easter ’19

Posted on April 30, 2019 by tandem in love

oh, it was a very busy {leading up to} and very tiring week after easter! you know meeeeee, always piling on too much and loving every second of it. i swear if i didn’t plan months in advance, then i’d be a creative hot mess. LOL.

easter morning started out with the girls waking up and screaming their way to their baskets. well, olive screamed her way! hahaha! ellie, for some reason, was in a mood and pouted her way towards her basket. oh guuuurrlllll.

olive was so excited the easter bunny dropped off her unicorn ponycycle! her face was priceless when she saw it! i absolutely love that they BOTH love it and they sometimes ride it together…it’s so cute! ellie feels comfortable on it too, so the gift was a win win!

they then went through their easter baskets looking at all the goodies. they were very excited over their shoes! yay! olive had to look at everything and make a comment on each item. once they were done perusing their basket of goodies, everyone got ready for easter brunch.

but before we left, we did an easter egg hunt outside! the weather was Ahhhhhhhmazing. the best kind of day to celebrate Christ! the girls had so much fun hunting down their eggs! i made paper plate markers for the eggs and to help guide the girls through the hunt! hc did the set up {y’all know kiki doesn’t get up early if she doesn’t have to!} and did a great job with hiding all the eggs! we had filled them the night before with candies and moj moj animals. olive loooooved them all and loved that they also glowed in the dark! bonus!

i was quite proud of miss ellie getting a good amount of eggs too! she did good! once the hunt was over and the girls went through their egg surprises, we then headed downtown for brunch with the famille!

our place of choice was baptiste and bottle at the conrad hotel. we were very curious on this restaurant. i told my family that it better be amazing as it took two weeks and a whole lotta phone tag to finally nail a reservation at this establishment! we walked in and the interior looked lovely, modern, and moody. i was totally eyeing the scrumptious dessert table that greeted us!

they walked us over to our table{s} and didn’t even push them together to seat our party of 13! i had to ask them to do so. i mean, if you are out with a whole group, would you want to sit at separate tables?? that made no sense! then our server came by and he was energetic and very nice! then, 45 minutes later, our drink orders were still not fulfilled, our food still hadn’t come, and i was completely irritated. it was prix fixe menu!! the kitchen obviously knew how many people they were serving that day AND the menu was set…so waiting almost one hour for our first course to come out was ridiculous!!!!

i went to the hostess stand and asked to speak to a manager. he was very nice and polite and i was cordial and calm. he immediately reacted, apologized, and came over to our table to help our server out. for goodness sake, my sister ordered coffee and asked for cream and sugar and 15 minutes later….she still didn’t get. i had to do something!

once the ball started rolling, our server continued to mess up {he’d take away our plates and then would forget to bring in fresh plates so we could continue to eat} but we were in deep and there was no going back. the poor guy did his best to accommodate us but i really think serving was not his forte! the good new was, the food was delicious!! we really did enjoy our brunch despite the subpar service. we were with the right people and that was all that mattered.

thuy brought the kids their easter bakets and olive went nuts over what she bought her. she literally had to wear everything thuy bought her! ohmergawd, olive is so extra. the girls are so loved and so spoiled by their family. we are so so lucky to be close to them, in all aspects.

after our long and yummy brunch, we all traipsed our way over to the new shop – dylan’s candy bar store! it was bright, fun, and smelled way too sweet for me! it was a candy land dream! every type of candy, the largest cotton candy cone i have ever seen, and everything was way overpriced! LOL. of course, olive suckered me into buying her a lollipop! no pun spared.

our easter was perfect. the weather was perfect. the day was perfect. remember it’s your mindset. live positively. count your blessings. cherish the moments with your people and be thankful for what God has given you. then your filter will always view things as perfect because it is.

*****
EASTER MORNING

[here they come!]

[look at that excited face!]

[she loves her ponycycle!]

[she was totally pouting for no reason]

[there she goes!]

