daddy daughter dance date night

with all that has been going on and so many things being cancelled or put on hold…we were looking forward to the daddy daughter dance but alas, that was cancelled as well with our shelter in place going until the end of april {at least} – side note – LOL i wrote this post just the other day…ahem…we are now SIP until the end of may!!! so, no loss there…we decided to host our very own daddy daughter dance!

again, what to do when you don’t go out to get anything or more so, nothing is really open. LOL thank goodness i love hoarding party stuff. i rummaged through my stash and found that i have a billion tassel garlands! how pretty would that look?! i hung them from the ceiling with my new wall safe tape that hc so lovingly loves. i pulled the balloon garland in from outside that i got for hc’s birthday and and put up some honeycomb balls to make it feel festive!

i ordered a corsage from a local flower shop too! i felt that made it feel real and complete. i thought about it last minute and searched for a shop that was open and found one a few miles away. i called them and the lady on the phone was so sweet, despite the fact that they were closing up in an hour. she walked me through the options and we landed on a peach corsage that would be a great match to olive’s dress. she said that if i came in 20 minutes, she would have it ready to be picked up and that if i came then…she would go home afterwards! LOL i gathered the girls and rushed over. i called her 5 minutes earlier than expected and she had it ready and ran it out!

we got home and waited until early evening to start our dance party. hc got ready, olive got ready and ellie and i stayed in our pj’s. hahaha! olive was so excited to receive her corsage…she thought it was so beautiful and it matched her dress perfectly!

we got the party started! they slow danced, fast danced, break danced, had dance off’s and i got to judge! hc was full of laughable moves, like the running man, walk like an egyptian move, moonwalking and the worm. i think that last move knocked him out {physically…cause he is old popcorn} and he was pretty much done for the night. hahaha! while they retired their dancing shoes on the couch, i made a pasta carbonara with pancetta dinner and for dessert, the girls had pink cotton candy and chocolate treats!

overall, it was a pretty successful night! we had the best time and i know olive did too! cheers to making memories no matter what the situation may hold!

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[she’s the cutest]

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[she loves to pose]

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[she’s so dramatic]

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[olive’s corsage]

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[ready to boogie down!]

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[dancing away in her pj’s]

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xoxo

hc’s quarantine birthday

another celebration On the books while sheltered in place.

i was concerned on how we were going to celebrate hc’s birthday, with us being quarantined and no place to go to celebrate, let alone shopping for decorative supplies to create some sort of festive environment. i couldn’t order a cake from the place i wanted to be delivered and i wasn’t heading out to get it. i couldn’t order balloons from the party shop because they were closed. i couldn’t get a yard sign company to come out to decorate the front of our house because everyone else was doing it and they were booked until may. i couldn’t order anything on amazon to arrive on time because they were prioritizing necessary shipments first.

so, here i was…scrambling to figure things out as his birth date came closer and closer. i finally somewhat hashed it out in my head and some things just fell into place! i texted the hub’s bestie’s wife, carrie, and asked her if her husband, dave, could help me gather everyone for a zoom birthday drink call with hc. dave was more than happy to help! he group texted everyone and we all coordinated a time and i set up a meeting slot for all the boys to jump on to surprise hc!

that day, i homeschooled the babes but had a ‘shorter’ day although learning is non stop, right?! we then had a home economics class – we baked vanilla cupcakes from scratch. that wasn’t my intent, as i was positive i had cupcake mix in the cabinet but after a thorough search, i did not. the girls helped me with gathering the ingredients and decorating! oh my, they had so much fun creating works of art! i dragged out my box of vintage cake toppers and the girls went to town topping off each cupcake with all sorts of odd figurines. hahaha!

after the baking, we decorated the house! we hung happy birthday banners, paper tassels, pulled out party hats and the girls helped me create the paper sign to hang outside! once the inside was decorated, the balloon garland we ordered arrived! yayyyy! it was gorgeous! it came from float416…an independent shop in la grange! kristina is so talented and i absolutely love her work! she created the most beautiful balloon garland and dropped it off for us. we were so grateful!

now the outside decorating i did myself. i hung the balloon garland from the top of the front post to the bottom and hung the happy birthday sign across the front walk to our bay window. oh it looked so pretty!

