i hope everyone is enjoying their evening with friends and family. i hope everyone is warm and surrounded by the twinkling of holiday lights, the smell of baking cookies, and pretty, glittery decor. may your evening be of a belly full of yummy home cooking and spirits.
{photo by patricia anderson}
and to all a good night!
xoxo
happy holidays from the heintz’s!
xoxo
we decided to deck the halls a weekend earlier than usual because we weren’t sure when the babes would come {she kept us in suspense}! little did we know we did the right thing!
[coffee, quiche, fruit, and juice]
we started out the morning with hc’s homemade quiche! so delish! i’m so spoiled by him! it was a very relaxing morning. we agreed to have a totally lazy day!
hc did all the leg work. he brought up all the holiday decor from the storage room and we were ready to go right after brunch {actually right after our very long nap!} ha! i was tired! yes, even though i just woke up, i was still tired so a nap was in order…it was super comfy sleeping in the nook of hc’s arm.
so, finally, we got up and started on the decorating! we blasted the christmas music to get ourselves into the festive mood!
[a holiday must!]
[unwrapping all the fun ornaments]
[hc doing his best fluffing the garland…he wouldn’t let the preggo wifey do it]
[ornaments housed in bird cake stands]
[i love festive pillows! it just adds a holiday pop to the room]
[bar wear :)]
[ooohhhh, pretty]
[my hand made card holder from last year!]
[my hand made snow globes, holly, and silver mercury votive holders]
[ho ho ho, welcome in!]
[i love fresh pine!]
[tree topping! uh, this year, i was in no condition to be carried or picked up by hc to put the star on the tree!]
[oh, christmas tree! how pretty!!!!]
[the delicious meal hc whipped up after a hard day of decorating! love him!]
i love decorating for the holidays! it’s been a joy of mine since i was a child. decking the halls so gets me in the festive mood! it’s so pretty, fun, and brings back so many fond memories of holidays past.
i still have a bit of final touches to do but overall, i’m feeling the holiday spirit!
happy holidays everyone!
xoxo
marina and corey so graciously hosted another halloween party at their maison this year!
[pumpkins by the doan’s]
as you can tell, my preggo behind is literally behind in posting! ever since i’ve been pregnant, my posts are soooooo delayed! but better late than never. 🙂
anyhoo, i was excited to see everyone, it’s times like these that you get to run into folks you don’t get to see very often and it’s always a good thing!
there were plenty of yummy eats, drinks, and tasty sugary treats for all! marina is definitely the hostess with the mostess with all her delicious eats.
when we got there, i ran into jenny! it had been awhile since i saw her, probably the last time i saw her was at marina’s purse party {and that was last year before the holidays!}. when i saw her, i said “well, the tables have turned!”, she was pregnant the last time i saw her but now it was me! it was so good to catch up with her and see her beautiful little girl! i didn’t get to capture it in the photo but her daughter was wearing the cutest little headband representing wasabi and ginger {she was a piece of sushi!}. jenny claims she’s not crafty but she did make her baby’s halloween costume! how adorbs!
[jenny and her little bundle of sushi!]
[a spooky, blurry portrait of us…the construction worker and his witch // black is so slimming for a pregnant lady, isn’t it?!]
[can you guess who they are?]
[a little bit of bromance?]
[spooky treats]
[yummy cupcakes]
[Dracula and the witch]
it was great to see muma and poopie! love them!
[witches of dg]
it was actually a kid’s party as well, although you don’t see any of the cute kids in my pics! they were running around, getting all hyped up on sugar anyways!
we hung out, socialized, ate too much, and had a good ol’ spooky time! thank you marina and corey for having us. it was fun and fabulous.
xoxo
our 3rd was my 4th!
i had to work on the 4th, so we made it a fun day with grace on the 3rd instead!
we started the day with breakfast at the bongo room. we walked our way over to one of our favorite brunch places on this beautiful day. i was so hungry by the time we got there!!! argh! feed me! the wait was just a bit and before we knew it, we were seated and ready to enjoy some yummy goodness!
