hc told me one night that our friend jody was going to be playing with his band an upcoming saturday night. he asked if i wanted to go…hello! of course! we haven’t really hung out with lisa and jody in awhile {besides pete and ken’s wedding, but that was a whirlwind} so i was totally game on hanging out with them; besides that, i wouldn’t want to miss out on jody playing the drums!
they were playing at a bar called bannerman’s later in the evening. we got ourselves ready and headed out for some fun. the bar wasn’t too far away, i thought it would take longer to get out there but it definitely was out in the land of strip malls and who knows what!
when we got there, the whole gang was already drinking it up! hc met lisa and jody when he lived on ‘the bend’. these two are definitely a fun bunch. they have always been so welcoming with their home, they throw the best parties, and are seriously very kind people. plus, lisa is an amazing cook! she always had something yummy at her house or could whip up something tasty in a nano second. we totally miss seeing them on a weekly basis!
of course, as soon as we got there, a round of shots were ordered!
[shots!]
it was mainly lisa’s side of the family there supporting jody and his band. hc is pretty close to lisa’s nephew, travis. a totally fun, crazy guy.
[travis and hc]
[jody on the drums]
[lisa, me, and taylor]
[jody singing! such a great performer]
we ordered drinks and food. danced along to all the songs they were playing. did a lot of catching up with the group. we couldn’t believe lisa’s daughter, taylor, is now 21! how crazy! i remember her just starting high school and now she’s having a beer with us! my how time flies.
[ahhhhh, are we drunk?]
after noshing and imbibing all night, we had to call it quits. we had to get home to the babysitter! we seriously had a great time. hc and i don’t get out much, by ourselves, so we throughly enjoyed being out with friends, drinking, and having a good time!
[travis, hc, and jody]
before jody started his second set with the band, we said our goodbyes and headed home. we really did have a great time out but it always feels so great to go home; the comfort of our place is the best and we get to sneak peek at our presh little babes fast asleep. the greatest reason to come home to!
our morning started off very sweet. olive and i had our wonderful snuggle session and after that, i got a lot done around the house while olive played in the living room. cleaning and organizing, two of my favorite things to do {yeaahh, that’s right…boo ya}.
i put her down for her morning nap {as usual, she went down later than expected} and after she woke, we scurried on our way to meet dana for brunch. we were cruising but as soon as we hit the city, traffic was a mess. they closed down part of congress, so we had to detour down michigan ave. {yuck!!}. who the heck would ever drive down michigan avenue if you had a choice?! what a hot mess. we slooooowly drove down the avenue until we hit lsd. phew. finally! once we were on lsd, we cruised to our destination.
we had decided on brunch at mhenry’s. oh, how i love this place. it’s yummy and good. it’s a quaint little restaurant tucked away in andersonville. they seriously have the best pancakes {ok, it’s tied with the bongo room}, amongst other delicious breakfast/lunch items.
i parked the car and we ran towards the restaurant {eekkk! we were so late!}.
finally, we were reunited with our darling dana! we settled in and excitedly started our gab session. dana was so happy to see olive! she’s not a baby person at all but she adores little miss olive. so much so, we joke around how olive is really her baby ’cause dana loves, loves asian babies {well, at least, in this case half asian!}.
[my cutie pie]
i was totally feeling like an egg and bacon breakfast. so, a tasty omelet was in order. it also came with potatoes and fruit. annndd to wash it all down, i had ordered a mix of orange and grapefruit juice {my favoreeete, yum}.
[orange/grapefruit juice, leeks/dandelion/ scallion omelet, and a side of bacon]
[oh, she’s soooo silly]
well, here came the real test. dana has been so jelly of kt + kar‘s connection with the babes. olive, from the get go, has loved being in their arms and totes lets them hold her. hmmm, dana, not so much. every time, i mean every time dana has tried to hold miss olive, she has had a melt down. click right here and here for some proof.
after brunch, dana was ready to go. she was ready for the challenge. she was ready to hold miss olive and not have her cry! i passed little o over and ta da!! magic. miss olive was calm as could be. dana was super delighted and happy to be holding olive without her crying! so, of course, i went picture cray. yay! her bad spell had passed and olive was a happy babes in her arms!
[dana sUPer ecstatic that she is holding o and o isn’t crying!!]