[easter baskets]

[bunny sunglasses]

[gong through their goodies]

[scattered goods]

[oh that face]

[gummi’s on a stick]

[LOL doll in a chocolate egg]

*****

EASTER EGG HUNT

[isn’t she sooooooo sweet?]

[finding easter eggs]

[egg hunt markers that i made the night before]

[eggs in plain sight]

[bunny egg markers]

[looking for eggs]

[reaching for the eggs]

[a whole lotta goodies]

[ellie’s goodies]

[she’s loving her moj moj’s]

*****

EASTER BRUNCH

[she loves her cousins]

[ellie alllllllways attached]

[bagel and lox]

[the cutest cousins]

[avo toast]

[baskets from auntie thuy]

[she’s so excited over her basket]

[dessert table]

[agata and dan]

[reagan, kim, and bennett]

[check out all her moves!]

[my sweet extra girl]

[a rare family photo]

*****

DYLAN’S CANDY BAR

[rainbow rice krispie treat]

[the biggest rainbow cotton candy stick i’ve ever seen!]

[grandma and her grandkids – minus ellie]

xoxo

easter egg bunnies

Posted on April 18, 2019 by tandem in love

i am most creative at night. my mind doesn’t wind down easily and i am always thinking of ideas – what to do, what to create, what to anything. the other night, as it was nearing midnight, like right now, i had an urge to finish the easter egg project that i had barely even started. all i had were empty egg shells {i tapped each egg gently on top, peeled a hole about an inch big and broke the egg white and yolk out and washed each shell with water} but i felt completing the rest of it would be so easy!

i ran downstairs to my craft stash and rummaged around for construction paper. i picked a dark tan and white color for the ears, brought up two flat wooden sticks to hold the ears. i stole some crayola markers from my girl’s art closet {i chose some fun colors and definitely pink for the cheeks}. i rummaged our easter decor box and found shredded paper grass. i already had flowers to pick from our vase and the ceramic egg holder, an old buy from anthropologie or you can always use an egg carton from the store that the eggs come in {cut it to fit the amount of eggs you make} .

i folded the paper into fours and cut out 4 sets of dark tan ears and two sets of white bunny ears. i then used different colored markers to color in the ears. i did leave one set blank to mix it up.

i then cut the 1/4 inch wide flat wooden sticks the length of the eggs with scissors {1 1/2 to 2 inches}. i used scotch tape to affix the ears onto the sticks, wrapping the tape around the back to secure it into place.

i then drew fun and different faces onto each egg with a fine point sharpie and used a pink marker to flush their cheeks.

i placed the green shredded grass into the egg holder. i placed each egg and ears into their nests and then snipped little bunches of flowers and place them inside the top of each bunny egg.

ta da! easter egg bunnies! it was quick, easy, and fun to make! the best part?? seeing olive’s face and excitement when she discovered them! she looooooved them so much! now that is the part that i love most: seeing the joy in her face!

currently, she’s taking care of them. she’s fed them. she’s checked their health like a doctor. she loves playing with them and creating vivid stories. to be able to enhance her imagination, promote creativity, and bring her joy is the best type of gift i can give!

happy easter week my friends!

[our little bunny friends]

[sleeping little bunnies]

[besties]

xoxo

bunny good time!

Posted on April 17, 2019 by tandem in love

it was a mix of many things this past weekend. it was the weekend before easter and hc’s birthday. we were able to do a lot of fun easter driven things and unfortunately, most of the birthday inspired activities fell through. there was the snow storm on sunday which cancelled plans for a lunch up at hc’s parent’s house. i had planned a spa afternoon and dinner at a yummy restaurant for his actual birthday but that fell through as hc had to stay late at work {his boss was flying in mid afternoon and he had to be there}.

nevertheless, it was still a good, fun, relaxing time!

