hb hc!

Posted on April 20, 2015 by tandem in love

we recently celebrated hc’s birthday! it happens to be on tax day and it’s the day we closed on our house! so happy anniversary to our ‘new’ home as well!

his birthday was on a week night and i thought it would be a great idea to invite over only our immediate family. it’s always a good reason to invite our family over for a celebratory occasion.

i decided to do a little decorating and just ordered food. me cook? no way. i’m way more of a baker than a cook but on this day, my baking skills went down the drain. it was awful. i decided i would bake hc a cake. something i’ve done dozens of times. well, this time, it was a disaster. the cake tasted just fine but even after greasing the pans, my cake stuck to it! welp. so, needless to say…it was a crumbly mess. wah, wah!

i did my best with it. aunt wendy, dick, and jane were already over and they were so supportive and nice by telling me to keep the cake and not throw it out. so keep the wonky cake i did. aunt wendy kept on saying it would be memorable and it’s only family, so there was no need to go out and buy a cake. i took her advice and barreled on with decorating it.

so, there ya go. my loppy cake down below. anyhoozle, i decided to keep the color light and springy, so i went with an aqua color theme. i bought balloons, hung streamers, poms, and did a small spread of drinks and desserts. i picked up the food and we all noshed on delish fried chicken & biscuits.

[i love this table we had purchased a couple months back…it will look even better in the kitchen once we remodel it]

[aqualicious]

[my favorite candles]

[happy birthday hc!]

[olive loved playing with her uncle dan]

[pretty poms on our tore up ceiling!]

[smitten with dan]

[one of these pictures is not like the other…name 8 things that are different]

[fresh flowers from kim…always a plus!]

after dinner and drinks. i lit the candles on hc’s birthday cake. we sang happy birthday and i cut the cake. it held up ok. it didn’t completely fall apart like i thought it would! i love these birthday candles. i would use them on every birthday cake if i could! it’s so pretty, fun, and whimsical. they do melt quickly, so i did have to pick off some wax on the cake but nevertheless, they are perfect!

after cake, we hung out for a bit but it being a weeknight, our family trickled out early. no problem ’cause i had to clean up and then put little o down for the night!

[yay…so pretty!]

[make a wish!]

i’m so glad everyone was able to come on over to celebrate hc’s birthday. it meant so much to him. i’m glad i was able to pull something small together for him. happy birthday honey! we love you to bits!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on April 10, 2015 by tandem in love

today takes us back to april 2011!

hc’s birthday is coming up this week! yikes! i can’t believe it. oh, snap…i need to get it together and plan a little something fun.

a couple of things on this upcoming birthday of his. one – it’s always on tax day. two – it’s the anniversary of when we bought our first home together. so, it’s a very, very special day all together! obvs, last year was a very, very low key birthday…we were closing on our home and pretty much spent the day signing our life away, at the bank, at the store, and at our new home {cleaning away!}!

this picture down below was at his parent’s house. we celebrated his birthday with just dick, jane, and grace. it was simple and sweet. we had dinner, cake, and then he opened gifts.

hc always get annoyed if i eat off his plate. it doesn’t matter what it is or how much i take, if i try to nab a bite, he’ll always try to stab me with his fork. hehehe. so, needless to say, i always try to take food off his plate. well, as you can tell…in this case, i am trying to steal a bite of his cake. hahaha. so, there he is, trying to stab me with his fork. i’m not threatened. i have, will, and still try to eat his food and like a good ol’ couple {we will probably doing this when we’re 80 years old}, he will continue to ‘try’ to stab me with whatever blunt or sharp object nearby. and so the cycle continues…

well, my lovies. it is friyay! hap hap happy FRIYAY!! woo hooooo! i’ve got a few very, very busy days ahead of me. we have a lot jam packed into the next couple of days and i’m soooo looking forward to it! yippee! have a lovely weekend y’all!

xoxo

hb dick!

Posted on February 25, 2015 by tandem in love

yes, it was mr. heintz sr.’s birthday! when i tell people that my husband’s parent’s names are dick and jane, it’s a 99% chance that they totally get a kick out of it. yes, quite the classic duo.

anyhoo, it was definitely a lazy day for us. we didn’t have to be at dinner until later in the afternoon, so we just hung out all morning and afternoon, just chillin’. it was grrrreat. we did stuff around the house {cleaning, relaxing, eating, etc.} and loved every minute of our no frills or fuss day.

we got ourselves ready and headed out to crystal lake. there was no traffic, so it took us just a little over an hour. it was freeeezing out! oh, so cold. it’s so funny to me that when it’s so cold outside {like 5 degrees out with a negative windchill} for awhile and then we get hit with a day that is 30 degrees, it’s like a freakin’ heatwave here in chiberia!

