happy super-valentine’s-lunar new year celebrations

Posted on February 16, 2016 by tandem in love

the day of the super bowl, we {last minute} had some peeps over.

we had been invited to a party but we weren’t really sure what we were going to do. then, we thought, why not just spend it together as a family, cook food, and relax? sounded like a grand idea, non? well that was definitely our plan! then a day before sunday, everything spurred together last minute. well, my family is always welcomed and they know that but everyone’s plans were in limbo as well. so, a small group of friends and family came on over and we had our super lunar valentine’s day party! woo hoo!

we weren’t going to see some of these people again before valentine’s day, monday was lunar new year, and obvs, sunday was super bowl. so, yes, we literally celebrated all three in one evening! haha! it was super fun!

hc cooked the most amazing items…savory, delicious meatballs, pulled pork sandwiches with a horseradish compote, and a corn salsa for dip. i made an onion dip with chips, guacamole, and everyone else brought over a dish! it was perfect for the small group we had.

we intermittently watched the game but us gals spent most of our time in the kitchen talking, while the kids ran around and played, and the boys were glued to the t.v. ya know, it all doesn’t really matter until half time comes on and then we really pay attention to the telly! ha!

[yes, we had a lunar new year, super bowl, valentine’s day party]

[please be mine]

[don’t mind the diapy sticking out. she had to be a part of the group so she insisted on standing on the chair to be with everyone]

[my lunar new year part of the decor and yes, we are still remodeling the kitchen but we are allllllmost done! yahoo!]

[the new year goody boxes for the kids]

[watching the game and eating and eating and eating]

[olive was having so much with the balloon with avery]

[yummy]

[opening their goodies]

[she would draw on the mask and then proceed to put the drawn, not dried marker part on her face. she pretty much stamped her face with marker each time she did that. haha!]

[such a modge podge kind of party! whoop whoop!]

the kids had such a great time, they loved their goody boxes, the food, and especially the desserts auntie kim brought! i must say, it was the best tri-celebration i have ever experienced, if i do say so myself. baahaha! anyhoozle, it was a fab evening. hc and i high five’d each other after everyone left. we truly love hosting and having people over and we truly had a great, great evening with everyone.

xoxo

it’s a girl!

Posted on February 14, 2016 by tandem in love

eep! happy valentine’s day!

yay! and it’s going to be another baby girl for us! yup! we are pregnant with a little baby girl! how exciting! i knew it! i knew it! when we announced our pregnancy on christmas eve and day to our families, i told everyone that it was a girl before i really even knew. haha!

it was definitely hard to keep it a secret. oh my. everyone and their grandma asks. i would definitely say being pregnant is a cause to not telling the truth. you deny that you’re pregnant the first twelve weeks…you tell people you don’t know the gender because you know peeps are going to harass you. it goes on and on but i am sooooo glad the cat’s out of the bag and we can talk about it, get excited, and plan for this baby girl!

i am all about olive having a sister! she does have grace but grace is so much older and unfortunately, not around as often as we would like. so, a sister close to olive’s age is going to be so much fun, so much fighting, so much craziness! i am looking forward to it. i feel like sisters are built in best friends. i think women really hold families together. i love our mother/daughter bond and i can’t wait for olive and her baby sister to do things together, hand in hand. i am ready for some crazy girl time!

as hc always says, it’s almost impossible for him to have a boy. he has a group of best friends that all have little girls. between the four of them, i think they all have 9-10 girls? and no boys! they call themselves the X men. haha!

[my favorite! look at her pose]

[i love these pics so much!!! obvs, this is not a maternity dress…haha, but even when i was skinny, these darn pockets still stuck out!]

well, happy valentine’s day indeed my friends! we are so excited to welcome our baby girl! we can’t wait to meet you sweet lady, we are so in love already!

xoxo

watercolor valentine’s day cards

Posted on February 12, 2016 by tandem in love

last year, miss olive helped mama make some valentine’s day cards to send out. this year, olive did it all on her own! i was so proud and excited!

i was out shopping with my sisters one night and we stopped by a paper store to peruse around. it was perfect because it was on my list to grab some extra supplies for olive’s valentine’s day cards. i had a lot of ‘stuff’ at home so i didn’t need much because i am a craft hoarder. haha!

one morning, i set up her table and asked her if she wanted to draw {duh, i obvs knew what her answer was going to be!}, she was so excited to ‘draw’. who knew this kid would be so entertained and paint for hours?! she was loving it. she painted heart after heart after heart. i didn’t think she would plow through so many cards! i had purchased a set of 20 and had a leftover pack at home, not thinking she would paint every single one of the paper hearts! she was having a blast.

i taught her how to wash off her paintbrush after each color and all of a sudden she became a pro! i didn’t have a paint smock for her but she is such a neat little girl, she didn’t get a drop of paint on her cute little outfit nor did she paint outside the heart’s lines!

after painting all her cards, i then helped her place her stickers on each one. i pulled off the sticker and she happily stuck it on each heart. it was too cute…she would place each sticker on there so wonky! crooked, sideways, or upside down if i didn’t help navigate her a bit!