[closing the place down]
[yum fresh baked cookies…i got mexican wedding cookies for myself and chocolate chip for dana!]
after brunch, we had a bit of time, so we walked over to gethsemane to peruse some of their flowers, plants, and october goodies. i wanted to get a head start with some fall decorating, so dana and i picked out a few fun pumpkins for the house.
[going to gethsemane flower shop]
after walking around the beautiful garden center, i purchased a bunch of cute little pie pumpkins {plus some white, some striped, and some gourds} and we parted ways. dana needed to get herself to a jnf meeting and i needed to get home {and olive needed her afternoon nap!}. it was a wonderful and successful afternoon spent with our darling dana. olive is her new bestie and we can’t wait to see her again soon!
olive got to see her pink aunties. yay! olive and i had a late start {as usual!}. she woke up later and napped late, so therefore we were behind! as any mom knows, getting out of the house with one kid {let alone two, three, or more kids!} can get hairy. i remember the days when i could wake up, get ready, leave early, and just chill. now it’s always rush, rush, rush because i’m always late!
thank goodness traffic on the ike was light. we cruised down to the city and got to the restaurant in no time. we met the ladies inside and gleefully got hugs all around. karen and katie are baby crazy. well, probably kar just a little more than kt. as soon as we walked in, karen cooed and ahhh’d over olive. it’s too presh. i love how they dote on her and olive loves it back.
[breakfast of champions…olive’s cereal puffs]
[karen playing with olive and her teddy bear]
karen played and played with olive. baby girl soaked it all up. kar was olive’s new best friend. they giggled together, laughed together, and smiled together. olive loved watching karen, anxiously waiting for her next funny move that would entertain her.
2sparrows was industrial inside. it was cool looking and the menu options sounded delicious! i really, really wanted to get the maple bacon doughnut for hc but {boo} he was still traveling. and that meant it would not be fresh, so that was a no.
i was really feeling a classic breakfast. so eggs, toast, and bacon were in order. the bacon was perfectly crispy, the eggs over easy were cooked just right, and the toast was thick and hearty. i was loving every bite.
[eggs over easy, bacon, and greens]
all through brunch, karen was picture cray cray. she snapped and snapped pictures of olive like she was the freakin’ paparazzi! she seriously got the best pics of her though!
after brunch, we decided to do some errands with karen. we hit up party city for some birthday supplies {her friend’s birthday!} and possible halloween costume ideas. we played around with wigs, we put fun things on olive’s head, and picked out some cool birthday decor for karen’s friend.
[hanging out at party city]
after perusing for quite some time, we finally settled on some fun choices and checked out. kar and kt were going to continue on with their afternoon shopping but me and the babes decided to call it quits. it was close to her afternoon nap and i knew she would knock out in the car and get a good one in, so off we went!
it was a fun afternoon with these two lovies. olive absolutely adores her two pink aunties! they are so sweet and loving towards her. until next time my ladies!
carol and ted just celebrated their anniversary a couple of weeks ago and it made me think about what a great time their wedding was! they were married at lake forest academy, a beautiful, beautiful place! it was a perfect day, the weather was warm and sunny, the ceremony was perfect, and the reception was a blast. don’t we all look so tan and fresh in this photo?!
[jaime, pam, marina, carol, and moi…we are missing, from the picture, the other bridesmaid kelly]
carol and i have been friends for years. to date, we have been friends for about 29 years?? omg…does that just age me?! ok, just keeding. we’ve been friends for only 20 years and we met when we were just wee little ones at 5 years old 😉
we were neighbors and our families still live in the same houses! our infamous first meeting is still talked about with lots of laughter. just ask carol about the monkey bars…hahaha!
carol and i have been through everything together. we met at such a young age and have grown up together with life’s ups and downs. we went to middle school and high school together. i was probably at her house more than i was at my house! her parents would call me the other daughter. when she came home from college and switched schools, i practically lived at her apartment in chicago that she shared with jaime and amber.
although she currently lives in seattle with her husband and two beautiful children, we remain close as ever. friends for life, friends forever. or how bout best friends forever. whatever cliche statement you want to say, it fits. i’m lucky to have such a wonderful, longtime friend in my life!