[dinner party]

once we got there, pretty much everyone showed up at the restaurant at the same time. score…we were all on time! olive was most excited to see grace. it was too sweet. she just lights up when she sees her big sister and i love every moment of it.

we all sat down and perused the menu to decide on what we wanted to eat/order so we could get the ball rolling on this dining excursion. i ordered the tortellini…i’m a sucker for any cream sauce {so healthy 😉 }, pancetta, peas, etc. after we ordered, i pretty much entertained olive or she was entertaining herself. she’s so funny now. she definitely wants to be close to me but yet she also wants her independence. she’s a mixed bag of emotions, actions, and ‘words’. of course, it might have been dick’s birthday but it’s always the olive show, natch. {she’s the cutie baby, duh!}

[gramma and olive]

[olive peeking over at her cousin daniel]

[she’s always happy in her sister’s arms]

[could this entree be any bigger?!]

[olive finally into opening up gifts]

[she loved helping papa open up his gifts!]

[she loved, loved the mobile!]

after dinner, dick opened up all his gifts. jane’s present for dick was the one that olive loved the most! it was too precious. jane pulled out the mobile and olive ohhhh’d and ahhh’d over the gift! she was so amused by each photo and screamed out loud at each one she saw. sooooooo adorbs.

after dick opened up his gifts, desserts were served. the tiramisu was yummy but i could have done without the chocolate chips inside each bite. that kind of threw me off but overall, it was tasty. it was too much chocolate. yes, i did say that. i’m not a huge chocolate fan. i like it as an accent but not as a whole. annnddd, it has to be mixed with something and not alone. yes, yes. those are my chocolate rules. 😉

well, happy birthday to my wonderful, loving, sweet, caring, and awesome father in law. you are the best. we love you so much and we were so happy to have celebrated it with you!! muwah!

xoxo

andrea’s birthday

Posted on January 12, 2015 by tandem in love

andrea’s birthday was last week and we finally got together to celebrate her! she’s a traveling fool, i don’t know anyone else who is always on the go like she is. when i talk to her about getting together, the first thing i always say to her is, “when are you in town next?”.

well, she was finally in town. we made plans for dinner at a restaurant called mexique on chicago ave. can you believe that this restaurant has been there for the past six years and for the three years that we lived down the street from it, we never noticed or tried out the place?!

it is sooooo good. the food was amaze. i mean, seriously delectable. it’s a fusion of mexican and french palates. everything was perfectly cooked, the flavors paired together were unique and complementary, and everything was incredibly savory {my tastebuds were in heaven}. the ambience was cozy and warm and the service was great.

[ginger and beth]

i arrived at the restaurant in no time {even with the cray weather} and was seated immediately. oy, it was soooo cold outside! i feel like i’m peeling off another layer of clothes when i take my coat, hat, gloves, and scarf off {hmmm, well i guess i am!}. a few minutes after i had been seated, ginger and beth joined me, and then the birthday girl showed up a few minutes after that!

we settled in and decided on a bottle of wine {natch}. we started our gab fest immediately. i love hanging out with these ladies. ginger always, always cracks me up with her sarcastic comments! she’s so witty and funny.

[me and the birthday girl – 25 weeks preggo! plus…we apparently don’t know which direction to look at…}

[opening her birthday gift!]

[ceviche]

[mar y tierra]

after much conversing, we finally looked at the menu and ordered our apps and entrees. we started with the mussels {oh em gee good} and ceviche {mmmm}. i decided to get the mar y tierra: michoacan style braised pork belly, mexique mole, fennel apple puree, scallops, roasted corn and brussels sprouts salad with burned tomatillo salsa. i highly, highly recommend this! it was fantastic. after our entrees, we ordered the enchiladas: crepes filled with chocolate ganache, toasted walnuts, ancho chile-chocolate fondue, crème anglaise vanilla bean ice cream. i also topped that off with a decaf cappuccino that was so perfect. milky, frothy, and sweet.

[yum]

[happy birthday andrea!!]

