lunch with matt

Posted on June 9, 2014 by tandem in love

on my day off, i had made plans with matt to meet me for lunch. it so happened to be olive’s six month check up on this day as well.

so i packed the kids up and off we went to the city. it was a gorgeous day and traffic was light. a perfect combination. we found a close parking spot and walked our way to the restaurant. our place of choice was wishbone. hc and i love this restaurant, it’s yummy southern breakfasts are the best. matt had never eaten at this place! crazy to know because i have been eating here since the late 90’s!

[outfit of the day // zara baby shirt, cherokee pants]

we had just arrived at the restaurant when matt walked through the door. we were seated and perused the menu to decide on what to nosh on. grace went with the chocolate chip pancakes…of course {everything chocolate for her}! i chose the combo of two eggs and pancakes. yum! i devoured everything!

[wishbone]

[hanging out]

[sister love]

[eggs over easy, corn muffin, cheese grits, and pancakes]

matt and i caught up on the latest happenings in life. i’m so excited matt and johann are getting married in a few weeks. we talked about what they were planning and doing for the wedding. we seriously can’t wait! we love them and look forward to celebrating their marriage together.

after catching up and eating our delicious meals, matt walked with us to olive’s doctor’s appointment. leave it to me, again, to not even snap a picture of me and matt together! darn it! sometimes being with matt is like swirling around with the tasmanian devil! i get swept up in the whirlwind and forget my purpose!

[smirky selfie]

anyhoo, we trekked inside for olive’s check up. she was weighed and measured and then we waited. and waited for dr. perlman. she finally came and examined my little girl. all was good! i love dr. perlman…she is the sweetest and smartest lady! she is so wonderful with olive.

after her time with the doctor, we waited a little bit longer and then the nurse came in to give little olive her shots. yikes. baby girl had no idea. she was playing and smiling like a champ until the nurse came in and stabbed her twice! she shrieked and then got over it. awww, my cutie.

[at the doctor’s…not her favorite place but was definitely preoccupied and happy for a moment!]

we left the office and walked our way back to the car. i must admit, much to hc’s dismay, i am terrible with paying the meter. sometimes i do, sometimes i don’t, and most of the time i don’t repay, so there is the chance of me getting a ticket for an expired meter sticker!! eekkk. i do it all the time. so, as were walking back, i had no idea when the meter sticker expired! ha! that didn’t stop me from making a pit stop at starbucks with the kiddies!

[i think i have a starbucks problem]

we made a restroom stop, ordered drinks, and made our way to the car. not without forgetting the louis vuitton diaper bag at the starbucks! omg. we were at the car {no ticket btw…and it was expired by 45 minutes…hehehe} and i was ready to put olive into the car when i looked around and screamed, “omg, we left the diaper bag at starbucks!”. thank goodness is was only across the street! grace ran back in and grabbed it. phew!

besides forgetting to snap a picture of me and matt together and forgetting the diaper bag at the starbucks, our afternoon together was absolutely wonderful!

xoxo

tashina and famille

Posted on June 5, 2014 by tandem in love

tashina flew in to visit her family and we were blessed to be able to meet her mom and dad! tashina’s parents actually live in st. louis, they drove up to o’hare to pick tashina up from the airport and explore a little bit around chicago.

tashina also flew in with olive’s baptism dress! we were so lucky to have her do so…she also did a ‘final’ fitting for miss olive. tashina wanted to make sure olive’s dress fit perfectly, and it did!

we hung out a bit at our house. hc walked them through our new home and our remodeling goals. after gleefully conversing amongst each other, we headed over to my parent’s house so they could meet my dad. unfortunately my mom and my sister, thuy, were at work and missed out on meeting everyone! boo.

as we were leaving, it started to rain – hard! the sky opened up and started pouring all over the earth. we all made it into our cars but not without getting soaked! then as we were pulling out of the driveway, gum ball size hail started to fall! oh my gosh! it was crazy! the hail pounded the cars and the pavement. bang, ping, bang. it was so loud. we were so afraid that the hail would dent all our cars!

we made it to my parent’s and ran inside the opened garage. we watched in awe over the hail plummeting to the ground. wow…what a change in weather. one moment is was warm and sunny and the next, it was dark and stormy! thank goodness all was well after that crazy hail storm and no damage was done.

we briefly hung out at my parent’s house, only because they had to hit the road for that long ride back to st. louis. not before we nabbed a few photos, and off they went! it was so wonderful meeting her parents. they are so sweet and kind. such great, lovely people!

