we had made plans to celebrate it at summer house santa monica. thuy headed over to our house, then we were going to kim’s place {where lan was meeting all of us} and then we finally took off to the restaurant from there! phew!
we finally arrived at our destination, after a few loop holes in travel. it was bustling inside…it was a lovely, warm day to be out. we were seated right away and got down to chatting. our subjects were so various, a lot of funny topics were discussed! of course, if you get a bunch of ladies together, conversations can get real and hairy 😉
we perused the menu…everything looked delicious but cocktails were in order! kim asked for a mimosa, thuy ordered the cucumber cooler, and i requested the malibu cooler.
[summer house]
[malibu and cucumber cooler]
[birthday gal!]
[cheers to the birthday girl!]
the server suggested for us to order the calamari as an appetizer, she swore it was fantastic. we were sold! out came the dish and is was deeeelicious! we noshed it down. we probably could have eaten two plates of that…so tasty!
we then put in our order, i wanted the egg sandwich with bacon. mmmmm {super healthy}. when my entree came, it came with a salad. helloooo. salad?? no thank you. i had asked for fries. yum yum. the server apologized and brought out a huge plate of fries…score!
[amaze spicy calamari]
[my egg sandwich]
after lunch, we walked around for a bit on armitage and then decided to hit downtown instead. thuy so graciously drove that day, so dt we went. we parked in our usual spot {bloomies} and started shopping. we hit our typical stores and did a lot of perusing. it was a perfect day to be out and about town.
[cruising armitage]
[the barbour store]
[starbucks stop]
[chilling]
after mucho looking around, we were tired {ha! at least i was!}! it was time to go home. it was a fantastic day of great food, celebrating kim, shopping, and relaxing.
happy birthday day to my dear sister kim. i couldn’t be happier to celebrate the day your beautiful self came into this world! cheers to mom and dad creating you!
it was a beautiful day and we were on our way to lincoln park to meet up with ande! it was quite a late start for miss o. she woke up quite early but fell asleep, again, for another three hours! so the babes was up by 9am…the latest, evah! she hit a record the other day by sleeping until 8:40am but this was the winner.
so i knew she would take a little nap on our way to the city. and nap she did! we got there in a jiffy, so it was quick cat nap for her but nonetheless, a solid nap is a solid nap. we popped into kiehl’s and ande was right there!
we said our hello’s and skadaddled to a place called blue door. a farm to table restaurant. it was busy. it’s the kind of place where you order your food first and then find a table. it was quite crowded, so we ordered and waited on their bench. our food was ready but we were still waiting for a table. there was no seat to be given up anytime soon, so we decided to take it to go. the staff felt bad that we were leaving but we were in a time crunch and hungry!
[olive letting ande hold her for a sec 🙂 ]
ande’s store has a back patio, which was great! we sat outside in peace and quiet and ate our food, gabbed non stop, and olive was a happy camper. we had so much fun catching up. lots to talk about…ande and i have been on a life long journey together {well, we have known each other…maybe 7 years} but we have had parallel life wants and happenings that seem to coincide with each other. we couldn’t seem to keep on the same subject! we had so much to talk about we jumped around and around cause one topic led to another!
[me smiling]
[olive smiling…and me with a mouthful of food]
after an hour or so, we headed back through the alley and back up armitage to the store. we spent some time inside talking with matt and ande. ande is so darn cute with olive! she just adores o. God bless her for trying to hold olive several times. sometimes she let her, sometimes she didn’t. oh, olive is so fickle. 😉
[olive low five-ing matt]
[me and my girls!]
it was getting close to olive taking another nap, so i decided to leave. that gave the babes time to sleep in the car, on the way home. i’m a stickler for keeping her on a schedule. hey, most of the time it happens but sometimes outside forces don’t keep us on track. but this time, we were on track…hehe.
so on our way we went. it was a perfect day with with a wonderful friend. olive and i had a lovely time visiting. i love days like that!
