july 2011, i had just received my reception dress and i was so excited!!! i really wanted a fun, flirty, romantic dress to wear later on in the night, during the reception. i wanted to feel just as lovely in my reception dress as i would feel throughout the day in my wedding gown.
it was from sarah seven. a designer i found through my hours of endless scouring of wedding blogs. i totally fell in love with her designs. i knew this was the dress that was going to make me feel beautiful and free. having her custom make my dress was based on a lot of trust. i basically sent in my measurements and she transformed it into this cotton candy confection of a dress. i was super, super happy with the final result. the only alteration i did to the dress was the lace trim on the bodice. it was way too low cut and i needed more coverage.
it turned out perfect and i absolutely loved wearing it during the reception. i didn’t have to fuss with wearing my heavy gown and the added bonus was i didn’t have to run around with my beautiful wedding dress on and have it get ruined while dancing, or anything that could further spoil your dress as the night wore on! with this reception dress, i was could float around, dance like a maniac, prance around like a princess, and end the night by riding off on tandem bike 😉
hc and i took a trip to nashville! we had such a great time visiting the city. now, nashville is a place, in my opinion, that is only a weekend getaway. it’s such a small town…i was surprised that it being the country music capital, how low key it was. there were never really any crowds, never people walking around constantly, like chicago. only on friday or saturday did it ever get somewhat crowded and it looked like people were being bussed in!
another downside? i’m soooo not a country music girl. so live music like that is so unappealing. i had no interest! if you want live music, cowboy boots, and lots of bbq…nashville is your place to be!
my favorite part about visiting? i loved checking out vanderbilt university! it was such a cute college town! we explored the campus and it also has the cutest shops running along 21st street in hillsboro village. great places to eat and, of course, spending your moolah in all the cute boutiques. we spent a long afternoon there just exploring. fun fact: we actually found our curtain backdrop here, at furniture shop, for our wedding photo booth!
we did enjoy walking up and down broadway, checking out all the shops and restaurants. it’s definitely dolly parton central! my favorite place in nashville?? mike’s ice cream! yum! we went there every night to get dessert! it’s a cute, quaint little ice cream shop where they hand make their delicious, creamy goodness. so delish, check it out if you ever visit!
[enjoying a warm night out in nashville and topping it off with some delicious mike’s ice cream]
i really enjoyed my time in nashville, it was a cute little town with a lot of nooks and crannies. many great memories created with my then soon to be husband!
today takes us back to 2009. on this evening, we met up with a few of hc’s friends in algonquin. they were going to midnight wake surf on the fox river. it was a bright, full moon; enough light to be able to wake surf the calm, quiet water.
it was a chilly night and i always think that hc is crazy for not blinking an eye and getting in that frigid, cold water! ugh. so not me! since it was midnight, it was so serene being out on the river {very quiet}. we went back and forth in the boat riding the river while each person took their turn surfing the wake. it was pretty cool. as close as you can get to surfing in the midwest!
[go cubs go]
midnight wake surfing was definitely a night to remember. it is something that doesn’t happen often for us, so it was quite a fun memory!
hc and i woke up very early one morning and traveled out to the city to support and cheer on our friends matt and michelle, who were participating in a triathlon! i love going to these types of events because it’s inspiring and fun. i love being in the city, i love the crowds, and i love supporting people in their endeavors.
i was glad we were able to catch michelle at the end of her run, we screamed and cheered her on to the finish line. it was awesome and quite thrilling to be in the midst of so much excitement and energy. at the end of the race, i was able to meet michelle’s parents, who traveled in from indiana! they were so sweet.
[after the race // rockin’ my cubs hoodie next to this white sox fan!]
after the race, hc and i parted ways with them and headed to breakfast at my favorite joint – the bongo room.
we were happy to have gotten together with matt and michelle to support them in this wonderful event! they were also married last year {posted here}…we are thankful to know them, they are such a great couple!
this one takes us back to 2011. this is such a fun, sweet picture of r+ b!
we were celebrating hc’s birthday over at his parent’s house {in crystal lake} and r+ b insisted on celebrating with us as well {with them being in clarendon hills}! hey, a few miles doesn’t stop a family from missing a joyous occasion together!
so, kim pulled out some party hats, bought cake, and we tech connected via facetime and sang happy birthday to hc! it was a success!
the boys were super happy {yay!} and so was hc…he was delighted to be celebrating his birthday cross towns! how special!!! and everyone got cake…score!
this was literally a sweet memory! happy friday y’all! cheers to a fabulous weekend!
today takes us back to easter 2009 {ahhh, to be almost five years younger would be fantastic, but not less the wiser!}. hc and i had just started dating {five months prior} and kim was pregnant with little bennett. hc and i had just come back from vegas, hence the über tan i got going on {i love me a good tan but totally dislike the aging results…*sigh*}. we all had a lovely morning brunch at bin 36, a place we celebrated past easters at a few years in a row. the tradition still continues for us but at different food locales of choice.