we had a date with the easter bunny on saturday morning. as usual, our morning started off slow and always winds up in a frenzied rush to get out of the house. i didn’t want to be too late, as in, i wasn’t sure if the line for the bunny would be too long. last year, it was at least an hour and half long wait and we arrived there early!

we were third in line, which was great! the person manning the virtual wait list told us to not go far, as we would be up soon once the bunny arrived. hey, no problem. we grabbed a seat right by the check in and waited until we received a text from the virtual queue. i received the text that we were up next, so i walked up and the host told us to step in the 8 person deep line. um, what? what is the point of a virtual line if your place in line is not honored?? i was annoyed. hc made a great point, it was worthless for us to arrive a half hour early to secure our place in the virtual line and if we had arrived 40 minutes later, we would have not waited and had the same place in line as our virtual queue, because it didn’t matter. we could have just walked up and it would have saved us time in the morning and all the rushing we did just to secure a place that was not recognized. i was peeved.

the good new was that the line moved quickly. the bad news was, ellie was starting to freak out. she was sooooooooooo scared of the bunny. i mean she was freaking the f8ck out! as our turn with the bunny drew near, she started to melt down. i was holding her and she literally screamed for my sister, thuy, to save her {who was standing outside the ropes}, she said, “i want thuyyyyyyy!” and cried. when it was our turn, girlfriend literally belted out in the loudest voice, “noooooooooooooooooo! no! nooooo! no!!” everyone was like “awwwwww” as in they felt her pain.

we got a few pics in and we went on our merry way. poor ellie…i didn’t want to traumatize her! i felt so bad she was freaking out hard core. although olive was a pro! she was so excited to see the bunny and couldn’t wait to tell him what she wanted for easter! i get it though…olive was not keen on santa, bunnies, or anything of that sort until she was about 4 years old, so we have time with ellie {only being 2 1/2!}.

we all walked to a favorite restaurant called the blue door kitchen and garden {off of elm and rush}. we were seated upstairs {it’s so quaint and cute}, where it was a little more spacious and less crowded. the girls were so well behaved but it helped having their cousin with them, reagan, who is so good with them!

we ordered food for the girls right away and libations. we hemmed and hawed just a wee bit on the entrees but finally concluded to a few delicious choices. i really enjoyed everything about the restaurant: the ambience, the decor, how relaxing it was and the great service. i also adore how the girls love to explore and how comfortable the environment was for them to do so. that always makes for a relaxing, stress free dining experience!

after brunch, we traipsed our way back to bloomingdale’s, where we hung out a bit more {we are a bit obsessed with aster hall}. kim and reagan had to head back for his baseball game and thuy had plans with a friend in the evening.

once we arrived home and settled in, we dyed easter eggs! it was such a fun time. olive truly loved it and had a great time creating different colors, drawing on the eggs, and making unique designs. we used shaving cream with food coloring to create swirl dyed eggs, we had mod podge, glitter, confetti, markers, stickers, party hats and metallic paper to promote creativity! ellie, on the other hand, preferred to watch us, yawn, and roll her eyes at us. LOL. she’s such a character.

we crammed a lot into our saturday but i wouldn’t have it any other way. i love being busy and keeping busy and diving deep into anything holiday related! happy easter week my friends!

*****

900 NORTH SHOPS CHICAGO

[anxiously waiting for the easter bunny!]

[being skeptical about everything]

[she styled her outfit and hair!]

[we really had to talk to ellie and tried to convince her that bunny was a good dude]

[miss ellie couldn’t stand still for anything]

[playing around and waiting for the bunny]

[look at ellie crying!]

[i totally didn’t want to be in the pic but here we are!]

*****

BLUE DOOR KITCHEN AND GARDEN

via tandeminlove.com [she was entertained by her little figurines]

[pretty plates]

[enjoying our time with family]

[pretty corners everywhere]

[high tea]

[mes seours]

[classic ellie]

[hc ordered a drink called the boss and it just baffled olive why they kept serving the boss to dada. LOL]

[the prettiest restaurant]

[my sweet tenacious babe]

[chicken and waffles]

[i am obsessed with kale and cabbage salads!]

