cruise night

hc and i were able to check off one of our summer activities: looking at classic cars on a cruise night. it was a wonderful, warm, summer day. earlier in the morning, we had a great brunch with friends and later that evening, we wanted to do something summer fun!

we looked up several options available and decided to check out the lombard cruise night {we definitely want to check out other town’s cruise nights, we have all summer!}. right when we got there, it started to rain…hard. we sat in the car {watching 007} until the rain stopped.

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we got out and started walking towards all the classic cars. we cruised up and down the street and ogled all the fun vehicles. lombard’s cruise night was much smaller than we thought! we’ve done cruise nights at other towns before, so this one was tiny to us.

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there were a few cars that hc really liked. unfortunately, i don’t remember the names of any of them {haha} 😉 i only took pictures of them 🙂 so, go ahead and figure them out!

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[i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream]

after we checked out all the cars, i insisted on ice cream! you can’t go to a cruise night {or any outdoor summer activity} and not get ice cream to eat outside! there was a band playing by the ice cream shop, so we bought our ice cream cones, sat on a ledge, conversed with each other, and listened to the live music.

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bonus part? olive was suppose to go with us but my parent’s insisted on watching her so we kinda had an impromptu date night {even though it was just a few short hours!}.

we really enjoyed ourselves and can’t wait to check more fun stuff off our summer list! oh, warm weather…please stay awhile!

xoxo

current obsessie

i’m totes obsessed with these headbands for olive. they are from em and ko. they are made with a super soft fabric, so easy to adjust, and come in many, many fun prints. i know there is a lot of competition out there when it comes to this style of product. i researched different brands and prices, i ended up really loving these headbands.

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[looking chic]

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[aren’t these prints so fun?! i love the soft colors]

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i’m a fan of dressing miss olive in darling little outfits. it honestly didn’t get fun until she was about four months old. prior to that, it was just sleepers for the little bugger. momma was too tired, the winter was too rough, and there was no energy to dress the little babes up. once she was more active and we were more active {thank you warmer weather!}…it turned into something very fun for me! who doesn’t love dressing a cute baby girl?

i am always looking out for something new and fun to drape little miss olive in! i mean, c’mon, she will only let me do this for so long… 🙂

xoxo

happy independence day!

happy fourth folks!

on july 4th, 1776, we declared our independence from the british empire aaaannnddd it’s been a non-stop party ever since! 😉

i hope everyone out there eats a lot of carnival foods, cotton candy, funnel cake, ice cream, & watches a whole bunch of fireworks! hey, it’s america…we always over indulge!

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[olive and i in our festive, holiday attire!]

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[carter’s star chambray dress and nordstrom’s flower headband]

happy 4th of july lovies! i love celebrating america’s birthday. let’s revel in our freedom and everyone please be safe {drinky drinky + home fireworks = you’ll shoot your eye out, so be careful, darn it!}!

xoxo

flashback friday

today take us back to 2012!

i’m reminiscent over this picture right now because i am totally missing vegas…a lot. for the past several years, matt, johann, hc, and i have traveled to vegas every summer for a mini vacay. matt and johann go every year because matt’s sister, liz, lives there with her husband josh and their daughter stella.

we go to relax, visit, and do a lot of shopping. we are not gamblers {although every time we go, hc must put some money into the wheel of fortune}, we love vegas for it’s craziness, kitschy nature, amaze people watching, luxurious hotels, fabulous pools, delicious food, 24 hour availability, and fantastic night life. we love to lounge, eat, drink, get a tan, and entertain ourselves with the crazy peeps that come to vegas. hello…the outfits people wear are the best!

matt and johann are such great travel partners. we do our own thing, we meet up when we want to, we don’t adhere to a strict schedule, we all love to shop…we are on the same page on our idea of how to vacay. it’s perfect harmony.

unfortunately, why i am a bit poo pooh about it right now is because this year it wasn’t in our cards to go. with a baby and a new house {a lot of renovating}, vegas didn’t fit into the budget. well, it could have but not the best idea when it came to our finances and being smart about it {i’ll blame hc for being responsible :)}.

so, here i am…gazing at this picture, wishing we were in vegas with them right now.

this pic was taken at the pepper mill…a cheesy 24 hour restaurant. ya gotta love the fake neon lights, plastic flowers, and the fire pit lounge/bar they have inside, where hats are not allowed {dress code}! whaaaat?! people are in flippin’ tanks tops and flip flops!