having a friend like this is hard to come by. reach out to a close friend and say hi today. life is too short to let simple, meaningful gestures like that pass you by! happy friday y’all!
we were super excited to have a date with kim and brady! olive had a fun playdate with mr. jett recently and now she’s on her second date with mr. brady!
it was definitely long overdue. the last time we saw brady and kim, was when brady was 5 months old! so, we were looking forward to having a fun day with the both of them.
we packed ourselves up {after a long morning with olive…she went down for a late nap and boom! we were behind schedule} and headed on the road. it was a long ways to get to kim’s house. her and mikey just bought a house way up north {about 43 miles from our home}! i was super excited for them…we know the gleeful, satisfied, wonderful feeling of owning your own home, so we couldn’t wait to see it!
we pulled up to the beautiful brick front home and i pulled olive out of the car, walked up to the door, and rang the bell. i was greeted by bruster, kim, and cutie brady! yay! i pulled olive out of her car seat and she immediately started to explore her new surroundings. it was total cuteness overload! as olive crawled around, brady followed. they were curious about each other, although olive seemed more curious and intrigued by all the fun toys!
[housewarming gift & brady’s birthday present]
[helloooo…we haven’t seen each other since i was two mo. old and you were five mo. old!]
[brady was so cute…he’d walk to his chair and plop down like a little cool dude]
[such a little sweetheart]
brady was soooo sweet. he would give me hugs and kisses. i was in love! too adorbs. he’d walk up, just fall into my arms, and give me smooches. it was beyond presh. moments likes these are to die for! these babes are soooo stinkin’ cute.
kim had ordered and picked up lunch for us {at a place down the street from her}! so kind! we immediately started chatting up a storm. oh, there was so much to catch up on. our houses, our kids, the days of our lives 😉 brady and olive were having a swell time playing together. olive was so fascinated by all of brady’s toys! baby girl only has 1/10th of what brady has! so she was in play heaven!
we gabbed for quite a bit when i realized we had ordered food and hadn’t eaten yet! so kim and i ‘sat down’ to eat. i had ordered the breaded portobello mushroom sandwich and fries. it was delicious but a bit hard to eat with olive in my arms and i’m feeding her cereal puffs! so i forked the mushroom apart, left the bun, and gobbled on the fries. yum.
[breaded mushroom sandwich and fries]
[my cheeky babes]
[the beautiful momma and the handsome babes]
[brady gets so mesmerized by the tele!]
[we couldn’t get a proper pic of brady because he was glued to the movie! so adorbs // pic by kim]
[pic by kim]
[pic by kim]
[pic by kim]
[we both so wanted a pic with the two babes sitting in the chair together…this is all we got!]
[mommy selfie!]
we hung out with them all afternoon {and could have hung out longer, but i’m always on a schedule with olive, and i like to coordinate her naps with car rides 😉 }. we had such a fun, relaxing time. we talked, we chilled, and reveled in all of life’s happenings. it was pretty awesome to be able to just chill in her new house and have our kids running amuck with no worries!
i love kim! just like jodi, our lives are so parallel in major milestones. dating, engagements, marriage, and children! we have been able to connect with so many wonderful events in our lives throughout the years of knowing one another. we feel blessed to have them in our lives!
well, it was another successful date! olive and brady had a grand ‘ol time playing together! i’m hoping it’s not as long of a time in-between before we see each other again! as soon as olive and i drove off into the sunset, baby girl passed out in her car seat and took a good, long nap 🙂
today takes us back to a loooong time ago. oh, gosh. i can’t remember what year this was taken. probably 10 years ago…2004? give or take a year. unfortunately, this photo isn’t dated and it’s so pixelated {excuse the blurriness}.
rebecca and i are bridesmaids at a wedding. yes. a wedding. we are wearing long black gowns, black hair flowers, fingerless red netted gloves, and {fortunately you can’t see here} black satin chokers. bex actually took her choker off {smarty}.
oh, becky. b. bex. rebecca. we are long time friends. connected through high school. bonded through college. united through life’s ups and downs throughout these years. we would cross paths as we got older, we would drift through months and months and not see each other, we would reconnect from time to time and everything would feel the same.
