r’s first communion

Posted on May 16, 2016 by tandem in love

so proud and excited for my little nephew to receive his first communion!

our plan was to get to the church early and we actually succeeded! i am amazed that we did! the parking lot was already packed but we found parking just fine. we headed inside and we immediately ran into terry. he directed us where to go and we found kim, reagan, and bennett sitting in a pew.

we waited around for everyone else to show and for the mass to begin. the ceremony was a lot quicker than i thought with sixty kids being welcomed! olive was being super cute in her daddy’s arms. she was being so sweet, so calm, and so good.

it was then time for reagan to receive his first communion. i was so excited and proud! i couldn’t wait! our entire pew walked up and i was definitely the crazy aunt with the camera, snapping pics non-stop! i did get a few good ones…although i should have played around with my setting because all the pics were sooooo red/orange in color – so annoying!

after church, we all hung out for a bit but i couldn’t hang for long…i was way too hungry and tired! i felt bad i didn’t stick around for more pics but when i don’t eat…i get exhausted and sick! so, we swung by starbucks to grab drinks and snacks before we hit the restaurant.

loved the place my sister and brother chose for the lunch. it’s a place called neat kitchen and it was super cute and they had super yummy eats! we had our own private room and it was great to let the kids run around and we just relaxed in a comfortable environment. we enjoyed tasty libations and mingled with all the other guests. olive was having a blast with her cousins and avery. when this babe feels comfortable, she is just a gem.

the food was finally served and it was soooo good! we had a great time trying all the dishes and all the flavors that was presented before us. olive ate like a champ! it goes to show how delicious it was when this babe eats and eats and eats! woo hoo!

it was time for dessert and the pretty cake was adorned with my handmade cake topper for reagan! i must admit, i loved how it turned out! i was at the craft store with miss olive, with no plans and little ideas in mind as i pursued the aisles of trinkets. i looked at different cake topper ideas on the internet and i just wasn’t sure what i wanted to do! plus, try having a toddler with ya when you are trying to figure it out! every two seconds, “what’s this? what’s this? what’s this?” hahaha! oh my! i finally grabbed the supplies i needed in hopes that this cake topper would miraculously look fabulous and that i had grabbed all the materials i would need! well, it turned out perfect for my perfect little nephew!

after cake was served, we hung out just for a bit more and then said our goodbyes. it was a really awesome morning and afternoon with friends and family. i enjoyed my time at church, at the restaurant, and most of all…celebrating my nephews journey to christ’s table. it was a great day indeed!

[playing peek a boo with her sunnies]

[awww, uncle dan and b]

[olive saw reagan and wanted to go sit in his arms…melting]

[receiving his first communion]

[seriously, b is always making a funny face]

[such a sweet pic of olive and o vuong]

[the pretty flower centerpieces kim made]

[reagan is always soooooo sweet to her]

[love these three…soon to be four!]

[neat kitchen was super yummy!]

[hostess with the mostess!]

[sisters]

[best guy ever]

[dapper dudes…so cute!]

[she loooooves to play with balloons]

[mom and o vuong]

[dan and thuy]

[kim and lan]

[my love…she’s the cutest]

[isn’t he so handsome?! he’s so proud too! i love it!]

[my diy cake topper for r’s cake]

[aren’t they so cute together?!]

xoxo

hoppy easter

Posted on April 1, 2016 by tandem in love

it turned out to be a really nice morning and afternoon. we were expecting rain all day, well at least in my mind i was. i didn’t check the weather report what so ever and i only remembered seeing rain in the forecast and thinking, ‘bummer…it’s going to rain on sunday and we can’t do an easter egg hunt outside’. well, i was wrong and i should have checked the weather report again! eep!

my morning was way too chaotic and it shouldn’t have been. it definitely should have been more relaxing but i am a glutton for punishment, aren’t i? i cram in too much stuff and it could have been a lot more low key and chill. thank goodness hc is so understanding of my madness and puts up with my shenanigans, as always.

