it was a whirlwind week! gosh, it went by so fast! i was so happy hubby charming was home {yay!}. i was excited it was almost easter. i was glad it was holy week. it was a whole lotta church this week {whoa}!
not much else going on this past week but going to mass every night. the easter vigil was a beautiful service and it is always so exciting to see people baptized or confirmed into the catholic religion.
our easter sunday was filled with a lot of eating + traveling. first on our agenda, picking up miss grace. we traveled up north, got the little lady, and traveled back down south to meet my family for brunch.
the brunch was delicious! we ate at the reel club. a brunch buffet filled with a variety and copious amounts of eats {what it should be like, right?!}. from endless amounts of seafood, kids food, breakfast, lunch, and yummy desserts choices {the chocolate mousse cups were divine!}. i personally chose a menage of breakfast treats. the croissants were delish! so buttery and flaky! who can pass up bacon and flavorful breakfast potatoes?! not moi!
after a fun filled time {crazy nephew antics included!}, we headed back to kim + terry’s for some more family time and photos. after a quick hang out, lots of gifts for grace {holy easter baskets! lucky gal!}, we embarked on our next adventure ~ to hubby charming’s parent’s house we went!
we met up with the fam as they were enjoying their brunch meal. we sat, we chatted, we nibbled, we hung out. it was relaxing and calm. it was great to catch up with hubby charming’s side of the family. grace played with daniel, aj, jake and she ate a lot of candy {oh boy}, there was no monitoring of that! it was a free for all {hey, it’s the holiday for the kiddo}. after much imbibing + noshing, the family soon trickled out one by one.
as everyone dissipated, aunt wendy really wanted to play farkle. yes, that wasn’t a misspelling, you read that correctly…it’s called farkle. i’m sooo not a game player. it’s not because i don’t have fun, it’s because i just don’t like learning how to play, amongst other reasons {hehe}. lazy, non? anyhoo, aunt wendy assured me that it was easy, and yes it was! i was completely amused and had a lot of fun!
soon, it was just the four of us; me, rich, dick and jane {grace’s step-dad so graciously picked her up from grandma’s, phew! one less road traveled for us!}. we chit chatted until the early evening and finally hit the road to our journey back home…a long, traffic filled journey {ugh!}.
all in all, it was a marvelous day! a day filled with family, laughter, fun, yummy eats, tons of candy, and lots of love. i hope everyone’s easter was just as great!
[flowers from daddy // basket by us // hat by grace]
[soeurs]
[bros]
[opening frenzy]
[r’s clown hair]
[leather sperry’s + b’s chubby feet]
[silly b // he kept asking everyone “can you see me?!”]
we slept ‘in’ on our last day in d.c. although, to my standards, that was not sleeping in!
we had a slow start but then we finally got moving and first on our agenda was the dog park for emma {yay!}! it’s so adorbs to see little emma play with really big dogs! unfortunately, there were no little dogs to really get down and dirty with em. they were all so big, although that didn’t stop emma from playing! she was a bit skittish at first {which was so cute!}, but then she got comfortable and started to challenge some of the big dogs and it was so funny and entertaining. we were about to leave when another boston terrier came prancing up to the dog park! we ended up staying another 10 minutes to watch miss emma wrestle the bajeebies out of this dog. oh boy, she got tired! so after a wrestlefest, we finally headed out to grab some brunch.
we went to evening star to have some grub. it was sooooo splendid! i had the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with crispy fried potatoes {delish! i ate the whole thing!} and we all shared the french toast [marinated brioche, candied pecans, and bananas]. it was a cute, quirky, quaint little place. i really savored my meal; great conversation + good food = a killer combination!
after brunch, we decided to explore georgetown! i was so excited. i’ve heard great things about this area and couldn’t wait to discover it. claire’s husband dropped us off and the shopping began! oh, it’s such a beautiful little area! there were so many shops and i was in shopping heaven! boutique after boutique of copious unique items, i had a blast perusing everything!
