a quick soirée

Posted on April 28, 2015 by tandem in love

my friend jaime invited me to a cocktail party in celebration of her new venture. i was totally in debate on whether i could or should go. honestly, i always have such mother’s guilt and i had a hard time motivating myself to get out and just enjoy a little girl time with the ladies! as usual, i talked myself into it. i really do hate missing out on any events or outings. it’s so my thing to try to make it to everything!

it makes me think back to that one time i didn’t, i couldn’t make it out for a friend’s birthday because i was {i think} 36 weeks pregnant?? and tired, exhausted, and just beat from running around all day. i was more upset that i was missing out on his birthday celebration than my well being! hc forced me to stay home to rest…thank goodness for a husband that can talk some sense into me. yes, i’m nutso.

anyhoo, i arrived at jaime’s dad’s house right on time and i thought i was going to be super early! i walked in and was greeted right away by jaime and started mingling with her other guests. i met some of her friends in the same business and chitchatted with the lovely ladies for quite a bit.

i made my rounds around the group of women and was able to connect with a few folks i already knew. amber and megan arrived a little bit after me and i was able to catch up with these lovely ladies! i also had a chance to catch up with jaime’s sister in law, lauren…she’s such a sweetie!

there were drinks and apps for everyone {of course i took advantage of that! i nibbled on some tasty morsels and sipped some red wine} and after a little bit of noshing, we all gathered around in the living room for the presentation.

[me, jaime, meg, and amber]

[some yummy apps and desserts]

[lauren, j, meg, and amber]

[hanging out before the intro]

[party eats]

there were four speakers, including jaime, and each one talked about their journey and how they discovered rodan + fields. of course all their stories were inspirational and unique. i enjoyed listening to it all. after they explained their products and personal testimony around the skincare lines, the presentation was over and we were able to talk to the ladies around our personal skincare needs.

[speaking about rodan + fields]

it was already late and i had to jet. i felt bad leaving but i needed to get home to miss olive to nurse her and put her down for the night! i’m excited to try some of the products and can’t wait to reconnect with jaime so i can purchase some goodies.

thanks for having me j, it was fun!

xoxo

a little blip

Posted on April 27, 2015 by tandem in love

i was excited to meet up with olivia for lunch because it was her birthday week! i was glad we were able to get together and do a little celebrating with just us gals.

of course, i met up with her during the week…it’s the only way, lately, for us to get together. i was waiting for her to get back to me on a time and we didn’t settle on one until late morning, which caused me to run a bit behind. i needed to pack up olive’s things, get her changed and ready, get myself ready, drop her off at my parent’s house and get myself on the road {with all the interruptions i have along the way with miss olive’s shenanigans!}.

i arrived much later than what i wanted to {olivia had a meeting planned at 1:30pm, so we only had a little over an hour to gab} but nevertheless, we were able to get in some good ol’ catching up! we talked about her birthday plans, we talked about our little ones {well, olivia’s darling niece fiona is a month older than olive}, and we talked about how life was treating us.

[the card was all colorful balloons, a perfect match!]

we really want to get together soon with our boys and just hang out. of course, aaron and rich have a lot in common and totally have a bromance going on {they loooove geeking out over cars and such} and us gals just want to chitchat…it’s what we do best! haha! we just love our girl time!

after eating our delicious salads, i had olivia open up her gift! i loved her little bag and card i gave her. i’m so bad when it comes to parting with the cards and packaging that i buy. i always have such a hard time letting go. i love all the cards, bags, tissue paper, wrapping paper, etc. that i buy that i actually dislike giving it away! i know, crazy right? but i’m sure there are folks out there that can relate! it’s so pretty and most of the time one of a kind, that my heart gets a little sad giving it away, especially my cards. i’m obsessed with buying cards. i love christimas cards, thank you cards, baby cards, birthday cards, wedding cards, any kind of cards and my most favorite kind are letterpress cards.

[i rarely eat salads but nordstrom has some pretty darn good ones]

[opening up her gift]

[i love packaging & finding coordinating cards]

anyhoo, there’s my tangent for the day! i love cards & pretty packaging! well, after lunch, i dropped off miss olivia and headed back home to see my baby girl! i always miss her so!

xoxo

southern brunch

Posted on April 24, 2015 by tandem in love

we decided that brunch at wishbone was a must. it had been awhile since we ate there and the day looked promisingly lovely, so to the restaurant we went! o and i were at home waiting for hc {from work} and thuy to come over. once they arrived we headed on out.