we finally got ready and over the river and through the woods, off to grandmother’s house we go {literally}! we arrived to a full house and olive was grumper mcgrumps, just waking up from a nap. she looked so stinkin’ adorable in her easter outfit and i was excited for her to show it off! so cute! i held the babes for awhile, until she became comfortable to venture out on her own.well, thank goodness aunt missy lured her in with a gift and distracted her!

aunt missy presented olive with her easter basket and she was smitten. olive was loving all the goodies aunt missy had given her and that really lifted her spirits. olive also really loved staying in papa’s room. she loved all the ‘toys’, the choo choo train, and watching t.v. on his bed!

we mingled and visited with everyone. we had lunch and continued to socialize with the family until it was time to leave. we had to head out to our second engagement of the day, dinner with my famille!

[my little babe enjoying her easter basket from aunt missy]

[i can’t get enough of this cutie in her easter outfit]

[the ubiquitous jello mold]

[happy easter!]

[having fun with gramma!]

we headed out to meet up with famille and now, it was raining. yuck. we made decent time and of course, olive did her famous – i will fall asleep 10-15 minutes before we get to our destination and wake up to be super grumpy. as usual, she met her end of the deal and was crazy grumpy. ugh. my poor family always gets the bad end of the stick with this gal. we usually meet my parents or family for dinner and it is always right after a nap. olive is no happy camper when she wakes up and acts like a mad little person for at least an hour. gah!

anyhoo, we really enjoyed our time together. it was nice because the restaurant was quiet and we literally had our own little nook in the corner. it almost felt like we were in a private space. we ate, imbibed tasty beverages, and enjoyed our relaxing dinner together on this cozy easter evening.

it was a perfect way to end the day. it was a bit hectic and exhausting but always so worth it to see both sides of our family! it was a happy easter indeed!

[thuy and reagan]

[so typical]

[mom and dad]

[thuy and olive]

[oh these bro’s]

[olive is too busy texting to say cheese]

[mr. bennett can sleep anywhere]

[nobody puts baby in a corner]

[i love this face]

[i had to squeeze in a few photos of olive opening up her easter basket from auntie thuy]

[her face lit up when she saw the tinker bell toy!]

[she loved, loved, loved her tinker bell toy from auntie thuy!]

xoxo

happy st. patty’s day

Posted on March 22, 2016 by tandem in love

we are not much of a st. patrick’s day kind of family, although, hc is 15% irish. well, hc wanted to make corned beef and cabbage in celebration of st. patty’s day! so, we invited family over to enjoy a simple dinner and some beer, natch!

of course, i can’t have people over without some sort of fun decor in lieu of a holiday! nothing crazy though, because ain’t nobody got time for that. hahaha! i bought some balloons, green plates, i dug out some old decor, and decorated a sweets table and ta da! that was it. very simple.

my sister kim brought over the beer and dessert and we were set! everyone came over close to 7 and we served food right away and just chilled. it was a very calm, relaxing evening with some great food and drinks.

the kids had so much fun playing around. they ran around and screamed and did silly things. i love watching and listening to them play together. it’s so sweet that they are cousins and are so close to one another. they’re so silly and i love them being just that, giddy little kids having a blast playing together with no limitations.

well, it was a really lovely evening. hc and i had such a great time having them over {as usual}. the food was so good {thank you so much hc! you’re amazing!} and the company even better.

[ya always have to get some festive balloons!]

[we are so lucky to have one another!]

[i must always have matching straws…just my thing. 🙂 ]

[just waiting for the dessert to show up! mmmm]

[she really wanted her toy on the table]

[and she won. haha!]

[mmmmm delicious]

[yeahhhhh, that’s a very irish name. pshhh]

[love these two]

[love this one too]

[hc’s corned beef was soooooo delicious]

[i love vegetables]

[such silly kids…we tried to get a good pic…]

[olive was having a blast with all the balloons tangled on her but obviously auntie kim was not. haha!]

[hc chill in with my dad // we are alllllllmost done with our kitchen remode! yay!]