after some power shopping, claire really wanted frozen yogurt {hey, us girls can’t say no when someone suggests a refreshment like that!}. so we trekked our way over to pinkberry. i first tried pinkberry years ago in l.a. {fell in love} and still find it soooo delicious! my flavor choice of the day was grapefruit frozen yogurt with blueberries, graham crackers, and honey oatmeal. a perfect snack! we spent quite a few hours there {as in georgetown, not pinkberry silly!} and after spending some moolah, we were ready to go home.
we decided to cook in on our last night there. we shopped at the grocery store, picked up ingredients, and proceeded to cook a tasty taco dinner! ground turkey, spices, corn tortillas {warmed with a little oil}, queso blanco, carrots, fresh greens, and salsa. we also made fresh guac {lime juice + red onions}. it was so delectable, i could have eaten 10 😉 throw in some tasty beverages and i felt complete! it was a really fun time, cooking, eating, drinking, talking, and relaxing.
we retired to the living room after dinner and continued to engage in some fun colloquies. after a bit, we decided to call it a night! we were getting up super early the next morning to fly out {sad face}.
so there you have it. my fabulous d.c. trip! i had the most jovial time. thank you d.c. for showing me how great you are!
brunch! claire + liv
awww!
the sister shop claire works at
love the bar sign
pinkberry…delish
georgetown
cooking
i love how we are both partially closing our eyes!
olivia and i woke up bright and early {meh} on our second day of vacay. as we were getting ready, we played and replayed our outfits for the day. the weather wasn’t cooperating! it was quite chilly {brrrrr} in the morning but the temperature was going to get up to a high of 60 degrees with sun shiny skies…so i was in a pickle on what to wear!
anyhoo, we suffered a bit for fashion and just went with what looked nice {chilly or not, here i come!}. we discussed our directions with claire {um, we weren’t really listening…oops!} and scooted on our way to explore the delightful d.c.!
we took the bus to the pentagon, right where the metro is located. once we got off the bus, olivia and i literally wandered back and forth, up and down to find the train! finally, we asked a gentleman and he pointed us in the right direction. we took claire’s advice, just follow the crowd! so, we did and finally found our way down below and the to the right spot to take us to our destination!
the metro is so clean {compared to the el in chitown // ewwww}. we had a cozy, quick ride straight there. we found ourselves a starbucks, grabbed some coffee, and a bite to eat before we began our journey through monument/museum land.
we finished up our petit dejeuner and headed towards our first destination, the smithsonian! we passed quite a few buildings…still figuring out if we had an interest to stop in certain ones to explore. before we knew it, we walked almost all the way to the capital. so, i got excited and wanted to keep going towards it! it was so fun to see such landmarks! i felt so proud to be an american, funny how it is so novel for us first timers, huh {dorky}?!
after the capitol, we walked through the mall and passed up some more museums. we decided to go into the nature museum. let me tell ya…the bus loads of kids {and i mean bus loads by the dozen} were no fun! olivia and i thought we were going to fight these churlish, bratty 12 year olds! oh em gee! no bueno!
i loved the nature museum, we had a great time exploring! my favorite was the harry winston gallery {hello! diamonds!!!}. i was mesmerized by the all that glitters and shines!
we moseyed along to the american museum for a nano second and went forth towards our next stop, the white house! oh, it was hilarious. every big, white building with pillars in the front, i would scream out loud, “oh!! there’s the white house!”. olivia would say, “no, i don’t think that’s the white house”. then i would see another white building and say, “oh!! there’s the white house!”. and olivia would then say, “no, i don’t think that’s the white house”. this happened just a few more times {snicker}. we got a bit lost {it happens again later, hold on!} and finally backtracked ourselves to the right sidewalk towards the [real] white house. olivia warned me that it was a surprise to most people on how far away the white house is to the public {understandably} but i did’t realize it was going to be a speck! {wha wha}
we were on our way to our next destination, the lincoln memorial, when we realized we were hungry. so our debacle ensues after this. we were halfway to the lincoln memorial when we noticed that there were no restaurants. we mapped a few and found out that they were back up north {on 15th st.} where we came from! ugh. so we had to trek back up! we found a restaurant on our map that we wanted to go to, when we got to our ‘destination’ on the map, the restaurant was no where to be found! arrggh! so, we mapped another restaurant and it was further up north! and walked we did to feed ourselves. we definitely walked off our breakfast and then some. we finally settle in elephant and castle and ordered some grub {yum yum in the tum}.
