it was a friday night and it called for a dinner night out with the fam. after doing some fun holiday activities, we all met up at a restaurant in hinsdale called vistro. a cool vibe eatery by paul virant {owner of vie & perennial virant}. it was bustling and busy. we scored a close parking spot and cruised on in. we originally had a high table but that wasn’t going to work with ms. olive. so, they were super kind and accommodating to us! they quickly relocated us to a booth. i was quite pleased at how wonderful they were with our situation.
[olive doesn’t get a high chair…she sits on the table like a lady]
[famille]
[pouty]
we sat down and ordered some delicious apps and beverages. the crispy tuscan kale and brussels sprouts were soooooo good. i could have eaten those two dishes as my main meal. seriously. so yum. but i did not regret my burger. that was delectable as well.
i loved the vibe of the restaurant. it was quite cozy, warm, and friendly. the service was fantastic and everyone was so nice. obviously having a baby {who wants to move around} can be a challenge at a restaurant but everyone thought she was a cutie. duh, of course. olive wanted so badly to walk everywhere in the place…i tried my best to not have her interfere with other patron’s meals. we cruised around the tables and walked into the hallway where the bathrooms were and turned back around to our table. and then maybe start over again.
[festive cocktails]
[this brussel sprout dish was soooo tasty!]
[kim doing her best RBF]
we were doing pretty well throughout the meal but near the end, it was time to go! she started to get a bit fussy and it was close to her bedtime.
we had a great time being silly, relaxing, and noshing on some super savory food. it was a wonderful end to a great day.
hc came home from work and brought home some ingredients for me to make it a mexican meal night {woot, woot}, so cheesy quesadillas it was {does that say cheesy cheesy??!…natch}. i first whipped together some guac to go with our chips and eventually to dollop on our meals! most folks will say gauc should be simple, salt, pepper, a dash of lime but i do like mine to have a touch of tomatoes and onions {preferably red onions}. yuuuuummmmmm.
[ingredients]
we broke open some coronas and lime and cheered our way to some yummy food. i started out cooking the sliced chicken on the skillet {a bit of olive oil…is that mexican?? 😉 }, on high heat. after the chicken was cooked {no pink!}, i scooped it out and threw in sliced onions {i have to always have a kick to it!}. i then threw the chicken back in {medium heat} and threw on some seasoning and water. like i said, it needs a kick, some flavor.
after the chicken was cooked. i threw some mexican rice into a pot of boiling water and started that, so it would be nice and fluffy once the cheesydillas were done. i then took the chicken and folded it into some tortillas. i buttered one side of the tortilla, threw a whole bunch of cheese on top of the chicken and folded the tortilla in half. normally, i would cook the quesadilla on a skillet until the cheese was melted and the shell was a toasty brown but i decided to put it in the oven to see how it would turn out.
um, i definitely prefer the skillet method. the oven did it’s purpose but i didn’t like how the tortillas turned out. a little too crispy for my taste. but all in all it was all so delicious!
[cheers!]
olive enjoyed her snacks and eating bits of my rice and chicken in-between. she loves eating! hc and i noshed on our food, drank our beer, and reveled in olive’s antics.
[eating her cereal puffs]
it was quite a chill night. i had a great time making dinner and relaxing with my darling family. we were stuffed, satisfied, and ready to hit the couch and put on a movie after dinner. cheers to simple meal nights!
soooo, long story that i will try to make short {cross your fingers!}. i met abbey more than ten years ago. we crossed paths and instantly became close friends. we had so many crazy moments together. she was my partner in crime. we went out all. the. time. fashion show nights in the city. bars in the city. art shows. dinners. fancy dinners. super, super fancy dinners. eve of the eve parties. shopping dates. pool time. brunches. lunches. you name it, we did it. anything in the city was game.
after years of being close friends, life sometimes takes you down different paths and those paths are not parallel anymore. they veer off into different directions and you loose touch. mine and abbey’s path veered off. seven plus years went by.
last year, abbey reached out to me and i reciprocated. we started to talk via fb and then by phone. we’ve exchanged communication here or there and moved our friendship along. well, abbey contacted me a few weeks ago to let me know that she would be in chicago {she lives in missouri} and wanted to meet up! i was totally game, i was excited to see her. i was glad our schedules worked out perfectly for us to meet up.