[tashina and her sweet mom]

[visiting dad]

we were fortunate to get tashina back for a day, after her time in st. louis. she came back on wednesday night and we were able to briefly, again, say hi to tashina’s parents. they drove her back up here and had to do a quick turnaround to get back on the road home before dusk.

that evening, hc cooked dinner for us, we drank wine, and hung out for the rest of the night.

[olive is excited to be taking a picture]

the next day, tashina and i hung out with little miss olive. jane did take her for a walk in the morning for about an hour, during that time, tashina and i trekked our way to starbucks for some yummy coffee. we came back, and gabbed our morning away. while spending some time with olive, tashina snapped this cute little photo of her while she was playing on her mat. how adorbs.

we were so happy we were able to meet and meet up with everyone. it was definitely a fab time! thank you tashina for visiting and for giving olive such a beautiful gift! we love you and your family!

xoxo

olive’s baptism

Posted on June 1, 2014 by tandem in love

what a wonderful, beautiful day it was! it was so exciting to have olive’s baptism finally here. i was filled with so much anticipation!

i was a bit nervous if olive would get fussy. she does get temperamental sometimes {duh…like her momma!} and can get cranky. we had a lot going on that morning too. getting olive up, feeding her, getting her dressed, getting grace ready, me and the hubs finalizing our outfits, packing up our stuff, getting out the door on time, and picking up some last minute items along the way!

[olive’s beautiful, handmade baptism dress by tashina // it’s made out of french chantilly lace, silk charmeuse, and silk chiffon]

well, hc sped his way to the city, he was nervous we were going to be late, {something he never really does} and we got there on time {phew!}. our party was already there waiting outside of the church, we quickly greeted them and scurried inside so we could get olive changed into her beautiful baptism gown.

[our beautiful moms]

[could they be any cuter??]

[peonies]

[grandpa and the boys]

we changed olive into her baptism gown in the brides room {how fitting!}, left our belongings there, and traipsed our way into the church. we met up with all our guests in the front two reserved pews. everyone oohh’d and ahh’d over how adorbs olive was!

[dressing her in the baptism gown in the bridal room]

[olive in her gorgeous dress]

[generations adoring each other]

[our pretty little girl]

[prim and proper]

mass began and we started out in the procession. up went the alter boys, the liturgical ministers, us, the godparents, and then father ken. we bowed before the alter and walked up to stand beside the font. father ken came up and asked us what name do we give her and what we were asking for of God’s church today. after that, we were dismissed and walked back to our pew to be seated.

[here we go! rite of passage]

then right after the homily, we were asked to come up again to go through the rites of baptism for olive. father ken anointed her with oil, referenced the white garment, lit the baptism candle, and recited the prayer over ears and mouth.

then came the dunking moment…i chose to have olive fully immersed into the holy water. to closely replicate and reference what john the batiste did, according to the bible. during the homily, we stripped olive down and draped her in a white towel. once fr. ken finished asking the questions to the parish and us {ya know…the do we reject satan, etc.}, he reached for olive and pulled her out from the towel and fully dunked her into the font three times…in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.

[getting ready for the holy water]

[full immersion!]

olive was in good spirits! she came back safely into my arms and the cozy towel. fr. ken finished the rites, olive was announced as the newest member of the church, the parish applauded, and we were seated. it was awesome! it was such a wonderful, special moment…i was so happy to share it with our church, so excited fr. ken performed the rite, and so proud to have kim and terry as olive’s godparents.

[my dress – vintage phillip lim]

[olive’s awesome godparents, kim + terry]

[olive and her grandparents]

[auntie thuy]

[fr. ken]

after church, we walked our way to the restaurant. it was only two blocks away! it was such a beautiful day, i couldn’t have asked for better weather. the temperature was perfect and the sun was shining so brightly!

we rented out a private room at d.o.c wine bar. it was spectacular. it was such a large space, there were couches and chairs, and a fireplace. a perfect space for the kids to run around and hang out. they had set up long tables for everyone to sit and eat. the bartender was so accommodating and the food was absolutely delicious. the whole wait staff there was fantastic.

i had purchased a cake and had it redecorated to an all white buttercream frosting. i made fun toppers for olive’s cake and fashioned pretty, blooming peonies onto the top of the fluffy, yummy cake. i loved how it turned out…so whimsy and cute!

[baptism cake]

[love these kiddies]

[love these two!]