[make a wish!]

throughout dinner, we gabbed non-stop. it was wonderful to catch up with everyone! i was really enjoying myself {the company, the restaurant, the food}. i don’t get out much without olive {although as i have stated before…i do get a bit anxious when i’m without her!} and i’m always great the first few hours but then i start to miss her {momfessions}.

after almost three hours of dining {good eats and great conversations}, it was time go! we paid our bill and towards the door we went. i said my goodbyes to everyone with lots of hugs and traipsed my way out the door and down the sidewalk {so chilly!} to my car. i made it home just in time to put my little babes to sleep. *sigh*

what a wonderful evening it was.

xoxo

hb to me!

Posted on December 22, 2014 by tandem in love

my birthday started out with me and olive. we were having a great morning! she was snuggly and in a great mood. i got ready and we spent a little us time, snuggling, that morning and then i decided we would hit target.

of course our shopping ‘short’ stop turned into a longer escapade than i had in mind {i should know better, it’s target!}! i was a bit behind on her breakfast and nap. we rushed home and i threw the groceries on the floor and went to work on her breakfast. i fed her, then nursed her, and then off to bed she went! she put up a fight. almost one hour later, she finally fell asleep!

hc’s parents came over around three o’clock, right when olive was finishing up her lunch. i had let her eat her pudding by herself, which is always a hot mess, and i typically throw her in the tub afterwards to clean her up. she gets her food all over the place. she will get pudding on her face {natch}, her hair, her ears, her pj’s, her hands, elbows, you name it…food is on it!

while his parents were over, i made some christmas popcorn {more on that later!} and hc {who came home early} hung out with his dad, while gramma entertained miss olive. once i was done, i got myself all gussied up and was ready to open up my birthday presents!

[my presents!]

i opened up dick and jane’s gift first. oh my goodness! i was not expecting to find what was inside. actually, i really had no clue what it was but i was extremely surprised! they bought me a pair of tory burch shoes! i was excited! i have a pair {and i looooooove them} but they are old and ragged. the shoes have been through more than what i should have put them through. yay!

[opening gifts before we head out to dinner]

[i was sooooo excited to receive these shoes!!!! it was so unexpected!]

[tory burch caroline flats!]

i was ready for hc’s gift. it was quite a big box. as i unwrapped it, i couldn’t get the box open {as you can see, i’m super amused}. my struggles were well paid off!!! my birthday present was from burberry! i was soooooo excited and happy! i had mentioned to hc that i wanted a new coat, my old burberry was dunzo, but i wasn’t sure when i was going to get it. i hoped for it as a possible birthday/christmas gift or something we could buy next year when all the cray spending would settle down. nope. it was here, on my birthday. woot. woot. a beautiful, new, sleek long puffer coat in the color olive. how perfect.

[not amused on why i can’t get the big box open]

[oh em gee…didn’t really expect this either!!!]

[olive was curious]

[so focused]

[in love! the color is called olive!]

[about to head out for our dinner reservations]

after much hoopla, we rushed out of the house and headed to the city for our dinner reservations. i was super excited to have dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. hc and i had our third date there. plus, when we lived in the city, it was so easy to go to coast as it was a hop skip and a jump away from our place.

as we were driving there, we passed a new donut shop called stan’s. i loved the store front and how inviting it looked but we were surprised a donut shop opened up there, right across the street from another favorite of ours, glazed and infused. that kind of sucked for them! donut competition!

[we were amused that this donut shop popped up right across the street from glazed and infused, i’m sure they weren’t amused…wow, competition}

we arrived at coast {we scored an awesome parking spot} and were seated immediately. oh, it was delightful. just like old times. we were seated in a cozy corner and had the best time drinking wine, eating apps, and conversing. dinner was fantastic, as usual. i crave sushi and i die over their fried tofu soup. it’s amaze.

well, we ate waaaayyy too much. hc had planned for us to go to hot chocolate for dessert. it’s our usual routine. eat at coast and have dessert at hot chocolate. but we were so stuffed that we passed on it, knowing we had cupcakes waiting for us at home. we wrapped up and headed out. it was great to not rush, to enjoy each other’s company, and savor a delicious meal together.

[best evah…my favorite is the white dragon]

once we got home, we lit my birthday candle, they sang happy birthday, and it was a wrap! it was quite a successful birthday!

[my birthday cupcake]

[singing happy birthday to me!]