[sisters. oh my belly button is an outie. ugh]

[hc had to get in on the picture! can see olive photo bombing too? ha! plus, don’t mind the torn apart fireplace we are redoing]

xoxo

simple sunday

Posted on March 19, 2016 by tandem in love

it was a lazy sunday afternoon and we had hc’s family over for lunch. it was low key and chill. his parents, sister, and nephew came over for a relaxing day of hanging out. apparently hc didn’t know when they were coming over {kind of…he had a time in mind but his parents had a different time}. well, i will say this, hc is is the worst with communication and remembering anything and according to his dad, his mom is the worst communicator. so together, it’s a disaster.

hc texts me, to tell me that his parents were going to be there in 15 minutes {he was out buying groceries}. olive and i had been playing around in the house in our pj’s and when i received the text from hc, i shooed olive into her room to get her changed. as we walked into her room, in comes his parents, sister, and daniel! what?! that wasn’t fifteen minutes! it was more like one minute warning. ugh. so, they were in our house while hc wasn’t home because he obviously didn’t know they were coming over that early and i was still changing olive and still in my pj’s!

well, no worries. we greeted everyone and i excused myself and changed. olive was quite excited to see everyone! she’s become so silly. this girl is so sassy, bossy, and defiant. gah! life of a two year old.

anyhoo, hc finally came home with food and we hung out and did what family does. talk, chill, eat, and watch movies {hc and papa like to tinker in the garage}. hahaha! it was great to have them over. it was a fabulous sunday afternoon with the fam. cheers to family time!

[my funny gal]

[mmmmm, cake]

[being silly and blowing into the tube]

[my favorite treats]

[the best face olive would give with her auntie]

[my easter decor]

xoxo

february snapshots

Posted on March 15, 2016 by tandem in love

february was a great month. we had a lot of fun doing festive activities. i must admit, i was glad valentine’s day was mid-month because it meant the last of the holiday creativity was coming to an end. don’t get me wrong. i love getting festive, creative, and doing fun things with olive but i felt like it was non-stop since before halloween. we aren’t huge st. patrick’s day fans so it is nice to coast through this past month and not worry about deadlines, creating stuff, and just have fun together regardless of occasions!

anyhoo, we loved this past month for many great reasons. we had our gender reveal with our family and friends! we had so much fun creating boxes for everyone and sending them out through snail mail as a special surprise.

olive finally had her one year check up and it was a good one! she was toooooo cute and it was pretty cool to see her so grown up and very understanding of what was happening!

we also did a fun set up for the gender reveal through social media! it was great and oh so cute! we had balloons, festive outfits, banners, and each other! the pics turned out so stinkin cute! i loved every single picture we took!

well, those were some highlights of this past month. it was fabulous, fun, and filled with lots of love and laughter. i really am blessed. i am always thankful for mine and everyone’s health. i am so grateful for my wonderful husband who is the most fantastic partner and father. i am so thankful to God for my little olive and her, soon to be here, little sister. i am surrounded by friends and family who love us. life couldn’t get any better than this. truly.

[she’s so silly]

[bath time with this silly girl]

[love this sweet pea]

[sticky little fingers]

[she’s a riot]

[gender reveal]

[family outing]

[it’s a girl!]

[she’s a lovely doll]

[she’s the sweetest]

[my favorite salon]

[making her own valentine’s day cards]

[yummy treats]

[peek a boo!]

[my favorite macarons]

[super bowl sunday]

[i love her]

[valentine’s day breakfast]

xoxo

happy super-valentine’s-lunar new year celebrations

Posted on February 16, 2016 by tandem in love

the day of the super bowl, we {last minute} had some peeps over.

we had been invited to a party but we weren’t really sure what we were going to do. then, we thought, why not just spend it together as a family, cook food, and relax? sounded like a grand idea, non? well that was definitely our plan! then a day before sunday, everything spurred together last minute. well, my family is always welcomed and they know that but everyone’s plans were in limbo as well. so, a small group of friends and family came on over and we had our super lunar valentine’s day party! woo hoo!

we weren’t going to see some of these people again before valentine’s day, monday was lunar new year, and obvs, sunday was super bowl. so, yes, we literally celebrated all three in one evening! haha! it was super fun!

hc cooked the most amazing items…savory, delicious meatballs, pulled pork sandwiches with a horseradish compote, and a corn salsa for dip. i made an onion dip with chips, guacamole, and everyone else brought over a dish! it was perfect for the small group we had.

we intermittently watched the game but us gals spent most of our time in the kitchen talking, while the kids ran around and played, and the boys were glued to the t.v. ya know, it all doesn’t really matter until half time comes on and then we really pay attention to the telly! ha!

