celebration dinner

Posted on November 22, 2017 by tandem in love

a month before my brother’s wedding, we received an invite to a party, in cali, in honor of the engaged couple. i love events like that! it’s such a great way to get to know others involved in huy and tashina’s lives. that is one thing i love about weddings – building relationships, feeling the love, experiencing the joy, and realizing how great life can really be with so many blessings.

and so it began: the packing. my not so favorite part. i get so stressed packing! i don’t know why?! maybe it’s because i don’t want to forget anything or it just takes too much time {and i always feel like i have so much to do before we leave on a trip!}? i also had the added stress of picking out outfits for each event we were attending each day we were there. it’s different from a beach vacation or whatever because those types of trips are more simple and easy. this trip was more high profile and very important!

i made it through and finished packing for myself and the kids {everything but the kitchen sink!}! our flight was early and it was so cold out. terrible combinations! hc went to my parent’s house to pick up my aunt, my mom, and my dad to make sure they were ready and got to our house on time. the transportation came early and we all hustled out and fumbled with getting the car seats situated!

we finally made it to the airport and had a hell of a time checking in our luggage. it probably took a solid 15+ minutes to figure everything out. the lady at the counter was actually doing us a favor by spending the time figuring out how she could get all of our checked luggage for free {because my aunt’s ticket wasn’t grouped with ours, hers was purchased separately}!

traveling in a large group can be so chaotic! we finally found our gate {and a huge thank you to the women who helped my dad get to the faaaaar away gate with the wheelchair} and settled in. olive ate a donut, ellie ran around like a crazy little baby, i got my starbucks, we all purchased some sort of food for the plane ride, and we were first to board because of my dad’s disability. wooooo hoooo. we made it!

olive was soooooo into the plane ride! she was so excited when the plane started moving! she screamed and laughed and said the cutest things. oh my heart just melted! she was amazed at the movement, how tiny the houses were getting, and the clouds in the sky. she is too cute!

once we arrived, we waited a hundred years for a shuttle to the car rental, and finally got to the hotel! oh my goodness…it was a gorgeous hotel!!! so chic, beautiful, and oh so friendly. this hotel has acres and acres of beautiful, scenic property! we walked into our spacious room and had fresh cookies waiting for us! yum! we had two king beds, a large bathroom, desk, arm chair, great amenities, and so many other luxurious goodies!

we ordered room service, relaxed, and then got ready for the dinner that evening.

we arrived at our destination and we were greeted by huy! yay! tashina’s friend lexi’s parents {marga & thierry} were the hosts and they were so darn sweet and kind! it was awesome to meet lexi {the senior food editor at rachael ray magazine} and her husband joe {the general manager of momofuku!}. i loved chatting with them…they were so sweet and nice and we were able to mingle with tashina’s family {her mom, nanae, her dad, kip, her brother, sister, and her sister’s fiancé}. marga and lexi did such an amazing job decorating the house, cooking the food, and being the best hostesses!

we had such a great time hanging out. definitely a wonderful night to remember. like i said before, i love festivities like this! it only brings everyone closer together! cheers to friends and family!

[she was soooooooo excited to be on the plane!]

[yeah, so graceful. bopping herself on the head with a magazine]

[she loved looking out the window]

[she kept peeking at the little boy behind her]

[hotel bed jumping is mandatory]

[entryway]

[convenient name tags]

[kim, thuy, don, and khai]

[sweet cousins]

[cute little congratulation flag]

[olive, uncle huy, reagan, bennett, and grandma]

[chu thong, huy, mom, chi thu]

[chu thong, chi thu, mom, dad, uncle khai, and don]

[you can never go wrong with macarons]

[huy, dan, kim, and agata]

[mom always has to squeeze into a photo]

[the happy couple]

[marga making a toast to the couple]

[sweet ellie]

[lexi and joe]

[reply cards turned garland]

[jern, kina, and tre]

[sunny and nanae]

[huy and his father in law, kip]

xoxo

hb dan!

Posted on November 18, 2015 by tandem in love

we all got together to celebrate my brother dan’s birthday! my little brother dan is super sweet. like the sweetest guy ever. he’s quiet, calm, loving, thoughtful, polite, and just a wonderful human being. he was always the baby of the family…the last of the kids and the one we always watched after. i love him bunches.

my sisters decided to get together for his birthday and coordinated a little dinner get-together. they chose to go to a place called pizza barra. hc and i were one of the last ones to arrive. the fam had already ordered some apps and started with one order of pizza. we all settled in, ordered drinks and perused the menu to order some more garb to eat. we ended up getting plenty of apps, a pan pizza and a thin crust pizza to go around. yum. their calamari there was deeeeeeelish! nom nom!

