time is flying by! this year is flying by. right?! oh my gosh. september was a great month. we did a lot of dinners, hanging out with the fam, brunches with friends, and lots o’ olive time. but seriously, it’s totally flying by, like we are on the fast forward button. i really don’t want it to be cold just yet. it’s too soon! i feel like last winter just left us and fall will be a blink of an eye!
this past month, hc and i celebrated our third year anniversary, olive had many great milestones, and the weather was perfect {as perfect as september weather can be!}. we had a lot of sunny, warm days that allowed us to get out and do fun stuff like going to a farmer’s market! you could tell the seasons were about to change, although we had some great warm days, we also had our cool, cold days that were creeping up on us {a few chilly, biting cold mornings}.
september is such a great month to wrap up last minute summer activities and get in some fun outdoor stuff before the weather takes a deep turn for the cold. we officially welcomed the fall season and excitedly look forward to some fun autumn activities on our list.
[rocking out on her piano]
[motorcycle riding with bennett]
[olive in the hat grandpa gave her]
[olive mean mugging another kid at target]
[her pensive, doubtful looks]
[flea market shopping]
[hmmmm, not impressed]
[breakfast with daddy]
[hanging out in the laundry basket]
[flea market finds]
[having a blast with her sister grace // giggle fest]
[loving her double decker bus & doll]
[pouty olive]
[spelling challenge]
well, that was our september in a nutshell. it was filled with lots of fun and love. we had a swell time living it up and loving each other. i am so thankful for my beautiful girl & handsome hubby, my wonderful family, and lovely friends. life is good.
we had a low key, simple night out with the fam. i love moments like these. we can get together, have dinner, hang out, and shop! us gals can really shop. i don’t know how and why. it cannot be explained. were we born with the shopping gene?? yup, i think we were. there is such a thing as a shopping gene, right? some people are born with it and others are not. when you have the shopping gene, you can shop for hours on end. you are able to go to one store, to the next, to the next, and the next without getting bored or exhausted. yes, that is what me and my sister’s have. the unique shopping gene. 😉
well. we started out the evening with a tasty dinner at cpk. we had our usual server, our usual order, and the usual routine. the boys colored and i fed olive her dinner. hc ordered a pizza and i wasn’t super hungry {what?!}, so i ordered a bowl of soup. split pea soup…delicious, add a dash of ground pepper and it totes is a meal!
[selfie and cpk]
[chunker cheeks]
[coloring]
[my love]
[these two being silly!]
[pizza! pizza!]
we actually went shopping before dinner {because there was a wait} and before dinner ended, i ran out to pick up a few things for miss olive at babygap {a fav store of mine for the little missy}. the fam finished up at the restaurant and hc came over to tell me they were headed over to nordstrom. i made my purchases at babygap and we walked our merry way over to nordstrom kid’s shoe department. i could spot them from across the store…all three cuties had their balloon in hand!
olive was having a great time playing peek a boo with her balloon and reagan. oh, reagan. he is the sweetest with her…always doting on her and being such a great, big cousin to little olive. it is so sweet to watch. as you can see, she was all smiles!
[peek a boo]
[weeeeee! weeeeee!]
after much strolling, shopping, and a whole lotta fun, it was time to go. the usual…get miss olive home and start her nightly routine for bedtime!
having family close is the best thing. easy dinner. easy company. easy shopping partners. God bless my family and yours!
we spent a lovely afternoon in the city. first, we started off at my hair salon, michael and michael. my sisters and i usually book our appointments together. i started seeing misako before she came over to m&m salon {i don’t even remember the name of the old salon…it was on oak st. and i think that might have been it’s moniker}; hmmmmm, 15 years later, i am still getting my hair styled by her.
my sis kim started getting her hair cut by misako many years ago and only a few years ago, did thuy finally cave in and started seeing misako as well! so now it’s a family affair. we all go together and make it a daytime event.