[yes, we had a lunar new year, super bowl, valentine’s day party]

[please be mine]

[don’t mind the diapy sticking out. she had to be a part of the group so she insisted on standing on the chair to be with everyone]

[my lunar new year part of the decor and yes, we are still remodeling the kitchen but we are allllllmost done! yahoo!]

[the new year goody boxes for the kids]

[watching the game and eating and eating and eating]

[olive was having so much with the balloon with avery]

[yummy]

[opening their goodies]

[she would draw on the mask and then proceed to put the drawn, not dried marker part on her face. she pretty much stamped her face with marker each time she did that. haha!]

[such a modge podge kind of party! whoop whoop!]

the kids had such a great time, they loved their goody boxes, the food, and especially the desserts auntie kim brought! i must say, it was the best tri-celebration i have ever experienced, if i do say so myself. baahaha! anyhoozle, it was a fab evening. hc and i high five’d each other after everyone left. we truly love hosting and having people over and we truly had a great, great evening with everyone.

xoxo

hb thuy!

Posted on January 27, 2016 by tandem in love

my sister thuy started off her weekend birthday celebration with a family dinner at maggiano’s. it was just my parents, my sister kim, terry, the boys, and us all together to celebrate thuy’s day.

i met them at the restaurant and when i walked up to the table, olive was out cold. she was asleep in hc’s arms and it was way too cute. i mean, i never ever see her passed out unless she’s in a carseat or in her crib. she’s not one to sleep in random places or outside her nap time, so this was an anomaly.

though, i knew right away this was going to be trouble. olive is not the sweetest thing when she wakes up from a nap, especially if she wakes up in an unfamiliar environment. boy oh boy did that ring true! she was irritable, grumpy, angry, and just plain didn’t want to be bothered. it took fooooorever to calm her down. i had to take her to the corner bakery side of the restaurant so she could scream and cry and not really bother anyone. after many minutes of her being upset, me trying to appease her with a drink, crayons, drawing, soothing words…she finally started to calm down a bit. just a bit. i brought her back to the table but she was still irritable and didn’t want anyone to bother her. she insisted in sitting in my lap and not until dinner was almost over did she finally let me just sit right.next.to.her.

well, besides the rough beginning, dinner was great. it was delicious, fun, and a very nice time celebrating thuy’s birthday! we definitely ate too much but how can you limit your pasta intake?! ha! well, lately, i am a garbage disposal and i have absolutely no shame in overindulging, my pregnant body says so!

plus, i will fully admit with olive being so dang fussy the majority of the dinner, i was the worst at picture taking. boo! i literally snapped no pics! anyhoo, at least i nabbed a photo of thuy blowing out her birthday candle and even boomeranged it! woot woot!

[the best pic we could get. one, i kept looking at thuy versus the camera, two – olive was not having it, and three – r was the only one who was a natural ham…hahaha!]

[make a wish!]

watch thuy blow out her candle!

happy birthday to my beautiful sister thuy! best super auntie to my sweet little olive! thanks for being awesome. we love you!

xoxo

blinging in the new year

Posted on January 9, 2016 by tandem in love

it was a whirlwind leading up to nye. i was so excited, relieved, and happy to have told everyone about the pregnancy but still, the nausea and exhaustion plagued me. i had a busy, busy day ahead of me.

i had a dr.’s appointment early in the morning, so i dropped olive off at my parent’s house because i didn’t want to drag her around – how un-fun for her! it was boring talks with counselors, a lot of waiting around, needles, and whole lotta unfunness {i know, i know…that isn’t even a word. hahaha!}. anyhoo, after the appointment, i had to meet my sister’s at the grocery store and pick up all the food and beverages for the party. that took quite some time. then i had to haul my butt over to the party store to pick up the balloons and party supplies, then i had to go to the post office to drop off some packages, then i headed home to unload my entire car {bags and bags of groceries, party supply bags, and two dozen balloons}. it was like a flippin’ clown car.