[make a wish!]

i had the best day with miss olive & hc’s parents. hc always makes my birthday so special! he knows, with it being so close to the holiday craziness, how important it is to celebrate it as my memorable day. he will go out of his way to make it exceptional. he is, honestly, the best birthday present i could ever ask for!

xoxo

turkey day

Posted on December 10, 2014 by tandem in love

oh goodness. i have been so behind with blogging/posting. life has been so hectic and busy. i’m trying so hard to squeeze in some much needed sleep as well…which i have been terribly lacking in. that does not make me happy. i love sleep. loooooove it. but of late, i have been so very sleep deprived and that is no bueno. hello…that is why they call it beauty sleep and i am currently no beauty…just way tired looking!

anyhoo, i’m finally posting about thanksgiving. yeah…that was how long ago? but better late than never, non?!

we started off our morning right. relaxing, coffee, and just us being together. olive took her nap and after that, we gathered our stuff together and headed over to aunt wendy’s. they always have thanksgiving ‘dinner’ early. usually around 1:30pm. so, it always works out for us because my family has always had thanksgiving dinner around dinner time…6-7pm. we are able to split our day between both families.

we got to aunt wendy’s and settled in. we had brought a birthday cake to celebrate olive’s first. she was born one day before thanksgiving last year, so this year, it fell on thanksgiving day! the food was ready within the hour, i grabbed a plate for olive first. i fed my little babes her first thanksgiving meal {it was only colostrom last year!} and then grabbed a plate for myself! yum. the food was good…and very, very unhealthy! just keeding…it was all fat free 😉

[olive not having a meltdown in auntie missy’s arms]

[daniel and missy ready to give miss olive her birthday present]

[birthday gifts from auntie missy]

[my little babes]

[daniel and olive…cousins]

[me and lori]

[gramma and olive]

[‘lunch’ is served]

[darling morgan and miss olive]

[sister grace]

after we ate, we hung out for a bit. we caught up with the family and olive played around. she has to get warmed up and become familiar with her surroundings before she gets comfortable. once she is, she will start to explore and become friendly with the people around her.

after a bit, we decided to break out her birthday cake since the other desserts were being served. we lit her birthday candle, brought out the cake to the dining room table, and sang happy birthday! she didn’t even wait for us to sing. she saw the cake and dug her finger right into it! ha!

after her cake, we chilled for just a little bit longer and then headed over to my parent’s house to another round of thanksgiving dinner and birthday cake!

[birthday cake!]

[before we sang, she had already stuck her finger in the cake! // make a wish!]

***

when we arrived at my parent’s house, we were delighted by the cute little presents waiting for miss olive! my sisters did such a wonderful job putting her presents together! so sweet.

my sister kim was downstairs, still whipping up our delicious dinner. we all pitched in to help finish it up while the kids played around. every year, my sister kim always makes the yummiest thanksgiving dinner. it’s soooo good! everything is delicious, tasty, and savory. my favorite dishes are the brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes. this year, though, i was really loving the mushrooms. like i said before…it’s all fat free!

[cutest gift…a ‘target’ shopping cart and goodies inside!]

[if you’re vietnamese…you’ll know what’s inside the container thuy is holding!]

[cheers!]

[my sweet brother dan]

[thanksgiving table]

[happy birthday olive!]

[here comes the food!]

[cheers!]

[the boys were super excited mom found the wishbone!]

[bennett ended up with the winning part]

once we were done with dinner, we relaxed a bit at the table, and then the clean up began. of course, in old school fashion, all the women cleaned up while the kids and the men chilled.

after the dishes were done and the food was put away, we brought out olive’s birthday cake. kim and thuy got olive the prettiest cake and candles! it was covered in sprinkles! who doesn’t love sprinkles?! we sang happy birthday and she made a ‘wish’. so perfect!

[my sweetie]

[olive with her crazy aunties]

***

after cake, the big kids were super excited to decorate cookies. every year, i bake a few dozen sugar cookies {a blog post to come!} and bring them over so the kids can have fun decorating cookies! it’s creative, fun, and yummy {maybe a few get eaten before it’s all done 😉 } it’s entertaining to watch them, how creative different they all are and what fun designs they come up with on each cookie.

[fun festive decorated cookies]

[olive and grandma]

while the kids decorated cookies, we opened up olive’s birthday gifts from her aunties and cousins. i loved every little detail! the purr-fect card, the ‘target’ cart, the french word blocks, the best baby book {it’s so fun and interactive}, and the cutest, coziest cat hat for miss olive! so perfectly thought out and alls so useful! olive is so lucky to have such generous aunties!