dana and i are finally rolling along in seeing each other. we planned a date together and decided to go to 2sparrows in lincoln park for brunch. we were all gung ho on trying something new. dana suggested our old stomping ground in wrigleyville but we both wanted to eat somewhere new. so i mentioned 2sparrows. we were game.
today was the first day, since olive appeared, i actually didn’t have her {besides the day we moved in and my parents took her for a few hours while i cleaned our dirty fridge & one night for my sister’s bday}. so, it was a different routine for me.
i was on my way to chicago {oh rain, how it annoys me when you come down, how awfully slow people drive} and it took me a bit longer than usual speed to get to my destination. on my way there, dana was already in the area {buying treats for rosie}, she was on her way to the restaurant to grab us a table. she then text me that the place was closed! it was under construction! whaaaa? so annoying! it was only closed for the next few days. can you believe we were all about trying a new place and, of course, it was closed?!
so, there ya go. we went back to our old stomping ground. southport grocery. don’t get me wrong. we love that place but we always go there, we really wanted to try something new, but i think it was a sign that we needed to not leave our favorite place.
[artwork for sale]
[mimosa]
[decisions, decisions, decisions]
so, we ordered the usual and dana caught me up with all her latest happenings. she just came back from israel {a jnfuture trip to support and sustain better living for jews}, she spent the entire weekend at lolla, and all the extra life stuff i need her to fill me in on!
we can sit there and talk and talk and eat and eat and before you know it, our plates are empty. that could be a problem. i was soooo full! my stomach hurt, yeahhh, like unpleasantly full! but it was so good going down!
[the southern…kicked my ass]
[dana’s usual: hash with ketchup and hot sauce]
[grocery shelves]
[i fell in love with this packaging]
after brunch, dana bought some of their famous vanilla cupcakes to go {for her and her guy} and we went shopping. we hit anthro, francesca’s, and paper source. some of our favorite shops. i try so hard to refrain from buying stuff for myself…actually, i get so much more joy buying cute stuff for olive than anything for myself right now! so, it’s what empowers me to channel my moolah elsewhere. 🙂
[anthropologie shopping]
after chillin’ for a bit, we called it an afternoon. i headed on my way home to pick up my little babes at the p’s. it was, as usual, a lovely brunch and time spent with my dear dana. muwah!
she came to chicago to run a race and we planned on a date to meet up. we texted back and forth on a place to eat, where to hang, and what time we were going to get together. we finally settled on a day!
neidre decided for all of us to meet at cumin, an indian restaurant in wicker park. perfect! first off, it’s our old hood {sigh} and we actually had never eaten here, living there for years. so we were excited to try it out.
we got there in a snap, found an amazing parking spot, and strolled our way to the restaurant. there was quite a wait, so we sat at the bar and ordered drinks. i got this mango concoction that was delish!! it was a perfect blend of sweetness and not too overpowering with the alcohol taste. the type of libation that can get you in trouble!
[i miss the city!]
[cheers!]
we sipped our cocktails and waited for neidre and friends to arrive. after ten minutes or so, neidre and liwani showed up! we were so happy to see them. neidre lives in florida and we were fortunate to be able to see her this past holiday in march! so, the fact that she was in chicago, there was no way we were going to miss her!
neidre also invited her friend jim, he arrive shortly after them and the party really began! we engrossed ourselves in some amazing conversations, tasty bites, and cocktails.
[me and my lady neidre]
[neidre and jim]
i ordered some apps for us {i love hanging out with a group of peeps who have no limitations on tastes, spice, or flavors!!!} and then we all decided on our entrees and placed our order. the service there was fantastic…the entire staff was so accommodating, friendly, and attentive. i love mom and pop type of places, it encompasses all good things when it comes to service, food, and ambiance.
