hc, olive, and i had a wonderful, casual afternoon hanging out in the city. it was my birthday and we hit the city to enjoy an afternoon of festive fun. brunch was at my favorite place, southport grocery! yummmm!
it was bustling inside but not too crazy packed like it usually is…it’s probably because we were a bit past lunchtime, so it was perfectly busy. we sat in a corner and throughly enjoyed our time together. i ordered my usual, the southern and as usual it was deeeeeelicious. i stuffed myself silly, rich enjoyed his spiked beverage and meal, and olive had a blast drawing. she loves to create fabulous works of art!
after we noshed on our yummy meals, i perused the shelves of the grocery store to see what items i wanted to buy to put in our gift baskets for our neighbors. did we want to create a dinner theme? a breakfast theme? a dessert theme? we went with the breakfast theme. breakfast is my most favorite meal of the day! i could eat breakfast all day! so, we picked out a yummy pancake mix, maple syrup, a peach spread, christmas sprinkles, and holiday cookies to top it off! it was all so cute! they do such a great job packaging it all up.
all while i was getting the gift baskets together, hc was chasing olive down and feeding her. she was so into her drawings earlier, she wouldn’t eat any of her food but once she was done, hc got her to eat most of her meal while she ran around the store. eep! she’s a funny one.
after brunch and basket making, we traipsed around southport and shopped a bit for gifts and christmas goodies. it was such a wonderful, beautiful afternoon. we had a great time together…it was a very joyous, eventful day. we were elated from an appointment we had earlier in the day and we were on cloud nine, thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives. thank God for the wondrous gifts that he brings.
i am ridiculously behind with my posts, so bear with me! i will probably have christmas posts in january at the rate i am going at! uh oh!
life has been so hectic, this holiday season has been so busy, exhausting, overwhelming, and tiring. honestly, i am beat. the last week or so has really kicked my butt. i can usually champion any task given to me, complete any ideas that pop into my head, and come out winning with extra energy. oy. not this season. christmas: 1 thu: 0 – tko!
anyhoo, over a month ago, i had made plans to meet up with my friend ande. ande and i go waaaayyyyy back to, hmmmmm, maybe 9-10 years ago. i was working on michigan avenue and ande was the store manager at the c.o. bigelow store in the watertower building.
my friend, matt, and i worked together at the time and we would constantly go shopping at ande’s store. we befriended ande and instantly hit it off. soon, we were visiting her on a weekly basis and eventually we would all go out to lunch, dinner, or attend any events that each other had going on. whether it would be a party, a birthday party, a comedy skit, or just a simple brunch get together, we would try our best to meet up every few months.
ande and i would always engage in conversations around kids…or lack thereof {at the time}. we always related to one another, hit it off on any quirky subject, or just reveled in life’s happenings. i love her weirdness and i say that with the highest compliment. she’s so kind, sweet, loving, smart, and just amazing. i always say this: surround yourself with wonderful positive people who enrich your life and ande definitely qualifies in all categories!
so, we met up one evening for dinner. matt and johann were able to join as well! i made reservations at summer house santa monica in lincoln park. it was a cool winter evening; johann was the first to arrive, then me, then ande, and then matt. i couldn’t wait to see her! the last time i saw ande was around august, i came in to visit her at her store in lincoln park.
unfortunately between august and now, ande was diagnosed with cancer. i was shocked and in complete disbelief. questions flew through my head. why? how? how could this happen to her? why do crazy things happen to good people? i was sad, upset, and shocked. i reached out to ande to give her my support and prayers. we texted back and forth for a bit and then we set up a time to meet up to catch up. i am so glad we were able to meet up when we did, right before ande started to feel even worse from her chemo treatments.