we had plans to meet owen, olivia’s brother in law’s brother {who lives in d.c. as well} after our stint at the lincoln memorial. olivia and i decided to walk to the memorial and then cab it to meet owen. so, we walked and walked and walked to the lincoln memorial. we were so confused by our map on where the location was! we were led towards the direction of the jefferson memorial but my iphone kept saying it was the lincoln memorial! well, we trusted that darn phone and it led us to the…jefferson memorial! not that i was disappointed in seeing the jefferson statue {ok, i was a bit disappointed! i was hoping it was the lincoln and gosh darn it, we have been walking so much!}.
we finally asked some girls for their paper map and realized that the lincoln memorial was all the way around the lake!!! oy! determined to see it, we traipsed our way to the next and {hopefully} final destination! we started walking around the tidal basin, and walking and walking. we ran into the roosevelt memorial {in all honesty, i love roosevelt too but we were so tired! we just wanted to find the lincoln memorial!}. we kept walking and almost gave up. olivia was tenacious and was much more determined to find it for me [what a friend!]. i felt bad because we had been walking for what felt like forever!
so, here’s the funny part. we found a cab {yay!} and only had $8 in cash on us. we asked him if he knew where the lincoln memorial was {duh, of course he did!}. we asked if it would be under $8 dollars, he was like ‘yeah yeah, it’ll be $8’. so we hopped in the cab and we were on our way! he drove a few hundred feet and said, “here’s the lincoln memorial.” whaaaaaaaaa?!?! it literally was around the corner!!! oh my goodness! we felt so defeated before and we were so tired, we didn’t see that it was sooooo close!!! lol, so our cab ride was $3…yeah. at least we finally got to our destination; i excitedly took pictures and soaked it all in! i love lincoln!
we then went to find a cab so we could meet up with owen…i was searching for one when a rickshaw driver kept calling at us to get a ride from him. i rebuffed his offer but he zoned in on innocent olivia. she succumb to his offer and before i knew it, we were on a rickshaw adventure! he was in motion to place a blanket on us when i halted him with my hand. i asked him, “ew, is that a blanket you put on everyone? like other strangers?!” he just stared at me. i said, “no, thank you…you can place that germy thing elsewhere!”. he was very comical about it and asked if he could place it under our feet. no problem! and under our shoes went the dirty blanket! he weaved in and out of traffic {a little concerned for my life} and continued to pedal his way towards our desired location in dupont circle. i kept chuckling to myself…where we were headed was uphill all the way! i felt a little bad. i text olivia {people are walking faster than us!!}.
we finally reached big hunt and met up with owen! we ordered beers and made plans to meet up with another friend of o’s, patrick. after we quickly imbibed our drinks, owen led the way to the next bar, a beer garden packed to the gills. after some time spent there, we finally headed on our way home to have dinner with claire and ben. owen so graciously hailed a cab for us and we were on our merry way home to fill up our bellies again {feed me some irish grub please!}.
it was a long, fun filled day full, full of walking! we really had a wonderful time and i am so grateful i was able to see everything that i did. it was quite a successful day exploring d.c. {if i do say so myself}! amaze. thank you olivia for trekking all over d.c. with me. muwah.