[nice smile reagan!]

[why do i look so surprised?!]

as usual, olive was bit grumpy when she first got there. she’s always so cautious and shy when she’s in a new environment, even she knows the peeps! of course, cousin reagan is just the sweetest to her. he always takes care of her, dotes on her, and does his best to make her happy. oh he is just the cutest with her! i love watching them together, it just melts my heart.

our food arrived and away we ate. i love that about life. i love the simple things in it. i really do. i love my family. i love getting together with them and eating. i love the time we can spend together. i really do cherish simple, sweet moments like this together. my dad has always taught me that family is number one. sometimes it might not seem like it in the moment, but in the end…they will always be there for you and that is the truth.

[addicted]

[ma pere, mere, & soeur]

[my brother and brother in law]

[yummy]

[best pic we could get with olive]

well, happy birthday dan! you are the such a sweet, awesome brother! we love you and we hope your birthday and every day is just as amazing as you!

xoxo

huy + tashina

Posted on November 4, 2015 by tandem in love

so yay for my brother huy and his fiancé tashina visiting us here in the chi. they had come into town {from l.a.} the days prior and attended a friend’s wedding, so this night, we had them over for dinner and fun!

please don’t mind the kitchen under construction. that’s a whole ‘nother chapter. anyhoo, everyone came over and we hemmed and hawed over what food to order. in the mean time, i had my two little nephews running around, my brothers, tashina, and my mother in law hanging out in the kitchen, deciding on food, and then olive just waking up {crying} in her crib. all of a sudden i was in the middle of trying to place an order for food, consoling miss olive, and appeasing everyone else. it started to get a wee bit crazy for me! olive was grumpy but everyone wanted her attention {huy wanted to play, reagan wanted to play} and this only caused her to cry even more! i couldn’t place the food order because i was trying to console olive, then hc calls me on the phone trying to talk to me, and the boys kept asking me if they could eat ramen noodles with sriracha because they didn’t want to eat chinese food! hahahah!

ohmygawd. it was only until after the food arrived did the craziness seem to settle down! the boys didn’t mind eating hot dogs and chips {my speciality}, so it saved me from making an easy meal to making an easier meal! woo! we all actually sat down to eat, relax, and converse. it was great. we had such a wonderful time talking, eating, and enjoying each other’s company. it was so nice. in-between us ordering food and eating, tashina helped us out by sewing olive’s halloween costume. i was so ready to do it myself but with her coming into town, i thought, why not ask? she made olive’s baptism gown, so why not another white gown for miss olive?! yay!

[setting up the sewing machine]

[watching the action going down]

[being curious]

[bestie cousins eating together]

[chillin’ and having a really good time]

[someone is wiped out and someone isn’t. haha]

we had a wonderful time together as a family. slowly, everyone trickled out. dan left, jane went to bed, and then huy and tashina said their good nights. i had the boys until my sister came home from her event that evening. it was too cute. R + B fell asleep while olive stayed w i d e awake! she is such a nigh owl!

it was a great evening with family, those are always the best moments in life.

xoxo

arboretum squared

Posted on November 2, 2015 by tandem in love

we headed out to the arboretum on a cool autumn day. my brother huy and tashina were in town and we wanted to snap some pics {ya gotta take advantage of your photographer brother when he’s in // huyfoto}.

it was a perfect day. total sweater weather. not too cold and not too warm. a wonderful fall day. i previously mentioned to the hubs about getting a membership to the arboretum because i heard from others, that it is so cheap and going there twice pretty much pays for your membership.

we pulled up and yessssss, it was quite pricey to get in. we asked how much a membership would be for four people and gasped at the fact that it would be down right stupid not to get one!

huy and tashina had just arrived right before us and huy wanted to drive around to explore and find a good spot to snap some photos. we drove around and found a beautiful {well everything at the arboretum is gorgeous} little spot. we continued to cruise around and found another little nook that was beautiful to capture in the photos. after our escapade, we decided to head back to the children’s area so olive could play around a bit. we walked into the building and hc signed us up for a membership, we grabbed coffee, and a little bite to eat. after our snack, we headed out to the children’s garden.

we had to so much fun walking around, exploring, and watching little olive’s curiosity. the first area we went into was the maze. it was fun to walk around and decide which direction we should head to and wonder where it would take you and where you would end up! they also had an amazing tree fort that we explored. olive had fun running around in circles with me chasing her!

after the maze, we explored the garden area. it’s pretty cool to watch her have so much fun with the same thing, over and over again. she loved the spinning wheels, the leaves, the fun interactive activities all around the area. we probably could have been there all day.