i chose for us to brunch at little goat. i was a little nervous it would be super crowded {it usually is and a very long wait} because it was a very, very nice day! warm and sunny. as i walked towards the restaurant, i saw there were no patrons standing outside {a total sign it wasn’t crowded} and was relieved.
i walked in with o and ran right into abbs! it was pretty awesome to see her. she looked great! we hugged and were so excited to see one another. she was so happy to meet olive! she is so great with babies. her sister val just had a beautiful baby boy, lake!
we were seated right away {woo!}. of course abbey and i started gabbing away. i told her, “we better choose what we want to eat or we will never order!”. so, she decided to go with the apple pancakes and a small side of biscuits and gravy. i chose the tuna melt with a side of smoked fries.
[um, it really wasn’t this empty…this space happen to clear out]
[she’s got her other bottom toof coming in!]
[smoked fries]
we gabbed and gabbed and gabbed. there was so much to talk about. we had such a great time catching up. so much has changed! at the time abbey and i were friends, i was ‘single’. not married. still living in chicago. no children. and now all that has changed!
abbey tried her best to get on olive’s good side. olive was being shy. it was too cute to see. i would slide her over to abbey and she would crawl back to me. i would slide her back again, and she would wiggle back to me. the only way abbey was able to get her to stay be her was to feed little o. ha!
[she was being shy]
[tuna sammich]
[yum, yum…the only time olive felt comfortable, when abbey fed her!]
after we finished our meals, we stayed awhile to continue our gab fest. abbey for sure wanted to take pictures in the photo booth. of course! i’m all about photo booths! i love ’em! we wriggled our way in and our bottoms shared the tiniest little round seat. abbs put the money in and we were like…uh, when does the booth take a photo {it was definitely an old school machine}?? duh…as you can see in the first shot, we were soooo caught off guard! but then we got it!
[before we left, we had to participate in the photo booth!]
our day was so fun! it was fabulous to see abbey again after all these years. we had such a good time catching up and i was super happy she was able to meet little olive. i hope our future visits are in closer proximity and we can’t wait to see her again. it was awesome seeing girl!
so, this past summer, i was all about making some s’mores. well…summer came and went and i had not made any s’mores. well, i think fall is a great time to make some. heck, anytime is a great time to make some s’mores!
i grabbed this recipe from a site called the bean town baker. it is super easy and quick to make!
[some of the ingredients]
i started out with beating together the sugar and {room temperature} butter. then i whipped in the vanilla and eggs. in a separate bowl, i mixed together the dry ingredients {flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powered, and salt} and then mixed it into the butter mixture. i separated the dough and lined a glass pan {8×10} with it. i then broke apart the hershey’s bar and placed it all along the dough. i also spiced in some godiva’s salted caramel chocolate {it added in some yummy goodness}.
[graham cracker crust]
after i placed all the chocolate, i then spooned out the marshmallow fluff and spread it across the chocolate {be careful to not pull up the chocolate pieces}. i then took the leftover dough {roll it into a ball and then flattened it out with your hands…it makes it easier to spread} and evenly spread it out over the fluff. i popped it into the oven for 30 minutes and ta da! we had ourselves some delicious s’mores bars!
[marshmallow fluff layer]
i definitely recommend to use more graham cracker crumbs than what the recipe suggested {maybe a cup or more} and i only used one king sized hershey’s bar peppered in with a few of the godiva squares. it perfectly balances out the taste. it wasn’t too chocolately, which is my preference…i like more crust and fluff.
we had a grand ol’ time consuming this sweet, delicious, decadent dessert. it goes perfectly with a tall glass of cold milk! i am super happy to have crossed off a fun ‘to do’ from my list! it was so easy to make and i see another batch of goodness coming into fruition in the near future!
honestly, i don’t think i have been back to downers grove north since i graduated. maybe once? i really can’t remember. high school was quite meh to me. i liked it, i was very involved but i was so beyond the conventional mentality of the student body. buuuttt, i was a very different person back then {weren’t we all?!}, so insecure, so waifish, so melancholy. i was trapped in a stereotype and desired to break free. i knew there was so much more to life, people, and experiences waiting for me out there. i wanted to live it, find it, and have fun.
