one lovely evening, olive and i went over to my parent’s house to help my sister kim bake cupcakes for reagan’s soccer team. the occasion? his birthday!
we headed over and got crackin’ on eating dinner. hello. first things first! hc placed an order for pizza…enough pizza for a small village. after noshing, kim was so excited to give olive her gift. awwww, such a thoughtful auntie and godmother! she gave olive a hello kitty rattle plush toy {olive loves it!}, the kitty cat is usually olive’s buddy during car rides! she also gave little o an adorable pumpkin coat! so fun! of course, we dressed olive in the garb and she was like, ‘stop playing dress up with me…i’m busy playing’.
[hello kitty rattle plush toy // gifts from auntie kim]
[pumpkin coat…hmmm, not impressed]
[there she goes!]
[pizza night]
[holy pizza]
[same noses]
[stuffed mushrooms]
[being super silly with her cousins]
after the shenanigans, we got serious with our cupcake making. thuy started the cupcakes, i decorated them, and kim finished out the packaging. total sister work! they turned out super cute. it was, obviously, a soccer theme. kim had gotten the polka dot cupcake liners, soccer toppers, and cups. i added in the cellophane bags, sprinkles, black ribbon, and frosting. ta da! soccer themed birthday cupcakes for reagan’s team!
[getting ready to pipe some icing]
[whose pout is bigger?]
[goofing around]
after we assembled all the cupcakes, the kids were stoked to eat them! well, the kids and hc. olive wanted to partake in all the yumminess as well…she only got a taste. we gotta hold off on the sweets until her numero uno birthday! don’t want to spoil her tastebuds too much right now.
[cupcake time!]
[belly baring, frosted covered nose girl]
it was a fun evening. the kids always have so much fun together. hc took olive home early to bathe her and grace stayed behind to play a little longer with the boys. after a bit, we finally headed home {ya know, that long drive from my parent’s house 😉 ]. all in all, it was a sweet, perfect evening.
we were all so excited to go apple pickin’! kim mentioned the idea for reagan’s birthday…and we were all in! it was a perfect, perfect day to be out and about. the weather was just right, the sun was shining and the temperature was casually cool. we couldn’t have asked for a better day!
hc, grace, me, and olive packed ourselves up and got into the car for a loooong ride up to the royal oak farm. hmmmmm, and hour and a half later {um, it felt like two hours, at least!} we finally arrived at our destination. the farm looked amazing, i was super excited! we pulled in, parked, and scurried our way over to meet up with the rest of the gang.
thuy, lan, pete, and avery were already there at the farm. oh, we were starving! food was a top priority. kim, reagan, bennett, and terry arrived a few minutes later and we all met at the restaurant. we pulled some tables together and i held ground while the group bought their food. hc brought back a feast! chicken pot pie, mac n cheese, fruit, pie, bread, oh my! i nibbled from his plate and i gleefully fed olive mac n cheese and chicken pot pie. she is such an eater!
[mac n cheese, rhubarb pie, roll, fruit, chicken pot pie]
after noshing, we quickly peeked at the gift shop. it was soooo crowded! we perused around a bit but decided we wanted to get a start on apple picking. though, we knew we would come back to the shop to buy some goodies! you can’t leave an apple orchard without some sweet treats!
[royal oak gift shop]
[candied apples]
we headed on over to the apple orchard cashier. it was something like $20 per bag and they offered the option to hitch a ride on their hay wagon…duh, of course we wanted to go for a hay ride {hello, it’s also part of our autumn to do!}. we happily spent our time waiting snapping a ton of photos {what we do best!}, of course i have to document everything!
the wagon finally made it’s way back and we were off!
[getting on the wagon hay ride!]
the tractor dropped us off at the north orchard where there were mostly shensu {fuji sweet} and royal empire apples {sweet tart}. we had such a blast searching for apples. the kids had a great time! the orchards were beautiful and it was fantastic being outside in the fresh air!
the kids ran up and down each aisle. they got so excited when they found a decent apple! reagan and bennett were throwing loads of apples into their bag! we picked green ones, red ones, and watercolored ones.