[waiting for a table]
[i love the window display next door!]
[handmade soaps]
[her drinking horse]
[my usual]
after breakfast, we traipsed our way back to our place but not without stopping at wicker park! it was quite a scene full of mommies and their kids! hc was the only dude there! after trying out every single playground feature available {well, mostly grace played!}, we continued on our way home.
[seesaw time]
of course, not without stopping by to say hello to rhoda! we love rhoda! the cutest, most cuddly dog.
[getting and giving some love to rhoda]
[the cute bug eyed bugger]
we hung out at home to relax before our evening activities. we watched movies, i crafted, hubby charming fell asleep, & grace begged us to go to the ‘breyer’ store, aka berwyn’s toys & trains store. so on another adventure we went!
when we got home, we made sack lunches for the homeless, dropped them off at st. clement and moseyed our way towards navy pier! our mission was to eat at bubba gump shrimp {how can you not when you are at navy pier?? you gotta go tourista all the way!}. we were excited to teach grace all the famous sayings from the movie. she was so intrigued! she had never seen it, and it got her so excited to watch the movie!
we walked the pier while we waited for our table. we shopped, explored, and were delighted by all the little kiosks throughout the walk way. we rounded our way back to the restaurant, once inside, everyone was so polite! i was very impressed by how friendly everyone was at the restaurant! it was very pleasant.
[her flashy watermelon drink]
[not so flashy]
we timed it out quite perfectly! we had a chance to explore navy pier, had a yummy meal at the restaurant, had a minute to buy grace a candy apple, and then the fireworks started! we ran outside and got a front row seat to some pretty fireworks!
[enjoying the fireworks]
[our view as we are leaving the pier, pretty and not so pretty traffic]
we had such a good day! it was a successful patriotic day!
p.s. my 4th of july dessert // yum!
xoxo
today is a day to celebrate all the mom’s out there!
a job that is never ending. a mother’s love never fails. a mother’s love is always giving. a mother’s love is sometimes all you need.
i celebrate my mom today because of the unconditional love she has always given us. through good times and bad, she was and will always be there. i look back at my life and cannot even fathom how she was able to do what she did! even though i lived it! she worked full-time, raised five kids, and always, always had a full dinner on the table!!!!
i love my mom and i am grateful for all that she has done for me. i must say that one day isn’t enough to say i love you and thank you. celebrate everyday as if it were mother’s day!
love is patient, love is kind. it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 corinthians 13:4-7
xoxo
it was a whirlwind week! gosh, it went by so fast! i was so happy hubby charming was home {yay!}. i was excited it was almost easter. i was glad it was holy week. it was a whole lotta church this week {whoa}!
not much else going on this past week but going to mass every night. the easter vigil was a beautiful service and it is always so exciting to see people baptized or confirmed into the catholic religion.
our easter sunday was filled with a lot of eating + traveling. first on our agenda, picking up miss grace. we traveled up north, got the little lady, and traveled back down south to meet my family for brunch.
the brunch was delicious! we ate at the reel club. a brunch buffet filled with a variety and copious amounts of eats {what it should be like, right?!}. from endless amounts of seafood, kids food, breakfast, lunch, and yummy desserts choices {the chocolate mousse cups were divine!}. i personally chose a menage of breakfast treats. the croissants were delish! so buttery and flaky! who can pass up bacon and flavorful breakfast potatoes?! not moi!
after a fun filled time {crazy nephew antics included!}, we headed back to kim + terry’s for some more family time and photos. after a quick hang out, lots of gifts for grace {holy easter baskets! lucky gal!}, we embarked on our next adventure ~ to hubby charming’s parent’s house we went!