life has taken us down some crazy paths {i’m gonna say more b than me} but rebecca and i now sit on similar roads. she’s currently in seattle with her husband and two beautiful little girls {ruby & wren…pretty awesome names, right?!}! i am settled in dg with my husband and our beautiful little olive. we are such family ladies now! life has really changed for us {for the better, duh!} and we are dedicated to raising our wonderful little girls and committed wives!
i am blessed to still have this sassy, fabulous lady in my life! she is one of a kind, unique, smart, lovely, sweet, and fun. i do love, love this picture of us {and yes, i mainly have blond hair highlights}. it captures our personalities so well. spunky, sassafrass b and who gives a crap me.
i hope you take a moment to connect with an old friend or recall a fun, wonderful memory that makes you smile. happy friday y’all!
here we are at my bachelorette fete. it was hosted by olivia, carol {who couldn’t make it}, and andrea, at andrea’s place in wicker park. it started out in the early evening at her place, everyone gathered there for apps {tasty bites prepared by olivia} and socializing. it was a breakfast at tiffany’s theme {i wasn’t aware of the theme until i got there! how cool}, so all the gals wore black dresses, pearls, and sunglasses…so fun! they even got me a tiffany’s blue box with a white ribbon cake {from alliance bakery}!! so sweet, literally!
carol had sent, from seattle, some cute photo booth props and we were having a grand ‘ol time with it! as you can see, thuy and i are loving it. we played around a bit with the fun props, snapping photos with our phones. but then andrea and olivia really surprised me with an impromptu photo session! they had hired a photographer to come in to do a mini ‘fashion’ shoot with everyone! that was so awesome {maybe a future flashback friday post?!}. the photos turned out fantastic and what an awesome way to capture a fun moment in my life!
anyhoo, i had the most amazing time at my bachelorette party! it was an evening full of wonderful friends, family, delicious food {yum, sea dog – my other favorite sushi place}, entertainment, hitting the bars, drag queens, and fun little games {it’s not complete without a panty guessing game!}! what a bachelorette party should be, celebrating the last few days of me being a single lady {yes, he put a ring on it}!
[i love this pic of me and thuy!]
i hope your weekend is filled with lots of hugs and kisses and love, lovies. happy friday y’all!
there was so much going on {ya know, life!} between me and jodi, we were lucky to finally set up a brunch date together!
my morning started off swell but the rain really, really put a damper on my start out the house! ugh, yucky rain…when it does rain, oh my, it slows everyone down on the road {more on that later}.
first off, i thought it was going to be warm out. nope. i walked outside and turned around to change my outfit, again. it was chilly! so that slowed me down. i was constantly forgetting something of olive. oy vey. whether it was her toy, her snacks, or her {just kidding!}, that slowed me down. well then, i was already having a late start out the house and i needed to do a few errands before i met up with jodi. no bueno already.
i knew i was going to be late, so i text jod to give her the heads up. of course, traffic was sloooooooww. everyone drives like there is ice on the streets! hello. it wasn’t even raining anymore but the trouble it causes! so, as i made my way into the city, inner city traffic was just as bad. i needed to hit river north to stop by my salon to pick something up. then i needed to make my way into lincoln park to pick something up from boka. that. took. forever. i finally made it to the restaurant, wishbone, just a few minutes after jodi and jett showed up!
then the cuteness began! they were soooo adorbs together. jett kept saying ‘baby! baby!’. then he wanted to hold her hand. *sigh* you just wanted to melt looking and listening to these two babes. cutie jett wanted to give olive all his food…which of course, olive would take in a heart beat but she wasn’t allowed to eat it. i’m going to wait a bit before i feed olive tortilla chips 😉
[they were just toooooo adorbs together!!]
[scrunchy face]
jodi and i immediately started to catch up on all the latest news. i was super duper excited for her and matt, they had just bought a house! our lives have been almost mirror images of one another, just months apart in succession. she got engaged, then i got engaged, she got married, then i got married, she got pregnant, then i got pregnant, i bought a house, then she bought a house. we love sharing our experiences together and celebrating the good bits and working out the tough ones.
[our two cuties!]
we made sure we perused the menu and decided on our orders before we dove deep into our conversations. i chose the yankee scramble…it was soooo delish! and the bacon was amaze {amaze}. there was so much food, i couldn’t finish it all or rather, you shouldn’t eat this much food?!