look at us! i feel like we look the same {wishful thinking?} but different. not older but just altered styling {am i trying to say we look dated?}. ya know what i mean?!
i love hanging out with the fam. there’s nothing more comforting, relaxing, fun, and amusing than family itself.
doesn’t little r look so cute in his dapper outfit {what a handsome dude}? cheers to fun family get togethers!
i love this photo of us! can you believe it was olivia’s first cubs/baseball game?!
this was taken four years ago {almost exactly four years ago!}. unfortunately, it was quite a cold day for a game {bummer because it’s so much more fun when it’s warm!}.
albeit, we had a grand ol time! we drank beer, ate hot dogs, and cheered on the cubbies!!! annndddd, they did win! woo!
afterwards, we hit up the bars around wrigleyville {of course!}. we hung out for a bit, reveling in the all american acts of excessive indulgences and finally went on our merrily beer filled belly ways!
i chose this flashback because it was also olivia’a birthday yesterday! happy beurffday o, love you lots! another year older, another year wiser, and cheers to many more years of friendship!
on a friday several years ago, 9.9.11 to be exact, hc and i started our celebratory wedding weekend with our friends and family!
it was a start of, still hands down, the best weekend of our lives!
i absolutely love this photo of us at our rehearsal dinner. we were having the best time and we were looking forward to the next day…getting hitched in style {best day ever!}!
i am still thankful and grateful to dick and jane for hosting this memorable, wonderful event! they are the best in laws anyone could ever ask for!
with that fun walk down memory lane, happy friday and good friday everyone!!!
a little something from the past. noooo, i’m not pregnant again!!!
last year {a few days from now…on hc’s birthday and a few days from another soon to be major event in our lives!}, is when i first saw our baby olive. when i first her heard her heartbeat {best sound ever}. i was so amazed, overwhelmed, elated, happy, joyous, that i cried and cried when i saw our baby on the screen. it was a reality and a dream come true.
i almost couldn’t believe that we were pregnant! what a journey we were starting on…how it’s led us to this miracle of ours, our baby girl who amazes us everyday. we feel so blessed to have had a beautiful, healthy baby girl who makes us smile at every moment!
[olive’s 8 week photo…literally a little peanut!}
All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13
woooooo! we were so excited for our spring break vacation! after this very long, very cold, very awful winter, a getaway to a warm destination was in order!
the locale of choice was anna maria island, off of florida. i am thankful to my in laws for coordinating this whole vacation! olive is a lucky gal to have pretty awesome grandparents who love her so much!
we headed out on saturday morning {4:30 am wake up call anyone?}, off to the airport we went in our pimp escalade limo ride. olive was riding in style! we got to the airport quickly and checked ourselves in. getting through security involved a lot more than we thought. it being the first time we have traveled with olive, we weren’t quite sure what the process looked like. not only did we have to do our usual thing {shoes, laptop, coats, etc.}, we had to break down the entire stroller, take off a wheel, flip the carseat upside down, and i had to walk thru the detector with olive and then get my hands wiped down for any dangerous chemicals! nutty. well, we made it through with no problems {no crazy chemicals on my hands…phew. i didn’t have to brawl with the tsa!} and we merrily went on our way to the gate {way to vacation!} . i immediately was on a mission for coffee. starbucks and food was in order!
[olive’s first time in the airport // breakfast at berghoff cafe]
we waited in quite a long line at berghoff cafe. rich ordered an egg and bacon croissant sandwich with a side of hash for the both of us. we ate and waited for the rest of our party to arrive. once everyone was there, we settled ourselves into the terminal to wait for our boarding time. oh boy…olive started to get fussy. it was past her feeding time and i really wanted to feed her during take off. our timing was a little off and while we were waiting in line to board, she had a melt down! i saw all the passengers eyes widen as this baby of mine shrieked so loud! oy. once we neared the plane, though, she actually calmed down. phew!
[family selfie]
i got to feeding olive right away. she actually fell asleep during take off and was quite calm during the whole flight. only for a few minutes did she fuss but then calmed down. woo! it was a great, non-fussy flight with little miss olive. what a good little traveler!
[olive representing the cubs // take off]
[sleepy olive]
[cutie pie waiting for daddy to rent a car]
[the scary road over the water]
we landed and were so excited to finally be in warm weather! it was warm and a bit humid. we got our car rented and started en route to our destination to the beautiful house on the beach!
the palm trees are such a treat. a novelty for us after a looooong winter in chicago! buuutttt after experiencing florida traffic and how cray cray they drive {i mean seriously cray}, i definitely can say…i wouldn’t want to live that everyday!
we finally arrived at our destination and got to explore the house. it was spacious and new. i loved our bedroom…it was big, had it’s own ensuite, a large flat screen t.v., and a lovely veranda! we were steps away from the beach and the house also had it’s own private pool! sweet!