[the preparation]

[a favorite valentine’s day decor…i actually bought this a few months after olive was born and didn’t have a place or a real purpose for it until this year!]

[she is usually so careful but i realized i need a smock for her! although she did not get one drop of paint on herself at all]

[we pulled out our valentine’s day books…our favorite, olive my love]

[my baby doll]

[she’s too cute…cleaning off her brush to pick a new color to paint with]

[her final touch: placing stickers on her valentine’s day cards]

after we finished all the cards, i assembled them all inside red envelopes, sprinkled some with confetti, and addressed them with a silver sharpie pen. in hindsight, i would have totally bought a finer point sharpie pen because the thicker marker took up way too much space on such a little envelope! eep! i sealed each one with decorative, festive print washi tape and a pretty little spring time flower postage stamp.

hc dropped the cards off in the mail and we were excited at the prospect of everyone smiling when they opened up their little valentine’s day card from baby olive.

xoxo

easy vday treats

Posted on February 10, 2016 by tandem in love

oh time. it’s always so limited in my life but i always want to be creative and do something special, festive, and fun. i really wanted to whip up something sweet, simple, and cute for valentine’s day. i used to be obsessed with pinterest but now it’s an outlet for me to quickly find creative ideas or get inspired.

i jumped on pinterest last week and found a pic of valentine’s day chocolate dipped wafers. yummy! i just remembered seeing the pic but never clicked on the site nor did i dig any deeper. so, one day, while grocery shopping, i decided to make them! i mean, they are that simple that i didn’t even need to know what the ‘recipe’ called for.

i picked up vanilla wafers {i liked how the strawberry flavored ones looked but i am not the biggest fan of the taste…i am partial to vanilla!}, a bag of white chocolate morsels, and i already had different shapes of sprinkles at home.

i melted about a cup of white chocolate {maybe just a tad more than a cup} in a double broiler. i dipped some wafers and drizzled the others. i alternated between the two. as i coated the wafers, i placed each one on a large sheet of wax paper to dry. before i dipped the next wafer, i sprinkled each one with just enough fun and used different styles of sprinkles.

one after another, i coated each one and actually had a lot of fun doing so! they were turning out so lovely! i finished dipping the entire package of wafers and stepped back to look at all the festive prettiness going on. it is such an easy, quick dessert to make! i think next year, olive will be able to really assist me with making these goodies!

fyi, if you are interested in making these wafers for the masses {like giving them away to neighbors or co workers}, definitely purchase several bags of wafers. one package will probably gift 3-4 people. i was able to package 6-8 wafers per cellophane bag {festive valentine’s day patterns of course!} and give them to some family members and saved a package for miss olive to eat!

ta da! simple, easy, fun valentine’s day treats for everyone {ok, almost everyone}! i am looking forward to making these desserts next year with my little helper in tow {and my other little one, but that baby won’t be able to help just yet!}!

happy day y’all!

xoxo

a lovely day together

Posted on February 9, 2016 by tandem in love

i had a couple appointments in the city and hc took a half day so he could come with us! i love it when he’s able to do that!

i was excited to spend the day together and not have to do everything by myself or really, myself and olive. it’s always so nice to have hc around to help and be by our side. besides the fact that we just love him and love having him around!

we strolled into the office and olive absolutely loves the fish tank inside there. she is totally glued to it every time we come by for a visit. she loves to say, “look, fish!” over and over again, it’s just the cutest thing. this time, hc and olive waited out in the waiting room while i went in for a quick check up with my doctor. of course i did the dreaded weigh in {blah}, which is a bit stressful every time! we listened to the baby’s heart beat – yay! strong and healthy! we talked a bit about any issues and ta da! i was dunzo. quick and easy.

[heading to the doctors!]