it, as usual, was too cold downtown. darn that lake. on a day that could reach 65 degrees in the outlying areas, it will be 15 degrees cooler closer to the lake. ugh. anyhoo, we got there and waited only a few minutes before we were seated. we had a super outgoing, charismatic server {which always makes for a fun dining out experience}.

i love wishbone…i’ve been eating at this place {the first experience was the one on ashland} for a long, long time. it’s yummy southern style breakfast and it always hits the spot. i ordered waaayyyy too much food for olive. i thought that the kids side dishes would be small but they were full side portions {hey, it was on the kids menu…so i thought…}. i ordered her a pancake with fruit, a side of potatoes, & a side of sausage. i wanted her to have a variety but thank goodness hc polished it off, so it wasn’t wasted. 🙂

after brunch, we were interested in the idea of walking around, maybe at 900, and shopping but we just weren’t up to it because of the cold temps and wind. so we actually went home instead.

[we are excited to eat at wishbone]

[selfie fun at wishbone]

[being clingy with daddy]

[loving her strawberry lemonade {it’s really thuy’s lemonade}]

[biscuits and gravy with eggs over easy]

it was a fun afternoon outing at a favorite place to eat. i’m glad we got out to enjoy a bit of the sunny weather on this fine day. happy times!

xoxo

visiting daddy at work!

Posted on April 22, 2015 by tandem in love

we were super excited to have planned a day where we got a chance to visit hc at work. he was recently promoted and is now a big boss at this building {his company works with ikea!}! how awesome. so, we were stoked to go and visit our bestest.

it was such an amazing day. i love sunshiny days like this, it was the perfect temp and the sun was shining so bright {ahhhh warmth}! we hopped on into the car {albeit olive’s prior tantrum and my total delay of getting ready and getting out the door!} and headed on our way to the destination. it was a quick and easy ride; we got there in no time.

hc was outside waiting for us. yay! we snapped a lovely pic of him and his daughter…looking so proud! i love that miss o has a little smirk on her face in the pic down below. he walked us inside and olive was so curious. she walked around like a little movie star, staring people down through her shades. what a funny gal!

hc showed us all the rooms and last but not least, where his office is. olive got to sit in the big chair with her daddy. it was too stinkin’ cute. he then walked us around some more and introduced us to more of his crew, of course olive was a hit. everyone ohhh’d and ahhh’d over the cute babes.

[yay! in daddy’s arms, in front of his workplace!]

[owning the place like a boss]

[in daddy’s office]

[of course his office would be filled with bicycles]

after introductions, we headed out to lunch. hc really wanted to take us to the shrimp barn. yes, this is fancy eating in minooka, illinois. ha! it’s a place that he frequents often so he wanted us to try it too. it was quite yummy. they start you off with an interesting combo of buttery garlic bread and powdered sugar popovers {separate of course}.

i ordered the popcorn shrimp and miss o got fish sticks and carrots. it was all very good! we were happy munching away at our little feast. the best part of it all? their homemade sauces for dipping. it was soooo good. they were spicy and delicious. i loved the wasabi sauce the best! it was a perfect topper for my popcorn shrimp bits.

[at the shrimp shack…yup]

[intently staring at the waitress, eating her popover]

[taking a selfie at the shrimp barn]

[cheers! she loves to cheers everyone]

[the delicious homemade sauces]

[sipping her drink, giving me the ‘old’ lady look]

[my popcorn shrimp plate]

after lunch, we stopped by the office again {for a little bit}. we hung out while olive got comfortable with the folks around her {pretty much beth and dan at that point}. we chitchatted with a few workers and then decided that we were bugging them enough and that we needed to head home {and be outside on this gorgeous day!}.

[getting friendly with hc’s associate, beth]

[helping daddy out…or just being cute?]

[sitting in daddy’s office]

it was a wonderful, wonderful afternoon visiting daddy at work! we had a blast meeting everyone and a great time at lunch. we love you hc! thanks for stopping by lovies!

xoxo

we didn’t go to southport grocery

Posted on April 21, 2015 by tandem in love

i love meeting up with my bestie dana. our dates are always a blast. whether we just meet for brunch or hang out all day together, it’s always so nice to spend some qt with my girl!

we decided to not go to southport grocery. *gasp*! yes, it’s true. but no worries, my lovies, no worries. we will be back next time, i’m sure of it! we went to our other favorite spot, m henry’s! yum, yum, yum. i only order one thing from there and it’s their blackberry bliss cakes. it’s soooooooo good. nom.nom. of course, i get a side of bacon and a mix of orange and grapefruit juice to top it off.

when we were seated, olive was totally fixated on dana. just a dead stare. we sat down and the little babes couldn’t take her eyes off of dana. it was hilarious. the wonderful server {who immediately placed a water cup & fruit down for her} brought berries out for her and she really wanted to eat them. she slowly picked up a strawberry without flinching and slowly put it in her mouth without taking her eyes off of dana! hahahaha! it was tooooo cute!