anyhoo, life’s journey has been a good one. i did {and still do} experience some amazing things. i think back and giggle at the little girl i was in high school and appreciate my life’s twists and turns that have led me to where i am today. being married to an amazing husband and having a beautiful daughter.
hc mentioned to me that hinsdale central and dgn were playing each other on a friday night and asked if i wanted to go. of course! hinsdale happens to be the school my brother in law, terry, had graduated from and obviously, my sister kim graduated from north! so it was going to be a fun rivalry!
we met up in downtown downers grove to have dinner at a place called another round. it was alright…it was a dirty bar with bar food {not my kind of place} but it sufficed in stomping out our hunger. olive was fast asleep {amongst the crazy noise}. we perused the menu and i finally decided on fish and chips.
it actually took awhile to receive our food. by that time, olive had woken up and was a bit grumpy. we tried to feed her dinner but she was not having it! she was more interested in what the kids were doing than consuming any of her baby puree!
we were finally served our food and we noshed away. olive preferred to eat my fish and dirty rice off of auntie kim’s plate! so, i fed her so. after we ate, we were finally on our way to the game…woo!
[reagan, grace, and bennett entertaining themselves]
[someone is awake]
it was interesting to see the newness of the school and nostalgic to see everything old and still the same. the north side was buzzing with excitement and chock full of peeps. it was super crowded and exciting to be there. there i was, with my husband, my baby girl, and my stepdaughter…a bit surreal and cool.
we were waiting for the rest of my family to get there. kim text us that her and terry were on the hinsdale central side. as we were walking over, we bumped into thuy and walked our way together. it was a bit more quiet and less crowed over there, which was much easier with having olive.
[football!]
[love the boy in the cubs hat]
[dgn vs. hinsdale central]
we watched the half time performance, we played around, and we socialized. it was great being back. it brought back a lot of fun memories! i was really glad to be there and it was funny to see how small and young all the kids are. the super cray cray part?? olive will eventually attend dgn! just like her momma! the kicker? she would be the class of 2031…whaaaaa?!!!
[olive doing pull ups on the fence]
[that’s all folks!]
once it started to drizzle, we were out. besides that, it was getting very, very, veryclose to olive’s bedtime, so we had to scadaddle!
i had a wonderful evening with my famille and a fantastic time visiting my old alma mater!
yaaay! we finally got a chance to visit olivia and aaron in their new abode in the city!
oh boy oh boy. we were running sooooo behind. i don’t know why i even agree on a time to meet up anymore! olive napped later than what we expected and that set us all behind. let alone we had to do some errands before we headed in to the city. so an hour and a half past our scheduled, agreed upon time…we finally made it into the city! phew.
they live in river north, in an area where i have had plenty of friends filter through. it’s a cute little nook in the city. you have to walk a bit to get to some good spots but overall, it’s pretty accessible to everything. hey, anywhere in the city is a favorite spot of mine. oh, chicago…how i adore you.
we headed on up to their place and walked in to some good, savory smells. aaron was literally cooking up multiple dishes. he was cooking a soup, salmon, brisket for his chili. but more on that yummy goodness later.
their place was too cute. a cozy, quaint place tucked away on the tenth floor. we snacked on salty chips and delish guac, while we caught up on life. the boys drank some sorta beer and we sipped our refreshing crispin’ beer {love that beer! i discovered it at beer hoptacular one year}. olive was loving life, she was happy as a clam pulling everything out of her diaper bag on the floor.
the boys decided to head out to the liquor store to pick up…yes! some more liquor. so, us gals got some quality girl time together! i love hanging out with olivia…it’s always a good time chatting it up with this sweetie!
[pouting like a pro // she sure loves her sunglasses]
[olive and her ‘cheeeese’ face! zara baby clothes: pants & sweatshirt]
once the boys were back, aaron served up his delicious soup/stew {while we watched the bears game!}. it was sooooo good. it was served with a sourdough asiago bread {purchased at cute little bakery shop in evanston}. the dish was hearty, tasty, and totally filling. i was stuffed. i was already so full from the chips and guac but i couldn’t stop eating the stew. so, yes, gluttony ensued.
[cooking some soup]
[the hearty soup turned stew?]