[hanging out at michael and michael salon]
***
this time around, though, i had an agenda. i needed to exchange a hat my dad had purchased for olive. he was really bummed the one he bought was too small and asked me to exchange it. the unfortunate part?? he bought it at navy pier. ugh. i dislike going there! especially on a saturday! the worst day ever to go to navy pier!
anyhoo, it was our mission, so after i got my haircut, we all headed over to navy pier to exchange the hat. we contemplated the idea of pulling the car over and i was to run in but that deemed to be an impossible feat. so, we were going to make it the best afternoon ever at tourista navy pier!
we walked around and finally made it to the area where they have all the little kiosks. we found the little hat stand and traded in olive’s hat for a bigger size. success, although olive wasn’t very happy with us putting different hats and sizes constantly on her little noggin’. or rather, her big noggin’ 😉
we then perused a few different shops, when grace asked if we could eat at bubba gump restaurant. ha! of course we had too. it’s freakin’ navy pier!
[checking out one of many fun shops]
[honestly, i am not sure what grace is doing…]
it was actually a really long wait, so we put in our name and decided to do some more shopping. before we did, we fed little miss olive. she’s so silly…she constantly makes the funniest faces when she eats. so cute! after shopping for a bit, we rounded back to the restaurant and finally got seated!
[funny faces while eating]
[trying to take a cute photo together. uhhhh, she wouldn’t stop putting the stroller cord in her mouth!]
[at bubba gump restaurant]
well, what do you get at bubba gump restaurant?? shrimp, of course! i ordered the southern shrimp, hc got the shrimp sampler, and grace got the fish n chips. the service there is always so fast and very friendly. everyone is so nice there!
our server actually quizzed us on the movie and we got all the questions right! ha! we love the movie forrest gump! she asked us: besides, jenny, who were forrest’s two best friends? which three presidents did forrest actually meet? which leg did lt. dan lose? of the three presidents that forrest met, what did he say to one of them right when he met him after drinking his favorite drink? what is forrest’s favorite drink? hmmm, i think those were all the questions she asked?! that was really fun when she did the quiz!
[rich’s margarita coronita]
[southern shrimp]
[shrimp galore]
after eating, we headed out. it was a great day, starting off with my sisters and me finally getting my mane freshened up! woo! we really did enjoy our day together as a family, at navy pier. it’s always fun for grace and it was great to be able to have a low key, relaxing day together in chicago.
thuy and i decided to head over to our sister kim’s place to have dinner and finally give her the birthday gift we forgot to give her on her birthday 🙂 it was a bit of a cooler evening {signs of fall coming!}, we were on our way to their place and picked up some indian {yum} food along the way. i love naan. obsessed with naan. it’s so good!
once we got there, bennett and reagan were so excited olive was there. right away, bennett started to play with little olive. reagan was soon done with his bath and joined in on the fun. they are so cute together. i love watching them play together. they are so sweet and loving with her. it melts my heart and brings me such joy knowing that they get to grow up together.
we got down to eating. i was so hungry! there were so many delicious dishes to choose from, i nibbled a little bit of everything. then all my nibbling turned into a very full, overstuffed belly!
after dinner, i asked kim for a sippy cup with a straw. olive has never tried sipping from a straw. yes…it wasn’t at the top of my list of things for her to do. we started to give her water from a bottle several months ago, then we graduated into a sippy cup, but we have never tried a straw. success! she sipped with enough force to draw the water up from the cup!
[first time sipping from a straw!]
[she loves her sunnies {i wear my sunglasses at night} and her louis vuitton]
so, we got down to kim opening her gifts. of course the boys helped her! after kim finished up with her presents, she went into her room and came running out with a pair of shoes for olive. they were lovely, little straw sandals with pink flowers on top. we put them on olive and she was not fond of them!! all summer long, i have had her barefoot. she doesn’t walk and it was too warm for her to have anything on her feet. i found the idea of her having shoes to be wasteful. with that, she didn’t like them on her feet and she kept pulling on them to try to get them off her feet!
[birthday gifts]
[hmmmm, paper…i love paper]
[look ma! it’s louis!]
[like niece, like auntie]
[olive, do you like auntie kim’s bootie??]
[oh baby olive was gifted with shoes, from her auntie, as well!]
