slow-cooking

Posted on January 30, 2015 by tandem in love

we had our friends jeri, john, and taylor over for dinner! it was a jam packed day {with guests} and hc worked really hard to prep some damn good meals for us.

they stopped by our house in the early evening. john’s son, taylor, lives right by us! so, they were on their way to dropping him off and we had planned for them to stop on by to say hello and then stay for dinner.

hc had slow cooked some savory pork, made a delicious coleslaw, buttery mashed potatoes, and seasoned a slew of his signature brussel sprouts. dinner was going to be good! the house smelled delicious and i couldn’t wait to eat! to top off our meal, jeri & john brought over sweet mandy b’s desserts…oh em gee. one of my favorite bakeries in the city! i was extremely excited for the desserts! total bonus points for being the best guests!

[jeri, taylor, and john]

before dinner, john drove taylor home to his mom’s and then came back for dinner. while we waited for him, we opened up the gift they had brought for miss olive. oh, they are so sweet and thoughtful. i am so thankful for their kindness and totally appreciate that they thought about miss olive. jeri had picked out the cutest outfits for olive!! i loved it! i told her that it was like i picked them out myself…the colors and cuteness were perfect!

we then sat down for dinner. it was oh so good. the food was so flavorful and the company was fantastic. we had a really good time chatting it up with them. they are such a great couple and taylor is a really cool, sweet kid. i really enjoyed having them over.

[we were about to open olive’s gift from jeri and john…not sure what is going on with olive’s hair?!]

[slaw, pulled pork, smashed potatoes, and brussel sprouts]

[olive giving jeri the birdie..lol]

after relaxing through dinner and catching up on a lot of life’s craziness, i brought out the desserts. oh, i was in heaven. jeri and john had selected different flavored cupcakes and yummy cookies to share. i sliced all the cupcakes in half and we all dug into the flavors that we wanted to taste. mmmmmm! so yummy!

we all hung out a bit longer but it was a ‘school night’, so jeri and john decided to head out. it was truly a wonderful night. we had such a great time hosting and having them over for dinner. we committed to more get togethers {especially when the weather gets warmer…don’t we all wish that here in chicago?!}.

thanks jeri and john for hanging out! we loved having you guys over!

xoxo

kind of a date night

Posted on December 17, 2014 by tandem in love

so, we had an impromptu date night. yes, the stars were aligned and we jumped right on it!

our day started out with just me and olive. we chilled in the morning, did our usual routine, and then we got ready to head out to olive’s one year doctor’s appointment. traffic wasn’t so bad but {harhar} we were running late! we were about 15 minutes late and scored a close parking spot, so we were right on time to our predicted late time {ha!}. i was super excited to see how much my baby has grown! olive was in the 85 percentile for her head and height but she was at the 50 percentile for her weight…not too shabby. i really thought she was going to weigh more, but everything is just perfect. she is super healthy and just stinkin’ wonderful.

after her appointment, we went to starbucks and i bought a coffee. we then cruised down southport to check out some shops. of course, we stopped at our favorite store: anthropologie! we walked around and around enjoying all the holiday decor, knick knacks, and beautiful clothes. the store is so whimsical and fun but not only that, they have the coolest, prettiest dresses! after we shopped around for a bit, we decided to head out just in time for olive’s second nap during our car ride home. natch.

[at our favorite store – anthropologie]

***

olive woke up just in time for a shopping trip to target. we bought a bunch of grocery items and some holiday decor. while i was shopping at target, my sister text me about wanting miss olive to come over to my parent’s house because our nephews were over and they wanted to play with her! so right after our shopping excursion, i headed over to my parent’s house and dropped miss olive off!

i headed back home to unload the groceries and hc declared that we were going to take advantage of this alone time and go out to dinner! when he first mentioned doing something together, my mind immediately went to doing some errands together but he firmly said no. he said we were going to spend our time together doing nothing but enjoy a lovely dinner together with just us. what a fantastic thought!!

wow…it had been awhile since we went out to dinner, sat eye to eye, conversed, and not get interrupted by anything! it was amazing. it felt good. it felt like a true {short} date night! it’s crazy to think we haven’t done something like that in months! how simple things like that can be taken for granted! i loved every second of our alone time together. i am super thankful hc insisted on it and grateful he is a romantic like that. gosh, he helps me slow down and enjoy life, ’cause sometimes i move at warp speed and i need someone to tell me to stop and smell the roses.

xoxo

deck the halls!

Posted on December 13, 2014 by tandem in love

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

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

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

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

[boxwood wreath]

[banner by little dovie]

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

[decking the halls in our pj’s!]

[my cuties]

[olive was very good at helping out]

[we took a little snuggle/goofy time break in-between decorating]

[goofy girl]

[then she got grumpy]

[and grumpy…somebody is getting coal in their stocking!]