[daddy daughter time]
[olivia is so sweet with olive]
after eating, olivia and i decided to go for a walk. we wanted to pick something up for little olive {she’s teething and her sore little gums make her grumpy} and it was so freakin’ nice out, we had to take advantage of the weather! we walked down to their local mini mart, no goods for the gal available, so we walked up north and east to the walgreen’s and got what we needed. of course, it there is a starbucks, i’m there! so we swung by and i got myself an iced coffee {decaf of course}.
we strolled our way back {totes enjoying the weather} and back to the apartment. olivia’s brother henry {who came later in the afternoon} and their friend tom was there chillin’ {both there to nosh and hang out}. once inside, i needed to nurse olive and then it was time for us to go.
it was a lovely, lovely afternoon hanging out with the great couple. it was fantastic to just chill, hang, and relax. we love these two! what a perfect day.
we were all so excited to go apple pickin’! kim mentioned the idea for reagan’s birthday…and we were all in! it was a perfect, perfect day to be out and about. the weather was just right, the sun was shining and the temperature was casually cool. we couldn’t have asked for a better day!
hc, grace, me, and olive packed ourselves up and got into the car for a loooong ride up to the royal oak farm. hmmmmm, and hour and a half later {um, it felt like two hours, at least!} we finally arrived at our destination. the farm looked amazing, i was super excited! we pulled in, parked, and scurried our way over to meet up with the rest of the gang.
thuy, lan, pete, and avery were already there at the farm. oh, we were starving! food was a top priority. kim, reagan, bennett, and terry arrived a few minutes later and we all met at the restaurant. we pulled some tables together and i held ground while the group bought their food. hc brought back a feast! chicken pot pie, mac n cheese, fruit, pie, bread, oh my! i nibbled from his plate and i gleefully fed olive mac n cheese and chicken pot pie. she is such an eater!
[mac n cheese, rhubarb pie, roll, fruit, chicken pot pie]
after noshing, we quickly peeked at the gift shop. it was soooo crowded! we perused around a bit but decided we wanted to get a start on apple picking. though, we knew we would come back to the shop to buy some goodies! you can’t leave an apple orchard without some sweet treats!
[royal oak gift shop]
[candied apples]
we headed on over to the apple orchard cashier. it was something like $20 per bag and they offered the option to hitch a ride on their hay wagon…duh, of course we wanted to go for a hay ride {hello, it’s also part of our autumn to do!}. we happily spent our time waiting snapping a ton of photos {what we do best!}, of course i have to document everything!
the wagon finally made it’s way back and we were off!
[getting on the wagon hay ride!]
the tractor dropped us off at the north orchard where there were mostly shensu {fuji sweet} and royal empire apples {sweet tart}. we had such a blast searching for apples. the kids had a great time! the orchards were beautiful and it was fantastic being outside in the fresh air!
the kids ran up and down each aisle. they got so excited when they found a decent apple! reagan and bennett were throwing loads of apples into their bag! we picked green ones, red ones, and watercolored ones.
[ready to pick some apples!]
olive helped out with the apple picking too! then grace and hc got creative on how to reach the high ones up on the trees! slowly but surely, we were getting our bag full of yummy apples.
[running through the orchard]
[and i helped!]
[apple picking]
after hitting up most of the north orchard, we started walking back. olive needed a diapy change and a feeding. of course, we snapped a lot of fun photos along the way. these kids are too cute together. best cousin combo evah!
[cousins]
[hanging out]
hc and grace ran to the other orchard to finish filling up our apple bag. while they did that, we perused another shop by their pumpkin patch {where they sold pumpkins, gourds, honey, and more decorative fall stuff}. i was really loving this orchard! there were so many fun things to do and it was a really nice atmosphere.
next on our list was the petting zoo. as we made our way towards the petting zoo, the farm also had a huge play area for the kids! they had a carousel, tee pee, a train ride, and lots and lots of play houses, cars, slides, etc. the kids were climbing all over everything, running in and out of the play house, and just having a good ol’ time playing with one another.
the kids finally made it to the petting zoo {after playing and playing and playing on the playground}. it was too funny to see reagan and bennett wanting to feed the animals but absolutely scared at the same time! they were worried that they would bite them, so i had to feed the animals first to show them that it was harmless. they were convinced and they were feeding pros within minutes!