[ready to pick some apples!]
olive helped out with the apple picking too! then grace and hc got creative on how to reach the high ones up on the trees! slowly but surely, we were getting our bag full of yummy apples.
[running through the orchard]
[and i helped!]
[apple picking]
after hitting up most of the north orchard, we started walking back. olive needed a diapy change and a feeding. of course, we snapped a lot of fun photos along the way. these kids are too cute together. best cousin combo evah!
[cousins]
[hanging out]
hc and grace ran to the other orchard to finish filling up our apple bag. while they did that, we perused another shop by their pumpkin patch {where they sold pumpkins, gourds, honey, and more decorative fall stuff}. i was really loving this orchard! there were so many fun things to do and it was a really nice atmosphere.
next on our list was the petting zoo. as we made our way towards the petting zoo, the farm also had a huge play area for the kids! they had a carousel, tee pee, a train ride, and lots and lots of play houses, cars, slides, etc. the kids were climbing all over everything, running in and out of the play house, and just having a good ol’ time playing with one another.
the kids finally made it to the petting zoo {after playing and playing and playing on the playground}. it was too funny to see reagan and bennett wanting to feed the animals but absolutely scared at the same time! they were worried that they would bite them, so i had to feed the animals first to show them that it was harmless. they were convinced and they were feeding pros within minutes!
[the sun is setting on this perfect day]
after the petting zoo and all the other things we did that afternoon, it was getting late. the farm was only open for another hour or so, so we decided to hit the gift shop for some last minute purchases. of course i had to pick up some apple cider donuts {copious amounts}!! yum. yum. yum. i grabbed a dozen for us, a dozen for the dick and jane, and two packages of mini donuts for kim and my dad! donuts for everyone! i picked up pancake mix, a cute little strawberry knit hat for olive, and a few toys for the birthday boy!
it was such a wonderful, gorgeous day. we had the best time with our friends and family! it was beautiful out and the farm was ah-maze. we loved apple picking {i smell a homemade apple pie in our near future!} and totally taking in all the glory of a fantastic fall day. every activity we did was so lovely and fun. plus, we came home with the best goodies!
happy birthday to the most wonderful, quirky, funny, sweet nephew ever! we love you so much reagan!!!
hc and i went to an apple orchard in woodstock with grace and his parents. it was such a beautiful day out. the sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we were ready to have some farm fun!
there was little playground, where grace had some fun exploring all the obstacles & interactive stations. after watching her run around, jump around, and exhaust herself at the playground, we walked our way over to the petting zoo. here, we had a blast petting & feeding the goats, lambs, and llamas {well, really grace had all the fun doing so}. grace was super happy and excited to be able to be so close to all the animals.
a trip to an apple orchard would not be complete without some hot cider and apple cider donuts!!! yum! we indulged in plenty of both. i love fall!
of course, we came home with some pumpkins. we picked out a few good looking ones and had ourselves a carving contest later that night. it was grace’s first time ever carving a pumpkin!
i love doing activities like this. it just adds to the festive, seasonal holiday feelings of the month. it’s what it is all about! autumn = pumpkins, chilly temps, candy, farms, vibrants leaves, and fun!
matt and i have been dodging each other for some time. ya know, life’s busy schedule has caused us to miss each other each week. so, we finally got a day to ourselves and we were able to set up a brunch date!
we decided to meet up at the bongo room. a favorite brunch spot of mine. olive and i got there first. as usual, the wait was long…ugh. not the greatest when you have a little one. matt got there a few minutes after us {looking super dapper} and we contemplated on going to another place but in the end, i preferred to keep our wait with the bongo room.
so, we strolled our way up the street to get some coffee at…guess…starbucks! you guessed right! we walked back to the restaurant and chit chatted outside until the hostess called us for a table.
i love wicker park. *sigh* it was such a beautiful day to be out and olive and i had the best time strolling around. i really do miss the city. sometimes it makes me sad. i love the density, the chaos, the culture, the hipsters, the boutiques, the ah-maze restaurants. i do feel fortunate i am able to visit it every week and that most of my friends are still living there! thank goodness for that!