[noshing]

[family first // missy, aunt wendy, john, jane, and dick]

[my fair ladies]

[the ladies!]

after everyone downed their tasty libations, noshed on yummy eats, and filled their bellies with sweet treats…we slowly parted ways. it was such a great morning and afternoon. we had a truly wonderful time celebrating olive’s baptism with our friends and family.

we trekked our way home to get into comfy clothes and relax. after a bit, we headed on over to my parent’s for dinner and olive’s aunties showered her with more gifts! her first tiffany gifts…so spoiled! i am so thankful to everyone for all the generous gifts she received…olive is so blessed to be so loved!

[olive’s goodies]

[olive’s first tiffany gifts]

[cousin love // tiffany galore]

we seriously had the most delightful day. it was so perfect – olive’s custom made gown, the beautiful ceremony, the wonderful weather, the delicious brunch, and the best part? we were able to celebrate it with our loving friends and family. i am so thankful for both our families…we are truly, truly blessed.

xoxo

first mother’s day ~ part two

Posted on May 20, 2014 by tandem in love

soooo on sunday funday mother’s day celebration…olive and i started the day lazily lounging in bed. i love this little peanut. hc got this momma another starbucks start! we relaxed together, that morning, before we headed to parker’s for a mother’s day brunch.

[morning selfie]

[watching videos together]

[morning pick me up]

we got ready and merrily went on our way to the restaurant. we pit stopped for some beautiful flowers for the famille at the grocery store. on our way there, the babes decided to take a little nap. how cute is she?!

[nap time before brunch]

[beautiful flowers for some beautiful ladies]

we arrived at our destination. it was a madhouse inside! whoa. dan was the first to get there and then boom…everyone was there, the whole family literally trickled in within seconds! we were seated right away and ready to eat! it was a brunch buffet, so we literally sat for a minute while the server took our drink orders and then we all scurried to the buffet tables, ready to fill up our little plates.

[kir royale…favorite drink]

[our coordinating outfits // olive is in little tots long sleeve onesie, gapkids pants, and hair clip by etsy]

[buttercream topped cupcakes, it was really good!]

[olive having a moment with uncle dan]

[olive having a smiley moment with her cousin]

[celebrating moms]

after brunch, we trekked our way home for a just a second to then head back out. we took my mom to a pretty little garden center so she could pick out flowers for the yard!

[flower shopping]

after that, we headed back home to my parent’s. we relaxed for a bit there before we headed back out to our home {ya know…that long car ride home we have}! of course, more work had to be done on our house, so wasting the day away is never an option!

[coffee break with my chunker munker]

overall, it was quite an amazing mother’s day. i am thankful for my beautiful mom, my wonderful husband, and my amazing daughter.

my first mother’s day could not have been better. i am so blessed to be a mom. i am so blessed to have such a loving mother. i am amazed that it was my first mother’s day and i am in awe that this little baby is ours…making it quite a special day for me. i still cannot believe that i am mom, it’s a milestone in my life that is a dream come true.

i know that i just rambled a bit. i wish i was more eloquent about it. i have so many thoughts and wonderful feelings around this…it’s hard to capture it all in words without spewing a lot of random phrases!

God bless all the mother’s out there!

xoxo

first mother’s day ~ part one

Posted on May 19, 2014 by tandem in love

mother’s day celebrations started on saturday. i woke up to a very relaxing morning. hc and grace went out and purchased starbucks coffee for us {bonus points!}. they also arrived home with a beautiful bouquet of lilies for me {extra credit}! what a great start to my mother’s day weekend.

i was very excited for my first mother’s day! after all these years of celebrating my mom and other moms, it was my turn to revel in this day! how special and exciting. being a mom is amazing and i am in so in love with it…having had olive has changed my life completely in every positive way! so celebrating that fact was delightful in itself. it’s taken on a whole new meaning and i was feeling quite loved and blessed.

[lovely lilies]

[my gorgeous mother’s day bouquet picked out by grace and olive]

[selfies while we wait for breakfast]

continuing on with my mother’s day celebration, hc started to whip up a delicious breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and eggs. yummy! he’s such a perfect partner…always so caring and loving.