[sooooo good]
after eating and talking for an hour or so, we packed up our things and headed out. jodi and jett had a commitment to attend to in the ‘burbs and i had olive’s doctor’s appointment down the street.
it was too cute, jett really wanted to push the stroller so push he did! we were in stitches on how stinkin’ cute it was to see him push olive down the street. he couldn’t see, he had no idea where he was going with that stroller, but he sure did a great job getting that stroller down the street!
oh, it was such a cute afternoon {despite the crazy road rage to get there!} and i was super happy to have met up with jodi and cutie jett. i love these two, the little bugger is so darling!
it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon and olive and i enjoyed our sunny walk to her doctor’s appointment. i love walks, i love sunny days, and i love being with my little olive. oh happy day.
even though the planning process was quick, their wedding day was a long, anticipated wait! i was so excited this day had come!
hc and i dropped olive off at my parent’s house and we headed into the city. we went in early to set up the venue for them. i was super excited to do so…i love stuff like that! andrea and i had been in close contact during this entire planning process, exchanging ideas and thoughts around the wedding decor. she had decided to go with a map theme. since jamie currently lives in san francisco and andrea lives in chicago, it was fitting for their situation.
i volunteered to be their ‘day of coordinator’! so, with that, hc and i got there to set up her place cards, table signs, sign in table, favor table, and random decor. super easy! i was in contact with the harpist, the photographer, and the manager at the venue. making sure they were on time, able to find the place, get them paid, and making sure things were running in order. it was fun!
i had made the boutonnieres for ollie and jamie. i used feathers, twine, stamens, green twigs, and accented them both with vintage compasses. they turned out soooo stinkin’ cute! unfortunately, i should have hot glued the twine a little more because it unraveled mid way through the day 🙁 i was so sad to hear & absolutely disappointed!! the good news was that they totally got all the pics they needed! phew!
i made their favor sign and provided the paper tassels for their ceremony site. the tassels looked so pretty for the ceremony and looked magical at night during the reception.
[the ceremony site with the pretty silver, grey, and pink tassels]
[the welcome table]
[guest sign in poster with their engagement photos and book]
[place cards that hc alphabetized and i helped set up]
[the ‘at last’ banner with the map background]
[katheryn and me, excited for the ceremony!]
[me and the beautiful bride]
[favors with the ‘take me home tonight’ sign]
[with love from san francisco to chicago // a + j 8.31.14]
so, it was time. we gathered the guests to the courtyard and had them form a walkway for andrea to walk down. we didn’t plan for the sun to be so strong, so i moved the guests over so jamie, andrea, and johnathan weren’t directly in the sunlight! once all at the guests were in place, i cued the harpist and andrea and ollie walked down the aisle. so perfect!
[here comes the bride!]
[their friend, johnathan, was the officiant! so awesome]
[look at ollie! so cute]
[exchanging of vows and rings]
[husband and wife!]
once they were married, the party really began! we mingled around the cocktail area a bit more {while the delicious hor d’oeuvres were being served}, before we sat down for dinner. i was so excited for the food! boka has received michelin stars in the past and if the hor d’oeuvres were any indication how the amazing the food was going to be…we were in for a treat!
[wowza! super bling!]
[the happy couple]
[literally chillin’ at the bar]
[the beautiful ginger and gorgeous nikki flanking my hubs]
[selfie!]
[her amazing swarovski christian louboutins]
[the lovely sunset during cocktail hour]
[ginger, me, and nikki]
[selfie with ginger]
as the food was being served, in between courses, hc and i were mingling with the other guests. we were having a grand ‘ol time. it was fantastic to be able to visit with everyone and meet new people.
the first course, the heirloom carrots, were amaze. no, seriously delicious. hc was in love. but he does love cooked carrots in general. a fave vege of his. it was a lovely hearty dish that was so flavorful.
my fave…the ricotta gnudi. oh. my. goodness. i could have eaten several plates of that. i loved the bits of corn in it and the sauce was so tasty.
[heirloom carrots were amaze]
[grilled spanish octopus]
[katrine, andrea, and moi]
after the wonderful dinner, the desserts were served {hello! macarons!} and the first dance ensued. so sweet…um, referencing to both! the macarons were decadently sweet and their first dance was sweet {until by swan dive}. perfect combo.