[silly rabbit // striking a pose at our favorite coffee place]
[nice look olive]
we were seated in a booth…score! i love sitting in a booth at the bongo room and it’s a rarity to get one. especially if you are a party of two. well, this time we were a party of 2.5, so we scored a booth!
olive was a happy camper {for a moment} sitting in her booster and eating cereal puffs. she eventually had her super fussy moments, but more on that later. so, matt and i got down to business. matt just spurred on and on and on about life, work, life, work, life, work. i just adore him. he is such a dear friend of mine and i am fortunate that we have kept our friendship strong throughout all these years.
we were set to order, he was a good boy and ordered a salad; whereas i was a bad girl and ordered the oreo pancakes. so decadent, sweet, and delicious. annnnndd, a side of bacon. duh! of course i did! my post pregnant hips and tummy protested but my taste buds won the fight. so, yes. i consumed the monstrous pile of sugar and fat. mmmmm, every bite was well worth it. hee.
[such a cool interior]
[decadent]
during lunch, olive was getting super, super fussy. baby girl skipped her morning nap {mistake! huge mistake} and started to have a fussy meltdown. she whimpered and cried. she was. so. tired. she threw everything on the floor, shrieked, and rubbed her eyes.
unfortunately our brunch date was short lived. i wanted to hang out longer but olive disagreed. matt and i said our goodbyes and parted ways on this gorgeous day. i quickly nursed olive in the car, put her in the car seat, and before the car even moved, she was out. she passed right out. thank goodness! she definitely needed her much delayed shut eye. and that was the ending of our brunch date with mr. matt.
time is flying by! this year is flying by. right?! oh my gosh. september was a great month. we did a lot of dinners, hanging out with the fam, brunches with friends, and lots o’ olive time. but seriously, it’s totally flying by, like we are on the fast forward button. i really don’t want it to be cold just yet. it’s too soon! i feel like last winter just left us and fall will be a blink of an eye!
this past month, hc and i celebrated our third year anniversary, olive had many great milestones, and the weather was perfect {as perfect as september weather can be!}. we had a lot of sunny, warm days that allowed us to get out and do fun stuff like going to a farmer’s market! you could tell the seasons were about to change, although we had some great warm days, we also had our cool, cold days that were creeping up on us {a few chilly, biting cold mornings}.
september is such a great month to wrap up last minute summer activities and get in some fun outdoor stuff before the weather takes a deep turn for the cold. we officially welcomed the fall season and excitedly look forward to some fun autumn activities on our list.
[rocking out on her piano]
[motorcycle riding with bennett]
[olive in the hat grandpa gave her]
[olive mean mugging another kid at target]
[her pensive, doubtful looks]
[flea market shopping]
[hmmmm, not impressed]
[breakfast with daddy]
[hanging out in the laundry basket]
[flea market finds]
[having a blast with her sister grace // giggle fest]
[loving her double decker bus & doll]
[pouty olive]
[spelling challenge]
well, that was our september in a nutshell. it was filled with lots of fun and love. we had a swell time living it up and loving each other. i am so thankful for my beautiful girl & handsome hubby, my wonderful family, and lovely friends. life is good.
olive has really taken to this pull toy. when she received this gift over a month ago, she was more interested in pulling off the animal parts and throwing them on the ground. that was the extent of her entertainment. but nowwww, she actually loves to pull this fun toy around. she will crawl and drag the pull toy across the floor, dropping the animal’s heads along the way. of course, i’m chasing all the flying parts and putting them back onto the toy as she, simultaneously & gleefully, pulls the animal heads off again. off with their heads!
