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

my little valentine

Posted on January 26, 2015 by tandem in love

so us goofy gals {okay, olive has no choice || right now|| but to be a goofy gal with me} decided to coordinate our p.j.’s in celebration of valentine’s day!

yes, corny me is getting excited for valentine’s day! i’ve been thinking a lot about what to do, what to make, when to decorate {i am hoping i have the time to squeeze in some fun stuff…it’s so precious lately}. i’m a fan of this upcoming holiday…it’s a day to celebrate love, love for your family, love for your husband, love for your significant other, love for your friends, love for your children, love all around!

alright, lots of mommy and olive pictures coming right up! we had a blast hanging out in our heart p.j.’s for the day {well, really for the evening}. i love coordinating our outfits but it’s a once in a blue moon kind of thing. i’m into that idea {love it} but i’m not into the dedication, time, and effort! i only wish i could sit around all day and think, coordinate, and buy outfits that matchy matchy. shyeah right. i’d rather put an effort in to get creative with her ensemble but sometimes that is a fail! so, typically for special occasions, i’ll whip together a cute twinnie outfit of the day.

[victoria’s secret pj’s & leveret footies]

[my funny gal]

[what am i doing in this photo? i’m not sure…chillaxin’…being pensive, or just waiting for miss olive to return to me so we can snap more pics?!]

[so sweet]

[she looks so much like her auntie kim in this photo!]

i hoped you enjoyed our twinnie outfit of the day! olive was somewhat cooperative. she’s a babes on the move, as of late. getting her to snap some decent photos is a complete challenge! i’d say we were quite successful…i’m loving our heart pajama session. anyhoo, on that note, i love valentine’s day and can’t wait to celebrate it.

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

dancing baby

Posted on January 8, 2015 by tandem in love

anything a baby does is adorable, right? anything your baby does is out.of.this.world!!! so, watching olive dance almost caused me to explode with joy. olive’s first time dancing was too cute for words {seriously}. she boogied down like a free little spirit. she was with her cousins and aunties, playing in the basement with her new christmas toys {courtesy of the aforementioned}. music was playing and everyone was dancing around; olive watched, took cues and started stepping with the rest of them!

it was so stinkin’ delightful! her chubby little cheeks, her skinny little legs {albeit her thighs}, and her fluffy hair bouncing around was cuteness overload! i die. i couldn’t stop watching it…{well, honestly i can’t ever stop watching any of her videos or her}.

oh, how i love her. she amazes us everyday and brings us so much joy. babies are the best. the first year was so full of big milestones but this past month was just as jam packed! more teeth, more cuddling, more words, more quirky personality traits coming though. it blows my mind how she listens and understands. i’ll tell her to shut the door and she does. i’ll tell her to kiss her daddy goodnight and she will walk right over to him and give him a peck on the lips. i tell her to stop or no and she immediately regresses. i tell her to grab her bunny and she will walk into the next room and come back with her favorite blankie bunny {so cute!}. i tell her to knock on the door and she obliges. now if she would only listen when i tell her to stop crying! ha! 😉

anyhoo, here’s my bebe in full swing. she’s got some moves! please sit back, relax, and enjoy her dancing tootsies!

xoxo

snow angel

Posted on January 6, 2015 by tandem in love

oh my, the first real snow of the season! it has snowed here or there {it’s actually snowed a lot of days the past few months but a very light dusting every time} but it has never really stuck around. it started early morning and kept on going throughout the day {tapering off early afternoon}.

i was so excited! i wanted olive to be outside to experience it! last year she was just a newborn {and the polar vortex was awful}, so i kept her far, far away from it all. it was just so darn cold.

well, it was pretty cold outside on this snowy day but i had to get her out! it was so beautiful out. we dressed her in layers and gleefully went outside to watch her first experience in the snow. hc put her down and she started walking around and around, staring down at the snow with the cutest smile on her face. it was so presh. so, around and around she went, occasionally looking up at us with a smirk and continuing to walk all around the driveway. we were just waiting for that moment she would lose her balance! she did quite well! she currently walks like she’s always drunk {she stumbles a lot and always falls walking on the most even of floors} and she was a champion trudging through the snow and the bumpy ground.

i didn’t put her gloves on because i wanted to see if she would touch the snow and her reaction {i know, i know…it was cold but she was literally out there for less than 5 minutes}. well, she did eventually kerplunk into the snow and she was so bewildered at the coldness! she immediately scrunched her face and was not happy. we swept her up, ran inside our toasty warm house to brush her off and she transformed back into her happy self.