[a cat card for my cat baby]

all in all, it was the best ‘first’ thanksgiving for miss olive! we had such a wonderful time celebrating her birthday, eating the most delectable foods, and spending time with our dear family. pure success in the ‘it’s a wonderful life’ department. woot. woot.

xoxo

happy thanksgiving + hb to miss olive!!

Posted on November 27, 2014 by tandem in love

i am thankful for sooooo many wonderful things in my life.

i am thankful for my hubby charming of 3/6+ years. he is the light of my life and i am so grateful for him. he {insert cheesy line} really does complete me.

i am thankful olive was born on this day last year and it’s been the best ride of our lives thus far. she is the most wonderful little person evah. she brings us so much joy, laughter, and love. i am still amazed that we did this…created the most perfect little human being.

i am thankful for my wonderful, wonderful family {my cooking crazy mom, my giving and loving dad, my two beautiful sisters, and my cool dude brothers}. they have been the most supportive people in my life. when the tough gets going, they are there for you. no matter how hard i fall, they will always be there to pick me up and i am incredibly thankful for them.

i am thankful for my fantastic in laws. dick and jane are the most loving parents and friends. they have always been there for us and we are so appreciative of them!

i am thankful for so many, many more things! i am grateful for my health and the health of my loved ones around me. i am thankful for the beautiful house we live in and how much more beautiful it will be as hc works so hard on the remodeling of it. i am thankful for grace and what an amazing big sister she has been to little miss olive. i am thankful for my friends, who love me for who i am and i get to engage in mindless gossip talk with them. i am thankful for so much beauty in my life. period.

stop yourself and think how wonderful this world we live in can be, stop to smell the roses, see the glass half full, enjoy the people around you, slow down and be kind and thoughtful.

this thanksgiving, count your blessings and give someone a great big hug to make their day a little brighter.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEST LITTLE BABES!!!!

xoxo

din din at ma soeur

Posted on September 16, 2014 by tandem in love

thuy and i decided to head over to our sister kim’s place to have dinner and finally give her the birthday gift we forgot to give her on her birthday 🙂 it was a bit of a cooler evening {signs of fall coming!}, we were on our way to their place and picked up some indian {yum} food along the way. i love naan. obsessed with naan. it’s so good!

once we got there, bennett and reagan were so excited olive was there. right away, bennett started to play with little olive. reagan was soon done with his bath and joined in on the fun. they are so cute together. i love watching them play together. they are so sweet and loving with her. it melts my heart and brings me such joy knowing that they get to grow up together.

we got down to eating. i was so hungry! there were so many delicious dishes to choose from, i nibbled a little bit of everything. then all my nibbling turned into a very full, overstuffed belly!

after dinner, i asked kim for a sippy cup with a straw. olive has never tried sipping from a straw. yes…it wasn’t at the top of my list of things for her to do. we started to give her water from a bottle several months ago, then we graduated into a sippy cup, but we have never tried a straw. success! she sipped with enough force to draw the water up from the cup!

[first time sipping from a straw!]

[she loves her sunnies {i wear my sunglasses at night} and her louis vuitton]

so, we got down to kim opening her gifts. of course the boys helped her! after kim finished up with her presents, she went into her room and came running out with a pair of shoes for olive. they were lovely, little straw sandals with pink flowers on top. we put them on olive and she was not fond of them!! all summer long, i have had her barefoot. she doesn’t walk and it was too warm for her to have anything on her feet. i found the idea of her having shoes to be wasteful. with that, she didn’t like them on her feet and she kept pulling on them to try to get them off her feet!

[birthday gifts]

[hmmmm, paper…i love paper]

[look ma! it’s louis!]

[like niece, like auntie]

[olive, do you like auntie kim’s bootie??]

[oh baby olive was gifted with shoes, from her auntie, as well!]

[olive standing up on her own!]

well, it was a very relaxing, very low key night with the fam. we had a great time just hanging out and reveling in baby olive’s antics, as usual!

thanks to r+b, kim and terry for hosting us!

xoxo

sista kim’s bday brunch

Posted on September 3, 2014 by tandem in love

it was my sister kim’s birthday! yay!

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!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: birthday

hb hc!

flashback friday

hb dick!

andrea’s birthday

hb to me!

turkey day

happy thanksgiving + hb to miss olive!!

din din at ma soeur

sista kim’s bday brunch