after i cleared out the car, it was then all about the work inside the house. i had to clean, clean the bathrooms, put away all the groceries, start prepping the area for the party, decorate, and eventually get the apps started. blah! i chugged away at everything as i had one eye glued to the clock to make sure i was on track. it was almost 5 o’clock and i was alllllllmost done! i ran into the bathroom to get ready and my sister kim and bro in law showed up to help! wooooo hoo!

it looked great {i must say so myself}! i had set up the photo booth, decorated the table spread, set up the dessert table, hung all the decor, and assembled all the kid’s favor boxes! my sister finished the apps, i was getting dressed when everyone started to arrive. perfect timing.

it was mainly family with a sprinkling of a few friends. as the night wore on, it got a little bit more crowded and packed with twists, turns, and surprises. my brother and his fiancé were suppose to fly out but their flight was over booked! bad for them but good for us! that meant they were going to ring in the new year with us! first time in who knows when last!

[blinging in the new year!]

[i really wanted the numbers 2016 on sticks but last minute, no one had it available to buy, so i scurried home, hastily cut it out of glitter paper i had at home and voila!]

[kid’s favor boxes: mini party hats, candy, toys, noise makers, poppers, glow sticks, and play money]

[adult’s table: confetti, glasses, hats, noise makers, party crackers]

[photo booth fun]

[huy and tashina]

[me and my baby girl]

[delicous apps]

[looooooove these ladies]

[i will say this until it is done, but don’t mind the kitchen under remodel!]

[these crazy kids]

[looooooooooove ba]

[cousins in plaid]

[lan, avery, and pete]

[cheers!]

[they’re so cute]

[love this family so much!]

[crazy bunch]

[seriously?]

[they discovered our undecorated bay window and it because a stage for them!]

[happy new year! cheers to 2016!]

[happy new year!]

all in all it was awesome! we had great drinks, delicious food, and even better company. it was a very, very good night. i loved seeing old friends, good friends, and clinking our glasses of fizzies with such lovely people at midnight. auld lang syne!

xoxo

christmas eve

Posted on January 4, 2016 by tandem in love

2015

ahhhhhh! it was finally christmas eve and we were so excited! i love the holidays and the joy that comes with it!

like i said in a previous post {now that the cat’s out of the bag!}, I have been sooooooo tired from this pregnancy! writing blog posts, decorating, planning, going out, whatever it was took five times as long having a toddler and being so exhausted every day. there were days where i didn’t want to do anything and that is soooooo unlike me. i am the energizer bunny. i can plow through anything and come out winning like a champ with extra energy to spare. hahaha! throw in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy during the holidays and i was ko’d.

anyhoo, our morning started calm and quiet. hc made a delicious breakfast quiche to start our day out. we just relaxed and completed odds and ends before we headed over to my parent’s house. while the girls slept, i made christmas popcorn and packed them into mason jars for our neighbors and saved the rest to bring over to my parent’s house for our family to munch on.

[hc made a festive christmas breakfast]

[yummy christmas popcorn]

once we arrived at my parent’s house, cooking our christmas eve dinner was in full swing. we hung out with everyone, sporadically helped out with dinner, the kids played, and everyone was just having a great time together. it’s always so fun to have my brother huy around and his fiancé tashina. they are so quirky, fun, and oh so creative. i love their style and the kids love them so much!

my sisters did such a great job setting the table and the kid’s table. it’s always so pretty and festive. once dinner was ready to be served, we all sat down, my dad says a blessing, and we get to manger manger the delicious meal my sister kim cooks! after dinner is when the kids get soooo antsy because they want to open presents! i must say, though, my nephews do ask but they are so patient and understanding. we won’t open presents until we are all done with cleaning up the table, the kitchen, and the dishes are all washed, cleaned, and dried.