[me with this gorgeous lady]
[best bunch of peeps ever]
[summer house santa monica]
[celebrating my birthday early!]
we had such a great time. natch. we always do. our dinner was filled with lots of laughter, some tears, and sooooo many fabulous moments. ande filled us in on how she discovered her cancer and what treatments she was on and her cancer free party scheduled for april 30th!
i am so blessed to know this lady. she is a wonderful friend, a supportive person, and an incredible human being. i pray every day for her health and have faith this positive lady will be cancer free! love and laughter is the best medicine and ande gets a full dose of this every day from her friends and family.
i apparently forgot i had this post sitting in my files…oops! better late than never! sooo….
i had plans to go to the renegade craft fair in wicker park. we had lived right in the area for years and it was on division every year, so there was no question i needed to go. i love checking out all the small shops, listening to their stories, and seeing all their love go into the products that they make!
on the agenda was a quick visit to andrea’s place. she had a really tight schedule that day, so i decided to traipse on over to her place before i spent some time at the craft fair. she lives just right off division, a few footsteps away from the fair. i love walking. i do. i love walking e v e r y w h e r e. it’s the best thing. i love walking along the street, admiring all the shops, soaking in the rays, and people watching along the way. living in the city, it was my favorite thing to do. just walk. i didn’t need a purpose or a destination. i just needed to get out and soak in the craziness of the city.
[i love walking]
[loving the beautiful annabelle]
[precious babe]
[haha! annabelle’s expression is like “whaaaaaa?!”]
[i love this goofy pic of us because it looks like annabelle and i have the same surprised un-ready face going on. haha!]
after spending an hour or so at andrea’s and getting cheeky with her little babe annabelle, i headed back down the street to the fair! my number purpose was to find earth cadets and purchase some pillows. it was a bit overwhelming, because there were sooooooooo many vendors {hundreds!} and i was worried i would be looking for hours just to find her shop. lo and behold, it was literally the fifth shop i ran into! sweet! i looked around but i couldn’t find the pillows i wanted to buy. i asked a random women standing there and krissy {the shop owner} was actually ringing up a customer when she said, “did you contact me on instatgram?” why, yes, yes i did! we chitchatted a bit and talked about the product, what she did, where, how, etc. it was great getting to know her for a bit. she didn’t have the pillows on hand but she offered me a great deal and i was sold. i can’t wait to get the pillows onto our new chairs! yayyyyyyyy!
[random snap. i obviously had my camera on and i accidentally snapped this pic of me walking. i kind of like it.]
[earth cadet onesies]
[i could not take a pic of this adorable doggie! sooooo cute!]
[seriously the best craft fair around. the best.]
[i love our city]
[my old stomping ground and our favorite gelato place]
after i purchased the pillows, i walked around and soaked in all the greatness. so many cute shops from all over the country. i loved all the goodness, met so many great people, and found so many wonderful products. i looooooove renegade! it was such a great afternoon.
months ago when hc asked me if i wanted to go to the cubs/sox game, my response was “hells yes!”. i love the cubs, i love wrigleyfield, and i love me a baseball game in the middle of july! swell!
the day couldn’t come fast enough but before i knew it, it was game day! i was super excited and couldn’t wait to get there! we drove by aunt wendy’s house to pick up grace and some parking passes for the area. we headed on in to the city, traffic was meh but no matter, we were right on track with our time. we circled around only once before we scored a fabulous parking spot…only two blocks away from wrigley!
we had a few snags on our way in {our tickets wouldn’t scan at the gate} but we were finally inside and it was bustling! we wanted to find our seats first before we bought food…who really wants to walk around looking for their seats with their hands full of food? not moi. well, big mistake. ugh. we were smack dab in the middle of what seemed like the longest row of seats in wrigley! hahaha. we felt bad getting up {and making EVERYONE stand up in their seats} to go get food and drinks. so, we waited until someone next to us stood up to leave and we followed suit. woot!
[how cooooool is this?! our seats happen to be the same numbers as our anniversary!]
[almost there!]
[excited for the game…cubbie sandwich]
[it was a beautiful day!]
[love this mobile band]
[grabbing some grub // we were twinsies!]
[your typical baseball fare]
we settled back into our seats and didn’t leave them again. we were content. the game was pretty amazing. every second of it! the cubs were ahead and we were coasting to the end. one of my most favorite moment of any baseball game? the seventh inning stretch! i looooooove singing along to that song. it’s summer, it’s american, and it’s soooo baseball, america’s favorite pastime!
fast forward to the ninth inning and cubs win! cubs win! woooooo hooooooo! at the very end of the game, they will play the song go cubs go and i love screaming to it. i do apologize to those who were around me. sorry if you get the wrath of my off key singing voice. baahahaha.