once everything was set, the girls called dada upstairs to surprise him! i then started dinner, chicken parmesan with pasta, and afterwards, cleaned everything up and got ready to surprise him with the zoom call. i had to pull the iPad away from olive but filled her in on the secret. what a mistake! she tried to whisper but she was.so.loud! gosh, she almost blew it! i logged in and within a few minutes, i had 5 people on the call {we were expecting 8 or 9 people to join} but i felt that was enough and i couldn’t wait to surprise him! he was still sitting at the dining room table when we walked over and gave him the iPad and yelled surprise! happy birthday!

he was so pleasantly surprised! he was on the call for awhile. we had a family call lined up afterwards and he was having such a great time, he was late getting on the family call! in-between, he came upstairs and the girls sang happy birthday to him, ate their cupcakes and went to bed while hc joined the call with his family again.

hc’s birthday turned out wonderful! he was super happy and loved it all. i’m so happy with the limited resources, i was able to pull off a decent quarantined birthday! yay!

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[decorated the house a bit for hc’s birthday!]

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[ellie ate all the cupcakes she decorated. LOL]

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[i have to post all the pics…they’re too cute!]

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[i c a n n o t LOL]

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[here’s olive eating oreo crumbs with a spoon.]

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[dyyyyyying. i pulled out my vintage box of cake toppers and we had the most RANDOM items chosen. the girls did 100% of the decorating {and eating LOL} and that is why you see a bride and groom topper. olive loved it when she saw it in the box!]

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xoxo

retro on roscoe

it was a beautiful day out, we had nothing planned but i’m always about taking advantage of a lovely day!

i am always the one game for plans in the city. the hubs…not so much. he does love the city but he doesn’t love it as much as i do. when we got married, i insisted that we lived in chicago first {as i knew we would eventually make the transition to the ‘burbs}, when we were looking to buy, i was steadfast about staying in the city {but caved because life wasn’t about me anymore…it was about our family}, and so the only thing i can hold onto, anymore, is whenever we have a chance to do something on our own terms, i love being in the city!

yes, a majority of my friends are still in the city {so we tend to go there when we commit to plans} but how can you not take advantage of such a great city so close by?? hc did a great job looking up some fun, kid friendly events to go to and we stumbled upon retro on roscoe and it peaked our interest. it was super kid friendly event. they had a large section of the fest filled with kiddie games and a whole area filled with bouncy houses! a kid’s dream come true!

we parked super close {score!} and once inside the festival…we grabbed a beer and started exploring. once we neared the kiddie section, we were done for. the girls. did. not. want. to. leave. hc and i were famished and needed to grab something to eat but olive and ellie almost had a meltdown that we were leaving the bouncy area! oh em gee. like mama needed to eat or she was going to pass out!

i promised olive and ellie that we would return once we finished eating something but that was so unconvincing to her. the entire time we were trying to enjoy our super greasy festival food, olive kept on nagging us on when we were going to go back. i almost lost it and told her we wouldn’t go back if she asked us one. more. time. and i mean it!

on top of that, ellie woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning {funny…she can only get out one side, as the other side is the wall. LOL}. baby girl was so mooooooody and slightly mean and very stubborn. gahhhh! she pretty much cried and whined from the moment we arrived and almost the whole time we were there. the only time she didn’t was when we were in the bouncy house area. plus, she insisted that we carry her the whole way around the festival. uh, scuse me baby girl…i see two capable chubby legs of yours that can walk. we don’t need to hold you for the two hours we were there. yeahhhhh, she didn’t like that answer and proceeded to whine and cry if we didn’t pick her up. ughhhhhh!

despite the kids whining, crying, pouting, and lack of joy in parts of our adventure, it really was a good afternoon. hahahha! i know you don’t believe me but truly, hc and i had fun hanging out together, we really enjoyed our time there, together as a family, and we were happy we experienced the festival and we did something fun and different!

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[this one was in a MOOD that afternoon and not a good one. eep!]

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[cutest necklace by little blue olive + hooray everyday]

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[loving her hair style]

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[jumpy houses]

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[there were so many jumpy houses, the girls had to try them alllllll]

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[just us parents standing around while our kids explored]

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[right after her meltdown…sweet face ]

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[ellie refused to take a picture….thennnnn….]