[this cracks me up…olive couldn’t stop staring at dana but she really wanted to eat her fruit]

[still staring at dana, eating her strawberry]

[mid-action eating shot of the babe]

[americano]

[olive and i matching in our printed leggings]

after brunch, dana needed to do some errands. of course, we are always happy to tag along. plus, it was such a beautiful day {well, it turned out to be a beautiful day}. dana needed to pick up some essentials for the abode, so went traipsed through a few different stores to find the perfect items for her.

we always have the best time just hanging out, no matter what we are doing. it’s so relaxing and chill. after we found the necessary items for her home, we called it quits. it was quite the lovely morning and afternoon together. olive had a great time with dana {vice versa} and i had a wonderful time with the both of them…two favorite peeps of mine!

[printed leggings and grey cardigans]

[smiles]

[i love this picture of olive and dana just walking side by side, chillaxin’]

[running around target, like a boss]

we then headed on home so miss olive could take her second nap of the day. natch. happy day everyone!

xoxo

hb hc!

Posted on April 20, 2015 by tandem in love

we recently celebrated hc’s birthday! it happens to be on tax day and it’s the day we closed on our house! so happy anniversary to our ‘new’ home as well!

his birthday was on a week night and i thought it would be a great idea to invite over only our immediate family. it’s always a good reason to invite our family over for a celebratory occasion.

i decided to do a little decorating and just ordered food. me cook? no way. i’m way more of a baker than a cook but on this day, my baking skills went down the drain. it was awful. i decided i would bake hc a cake. something i’ve done dozens of times. well, this time, it was a disaster. the cake tasted just fine but even after greasing the pans, my cake stuck to it! welp. so, needless to say…it was a crumbly mess. wah, wah!

i did my best with it. aunt wendy, dick, and jane were already over and they were so supportive and nice by telling me to keep the cake and not throw it out. so keep the wonky cake i did. aunt wendy kept on saying it would be memorable and it’s only family, so there was no need to go out and buy a cake. i took her advice and barreled on with decorating it.

so, there ya go. my loppy cake down below. anyhoozle, i decided to keep the color light and springy, so i went with an aqua color theme. i bought balloons, hung streamers, poms, and did a small spread of drinks and desserts. i picked up the food and we all noshed on delish fried chicken & biscuits.

[i love this table we had purchased a couple months back…it will look even better in the kitchen once we remodel it]

[aqualicious]

[my favorite candles]

[happy birthday hc!]

[olive loved playing with her uncle dan]

[pretty poms on our tore up ceiling!]

[smitten with dan]

[one of these pictures is not like the other…name 8 things that are different]

[fresh flowers from kim…always a plus!]

after dinner and drinks. i lit the candles on hc’s birthday cake. we sang happy birthday and i cut the cake. it held up ok. it didn’t completely fall apart like i thought it would! i love these birthday candles. i would use them on every birthday cake if i could! it’s so pretty, fun, and whimsical. they do melt quickly, so i did have to pick off some wax on the cake but nevertheless, they are perfect!

after cake, we hung out for a bit but it being a weeknight, our family trickled out early. no problem ’cause i had to clean up and then put little o down for the night!

[yay…so pretty!]

[make a wish!]

i’m so glad everyone was able to come on over to celebrate hc’s birthday. it meant so much to him. i’m glad i was able to pull something small together for him. happy birthday honey! we love you to bits!

xoxo

antique archaeology

Posted on April 17, 2015 by tandem in love

we woke up bright and early {actually later than usual because miss olive slept until 8am and that’s late!}, well early for most folks who don’t have kids!

we got ready and headed out to breakfast. hc was trying to find a yummy breakfast place for us to nosh at but he wasn’t having any luck, so i told him to ask the concierge for ideas. they suggested mickey’s country cafe, hmmmmm. we drove on over there and went inside. it was old, a little bit dingey, not very well ventilated, and kitschy.

we sat down and ordered. hc did the buffet and grace and i ordered from the menu. the food was actually pretty good. it was greasy and yummy. sometimes mom and pop places can be greasy and gross but this was decent.

after breakfast, we drove over to antique archaeology but it didn’t open until noon. so, we decided to walk around town to check out the other shops but most of the shops didn’t open until noon either! we just walked around and explored some of the landmarks around the area and then headed back to the shop about five to noon.

[this place is a total dive but the breakfast was pretty damn good!]