[appetizers: chicken momo and chicken chilli]
[liwani and neidre]
[vegetable tandoori]
[garlic naan]
we ate, drank, and truly, truly enjoyed the company around us. we shut the place down! we were the last to leave and leave we did not want! we headed outside {the temperature and weather were perfect} and proceeded to walk the streets of wicker park.
hc and i arrived at our car and we said our goodbyes. we had to get home to relieve the babysitter {our fabulous neighbor, sarah}.
[we love you neidre!]
on our way back home, we sidetracked to our old apartment and said hello to our old neighbors there! it was fantastic to see matt, maggie, jeremy, his wife, and our former second floor neighbor, stacey! they invited us upstairs to check out our old apartment. that was pretty cool to see. after a half hour or so, we went on our merry way. this time to really get home to let the babysitter go!
it was a whole combination of delightful things this evening. seeing our great friend neidre, meeting new friends, connecting with our old city neighbors, and sarah having a great first time babysitting little miss olive!
i was awaiting for miss olive to awake so we could head out to brunch. i am unfamiliar with the restaurants around the ‘burbs. we had so many favorites in the city {oh, my lovely city} and it was always so easy to pick a place! so, these moments are a lot of trial and error; picking a place, rating it, and moving on to the next.
the restaurant of choice? labriola bakery and cafe. it was quite busy when we got there. grace and i perused the menu while we waited for kt and karen. it is a place where you preorder and then sit down. grace and i drooled over the bakery displays. we wanted one of everything! after a few minutes, katie and kar finally showed up. we squealed and gave lots of hugs. we excitedly gabbed and kt and kar were just loving olive. o started fussing a bit, so i pulled her out of her car seat and karen went nutty over her!
[kt, o, and kar]
[oh em gee…s’mores cupcakes]
[*drool* i want one of each please]
[macarons + delicious buttery cookies]
we ordered our entrees, i got the california turkey on multigrain and grace got a bowl of chicken noodle soup and mashed potatoes. we went and found ourselves a table and waited for karen and kt to finish their order. it was a little awkward because it was busy so they weren’t clearing the tables right away. so, we nabbed a table with dirty dishes on it but it wasn’t cleaned up right away. kinda annoying, since we really wanted to sit down and settle in {i mean, i had a baby in my arms, drinks, a stroller to situate, grace, and the diaper bag!}.
we were served our meals but miss olive wasn’t cooperating. i had to hold the fussy missy so i only ate my chips 🙁 but that didn’t stop us from yakking nonstop! we were catching up with so many good things; love, life, relationships, kids, friends…ya know, all the good and not so good bits that makes life go round.
after noshing on our meals, we headed over to the bakery to get something sweet. we looked at the dessert cases but had briefly forgotten about the gelato! it was on the other side of the restaurant, karen mentioned it, and grace’s eyes just lit up {of course!}. we scurried over and grace chose the hazelnut gelato and started wolfing it down.
[cali sandwich and savory chips]
we packed up and headed on our way out, back to our place. once we got home, i had to feed olive and then we got down with the tour. i showed them the entire inside {and, of course, explained our remodeling plans} and walked them around the outside of the house. it was such a beautiful day!
karen soooo wanted to hold olive. i said, “go ahead! anyone can hold her, it’s about if olive will let you hold her!”. i gave karen some advice…i said to just take her. don’t gingerly grab for her. just aggressively take her and distract her. most people cautiously take her and she senses fear 😉 so, grab her she did. olive happily sat in karen’s arms!!!!! it was a miracle! i called kar the baby whisperer. not since o was a newborn had she let an unfamiliar face hold her. olive was happy as a clam in karen’s arms! i was amazed and excited. i want people to enjoy holding miss olive and it was pretty awesome to see this! i was loving it myself…although karen might have been loving it more than me! she was over the moon holding olive!
