slow-cooking

Posted on January 30, 2015 by tandem in love

we had our friends jeri, john, and taylor over for dinner! it was a jam packed day {with guests} and hc worked really hard to prep some damn good meals for us.

they stopped by our house in the early evening. john’s son, taylor, lives right by us! so, they were on their way to dropping him off and we had planned for them to stop on by to say hello and then stay for dinner.

hc had slow cooked some savory pork, made a delicious coleslaw, buttery mashed potatoes, and seasoned a slew of his signature brussel sprouts. dinner was going to be good! the house smelled delicious and i couldn’t wait to eat! to top off our meal, jeri & john brought over sweet mandy b’s desserts…oh em gee. one of my favorite bakeries in the city! i was extremely excited for the desserts! total bonus points for being the best guests!

[jeri, taylor, and john]

before dinner, john drove taylor home to his mom’s and then came back for dinner. while we waited for him, we opened up the gift they had brought for miss olive. oh, they are so sweet and thoughtful. i am so thankful for their kindness and totally appreciate that they thought about miss olive. jeri had picked out the cutest outfits for olive!! i loved it! i told her that it was like i picked them out myself…the colors and cuteness were perfect!

we then sat down for dinner. it was oh so good. the food was so flavorful and the company was fantastic. we had a really good time chatting it up with them. they are such a great couple and taylor is a really cool, sweet kid. i really enjoyed having them over.

[we were about to open olive’s gift from jeri and john…not sure what is going on with olive’s hair?!]

[slaw, pulled pork, smashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts]

[olive giving jeri the birdie..lol]

after relaxing through dinner and catching up on a lot of life’s craziness, i brought out the desserts. oh, i was in heaven. jeri and john had selected different flavored cupcakes and yummy cookies to share. i sliced all the cupcakes in half and we all dug into the flavors that we wanted to taste. mmmmmm! so yummy!

we all hung out a bit longer but it was a ‘school night’, so jeri and john decided to head out. it was truly a wonderful night. we had such a great time hosting and having them over for dinner. we committed to more get togethers {especially when the weather gets warmer…don’t we all wish that here in chicago?!}.

thanks jeri and john for hanging out! we loved having you guys over!

xoxo

morning brunch

Posted on January 29, 2015 by tandem in love

it was a calm, snowy morning. we were waiting for olivia and aaron to swing on by for a morning brunch at our house. so, {a little bit about miss} olivia is always so tardy for everything. aaron had committed to a brunch time of 11am, naturally, we didn’t expect them until noon {because olivia is always soooo late!}. well, eleven o’clock rolled on up and i had just put olive down for a nap, finally got myself dressed for the day, and i was helping hc set up for our brunch when the doorbell rang. whaaaaa?!!!! they were on time?! holy cow! i will credit mr. aaron for getting to our place on time, he said he was the one who committed to the time promised and by golly, he was going to fulfill it. oh, how i love him for that!

thank goodness we were ready!

hc was just finishing up the last dish and we got down to business. he had made a delicious quiche and hash for brunch. we served lots of coffee, beer {yes, beer for the boys}, optional berry mimosas, fruit, and cinnamon rolls to top off our menu. it was so good. yes, it was. i’m so lucky to have such an amazing cook of a hubby!

[olive finally letting olivia be near her]

[delicious quiche, hash, and fruit]

after brunch, we just hung out. it was pretty awesome to have them over. it was quite chill and relaxing. olivia and i ‘gossiped’ {according to aaron 😉 } and the boys talked shop and talked shop and talked shop. oh, these two will definitely be boys together. it’s kind of funny…olivia and i fall into such girly gossipy roles {um, we love our long talks!} and our two men will be such gearheads and exchange a bunch of jargon non stop. honestly, though, lately it feels like i never have enough time with my dear olivia! i do miss our girl time together when we would talk for hours on end. no joke, get us together and we can jibber jabber like no other! oh how i miss those days.

