hc and i drove up north to visit grace. it was a beautiful summer night. we picked the kiddo up and went out to dinner near a downtown area somewhere, um, i don’t know the towns up there at all! after that, we knew we wanted to swing by a cruise night {we spied one on our way to dinner!}.
we walked around the beautiful area and admired all the cool classic cars. It was a pretty large showcase of vehicles that evening and hc and grace really enjoyed examining each one.
it was a lovely summer evening spent with the family, doing a fun summery type activity!
i hope you have something fun planned up your sleeve this weekend. it’s going to be a warm weekend…maybe some pool time? zoo time? or just some cool down time with popsicles!
whatever it may be, enjoy & revel in it. happy friday y’all!!!
it was little b’s baptism…look how cute he is! those chubby cheeks and that blondish hair. so adorbs. we had the ceremony at the queenship of mary, fr. quyen presided over the blessings. it was a beautiful sunny day to celebrate his path into the catholic faith.
after the baptism, terry and kim hosted a luncheon at the harry caray’s restaurant. it was fun, delicious, and quaint. we had a lovely private room where we could converse and visit one another with ease. i remember little b falling asleep in his car seat and we stuck him under a table…lol. it was a wonderful day with friends and family.
[the little cutie pie]
happy friday y’all! enjoy this beautiful weekend! i sure will…we have lots going and can’t wait for the awesome weather this weekend.
it was our second bridal shower that summer and it was hosted at dick and jane’s house {held outside in their backyard}. It was sooooo freakin’ hot that day! upper 90’s, sticky, hot, sunny, and humid. you did. not. stop. sweating, even when you sat very, very still. when our guests were arriving, i didn’t even give hugs…i waved at them. um, yeah. no touching when it’s that gross outside.
being engaged was definitely an amazing time in our lives. oh, i could relive these moments over and over. i loved all the joyous, celebratory, fun memories with all our friends and family. i always say it and i’ll say it again…our engagement and our wedding was like a dream come true. i loved every second of it! but i tend to really revel in a lot of things…i am so appreciative of all good things in life!
i absolutely love this picture of us. we were, obviously, being super silly gals in this photo. we love entertaining ourselves by being incredibly goofy when we take pictures. it makes for great laughs when you look back at them. i mean, c’mon. you can only take so many portraits, then you need to get creative to capture some fond, fun memories 😉
[oh! have some cake my dear!]
[p.s. i was so darn tan and skinny…those were the days!]
well, lovies…create some great memories today! i hope every has a fabulous day and weekend!
i’m reminiscent over this picture right now because i am totally missing vegas…a lot. for the past several years, matt, johann, hc, and i have traveled to vegas every summer for a mini vacay. matt and johann go every year because matt’s sister, liz, lives there with her husband josh and their daughter stella.
we go to relax, visit, and do a lot of shopping. we are not gamblers {although every time we go, hc must put some money into the wheel of fortune}, we love vegas for it’s craziness, kitschy nature, amaze people watching, luxurious hotels, fabulous pools, delicious food, 24 hour availability, and fantastic night life. we love to lounge, eat, drink, get a tan, and entertain ourselves with the crazy peeps that come to vegas. hello…the outfits people wear are the best!
matt and johann are such great travel partners. we do our own thing, we meet up when we want to, we don’t adhere to a strict schedule, we all love to shop…we are on the same page on our idea of how to vacay. it’s perfect harmony.
unfortunately, why i am a bit poo pooh about it right now is because this year it wasn’t in our cards to go. with a baby and a new house {a lot of renovating}, vegas didn’t fit into the budget. well, it could have but not the best idea when it came to our finances and being smart about it {i’ll blame hc for being responsible :)}.
so, here i am…gazing at this picture, wishing we were in vegas with them right now.
this pic was taken at the pepper mill…a cheesy 24 hour restaurant. ya gotta love the fake neon lights, plastic flowers, and the fire pit lounge/bar they have inside, where hats are not allowed {dress code}! whaaaat?! people are in flippin’ tanks tops and flip flops!
[i apologize for the fuzziness…it’s a picture of a picture :)]
anyhoo, i love vegas and i love going with these two wonderful people. it’s our tradition. here’s to next year’s trip! fer shizzle.
here we are, andrea and me, celebrating her birthday in january!
we met through a mutual friend, darrin. i worked part time at pottery barn, ages ago. darrin was my manager at the lincoln park location. he kept saying to me, i have a girlfriend you will love! he said we were so much alike and totally thought we would click and get along. after him constantly telling me about her, we finally got together….um, he was so right!!!! i love her!
andrea and i have been friends for a very long time and it’s, honestly, one of the best relationships i have. it’s one of those friendships where you can pick up were you left off, even if it’s been awhile since we last saw one another. we have busy lives, we respect and appreciate each other’s time but every now and then, we make time for each other. it might be in quick succession or our dates might be months in-between but no matter what the case may be, we take off where we last ended. a true, solid friendship!
a great pic to reminisce on! cheers to all the wonderful lady friends out there!
first, look at how little grace was! awwwww! so cute.
we were at chuck e. cheese for a birthday party. hc and i had only been dating for 11 months here…in less than three months from this moment, we were engaged! cray. we were fast tracked towards happiness!
it was a typical kids birthday party…lots of pizza, lots of pop, lots of screaming, and running around. we had a blast playing all sorts of games. my goal was to win as many tickets as possible so i could give them to grace so she could pick out a cool prize by the end of the party. woo hoo!
it was a great time with two very wonderful people in my life.
may 2008. hilarious. this picture. it was back in the days when i actually toted around an inexpensive, little, digital camera {and it’s so blurry}!! lol. my how times have changed.
well, this pic was taken at one of my favorite brunch spots, mhenry. it’s such a yummy eatery up in andersonville. it was the first time matt actually ate a breakfast item {every time, prior, when we would meet for brunch, matt would always order a lunch entree}, this time he actually ordered the blackberry bliss pancakes {what?!}!
annddddd…this was the first time i went out with olivia! we had become pretty close from work and would walk home/towards the bus together but it was our first official make plans outside of work outing. two special firsts with two special peeps!
it was quite a fun time together. we enjoyed a delicious brunch, as usual {you can’t go wrong at this place}, and terrific conversations between the three of us. the perfect combination of life…great friends and tasty food!
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!