[she loves the fish tank at the office]

after my check up, we made a pit stop at our favorite place to eat, southport grocery. oh how i love eating there! i sent my dear friend dana a pic text to tell her that we miss her. before dana switched to a nine to five job, we used to hang out there allllll the time. so it was fitting to send her an i miss you text.

[hanging with my babe]

[olive deciding what she wanted to eat]

[she’s so silly]

[taking selfies and yes, she’s swinging a knife]

[love her so much]

of course we had a yummy experience at the restaurant. i always enjoy my food and service there. it was a quick lunch because we had to mosey on our way over to olive’s appointment. she had her two year wellness check up down the street.

we got there early and waited out in the waiting room for a bit. olive was completely amused by their mini table and chairs. she had to sit and try out every single chair that was there like goldy locks. too cute!

we were called in and the nurse, as always, asked me to strip olive down to her diapy. i was completely amazed at olive’s calmness and willingness to cooperate. she let me take everything off, then the cutest thing happened…she asked me to put her headband back on! oh, she is usually ripping those things off, so i was in love with the fact that she wanted to wear it!

the nurse asked us to bring olive out into the hallway to get measured, weighed, etc. i was amused, now that olive is two, she gets weighed in and measured like a big girl! i said, “oh! no more baby stuff for you! it’s all big girl stuff now!”. olive was so delightful. she cooperated and was kind of entertained by it all! she happily stepped onto the scale to get weighed, she stood there like a champ to get measured, and didn’t mind one bit when the nurse stuck the metal rod under her arm to check her temperature. i was so proud of her! she even stood very still when the nurse measured her head.

the reason why i am so happy she was so cooperative was the fact that all the visits, all the way up to her eighteen month appointment, olive has been a nut! she would scream, cry, everything, when the nurse or doctor tried to do anything with her. this time around, she was just humming along and i was so excited to see the changes in her attitude and mood. she’s becoming such a big girl!

we got the ok from the doc, olive received one shot, and overall, i would say it was an awesome visit! although olive would disagree with the shot part. eep!

[at her wellness check up]

[poutastic]

[cutest little bunny ever]

it was such a lovely afternoon with my favorites. a wonderful time in the city, great news from all ends, and eating at one of our favorite places. i would definitely call that a successful afternoon date!

xoxo

january snapshots

Posted on February 5, 2016 by tandem in love

helloooooo february! oh my. january was a tough month for me. well, december was a very tough month for me. january was a bit better, concerning fatigue, time, and sleep but overall, it was a long two months of a lot of things. obvs, i didn’t do a december snapshot {or a november}, i couldn’t keep up with my blog posts, i was just too plain sick and tired to maintain everything, although i did my best, attempted, and tried. i think to an outsider, one might think i still did a lot but personally, i slacked on a lot of things.

i am so glad the first twelve weeks of pregnancy is behind me and i have had positive feedback on the growth of our baby {grow baby grow!}. man o man, did the first trimester of pregnancy during the holidays kick my ass! january was still a little rough because the sickness didn’t dissipate right away {which sucked} but i felt so much better and much more energetic.

january was very low key and very relaxing. we didn’t do much, i didn’t do much, and i was aaaaaaaa ok about it! i wanted to slow down a bit, not post as much, blog as much, and go out as much. i craved sleep {and still didn’t get much of it} and most of the time, i wanted to go home and put my pj’s on. how exciting, right?! anyhoo, here is a gathering of january photos. enjoy!

[happy new year! yay 2016]

[the moment she was done taking pictures]

[her new thing, watching her cartoons on my computer in our bed]

[celebrating this wonderful lady]

[my favorite time of the day…morning snuggles]

[stuffed animal heaven]

[having lunch with uncle huy]

[love these two]

[her favvvvvvorite thing to do at target]

[chillin at the grandparent’s house]

[with my better half]

[celebrating this lady’s baby girl]

[interesting way to eat a hot dog in a bun]

[love my silly girl]

[being super silly, she loves selfies]

[cutest pic everrrrrr]

[watching dada take down christmas lights outside]

[happy birthday thuy!]

