i was talking with jod the other day when we agreed to go in together on a gift for our friend, dawn.
dawn is pregnant with her fourth child! cray! i can see why, kids are so cute and family is so wonderful, that having little babies is awesome! it’s a lot work but having your own kids is just so adorbs and special!
it was quite cold. damn this polar vortex. the high today was only 7 degrees, ugh. not ideal for my baby girl. i did bundle her up all cute though! olive was ready to face the cold with me! our first stop was pbk. i met jodi and jett there to pick out a gift for dawn. we circled around and around until we finally decided on some really adorable items for the little babes! i can’t wait to give it to her!
after shopping, we skipped on over to panera bread for a quick lunch. i ordered a healthy choice of oatmeal, brown sugar, strawberries, and pecans…yum!! it was sooo good! we nibbled on our food and chatted away the rest of the morning together. we were catching up on the latest gossip, the latest baby talk, and about life in general…so many good changes and fun happenings soon. as always, it’s so good to hang out with jodi and jett. love them both! jett was definitely in the entertaining mood! he threw everything jodi had handed to him on the ground and amused everyone in the restaurant with his shrieks! that’s a cute little baby for ya! the little bugger thought he was so cute, in which he was!
[little babe olive in her bear hooded coat from our cousins kait and sara!]
[my selfie with jett…doesn’t he look amused?!]
[look at that chubby face! jett was grabbing for the phone!]
[jodi and jett]
i had an appointment with our nanny that afternoon, so after a few hours together i had to head out to meet her at our place. we said our goodbyes and parted ways on this cold but very sunny day! hey, at least the sun was shining! a sun shiny day always puts me in a good mood! 🙂
i was very excited to have plans with matt and ande. i absolutely love getting together with them. we are such a fun bunch, if i do say so myself!
we had planned to meet up on division street at prasino but this weather has been atrocious. it snowed the night before and during the day of our plans. after mucho texting with each other, matt suggested that they come over to our place instead. of course, i am not against that at all. it was a nice idea to be able to relax at our place without worrying if we were holding anyone up, since we gab non-stop.
i was all psyched to break out the stroller and traipse my way to the restaurant, since it was only a few blocks away. that meant i could get some exercise and get out but i was foiled by the weather again!
hc was actually working from home that day and took a lunch break when they came by. he met them at a local deli, rosie’s west town, and grabbed some bites to eat, while i stayed in with the babes. they came back and we sat down for some tasty food. ande was excited to see olive {she hadn’t yet met her!} and see her nursery!
i love the sandwiches at rosie’s!! it is so delicious. they have great soups, sandwiches, and desserts. it makes me happy to have such good, local businesses like that around us.
[matt and ande…some very good peeps. love them!]
[matching sweaters!]
[tiramisu and brownie desserts]
[the girls!]
[hc and i relaxing after our visitors. little o was napping :)]
after several hours of hanging out together and catching up on the latest news, it was sadly time for them to part. it was a really, really great visit in so many ways. mostly because of the wonderful news we heard from ande! we had good eats, they got to say hi to the baby, and we had such wonderful things to talk about!
thanks for coming our way for our lunch date! love you guys!
i ventured out to my sister’s house this past week to celebrate a little love with the nephews.
i hit the roads during rush hour {ugh}; it was congested but not so bad! i was constantly moving and it didn’t take that long to get there. i was, at first, hesitant to travel out there because it was suppose to snow during the late afternoon, which is a recipe for a driving disaster!
i brought over valentine’s day cupcakes and i set the boy’s presents on the console as i walk in. it was too cute, they kept asking who those presents were for. i told them it was for two boys named reagan and bennett, i asked them if they knew who these two boys were. bennett looked confused but reagan blurted out, “that’s us!”. i told them there are more little boys out there name reagan and bennett, which made them giggle. 🙂
[it’s fat free…yum]
[olive chillin’ while we ate our dinner]
after a healthy dinner of portillo’s, we exchanged presents! it was so fun! i gave the boys their gifts, and they gave olive her gift. thuy had brought the boys and olive presents too! there was a lot of exchanging and gifting going on, the boys screamed out, “is it christmas?!”. lol.
