hc, olive, and i had a wonderful, casual afternoon hanging out in the city. it was my birthday and we hit the city to enjoy an afternoon of festive fun. brunch was at my favorite place, southport grocery! yummmm!
it was bustling inside but not too crazy packed like it usually is…it’s probably because we were a bit past lunchtime, so it was perfectly busy. we sat in a corner and throughly enjoyed our time together. i ordered my usual, the southern and as usual it was deeeeeelicious. i stuffed myself silly, rich enjoyed his spiked beverage and meal, and olive had a blast drawing. she loves to create fabulous works of art!
after we noshed on our yummy meals, i perused the shelves of the grocery store to see what items i wanted to buy to put in our gift baskets for our neighbors. did we want to create a dinner theme? a breakfast theme? a dessert theme? we went with the breakfast theme. breakfast is my most favorite meal of the day! i could eat breakfast all day! so, we picked out a yummy pancake mix, maple syrup, a peach spread, christmas sprinkles, and holiday cookies to top it off! it was all so cute! they do such a great job packaging it all up.
all while i was getting the gift baskets together, hc was chasing olive down and feeding her. she was so into her drawings earlier, she wouldn’t eat any of her food but once she was done, hc got her to eat most of her meal while she ran around the store. eep! she’s a funny one.
after brunch and basket making, we traipsed around southport and shopped a bit for gifts and christmas goodies. it was such a wonderful, beautiful afternoon. we had a great time together…it was a very joyous, eventful day. we were elated from an appointment we had earlier in the day and we were on cloud nine, thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives. thank God for the wondrous gifts that he brings.
may your day be filled with love, laughter, and meaningful hugs. i love christmas because, 1. it’s jesus’ birthday 2. being able to spend time with family. it’s such joy to be with your family, enjoying life, eating delicious foods and cookies, and watching your little ones open up their presents. it seems like the world pauses for a day and we are able slow down and revel in the joy all around us.
hooray! jesus was born on this day! i remembered, as a kid, how magical it was to attend church, listen to the story of jesus’ birth, and celebrate it afterwards with friends and family at our church. such great memories. i love the moments created around the holidays. the feelings evoked, the love, the reasons behind why we celebrate christmas, and the joy you feel with everyone around you being so happy and loving. i hope olive looks back on her holidays, and it brings a smile onto her face like it did and still does for me.
merry christmas my lovies. i hope your day is filled with many fabulous moments, lots of love, cookies, hugs, kisses, and euphoria. happy day!
we made our annual trip downtown to field’s on state. yes, i still call it that. call me old school. it’s still comiskey park, sears tower, these landmarks will forever live with me in their original names. it’s not like i don’t like to lead change, think differently, or i am not open minded. it just irks me that some family or some company pays more money so they can have their name etched into these chicago landmarks. yes, sears was named after sears robuck and co {the largest retailer at the time} but there is history behind it all. not just the fact that someone dumped money towards the building and says, “ok, we are now naming it blah, blah, blah”. ok, ok. enough venting.
we started our day with lunch at the french market. i love going there. there are so many fun little shops and yummy eats. we walked around trying to figure out what we all wanted to eat. we purchased the kid’s meals first and let them eat while all the adults mulled around, trying to figure out our palette of the moment.
[working the runway]
[sooooooo many delish goodies]
[my favvvvvvvvvv]
[i snapped this pic because of the above lights but now i find it funny because the three girls in the picture look like me and my sisters in a less sophisticated way. thuy is to the left, kim in the middle, and that would be me…yes, with the colored hair]
[love these little rug rats]
i decided to go with a vietnamese favorite, banh mi. unfortunately, it was an ok meal. there just wasn’t the right kick to it. my favorite banh mi is from ba le up in argyle or really, my aunt vuong’s banh mi. my aunt’s sandwich is the most delicious, hands down.
we walked around, i bought the kids candy and purchased some hot, freshly made sugared donuts for everyone to eat. i love going there on the weekends too because it’s so quiet. the market’s busy time is monday through friday {since it’s down by the train station}. so, on saturday, it’s chill and crowd free and you can casually walk around without waiting in line at any booth.