[cheer to finding out the gender of the baby!]

there ya go lovies. what a wonderful past month. such great memories, such great times. cheers to a fabulous february!

xoxo

bump update

Posted on February 2, 2016 by tandem in love

how far along? 16 weeks!

weight gain: 4lbs. phew. honestly, i was betting on at least 6-8 pounds. no joke. well, at least, that is how i am feeling! so, overall, i am now three pounds heavier than i was with olive {it decreased just a wee bit…thank goodness!} but nevertheless, it’s still an overwhelming feeling. regardless, with the fact that i lost all the baby weight i gained with olive {almost 40lbs}, no woman ever wants to gain weight {even, even for a miracle of a baby…and it is worth it and a miracle}. i definitely don’t deny myself any cravings…just ask hc, hahaha!

maternity clothes? gah! it’s been a tough battle. i am so big in my lower section. my stomach {obvs}, my hips, my thighs. everything has expanded. man, it’s quite taxing on the mind. i am just rocking out skirts and tights since it’s the most comfortable thing right now. i, sometimes, put on my pants and cringe…so leggings it is!

sleep: so my crazy insomnia had ceased but i am still not taking care of myself by getting enough sleep. i go to bed waaayyyyy too late. i am a bit overwhelmed. i know, i definitely take on and do too much. i think i need therapy for being a type a kind of person. hahaha! just keeding {not really}. once olive is asleep, i tackle all sorts of things on my list and that list is never-ending. it’s like the list to infinity and beyond! so, sleep? i dunno what that is. eep, and this new babe is going to take away what is left of it too. ahhhhhhh!

physical state: bloated, tired, exhausted are my new favorite words and remain my favorite words. my legs are feeling it already. my body totally feels the weight gain {gosh, is it me or the second time around, everything feels 10folds worse?!}. add in not sleeping, being on my feet all day, coming home to an energetic toddler, and taking care of the house; it’s like a cray state of deliriousness.

miss anything? yup, sushi {where’s my dragon roll?}. wine {a nice delicious glass of red}. deli sandwich {i am drooling}. seafood {lobster, tuna, salmon – and i am talking tartare state of being}. hmmmm, i am hungry. on that note…i am hungry alllll the time. every two hours i must eat something! i am trying to choose healthier snacks but it doesn’t always go in that direction! hc has been on a health kick lately, so our dinners are super healthy and low cal, so that is at least helping this mama out!

baby movement: just a few tiny flutters but not really much…i can’t wait!

food cravings: not much has changed from the last month. although, fruit seems to be making a come back. when i get hungry, i love snacking on fruit {bonus!}. with this pregnancy, my cravings are very much in the moment. if i want to eat something specific, i have to have it right then and there. the cravings are very spur of the moment, which kind of drives hc nuts. eep!

bump status: bump is as big as everrrrrrr. like sooooo big. i think all the weight i gained is sitting in my belly {it does jiggle a bit}. ugh.

gender reveal: soon! soon! yay!

xoxo

michelle’s baby shower

Posted on January 30, 2016 by tandem in love

i was so delighted to have received the invite in the mail for michelle’s baby shower!

a little background on our relationship, i met michelle through hc years ago. they had once worked together and when hc and i started dating, i met michelle right away. they were close friends and michelle and i hit it off right away. so over the past seven years, i have gotten to know her and her then boyfriend, now husband matt.

they lived here in chicago up until this past thanksgiving, where they moved to san diego. i knew she was going to have a baby shower here in chicago {and san diego} and i was super touched i received an invite!

it was a beautiful sunny day and it was perfect day to park the car a couple blocks away and walk. i arrived inside and the hostess directed me towards the private room. i walked inside to a bustling crowd. i immediately walked up to the welcome table and observed all the cuteness. i spent a little time doing some of the fun activities they had when michelle’s mom walked up to me and greeted me and asked to take my coat. i conversed with her for a bit and slowly mingled through the crowd. michelle did come by {in-between her mom and me mingling} to say hello. she looked fabulous!

after socializing for a bit we were asked to sit down for brunch. i sat by michelle’s sister karen and a few friends. we had great conversations and delicious food. we played games, drank, ate, and laughed. after everyone finished noshing, it was time for michelle to open up all her gifts. of course, everyone ohhh’s and ahhh’s over cute baby things. how can you not? babies are the best…pure innocence, sweet, fresh, new, tiny, and beautiful.

after gifts, i continued to say meet with people i didn’t get a chance to say hello to. plus, matt and michelle’s dad had dropped by as well. michelle’s dad came up to me to say hello! it was so good to see him! michelle’s parents are just the sweetest and i am touched they remembered me from when i first met them, at matt and michelle’s triathlon hc and i attended years ago.

[my gift above with the pink paper garland bow! i gifted her with a baby book by jimmy fallon…such a cute, little book and i thought her husband matt would get a kick out of it!]

[welcome table]

[the beautiful michelle and our baby bumps!]