[she was happy in our arms, so she helped with the star topper]

[handmade snow ‘globes’, silver mercury, and holly]

[pottery barn pillows]

[my handmade card holder! a diy from a few years back!]

***

[holly berries in a silver mercury vase]

[the reindeer vase needs more cheer! i will be shopping for some pretty florals to add to this]

[i will also be adding more holiday pizazz to this mantle…possibly some glitzy ornaments]

[i will be adding in some red ribbon and possibly ornaments]

***

next up, olive’s room! i did some tiny little touches of christmas to her room.

[mr. gingerbread man from the land of nod]

[olivia helps with christmas // tiffany’s rabbit piggybank]

[the personalized christmas mouse book from her aunties last year and olive the reindeer book]

[i love vintage, i love kitschy]

there ya go! our holiday makeover. i love adding a little cheer to every room in the house. it definitely is the most wonderful time of the year!!!

xoxo

olive & santa claus

Posted on December 3, 2014 by tandem in love

we were so excited to have scheduled a visit with santa claus! so, dream works has created and built ten {i think it’s ten, or is it seven? anyhoo} led lighted santa clause houses throughout the u.s. and oakbrook center has one! it’s a good thing we made our appointment early because it is now booked throughout the season! we were so excited to have experienced this journey to see santa claus, what a unique idea it is!

we packed ourselves up and headed out to oakbrook. we were running a bit behind but that was no matter because, unfortunately, santa was also running sooo behind! we waited in line for quite some time {that sucked…especially since we made an appointment!} and it was so cold out…boo! the guest service folks were kind enough to let us step away and warm up inside a store and not lose our spot in line. we needed to because it was way too cold outside for miss olive! after a very, very long wait, we were finally up next! woo hoo!

[pretty cool, huh? the images actually change]

[waiting out in the cold for santa // coat by zara]

[red nosed reindeer]

[auntie kim making a pit stop by]

[fiona, donkey, and shrek]

[my little baby warming up]

they gathered us inside the ‘foyer’ of the house and we were welcomed in by a few elves. we waited there, another ten minutes or so, before we were finally greeted by another elf! she brought us into another room and talked about how we were going to meet santa! buttttt, santa had snuck away! shrek and donkey appeared and said we needed to go to the north pole to see santa, he had gone back and we needed to find a way to meet up with him!

[we are finally inside! waiting to see if santa is behind the curtain]

[nope, santa isn’t here!]

[shrek and donkey telling us that we need to build a sleigh to get to the north pole!]

our little elf then led us into another room, a top secret room where we could build a sleigh ride to fly to the north pole. we spent some time in there building our cool sleigh! it was so interactive and fun!

[building our sleigh on the computer!]

after we built our sleigh, we were then led into another room where our computerized sleigh came to life! we all jumped onto the sleigh and held on tight for our trip to the north pole. it was soooooo cool. we loved it! it was so realistic and fun. we flew through the sky with shrek, fiona, donkey, and other friends, they led us to the north pole.

[we were flying to the north pole! it was so awesome!]

after our sleigh ride, we finally landed in the north pole! we were almost there, santa was within reach! we waited in another room and waited our turn to see him! as you can see…olive was loving it {not}! i knew she would completely freak out once i handed her over. oh em gee. i could not stop laughing. my poor baby girl was having a freak out. and that santa…he was so stinkin’ cool. he didn’t break a sweat and handled her like a pro! the pics down below are too presh.

[this one is our favorite…ha!}

yay! olive’s first visit with santa was a success{?}. well, it was for us, although i think olive might argue that. hehe.

happy holidays y’all!

xoxo

chill night

Posted on November 17, 2014 by tandem in love

hc came home from work and brought home some ingredients for me to make it a mexican meal night {woot, woot}, so cheesy quesadillas it was {does that say cheesy cheesy??!…natch}. i first whipped together some guac to go with our chips and eventually to dollop on our meals! most folks will say gauc should be simple, salt, pepper, a dash of lime but i do like mine to have a touch of tomatoes and onions {preferably red onions}. yuuuuummmmmm.

[ingredients]

we broke open some coronas and lime and cheered our way to some yummy food. i started out cooking the sliced chicken on the skillet {a bit of olive oil…is that mexican?? 😉 }, on high heat. after the chicken was cooked {no pink!}, i scooped it out and threw in sliced onions {i have to always have a kick to it!}. i then threw the chicken back in {medium heat} and threw on some seasoning and water. like i said, it needs a kick, some flavor.

after the chicken was cooked. i threw some mexican rice into a pot of boiling water and started that, so it would be nice and fluffy once the cheesydillas were done. i then took the chicken and folded it into some tortillas. i buttered one side of the tortilla, threw a whole bunch of cheese on top of the chicken and folded the tortilla in half. normally, i would cook the quesadilla on a skillet until the cheese was melted and the shell was a toasty brown but i decided to put it in the oven to see how it would turn out.

um, i definitely prefer the skillet method. the oven did it’s purpose but i didn’t like how the tortillas turned out. a little too crispy for my taste. but all in all it was all so delicious!