[the boys with their vday presents // s’mores // alien pom growth on r’s face]
kim, r n b, had gotten olive the cutest stuffed animal that came with the most adorable tutu and headband! we dressed her in it and we were just delighted on how darling she looked! it was so precious.
[r + b decorated olive in valentine’s day stickers! // baby’s first valentine // wooden animal blocks]
[love her first valentine’s day card]
thuy had bought olive awesome wooden toys and a lovely outfit {so cozy and cute}. i love wooden toys. i want to stay as close as possible to just buying wooden toys {quite a feat but i’ll try my best!} for olive.
[thuy’s stenciled clutch gift for me! // auntie kim and olive {look at her face and skinny legs!} // adorbs outfit from thuy]
it was a very sweet evening with the family. we had a blast celebrating valentine’s day together. it was filled with lots of love, giggles, and charming fun.
cupcakes. moist, yummy, delicious, sweet cupcakes! just your typical mix, festive liners, sprinkles, and trimmings.
i wanted the cupcakes to be trimmed with sweet fluffy frosting, fun heart sprinkles, and cute festive adornments! i truly desired to pipe the frosting {looks more professional, non?} but unfortunately, i did not have enough frosting to do so. boo. so i used a small spatula to spread the frosting on each cupcake instead. i sprinkled each cupcake with the most adorable heart sprinkles {they are so cute!} and topped off each one with a sugar candy heart envelope or a conversation heart! voila! my fun, sweet, festive, holiday cupcakes.
i couldn’t wait to devour them once i was done decorating!
have i mentioned that i loveland of nod?? yes, i did register there but i was in love with this store way before i became preggers.
it’s such a cute, whimsical, fun place.
***
we started out the morning with the hubs. he made banana pancakes topped with shaved chocolate and fresh, sweet bananas. we drenched the pancakes with vermont cinnamon maple syrup…yum! a big shout out to my dear friend olivia, who gave us this wonderful gift for christmas {along with a cook book that hc has used several times…delish recipes!}.
hc then left to go hang out with the bro-in-law, terry. they went to a cider fest at navy pier. so that left me and the kids to have our own fun for the day!
land of nod was offering their customers a chance to take valentine’s day photos with a professional photographer. how awesome! so, i packed up the kids around noon and headed out to the ‘burbs. the one thing that sucked?? it had just started to snow {boo}. that made for some heavy traffic out and i was already running behind {i forgot a crucial component to the bugaboo stroller and i had to turn around 🙁 }
anyhoo. we finally made our way to the store {it was quite pretty, though, with all of the snowfall…i have to find the beauty in the snow that we have been having!!!}. little olive was fast asleep when we got there…i didn’t want to take her out of the stroller {she was a tired peanut}, so grace and i took some photos together and the photographer took some pictures of scrunched face olive in her carseat.
[lol…she looked mad. rockin’ an 8o’s headband look]
after our pictures, the kids played together in the store. there was so much to look at. i was really loving their felt garlands. they had colored pennants, dots, stars, hearts, and clouds! the cloud garland was too darling to pass up, so i purchased one for olive’s room. a perfect addition to her cloud themed chambre.
[thuy just chillin’ at the kids table with her coffee]
[r being cute // photo by thuy]
[b being extra cute // photo by thuy]
we then shopped a bit at pottery barn kids, i had to pick up some gifts for some upcoming events {the next few months for us are going to be busy ones! birthdays, baby showers, vacations, oh my!}. i talked myself out of buying more valentine’s day trinkets {i was totally tempted. i mean, i can always find ways, ideas, or reasons to make or create anything crafty}. pbk has really fun decor but i’m dunzo for now.
after that, we went and grabbed lunch at cpk. the kids had your typical cheese pizza and plain pasta. i split a rustic pepperoni pizza with thuy and kim ordered quesadillas. as we sat there eating at cpk {they have huge windows surrounding the whole restaurant}, i could see that the snow was really coming down! it made me nervous to drive home because of the traffic we would face.
once lunch was done, we traipsed our way over to nordstrom to peruse their departments. i pit stopped at the women’s lounge to change and feed little o. nordstrom has such an awesome women’s lounge! i love their mother’s lounge…a cozy, comfortable place where you can feed the babes. while olive was feeding kim, thuy, and the kids went to west elm to shop around. the kids ended up decorating paper hearts for a good cause!