[coming out of the maze]

[look at those fall colors!!!]

[such a gorgeous day]

[she loved putting the little balls into the noise maker]

after a bit, huy and tashina needed to get some stuff done before they headed out to a wedding that evening. we stayed a bit longer, soaking in the goodness around us. as we were leaving, they totally get you with the smell of popcorn…it was a sweet and delicious aroma. we caved in, bought a bag and popped a squat to enjoy our treats. yummy!

once we spent some time eating, enjoying the perfect weather, and absorbing the amazing environment, we decided to head out. it was a truly lovely morning. we had a really great time with everyone. i love spending time with my family and getting out to do fun stuff like this really is my jam.

happy day everyone! enjoy every moment and be thankful for your health, your family, their health, and the little things in life. be kind and love one another. peace.

xoxo

my brother{s}

Posted on January 5, 2015 by tandem in love

my brother and his girl tashina came to visit us for christmas up until new year’s eve. it was pretty awesome to have them around. huy doesn’t visit very often, maybe twice a year if we are lucky. i love seeing him. we all miss him. plus, he is sooooo wonderful with the kids too!

huy moved out to cali quite some time ago. i can’t even remember…it’s been nine years now?? anyhoo, life suits him just fine out there. he’s so l.a. now…such a hipster. well, he’s always been a hipster but whatevs.

he’s been a photographer for quite some time now. he’s super talented and has done some amazing work. you can check out his website here.

on one of the days they were in town, hc invited everyone over to our place for supper. we ordered uncle bub’s for dinner and had a swell time hanging out together. i came home and only my sisters and the kids were home. soon, everyone else slowly trickled in. hc and terry were out picking up the food and arrived home last.

we got down to business! the table was set and the food was ready to be served. we noshed, imbibed, and conversed about all sorts of topics. it was fantastic just to hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

[feeding the garbage disposal]

[boy band brothers]

gosh, family is so great. i feel very fortunate to have a large family. i sometimes, still can’t believe my parents did what they did. raising a large family with the means that they had. it’s pretty awesome to have brothers and sisters…people you can go to when you need them, people you can hang out with, people you can rely on, people who help you out. siblings are like built in buddies, non? and you know what really tops the sundae off? when your siblings are with/marry some more awesome peeps. the family grows larger and better. life does have it’s not so great moments {irritations, fights, disappointment}…don’t get me wrong, sometimes it sucks but i love having the glass half full. it only makes me feel more fulfilled, loved, and happy. i’d rather count my lucky stars than think about the pile of shit i just stepped on.

a lucky star i’m thankful for?? my little babes, olive. i love watching her play with her cousins. it’s just the best and cutest times evah. *sigh*

[silly kids]

[silly faces]

[ba going in for a kiss]

well, it was a quick but lovely time with tashina and huy. we enjoyed them being in town and spending so many great days with them. it definitely went by too fast. lots of love to them both…we can’t wait to see y’all again!

xoxo

huy came home!

Posted on December 6, 2013 by tandem in love

huy came home! yes, he came home for about a week. it was great seeing him and tashina! we were able to spend their first day in town at my p’s house. my mom gets so excited to cook for everyone! we all hung out for a bit around the house and then sat down for a delicious dinner with the famille! i love, love my mom’s cooking!

how hilarious is this?! r donned a rick ross shirt huy brought over from l.a. his friends design these tees through their company called pizzaslime. i love the tats and bling on little r.

capturing r through a red glass bead…so artsy, huh? this is what happens when you are just sitting around entertaining yourself. i, unfortunately, erased the awesome footage of r singing and dancing for us {whoops..} but he is such a ham!

playing around with the big belly bump. trying to get creative with this big bump of mine…why not make silly faces on it?

[goofing around]

[tashina and huy]

we were able to spend sunday night celebrating dan’s birthday as well! we all met up at baisi thai in oakbrook. hc and i ran into a store to quickly buy something before dinner, thinking we might be a few minutes late. of course, we were the first ones there! do we ever learn that when it’s a doan outing, we should never be on time?

on tashina and huy’s last night in town, we gathered together at my parent’s house for a final dinner {butter and garlic shrimp with a ramen vegetable stir fry} and a lazy night in just to chill and hang before they take off back to l.a.

overall, it was great seeing them. such a good time. too far in-between on visits! well, next time…christmas! cheers to family time!

xoxo

tandem in love

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

Tag Archives: brother

celebration dinner

hb dan!

huy + tashina

arboretum squared

my brother{s}

huy came home!