we met up with the fam as they were enjoying their brunch meal. we sat, we chatted, we nibbled, we hung out. it was relaxing and calm. it was great to catch up with hubby charming’s side of the family. grace played with daniel, aj, jake and she ate a lot of candy {oh boy}, there was no monitoring of that! it was a free for all {hey, it’s the holiday for the kiddo}. after much imbibing + noshing, the family soon trickled out one by one.
as everyone dissipated, aunt wendy really wanted to play farkle. yes, that wasn’t a misspelling, you read that correctly…it’s called farkle. i’m sooo not a game player. it’s not because i don’t have fun, it’s because i just don’t like learning how to play, amongst other reasons {hehe}. lazy, non? anyhoo, aunt wendy assured me that it was easy, and yes it was! i was completely amused and had a lot of fun!
soon, it was just the four of us; me, rich, dick and jane {grace’s step-dad so graciously picked her up from grandma’s, phew! one less road traveled for us!}. we chit chatted until the early evening and finally hit the road to our journey back home…a long, traffic filled journey {ugh!}.
all in all, it was a marvelous day! a day filled with family, laughter, fun, yummy eats, tons of candy, and lots of love. i hope everyone’s easter was just as great!
[flowers from daddy // basket by us // hat by grace]
[soeurs]
[bros]
[opening frenzy]
[r’s clown hair]
[leather sperry’s + b’s chubby feet]
[silly b // he kept asking everyone “can you see me?!”]
[love my family // just missing huy]
[grace + thuy // such a great gift, thanks t!]
[family]
[awww <3 cousins]
[the creepy lamb cake // um, it was delicious]
[farkle]
xoxo
olivia and i woke up bright and early {meh} on our second day of vacay. as we were getting ready, we played and replayed our outfits for the day. the weather wasn’t cooperating! it was quite chilly {brrrrr} in the morning but the temperature was going to get up to a high of 60 degrees with sun shiny skies…so i was in a pickle on what to wear!
anyhoo, we suffered a bit for fashion and just went with what looked nice {chilly or not, here i come!}. we discussed our directions with claire {um, we weren’t really listening…oops!} and scooted on our way to explore the delightful d.c.!
we took the bus to the pentagon, right where the metro is located. once we got off the bus, olivia and i literally wandered back and forth, up and down to find the train! finally, we asked a gentleman and he pointed us in the right direction. we took claire’s advice, just follow the crowd! so, we did and finally found our way down below and the to the right spot to take us to our destination!
the metro is so clean {compared to the el in chitown // ewwww}. we had a cozy, quick ride straight there. we found ourselves a starbucks, grabbed some coffee, and a bite to eat before we began our journey through monument/museum land.
we finished up our petit dejeuner and headed towards our first destination, the smithsonian! we passed quite a few buildings…still figuring out if we had an interest to stop in certain ones to explore. before we knew it, we walked almost all the way to the capital. so, i got excited and wanted to keep going towards it! it was so fun to see such landmarks! i felt so proud to be an american, funny how it is so novel for us first timers, huh {dorky}?!
after the capitol, we walked through the mall and passed up some more museums. we decided to go into the nature museum. let me tell ya…the bus loads of kids {and i mean bus loads by the dozen} were no fun! olivia and i thought we were going to fight these churlish, bratty 12 year olds! oh em gee! no bueno!
i loved the nature museum, we had a great time exploring! my favorite was the harry winston gallery {hello! diamonds!!!}. i was mesmerized by the all that glitters and shines!