[grace, karen, o, and kt]
[karen the baby whisperer]
after touring around the house, we came inside and chatted up a storm. karen insisted on me opening olive’s present. it was soooo sweet of them! they bought little o the most adorable outfit! a putty colored knit cardigan and chambray embroidered dress from peek and the cutest, softest, stretchiest pink headband from nordstrom! it was so sweet and thoughtful of them. i love, love the outfit and i can’t wait for miss olive to wear it!
[a gift from kt + kar]
[the cutest outfit from nordstrom!! love + love peek]
after opening up her gift, kt really wanted to hold olive too! i gave her the same advice and olive was just a doll! she let kt hold her too! wow. it was a record. olive was loving her p!nk aunties and they were loving her back!
[katie super excited to be holding olive!]
[doting on olive]
after our non stop gab fest, kt and kar had to go. wah, wah. we were sad. we were having too much fun with them! grace was loving them {she said they were soooo nice!} and so was olive. we walked them out to their car, wished them safe travels, and waved goodbye.
we had such a blast with them! kt and kar, hurry back! little miss olive is missing her aunties!
we were so excited to have johnny, janice, georgia, and charlotte come to visit our new house and meet little olive!
they arrived at our house in the early evening. we decided it would be best to have a casual dinner night…pizza and beer! yum. hc toured them throughout the house and gave the usual spiel.
the girls settled down on the couch and cruised through the apple tv selection to find a movie. they snuggled in with their dolls and were quite content.
we broke open several beers and cheered to finally getting together. we chatted for quite a bit before we decided on what we were going to order. we tried a place called aurelio’s and it was delicious! we got some apps and ordered their specialty pie of the moment.
[georgia and charlotte {rich’s goddaughter!}]
[revolution brewery]
[janice and olive]
while we were waiting for the delivery, we had lots of fun catching up on all sorts of events. janice and i talked a lot about nursing, the guys did their talks, and we circled around to discuss more things like babies, triathlons, vacations, family, and life.
olive really took to johnny! oh, she loved him. she actually let him hold her and she giggled at him! awww, it was very sweet.
i love janice and johnny. they are such a cute couple and so fun. hc has been friends with them, what seems like forever! when rich and i first started dating, johnny and janice were so welcoming of me and we instantly hit it off. their humor are off the charts! we love it when we are able to get together with them.
olive also received the cutest gift from them! so, janice is from canada {oh canada!}…they got little olive a pink fleece set emblazoned with the words canada all over it. it’s just the cutest little outfit and we can’t wait until she can wear it!
[olive was very fond of johnny[
[joining us for dinner]
[aurelio’s pizza]
[these two cuties enjoying some desserts]
the pizza came, the beer was being guzzled, and good times were being had. how cute are georgia and charlotte? they are such sweet, kind, polite little ladies. they are growing up so fast!
the family brought the desserts, so after a bit, janice set them out and we devoured them! the tarts were so good! i loooved the chocolate, caramel, hazelnut one…to die for. it was amaze. it just melted in my mouth. yum. i could have eaten five of them…hehehe.
[delicious pastries from whole foods]
after several hours of hanging out and putting olive down in-between it, it was, sadly, time for the family to leave. we had a wonderful, wonderful time with them. thank you so much for the cute gift for olive and thank you for stopping by! come back soon! muwah!
dearest dana came to visit {finally}! after we moved, it was a constant debacle trying to get us together! our schedules weren’t coordinating. if we happen to have the same day off, she or i would already have plans, or she would be out of town, etc. welllll, we finally, last minute, got ourselves aligned! hallelujah!
she came over bright and early in the morning {no traffic…woo!}. i walked her through the house…a tour of what has happened {remodeled} and what was to come. we chilled at the house for a bit before heading out to brunch. dana tried multiple times to hold olive…um, fail. baby girl will only be in my arms if i am in the room *sigh*, i do wish she would let others hold her but a screaming, crying baby is no fun for anyone! dana, being dana, was so amused and found it so hilarious! thank goodness 🙂
[dear dana loving olive]
[olive giving a shoutout to the westside!]