[ready to experience the fluffy white snow]

[fresh snow]

[catching snowflakes on the tongue]

[annnnd we’re down]

it was pretty awesome to have her experience her first snowfall {literally}. yay to olive’s firsts. happy snow day.

xoxo

merry merry christmas eve

Posted on December 29, 2014 by tandem in love

2014

ahhhh, it was christmas eve! i love christmas eve. it’s the most wonderful time of the year! every year, it’s at my parent’s house. we gather there for food, fun, and gifts!

hc and i got ready {while olive was napping away}. i was hemming and hawing over what i should wear. i wanted to be festive and fun but i couldn’t figure out what my ensemble should be. well, i got a little dorky and totally went all cheesy chritmasy with my outfit du nuit. red and green it was. it was a bit loud, bright, and crazy but i totally rocked it like nobody’s business {no comments please}.

olive’s outfit was a bit classier. she wore ralph lauren plaid. yup, the cutest little red dress with a plaid ribbon, sparkle tights, and a red flower pin. hello, she had to match her cousin’s outfits!

once we got there, we said our hello’s to everyone and i went downstairs to see if my sisters needed help with dinner {they were chugging along quite nicely}. in-between helping with dinner, we were visiting with everyone and clinking our drinking glasses on this very merry evening.

we did a lot of goofing around, taking photos at every chance, and just relaxed. a perfect evening to sit back, unwind, and slow down from this hectic, hectic holiday season. it was pretty cool to just chill with our family. i was so tired that i actually fell asleep sitting up on the couch. what?! i never do that, like never. just ask hc. but never say never ’cause i just did!

[red and green!]

[the boys]

[cheers!]

[i found this picture quite funny. mmmmmm, wine…]

[why, yes there is a tent in the middle of the room. and santa and rudolph were visiting olive]

[super auntie thuy and olive]

[tashina actually holding olive! or i mean, olive letting tashina hold her]

[sweet baby girl]

[silly faces]

after much waiting, dinner was finally ready! yum! kim always creates the most wonderful entrees. everything is always so flavorful and delicious. we had a wonderful seasoned beef tenderloin, buttery mashed potatoes, savory mushrooms, corn, brussel sprouts, and a crisp, fresh kale salad. it was all so tasty and good!

[christmas tablescape]

[dinner place cards]

[matching ralph lauren plaid outfits]

after dinner, our little elves changed into their pj’s. oh so cute. could this be any more adorbs?! we, of course, went photo crazy. after much admiration of them, we finally trekked upstairs to open up christmas gifts. it was so crazy and fun. of course, the kiddos went first. that’s the best part! olive, reagan, and bennett opened up all their gifts and ooh’d and ahh’d over all their goodies. the cutest part? olive learning to ooh and ahh herself! she would squeal every time we opened up a present…it was beyond precious to watch and hear her! i just about melted every time she did it.

[santa’s elves]

[this picture cracks me up! i laugh every time i look at it!]

[elf feet]

[gifts!]

[presents, presents, presents]

[my gift from hubby charming]

[prints from rifle paper co.]

[bose sound system]

[christmas booty]

[how many christmas presents can i wear?]

[pout]

[what a cool dude]

after the kids opened up their presents, all the adults opened up their secret santa gifts and had to guess who their secret santa was! score…i got mine right, it was tashina! ha! i’m so good. 😉 so, as usual, everyone tinkered with their christmas gifts and/or reveled in the kids excitement of new things.

thuy and i then brought up desserts and coffee for everyone to nibble on while we continued to play around with our new toys. oh what a night…it was a pretty awesome eve together. spending time with family is precious and it was definitely a christmas eve to remember! merry, merry indeed!

[pj party!]

xoxo

november snapshots

Posted on December 16, 2014 by tandem in love

oh my goodness…november has come and gone. it’s been such a whirlwind month. like seriously cray. i planned like a mad women for olive’s first birthday party, we had thanksgiving, olive had her first visit with santa, and we had a lot of fun times in between with friends and family.

november was so much fun! i had the best time getting ready for olive’s birthday {okaaayy, i was a bit stressed for some of it!}. i spent most of the month {and prior months!}, scheming up ideas and putting together the decor for her party. hosting the event at our house was definitely the highlight of my month!

olive learning how to walk was, seriously, the best moment evah! i was delirious with excitement and joy. her tyrannosaurus rex walking style is so stinkin’ cute…the way she tucks and curls her arms up and wobbles all over the place is so adorbs, i could eat her up!

of course, all the times i spent with my family {doing fun festive stuff} and friends is always awesome. there were plenty of moments where i met up with friends for brunches, chilled with the fam, and spent oodles of time with miss olive!

[first time with santa!]

[olive’s first birthday cake]

[mama is still sleeping]

[olive’s first birthday party]

[auntie kim]

[being silly]

[brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?]

[helping momma put together some christmas lights]

[run run run run runaway]

[how does it taste?]

[matchy black and white]

[baby cheeks]

[cookie favors]

[silly gal]

[i pose, therefore i am]

[shagalicious]

[first birthday cake]

[bunny blankie]

[little goat]

[chubby cheeks]

[chocolate cupcakes!]