we moseyed along to the american museum for a nano second and went forth towards our next stop, the white house! oh, it was hilarious. every big, white building with pillars in the front, i would scream out loud, “oh!! there’s the white house!”. olivia would say, “no, i don’t think that’s the white house”. then i would see another white building and say, “oh!! there’s the white house!”. and olivia would then say, “no, i don’t think that’s the white house”. this happened just a few more times {snicker}. we got a bit lost {it happens again later, hold on!} and finally backtracked ourselves to the right sidewalk towards the [real] white house. olivia warned me that it was a surprise to most people on how far away the white house is to the public {understandably} but i did’t realize it was going to be a speck! {wha wha}
we were on our way to our next destination, the lincoln memorial, when we realized we were hungry. so our debacle ensues after this. we were halfway to the lincoln memorial when we noticed that there were no restaurants. we mapped a few and found out that they were back up north {on 15th st.} where we came from! ugh. so we had to trek back up! we found a restaurant on our map that we wanted to go to, when we got to our ‘destination’ on the map, the restaurant was no where to be found! arrggh! so, we mapped another restaurant and it was further up north! and walked we did to feed ourselves. we definitely walked off our breakfast and then some. we finally settle in elephant and castle and ordered some grub {yum yum in the tum}.
we had plans to meet owen, olivia’s brother in law’s brother {who lives in d.c. as well} after our stint at the lincoln memorial. olivia and i decided to walk to the memorial and then cab it to meet owen. so, we walked and walked and walked to the lincoln memorial. we were so confused by our map on where the location was! we were led towards the direction of the jefferson memorial but my iphone kept saying it was the lincoln memorial! well, we trusted that darn phone and it led us to the…jefferson memorial! not that i was disappointed in seeing the jefferson statue {ok, i was a bit disappointed! i was hoping it was the lincoln and gosh darn it, we have been walking so much!}.
we finally asked some girls for their paper map and realized that the lincoln memorial was all the way around the lake!!! oy! determined to see it, we traipsed our way to the next and {hopefully} final destination! we started walking around the tidal basin, and walking and walking. we ran into the roosevelt memorial {in all honesty, i love roosevelt too but we were so tired! we just wanted to find the lincoln memorial!}. we kept walking and almost gave up. olivia was tenacious and was much more determined to find it for me [what a friend!]. i felt bad because we had been walking for what felt like forever!
so, here’s the funny part. we found a cab {yay!} and only had $8 in cash on us. we asked him if he knew where the lincoln memorial was {duh, of course he did!}. we asked if it would be under $8 dollars, he was like ‘yeah yeah, it’ll be $8’. so we hopped in the cab and we were on our way! he drove a few hundred feet and said, “here’s the lincoln memorial.” whaaaaaaaaa?!?! it literally was around the corner!!! oh my goodness! we felt so defeated before and we were so tired, we didn’t see that it was sooooo close!!! lol, so our cab ride was $3…yeah. at least we finally got to our destination; i excitedly took pictures and soaked it all in! i love lincoln!
we then went to find a cab so we could meet up with owen…i was searching for one when a rickshaw driver kept calling at us to get a ride from him. i rebuffed his offer but he zoned in on innocent olivia. she succumb to his offer and before i knew it, we were on a rickshaw adventure! he was in motion to place a blanket on us when i halted him with my hand. i asked him, “ew, is that a blanket you put on everyone? like other strangers?!” he just stared at me. i said, “no, thank you…you can place that germy thing elsewhere!”. he was very comical about it and asked if he could place it under our feet. no problem! and under our shoes went the dirty blanket! he weaved in and out of traffic {a little concerned for my life} and continued to pedal his way towards our desired location in dupont circle. i kept chuckling to myself…where we were headed was uphill all the way! i felt a little bad. i text olivia {people are walking faster than us!!}.
we finally reached big hunt and met up with owen! we ordered beers and made plans to meet up with another friend of o’s, patrick. after we quickly imbibed our drinks, owen led the way to the next bar, a beer garden packed to the gills. after some time spent there, we finally headed on our way home to have dinner with claire and ben. owen so graciously hailed a cab for us and we were on our merry way home to fill up our bellies again {feed me some irish grub please!}.
it was a long, fun filled day full, full of walking! we really had a wonderful time and i am so grateful i was able to see everything that i did. it was quite a successful day exploring d.c. {if i do say so myself}! amaze. thank you olivia for trekking all over d.c. with me. muwah.
starting the day off with emma
metro tunnel
metro
more sculptures
and more
capitol
sculpture garden
hope diamond
emeralds
watch out olivia for the bear!