[banh mi]
[mowing down a hot dog]
[being all cute while we wait for our freshly made donuts]
after our little lunch fun at the french market, we headed down to fields on state for some holiday fun. we typically head to the eighth floor to see the tree in the walnut room. we snap some pics, relax on the sofas, and just chill for a bit before we head downstairs to their ornament room. we love going there to nab a few ornaments for our tree.
before we actually did all that fun stuff, the kids wrote their letters to santa. it was so cute. reagan was so serious about it and olive intently wrote hers with beautiful doodle marks. after their letters were dropped off in the mailbox to the north pole, we headed on up for some christmas tree fun.
[she was loving the felix in a box]
[writing letters to santa]
[in deep thoughts]
[hanging out on the ‘clean’ carpet]
we perused the different trees and we were trying to figure out what ornaments we wanted to buy. hc found his ornament right away! it was a glass red fire engine truck. of course! it was a perfect ornament. i thought – hmph…he scored a cool ornament right away. i looked and looked but i was having a hard time finding an ornament that i really liked. i finally walked into a room that they had in the far back and found a whole bunch of ornaments that i loved! give me a dessert ornament any day and call me a sucker! i chose an ice cream cone ornament as my decor of choice!
after we hit the ornament room, we cruised downstairs to grab a drink and a bite to eat. oh my…there was a line for everything! everything! i went to starbucks and it was quick to order but it took over 15 minutes to get my drink! bananas! anyhoo, after our stint downstairs where the restaurants were, we all decided to call it a night. we all gathered our treasures for the day and headed home.
it was a lovely day {the temp was amazing…60 degrees!}. we had a great time spending the day in the city with our family. it was fun, yummy, and festive. i love going downtown and seeing all the pretty christmas decor and experiencing the hustle and bustle of the chicago. it’s all part of the cray holiday season!
another turkey day has come and gone. of course it was yummy and awesome as always. every year, we always hit hc’s side of the family for our first thanksgiving meal and then head to my parent’s house for our second meal of the day. it works out perfectly every year although we try to not overeat, in which case, we do every year. ugh!
well, in typical fashion, we were running so behind. we were hoping to leave for his aunt’s house by 12:30 pm but it turned into after 1 pm. we arrived in no time and everyone was already there hanging out and having drinks. we said our hello’s and happy thanksgivings and settled ourselves in. as in the prior post i had written {about olive’s birthday party}, hc’s side of the family missed her birthday party due to the snowy weather, so auntie missy had brought the birthday present she had for olive. it was oh so very sweet of her!
of course, olive was sheepish and shy in the beginning. she didn’t even want to open her gift. she just kept hiding her face and turning away from everyone. oh, poor baby girl. i just wish she’d be more open to people but she isn’t.
supper was served and we all chowed down and filled our bellies full of not so healthy bites. after eating, we just relaxed, conversed, and enjoyed our time to chill with family. after a few hours over aunt wendy’s house, we gathered out belongings and left to head out to my parent’s house for dinner number 2!
[looking at the photo book gramma gave her]
[the best pic we could get]
[gramma, daddy, and aunt missy]
when we arrived at my parent’s house, the making of our turkey dinner was in full force {thanks to my sisters} and heaping mounds of apps were being served! this is what i call a day of gluttony!
our family friend lan, pete, and avery were over as well. it was great that they were able to spend thanksgiving with us. as always, the more the merrier! immediately, i started helping out and hc hung with boys {natch}. my sister, kim, is the head chef when it comes to this meal {or pretty much any holiday meal}. she is an amazing cook and always makes the most delicious entrees. everything is always oh soooooo yummy!
they also set up a kid’s table, where the kids could draw, doodle, and get creative. so cute! and draw they did! they had so much fun creating cityscapes, shapes, pictures, and it let their imagination run wild as they continued to get creative.
after the delicious dinner was served, the boys went upstairs to watch the bears play and the gals cleaned up. oh my gosh. it takes almost as long to clean up as it does to cook! hahaha!
i had made a few batches of my yummy sugar cookies for the kids the night prior. i whipped up a few dozen cookies, i do this every thanksgiving so the kids can have fun with their desserts! i bring icing, sprinkles, and frosting; the kids go wild and get creative decorating each one of their cookies. after they decorate a few dozen of them, i gave them the green light to eat ’em! i must admit…i love my sugar cookies, they are so buttery good!