[the kids decorating hearts at west elm for st. jude’s hospital // photo by thuy]
i ended up going to my parent’s house to avoid the crazy traffic back to the city {i did not want to be sitting in a parking lot with the kids in tow} and thuy so kindly took grace, r + b to go see the lego movie, while kim headed out to finish up some things on her list.
[olive showing off her valentine outfit and her vday ‘beer’ belly // be still my heart…i love her so! // cherokee cardigan and pants, carter’s onesie…similar here]
i did dressed o up in a cute valentine’s day outfit for the so-called ‘sleep’ photos at lon! a soft, minty polka dotted onesie with a little mousey holding a heart balloon, a light pink cardigan, and heart printed pants. i also had her wear a flower headband. baby girl was not happy. she doesn’t like things on her head. but it was so adorbs though!
by late evening, we ended up all together, back at my parent’s house! kim came over after she did a few errands, thuy brought the kids back after the movie, and terry & rich came by after their escapades downtown. we then enjoyed the rest of our night as a family 🙂
it had snowed the night before on friday. i had plans for an outing on saturday morning {yuck to brushing off my car. although i didn’t do it :), thank goodness for hubby charming} and i dislike driving through the snow. it has pretty much been snowing all winter! it’s been a crazy, snowy, cold, cold winter!
i got up on this windy, cold day and got ready to head out. i left the babes with the hubs to join my sister for brunch. she was getting her hair cut by misako at m&m salon. misako has been my stylist for 13 years! i found her when she was cutting hair at a salon on oak st. {no longer there, now just a distant memory} and have stuck with her ever since. it’s definitely hard to find a stylist that knows how to really cut your hair, style it, and really listen to you. love her and the salon she is at!
after thuy’s haircut, we traipsed our way to farmhouse to eat. oh my goodness! it was so windy! it cut straight through my clothes {not fun}. good thing the restaurant was only a couple of blocks away. once we arrived, we were seated upstair {nice and cozy} and proceeded with our noshing of some tasty morsels. we couldn’t resist the eggs benedict with a side of sausage. we washed it all down with some fresh orange juice. delicious.
[yummy eggs benedict]
[sistas]
after brunch, we perused around paper-source, right next door. they have such fun items, i always want everything! it’s a crafty girl’s dream! they had all their whimsical valentine’s day trinkets out. so adorbs. i can spend hours and hours in that store with my imagination running wild with crafty ideas!
i was really loving these kate spade gold dot coasters, placemats, and napkins! how fun would these be for a festive party?! yup.
it was a nice blip in our cold afternoon. after meeting, eating, and greeting, we parted ways! happy day!
It was that time of year again! celebrating thuy’s birthday. always on a cold, january day. it typically snows, has snow on the ground or is really cold out {just like mine, being in december!}. this year, it was a little blizzard of snow.
the snow kept on falling throughout the day. a very pretty sight but not so pretty driving conditions. hc and i spent the morning looking at house(s) for sale {that’s a whole other story}, after that, we pit stopped at starbucks for some tasty treats.
[decaf americano and a chocolate croissant // perfect]
after house hunting and reenergizing at starbucks, we spent the afternoon at my parent’s house. as the day wore on, the snow kept falling and we decided to leave a bit early from the p’s to give us time to travel and do a bunch of errands at home before thuy’s soiree that evening.
oy…traffic was bad! we finally arrived home and we scurried around getting stuff done. i had to wrap thuy’s gift, do baby stuff, figure out what to wear {such a daunting event every time since i’ve had this beautiful baby, the game of what fits…what doesn’t fit – sad}, get ready, etc. ugh, time was flying by! hc was preoccupied with ‘house’ stuff, so this was causing us to run behind! yuck. i hate being late {although, it’s always the case personally! i’m not extremely late all the time but i never truly feel stressed about being on time…if i am, i am…if i’m not…c’est la vie, non? but that doesn’t mean i still don’t like it!} 😛
so, there we were, running late to our dinner commitments! we tried to nab a cab but that wasn’t going to happen! we jumped into our car and finally sped off to the restaurant, henri. hc dropped me off while he parked the car. i traipsed on in and joined the celebration going on inside for miss thuy!