[7th inning stretch…take me out to the ballgame!]
[cubs win! cubs win!]
after the game, all my friends there were texting me to hang out {um, half the people i know were at the game that day!}! booooo! we couldn’t because we had grace and that meant no bars for us {hey, grace, do you mind sitting at the front stoop of the bar while your dad and i hang out inside…not}! although, i was a little sad we couldn’t stay afterwards to celebrate the win!
nevertheless, it was a great game {just a smidge over two hours…shortest game ever for me!}! it was a gorgeous, perfect day to watch and cheer on our beloved cubbies!
we set up a lovely brunch date with our dear friend matt. he’s been on a roll lately with suggestions on where we go. typically it’s me coming up with different places to go to but we’ve been exploring the area close to where he lives lately. which is totally fine with me!
this time around, we went to a place called over easy. a simple, small brunch place near lincoln square. it was a beautiful day out and we were actually ‘on time’. which means a leeway of 10 minutes. haha! we met matt outside and we were seated right away {they told matt a few minutes but by the time i walked up, the table was ready}.
matt was catching me up on some major life changes for him! life’s twists and turns sometimes throw you sharp curves and loops along the way but no matter what, we persevere and march on. i do love that about my friends. no matter what challenges they face, they charge on with positivity and solutions. even when it does seem like it’s not the most positive moment, we can see the bigger picture.
olive was being quite shy when we first got there…the usual. after a half hour or so, she started to warm up. she’s been a bit rebellious about the highchair of late. she’s not a fan of sitting in one, she prefers to sit in a big girl chair like her mom; only when i can peel her off my lap to sit in her own chair!
[just terrible lighting, terrible…or just let me think that please]
[eggs over easy! hahaha!]
[stuffing her face, as usual]
[warming up to matt]
after brunch, we headed on over to our favorite stomping ground: starbucks! there, we ordered drinks and just chilled. i loved this part. olive roamed around and matt and i continued to chit chat. it’s nice when olive can entertain herself or feel good that she won’t wander away from me. ’cause all you mamas know that being out and trying to focus on something else besides your kids can be a great task!
[starbucks always]
after several hours of hanging out together, we needed to go. i know olive needed a nap and it was just about the right time for her to knock out. it was a fabulous time with matt, as usual. we greatly enjoyed our brunch date and can’t wait until we meet up again…hopefully next time with our husbands!
so, my first visit at bang bang pie was alright. take away the girl at the counter, it was a passable visit but could it have been a better visit if that girl was more invested in her customer’s experience? absolutely. bang bang left me with a mediocre feeling and the chances of me to ever return were very slim and would i recommend this place to others? most likely not.
shortly after i blogged about my visit to this restaurant, i received a dm, on instagram, from the owner of bang bang. honestly, i was surprised. one, i wasn’t expecting it and two, i thought…shit, what did i write about my experience there again?! haha. i read his gracious message and was touched that he took the time to react. we dm’d and emailed each other back and forth about the experience and he invited me, olive, and a guest to come back for a proper bang bang experience.
i was impressed just by that gesture itself. i told michael that the fact that he had reached out to me completely changed my opinion about the restaurant and because he cared that much about his customer’s experience, i was sold and smitten. his ownership and passion is what i admire! i greatly appreciated his efforts and needed to find a moment within our crazy schedules to head out that way again for brunch.
weeks rolled by and i kept on stalling on when we could head out there to eat brunch and meet michael. i wanted to go with hc but he only has weekends available and all of june had been crazy and booked up for us. so, finally i scheduled a time to visit the restaurant with my darling friend dana. yay!
it was an absolutely gorgeous day. seriously perfect. the temps were in the mid seventies and it was sunshiny. a wonderful combo for us to sit outside. when we got there, we perused the menu before we ordered. the guy at the counter was crazy friendly. he was attentive and kind. as i was placing my order, dana walked outside to find a sweet spot for us to sit at.
i asked the gentleman if michael was in and he pointed to a man engrossed in a conversation with another man. i didn’t want to bother him, so i placed our order. per usual, i asked for a side fruit but there was none. just checking. hehe. anyhoo, i ordered drinks for us and the man behind the counter said he would bring them out to our table! nice!