pink blooms
whitey
me + the speck!
washington monument
smokey!
jefferson
rickshaw
lincoln
me + liv
owen
olivia and i arrived at the airport super, duper early. we grabbed a coffee {starbucks, of course} and a bagel {cream cheese please}, found our gate, and sat ourselves down to relax before the flight. we gabbed for awhile and before we knew it, they started to board the flight {yay, we are on our way}!
our plane was so small, i mean tiny. two thin rows on each side and if you were tall, you had to crouch, for there was a high probability that you would smack your noggin’ onto the ceiling {darn american eagle}!
this flight, olivia and i were sitting vertical to each other on the same side {window seat}. so, as everyone pretty much wonders on a flight…’who will be sitting next to me’? well, here comes a man in a business suit. he sits down next to me and he is so large! i mean just grand in size. he took up so much space that i had to lean to my right just to not touch him!!! ugh! he was so big and myself so small, i fit under his shoulder and arm perfectly, although it wasn’t ideal or as comfortable! thank goodness the flight was so short!!!
once we arrived, claire {o’s sister}, picked us up. we had quite a lovely day. we came back to their place, walked their cute, cute dog {emma}, and we went to the home depot {yes, home depot, claire is quite the handy gal}. claire had some projects she needed to complete, so we decided that we wanted to explore old town, alexandria!
we headed into old town early in the afternoon, had a light lunch at le pain quotidien, and claire left us to finish her errands while we discovered all the nooks and cranny’s of this town. we shopped and shopped all the stores. we picked up cupcakes for dessert at alexandria cupcakes {chocolate combos, coconut, + vanilla bean} and chocolates, from the sugar cube, as a snack during our shopping. i just loved the lilly pulitzer store there! it had the most adorable clothes! scalloped edges, bright prints, and cute styles. one can find a perfect outfit for easter there or for a garden party [hello, i go to garden parties all the times – insert sarcasm]! it was a quaint little area. after we exhausted all the shops, we stopped in at misha’s coffee to grab a drink while we waited for claire to pick us up. we had spent quite a few fun hours there, i enjoyed old town!
once we got home, we decided to head out to dinner across the street from their place. just a few minute walk…so convenient! we ate at red rocks. it was a nice restaurant, cozy interior and great service! the food was delicious and tasty. the pizzas were soo good! great, fresh ingredient combinations, a nice thin semi-sweet crust, and cooked to perfection. after dinner, we headed back to their place and devoured the cupcakes that we bought {yum}! delightfully decadent!
we then just relaxed and hung out in the living room before we called it a night. olivia and i were spent from the travel and knew we would be waking up early in the morning for our fun filled day in d.c.!
i can’t wait to share our second day in d.c. demain!
the cutie pie perturbed i went upstairs
the pretty home…i loved all the color combos
the squirrel that was holding a pizza and eating it!
our light lunch of tartines. the lemonade was tart!
le pain quotidien
lilly pulitzer
cute party room at the sugar cube!
we grabbed toffee and chocolates here.
mmmmm
nom nom nom
100% adorbs
what a face!
hello my lovies. i’m off to d.c.! i’m excited to visit our nation’s capital and get all patriotic!
i’m most, most excited to see the lincoln memorial {amongst other things}! there are a lot of other huge landmarks to see but mr. abe holds a special place in my heart. i can’t wait to do the typical tourista move and take lots of pictures in front of the lovely abraham lincoln. i love reading about his history as our president. i love reading about his life. i love the fact that he formed his roots here in illinois. being our 16th president, he was such a strong force in forming the america we live in today.
[photo by matt naso]
blogging will be on hold {don’t be too sad!}, while i enjoy my time in d.c. don’t worry, it will probably fly by so fast {actually, i hope not…this is my holiday, ya know. who wants their vacay to fly by? not moi}!
i can’t wait to explore!
see ya’ll soon!
xoxo