[the sun is setting on this perfect day]
after the petting zoo and all the other things we did that afternoon, it was getting late. the farm was only open for another hour or so, so we decided to hit the gift shop for some last minute purchases. of course i had to pick up some apple cider donuts {copious amounts}!! yum. yum. yum. i grabbed a dozen for us, a dozen for the dick and jane, and two packages of mini donuts for kim and my dad! donuts for everyone! i picked up pancake mix, a cute little strawberry knit hat for olive, and a few toys for the birthday boy!
it was such a wonderful, gorgeous day. we had the best time with our friends and family! it was beautiful out and the farm was ah-maze. we loved apple picking {i smell a homemade apple pie in our near future!} and totally taking in all the glory of a fantastic fall day. every activity we did was so lovely and fun. plus, we came home with the best goodies!
happy birthday to the most wonderful, quirky, funny, sweet nephew ever! we love you so much reagan!!!
matt and i have been dodging each other for some time. ya know, life’s busy schedule has caused us to miss each other each week. so, we finally got a day to ourselves and we were able to set up a brunch date!
we decided to meet up at the bongo room. a favorite brunch spot of mine. olive and i got there first. as usual, the wait was long…ugh. not the greatest when you have a little one. matt got there a few minutes after us {looking super dapper} and we contemplated on going to another place but in the end, i preferred to keep our wait with the bongo room.
so, we strolled our way up the street to get some coffee at…guess…starbucks! you guessed right! we walked back to the restaurant and chit chatted outside until the hostess called us for a table.
i love wicker park. *sigh* it was such a beautiful day to be out and olive and i had the best time strolling around. i really do miss the city. sometimes it makes me sad. i love the density, the chaos, the culture, the hipsters, the boutiques, the ah-maze restaurants. i do feel fortunate i am able to visit it every week and that most of my friends are still living there! thank goodness for that!
[silly rabbit // striking a pose at our favorite coffee place]
[nice look olive]
we were seated in a booth…score! i love sitting in a booth at the bongo room and it’s a rarity to get one. especially if you are a party of two. well, this time we were a party of 2.5, so we scored a booth!
olive was a happy camper {for a moment} sitting in her booster and eating cereal puffs. she eventually had her super fussy moments, but more on that later. so, matt and i got down to business. matt just spurred on and on and on about life, work, life, work, life, work. i just adore him. he is such a dear friend of mine and i am fortunate that we have kept our friendship strong throughout all these years.
we were set to order, he was a good boy and ordered a salad; whereas i was a bad girl and ordered the oreo pancakes. so decadent, sweet, and delicious. annnnndd, a side of bacon. duh! of course i did! my post pregnant hips and tummy protested but my taste buds won the fight. so, yes. i consumed the monstrous pile of sugar and fat. mmmmm, every bite was well worth it. hee.
[such a cool interior]
[decadent]
during lunch, olive was getting super, super fussy. baby girl skipped her morning nap {mistake! huge mistake} and started to have a fussy meltdown. she whimpered and cried. she was. so. tired. she threw everything on the floor, shrieked, and rubbed her eyes.
unfortunately our brunch date was short lived. i wanted to hang out longer but olive disagreed. matt and i said our goodbyes and parted ways on this gorgeous day. i quickly nursed olive in the car, put her in the car seat, and before the car even moved, she was out. she passed right out. thank goodness! she definitely needed her much delayed shut eye. and that was the ending of our brunch date with mr. matt.
our morning started off very sweet. olive and i had our wonderful snuggle session and after that, i got a lot done around the house while olive played in the living room. cleaning and organizing, two of my favorite things to do {yeaahh, that’s right…boo ya}.
i put her down for her morning nap {as usual, she went down later than expected} and after she woke, we scurried on our way to meet dana for brunch. we were cruising but as soon as we hit the city, traffic was a mess. they closed down part of congress, so we had to detour down michigan ave. {yuck!!}. who the heck would ever drive down michigan avenue if you had a choice?! what a hot mess. we slooooowly drove down the avenue until we hit lsd. phew. finally! once we were on lsd, we cruised to our destination.
we had decided on brunch at mhenry’s. oh, how i love this place. it’s yummy and good. it’s a quaint little restaurant tucked away in andersonville. they seriously have the best pancakes {ok, it’s tied with the bongo room}, amongst other delicious breakfast/lunch items.
i parked the car and we ran towards the restaurant {eekkk! we were so late!}.
finally, we were reunited with our darling dana! we settled in and excitedly started our gab session. dana was so happy to see olive! she’s not a baby person at all but she adores little miss olive. so much so, we joke around how olive is really her baby ’cause dana loves, loves asian babies {well, at least, in this case half asian!}.