dana found a perfect sitting spot and soon our food was brought out to us. everyone was super friendly and observant. we enjoyed the delicious food {i ordered the gravy and a side of candied bacon for me and olive} and the wonderful outdoor space that they have there. we sat there for over two hours! how can you not? it was perfect out.
near the end of our visit, olive was wandering around chasing the pigeons and sparrows pecking around. she found it quite humorous to do so! as i was walking towards olive to have her come over to where we were sitting, michael came up to me and asked if i was thu…why yes i am! we said our hellos and gave hugs…we finally met in person! he is kind, charismatic, and friendly. an easy guy to talk to! we walked back over to dana and chit chatted for a bit more.
after several minutes, we parted ways. dana and i continued to chill for just a bit longer, when michael came back out and presented us with complimentary meals, on him, for both me and dana. so unexpected and absolutely exalted over his actions. he did not need to do that nor did he have to but we were so impressed by his will and care that we both were thoroughly sold inside and out.
dana made mention about how he talked highly of his employees and she loved hearing that he cared. he also talked about the importance of giving his customers what they want and that it mattered a lot to him to not disappoint. through all of this, it was very apparent by his actions.
michael is a man who greatly cares about his business, his employees, his customers, and loves to uphold what his restaurant is all about. he is ostensibly professional and caring. every aspect of it matters to him and he takes such pride in it. he took my impinged experience and turned it into one that will positively resonate with me. i will forward that karma to my friends and family and strangers who are looking for a wonderful place to eat.
[with michael, the owner]
[this is totally safe, right?]
it was a fabulous experience overall. i am thankful michael had reached out to me and changed my opinion about his restaurant. his ownership is empowering in itself! i can’t wait to visit again, for the full bang bang experience, and this time with the hubby in tow!
i was super excited to have experienced cubs family day at wrigley field! it’s for season ticket holders and aunt wendy so kindly invited us! it was a perfect day weather wise, sunny and in the mid-seventies.
of course, we got on the road late {i gotta get my coffee!}, it’s like olive knows we are on a time crunch and she always, always wants to be in my arms or cries for me. i am always the last one getting ready because i am catering to her needs and putting myself last in the get ready department!
anyhoozle, we arrived not too late and met up with aunt wendy, her friend kyle, and his girlfriend taylor at the cubbie bear. we walked on over and inside to wrigleyfied; the peeps at the field were doing introductions and letting us know about the timelines and what was available for us for their family day event.
[introductions to the season ticket holders]
our first thing on the agenda was the clubhouse. we had the chance to see where the players get ready and come out onto the field. it was great to see where they chill and pretty awesome to get a chance to sit in their dugout as well! of course, we snapped a bazillion pics. everyone had to get their fair share!
[the clubhouse]
[‘locker’ room]
[fam jam]
[super fam jam]
[go cubbies!]
[in the dugout]
after we made our way throughout the clubhouse and dugout, i wanted to walk around the field and get some pics of the infamous ivy! also, along the entire back field wall, they had bouncy houses galore! it’s too bad olive is too little for them…there were so many big kids that she would have been trampled so many times. i had no idea how the bouncy thing worked so i placed olive inside the first one i saw. weeellllllll, it was actually the ‘finish’ line and these big boys were starting to come through! i screamed, “watch out, there’s a little girl!!!” but they didn’t hear me. poor olive fell over and started freaking out because she couldn’t get her balance to get back up. i jumped inside the bouncy and literally bounced everywhere trying to grab my child. it was hilarious! i rolled all over the place and my legs flung in the air as i desperately tried grabbing for olive to get her out! hahahahaha! i made it…my baby girl was out safe and sound.
[the ivy!]
[right before she is about to be trampled by the big kids!]
[mom to the rescue!]
we walked around the whole field and went though the visitor’s dugout and up and around to the jack daniel’s eating area. we grabbed our boxed lunches and sat up on the seats overlooking the field. we had the typical hot dog and chips meal, of course olive gravitated towards the chips and lemonade!
after we ate, we walked over to the media booths above the field where they broadcast the game and were the organist plays. we sat in the seats and chilled for a bit before we headed back downstairs to the souvenir shop.
it was a fast 2 1/2 hours! there was so much to do too! they had all the bouncy houses, tattoo artists, face painting, games, and so much more. we only did half the stuff they offered {hey, there is always next year!}.