[any wedding or occasion is not complete without macarons!]
[first dance]
[the end]
after that, the dance floor opened up and everyone got groovy on the floor. it was such an awesome time. the wedding venue was beautiful, andrea and jamie are now husband and wife, the food was amazing, and the whole night was absolutely wonderful. we had the most delightful time celebrating their sweet union.
annnnddd, wasn’t boka amazing?? what a great venue for a wedding. it was ethereal, organic, modern, and cozy. such a great pick and find to celebrate their nuptials. the staff was so accommodating and friendly, the food was beyond delicious, and the aesthetics of the restaurant were so lovely.
thank you so much andrea and jamie for letting us be a part of such a beautiful moment in your lives. we feel so blessed to have shared it with you both. many wishes to a marriage filled with love, happiness, charm, and laughter.
the time had come. it was andrea and jamie’s wedding weekend!
i was so excited. andrea had a wedding luncheon the day prior to their wedding at cantina laredo. i was looking forward to meeting some of andrea’s close friends, in for the wedding, that don’t live in town.
we felt blessed we were invited to their luncheon and their rehearsal dinner! unfortunately, our weekend was beyond busy and we opted out on the dinner. boo. no, seriously boooooo. if anyone knows me, i don’t like missing out on anything. it is rare for me to decline any events {unless it is beyond my control} and we had to pick and choose our battles this weekend, on what was best for olive. we had events afternoon and evening three days in a row {yowza}, we needed to figure out care for olive and how much time away from her we really wanted to be. so, after much babbling, the rehearsal dinner was on the chopping block. we needed that break but i am still kicking myself for us not going. like i said…i greatly dislike missing any of my friends/family events. life is way too short!
anyhoozle, i packed up olive and to the city we went {hc was golfing with the groom that afternoon while i was lunching with the bride}. i was hoping she would fall asleep…it was just a tad past her nap time when we left. unfortunately, i couldn’t put her down because we had to go, so i crossed my fingers that she would nap in the car. yup, there she went, she closed her eyes and fell asleep but unfortunately (?) the car ride was so short! we cruised to the city and she barely slept. i was hoping she would stay asleep but as soon as i stopped the car & parked, her eyes fluttered open. darn.
we strolled on in and met up with our party. andrea’s sweet mom and brother jason were there. her friend nikki had her four kids with her and there was ollie, as well! so, little olive had some buddies to hang with.
her friends from college were there, claire {who coordinated the lunch}, jean, and megan. i sat by the ladies and chatted it up with them. it was great to get to know them better, i was glad to have met some of andrea’s closest girlfriends.
[i love her hair…it’s so precious]
[poor olive…the kids loved her so but were so aggressive with her // mia, ollie, olive, conner, chase, and camden]
[andrea and nikki]
[super bling!!! andrea’s huge rock]
[i love the look on chase’s face. who loooooved olive, although olive wasn’t loving being in andrea’s arms]
there were plenty of chips and salsa to devour. i was so hungry! i had such a busy morning with olive, that i didn’t eat breakfast and i always eat breakfast! i looked over the menu and zero’d in on the crab cake eggs benedict. oh yeah! the libations were free flowing on the table and i kept olive preoccupied with her snacks.
it was too cute. i brought olive over to the kids so she could hang out. um, they mauled her! they were loving her so much it scared her a bit! the kids were petting her hair, brushing her arms, pulling on her legs, smacking her cheeks, she was so overwhelmed! poor babes! i then had to pick her up for a bit to calm her down.
[crab cake benedict]
nikki’s son chase was crazy about olive. i mean crazy in love. he was soooo beyond sweet and loving towards her. he wanted to feed her the cereal snacks and he couldn’t stop gushing about how cute she was. he stayed by her side for the rest of the luncheon. he was so adorbs with her!
[chase loved feeding olive]
[megan, claire, jean, andrea, olive, me, and nikki]
after a relaxing lovely lunch, we trekked across the street to the palomar hotel and hung out by the pool for the rest of the afternoon. it was a perfect ending to a wonderful afternoon.
i was so honored to have joined andrea and her friends and family at this afternoon event. i love weddings…it brings everyone together and builds the most wonderful bonds! i am thankful to be able to experience such great moments in my life!
[travis, hc, and jody]