[hemming and hawing over the choices]

[rich called it cannibalism]

[i find this picture so funny, it was so windy and olive and i were struggling with our hair]

[usa]

[i wish someone was around so that we could have taken this all together!]

[memorial site]

[she was peeking over because grace was on the other side]

[olive was riding the little rock…that’s why her position is so awkward!]

they opened up their doors and exploring we went! i love this place, it’s so unique, fun, and eclectic! i love seeing all the items they have collected over the years. unfortunately, they have so many awesome pieces that are not for sale. that was a bummer. i thought they would have more antiques up for sale. it was mostly t-shirts, stickers, bags, books, and mugs.

hc had his eye on this rusty, rusty decrepit bike. there was a tag on the bike but it was totally faded. he didn’t want to ask about it, so i went in to ask the girl at the counter. she came out to take a look at the bike and wasn’t sure if it was for sale. she told us that the bike had been there for a long time and thought it was NFS. now here comes the most exciting part…well, exciting for us! she says to me, “i’m going to text mike to see if it’s for sale.” Eeeppp! she was going to text mike, how cool! the closest mike ‘interaction’ we will ever have!

well, unfortunately, she came back with bum news. the bike, in fact, was not for sale. boo. hc really, really wanted it for his garage wall. total bummer. it was an exciting story to tell but we were sad that bike couldn’t come home with us! we rummaged around some more {olive spent a lot of her time outside with grace…a baby is no bueno in an antique shop!} and finally made a little purchase.

i had my eye on a metal double decker bus. it was quite expensive but i bargained with the lady at the counter to knock $20 off the price {we did haggle back and forth}. i didn’t do a bundle but i was happy with the final price!

[we made it back just a few minutes before it opened]

[the bookcase where you can’t purchase a darn thing!]

[hi baby olive]

[chillin’ and eating her snacks]

[she was having so much fun playing with grace]

after we perused the shop for almost and hour and a half. yes, we were ogling that long. we weren’t sure if we wanted to check out the john deere museum {a twenty minute drive} or walk around town again, since it was mostly closed for our earlier walk. we were craving ice cream so we decided to walk the town again. we checked out a few shops and stopped at a pizza and ice cream parlor.

hc and grace ordered root beer floats, i asked for a single scoop of cookies and cream on a cone, and olive got a milkshake. we ate our treats and watched it rain outside. bummer. we were dunzo anyways! after we finished our desserts, we played a bit inside their ‘game room’ and then headed out.

[shopping antiques]

[afternoon snack]

[i love, love this pic of them]

[and this]

[the bike hc wants to buy but that was a no go]

we had such a great time road trippin’ it to iowa. it was a fun get away with the family and we love antique archaeology! we did walk away with some goodies, so i’d say it was a success. nothing is better than family, fun, and new adventures!

xoxo

road trippin’ part 1

Posted on April 15, 2015 by tandem in love

with a little time off, we decided to take a road trip down to iowa to visit antique archaeology. it’s grace’s and rich’s favorite show {american pickers}; or at least, one of their favorites!

it’s actually a really short car ride to get to le claire, iowa from chicago. a few hours drive and you’re there! we left mid afternoon on a sunny, beautiful day and arrived at our hotel in the early evening. we unpacked and headed out to stevenson’s {a restaurant we ate at last time} for a lovely dinner.

it cracks me up but this is their ‘fine’ dining. call me a snob, but it was okaaaaayyy. everything was waaayyyy too salty {like my food was being served on a salt block}. their patio was quite nice but the interior definitely needed an upgrade and to think that they did upgrade it since we were there last {a couple years ago}!

anyhoo, after dinner, we hung out by their fire pit. that was actually really nice, it was warm by the fire. grace and olive got to run around and play in the grass. after dinner, we headed back to the hotel so we could play in the pool!

[sunny with our sunnies]

[the ‘fancy’ restaurant]

[i love, love, love olive’s little hand. she loves to say ‘cheers’]

[dancing on the patio with daddy]

[we loved the fire pit]

i hadn’t purchased olive a swimsuit since she outgrew hers last summer and i was in a pickle because we were leaving that day when i realized it! so, i swung by the always reliable target and picked up a cutesy suit for her. it’s actually quite adorbs!

grace, hc, and olive got ready for the pool and we all skaddled down to the swimming area {which was quite nice!}. olive was a bit apprehensive {she loved, loved the pool when she was a bit younger} but hc coaxed her into the water. she was a bit nervous and scared at first but then she really started to enjoy herself, especially when she saw grace having fun in the water.

it was sooo cute to see her in her daddy’s arms, circling around in the water. it just makes your heart melt.