[yummy apps and lan’s kettle corn]
[the kid’s table]
[she was very excited to draw]
[full concentration]
[hc and my brother dan]
[soooo yummy…truffle cheese]
[thuy, lan, moi, and kim]
[cousin love]
[my sister’s fabulous centerpiece]
[ready to eat!]
[family]
[the kids decorating sugar cookies]
[the works of art]
[eating their works of art]
[happy thanksgiving and an early start to a merry christmas!]
after the dishes were done and the desserts were served…we j u s t relaxed. it can be so exhausting eating so darn much! i was stuffed like a turkey and so flippin’ tired!!
we had such a great time hanging out with both sides of the family for thanksgiving. it’s always good to be around family. of course, i love hanging out with my family so much! there’s nothing better than that. i love thanksgiving and i am very thankful for all the blessings i have in my life!
we were so excited for the first snow of the season! it’s always exciting…until 3 months from now, then i’ll say that i am soooooo over it! bahhhahahaha!
it was actually the day of her birthday party. i had been so consumed by her party prep, i didn’t even realize it was going to snow! and snow it did. it had started the night before and continued on through the morning and afternoon! oh my! it was expected to hit 6-15″ of snow, depending on the area.
the first snow of the season is always so fun and exciting. we couldn’t wait to get outside and play. it would be olive’s ‘first’ time in the snow. she’s at an age where she would understand it better, be amused, and have fun playing in it.
we still need to get her a snowsuit {tis the season} but we just bundled her up in some gear and she was ready to go. besides, we weren’t out of that long! as soon as we walked outside, she was curious. she definitely didn’t want to step in it right away. she wasn’t quite sure if it was safe yet. she saw her big sis, grace, step in it and that was a signal it was ok to her. so in she went! a huge smile spread across her face. you could tell she was amused by it. it was fluffy, it was white, and it was definitely fun!
while hc and grace worked on our catman, olive walked around and around and around in the snow. she was having a blast walking in it! after we finished the catman, hc and grace started throwing snowballs at each other…it was seriously great packing snow! olive thought it was soooooo funny! she started picking up chunks of snow herself and threw it. too cute.
[loving the pretty snowfall!]
[it’s so pretty]
[she loved to step in it!]
after that, hc wanted to shovel the driveway, i was dunzo and needed to get inside to finish decorating, and olive and grace continued to play outside in the backyard. it was quite the successful first play in the snow, i might say so myself. the girls were having a blast and it was so sweet to see and hear their giggles. it was a great first snow day indeed.
we celebrated olive’s birthday a week before the actual date {her birthday fell on black friday this year!}. so months of planning ensued prior to the actual party date. well, more so, months of idea scheming ensued. i hemmed and hawed back and forth on what colors, what theme, what to do, what to do…
i couldn’t decide. i love summery themes {not like i can’t do it} but somehow, i always veer away from them. i debated flamingos, fun bright colors, but alas i decided to do a kitty theme. it all spurred from an instagramer i adore {@meethaha} and a kitty template she used by lucille michieli.
i handmade all the invites {phew!}, with the help of hc of course! i purchased coordinating envelopes, lined them all, and addressed them. thank goodness it was just immediate family members because i couldn’t imagine doing dozen upon dozens of these! not like our wedding…who has time for that anymore?!
i decided on black, white, and pink as the main colors. i wrapped yarn balls as decorative accents, i ordered balloons, table runners, painted the centerpieces, created the photo booth, the dessert backdrop, and handmade all the favor boxes. eep! that was just the tip top of it. all the other details was just as time consuming and you know me! i can’t leave a stone unturned!
i needed to figure out place settings, dessert, food, favor items, props for the photos, and on and on and on. i know, i am so nutty but i do have a love/hate relationship with my creative craziness. i.can’t.help.it. it’s fun and abusing at the same time. hahaha!
anyhoo, i really did have a great time putting her party together. it was turning out so darn cute! i was super excited when her party day arrived! clueless me, i had no idea it was going to s n o w on her birthday party! like snooooooooow. who knew the area and surrounding areas were going to to 6-15″ of snow?! oops. well that put a damper on her guests coming in. unfortunately, her gramma, papa, auntie, great aunt and cousin could not make it to the party {they were the ones with 15″ of snow!}. such a bummer. we were sad but safety first!
