hc’s old friend from school stopped by to visit. neidre lives in tampa; she drove in and spent the late afternoon and evening with us! we drank wine, chitchatted, and caught up on life’s happenings. neidre is such a great gal! we love her! the last time we saw her was when we visited her brother, jason, in miami. that was an amazing trip as well {sunshine, beach time, and awesome weather}! one of the days, while in miami, we drove half way from our destinations and met neidre and her beautiful daughter, khaliya, for dinner. that was a great time together, it was my first time meeting neidre and khaliya and we had such a blast with them.
[blast from the past // miami ’10]
we cooked in and spent a very lovely evening together. after many hours of drinking, noshing, and non stop yakking, neidre decided to head out and home. so bittersweet. it was so awesome to see her and so sad she was leaving. it was a marvelous time spent together.
[hanging out with this lovely lady]
[super excited to be shopping]
since the weather wasn’t quite beach weather {bummer because we had a house on the beach!!!}, we did a lot of shopping. we explored possible shopping venues around the area. on monday, we went to breakfast at peach’s and then took off for the outlet mall right outside anna maria island. hc and i had a great time shopping around. there were a few stores where we found some great stuff in. the whole family enjoyed perusing the mall. good or bad news but everyone found something to buy!
[her pensive looks]
[bad news bear…a stop at wendy’s was no buenos! my favorite comfy target pants!]
on tuesday, we explored the southern part of the island. it turned out to be a very sunny day {although it was a very rainy morning}! we had a great time walking around the area. i found some great smelling body butters and lotions at a place called naples. of course, when we stumbled upon a macaron shop, i had to get a dozen flavors!
[relaxing in her stroller ride around the island // yummy macarons]
after shopping all afternoon, we came back to the house to relax. rich, grace, and daniel hit the beach. olive and i tried to sit out there but it was so windy, it felt like the sand was exfoliating our faces, so that was no. we headed back into the house to chill while rich and the kids played out at the beach.
a little bit later, before we went to dinner and after the beach, rich, jane, and olive went for a walk {a favorite activity of ours since we wanted to take advantage of this weather!}. it was a bit chilly {for florida!}, so we bundled olive up in a cute little hoodie. so adorbs.
[getting ready for her walk on the beach with daddy]
for dinner, aunt wendy wanted to go to the sandbar restaurant but it turned out to be a debacle. the wait was one hour and forty five minutes! no way with the babes could we wait that long for a table! so we ended up down the street at a place called sharkey’s.
it was a tasty place…i ordered the fish and chips {tilapia!} and it was delicious. after dinner, we headed home to relax {the theme of our vacation!}.
[having dinner at sharky’s]
[selfie at sharkey’s}
so, there you have it! the first half of our island vacation! lots of shopping, a lot of relaxing, plenty of walks on the beach, too much noshing, and loads of quality time together as a family {the most important part!}.
[my mom is on the left in the striped dress, my dear o vuong is in the red skirt // can you guess where i am?! // sam is in the gold and red áo dài // my sisters are in the the red jackets and skirts with the big, satin navy bow]
the other day, my friend sam {who lives in austin}, sent this picture to me! our friend vy had sent it to her. it was at my parent’s dear friend’s wedding {dìthu and chúthong} in texas. holy moley…it was delightful to see this picture! i got a good laugh from it.
i love the fashion and styles going on in this photo. the ruffles, the prints, the big collars, oh my! and how young we all are! my how time flies by. it’s overwhelming to see an old picture like this and to think how innocent and unknowing we were as little kids; and how lovely our lives have turned out so far. i’m feeling very blessed and thankful for my parents, my family, our beautiful healthy daughter, and my loving hubby charming {who is seriously the most caring man ever}.
it’s awesome how a picture can evoke so many memories and emotions from the past and present. so cool.
on my day off, olive had a doctor’s appointment at noon, so that left some room to meet up with the darling dana for a early afternoon brunch.
we went to olive’s sweet pediatrician, dr. perlman, for her four month check up {best doctor ever}. ugh, i had forgotten that she was due for her immunization! poor babes…she just has a freak out when she gets her shots. but she did good 🙂
after her appointment, we rushed to meet dana. olive’s appointment took longer than expected and dear dana was already waiting for us. we quickly found a parking spot {score!} and ran inside. of course, we decided to brunch at southport grocery! one of our favorite spots!
i had to order the baked oatmeal again. feeling a little obsessed with it of late. dana and i were on a feeding rampage. we were feeling like our stomachs were bottomless pits, so therefor we ate a lot of food and we were still hungry!!! nom.nom.nom.
olive was awake for the beginning of the meal and then decided to doze off and take a little nappy nap for the rest of the dana date.
after brunch, dana and i decided to get ourselves some starbucks. we stopped by my car and assembled the stroller to take a little walk on this beautiful, cool, sunny day. the sun was shining and that was all that mattered. it put a smile on our faces. dana wanted to push the stroller, so that turned into a very slow walking pace! she was worried that the bumps and cracks would disturb olive! ha! that baby can sleep through anything!
after our coffee run, we perused a few more shops and then said our goodbyes. i was a little sad to be going home {i really wanted to walk outside some more, but olive needed to wake up and get a feeding}, i did want to enjoy the beautiful sunshine a little longer, c’est la vie.