[cheers!]

olive enjoyed her snacks and eating bits of my rice and chicken in-between. she loves eating! hc and i noshed on our food, drank our beer, and reveled in olive’s antics.

[eating her cereal puffs]

it was quite a chill night. i had a great time making dinner and relaxing with my darling family. we were stuffed, satisfied, and ready to hit the couch and put on a movie after dinner. cheers to simple meal nights!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on October 24, 2014 by tandem in love

not that long ago…hc and i celebrated our six year anniversary. six years of being together! not long compared to some folks i know but six years sounds like a long time but, honestly, it’s been a blink of an eye for me. it feels like we just met! which, i guess, is a good thing!

here we are in our hotel room {i can’t remember which hotel it was?!}, in chicago. we were celebrating our one year anniversary. we were so excited. one whole year together! hc planned for us to have dinner at le colonial. i love that place. it’s so yummy good. i love the ambiance and the decor.

we got ourselves ready and headed out the door. we walked to the restaurant and enjoyed ourselves a yummy, delicious meal. it was a wonderful time. after dinner we strolled back and enjoyed the bustling avenue. i love chicago.

it’s been a fabulous six years together. oh my, how eventful it has been! we have hit soooo many milestones in our short six years. so many wonderful milestones. i am thankful for all that i have been blessed with and i am fortunate to have this man in my life!

xoxo

as american as apple pie

Posted on October 22, 2014 by tandem in love

so, after our apple picking fun, we ended up with a big bag full of delicious apples. buttttt, we couldn’t possibly eat all those apples! what to do. what to do. apple bread? caramel apples? apple pie? why, yes. apple pie. let’s make us some apple pie! i pulled up a recipe from the wonderful wide world of the web.

one night, hc and i got a crackin’ on making us some apple pie. it was total teamwork. he started the walnut base, i washed and peeled the apples, he started the pie crust, i cut and seasoned the apple slices.

[a small but crucial ingredient]

[the main ingredient!]

[slicing apples for the pie]

we both laid down the base of the pie crust. we learned a very important lesson: we should have rolled out the pie crust a little bit more. the issue we were having was that it was super sticky and not rolling out right. we figured out that if you put saran wrap underneath and above it, it rolled out quite nicely. so, before we figured that out…we ended up stretching out the pie dough over the bottom and trying our best to get it up the sides! we did a pretty darn good job.

[placing the crust for the base of the apple pie]

we placed down the base layer of the walnut mix. then the apples were coated with lemon juice, butter, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. i scooped them onto the pie crust and hc proceeded to put the extra pie dough as the top crust. the first pie was okaaaay. the pie crust didn’t stretch out as far as what we wanted it too {remember, we didn’t figure out the rolling part yet!}. but nevertheless, it turned out pretty darn nice.

[cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, butter…yum]

[baking fools!]

[the pie above is the not so great crust pie :p]

our second pie turned out for the better…we rolled the dough out more and had a better pie crust overall. i brushed the top of the pie crust with milk and sprinkled it with sugar. phew! we were almost done!

we had preheated the oven and it was ready to go. we popped the pies into the oven and 55 minutes later, we had delicious pies! the whole house filled up with the sweetest smells. the aroma of apples and cinnamon wafted throughout our abode. it was fantastic.

ta da! our finished, tasty, edible product. i must say…they were delicious pies! it had a flaky crust, the apples were sweet and tender, and the walnuts added in a wonderful texture and nutty flavor. my tastebuds were in heaven!

we had a wonderful time baking these pies. total hubby and wifey teamwork! we still have some apples left…hmmm, what shall i make next?!! happy october y’all!

xoxo

flashback friday

Posted on October 17, 2014 by tandem in love

today takes us back to october 2009.

hc and i went to an apple orchard in woodstock with grace and his parents. it was such a beautiful day out. the sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we were ready to have some farm fun!

there was little playground, where grace had some fun exploring all the obstacles & interactive stations. after watching her run around, jump around, and exhaust herself at the playground, we walked our way over to the petting zoo. here, we had a blast petting & feeding the goats, lambs, and llamas {well, really grace had all the fun doing so}. grace was super happy and excited to be able to be so close to all the animals.

a trip to an apple orchard would not be complete without some hot cider and apple cider donuts!!! yum! we indulged in plenty of both. i love fall!

of course, we came home with some pumpkins. we picked out a few good looking ones and had ourselves a carving contest later that night. it was grace’s first time ever carving a pumpkin!

i love doing activities like this. it just adds to the festive, seasonal holiday feelings of the month. it’s what it is all about! autumn = pumpkins, chilly temps, candy, farms, vibrants leaves, and fun!

xoxo

happy 3rd anni!