[the boys chillin’ with olive || it was a pajama morning for her]

[tickle tickle]

[pouty face]

[always making a mess]

[i love baby pigtails]

[the group trying to get in on a pic with olive…she was like ‘nope’]

after a few hours of hanging out, olivia and aaron headed on out. they had lots to do for their upcoming week! it was incredibly awesome that they had come out to our place for brunch {and vice versa…we love going to the city to see them!}. we love, love hanging out with these two and adore them both so much. such a great couple and of course i heart olivia to bits. she’s such a sweetheart.

it was definitely a wonderful morning brunch. cheers!

xoxo

brunching with kimberly

Posted on January 24, 2015 by tandem in love

i was excited to see kim and brady, it had been a few months since i saw them {at olive’s first birthday party}. we set up a date and decided upon a mid morning brunch…that meant skipping olive’s usual morning nap. i’ve only done it twice before and twice was it a disaster. well, okay not a total disaster but you can definitely tell when the babes doesn’t get her usual morning nap. she does get grhhummpyyy!

we met kim and brady at wild berry; we had met in the area, at the adjoining restaurant once before. it was when kim was on maternity leave and i was pregnant! it was a short wait to be seated…our pager went off within minutes and we were led into the dining area, to the back. they had high chairs for the wee ones that were really short. the kiddies kind of sat below the table line versus at it or above it. kim and i both commented on it…it was just that the babes were trying to see over all the ‘stuff’ on the table, so it was a bit difficult for them to look at each other!

anyhoo, we just started gabbing and gabbing. we started off with drinks and fruit for the kiddos but didn’t bother to peruse the menu. the server came by and we had her come back another time so we could look over the selection and decide on something.

kim and i talked about all sorts of stuff. i love that we are still friends and in touch! we have known each other for 4 1/2 – 5 years?? it’s so crazy to see it in writing…that it’s already been that long, and sometimes it seems like we just met but no, we’ve been ‘single’, engaged, married, and now we are mamas!

i love that we can connect on soooo many things…it’s great when you can share ideas, frustrations, and happy stuff with a friends and feel comfortable doing so. kim shared some amazing news with me! i am super delighted about the big announcement and look forward to the progression! life is good. life is great!

[hiiii brady]

[my babes]

[kim and brady]

it’s so interesting when you hang out with your friends with babes. it’s {obvs} all about them! we constantly fed them, obliged to their grunting, and did our best to entertain them if they were fussy. olive was eventually dunzo with sitting in her highchair and so i pulled her out and she walked back and forth, back and forth between the tables, crawled under her high chair a few times {my cat baby} and sat underneath it for a bit, and then she would eventually crawl back out and circle around again. it’s amaze that we can even hold a conversation with each other with all the distractions that we face when we are with them!

we finished up our meal {um, i walked away realizing i ate pretty much nothing!}, paid the bill, and headed out. i knew the little babes was going to knock out with a nap in the car. we said our goodbyes, it was too adorbs what happened next {i wished i snapped some pics!}! we put brady and olive down next to each other and told them to hug each other and give a kiss. almost a full make out session ensued! they hugged and kissed and kissed each other. oh em gee…i almost died from the cuteness! that was the best. a sweet little entertaining ending to our fun brunch date!

xoxo

marina’s little sprinkle gift

Posted on January 23, 2015 by tandem in love

my friend marina is having her third baby! wowza! it’s kinda crazy how many friends of mine are pregnant right now…and they are all having girls!!

so all the gals {initiated by miss kris} got together {via social media} to get marina a bunch of cute baby gifts in lieu of a shower, so it sprouted into a little sprinkle gift! how sweet. we were all so excited to do this. all the girls sent me their gifts {from different states!} and i put it all together in a white woven basket, surrounded it with pink colored tissue, flowers, and handmade a cute little pink banner to adorn it with.

we had planned a night where we could head over to marina’s house and give her the presents. i put olive in her pj’s…yes, it was going to be a late night {i figured we would be at marina’s ’til 8:30ish}, too close the her bedtime and i wanted her to be ready to go down once we got home.

we got to rina’s around 7:30pm and pam was right behind us. it was so great to see her and the boys! it was absolutely adorbs how sweet and interested maddox was in olive. he was trying so hard and saying some cute things like “take a picture of us!”…how sweet and yes, of course we took a ton of pictures!