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[ellie was, again, like no…i don’t want to take a picture]

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xoxo

bunny good time!

it was a mix of many things this past weekend. it was the weekend before easter and hc’s birthday. we were able to do a lot of fun easter driven things and unfortunately, most of the birthday inspired activities fell through. there was the snow storm on sunday which cancelled plans for a lunch up at hc’s parent’s house. i had planned a spa afternoon and dinner at a yummy restaurant for his actual birthday but that fell through as hc had to stay late at work {his boss was flying in mid afternoon and he had to be there}.

nevertheless, it was still a good, fun, relaxing time!

we had a date with the easter bunny on saturday morning. as usual, our morning started off slow and always winds up in a frenzied rush to get out of the house. i didn’t want to be too late, as in, i wasn’t sure if the line for the bunny would be too long. last year, it was at least an hour and half long wait and we arrived there early!

we were third in line, which was great! the person manning the virtual wait list told us to not go far, as we would be up soon once the bunny arrived. hey, no problem. we grabbed a seat right by the check in and waited until we received a text from the virtual queue. i received the text that we were up next, so i walked up and the host told us to step in the 8 person deep line. um, what? what is the point of a virtual line if your place in line is not honored?? i was annoyed. hc made a great point, it was worthless for us to arrive a half hour early to secure our place in the virtual line and if we had arrived 40 minutes later, we would have not waited and had the same place in line as our virtual queue, because it didn’t matter. we could have just walked up and it would have saved us time in the morning and all the rushing we did just to secure a place that was not recognized. i was peeved.

the good new was that the line moved quickly. the bad news was, ellie was starting to freak out. she was sooooooooooo scared of the bunny. i mean she was freaking the f8ck out! as our turn with the bunny drew near, she started to melt down. i was holding her and she literally screamed for my sister, thuy, to save her {who was standing outside the ropes}, she said, “i want thuyyyyyyy!” and cried. when it was our turn, girlfriend literally belted out in the loudest voice, “noooooooooooooooooo! no! nooooo! no!!” everyone was like “awwwwww” as in they felt her pain.

we got a few pics in and we went on our merry way. poor ellie…i didn’t want to traumatize her! i felt so bad she was freaking out hard core. although olive was a pro! she was so excited to see the bunny and couldn’t wait to tell him what she wanted for easter! i get it though…olive was not keen on santa, bunnies, or anything of that sort until she was about 4 years old, so we have time with ellie {only being 2 1/2!}.

we all walked to a favorite restaurant called the blue door kitchen and garden {off of elm and rush}. we were seated upstairs {it’s so quaint and cute}, where it was a little more spacious and less crowded. the girls were so well behaved but it helped having their cousin with them, reagan, who is so good with them!

we ordered food for the girls right away and libations. we hemmed and hawed just a wee bit on the entrees but finally concluded to a few delicious choices. i really enjoyed everything about the restaurant: the ambience, the decor, how relaxing it was and the great service. i also adore how the girls love to explore and how comfortable the environment was for them to do so. that always makes for a relaxing, stress free dining experience!

after brunch, we traipsed our way back to bloomingdale’s, where we hung out a bit more {we are a bit obsessed with aster hall}. kim and reagan had to head back for his baseball game and thuy had plans with a friend in the evening.

once we arrived home and settled in, we dyed easter eggs! it was such a fun time. olive truly loved it and had a great time creating different colors, drawing on the eggs, and making unique designs. we used shaving cream with food coloring to create swirl dyed eggs, we had mod podge, glitter, confetti, markers, stickers, party hats and metallic paper to promote creativity! ellie, on the other hand, preferred to watch us, yawn, and roll her eyes at us. LOL. she’s such a character.

we crammed a lot into our saturday but i wouldn’t have it any other way. i love being busy and keeping busy and diving deep into anything holiday related! happy easter week my friends!

*****

900 NORTH SHOPS CHICAGO

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[anxiously waiting for the easter bunny!]

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[being skeptical about everything]

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[she styled her outfit and hair!]

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[we really had to talk to ellie and tried to convince her that bunny was a good dude]

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[miss ellie couldn’t stand still for anything]

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[playing around and waiting for the bunny]

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[look at ellie crying!]

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[i totally didn’t want to be in the pic but here we are!]

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*****

BLUE DOOR KITCHEN AND GARDEN

via tandeminlove.com[she was entertained by her little figurines]

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[pretty plates]

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[enjoying our time with family]

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[pretty corners everywhere]

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[high tea]

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[mes seours]

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[classic ellie]

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[hc ordered a drink called the boss and it just baffled olive why they kept serving the boss to dada. LOL]

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[the prettiest restaurant]

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[my sweet tenacious babe]

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[chicken and waffles]

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[i am obsessed with kale and cabbage salads!]

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[the prettiest light…auntie kim with the prettiest ladies]

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[hustling through the streets of chicago]

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[the clan gang]

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[my old stomping ground]

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*****

EASTER EGGS

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[easter egg dying]

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[working diligently]

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[eggcited over the colors!]