Posted on September 10, 2014 by tandem in love

oh my! it’s been three wonderful years of marriage for me and the hubs! wow, it feels like yesterday that we were just married! and now…we live in the ‘burbs {bye bye chicago}, we have a lovely house {hello downers!}, and we have a beautiful daughter named olive harper {our love and joy}. our world has changed so much and all for the better.

our wedding was amaze. yes, yes, i say it all. the. time. annnddd i say it all the time because it was. i tell everyone i could relive it over and over. it was the best time evah with our friends and family. the whole weekend was surreal. from our rehearsal dinner, to our wedding day, and our post wedding brunch. it was a whirlwind of happiness, joy, love, laughter, and great food. what a wedding and wedding weekend should be!

i am so blessed to have hc in my life. i am so lucky to have found him or did he find me?? we are total opposites with a common bond for life, love, and happiness 😉 i’m fiery, he’s calm. i’m crazy, he’s sane. i’m speedy, he’s slow. i’m loud, he’s quiet. but we love each other to no end. i can’t imagine my life without him and i am so thankful and grateful to God for leading our paths into one another. we were meant to be and my life has been so much fuller since he’s been in it.

thank you hc for always being so understanding, supportive, kind, thoughtful, loving, patient, and forgiving for all of our relationship’s ups and downs. you truly hold us together and i love you to bits!

[handmade boutonnières with bike gears // hc’s love of bikes]

[husband and wife! //st. clement church]

[chicago fire department // his dad is a retired fireman]

[cutting the delicious cake //how sweet it is!]

[handmade invites // drawings by olivia g & personally curated vintage stamps to represent me & hc]

[alone time during the reception]

last but not least…our lovely 8mm wedding film. relive the day! enjoy!

[all photos and vimeo by kate headley]

xoxo

a really great day

Posted on August 14, 2014 by tandem in love

the past couple days off i have had, i was prepared with the idea of me and olive spending it together. but we have been blessed and surprised with hc’s presence the last few times! that really makes us happy!

this morning, hc came back to bed and announced he was spending the day at home, he wanted to spend it with his family 🙂 i love having days off together. it’s so rare since our schedules are so opposite! olive woke up and we played with the little one in our bed for awhile. i then got ready, hc made coffee, and we relaxed. we did our usual morning routine. olive wakes, olive feeds, olive plays, and then olive naps for an hour or two. once olive awoke, we headed out to enjoy our beautiful day.

we chose to go to 2toots restaurant, in downtown glen ellyn. it’s a fun kid’s restaurant that serves your food on a train! so cool. we parked and walked our way to the place. it’s a kitschy little place with lots of adults and lots of kids. actually more kids than adults. we got a highchair for miss o {yeahhhh, i wiped that thing down good} and perused the menu.

[2toots train whistle grill]

[don’t mind her teenage mutant ninja turtle tattoo on her arm…courtesy of cousin reagan]

i ordered the grilled cheese and hc ordered a burger. we played with olive, enjoyed our surroundings, and talked about our lives together. we are a good happy bunch. i love my hubby charming and i love my baby girl. life is really good.

[here comes the food!]

[yummy grilled cheese and fries]

[cheeseburga]

[sophie and pie hanging out]

[vintage posters]

after our lunch date, i wanted to check out a store we drove by, on our way there. we didn’t have much time because, although hc took the day off, he still had to jump on some conference calls that day. of course, what caught my eye as we were driving through was a paper store! i love all things paper!

we walked from the restaurant to the paper store, papier girl. it was sunny out so we put olive’s sunglasses on. oh my goodness. she looked soooo stinkin’ cute! oh, i couldn’t get enough of her in these sunglasses. and the little diva was working it!

[such a funny lady, she’s working it!]

[such a ham]

once we got to the paper store, i browsed around for a bit and hc decided to sit outside on the bench with olive to watch for ‘chicks’. lol. i snapped the cutest pic of them through the store window!!!! i finally decided on some purchases {hc signed for me to hurry up!} and we went on our way home.

[daddy and olive waiting outside for mommy]

oh what a glorious day! we were sooo happy to have spent the morning and afternoon with hc. i love summer! and i love summer days off even more with my two favorite peeps!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: hubby charming

slow-cooking

kind of a date night

deck the halls!

olive & santa claus

chill night

flashback friday

as american as apple pie

flashback friday

happy 3rd anni!

a really great day