[olive looking up at her momma]
[baby gear and food choices]
[decisions, decisions, decisions]
[yum oh yumminess // baked oatmeal and bacon]
[hiiiii…just chillin’ with my girls]
overall, it was a wonderful day with my baby girl. we had a swell time together on this lovely day! cheers to sunny days off!
we celebrated jodi’s birthday at a restaurant called hutch. it happened to be st. patrick’s day weekend, so it was in fact a madhouse of an evening {the streets and sidewalks were littered with drunken wannabe irish species}.
i scurried home from work, rushing to feed olive, and then get ready myself, with very little time to spare. we were already running behind and with it being a holiday weekend, there was a lot of traffic. we finally got to our destination {being very late!} and joined the already engaged group of peeps.
i was very excited to spend some time with this lovely group, it’s very rare that we get to see all of them at once. i love jodi and her friends, they are a great bunch of people.
we jubilantly conversed, imbibed a slew of alcohol, and mingled with one another. after a bit {and a few drinks}, we finally ordered our entrees. we had a lot of fun; sharing stories, laughing over silly things, and doting over our children! jodi, myself, sarah, and kim all have children that are one year or younger! so, it’s a lot of fun to compare notes and show each other tons of pictures!
i sat next to matt, jodi’s husband…i love the guy, a really great dude. i love how comical he is and what a sweetie he is to his family. jodi and matt are probably the most calm, docile, happy go lucky couple i know! i feel very blessed to have them in our lives!
[oh…the whoas of picture taking. jodi closes her eyes and i last minute avoid that darn flash]
[hutch…american classics]
[jodi, sarah, and kim]
[oh so good // burger and fries]
[jon, nikki, and jodi]
[hc, moi, and matt]
[snickers pie]
after consuming a lot of fries {thanks for sharing jod!} and my delicious burger, we ordered dessert {totally unnecessary but in order for the birthday celebration}. the snickers pie was to die for. decadent, rich, and sweet as can be! yum. yum.
we wrapped up with our tab and said our goodbyes to trek out in the snowy night {yes, a lot of snow, again}. it was a good time with everyone…a much needed evening out for hc and me {our first time leaving olive with the nanny for a date night! yay!}. we relished in being baby free for the evening but of course, we rushed home and couldn’t wait to see our sweet baby girl!
it did snow quite a bit this morning {nice wake up call!} but it eventually evolved into a beautiful, spring like day {a whopping high of 46 degrees!}!
irina and i met through work years ago. she has a son, alex, and for years, i always bugged her about having another child. she constantly retorted with ‘only when you have a baby!’. well, we ran into each other last summer at dana’s birthday party and i was pregnant with olive. i then finally got to harass her about having her second child!
little did we know she got pregnant right after that with a baby girl! so, now we are going to have little baby girls together and some fun play dates in the near future!
i was quite excited to receive her french themed baby shower invite in the mail. i couldn’t wait to see the beautiful momma in her full glorious pregnant state.
dana picked me up and off we went to revel in the festivities of girly goodness. she had her baby shower held at eiffel bistro in barrington. the decor was precious…lots of tulle, pink, paris, and sweetness all around the private party room.
[the delicious french menu // the pretty centerpiece]
[the weird baby pin i found really cute]
[part of the baby games, wearing pearls…if you said the word baby or crossed your legs, you had to give up your pin or pearls]
[dana at her second baby shower ever…her first was mine!]
we ate delicious food, drank a lot of sparkly pink lemonade, and noshed on decadent morsels of desserts. it was a fabulous time; we had a lot of fun with all the games, getting to know her other friends, and spending some quality time with the lovely irina.
[macarons and creme brûlée]
[with the girl of the hour…irina!]
we are so excited for your new addtion to the family! we can’t wait to meet the beautiful baby girl!
{not even one week after irina’s shower, she gave birth to emma nicole!! congrats to her and her family!}
i love my iPhone cover. i received this as a gift from my lovely brother, dan. it’s so fabulous. i have been rifle paper obsessed for years now. i can’t get enough of their products. i love their cards, accessories, and all the knick knacks that they offer through their line. so much so, i ordered another phone case just to have. crazy, i know, but i will definitely use it!
having new iPhone cases is an addiction; like having new shoes or buying a new lipstick color! they always say you can never have too many!