[olive standing up on her own!]
well, it was a very relaxing, very low key night with the fam. we had a great time just hanging out and reveling in baby olive’s antics, as usual!
we crossed off two summer to do’s on our list! we attended a concert in the park and then some.
we met up with my famille in downtown hinsdale. it was a beautiful evening. hc and i parked up the street, south of the tracks, and walked our way towards the park. it was a lovely, leisurely, short stroll. there was a band playing there called 7th heaven. apparently, way, way, way back in the days, they were an opening band for bon jovi.
my sister had already popped a squat by the fountain and we made our way back there. everyone started to gather within the hour. terry came by, then mike and sam, thuy, then helen and gabrielle! we mingled around a bit; the boys eventually went towards the booze and food area to grab us some grub and drinks.
[seventh heaven was the band]
olive was out. she fell asleep in the car {she was a tired little peanut…she didn’t have much of any naps that day} and was zonked out with all the craziness and noise around her. she finally awoke an hour later and everyone got a chance to dote on her!
[baby girl fell asleep and slept through all the noise]
we were relaxing, enjoying our surroundings, and reveling in the wonderful weather and temps. then it was time for me to break out some bubbly {uh, no, not that kind of bubbly!}! the boys were so excited! they went nutty over the bubble guns and so did the kids around them. they were like pied pipers with these bubble machines! wherever they were, the kids followed and surrounded them to break all the bubbles and break out in sweet giggles!
[sisters, olive, and helen]
[we were watching the train roll by as we were leaving the park]
it was getting late {late by baby standards} and we had to go. it’s always this: leave early, get olive home, give her a bath, feed her, and put her down…all by 9pm, every night.
we walked our way back to the car {such a beautiful night!} and as we were crossing the tracks, a freight train rolled by! we stopped to watch the train go by…olive wasn’t very impressed. so move along we did. we got home, scurried around, and everyone got settled and snuggled in.
it was another fabulous summer evening with friends and family! yay to warm weather! we love you!
my sisters and i teamed up together and threw b his fifth birthday party!
wow, i can’t believe it’s been five years since this little guy was born into this world to brighten our lives! my how time flies! b is so sweet and playful and thoughtful. i love his curious questions and backward hugs. we couldn’t wait to celebrate his special day!
kim and thuy had been planning it for some time. they accumulated party paraphernalia throughout the month and slowly came up with some really cute party ideas. b wanted a construction party and, boy, did he get one!
the day before the party, kim, thuy, and i got together to prep and plan for the fete. we organized, fluffed, stickered, and unwrapped everything. there was so much to get done! we worked into the wee hours of the night to prep as much as we could.
the next day was game time. everyone worked really hard to put the party space together. hc set up all the tables, kim and thuy worked on the decor. terry picked up the food. slowly but surely, the party came together and it all looked so stinkin’ cute!
before the guests arrived…hc and i wanted to present little b with one of his birthday presents. hc worked really hard on it and we were really excited to give it to bennett! hc pulled it out to the backyard and we had b walk out to it. it was a success! he loved it! his own little wooden dump truck…so cool. hc is the greatest uncle evah!
[the boys in their matching shirts]
[the birthday day boy going out to see his surprise gift from uncle rich]
[his handmade dump truck from uncle rich!]
[birthday boy and uncle rich]
[centerpiece]
[the p’s and the hostess with the mostess]
[home depot aprons/favor ‘bags’]
[yellow and black poms]
[truck piñata]
[favor table]
[favors]
[the boys and the truck]
it was party time and the guests started to arrive. there were plenty of libations for everyone and little popcorn snacks to munch on. as the guests strolled in, if hc could, he would grab them for a house tour!
[auntie lynne and cousin patrick]
we had craft tables for the kids. where they could draw, color, and build structures with popsicle sticks. it was quite a hit with the creative little ones.
[the craft and arts table]
[grace being the best cousin ever and pushing b around in the truck!]
[jana, sonny, angel, tricia, thuy, and olive]
[me and my awesome brother dan]
[avery and lan]
the first game of the party…pin the flag on the construction bennett! the kids excitedly lined up, we blind folded them one at a time, and they gingerly walked towards the poster to pin their flag! it was so amusing to watch them, they tried so hard and i know some of them were peeking out from under that kerchief! ha!
[pin the flag on the construction bennett]
after some games {there were hula hoops, golfing, and crafting going on}, we went inside to prep the food for everyone. kim and terry ordered from uncle bub’s {pulled pork, coleslaw, and mac n cheese} and my mom whipped up some of her specialty dishes {a vegetable noodle dish and egg rolls}, we cooked up some hot dogs for the kiddies and we were set to go!
everyone slowly made their way in to grab some grub. we all sat down outside {a warm but humid day} and enjoyed our meals.