[attempting at another round of holding olive]
so, after many tries of holding olive, we digressed and moved along on getting ourselves to the restaurant. i offered a few options and we settled on trying a place by our house. a breakfast place {new to us!} that we have been interested in trying for awhile.
[orange juice for dana, grapefruit/orange juice for moi]
it was cute inside and not busy {bonus!}. we settled into our seats and perused the menu. there were so many choices! i decided on the banana walnut pancakes with a side of bacon and dana went for the eggs over easy, hash browns, and a side of chocolate chip pancakes.
[banana walnut pancakes]
[noshing]
we did a lot of catching up over brunch. the food was yummy. the company was even better. we yapped for awhile, until olive was getting a bit fussy. it was good timing with the fact that we were dunzo…check paid, we were ready to go when olive started fussing. so, out the door we went!
we went back to the house to hang out some more. olive needed to eat her solids, so i prepared her food and asked dana if she wanted to feed her. gosh, miss olive answered that for all of us. she was liiiike, um no. momma is the only one who will feed me! what a picky lady! poor darling dana…olive wouldn’t even let her feed her!
[oh em gee…poor dana trying to feed olive…nope]
[flashdance…she’s a maniac, maniac on the floor!!]
after a few hours of lounging, dana headed out {before crazy traffic could build up}. it was fantastic to finally get together and just hang out {what we do best}. olive and i miss her already.
sooo…the story goes like this. last year, olivia and i visited her sister in d.c. her sister was 8 weeks pregnant. she wasn’t telling anyone yet. little did i know, i was 5 weeks pregnant {absolutely no clue i was preggers}. we had our babies weeks apart and months later, we finally introduced the little cuties to one another!!!
claire traveled {actually drove!} from san diego to chicago to spend some quality time here with her family. she was at the tail end of her stay when we finally coordinated a date together. woo!
we decided to meet halfway since our locations were so far apart. she was up in woodstock and we were probably an hour and thirty minutes south from there…at least! we decided on the restaurant wildberry. we wanted to do an early brunch…since both of us get up so early with the kiddos.
we arrived before the other half of our party did, so we put our name in for a table. it was a forty-five minutes wait!!! ugh. we decided to wait inside their foyer since it was already so hot outside. olive patiently waited with us but she was a tad grumpy. she definitely woke up that way! the day prior, we were out and about all day and she was a bit exhausted {baby girl wouldn’t nap the day before!}, so today she was not in the best mood.
[serious face]
[she was using sophie as a chin rest]
[waiting for the gantners]
[the girls!]
yay! the clan finally made it! i love them all. her mom is such a fun character, her sister is so sweet, and olivia…she is a doll. now how ’bout them babes?! it was so cool to introduce fiona to olive. babies are so funny, they kinda stare at one another and pretty much just try to grab at each other for no particular reason.
we were finally seated and perused the menu to decide on our eats. oohhhhh, olive was so fussy. she didn’t want anyone to hold her {the usual} and kept whimpering throughout our meal. she was so tired. annndddd there was fiona…happy as a clam. she just smiled and calmly sat in her high chair while everyone visited.
[aaron doing his best creepy smile]
[fiona being so good and darn cute]
i ordered their buttermilk pancakes, a side of bacon, and orange juice. my usual go to breakfast.
our gathering was short and sweet but oh so worth it. i was super, duper happy to have been able to meet up with claire and fiona. i didn’t want to miss out on seeing them while they were in town! fiona and olive had to meet!
it was a wonderful start to a great day! thanks ladies and aaron for a lovely date!
we were so excited and touched to be a part of matt and johann’s special day!
words cannot express how absolutely amazing it is and how wonderful it feels to know that two people, who love each other no matter what the case may be, can join their hands together in marriage.