[she loves to put anything in her mouth and let it hang there like a cigar]

[learning how to blow her nose]

[being a super, super fussy gal]

well, that’s a wrap up of november! a lot of olive cuteness and a bit of other things. 😉 i can’t wait to share with y’all some jolly ol’ december goodness!

xoxo

olive’s 12 month loves

Posted on December 15, 2014 by tandem in love

month twelve.

etch a sketch classic doodle // melissa and doug animal wood puzzle // plan toys dancing alligator // brown bear brown bear book // pottery barn kids chair // princess barbie four wheeler

{insert sad face} my last monthly post about olive’s monthly loves. *sniff sniff* it’s been such an amazing year with this little gal and i loved discovering, along with her, all of her favorite little likes and dislikes. children are so amazing. so innocent and loving. they are pure happiness, they live in the moment and have no barriers. that thought breaks and melts my heart at the same time. i would do anything to protect her from this imperfect world but alas it will only make her stronger to experience life’s crazy paths. until then, she just loves her toys and that is all that matters right now! so onto more lighthearted banter!

she received this etchy sketchy thingy on her first birthday. now granted, her interest in items, maybe, last a minute or two but she does love doodling on this contraption. she loves to give it to me, i’ll write something on it and then she will yank it away {like how dare i enjoy her toy!}, and then she will give it back to me so i can draw on it again. she usually keeps up this cycle for a few minutes until she wants to grab another toy and give it to me.

auntie missy gave this wood puzzle to her. she does enjoy it. she loves to whip all the pieces of the puzzle onto the floor and never put them back. yay! so i place all the shapes into their respective homes and then she whips them back onto the floor! woo! although, i think the puzzle toy is haunted. the animals just randomly make sounds when no one is near! and we ‘lost’ the cat piece, so the cat meows and meows and meows. sometimes in the middle of the night, the cat will howl out from the wood puzzle. eerie.

olive received this wood alligator from andrea! it’s so cute! it bounces it’s behind when you pull it along. click clack click clack . i love plan toys and, as always, i love wood toys! the colors of this toy are catching for olive’s eyes and she loves to pull it along the floor. she has a great time with it!

oh my goodness. olive really, really loves this book. she loves to pull the tabs back on each page to reveal the animal picture, even before i finish each sentence! the colors are so rich and vivid on each page; and i love to make each animal noise for olive so she can understand and relate. it’s currently her favorite book, unfortunately it’s so heavy! she cries every time she picks it up and brings it over to me. she will typically drop it twice before i come over to rescue her from it.

she received this chair from gramma and papa for her first birthday and it’s her absolute favorite. she loves to sit in it and chill. she will cuddle with her bunny blankie, or brown bear, or her pink bear while she watches t.v. it’s so cute to see her sit in her chair like a grown up! her big sister loves it just as much and they always have a little showdown on who will sit in the chair! olive always trumps this one!

her new favorite thing? cars, anything with wheels, anything she can push and roll around the house with. whether it’s a wooden car, a big plastic four wheeler, or a shopping cart, she’ll push that thing around until she can’t push no more! she absolutely loves to be pushed around as well and that can be trouble! it’s soooo tiring to push her around, she wants more and more and we are so old and tired! she gets so upset when we stop but i get so out of breath and exhausted…so my family and i will take turns to push that little princess around.

there ya go! the ‘last’ of olive’s monthly loves! oh, how bittersweet. we look forward to olive’s future loves {a post here or there about her growing favorites!} and her soon to be big girl ways! our little babes is getting so big and independent already, slow yer roll baby doll, slow yer roll!

xoxo

deck the halls!

Posted on December 13, 2014 by tandem in love

we finally and slowly decorated our home. annndd, it’s still not done. well, let me explain. since we are in a new home {and first christmas here!}, there’s so much more space and so much more we can do! so, the old decorations we had at our place in chicago totally suffice, but we want to do so much more {in time my dear, in time…what’s that proverbial phrase? patience is a virtue. hmph}.

we did our usual routine, we whipped out the decor, turned on the christmas tunes, and drank some wine! well, this time around {with us having olive} it was quite the slow process. there was a lot of holding her. stopping. there was a lot of giggle time. stopping. there was a lot of her crying because she either wanted to touch the ornaments or just be in our arms. stopping. wow…decorating took a l o n g time. it actually became a part deux!

well we did it! we finally got our decorations up. it is still a work in progress, i am still adding little things here and there as i assess how ‘festive’ our home is. i definitely don’t like getting too crazy {haha…some might argue} with the decor but i know that there isn’t enough oomph yet in our house for it to scream holiday! slowly but surely, it will all come together…

in the meantime, enjoy the pics and captions! some things have already changed since i took these photos, but naturally that will be for next year’s holiday post! 😉

[boxwood wreath]

[banner by little dovie]

[bright lab lights and our lit bushes // i actually found these cute little white reindeers from target that i added around the pine trees…so fun! it still needs a little something else, i’m still trying to figure it out]