[maddox being soooo cute with miss olive…he asked us if we could take a picture of them together!]

[she was not impressed, and then he showered her with gifts 😉 ]

[playing together]

[chillin’]

[oh, that belly]

after we hung out for a bit, chit chatted about life and the crazy changes that are happening very soon {a lot of changes that will be bittersweet as well}, we wanted marina to open up her gifts {i wish all the gals who participated could have been there too}! she was so surprised and excited! it felt great and wonderful to be able to give her some fun, needed presents for her little bundle of joy.

[her little sprinkle]

[somebody found a fun, new toy!]

after she went through all her girly goodies and needed necessities, maddox dug into the basket and, of course, found the breast shields and got super creative with them. he was being so funny!

it was a great, quick evening at their household. we had an excellent time just chillin’ while the kids played around and got silly. i was so happy marina was so delighted over her presents. we cannot wait to meet her sweet baby girl! yay!

xoxo

the usual

Posted on January 19, 2015 by tandem in love

as always, i get super excited to meet up with my darling dana. we both had prior commitments {conference call, possible venue searching, and a doctor’s appointment} but we don’t let that stop us from getting together! the good news is that everything else fell through and it was just going to be a me, dana, and olive day! i love how that happens. i told dana that i love how we are so busy but we will always squeeze in time for each other and the cards will all fall into place. natch.

so we met up at our usual place and ordered our usual breakfast’s, and did our usual thing. chit chat chit chat chit chat. we all sat together on the same booth, with olive in-between us. it was perfect. she was trapped, i could pay attention to them both, it was easy to feed her, keep her comfortable, and enjoy myself {because she’s content}.

[plethora of beverages]

[hey, i’m just chilling]

[always soooo serious]

[the southern aka the usual]

we hung for a bit at the restaurant. it was nice to just take our time, relax, and be on our own schedule. we did our typical walk over to anthropologie after brunch, we perused the racks, checked out the sale, and then moseyed along to our cars to head to our next destination. we decided we would spend the rest of our date at target. woooo!

[juice drinking maniac]

[shopping our favorite store // olive loved riding shotgun just like this…so safe!]

after i changed her diaper and fed her, she was a running fool! she did.not.want.to.be.in.the.cart. she just ran everywhere. she’s a fast little devil. i was trying to shop but i was basically just chasing after her! she was too cute. she would slightly touch everything but not mess anything up. she would run up and down aisles and she ooh’d and ahh’d over everything at her eye level. i was amused just watching her.

[so chic, oh baby olive fashion]

[keeping up with her]

[mean mugging at starbucks]

after an hour or so in target, olive was spent. she had the tiniest, tiniest morning nap and she was not happy by the end of our shopping trip. she was dunzo. it was time to strap her into the cart seat and have her go down for another nap. and so it was. i have to add in that it was not very easy to get there. {my next ten minutes goes like this} she was screaming, wouldn’t let dana watch her so i could use the restroom, i kept losing track of my stuff due to her fussiness distracting me {where is my phone? where is my wallet? stuff you shouldn’t lose track of!}, dana and i then spilt my venti coffee all over our cart and into my shopping bag {ugh!}, and when we finally got to my car, her car seat seat belt was all twisted {and i couldn’t get it untangled!} and my baby girl was screaming in her seat! oy…what a debacle. it was not the kind of end to our date that i wanted! i shooed dana away with a big hug and proceeded to tackle the seat belt with success. score: seat belt 0 – moi 1.

we finally drove off {phew!} and little olive was out within five minutes. she was a tired little peanut. all in all, it was quite a wonderful morning/afternoon with our lovely miss dana. muwah!

xoxo

andrea’s birthday

Posted on January 12, 2015 by tandem in love

andrea’s birthday was last week and we finally got together to celebrate her! she’s a traveling fool, i don’t know anyone else who is always on the go like she is. when i talk to her about getting together, the first thing i always say to her is, “when are you in town next?”.

well, she was finally in town. we made plans for dinner at a restaurant called mexique on chicago ave. can you believe that this restaurant has been there for the past six years and for the three years that we lived down the street from it, we never noticed or tried out the place?!

it is sooooo good. the food was amaze. i mean, seriously delectable. it’s a fusion of mexican and french palates. everything was perfectly cooked, the flavors paired together were unique and complementary, and everything was incredibly savory {my tastebuds were in heaven}. the ambience was cozy and warm and the service was great.