[birthday lady]
they had ordered oysters as an app. so yummy good. you can down a half dozen if you didn’t force limit yourself or just be plain piggish in everyone else’s eyes!
[oyster apps]
[hello world!]
during desserts, thuy opened up her gifts!
[love your sweater sis!]
[packaging]
[birthday goodies]
[thuy and lan, such chic ladies]
[opening her gift from lan]
[first round of birthday wishes at henri]
after dinner and before desserts, the boys decided to go to the gage for drinks. that was their dessert! so, they left us and headed over to the gage as we were ordering some decadent desserts and cafe at henri.
[henri]
after henri, we headed to the gage to meet up with our husbands. having dinner doesn’t ever stop these gals from ordering more food! kim, thuy, and lan then ordered poutine and bone marrow as an extension to this evening’s noshing. i could only taste…it was all so delicious but my belly couldn’t consume any more morsels of these tasty treats…that is, until the dessert came! the server brought over another birthday treat for thuy! a glass filled with sweet, light, chocolate mousse. it was so good!!!
[hb squared. second round of birthday wishes // at the gage]
it was a fun, snowy evening celebrating thuy! i hope it was a good one! happy birthday to my lovely sister!
i was super excited to have plans with kim and brady! i was even more excited to get out of our place. i’m feeling a lot more confident and better about olive’s behavior, needs, and schedule. she is also growing and maturing week by week, so her habits are a lot more recognizable and easy to console. so, taking her out feels less and less stressful. i’m getting to the point where i’m realizing, ‘i have a kid’, so if she melts down or not…it is what it is! although, when she wakes up…it’s a scream fest! she, at this point, doesn’t just wake up and oogle and coo. she belts it out. she wants you to know she’s up and hungry. or has a dirty diaper. or just because!
kim and i planned on meeting up at nordstrom’s restaurant, cafe bistro. it’s a quick and easy place to eat and very kid friendly! now as a mom, the world is a different place. i was that single gal that really didn’t understand kids, being a mom, or that it mattered that it was a kid friendly eatery. it just wasn’t my world and i didn’t fully understand it. not that it completely bothered me but just not my thing. now, it’s a whole other level of understanding. i get it. boy, do i get it.
[the little mouse was so quiet and sleepy]
as i was leaving the city, she zonked out. she was tired and grumpy all morning but wouldn’t really nap. she took a little cat nap but that was it. she screamed and screamed when i put her in the car seat. as soon as i walked out of our place she calmed down and then fell asleep, and sleep she did! she slept through our whole time at nordstrom!
[cutest gift wrap from kim!]
i’ll leave out the awful part where i struggled with our bugaboo stroller! it was my first time using it {yes, it makes me sad to say that because that is how little we go out or go for walks…sad. sad. sad.}! all the other times we’ve gone out with her, it’s been me and the hubs and usually it’s a shopping trip with a cart. so, it’s easy to take her carseat out and throw it on a shopping cart and so forth. in the end, i had the employees at nordstrom help me with the bugaboo! they were better rehearsed in it then me! so, needless to say, stroller – 1, thu – 0. i will overcome and win over this stroller next time!
i finally got the stroller going and galloped my way to our destination. i felt so bad being so late! anyhoo, i was so, so excited to see kim and brady! it had been a few months {too long! and some cancelled plans along the way} and i was glad to finally secure some time and catch up with the wonderful lady!
we have known each other for over four years now! just like jodi, kim and i got engaged a few months apart, we got married two months and one day apart, and got pregnant just less than three months apart but our babies were born exactly three months apart! cray, right?! it’s amazing we have journeyed together on these big life milestones.