[hc starting on a yummy breakfast for this momma]

[seasoned eggs, maple sausage, and buttery rich pancakes]

after breakfast, we had a very relaxing day of doing much of nothing…ok, well i did much of nothing while hc manicured our lawn {ummmmm, that took 3 1/2 hours! whaaaaa? damn yard}.

so, relaxing i did with little miss olive by my side. we sat around, we played, she slept, and i chilled. it was quite a beautiful day…sunny and warm. my dad also made a pit stop by the house to say hi to the babes. my parents miss little olive so much all the time. thank goodness we are right around the corner! they are able to stop by anytime and pinch her cheeks!

that afternoon, miss grace so lovingly gave me a sweet mother’s day card. she’s such a doll…it was a very thoughtful card and it had the best words written inside from her. how splendid.

later on in the evening, hc made a tasty dinner of burgers and sautéed brussel sprouts. he was happily grilling our organic burgers and assembling a wonderful dinner while i downed cold, crisp, thirst quenching coronitas…ahhhh.

[my summer drink]

[onion and gorgonzola burger on a brioche bun with sautéed brussel sprouts]

after finishing up dinner and with it being a beautiful night out, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood! our first walk together since we have moved in. it was so awesome. the night was perfect, the sky was clear, the temperature was just right. we explored our delightful neighborhood…it is such a cute little area.

[a perfect evening for nighttime stroll]

after 40 minutes of walking, it was time to return back home so we could put little olive down for the night.

once we settled in, i had a nightcap of refreshing, cold, creamy coffee ice-cream! a well deserved treat for my hard day of work…being a mom is tough 😉

[a perfect nightcap…coffee ice-cream]

well, that was my first day of my mother’s day celebration. it couldn’t have been any better, i love that my husband is so kind, caring, considerate, and thoughtful. he really is the best. i am a lucky gal. i love him to bits.

he always makes every day feel like it’s mother’s day.

xoxo

hb to my dear dad

Posted on May 15, 2014 by tandem in love

we celebrated my dad’s birthday on a beautiful, sunny sunday {common theme of late…i just can’t get enough of the sunshine right now}.

we all met up at pf chang’s, in lombard, for a birthday lunch in honor of our papa. little o was having a good ol’ time in her carseat before she got a little fussy. i had to then pull her out so she can get all nosey and see what was going on around her!

we ordered apps and waited for my parents to show up {um, the guest of honor was late!}. they finally did arrive, along with my lovely o voung. i love my aunt. she’s such a sweet, sweet lady. i was so happy she was there to celebrate with us!

[selfie at the restaurant]

[wearing their favorite hockey team]

[my two loves]

[olive being all melancholy]

after lunch, we invited everyone back to our place for cake and ice-cream! yay! my parents walked my aunt through our new house as i prepped for serving desserts! i purchased two yummy, yummy cakes from whole foods. a decadent carrot cake and a sweet vanilla cake to serve. we topped off each piece with either chocolate or vanilla ice-cream. nom nom.

[party utensils…getting ready to get our cake on]

[carrot cake…it was so moist and delicious]

[happy birthday decor]

[sweet vanilla confetti sprinkle cake // moist delicious carrot cake]

[me, dan, r + b]

[blowing out the birthday candles]

[cake and ice-cream]

so i am the worst picture taker ever on this day. i didn’t get to snap a photo of everyone who joined us in my dad’s birthday celebration {ya don’t see kim, terry, my mom, aunt, or thuy} and worst so…i didn’t even snap a pic of my dad! whaaat?!

anyhoo, it was a great day to celebrate my dad’s 77th birthday. happy birthday to the best dad ever.

xoxo

happy mother’s day

Posted on May 11, 2014 by tandem in love

happy mother’s day to all the moms out there!

now that i am a new mom, enjoying my first mother’s day with my little olive,…it is such a different perspective. going through this journey has been such a life changing experience in so many wonderful ways. it is a miracle to have brought such a precious life into this world. the love you feel is immeasurable. the joy you feel is out of this world. your protective nature is in overdrive. you never realized a smile could melt your heart in an instant.

you have such great respect for all the moms out there…especially your own. i love my mom so much. i love that she raised five children, working so hard at her job, to give us a better life than hers, growing up.

i remember on those warm summer nights as a little kid, waiting up for her to come home from work. i would watch elvis movies with her while she ate her late night snack. i remember giggling and asking my mom who was cuter…elvis or dad?! my mom would smile, between her bites of white rice, and say elvis!