[ginger and beth]

i arrived at the restaurant in no time {even with the cray weather} and was seated immediately. oy, it was soooo cold outside! i feel like i’m peeling off another layer of clothes when i take my coat, hat, gloves, and scarf off {hmmm, well i guess i am!}. a few minutes after i had been seated, ginger and beth joined me, and then the birthday girl showed up a few minutes after that!

we settled in and decided on a bottle of wine {natch}. we started our gab fest immediately. i love hanging out with these ladies. ginger always, always cracks me up with her sarcastic comments! she’s so witty and funny.

[me and the birthday girl – 25 weeks preggo! plus…we apparently don’t know which direction to look at…}

[opening her birthday gift!]

[ceviche]

[mar y tierra]

after much conversing, we finally looked at the menu and ordered our apps and entrees. we started with the mussels {oh em gee good} and ceviche {mmmm}. i decided to get the mar y tierra: michoacan style braised pork belly, mexique mole, fennel apple puree, scallops, roasted corn and brussels sprouts salad with burned tomatillo salsa. i highly, highly recommend this! it was fantastic. after our entrees, we ordered the enchiladas: crepes filled with chocolate ganache, toasted walnuts, ancho chile-chocolate fondue, crème anglaise vanilla bean ice cream. i also topped that off with a decaf cappuccino that was so perfect. milky, frothy, and sweet.

[yum]

[happy birthday andrea!!]

[make a wish!]

throughout dinner, we gabbed non-stop. it was wonderful to catch up with everyone! i was really enjoying myself {the company, the restaurant, the food}. i don’t get out much without olive {although as i have stated before…i do get a bit anxious when i’m without her!} and i’m always great the first few hours but then i start to miss her {momfessions}.

after almost three hours of dining {good eats and great conversations}, it was time go! we paid our bill and towards the door we went. i said my goodbyes to everyone with lots of hugs and traipsed my way out the door and down the sidewalk {so chilly!} to my car. i made it home just in time to put my little babes to sleep. *sigh*

what a wonderful evening it was.

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on November 14, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to 2012.

here we are at beer hoptacular in chicago. we were quite excited to attend! we had purchased tickets along with my sisters, brother in law, hc, and miss dana. we also had other friends joining us there as well.

it was a cooler, rainy day. we {me, hc, and dana} grabbed a taxi and headed on our way to the event. we shuffled along with everyone else in line, stoked to get inside the big black tent to start our beer tasting adventure. when you get there, they give these cute little shot glasses to use. inside was a mecca of beer vendors ready to pour copious amounts of samples for you! it was beer heaven! we skipped from one beer vendor to the next, sampling all sorts of yummy beverages.

it was cute and fun because they also handed out little mustaches to the patrons to wear. uh, hells yes i put a mustache on! i rocked that thing like a champ. it also had free a photo booth that we totally took advantage of! on top of that, they were also giving out chip and stuff…score! tasty snacks to munch on!

after a couple hours of us beer tasting, we were dunzo. we grabbed a cab back to our place and hc and dana passed. out. on the couch. it was too cute. they were both out cold on the couch while, of course, i was a busy bee…cleaning, crafting, and doing random things i needed to get done, waiting for them to get up. it’s so me…i can never sit still or lie down for a nap, even if we were drinking for a few hours. call me cray!

it was a spectacular time, attending beer hoptacular. it is definitely a fun event everyone should at least try once, or twice, or three times 😉

happy friday y’all!

xoxo

abbey

Posted on November 10, 2014 by tandem in love

soooo, long story that i will try to make short {cross your fingers!}. i met abbey more than ten years ago. we crossed paths and instantly became close friends. we had so many crazy moments together. she was my partner in crime. we went out all. the. time. fashion show nights in the city. bars in the city. art shows. dinners. fancy dinners. super, super fancy dinners. eve of the eve parties. shopping dates. pool time. brunches. lunches. you name it, we did it. anything in the city was game.