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[how ellie dyes easter eggs]

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[glitter, confetti, party hats, markers, food dye…oh my!]

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[shaving cream food dye colored eggs]

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[her easter egg bunny creation]

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xoxo

snow day in april ’19

well, here it is again. it always snows in april, everrrrryyyyy year. i only know this for a fact because for the last ten years, i’ve celebrated hc’s birthday in this month and it always snows around his birthday.

well, i knew it was going to snow {hearsay from hc} but i had no idea it was going to snow almost 5 inches {canceling our birthday plans for hc with his family}! whaaaaaaa? we woke up to a snowy white landscape and it felt like christmas. LOL. hc told me it was going to snow allllll day, well ok! we had a cozy day in, we chilled, hc cooked breakfast, we played, and took pictures. hc went outside to check what type of snow it was and said it was prime snowman building fluff. sooooooo, when i put ellie down for a nap, hc and olive went outside to build a snowman.

they rolled it, stacked it, and built it as i mostly watched them from our bay window. they had gathered all the trimmings…coal, a wannabe carrot nose, hat, scarf, and stick arms. i periodically ran outside to capture some good moments while they were in process.

olive was humming/singing christmas songs as she built the snowman…it was the cutest thing to hear. ohhhhh, she’s the sweetest! she did such a great job building it with hc. she was all about finding the right items for the snowman and helping hc with all the accessories.

they put the finishing touches on the snowman and he looked marvelous! hc and olive were so proud! i must say, he was a good-looking one! we snapped some good pics and walked inside happy and satisfied with our lovey snowman. the only bad news for him is that it’s only getting warmer! by the evening, he was the leaning tower of pisa. i told hc he will topple over by morning! c’est la view monsieur!

even though it snowed and almost everyone in chicagoland almost crapped in their pants with anger, we really enjoyed it and loved every moment of it! it was f u n!

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[bundled up and ready to roll]

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[strolling in stride]

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[they’re so proud of their snowman]

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[yeahhhh, he’s drinking a beer]

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[she’s so proud!]

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xoxo

trick or treat ’18!

halloween 2018

halloween always brings back vivid memories for me. i remember my halloweens so distinctly; like the years where it was freezing cold, which halloweens were so warm you didn’t need a coat, houses that gave out the big candy bars and what costumes i wore. i loved the spooky shows, cartoons, and sitcoms that would create story lines around halloween. it was all so wonderfully, hauntingly good.

halloween has always been a faaaaaaavorite holiday of mine. i thoroughly enjoy the lighthearted goodness of it…not so much the scary, creepy, gory part of it but the spooky, fun, childish, change of season piece of it. the changing of the leaves, the chill in the air, and the tradition of trick or treating excites me!

ellie napped during the afternoon and i was hoping to get over to my dad’s house by 3pm but that did not happen! hc came home early and we fiiiiinally headed over to my parent’s house by 4:30 pm…so late! the temp was amazing…it was near 60 degrees and that’s like summer in october! i am sure we missed a bunch of trick or treaters going over so late but chest la vie. we waited for my sister, thuy, to come by and once she arrived, we snapped pics and went on our merry way with the girls to have some fun trick or treating.

i walked along with the gang for a bit and decided to return to help my dad out. one, i looooooooove to hand out candy but two, i wanted to make sure i did that part because my dad’s knees are the best and i didn’t want him to walk up and down the stairs to answer the door.

once hc and the gang returned, we poured over their treats and turned on the telly to watch some fun halloween cartoons! we answered the door a few more times and then the trick or treaters tapered off and then we gather together for dinner.

oh, we had so much fun! at the girls loved knocking on all the doors. little elle belle tried sooooo hard to keep up with her big sis. it was so heartwarming to watch them hit up each house in their own unique way. olive running ahead and ellie trying to catch up to olive. oh how i love them!

i’ll declare this halloween a complete success!

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[ellie’s current favorite pose]

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[my beautiful girl in her pegicorn costume]

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[this is definitely a treat]

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[can you guess hc’s costume? if you can, in the comments, i’ll give you a starbucks card!]

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[olive was on fire! running house to house!]

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[the girls with their super aunty]

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[ellie was constantly trying to catch up]

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[she was always two steps ahead, or maybe ten steps ahead!]

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[hc consoling ellie after she fell down a step…poor babe!]