‘thank you for being a friend
traveled down the road and back again
your heart is true you’re a pal and a confidant’
olivia and i arrived at the airport super, duper early. we grabbed a coffee {starbucks, of course} and a bagel {cream cheese please}, found our gate, and sat ourselves down to relax before the flight. we gabbed for awhile and before we knew it, they started to board the flight {yay, we are on our way}!
our plane was so small, i mean tiny. two thin rows on each side and if you were tall, you had to crouch, for there was a high probability that you would smack your noggin’ onto the ceiling {darn american eagle}!
this flight, olivia and i were sitting vertical to each other on the same side {window seat}. so, as everyone pretty much wonders on a flight…’who will be sitting next to me’? well, here comes a man in a business suit. he sits down next to me and he is so large! i mean just grand in size. he took up so much space that i had to lean to my right just to not touch him!!! ugh! he was so big and myself so small, i fit under his shoulder and arm perfectly, although it wasn’t ideal or as comfortable! thank goodness the flight was so short!!!
once we arrived, claire {o’s sister}, picked us up. we had quite a lovely day. we came back to their place, walked their cute, cute dog {emma}, and we went to the home depot {yes, home depot, claire is quite the handy gal}. claire had some projects she needed to complete, so we decided that we wanted to explore old town, alexandria!
we headed into old town early in the afternoon, had a light lunch at le pain quotidien, and claire left us to finish her errands while we discovered all the nooks and cranny’s of this town. we shopped and shopped all the stores. we picked up cupcakes for dessert at alexandria cupcakes {chocolate combos, coconut, + vanilla bean} and chocolates, from the sugar cube, as a snack during our shopping. i just loved the lilly pulitzer store there! it had the most adorable clothes! scalloped edges, bright prints, and cute styles. one can find a perfect outfit for easter there or for a garden party [hello, i go to garden parties all the times – insert sarcasm]! it was a quaint little area. after we exhausted all the shops, we stopped in at misha’s coffee to grab a drink while we waited for claire to pick us up. we had spent quite a few fun hours there, i enjoyed old town!
once we got home, we decided to head out to dinner across the street from their place. just a few minute walk…so convenient! we ate at red rocks. it was a nice restaurant, cozy interior and great service! the food was delicious and tasty. the pizzas were soo good! great, fresh ingredient combinations, a nice thin semi-sweet crust, and cooked to perfection. after dinner, we headed back to their place and devoured the cupcakes that we bought {yum}! delightfully decadent!
we then just relaxed and hung out in the living room before we called it a night. olivia and i were spent from the travel and knew we would be waking up early in the morning for our fun filled day in d.c.!
i can’t wait to share our second day in d.c. demain!
the cutie pie perturbed i went upstairs
the pretty home…i loved all the color combos
the squirrel that was holding a pizza and eating it!
our light lunch of tartines. the lemonade was tart!
tonight, i was excited to meet up with a long distance friend, linh.
i had just flown in from d.c. {more on that later!} this morning. so i was happy to be able to make it to dinner with everyone!
linh lived a brief moment here in chicago. i mean brief. she moved here from arizona and quickly returned back after a few months…why, you ask? it was because she moved here to chicago in the dead of winter {and one of the worst winters we had experienced in awhile}!!!!! no one not from chicago should move here in the beginning of winter!!! especially someone from an environment of consistent warm weather! actually, linh had her reasons, although we try to convince her to move back all the time {we believe summertime in chicago will win her over}!
anyhoo, i was able to meet up with the gang at the little goat. it was me, my sistas, leyla, and linh. i was looking forward to trying this place {a spawn from the big sister shop…the ever delicious girl and the goat} as i heard great things about this newbie as well. i was surprised it was more like a diner {reading about the restaurant would help, hehe}. the interior was very mod and cozy. the menu can be a bit overwhelming [honestly, everything looked enticing}. all the dishes are a la carte and breakfast is served all day {whoop, whoop!!!}, my kind of place!
we finally settled on our choices of entrees and drinks {beer, bellini’s, and kimchi bloody mary’s}. whilst waiting for our drinks + food, we were being quite daft. we did a lot of catching up by entertaining each other with our animated stories, we laughed a lot, we amused each other, and bonded with our fab waiter, ezra.
our sumptuous food came and we ate, and ate, and ate. i ordered the pork belly pancakes {i die} and we shared smoked fries, garlic mashed potatoes, and flavorful mac n cheese. ugh…so stuffed, so excessive, so damn good! but we weren’t done! we topped off our meal with rich espresso and desserts! i willingly inhaled a tiramisu shake…vanilla gelato, coffee, mascarpone cheese whipped cream, and topped off with chunks of chocolate bits {divine}.