[jack daniels patio]
[sipping her lemonade or really she stole daddy’s lemonade]
[organist]
[goof ball sitting in the media area]
we perused the souvenir shop as our last stop and after that we said our goodbyes. it was a great day spent together and we were so excited to have experienced cubs family day. it was definitely a day to remember.
as i have said in previous posts, when matt, ande, and i get together – it’s a complete gab fest! yappity yap. we love getting together to catch up, especially on beautiful sunny days, like this one!
we finally, finally coordinated a date to get together for lunch. we decided to meet up at ande’s work place because it was the easiest and most convenient for all. matt and johann live up north, so it wasn’t too much of a haul for him and i’m always game for something in the city.
it was a gorgeous day. the sun was shining and the temperature was puuurrrrrfect. as usual, i was running so behind…olive napped a little bit longer and later than expected, so we were rushing around, trying to get out of the house and hoping we weren’t going to be too late!
we got there in a jiffy and strolled our way to the store {i will probably geek out about the weather several times throughout this post, so hold onto your britches}. matt was already there inside with ande. since ande was working, she decided that we go somewhere close and blue door it was!
[blue door farm stand]
[waiting to order our food]
we had just missed the crazy lunch hour, which was good because it can get a bit crazy inside, especially when it’s first come, first serve seating. it’s no bueno when you have a stroller and a {sometimes} fussy babe.
we ordered our food and found a cozy nook to chill in. once we sat down, the gabfest started. of course, matt had the most to say! i mean, we all talk but matt definitely does take the cake on that one! we caught up on life’s latest happenings and olive entertained them both. ande is so stinkin’ cute with miss olive. she is too adorable…she dotes on her, she admires her, and she was so cute wanting to push olive in the stroller to and from the restaurant. i loved it.
[hanging out]
[sipping her juice & those cheeks!]
[those pouty lips]
[the beautiful ande]
[after the lunch rush…phew. cuz it ain’t pretty in here when it’s busy]
[twinning it up]
[grilled cheese with kale chips]
after the restaurant, we knew ande had to get back to work, so we joined her! it was so gorgeous out, we had to hang out a little bit longer. we love visiting her there and catching up with her associates as well. ande insisted on holding olive, we both were hoping it would happen since miss olive is not good with strangers! lo and behold, baby olive let her {i mean, ande had only been doting on her for over an hour now…you would think she had warmed up to the nice lady!}! it definitely was a kodak moment. i snapped a pic as quickly as i could!
i asked matt to join in on the pic and that is when olive got uncomfortable! oops. snap.snap.snap. i went with a few pics. hehe.
[she let ande hold her!]
[then she freaked out when matt got too close]
[loving the motorcycle]
[i love these three]
after harassing her and her employees for quite sometime, matt and i decided to part ways. he had to get home to his hubs and i had to get home to my hubs. it was such a fantastic day – great, great weather and even more fabulous friends. of course, we can’t wait to do this again. until next time lovies! muwah!
after two strikes, i thought i was going to get called out with my girl time with dana. but we fiiiiinally got together and did our usual routine. i’m going to say that dana was at fault for the both times prior we couldn’t get together for a brunch date 😉 the first time, she was sick {okaaayyy, i forgive her} but it did snow quite a bit and no one wants to go out when it’s snowing…a big pain in the behind. the second time, she just plain forgot. yup. she forgot about us. i texted her the night before and asked about our plans and she was like, ‘whhaaaaaa?’. yeah. she had last minute changed her work schedule and didn’t tell me!
anyhoozle, it worked out great because olive had a wellness check up {not too far from where dana lives} and it’s always easy peasy to jet on over to southport from where we were.
[at the pediatrician…she was excited to be signing her own paperwork. that is until the nurse came in with needles…eeeekkkkk!]
after olive’s appointment, we drove on over to wrigelyville {which is less than 5 minutes} to meet dana for lunch. of course, we met up at southport grocery! it was a full house but we were seated right away {sweet}. we ordered our usual dishes and dana had a lot to share with me! so much new news and possible changes! oy, i was having a blast catching up with dana, as always. we only had a few hours together because she had to skadaddle to a purim party later that evening that she was hosting for jnf.