[manger!]
[auntie thuy and olive]
after eating, we decided to take down the piñata! the kids got so jubilant when we called it out. they lined up and one by one, were blind folded, spun around, and wildly aimed and swung at the piñata. oh these kiddies! no one was making a true dent on that poor truck. so, they all took turns again and finally the piñata busted down! the kids dove for the candy! it was so funny to watch, they filled their little home depot aprons up with their treasures.
[piñata time!]
[it took many tries but the piñata finally broke!]
i went inside to serve the birthday cake! i had fashioned it with a bunting, dump truck, and ‘dirt” {kim’s idea find!}, we lit his candle and presented him with the decadent concoction. we sang happy birthday and served the delicious cake…we also had lan’s amazing paintbrush rice krispy treats and lynne’s yummy m&m cookies, sooooo good!
[party napkins]
[rice krispy paint brushes by lan!!!]
[chocolate dump truck birthday cake!]
[love, love the cake!]
[jana and gary’s adorb kids]
[helen and baby olive]
[happy 5th birthday bennett!]
[singing happy birthday!]
[reagan and sam]
[sisters]
[the boys being silly!]
[gabrielle and helen]
[kevin and lisa]
[my two loves]
the party started to wind down and people were slowly trickling out. as the night enveloped us, bennett wanted some of his favorite songs to be played, one of them being gangnan style. i was inside cleaning up when i walked out back to the dance party! it was hilarious! grace and i became the back up dancers while bennett danced and lip-synced to the words. it was toooo cute and fun!
[bennett dancing to gangnam style with his back up dancers…lol]
[the party winding down in our living room…p.j’s were on! well, at least on olive]
after i quickly cleaned up the place {i’m quite the quick professional cleaner}, i bathed olive and got her ready for bed. the guests were gone and our family lingered behind. the cousins all gathered in the living room to relax with their favor loot and hang out together.
it was quite the successful evening. a fun, cool party, awesome decor, tasty food & drinks, amazing friends and family, and some really good, fun memories created! we throughly enjoyed hosting the party, it was a spectacular time!
the past couple days off i have had, i was prepared with the idea of me and olive spending it together. but we have been blessed and surprised with hc’s presence the last few times! that really makes us happy!
this morning, hc came back to bed and announced he was spending the day at home, he wanted to spend it with his family 🙂 i love having days off together. it’s so rare since our schedules are so opposite! olive woke up and we played with the little one in our bed for awhile. i then got ready, hc made coffee, and we relaxed. we did our usual morning routine. olive wakes, olive feeds, olive plays, and then olive naps for an hour or two. once olive awoke, we headed out to enjoy our beautiful day.
we chose to go to 2toots restaurant, in downtown glen ellyn. it’s a fun kid’s restaurant that serves your food on a train! so cool. we parked and walked our way to the place. it’s a kitschy little place with lots of adults and lots of kids. actually more kids than adults. we got a highchair for miss o {yeahhhh, i wiped that thing down good} and perused the menu.
[2toots train whistle grill]
[don’t mind her teenage mutant ninja turtle tattoo on her arm…courtesy of cousin reagan]
i ordered the grilled cheese and hc ordered a burger. we played with olive, enjoyed our surroundings, and talked about our lives together. we are a good happy bunch. i love my hubby charming and i love my baby girl. life is really good.
[here comes the food!]
[yummy grilled cheese and fries]
[cheeseburga]
[sophie and pie hanging out]
[vintage posters]
after our lunch date, i wanted to check out a store we drove by, on our way there. we didn’t have much time because, although hc took the day off, he still had to jump on some conference calls that day. of course, what caught my eye as we were driving through was a paper store! i love all things paper!
we walked from the restaurant to the paper store, papier girl. it was sunny out so we put olive’s sunglasses on. oh my goodness. she looked soooo stinkin’ cute! oh, i couldn’t get enough of her in these sunglasses. and the little diva was working it!
[such a funny lady, she’s working it!]
[such a ham]
once we got to the paper store, i browsed around for a bit and hc decided to sit outside on the bench with olive to watch for ‘chicks’. lol. i snapped the cutest pic of them through the store window!!!! i finally decided on some purchases {hc signed for me to hurry up!} and we went on our way home.