[kimchi bloody mary // sistas // linh // little goat // pretty ladies // pork belly pancakes]
life can fly by if you let it, i like to grab it by it’s wings and savor every moment i can.
it was a great time to catch up with the ladies [manger some good grub] and take a moment out of time to create some more wonderful memories.
oh, me + dana. we are such a funny bunch {if i do say so myself}.
i text her late last night asking her on when and where we were going to meet for brunch {late as in 3am}. amaaazzzingly, she text me back! whaaaaa? dana awake at 3am?! i figured she was at work late but no matter. we decided that we were going to enjoy an eating fest at southport grocery. we had two previous failed attempts {long stories}.
anyhoo, i got up and, again, was surprised dana still hadn’t text me! it was almost noon {snicker}. i started getting ready when the sleepy head threw me a text stating that she was getting up {rare for this typical early bird}. well, the cloud or different planets we were living on this morning {or afternoon if you prefer} caused us to completely miscommunicate!
i’m on my way down ashland, driving along the road listening to some happy tunes when i finally get to my destination. i parked, walked into the restaurant and got seated. i text dana that i was there, in back {as in back of the restaurant}. she texts me, ‘on my way down’. she then calls me, i pick up the phone and she asks me, “where are you?”. which i thought was an odd question! i looked up at the front of the restaurant and i said, “in back of the restaurant!”. dana had thought that i was going to pick her up!!! omg, i immediately felt bad {why? because i seriously do pass her place on my way to the restaurant and could have easily picked her up! duh! i should have!}. she was like ‘no, no…i’m on my way!’. i really did feel bad, it would have made sense!
a few minutes later {she doesn’t live far}, she arrived at southport and we had a good laugh about it! we were so thinking different things and totally in our own worlds, not really realizing our communication got totally mixed up!
we ordered a plethora amount of food. it was hard to streamline our greedy tummies! dana ordered the bread pudding pancakes and hash and i ordered the baked almond oatmeal with a side of bacon. lots of juice, lots of coffee, and lots of water.
in the midst of consuming our delicious meal, i tried taking a picture of ms. dana. ugh, she’s a horrible picture poser! it’s a known fact that this little lady will most likely take a crazy looking photo. i sometimes have to style her. i will have to give her directions on what to do. i have to remind her to not close her eyes. well, today, i was determine to take a ‘good’ photo of her! i finally realized one of the reasons she photographs so cray cray is the fact that she doesn’t stop talking!!! i screamed {well, firmly stated} at her to stop talking and she might actually take a good picture. that worked.
waiting for dana, note empty chair.
more liquids.
hi pretty.
laughing at the fact that it’s awkward for dana
after our late lunch, dana had plans to spend an hour jumping on a trampoline {yes, you read that correctly} and i had plans to do more errands {yaaaayyyy!}.
overall, a successful day. i feel complete. thank you checklist for getting checked off. muwah.
i was soooo excited hubby charming was coming home for the evening! what a sweet surprise!
we talked, we hung out, and just enjoyed our time together {when i’m with him, the words i’ll use to describe my feelings are comfort and happiness!} before we headed out for our evening plans.
we went to mass and then headed on our way to dinner! we went to our favorite sushi place, coast. we love coast. i/we have been going there for years. what we love most about coast is the fact that it is consistent in quality and taste every single time. it’s delicious and fresh. the rolls are the perfect size {none of the fancy, large rolls most trendy restaurants try to do…yuck}. it’s byob, so we brought some tasty wine to imbibe. the appetizers, the soup {the fried tofu – i die}, and the rolls {hands down best? the white dragon, it’s so stinkin’ good} fulfilled our tantalizing tastebuds {my brain said ‘i’m full + satisfied’}.