[the prettiest light…auntie kim with the prettiest ladies]

[hustling through the streets of chicago]

[the clan gang]

[my old stomping ground]

*****

EASTER EGGS

[easter egg dying]

[working diligently]

[eggcited over the colors!]

[how ellie dyes easter eggs]

[glitter, confetti, party hats, markers, food dye…oh my!]

[shaving cream food dye colored eggs]

[her easter egg bunny creation]

xoxo

snow day in april ’19

Posted on April 15, 2019 by tandem in love

well, here it is again. it always snows in april, everrrrryyyyy year. i only know this for a fact because for the last ten years, i’ve celebrated hc’s birthday in this month and it always snows around his birthday.

well, i knew it was going to snow {hearsay from hc} but i had no idea it was going to snow almost 5 inches {canceling our birthday plans for hc with his family}! whaaaaaaa? we woke up to a snowy white landscape and it felt like christmas. LOL. hc told me it was going to snow allllll day, well ok! we had a cozy day in, we chilled, hc cooked breakfast, we played, and took pictures. hc went outside to check what type of snow it was and said it was prime snowman building fluff. sooooooo, when i put ellie down for a nap, hc and olive went outside to build a snowman.

they rolled it, stacked it, and built it as i mostly watched them from our bay window. they had gathered all the trimmings…coal, a wannabe carrot nose, hat, scarf, and stick arms. i periodically ran outside to capture some good moments while they were in process.

olive was humming/singing christmas songs as she built the snowman…it was the cutest thing to hear. ohhhhh, she’s the sweetest! she did such a great job building it with hc. she was all about finding the right items for the snowman and helping hc with all the accessories.

they put the finishing touches on the snowman and he looked marvelous! hc and olive were so proud! i must say, he was a good-looking one! we snapped some good pics and walked inside happy and satisfied with our lovey snowman. the only bad news for him is that it’s only getting warmer! by the evening, he was the leaning tower of pisa. i told hc he will topple over by morning! c’est la view monsieur!

even though it snowed and almost everyone in chicagoland almost crapped in their pants with anger, we really enjoyed it and loved every moment of it! it was f u n!

[bundled up and ready to roll]

[strolling in stride]

[they’re so proud of their snowman]

[yeahhhh, he’s drinking a beer]

[she’s so proud!]

xoxo

spring break staycation

Posted on April 4, 2019 by tandem in love

olive loves hotels. she loves staying at a hotel. she loves sleeping in them. she loves watching tv in the room. it cracks me up how much she loves being there. from one vacation to the next, olive will always hint to me how much she loves flying on a plane and staying at a hotel.

well, for spring break, we decided to do a staycation in our favorite city! there would be no airplane but definitely a hotel stay! on our way there, olive kept exclaiming how excited she was for our ‘family vacation!!!!!’. so adorable!

we stayed at the millennium knickerbocker hotel and my sister {last minute} ended up staying at the park hyatt hotel, a few blocks away! they were suppose to fly to california but some health issues put a stop to that, so they wanted to get ‘away’ and booked a room at a hotel off the ave too!

so it was extra fun having family with us! the kids jumped on beds, swam, ate, stayed up way too late, ate some more junk food, shopped, perused toy stores, explored, and then some!

the weather wasn’t so great {hello chicago!} so we didn’t venture outside as much as we liked but if you’re staying in chicago, i highly recommend visiting millenium park, lincoln park zoo, the shedd aquarium, the science and industry museum, peggy notebaert nature museum to name a few!

we loved eating at food life in watertower place, ghirardelli’s, aster hall at 900, benihana’s in the hancock building, eataly are some great places to take your kiddos!

we had such a fun time with the kiddos! they loved staying at the hotel, exploring new places, and breaking all the rules!