[are you kitten me? invites]
[the invite suite]
[tablescape kitty decor]
[kitty favors]
[kid’s table]
[kitty dessert table]
[mmmmm, favorites]
well, mid-afternoon, the guests started to arrive! yay! we were super excited to celebrate with everyone! olive was being all sheepish at first but she finally did start to warm up and get involved. we served drinks and mingled with our lovely guests as the food was warming up. within the hour, lunch was served and we were noshing on some delicious bites and enjoying each other’s company.
after food and some photo booth fun, we served coffee and dessert! but not without singing happy birthday to this little cutie! it was oh so sweet! i lit the candle and brought the cake over…she had no clue what was going on! we started to sing happy birthday and she became so shy and embarrassed, she tried hiding from everyone. sooooo silly! she actually blew out her candle! yay!
[my silly girl]
[the calm before the storm…baby olive chillin’ and drawing before the guests arrive]
[meow]
[are you kitten me photo booth]
[it’s all about olive]
[love this guy]
[terry and barbara]
[super silly!]
[silly peeps]
[family first // and please don’t mind the kitchen under remodel!!!!]
[make a wish!]
[she wasn’t sure what was going on!]
[she blew out the candle on her own!]
[cupcake zombie]
[my brother, dan]
[and so they tied all balloons to her!]
[so, this was the tail end of the party…olive was all tied up]
over the next few hours, everyone was just hanging out and relaxing. olive opened some presents, some of us started the clean up, and my siblings decided it would be so cute to tie almost all the balloons to olive. yes, they wrapped her up in balloons to see if she could fly. hahaha! well, no lift off happened but only silliness and a cute, funny look on this little babe!
it was such a great, fun, delightful party! i loved the kitty theme, i loved how everything turned out, and i loved celebrating our girl’s special day with all of our loved ones! happy birthday my little girl! we love you oh so much!!!
so yay for my brother huy and his fiancé tashina visiting us here in the chi. they had come into town {from l.a.} the days prior and attended a friend’s wedding, so this night, we had them over for dinner and fun!
please don’t mind the kitchen under construction. that’s a whole ‘nother chapter. anyhoo, everyone came over and we hemmed and hawed over what food to order. in the mean time, i had my two little nephews running around, my brothers, tashina, and my mother in law hanging out in the kitchen, deciding on food, and then olive just waking up {crying} in her crib. all of a sudden i was in the middle of trying to place an order for food, consoling miss olive, and appeasing everyone else. it started to get a wee bit crazy for me! olive was grumpy but everyone wanted her attention {huy wanted to play, reagan wanted to play} and this only caused her to cry even more! i couldn’t place the food order because i was trying to console olive, then hc calls me on the phone trying to talk to me, and the boys kept asking me if they could eat ramen noodles with sriracha because they didn’t want to eat chinese food! hahahah!
ohmygawd. it was only until after the food arrived did the craziness seem to settle down! the boys didn’t mind eating hot dogs and chips {my speciality}, so it saved me from making an easy meal to making an easier meal! woo! we all actually sat down to eat, relax, and converse. it was great. we had such a wonderful time talking, eating, and enjoying each other’s company. it was so nice. in-between us ordering food and eating, tashina helped us out by sewing olive’s halloween costume. i was so ready to do it myself but with her coming into town, i thought, why not ask? she made olive’s baptism gown, so why not another white gown for miss olive?! yay!