after years of being close friends, life sometimes takes you down different paths and those paths are not parallel anymore. they veer off into different directions and you loose touch. mine and abbey’s path veered off. seven plus years went by.

last year, abbey reached out to me and i reciprocated. we started to talk via fb and then by phone. we’ve exchanged communication here or there and moved our friendship along. well, abbey contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know that she would be in chicago {she lives in missouri} and wanted to meet up! i was totally game, i was excited to see her. i was glad our schedules worked out perfectly for us to meet up.

i chose for us to brunch at little goat. i was a little nervous it would be super crowded {it usually is and a very long wait} because it was a very, very nice day! warm and sunny. as i walked towards the restaurant, i saw there were no patrons standing outside {a total sign it wasn’t crowded} and was relieved.

i walked in with o and ran right into abbs! it was pretty awesome to see her. she looked great! we hugged and were so excited to see one another. she was so happy to meet olive! she is so great with babies. her sister val just had a beautiful baby boy, lake!

we were seated right away {woo!}. of course abbey and i started gabbing away. i told her, “we better choose what we want to eat or we will never order!”. so, she decided to go with the apple pancakes and a small side of biscuits and gravy. i chose the tuna melt with a side of smoked fries.

[um, it really wasn’t this empty…this space happen to clear out]

[she’s got her other bottom toof coming in!]

[smoked fries]

we gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. there was so much to talk about. we had such a great time catching up. so much has changed! at the time abbey and i were friends, i was ‘single’. not married. still living in chicago. no children. and now all that has changed!

abbey tried her best to get on olive’s good side. olive was being shy. it was too cute to see. i would slide her over to abbey and she would crawl back to me. i would slide her back again, and she would wiggle back to me. the only way abbey was able to get her to stay be her was to feed little o. ha!

[she was being shy]

[tuna sammich]

[yum, yum…the only time olive felt comfortable, when abbey fed her!]

after we finished our meals, we stayed awhile to continue our gab fest. abbey for sure wanted to take pictures in the photo booth. of course! i’m all about photo booths! i love ’em! we wriggled our way in and our bottoms shared the tiniest little round seat. abbs put the money in and we were like…uh, when does the booth take a photo {it was definitely an old school machine}?? duh…as you can see in the first shot, we were soooo caught off guard! but then we got it!

[before we left, we had to participate in the photo booth!]

our day was so fun! it was fabulous to see abbey again after all these years. we had such a good time catching up and i was super happy she was able to meet little olive. i hope our future visits are in closer proximity and we can’t wait to see her again. it was awesome seeing girl!

xoxo

city living

Posted on October 21, 2014 by tandem in love

yaaay! we finally got a chance to visit olivia and aaron in their new abode in the city!

oh boy oh boy. we were running sooooo behind. i don’t know why i even agree on a time to meet up anymore! olive napped later than what we expected and that set us all behind. let alone we had to do some errands before we headed in to the city. so an hour and a half past our scheduled, agreed upon time…we finally made it into the city! phew.

they live in river north, in an area where i have had plenty of friends filter through. it’s a cute little nook in the city. you have to walk a bit to get to some good spots but overall, it’s pretty accessible to everything. hey, anywhere in the city is a favorite spot of mine. oh, chicago…how i adore you.

we headed on up to their place and walked in to some good, savory smells. aaron was literally cooking up multiple dishes. he was cooking a soup, salmon, brisket for his chili. but more on that yummy goodness later.

their place was too cute. a cozy, quaint place tucked away on the tenth floor. we snacked on salty chips and delish guac, while we caught up on life. the boys drank some sorta beer and we sipped our refreshing crispin’ beer {love that beer! i discovered it at beer hoptacular one year}. olive was loving life, she was happy as a clam pulling everything out of her diaper bag on the floor.

the boys decided to head out to the liquor store to pick up…yes! some more liquor. so, us gals got some quality girl time together! i love hanging out with olivia…it’s always a good time chatting it up with this sweetie!