[daddy and olive waiting outside for mommy]
oh what a glorious day! we were sooo happy to have spent the morning and afternoon with hc. i love summer! and i love summer days off even more with my two favorite peeps!
my uncle khai came to visit this past week!! i was so excited to see him. it was a surprise to me, i knew they were traveling around the area but i didn’t know they were stopping by. i love my uncle khai, i have very fond memories as a kid with him.
my most favorite? when we were living in lisle {in our townhouse} and uncle khai was visiting and we were in the dining room, playing funky town on a 45. yesssss, on a 45. for those of you who are ‘older’, ya know what a 45 is! we were boogying to some great tunes and having fun together.
we wanted to order pizza but i wouldn’t let uncle drive…i told him he wasn’t old enough or able to {um, i literally was a child & yes, he was old enough to!}. it’s funny how we think as kids {not making sense at times!} and i clearly remember thinking what i was saying was right! i was steadfast in my stance. the pizza place {little caesar’s} was up the street, only a few minutes away. so, i made uncle khai walk with me. we walked up the street {maple ave}, waited in the front the of the pizza place, got our order, and walked home to enjoy our dinner with my sisters!
[it’s great seeing a picture of us together…our facial structures are so similar!]
this time around, uncle khai came with his husband, don {partners for 26 years!!!}, and their friend chow {from bejing!}. they were driving cross country, visiting major landmarks around the states. they popped by chicago {don had several conventions downtown for the week} and stayed up at my parent’s house for the week. we were able to visit with them several times during their stay {hello…my parent’s are a minute away!} and catch up. i love them! they are such a great couple and i love talking with them.
these are moments i wish i would have spent more time learning sign language. it would be a lot easier to communicate with khai and don. you can only talk very loudly to a certain extent and have them read lips so much! communication does get lost but fortunately they have acclimated to us better than we have to them, being deaf.
[uncle khai and olive pouting together, don’t mind her double hair flowers. courtesy of auntie kim]
did i mention i love my uncle khai? it was absolutely fantastic seeing them and we hope we will see them soon! we have to get ourselves out to cali very soon! to visit my uncles and visit my brother huy!
i was super excited to find out that oakbrook was hosting movies on the green! i immediately texted my sisters to let them know about it. we agreed on hitting the event on the first night. engaging in this qualified us to check off another fun activity on our summer list!
oakbrook erected a forty foot screen to host this event every wednesday throughout the month of august. the first wednesday was despicable me 2. i sped home to pick up miss olive from mary’s house {my awesome daycare neighbor!}, i had to change clothes myself, get her solids ready, nurse her, pack the stroller, pack her bag, and speed back to oakbrook to meet up with the fam.
we got there just a tad behind the start time and we excitedly walked over to our little picnic spot. my sisters and nephews were already there, we plopped down and joined the fun. i ran over to starbucks to grab a bite to eat and then fed little miss olive her food. kim so kindly took over the act and fed olive the rest of her broccoli, potato, and chicken puree.
[excited for movies on the green!]
[i looove b’s expression towards olive]
[bennett trying to get olive to clap]
[auntie/godmother kim loving o’s cheeks]
during the movie, thuy and i took the boys to macy’s to get them some froyo. being with them is always fun and goofy! they are kids and they are boys and they are so full of energy!
thuy grabbed us some coffee from starbucks and i ordered the boys some yummy frozen yogurt.
[goofing around]
[getting their froyo]
[bennet’s red white and blue star sprinkles]
[reagan’s twist aka swirl]
we came back to our spot and enjoyed the rest of the movie. it was such a beautiful night. so many people were out enjoying a perfect evening together. it was so great to be part of a fun family event at the center. what a great idea!
[movies on the green]
[show’s over!]
once the movie was over, we trekked our way back to our cars. of course we had to make a pit stop at build a bear! reagan picked out a ninja turtle and bennett could not make up his mind! little o started to get grumpy tired, so we said our goodbyes at the store and headed our way home.
it was a great way to spend our evening. i love hanging out with my family and we are super excited oakbrook is hosting such a fun event this entire month! we can’t wait to for movies on the green next week!