the institution of marriage is an endless debate. i am in favor of it. i love being married. i am old fashioned in my thinking around it {not about who but about what}. i believe in it. it is a different plateau to be on. it feels special. my relationship with hc changed for the better after we were married. it felt solid and secure…for so many positive reasons. we made that commitment to one another, we said our vows. we promised to never leave each other’s side. we believe in making each other a better person. you have to be selfless and realize that you have to give but you will get in return. all this sounds great in words but it’s definitely hard work and never ever perfect.
i think the hardest part about getting married is the work you have to do before it happens. it’s about finding the right person. how do you know it’s the right person? it sounds cliche but it’s about getting each other to a better point. you are on each other’s side, you pull one another up when the other is down. finding the right person is tough work but once you realize you are both in it to win it, it’s all worth it.
so, that morning, we got ourselves ready for the big day. we packed up olive’s many, many things. got ourselves dressed, packed up our stuff for the day, and headed out to matt and johann’s home. we cruised there! we got inside, dropped off our stuff, chit chatted for a bit with them, matt’s mom & stepdad, and then headed our way downtown to the courthouse.
[matt, peanut, and rich before we head out to the courthouse]
[cutie stella playing]
[olive totally intrigued by stella from afar // burberry dress]
[the crazy fog that blanketed the city]
we scored a close parking spot and trekked our way into the building. we got there before them {even with a pit stop to nurse olive!} and waited in the lobby. apparently, we were in the wrong building! it was so comical getting around with a stroller, not every area had an elevator, so we literally carried the stroller up escalators and through revolving doors! what a debacle.
we finally made it to the destination. everyone was already there. matt and johann invited a few select people to witness their marriage. we were so honored to be asked. hc and i have never witnessed a city hall marriage so it was interesting to experience it. it was quite a small waiting area, you have to sign up on a list, and wait until your group is called. it was so intriguing to watch all the folks who were there to get married. some were dressed up, some were dressed down, overall, a lot of unique characters.
[olive waiting for the ceremony to begin]
[engraved with the words panda and bamboo]
[pre-ceremony with the handsome couple]
[with james and daisy]
[the family…josh, liz, stella, matt’s mom, and cliff]
our group was finally called. i was so excited! we filed into the room, the judge was so cool and relaxed. she started the process and i started to cry. i was so, so happy for them. it truly was a beautiful moment to witness.
[exchanging of vows and rings!]
after the ceremony, we were all so ecstatic! lots of hugs, congratulatory words, and tears.
[husband and husband!! they are married!]
[the happy couple…look at the shadows of everyone taking a picture!]
we had some time before lunch, so we made a stop at field’s on state. we shopped around, some people grabbed a snack, and of course we made a starbucks run. it wouldn’t be an outing with me and matt without a starbucks stop!
[field’s on state]
[never without a starbucks stop // look, i match the straw!]
[starbucks]
[thanks jenny for randomly taking this photo…i love it!]
after field’s, we walked over to the restaurant, petterino’s. we had a nice, little, private corner of the restaurant. here we relaxed, mingled, reveled in the excitement, and truly enjoyed each other’s company. i was so hungry! i was excited to manger some food! the bread basket was bad news…hc called it crack bread. there were so many yummy varieties of bread to consume.
[her naps were so limited…too much excitement // holding on tight to the carrot rattle]
[the ‘crack’ bread]
[stella loving her salad]
after lunch, we headed back to matt and johann’s abode to continue the celebration. there, a lot more folks were able to join in on the festivities. i helped them host their guests…i wanted matt and johann to enjoy themselves and spend time with their friends and family. it was their day and they definitely should revel in every minute of it.
they ordered brisket from mariano’s, josh and liz took care of all the beverages, and hc and i brought the wedding cake and desserts. everyone slowly trickled in, we served drinks, set up the food, and enjoyed the company.
there were quite a few kiddos at the party. josh and liz have stella, vicki brought 8 month old eric, and alison brought her little dude. it was fun to see the little kiddies interact! olive and eric had a great time playing together. it was so sweet. they were both really calm and curious. there was a lot of staring, maybe some slight grabbing, but nonetheless…a heart melting moment to see the babies interact. so adorbs!
midway through the party, we popped some veuve clicquot and toasted the beautiful couple. johann said a few words and then liz made a lovely toast to the couple! cheer cheer!