[my mom in vietnam, pregnant with kim!]

my mom did so much for us, sacrificed a lot to raise her children the best she could. i am so thankful for her and love her so much!

happy mother’s day mom!!!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on May 9, 2014 by tandem in love

this one takes us back to 2011. this is such a fun, sweet picture of r+ b!

we were celebrating hc’s birthday over at his parent’s house {in crystal lake} and r+ b insisted on celebrating with us as well {with them being in clarendon hills}! hey, a few miles doesn’t stop a family from missing a joyous occasion together!

so, kim pulled out some party hats, bought cake, and we tech connected via facetime and sang happy birthday to hc! it was a success!

the boys were super happy {yay!} and so was hc…he was delighted to be celebrating his birthday cross towns! how special!!! and everyone got cake…score!

this was literally a sweet memory! happy friday y’all! cheers to a fabulous weekend!

xoxo

chirp chirp…hoppy easter

Posted on May 6, 2014 by tandem in love

soooo…i’m finally getting my easter post up! woo. woo.

easter definitely was a whirlwind. being smack dab in the middle of our move, it was a much needed, forced break for us. to make it even more amazing was the fact that it was 70 degrees outside!!! so beautiful! the sunshine was wonderful and always puts me in an even better mood!

we traipsed our way downtown to zed451 to meet up with the fam for a delicious easter brunch {ah, missing the city life already}. it was the immediate famille and terry’s sister, lynne, her son patrick, and their mom barbara who joined us for this fabulous holiday!

[getting the goodies together]

[olive’s basket]

[easter bunny shoes from etsy]

[easter basket chaos // first easter bunny rattle from aunt missy]

[ta da! the final products for the kiddos!]

[my little lamb]

[ready to go!]

i really enjoyed the brunch at the restaurant, it was tasty, and very diverse in their selection of foods. their kale salad was amaze {i could have taken the whole plate to our table and eaten only that}. the cinnamon roll was sweet, fresh, and gooey. the offerings of meats were endless {brazilian steak house style}. there were lots and lots of decadent choices of accrouments to nosh on.

i love food. it makes me happy…i dislike being hungry and i will always try something new and different. i am so perplexed by people who are so steadfast in their limited, narrow choices of food. for me, life revolves around eating {savor the flavors of the earth!}, drinking, and family! there should be no limitations on ingredients, just personal exploration to really take it all in and enjoy all of your senses.

[chambray world]

[my little easter bunny]

[awesome cinnamon roll // olive with the boys, she’s staring adoringly at her uncle terry]

[sister love // bloody mary loving]

[thuy and dan]

[kim and olive // mini boden dress and tights]

[the beautiful sunshine]

[drinking beer with daddy]

after a wonderful brunch with the famille, we headed back to our house before we drove that long car ride over to my parent’s {hehe…it’s like a one minute & thirty second drive 😉 so, before we did that, we pit stopped at the home depot {we were surprised that they were open on easter}, our new favorite store, and purchased some house goods. during that field trip, our little sweet olive fell asleep…what doll.

[since we were in the middle of a move, we did a pit stop at the home depot before heading to the p’s. olive decided to nap 🙂 ]

we did an outfit change, when we arrived home, {comfy clothes, here we come} and sped our way to my parent’s house. there we had a wonderful dinner together and the kiddies received their easter baskets.

[reagan and olive]

[gift basket exchange]

[olive’s basket from kim, thuy, r + b]

[her adorbs doll // her cutie outfits]

[how cute?!]

[the aftermath]

the entire day was just wonderful. we had such a great time celebrating easter with our families! blessed be this day of love.

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on May 2, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to easter 2009 {ahhh, to be almost five years younger would be fantastic, but not less the wiser!}. hc and i had just started dating {five months prior} and kim was pregnant with little bennett. hc and i had just come back from vegas, hence the über tan i got going on {i love me a good tan but totally dislike the aging results…*sigh*}. we all had a lovely morning brunch at bin 36, a place we celebrated past easters at a few years in a row. the tradition still continues for us but at different food locales of choice.

look at us! i feel like we look the same {wishful thinking?} but different. not older but just altered styling {am i trying to say we look dated?}. ya know what i mean?!

i love hanging out with the fam. there’s nothing more comforting, relaxing, fun, and amusing than family itself.

doesn’t little r look so cute in his dapper outfit {what a handsome dude}? cheers to fun family get togethers!

[just missing mr. huy]

happy friday y’all!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: famille

lunch with matt

tashina and famille

olive’s baptism

first mother’s day ~ part two

first mother’s day ~ part one

hb to my dear dad

happy mother’s day

flashback friday

chirp chirp…hoppy easter

flashback friday