[pouting like a pro // she sure loves her sunglasses]

[olive and her ‘cheeeese’ face! zara baby clothes: pants & sweatshirt]

once the boys were back, aaron served up his delicious soup/stew {while we watched the bears game!}. it was sooooo good. it was served with a sourdough asiago bread {purchased at cute little bakery shop in evanston}. the dish was hearty, tasty, and totally filling. i was stuffed. i was already so full from the chips and guac but i couldn’t stop eating the stew. so, yes, gluttony ensued.

[cooking some soup]

[the hearty soup turned stew?]

[daddy daughter time]

[olivia is so sweet with olive]

after eating, olivia and i decided to go for a walk. we wanted to pick something up for little olive {she’s teething and her sore little gums make her grumpy} and it was so freakin’ nice out, we had to take advantage of the weather! we walked down to their local mini mart, no goods for the gal available, so we walked up north and east to the walgreen’s and got what we needed. of course, it there is a starbucks, i’m there! so we swung by and i got myself an iced coffee {decaf of course}.

we strolled our way back {totes enjoying the weather} and back to the apartment. olivia’s brother henry {who came later in the afternoon} and their friend tom was there chillin’ {both there to nosh and hang out}. once inside, i needed to nurse olive and then it was time for us to go.

it was a lovely, lovely afternoon hanging out with the great couple. it was fantastic to just chill, hang, and relax. we love these two! what a perfect day.

xoxo

mr. matt

Posted on October 16, 2014 by tandem in love

matt and i have been dodging each other for some time. ya know, life’s busy schedule has caused us to miss each other each week. so, we finally got a day to ourselves and we were able to set up a brunch date!

we decided to meet up at the bongo room. a favorite brunch spot of mine. olive and i got there first. as usual, the wait was long…ugh. not the greatest when you have a little one. matt got there a few minutes after us {looking super dapper} and we contemplated on going to another place but in the end, i preferred to keep our wait with the bongo room.

so, we strolled our way up the street to get some coffee at…guess…starbucks! you guessed right! we walked back to the restaurant and chit chatted outside until the hostess called us for a table.

i love wicker park. *sigh* it was such a beautiful day to be out and olive and i had the best time strolling around. i really do miss the city. sometimes it makes me sad. i love the density, the chaos, the culture, the hipsters, the boutiques, the ah-maze restaurants. i do feel fortunate i am able to visit it every week and that most of my friends are still living there! thank goodness for that!

[silly rabbit // striking a pose at our favorite coffee place]

[nice look olive]

we were seated in a booth…score! i love sitting in a booth at the bongo room and it’s a rarity to get one. especially if you are a party of two. well, this time we were a party of 2.5, so we scored a booth!

olive was a happy camper {for a moment} sitting in her booster and eating cereal puffs. she eventually had her super fussy moments, but more on that later. so, matt and i got down to business. matt just spurred on and on and on about life, work, life, work, life, work. i just adore him. he is such a dear friend of mine and i am fortunate that we have kept our friendship strong throughout all these years.

we were set to order, he was a good boy and ordered a salad; whereas i was a bad girl and ordered the oreo pancakes. so decadent, sweet, and delicious. annnnndd, a side of bacon. duh! of course i did! my post pregnant hips and tummy protested but my taste buds won the fight. so, yes. i consumed the monstrous pile of sugar and fat. mmmmm, every bite was well worth it. hee.

[such a cool interior]

[decadent]

during lunch, olive was getting super, super fussy. baby girl skipped her morning nap {mistake! huge mistake} and started to have a fussy meltdown. she whimpered and cried. she was. so. tired. she threw everything on the floor, shrieked, and rubbed her eyes.

unfortunately our brunch date was short lived. i wanted to hang out longer but olive disagreed. matt and i said our goodbyes and parted ways on this gorgeous day. i quickly nursed olive in the car, put her in the car seat, and before the car even moved, she was out. she passed right out. thank goodness! she definitely needed her much delayed shut eye. and that was the ending of our brunch date with mr. matt.

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: friends

slow-cooking

morning brunch

brunching with kimberly

marina’s little sprinkle gift

the usual

andrea’s birthday

flashback friday

abbey

city living

mr. matt