[setting up the sewing machine]
[watching the action going down]
[being curious]
[bestie cousins eating together]
[chillin’ and having a really good time]
[someone is wiped out and someone isn’t. haha]
we had a wonderful time together as a family. slowly, everyone trickled out. dan left, jane went to bed, and then huy and tashina said their good nights. i had the boys until my sister came home from her event that evening. it was too cute. R + B fell asleep while olive stayed w i d e awake! she is such a nigh owl!
it was a great evening with family, those are always the best moments in life.
we headed out to the arboretum on a cool autumn day. my brother huy and tashina were in town and we wanted to snap some pics {ya gotta take advantage of your photographer brother when he’s in // huyfoto}.
it was a perfect day. total sweater weather. not too cold and not too warm. a wonderful fall day. i previously mentioned to the hubs about getting a membership to the arboretum because i heard from others, that it is so cheap and going there twice pretty much pays for your membership.
we pulled up and yessssss, it was quite pricey to get in. we asked how much a membership would be for four people and gasped at the fact that it would be down right stupid not to get one!
huy and tashina had just arrived right before us and huy wanted to drive around to explore and find a good spot to snap some photos. we drove around and found a beautiful {well everything at the arboretum is gorgeous} little spot. we continued to cruise around and found another little nook that was beautiful to capture in the photos. after our escapade, we decided to head back to the children’s area so olive could play around a bit. we walked into the building and hc signed us up for a membership, we grabbed coffee, and a little bite to eat. after our snack, we headed out to the children’s garden.
we had to so much fun walking around, exploring, and watching little olive’s curiosity. the first area we went into was the maze. it was fun to walk around and decide which direction we should head to and wonder where it would take you and where you would end up! they also had an amazing tree fort that we explored. olive had fun running around in circles with me chasing her!
after the maze, we explored the garden area. it’s pretty cool to watch her have so much fun with the same thing, over and over again. she loved the spinning wheels, the leaves, the fun interactive activities all around the area. we probably could have been there all day.
[coming out of the maze]
[look at those fall colors!!!]
[such a gorgeous day]
[she loved putting the little balls into the noise maker]
after a bit, huy and tashina needed to get some stuff done before they headed out to a wedding that evening. we stayed a bit longer, soaking in the goodness around us. as we were leaving, they totally get you with the smell of popcorn…it was a sweet and delicious aroma. we caved in, bought a bag and popped a squat to enjoy our treats. yummy!
once we spent some time eating, enjoying the perfect weather, and absorbing the amazing environment, we decided to head out. it was a truly lovely morning. we had a really great time with everyone. i love spending time with my family and getting out to do fun stuff like this really is my jam.
happy day everyone! enjoy every moment and be thankful for your health, your family, their health, and the little things in life. be kind and love one another. peace.
we have known andy for a looooong time. he grew up right across the street from us. kind of like how carol and i grew up together, my brother dan and andy grew up together. so, when we received the invite to their wedding, i was beyond excited to go!
when hc and i tied the knot, we invited andy to our wedding, natch. we invited just andy. my brother, dan, asked me if andy could bring a date. mmmmm, ok i said. hey, it’s andy. what’s one more person added onto the guest list?? {anyone who has gotten married knows the wedding guest list nightmare situation} so, here is andy at our wedding reception and he introduces me to corinne, a girl he had just started dating.
fast forward four years and now they were getting hitched!!! how fabulous! the ceremony was at a local church by our house. it was beautiful and sweet. i always get teary eyed at weddings. i love them so much! i love that it’s about love, commitment, faith, and unity. just a few words to describe it! weddings always evoke such strong emotions within me.
[the cute saying and wedding programs]
[my brother dan, the best man]
[the poor, blurry pic of the bride]
[her wedding band]
[his wedding band]
[wedding program and cards]
after the ceremony, i rushed home to change my outfit, pick up the hubs, and take olive over to my parent’s house so they could watch her for the evening. we cruised on over to the reception banquet, it was quite close {a good thing because we were running late!}, and nabbed a great parking spot next to the building. as we were walking in, we ran into my sister thuy. we have a tendency to run into her at the same time whenever we are going to the same destination, although we are always traveling separately!
we walked in to the pretty welcome table. they had vintage glass window panes written with all the guests names and the table numbers. they also had frames where we signed our names and wished them something sweet. speaking of sweet, when we first entered the reception space, the ginormous dessert table caught my attention! yummmmmm!
we saw the bride and groom but of course they were flocked by a ton of guests {we decided we would track them down later}. as we stood there and chitchatted, my brother dan walked up and greeted us. we small talked about the wedding and finally decided to take a seat to get this party started!