she has grown very fond of miss kiki. most mornings, she likes to hug and give her kisses. sometimes she will hold onto her hand and drag her along for fun. i love this doll because it reminds me of…me! ha! when we registered for this doll, hc was not fond of them. he didn’t think they were the cutest of dolls. psh. i was totes in love with kiki ’cause she had bangs and rosy cheeks like me. i secretly think that is why olive is so fond of her! heehee.
these alphabet letters were a gift from carol..i can’t remember if they were sent before or after she was born. anyhoo. they pretty much sat on her bookcase for months and months. just recently, olive has been loving them. they have been stored in a ziplock bag and she loves to open up the bag and take out one. letter. at. a. time. she will toss them anywhere. on the shelf, on the floor, on the rug, on her rocker, in-between the bookcases. it’s her favorite go to when she is in her room. it can actually entertain her for awhile, which makes this momma happy!
just like kiki, olive has taken to this cuddly bear. it was a gift from our dear friend becky. i love, love the maileg collection. they have the cutest dolls! olive loves to hold onto this bear and give it kisses too! she holds the bear close and snuggles her presh lil’ face to it. i usually take this rose bear with us when we go out. it is so beyond cute to see her cling onto it, especially when she falls asleep in her carseat holding tight onto the bear. so sweet.
so, it’s not really this movie she is into. it’s the movie cases she has a thing for. oh baby olive. we have a t.v. console that has two drawers. the bottom drawer has all our dvd cases stacked inside. she has discovered them, oh yes she has! she will crawl over to the drawer, pull it open, and proceed to throw every single dvd case onto the floor. one. by. one. pink, ponk, bang, clank, goes all the dvd cases onto our wooden floor. sometimes she will pause {in-between throwing}, turn around and give us a sly smile before she continues to throw all the movie cases onto the floor. what a little punk diva.
last but not least, she is loving this fun smart phone, given to her by gramma and papa h. she especially loves the camera button. she will snap, snap, snap photos like she is a professional photographer. it’s too cute to see her play around with it. she loves pressing all the buttons and smiles when the phone talks to her {like siri!}. it’s almost as good as my iphone. almost. but this phone is extra special because it came from gramma and papa…gifts with love. that’s our favorite kind!
there ya go my lovies! olive’s ten month loves. a month filled with crazy good milestones; olive’s mind and body becoming stronger, smarter, and cuter. we loved discovering her favorite things this past month and can’t wait to share what she’s been loving this month!
hc told me one night that our friend jody was going to be playing with his band an upcoming saturday night. he asked if i wanted to go…hello! of course! we haven’t really hung out with lisa and jody in awhile {besides pete and ken’s wedding, but that was a whirlwind} so i was totally game on hanging out with them; besides that, i wouldn’t want to miss out on jody playing the drums!
they were playing at a bar called bannerman’s later in the evening. we got ourselves ready and headed out for some fun. the bar wasn’t too far away, i thought it would take longer to get out there but it definitely was out in the land of strip malls and who knows what!
when we got there, the whole gang was already drinking it up! hc met lisa and jody when he lived on ‘the bend’. these two are definitely a fun bunch. they have always been so welcoming with their home, they throw the best parties, and are seriously very kind people. plus, lisa is an amazing cook! she always had something yummy at her house or could whip up something tasty in a nano second. we totally miss seeing them on a weekly basis!
of course, as soon as we got there, a round of shots were ordered!
[shots!]
it was mainly lisa’s side of the family there supporting jody and his band. hc is pretty close to lisa’s nephew, travis. a totally fun, crazy guy.
[travis and hc]
[jody on the drums]
[lisa, me, and taylor]
[jody singing! such a great performer]
we ordered drinks and food. danced along to all the songs they were playing. did a lot of catching up with the group. we couldn’t believe lisa’s daughter, taylor, is now 21! how crazy! i remember her just starting high school and now she’s having a beer with us! my how time flies.