[mood lighting // two of hearts // best sushi ever]
after spending a lovely evening together, we scooted our way home to get those loose, comfy pajamas on!
after the volunteer work, o and i had planned to meet up for brunch. i drove my way towards wrigleyville and proceeded to shop my time away {if anyone knows olivia, she’s fashionable late!}, until olivia was ready to go.
perusing racks and jumping from shop to shop, she finally met me at paper source {who doesn’t love paper shops?!}. she helped me select some paper for my upcoming project and off we went to brunch!
we decided on wishbone. southern style cooking. an oldie but a goodie and it’s been awhile since we’ve eaten at this yummy, yummy place! we sat in a booth, by the window, and we were giddy to spend some quality time together.
knowing how we are, we jumped right away on deciding what to order {because, typically, we can’t shut up and pause to pick out what we want to eat!}. then we talked, and talked, and talked. we ate our food, we talked some more. it rained a lot and we talked some more. we gabbed so much we had nooooooo idea that the restaurant closed at 3 {oh my gosh}!!!!! they were so kind to let us sit there for an hour after {honestly, we didn’t have a clue}, and finally one of the bus boys said…”we closed at 3 but we open back up for dinner at 5.”! we jumped from our seats {and giggled on how silly we were}, put on our coats and ran out into the rain. i drove her home {which was literally 3 minutes away and yes, we drove, it was raining!}. i doubled parked in front of her apartment and yes, we talked for another 45 minutes!!!! silly!
we finally said our goodbyes and off i went, home to see my hubby charming!!! yay!
we are going to visit our first new year’s together {hold on to your horses!}. i’m taking you back to 2008…whoa! well, really the end of 2008 because this was new year’s eve. i can’t believe that was many a years ago, time sure flies by! it’s amusing to think that we were only together for, barely, a few months in these photos {wow}!
we started out the evening imbibing and noshing at leyla’s {old} condo in river north. a little kookiness, a little goofiness, and a lot of fun. when you’re with this bunch, it gets cray!
the girls…meow!
appetizers
the boys
after some jovial moments with our friends + famille, we went on our merry way to broadway cellars {it’s been ages since we’ve been back and seeing this makes me want to go again!}. we had reservations for two! after many courses, after many wine pairings, and desserts, we were dunzo {i mean, how much can one consume without bursting? i really don’t want to find out!}. we gladly rang in the new year with all the wonderful folks in the restaurant, it was so jubilant! we were happily stuffed, happily in love, and happy it was 2009!
celebrate!
should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne!
for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne. we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for auld lang syne.
we met up with the famille for a lovely dinner at dolce! a cozy, delicious restaurant tucked away in a downtown ‘burb. i love my famille. i really do. we grew up together in such crazy ways {five kids! but who wouldn’t say life is always crazy?}, but i wouldn’t trade it for anything in this world. my dad has always taught me, family first. they will always, always be there for you. we are lucky that we are and always will be. having that many siblings is something i cherish and feel so blessed to have 2 brothers and 2 sisters that are amazing {we are missing our eldest brother, the hipster who lives in l.a.}. to top that all off, we all turned out to be damn good kids. shout out to our p’s!!! xoxo
my other major loves, my darling nephews. i just adore them [seriously love them]!! they are the sweetest, cutest, most lovable little people ever. i love being around them, i love playing with them, i love listening to them, i love being a good aunt to them. they are so stinkin’ precious {i could just squeeze them and pinch them all the time…although i don’t think they would really enjoy that}. they make the world brighter with their laughter, smiles, and innocent charm. j’adore beaucoup, les petits enfants.
[bros]