[olive and aunt missy matching each other and the couch // us checking out the house]
[the beachy fun house decor // relaxing by the private pool]
[this was our walkway from the front of the house!]
[checking out the scenery // palm trees usa]
[we love our selfies]
the most exciting part about arriving in florida?! meeting up with olivia and aaron. since they’ve relocated to fort lauderdale, we haven’t gotten a chance to visit them in the sunshine state. they timed their travels to match ours, they got there just a tad earlier than us {due to our unnecessary detour to the cracker barrel…long story not worth sharing}.
olivia texted me that they were chillin’ at a bar across the street from the house we were renting. she insisted that she would she us pull into the house. so, as we pulled in…i looked around and saw only houses. olivia and aaron were no where to be found. after we got inside and looked around, i texted her, wondering where they were at. sooooo typical olivia, they were at the wrong location. i have no idea where she got the address she had! they weren’t far from us and soon they arrived at the house! yay!
we spent the day basically chillin’. our only big mission for the day was to grocery shop. there was a local grocery store called publix nearby. hello spring break! it was a madhouse there. literally. it seemed like half the island was there stocking up on groceries! we fought our way through and survived. hundreds of dollars later and two full carts filled with food, we were on our way back home.
[selfie time // bruce the cutest puppy ever]
[hc and aaron holding their babies]
[olive’s curly q hair, thanks florida humidity!]
[olive’s first time at the beach!]
[the cute couple before they leave back to ft. lauderdale // as you can tell, olive is super happy]
the rest of the weekend, we walked the beach, we explored the island, lunched outside, and spent time together with this great duo…the best news yet?! olivia and aaron are moving back to chicago! woo hoo! see ya guys in a few weeks!
[aunt wendy consoling olive]
[neidre and olive…she was in desperate need of a nap]
right after olivia and aaron left, hc’s old friend from school stopped by to visit. neidre lives in tampa; she drove in and spent the late afternoon and evening with us! we drank wine, chitchatted, and caught up on life’s happenings. neidre is such a great gal! we love her! the last time we saw her was when we visited her brother, jason, in miami. that was an amazing trip as well {sunshine, beach time, and awesome weather}! one of the days, while in miami, we drove half way from our destinations and met neidre and her beautiful daughter, khaliya, for dinner. that was a great time together, it was my first time meeting neidre and khaliya and we had such a blast with them.
[blast from the past // miami ’10]
we cooked in and spent a very lovely evening together. after many hours of drinking, noshing, and non stop yakking, neidre decided to head out and home. so bittersweet. it was so awesome to see her and so sad she was leaving. it was a marvelous time spent together.
[hanging out with this lovely lady]
[super excited to be shopping]
since the weather wasn’t quite beach weather {bummer because we had a house on the beach!!!}, we did a lot of shopping. we explored possible shopping venues around the area. on monday, we went to breakfast at peach’s and then took off for the outlet mall right outside anna maria island. hc and i had a great time shopping around. there were a few stores where we found some great stuff in. the whole family enjoyed perusing the mall. good or bad news but everyone found something to buy!
[her pensive looks]
[bad news bear…a stop at wendy’s was no buenos! my favorite comfy target pants!]
on tuesday, we explored the southern part of the island. it turned out to be a very sunny day {although it was a very rainy morning}! we had a great time walking around the area. i found some great smelling body butters and lotions at a place called naples. of course, when we stumbled upon a macaron shop, i had to get a dozen flavors!
[relaxing in her stroller ride around the island // yummy macarons]
after shopping all afternoon, we came back to the house to relax. rich, grace, and daniel hit the beach. olive and i tried to sit out there but it was so windy, it felt like the sand was exfoliating our faces, so that was no. we headed back into the house to chill while rich and the kids played out at the beach.
a little bit later, before we went to dinner and after the beach, rich, jane, and olive went for a walk {a favorite activity of ours since we wanted to take advantage of this weather!}. it was a bit chilly {for florida!}, so we bundled olive up in a cute little hoodie. so adorbs.
[getting ready for her walk on the beach with daddy]
for dinner, aunt wendy wanted to go to the sandbar restaurant but it turned out to be a debacle. the wait was one hour and forty five minutes! no way with the babes could we wait that long for a table! so we ended up down the street at a place called sharkey’s.
it was a tasty place…i ordered the fish and chips {tilapia!} and it was delicious. after dinner, we headed home to relax {the theme of our vacation!}.
[having dinner at sharky’s]
[selfie at sharkey’s}
so, there you have it! the first half of our island vacation! lots of shopping, a lot of relaxing, plenty of walks on the beach, too much noshing, and loads of quality time together as a family {the most important part!}.