[getting ready for a champagne toast to the happy couple // vintage champagne glasses…over 70 years old!]
[liz giving a heartfelt toast]
after the toasting, matt and johann cut the cake! woooo! it was so cute. the cake was such a hit…everyone loved the rainbow layers. so fitting. it was a picture frenzy. the cake was the celebrity and we were the paparazzi!
it was such an incredible day. the beginning of a beautiful marriage. the wonderful company of friends and family. it seriously flew by so fast. olive was such a good little gal all day. we had the best time celebrating their beautiful union. cheers to marriage equality and cheers to the fact that love is love!
by golly, it was father’s day! a day to celebrate my hubby is who an amazing dad! not only is he an amazing father, he is a wonderful partner, a doting hubby and dad, a sweet, kind, caring, loving person.
olive and i are lucky gals to have this man in our lives. we started out the morning in bed, hc wanted to open up his gift right away! we gave him a tent from rei! he was so excited that he set it up right away in the kitchen! lol.
[hc wanted his gift right away! right when we woke up!]
[papyrus motorcycle card…tres cool]
[little olive ‘camping’ with her daddy in the kitchen]
since it was daddy day, olive and i ventured out to starbucks and got us coffee. it’s dangerous that the starbucks is so close {literally a couple minutes away}. we relaxed and ate a small breakfast before we headed out to brunch with our family.
[staple]
[relaxing before we head out]
we cruised to the city, parked, and walked to the restaurant. it was such a beautiful day; sunny, warm, and bright. so perfect! kim, terry, and the boys were already there. we said our hello’s and ordered tasty beverages to imbibe.
[family time // the boys going over the drink list]
we started out with apps…scones and jam, fried pickles, and poutine. an interesting combo but nevertheless delicious. this place is so good. i ordered a latte, um, i could have downed four of those! so smooth, nutty, and sweet.
[scones and lattes…so good]
[reagan showing off his shirt]
i ordered the smoked salmon…it was so tasty. the cream cheese was peppered with chives, the capers were perfectly salty, and the accoutrements were like a fresh salad. i was able to wolf some it down {thanks to kim for taking the babes}, my little olive was tired and fussy. kim came back and i took olive for a walk down michigan ave.
[delicious smoked salmon]
[enjoying his fruity drink]
[lovingly eyeing each other]
we absolutely enjoyed brunch. i really like the gage. the staff was so friendly and quite kid friendly. the ambience is fantastic, the food is delicious, and it was fun. i wished we could have enjoyed more of this beautiful day with them in the city but the other family duties called! so, off we went to spend some quality time with hc’s parents!
***
we drove our way to crystal lake…oy vey, it was almost a two hour drive. yowza. once we got there, we hung out outside with dick and jane. gramma brought out the swing and olive had a fantastic fun time on it! she made the funniest faces, she smiled relentlessly, and actually was waving at her daddy while they were swinging together! we chilled out in the yard and enjoyed the wonderful weather. it did rain just a tad. we brought olive inside for a second and then out we went again to continue the fun.
[papa and olive]
[olive loving the swing and waving at daddy!! look closely, her little hand flapping in the wind]
[look closely at olive’s face…she has the funniest expressions]
we spent many hours lazily relaxing. jane whipped up some dinner, we filled our bellies, and then downed too many sugar cookies she had baked. after olive’s feeding, we hit the road back to our maison.
it was such a delightful, beautiful day with our families. we are so blessed and couldn’t ask for anything more. we are so lucky to have such amazing father figures in our lives. happy dad’s day…but we like to celebrate them everyday!
[starbucks stop]