[ready for a swim]

[momma and cubbie twinning]

[in the pool with daddy!]

[having a great time]

[look at that belly!]

[splish splash]

after our pool time, we headed back upstairs to our hotel room to settle in for the night. it was so stinkin’ cute to see olive run around in her diapy. i tried putting her pajama’s on but she didn’t want to, so i let her sit around naked for a bit. she was having a grand ol’ time watching the telly right next to her daddy. i was dying over her curly hair…who knows how long it will stay that way? so, i’m soaking it all in right now. tooooo cute!

[drinking her venti water naked]

[i love how curly her hair is!]

after watching t.v. for a bit and relaxing, we put olive down and we all eventually fell asleep. we needed our energy and rest for our fun day tomorrow! stay tuned!

xoxo

march snapshots

Posted on April 14, 2015 by tandem in love

march was a much slower month for me. i had all these fun ideas but honestly, i just didn’t have it in me to execute them all! i was tired! i consciously made the decision to slow down and told myself it was okaaaayyyy to not do everything! it was hard not to action on all my ideas but hey, c’est la vie.

this past month was a lot of chillaxin’. it was peppered in with some brunches, parties, and some fun outings on sunny days. with warm weather on our side, olive discovered the outdoors with her two, little chubby legs. it all started with a casual walk hc took olive on one day after he picked her up. then all craziness broke loose. she was beyond ecstatic to have such free range of space with her itty bitty legs. she was gleeful, giddy, and excited to have so many things around her that she could explore. she loves to sit outside with her dad {while he works in the garage or the yard} and play in her own little world while he tinkers with his ‘toys’. it’s a whole new world for her and we love that she loves it so much!

so needless to say, we have spent a lot of time outdoors as of late. c’mon warm weather, don’t be scared!

anyhoo, please enjoy our pics from this past wonderful month!!

[chunky monkey face]

[she loves being in the garage with daddy]

[doing her best rocky impersonation]

[the first time the babes crawled back into bed with me and took a nap with me]

[our favorite brunch spot]

[bellylicious]

[eating a super ripe banana and loving it]

[i told her to go sit with dada and this is what she did…hehehe]

[cousin love]

[andrea’s baby shower]

[motorcycle riding]

[noodle eating silly girl]

[first time riding her rocker!]

[this past month, she’s become so intrigued by the tele]

[pretty flower garland]

[these kids are so silly, olive loved being pulled around in a sack by reagan]

[she loved being pushed around in her vw]

[driving the jeep]

[mmmmm i love pho]

[her first walk outside resulted in skinned knees…i love her chub legs!]

[silly nephew]

[she’s so silly]

[morning brunch]

[my shopping buddy]

[those eyebrows and forehead are just like her daddy]

[love her little baby feet]

[she loves reading books]

thanks for stopping by! ‘spring break’ march has come and gone but april showers will bring may flowers {woot! woot!}! i can’t wait to share some snapshots of april!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on April 10, 2015 by tandem in love

today takes us back to april 2011!

hc’s birthday is coming up this week! yikes! i can’t believe it. oh, snap…i need to get it together and plan a little something fun.

a couple of things on this upcoming birthday of his. one – it’s always on tax day. two – it’s the anniversary of when we bought our first home together. so, it’s a very, very special day all together! obvs, last year was a very, very low key birthday…we were closing on our home and pretty much spent the day signing our life away, at the bank, at the store, and at our new home {cleaning away!}!

this picture down below was at his parent’s house. we celebrated his birthday with just dick, jane, and grace. it was simple and sweet. we had dinner, cake, and then he opened gifts.

hc always get annoyed if i eat off his plate. it doesn’t matter what it is or how much i take, if i try to nab a bite, he’ll always try to stab me with his fork. hehehe. so, needless to say, i always try to take food off his plate. well, as you can tell…in this case, i am trying to steal a bite of his cake. hahaha. so, there he is, trying to stab me with his fork. i’m not threatened. i have, will, and still try to eat his food and like a good ol’ couple {we will probably doing this when we’re 80 years old}, he will continue to ‘try’ to stab me with whatever blunt or sharp object nearby. and so the cycle continues…

well, my lovies. it is friyay! hap hap happy FRIYAY!! woo hooooo! i’ve got a few very, very busy days ahead of me. we have a lot jam packed into the next couple of days and i’m soooo looking forward to it! yippee! have a lovely weekend y’all!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Monthly Archives: April 2015

a quick soirée

a little blip

southern brunch

visiting daddy at work!

we didn’t go to southport grocery

hb hc!

antique archaeology

road trippin’ part 1

march snapshots

flashback friday