[ahhhhh, are we drunk?]
after noshing and imbibing all night, we had to call it quits. we had to get home to the babysitter! we seriously had a great time. hc and i don’t get out much, by ourselves, so we throughly enjoyed being out with friends, drinking, and having a good time!
[travis, hc, and jody]
before jody started his second set with the band, we said our goodbyes and headed home. we really did have a great time out but it always feels so great to go home; the comfort of our place is the best and we get to sneak peek at our presh little babes fast asleep. the greatest reason to come home to!
i’m currently obsessed with these bright lab lights. i was on pinterest one evening {it can be so evil, right?!} and saw a pin of these fun, festive, pretty lights. boom. i had to have them! what were these pretty things? how can i get them? immediately i connected onto their website, bright lab and pure delight consumed me!
you can buy their preselected string of lights or you can create your own! hello, of course i am going to create my own. duh! my mind raced with ideas. hmmm, halloween was coming up but before you know it, christmas would be here too! so, i created both!
it’s pretty awesome. you can choose a string of 24 bulb lights or 48 bulb lights. you then choose the colors of the yarn balls you want. it was fun to play around with the options. you could choose colors in succession {ombre anyone?}, or mix up a bunch of colors with no rhyme or reason.
i chose, for the halloween lights, to do three shades of orange and three shades of grey {no, not fifty}. when i received the lights, they were perfecto! the color combination look ah-mazing when they were lit. i am super happy with the selection, the product, and the quality.
they are super soft in color when lit and the yarn balls are fun, whimsical, and delicate. lending to a cool, party atmosphere {because at our house, it’s nothin’ but a parteeee!}.
[such cute packaging!]
the halloween lights look super festive up on our bay window. i’m addicted! i want these bright lab lights everywhere and for every occasion.
i’m loving the halloween set and i can’t wait until i can get the christmas ones up. bright lab lights are my new favorite thing. what a nifty idea!
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!
so, to get into the spirit of things for halloween, i purchased olive some fun, festive pj’s! oh, i do love holidays and halloween is the start of the holiday season! it’s spooky, scary, and fun! there’s a chill in the air, it’s time for pumpkin fun, the leaves change into vibrant colors, and it’s a perfect time to watch one of my favorite movies! sleepy hollow by tim burton, my fav, fav, favvvve director! yes. a must see. yes, you must see it!
anyhoo, one day i was shopping with my olive and i stumbled into pbteen. i saw this adorable, sequin cat pillow and fell in love! how cuuuute! i had to have it for miss olive. i thought, it would be so cute in her room and perfect for halloween; a fun, festive update to her abode. so, the kitty cat came home with us.
well, as i was shopping around some more, i found the cutest halloween kitty pj’s from baby gap. how fitting! so, those kitty cats came home with us too! ta da! olive was getting a head start on her festive attire for this upcoming holiday!
now i did go picture crazy with her {c’mon…i’m a momma, it’s in our job description}. i couldn’t stop snapping pics because it was such an adorable combination. her fun sequin pillow and her adorbs cat pajamas! aaand her fluffy, crazy hair. aaand her cute, chubby cheeks. aaand her adorable, little pot belly. yesss, d: all of the above got me snap happy!
i’ve snuck in a few more cute outfits for miss o for halloweeenie. a girl has gotta have several outfit changes for any special occasion {as her momma did for her own wedding day…duh! like mother, like daughter} but we’ll show those off another time! right now, i’m relishing in all the cuteness right here.
[holding on to her favorite carrot rattle from land of nod]
[look at that hair!]
[showing off her bootyliciousness]
love her. love her show. i’ll watch it anytime.
yup, we’re kicking off this october with sass and sweetness. sparkly pillows, cutesy pj’s, and my darling olive. it’s looking like a spooky start already! muwhahahaha!