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[i apologize for the fuzziness…it’s a picture of a picture :)]

anyhoo, i love vegas and i love going with these two wonderful people. it’s our tradition. here’s to next year’s trip! fer shizzle.

happy friday y’all!

xoxo

l.o.n. = land of fun

the oakbrook land of nod celebrated their 10th anniversary!

i was really excited to attend. i had received their email and the party looked like so much fun! they had balloons, a face painter, a photo booth, a children’s folk singer, and they had set up a whole bunch of teepee’s, tents, and blankets all over the grass in the front of their store. a perfect spot for kids to play in & lots of activities to entertain the kiddos.

we started the afternoon with some lunch at cpk. we put olive in a highchair {first time at a restaurant!} and she was quite content for a bit. i fed her some carrots and cauliflower. reagan was completely entertaining her and then she was liiiiiike, ok…i want my momma. she whimpered and whimpered, so i picked the cutie up to calm her down. i was able to wolf a bit of food down before we headed out to do some shopping before heading over to land of nod.

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[reagan enjoying his sundae]

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[auntie/godmother kim playing with miss olive]

we decided to hit a few stores kid’s stores before lon. it’s been awhile since i’ve purchased some cute clothes for miss olive! i bought a bunch of stuff at gapbaby, h&m, and carter’s.

of course, we stopped at starbucks for a pick me up drink! the boys got matching cake pops to nosh on.

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[never without a starbucks run]

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[cake pop twinsies]

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[they had a children’s folk singer entertaining the crowds]

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[holding on to her lon carrot rattle]

olive and i participated in the photo booth. it was delightful and fun. look at her face…so chunky and cute.

we also ran into our friends lan, pete, and avery! we were able to hang out with them during our afternoon of fun. small world, but then we ran into our friends larissa and thai and their family of three! a sunny day and a land of nod event brings out everyone!

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[photo booth fun]

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[avery having a blast with the campfire props]

the boys waited in line with auntie thuy to get their face painted. it was quite the popular spot! the line was so long but thuy and the boys waited oh so patiently to get their faces painted! reagan chose spidey man and bennett chose mario brothers. they loved it! it was so adorbs, after they had their faces painted, they looked so happy staring at themselves in the mirror. i love kids. so wonderful and innocent.

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[reagan getting spiderman]

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[mario brother]

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[aren’t they so cute?!]

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[i honestly didn’t know where to look at first…then we got it! isn’t she just the most adorable baby in the world?!]

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[ending the afternoon fun with yummy goodness]

after an hour or so at the land of nod, we went to macy’s because the bro in law wanted to shop around. kim and i were a bit hungry, so we headed downstairs to the food court to grab a snack. well, a snack turned into more food and lots of desserts and a very full belly {there goes dinner!}!

we had such a great day lazily lounging around, shopping a whole bunch of stores, and participating in the l.o.n. party! it was such a fantastic afternoon with my lovely family!  a much needed relaxing afternoon at a beautiful shopping center with my famille.

xoxo

fiona meets olive

sooo…the story goes like this. last year, olivia and i visited her sister in d.c. her sister was 8 weeks pregnant. she wasn’t telling anyone yet. little did i know, i was 5 weeks pregnant {absolutely no clue i was preggers}. we had our babies weeks apart and months later, we finally introduced the little cuties to one another!!!

claire traveled {actually drove!} from san diego to chicago to spend some quality time here with her family. she was at the tail end of her stay when we finally coordinated a date together. woo!

we decided to meet halfway since our locations were so far apart. she was up in woodstock and we were probably an hour and thirty minutes south from there…at least! we decided on the restaurant wildberry. we wanted to do an early brunch…since both of us get up so early with the kiddos.

we arrived before the other half of our party did, so we put our name in for a table. it was a forty-five minutes wait!!! ugh. we decided to wait inside their foyer since it was already so hot outside. olive patiently waited with us but she was a tad grumpy. she definitely woke up that way! the day prior, we were out and about all day and she was a bit exhausted {baby girl wouldn’t nap the day before!}, so today she was not in the best mood.

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[serious face]

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[she was using sophie as a chin rest]

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[waiting for the gantners]

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[the girls!]

yay! the clan finally made it! i love them all. her mom is such a fun character, her sister is so sweet, and olivia…she is a doll. now how ’bout them babes?! it was so cool to introduce fiona to olive. babies are so funny, they kinda stare at one another and pretty much just try to grab at each other for no particular reason.

we were finally seated and perused the menu to decide on our eats. oohhhhh, olive was so fussy. she didn’t want anyone to hold her {the usual} and kept whimpering throughout our meal. she was so tired. annndddd there was fiona…happy as a clam. she just smiled and calmly sat in her high chair while everyone visited.

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[aaron doing his best creepy smile]

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[fiona being so good and darn cute]

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i ordered their buttermilk pancakes, a side of bacon, and orange juice. my usual go to breakfast.

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[so sweet, buttery, and delicious]

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[olivia + thu = besties // olive + fiona = future besties!]

our gathering was short and sweet but oh so worth it. i was super, duper happy to have been able to meet up with claire and fiona. i didn’t want to miss out on seeing them while they were in town! fiona and olive had to meet!

it was a wonderful start to a great day! thanks ladies and aaron for a lovely date!

xoxo