[in our ‘hood…our favorite place to be: southport grocery]
dana was super excited that her and olive were having these amaze bonding moments. their relationship was rough from the start. from the moment olive came into this world, she had been skeptical of dana. she wouldn’t let her hold her. olive would barely let her look at her! it was a work in progress and they made leaps and bounds this past date!! yay!
they were like buddies. best buddies. holding hands, giving hugs & kisses, and she let dana hold her with ease. wowza…my baby is growing up 😉 olive was so amused by dana. she liked copying her and playing fun peek a boo games together. it was pretty awesome to see.
[dana loving olive…]
[studying her crayon colors]
[work of art]
[me and my beautiful babes]
[can you see me? now you can’t. can you see me? yup, that game]
[simple plating…boisterous flavors]
of course, after brunch, we headed on over to our favorite place, anthropologie. olive was in heaven. she ran around and around and around. she smiled from ear to ear and happily bounced everywhere in the store. her and dana just walked side by side and giggled at each other.
[yeah, since we were walking two doors down, we wrapped her in a blanket and barely put on her hat. dana was dying over her cuteness. she was loving olive so much]
[she was like, ‘wait, do i walk around with this blankie on me??]
[she was soooo happy running around everywhere]
[she discovered a bunny]
[and then became one]
[then found a little chickadee]
[then became a funny bunny again]
after anthro, we hit a couple of more stores and called it an afternoon. we had a great time chit chatting, eating, having fun, and building memories together. i loved seeing olive and dana together. it warms my heart and makes it so full!
as always, i get super excited to meet up with my darling dana. we both had prior commitments {conference call, possible venue searching, and a doctor’s appointment} but we don’t let that stop us from getting together! the good news is that everything else fell through and it was just going to be a me, dana, and olive day! i love how that happens. i told dana that i love how we are so busy but we will always squeeze in time for each other and the cards will all fall into place. natch.
so we met up at our usual place and ordered our usual breakfast’s, and did our usual thing. chit chat chit chat chit chat. we all sat together on the same booth, with olive in-between us. it was perfect. she was trapped, i could pay attention to them both, it was easy to feed her, keep her comfortable, and enjoy myself {because she’s content}.
[plethora of beverages]
[hey, i’m just chilling]
[always soooo serious]
[the southern aka the usual]
we hung for a bit at the restaurant. it was nice to just take our time, relax, and be on our own schedule. we did our typical walk over to anthropologie after brunch, we perused the racks, checked out the sale, and then moseyed along to our cars to head to our next destination. we decided we would spend the rest of our date at target. woooo!
[juice drinking maniac]
[shopping our favorite store // olive loved riding shotgun just like this…so safe!]
after i changed her diaper and fed her, she was a running fool! she did.not.want.to.be.in.the.cart. she just ran everywhere. she’s a fast little devil. i was trying to shop but i was basically just chasing after her! she was too cute. she would slightly touch everything but not mess anything up. she would run up and down aisles and she ooh’d and ahh’d over everything at her eye level. i was amused just watching her.
[so chic, oh baby olive fashion]
[keeping up with her]
[mean mugging at starbucks]
after an hour or so in target, olive was spent. she had the tiniest, tiniest morning nap and she was not happy by the end of our shopping trip. she was dunzo. it was time to strap her into the cart seat and have her go down for another nap. and so it was. i have to add in that it was not very easy to get there. {my next ten minutes goes like this} she was screaming, wouldn’t let dana watch her so i could use the restroom, i kept losing track of my stuff due to her fussiness distracting me {where is my phone? where is my wallet? stuff you shouldn’t lose track of!}, dana and i then spilt my venti coffee all over our cart and into my shopping bag {ugh!}, and when we finally got to my car, her car seat seat belt was all twisted {and i couldn’t get it untangled!} and my baby girl was screaming in her seat! oy…what a debacle. it was not the kind of end to our date that i wanted! i shooed dana away with a big hug and proceeded to tackle the seat belt with success. score: seat belt 0 – moi 1.
we finally drove off {phew!} and little olive was out within five minutes. she was a tired little peanut. all in all, it was quite a wonderful morning/afternoon with our lovely miss dana. muwah!