[the sign in table]
[seating chart]
[the yummy dessert table]
[my awesome brother]
[siblings]
[sister love // we coordinate]
[the centerpieces made by the bride and groom]
as the wedding reception began rolling, the speeches started…i was anxiously waiting for my brother’s speech. one: he’s a super quiet guy two: you don’t envision him as a public speaker and three: he’s my brother and i only hoped he would do well in a situation like this because, he’s my brother! duh!
the father of the bride gave a wonderful, beautiful, heart warming speech. it was sweet, loving, and heartfelt. then the bridesmaid gave her speech…i thought, ok, my brother is being set up well. then came dan. i was stoked. he was relaxed, articulate, and damn funny! he hit the right notes and had the crowd going. it was perfectly timed, not too long and not too short. he ended it on a sweet, loving note toasting the love between the bride and groom. bam! he nailed it. i was so proud!!!! i screamed from across the room, “BEST SPEECH EVERRRRRRRR!”. oh yes. i got chuckles from the table around us. i definitely can be rowdy and redic at times. hahaha!
per usual, typical wedding shenanigans ensued. my sisters and i were goofing off, we raided the dessert table, we mingled with different folks, took more stupid pics of ourselves and ate and drank too much. isn’t that what weddings are about?!
[the dessert table was in demand! we hardly got any!]
[with the beautiful couple]
[goofing around]
so this part is where it gets wild. andy decided he was going to sing a song for his bride. he did a fabulous job! he nailed the song and was completely entertaining! it was pretty cool to watch. as he stripped down to his shirt and pants, he continued to sing to his wife. at the very end, he turned his back to her and he dropped to his knees and then fell onto his back. this is where his groomsmen grabbed his legs…slid him under her dress and he nabbed the garter belt! hahaha! it was the best garter belt grab i have ever seen!!! so flippin’ hilarious and oh so good!!! way to go andy!
[andy sung to his bride and then went in for the garter!]
[garter toss]
after dancing to a few songs, nabbing a pic with the bride and groom, and eating too much food, it was time for hc and me to head home and get our baby girl. we had soooo much fun at their wedding! andy and corinne, we wish for you and your marriage enduring love, respect, never ending faith, laughter, and happiness! thank you for letting us be a part of your special day! congratulations love birds!
it was a glorious month. lots of fun activities and lots of great, great weather. we were so blessed with such a wonderful month filled with lots of memories! the highlight of this past month? apple picking! yay! it was so much fun {albeit the super warm temps}. i love watching olive explore and experience something new. it’s always new to a child, non? ’cause i know this baby girl has no recollection that she apple picked last year. hahaha!
we had a great month filled with brunches, brand repping goodness, craft fair fun, family fun filled days and nights. september is such a good month…a perfect transition into fall, when the weather is still warm and you squeeze in the last few activities outdoors {where you don’t freeze!} and throughly enjoy the fresh air.
anyhoozle, please enjoy the pics below! a few that summed up our fabulous month {in rewind}!
[my pretty princess]
[sunday night ice cream trip]
[big pink balloon]
[oh, just hanging out and messing things up in my crop top]
[twinning at the apple orchard]
[working the cheese snack]
[a refreshing treat]
[seafood crab night]
[my doll]
[nom nom nom on her bunny blankie]
[her first time picking apples]
[renegage craft fair]
[lemon tee shop]
[out to lunch with olivia]
[i found her one morning with her shirt down by her waist]
[funny selfies]
[my most favorite picture]
[homemade pie]
[wee monster skirt and shirt]
[anniversary dinner]
[kid + kind tee // kidssuaveapparel pants]
[first braid]
[baby in a box…how hc rolls with olive]
[olive and cheeks tee // the twisted knot bow // little big dreamer shorts // the little wears socks]
well i hope you had a fantabulous september yourself and that you it was relaxing, enjoyable, and that it was filled with laughter and love. cheers to an outstanding october! happy fall y’all!