[moi, kim, and handsome brady]
we chitchatted, ate {i had the citrus turkey sandwich – yum!}, and watched over our babes. we were so excited to share stories! i was so excited, i think i was a bit ADD! my mind was scattered, overwhelmed with a ton of thoughts i wanted to share! when kim and i get together, we can talk and talk and talk. unfortunately, our time was limited today. we usually can converse for hours! it was not enough time spent together. i had so much more to talk about, to say, to ask, to share! i am thankful we have become good friends, she is such a sweet lady!
kim brought us a gift! it was so beautifully wrapped {that’s how we roll, kim and i love wrapping up our gifts all purrty!}. i absolutely loved every item inside! the cutie outfit is so adorable {olive will look so purty in it!}. i read the books, they are so fun and cute and i absolutely loved the flannel swaddle blanket she gave us! i am all about flannel. stella had given us the flannel swaddle blankets we registered for from pbk and it’s what olive lives in! so warm, soft, and cuddly!
[awesome gifts from the lovely kimberly // her owl themed gift was so stinkin’ cute]
time really flew by. before we knew it, it had been a couple hours! although, olive was knocked out, i knew if she woke…she would demand a feeding. as we were walking out, we were in awe over the fact that we have little kiddies together. such a fun time for us! we promised each other that we would get together soon and have play dates with the kiddos! so, sadly, we said our goodbyes and parted our separate ways.
it was such a good thing to be able to spend some time with the lovely kim and beautiful brady!
it was my birthday this past 17.12! my, what a difference a year makes. last year’s celebration was non-stop. this year’s celebration was non-stop with the babes! it was low key and cozy.
obviously, this post if very delayed but nevertheless an occasion. i had some other vip things to talk about that superceded this post. don’t get me wrong…i love my birthday! ever since i have been with hc, he’s always made it important and that means a lot to me. here’s a blast from the past…some photos from last year’s celebration:
we had dinner at an italian restaurant, la luce, set up by my darling friend andrea and hc. i was blessed to have some wonderful friends {matt, johann, danielle, dana, andrea, frank, & kip} and family {kim, thuy, dan, & terry} celebrate with me on that special occasion!
hc commissioned a cake from alliance bakery in the form of a lv gift box! how adorbs! i loved the cake…and it was sooo delish.
[birthday bash from 2012 – coat, vintage burberry]
***
here’s to my wonderful birthday celebration with our newest, adorable addition – baby olive!
[this is my current look at home nowadays]
i definitely wanted to break out my tiara but it was buried downstairs in the basement 🙁 {i mean, pj’s aren’t quite the tiara ensemble but i’ll rock one for any occasion!}. oh well, it can always make it’s appearance next year. a girl’s birthday always deserves a tiara!
we celebrated at home with just the three of us. hc made a delicious dinner [it’s called order out at mana…so delish] and i made my wish when i blew out my birthday cake candles! shhh…wishes are always kept secret so they can come true! hubby charming so thoughtfully gave me a gift from jcrew {a fav store o mine}! a buffalo check coat…loves! so outdoorsy chic!
[mana… a modge podge of goodness]
[happy beurffday!!!]
[make a wish]
[jcrew boxes are always filled with wonderful surprises]
here’s a blast from the past. it’s us on the eve of 2012 ready to ring in 2013!!! my what a year it has been!
we celebrated at gt fish and oyster with our friends and family last year. it was a delicious meal…entree after delicious entree. gluttony at it’s best. we started our feasting at 10pm and giddily rang in the new year at the restaurant with lots o hollering and noise!
[2013]
[the sassy gals]
[dana and moi always matching in something, as usual]
[bex and james, who live in seattle, celebrating with us!]
farewell to a fantastic 2013 and hello to a fabulous 2014! i wish for everyone health, happiness, love, and many blessings for the coming new year.
happy new year everyone!!!
“should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?
for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.”
[my selfie with jett…doesn’t he look amused?!]