[my cutie pie]
i was totally feeling like an egg and bacon breakfast. so, a tasty omelet was in order. it also came with potatoes and fruit. annndd to wash it all down, i had ordered a mix of orange and grapefruit juice {my favoreeete, yum}.
[orange/grapefruit juice, leeks/dandelion/ scallion omelet, and a side of bacon]
[oh, she’s soooo silly]
well, here came the real test. dana has been so jelly of kt + kar‘s connection with the babes. olive, from the get go, has loved being in their arms and totes lets them hold her. hmmm, dana, not so much. every time, i mean every time dana has tried to hold miss olive, she has had a melt down. click right here and here for some proof.
after brunch, dana was ready to go. she was ready for the challenge. she was ready to hold miss olive and not have her cry! i passed little o over and ta da!! magic. miss olive was calm as could be. dana was super delighted and happy to be holding olive without her crying! so, of course, i went picture cray. yay! her bad spell had passed and olive was a happy babes in her arms!
[dana sUPer ecstatic that she is holding o and o isn’t crying!!]
[closing the place down]
[yum fresh baked cookies…i got mexican wedding cookies for myself and chocolate chip for dana!]
after brunch, we had a bit of time, so we walked over to gethsemane to peruse some of their flowers, plants, and october goodies. i wanted to get a head start with some fall decorating, so dana and i picked out a few fun pumpkins for the house.
[going to gethsemane flower shop]
after walking around the beautiful garden center, i purchased a bunch of cute little pie pumpkins {plus some white, some striped, and some gourds} and we parted ways. dana needed to get herself to a jnf meeting and i needed to get home {and olive needed her afternoon nap!}. it was a wonderful and successful afternoon spent with our darling dana. olive is her new bestie and we can’t wait to see her again soon!
olive got to see her pink aunties. yay! olive and i had a late start {as usual!}. she woke up later and napped late, so therefore we were behind! as any mom knows, getting out of the house with one kid {let alone two, three, or more kids!} can get hairy. i remember the days when i could wake up, get ready, leave early, and just chill. now it’s always rush, rush, rush because i’m always late!
thank goodness traffic on the ike was light. we cruised down to the city and got to the restaurant in no time. we met the ladies inside and gleefully got hugs all around. karen and katie are baby crazy. well, probably kar just a little more than kt. as soon as we walked in, karen cooed and ahhh’d over olive. it’s too presh. i love how they dote on her and olive loves it back.
[breakfast of champions…olive’s cereal puffs]
[karen playing with olive and her teddy bear]
karen played and played with olive. baby girl soaked it all up. kar was olive’s new best friend. they giggled together, laughed together, and smiled together. olive loved watching karen, anxiously waiting for her next funny move that would entertain her.
2sparrows was industrial inside. it was cool looking and the menu options sounded delicious! i really, really wanted to get the maple bacon doughnut for hc but {boo} he was still traveling. and that meant it would not be fresh, so that was a no.
i was really feeling a classic breakfast. so eggs, toast, and bacon were in order. the bacon was perfectly crispy, the eggs over easy were cooked just right, and the toast was thick and hearty. i was loving every bite.
[eggs over easy, bacon, and greens]
all through brunch, karen was picture cray cray. she snapped and snapped pictures of olive like she was the freakin’ paparazzi! she seriously got the best pics of her though!
after brunch, we decided to do some errands with karen. we hit up party city for some birthday supplies {her friend’s birthday!} and possible halloween costume ideas. we played around with wigs, we put fun things on olive’s head, and picked out some cool birthday decor for karen’s friend.
[hanging out at party city]
after perusing for quite some time, we finally settled on some fun choices and checked out. kar and kt were going to continue on with their afternoon shopping but me and the babes decided to call it quits. it was close to her afternoon nap and i knew she would knock out in the car and get a good one in, so off we went!
it was a fun afternoon with these two lovies. olive absolutely adores her two pink aunties! they are so sweet and loving towards her. until next time my ladies!