of course the kids always go first! r and b are tooo cute when they open up their gifts, we always get hugs and thank you’s. sooooo sweet! each present for olive, we had to get started. someone would tear off a little piece or corner and away she would go. she definitely had fun opening up her gifts! she loved the big stuffed kitty aunt thuy bought her, one of her favorites! she also looooooved b’s roller skates! they were too small for b but olive wanted to put them on and she was amazing in them! she held her balance well, she would jump and land on her feet, and every time she fell, she would say, “whoa whoa whoa!!!!”. it was too stinkin’ cute!

the best part of the evening? being able to tell our mom and dad and famille that i am pregnant! i was sooooo excited, i could hardly wait! after the kids opened up a majority of their gifts, i decided to give my parents our present from us. my dad was the one to open it up. as he did, a big smile crossed his face…seeing what the shirt said. he held up the shirt {a white toddler tee that said big sister in vietnamese} and my sister kim asked, “who gave that to dad?”. i said, “we did! i am PREGNANT!!!!!”. there were gasps and cries of joy! oh i was sooooo happy to tell everyone the news! there were tears and hugs and lots of smiles! it was so awesome to share the news and see the elation on everyone’s faces! little r asked if he could have a boy cousin! hahaha! we will see little one, we will see!

oh what a merry christmas eve it was! it felt fantastic to finally share the joyous news and just let my prego belly hang out! i was soooo tired of hiding it! after we opened up all our gifts, i sliced the buche du noel cake and served the french classic treat to everyone and we just reveled in all the goodness around us. it was quite the blessed evening and we couldn’t wait for christmas day to share the news with hc’s side of the family! hooray!

[my shirt says: santa, i know him! looooove it]

[kids table! how fun!]

[grace and hc]

[buche du noel]

[buffalo check greatness]

[tashina, thuy, and r]

[huy and tashina]

[classic…of course olive is grumpy]

[olive was so afraid of her dada]

[so silly. i love it]

[love these two]

[desserts…fruit and cake!]

[loving my dad’s outfit!]

[she really enjoyed opening presents!]

[she looooooved her stuffed kitty from super aunt thuy]

[she loved bouncing around on the it]

[dad holding up the ‘big sister’ shirt!]

[christmas eve isn’t complete without a pj party pic!]

xoxo

family birthday dinner

Posted on December 30, 2015 by tandem in love

the birthday celebration continues!

hc coordinated a dinner with my family the day after my birthday at j. alexander’s in oakbrook. after my wonderful surprise party the night before, it was awesome to celebrate the occasion with my family.

it was quite the chilly evening. i arrived at the restaurant first, which was great, because i could relax and mindlessly be on my phone to catch up on insta and such. hc, grace, and olive arrived, followed by my sister kim and famille. we were waiting for my sister thuy, mom, and dad to get there before they would seat us.

the table arrangement in the restaurant didn’t allow for a large party, so they sat us at two separate tables, which was fine because the kids got to sit all together and be them crazy selves.

we ordered apps and perused the menu…i was totally feeling crab cakes. like big time but i received the most disappointing news of the evening – they were out of crab cakes! whaaaaaaa?! i was devastated. i had no idea what i should order in lieu of it. ya know when you totally have your mind set on an entree and that’s all you want? well, i was stuck, so i ordered their vege burger because i couldn’t figure it out {in a total rush, she was already taking everyone’s order!}. ugh. mistake.

my vege burger was sub par. soooooo not what i wanted. the server felt so bad because it was my birthday and they didn’t have what i wanted, so she comped my meal and drink. that was very nice of them but regardless, my birthday meal was bleh. i was so disappointed that i had order that mundane wannabe burger! ha!

but no matter. what was really important was the fact that i was celebrating with my family and the kiddos were having a great time sitting together and being silly. overall, i really enjoyed our apps, our convos, and our time together.

it was a fabulous birthday dinner with my famille and a perfect way to top of my birthday celebrations! hooray!

[the crew]

[not what i envisioned as my birthday meal]

[yup, this pic pretty much describes them]

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: famille

r’s first communion

hoppy easter

happy st. patty’s day

simple sunday

february snapshots

happy super-valentine’s-lunar new year celebrations

hb thuy!

blinging in the new year

christmas eve

family birthday dinner