[dessert table]

[beautiful, delicious cake]

[cute little favors]

[michelle’s niece, anabelle]

[pumpkin spice pancakes]

[measuring her belly…]

[opening up her gifts…that’s our book!]

[the beautiful mama to be]

[with the daddy to be, matt]

i honestly had the best time at the shower! it was so fabulous to see some familiar faces, and it had been awhile since i last saw them {most at matt and michelle’s wedding, where i was seven months pregnant and now again, almost 4 months pregnant!} so it was great to catch up. the shower was oh so much fun. it was awesome to see matt and michelle. they are such a fun, great couple. so energetic, fun, funny, sweet, and we just love them!

we are so happy and excited for them. we can’t wait to meet their sweet baby girl! congrats on this new, wonderful chapter in your lives. the best is yet to come!

xoxo

hb thuy!

Posted on January 27, 2016 by tandem in love

my sister thuy started off her weekend birthday celebration with a family dinner at maggiano’s. it was just my parents, my sister kim, terry, the boys, and us all together to celebrate thuy’s day.

i met them at the restaurant and when i walked up to the table, olive was out cold. she was asleep in hc’s arms and it was way too cute. i mean, i never ever see her passed out unless she’s in a carseat or in her crib. she’s not one to sleep in random places or outside her nap time, so this was an anomaly.

though, i knew right away this was going to be trouble. olive is not the sweetest thing when she wakes up from a nap, especially if she wakes up in an unfamiliar environment. boy oh boy did that ring true! she was irritable, grumpy, angry, and just plain didn’t want to be bothered. it took fooooorever to calm her down. i had to take her to the corner bakery side of the restaurant so she could scream and cry and not really bother anyone. after many minutes of her being upset, me trying to appease her with a drink, crayons, drawing, soothing words…she finally started to calm down a bit. just a bit. i brought her back to the table but she was still irritable and didn’t want anyone to bother her. she insisted in sitting in my lap and not until dinner was almost over did she finally let me just sit right.next.to.her.

well, besides the rough beginning, dinner was great. it was delicious, fun, and a very nice time celebrating thuy’s birthday! we definitely ate too much but how can you limit your pasta intake?! ha! well, lately, i am a garbage disposal and i have absolutely no shame in overindulging, my pregnant body says so!

plus, i will fully admit with olive being so dang fussy the majority of the dinner, i was the worst at picture taking. boo! i literally snapped no pics! anyhoo, at least i nabbed a photo of thuy blowing out her birthday candle and even boomeranged it! woot woot!

[the best pic we could get. one, i kept looking at thuy versus the camera, two – olive was not having it, and three – r was the only one who was a natural ham…hahaha!]

[make a wish!]

watch thuy blow out her candle!

happy birthday to my beautiful sister thuy! best super auntie to my sweet little olive! thanks for being awesome. we love you!

xoxo

casual day

Posted on January 19, 2016 by tandem in love

i had an eye appointment in the city. yes, i still travel to the city for all sorts of things, like getting my eyes checked. i have been going to the same place for 11 years so i can’t give it up…at least not yet.

custom eyes just remodeled and it look amazing inside. i was so super bummed i left my phone in the car because olive looked so stinkin’ cute sitting in their windowsill reading a book. wah.

anyhoo, after my appointment, olive and i had the day free to do whatever and since we were in wrigleyville, i decided to just do a bit of walking and shopping around. we strolled down the street to the local starbucks and grabbed our usual. olive was being so stinkin’ cute. oh how i love her! it was super windy outside {of course, making it chillier than it really is!} but it didn’t bother olive one bit.

[our stomping ground…starbucks!]

[starbucks goodness]

[my old ‘hood]

after our starbucks stint, i decided to hit a favorite shop of mine, anthropologie! i love this store, especially during the holidays. it stocks the most beautiful decorations, wrapping, and ornaments. i am always so giddy shopping around in there ’tis the season. plus, they sell my most favorite candle of allllllll time, the volcano scent. best. ever.

[anthro on southport]

[chillin’ on the couch]

[‘scuse me!]

[love this one of us!]

after we hit anthro and a few other shops, i decided to call it a day there on southport ave. olive needed her nap soon and i don’t like her missing out on it! we had a lovely afternoon together. we giggled, shopped, hugged, kissed, and just loved one another. oh how i love this little girl so much. she’s my bestie and seriously the cutest little thing i ever did see. i cherish our beautiful days we spend together!

xoxo