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xoxo

nyc

hc, last minute, booked a trip to nyc for our anniversary…and during our trip, it was also fashion week! so, yay for me!

our scheduled departure time was early and, of course, we got there extra early. yawwwwnnn {i dislike early mornings}. we waited in our terminal after grabbing coffee and breakfast. our flight was full and we were so ready to get there!

traveling style can be tricky. who doesn’t want to be comfortable? plus, we are most likely going somewhere cold to warm and you have to make sure you’re dressed appropriately! i love layering because i am always cold, so if i get too warm, i can always peel off pieces. i’d rather be warm than cold, so a jacket or shawl is mandatory!

once we arrived, we checked into our hotel and our room was ready!!! sweet! we were worried that it wouldn’t be because we were arriving early but it was and we were super excited to settle in and start our day in nyc!

we unpacked and headed out. hc and i are methodical with setting up house in our hotel room. actually, i think hc is more ocd about that than i am! once we were settled, we were ready to do a lot of walking. when we were there last, we literally walked everywhere! honestly, it’s the best way to explore the city. you discover the best nooks and crannies of the town.

i really wanted to check out a cute little shop called sézane, eat at a place called egg shop, and just explore. most of it went as planned! but we were so open to the idea of just winging it and see where the city takes us! sézane was an adorable little boutique with the prettiest things and i loved so many of their tops and accessories! i could have spent so much money there. such beautiful pieces!

after perusing the boutique, we went on a hunt to eat at a place called egg shop. so we found it and it was tiiiiiiiny, packed, and so warm inside. i knew in an instant that hc was not going to go for this, so we went on another hunt for an eatery. we found a place called the butcher’s daughter but they only had seating inside and again, it was the same situation…it was too warm inside. so, off we went to find another place.

afterwards, we walked back to our hotel to relax. we decided last minute to try a restaurant called cote, a michelin star korean bbq establishment. that was a joke…there were not open tables at all! i was not surprised but as we were leaving, i ran back inside to see if they had an open reservations for sunday night and they did!! yay! we were excited to eat there! we ended up at a little hole in the wall restaurant but walked away well fed and happy.

on sunday, it rained, rained, rained! oh and it rained! we headed out to find our way to a breakfast joint or some sort of eatery, our goal was to land on sarabeth’s. along the way, we search for a raincoat for hc, that was a bit difficult in midtown south but we kept walking. we somehow, not on purpose, ended up at chelsea’s market. oh how i loved it! it was chock full of good things! we wandered around, found sarabeth’s and decided that it was so tiny and we weren’t feeling it at the moment. we then walked into a furniture store and found the cutest little restaurant called the blackbarn. it was so quaint and cozy inside! our food was delicious and our belly’s were full.

we then started on our journey. we walked {in the rain} towards the september 11 memorial…and shopped as we walked {in the rain}. we finally made it to the site and as hc i were walking towards the fountains, i completely teared up. the memories, sadness, pain, and devastation flowed back to me. i was so emotional. we stood there staring at the fountain in silence for minutes…remembering all who perished – the first responders, the plane passengers, the wtc victims, the victims at the pentagon. it all still seemed so vivid and fresh. it’s amazing to me that it was 17 years ago…it felt like this just happened the other year.

we stood in line {in the rain} to enter the museum. it was so solemn, respectful, and very emotional to see all of what they had collected to showcase this horrible day but completely pay respect to those involved. it was deeply moving and heartbreaking. i cried again when we entered a room where they showed pictures of those who were trapped in the buildings, and talked about those who had fallen from the towers. those images haunted me for years and still do. the unimaginable, desperate conditions inside the buildings…

after the memorial museum, we walked towards the statue of liberty just to catch a glimpse of her {in the rain}. we traipsed around battery park and proceeded to walk alllllll the way back to our hotel. i think we walked 10 miles in total that day, if not more! it felt so good though! i felt energized and strong being able to walk such distances.

we headed back to our hotel to relax and got ready to head out to dinner at cote! of course we did more walking {in the rain} and enjoy an amazing dinner at this michelin starred restaurant! we were so confused because honestly…at any korean bbq restaurant i have ever been to {mind you – not a fancy one}, you cook your own meat but who knew at this michelin star eatery…they cooked it for you? whoops. we moved the cutting board of meat and proceeded to cook it ourselves {ha!} and the server came by and practically scolded us. oops. okuuuuurrrrr, never mind. we didn’t want to cook our own meat anyways!

the next day, we walked a million miles {in the rain} to find a shake shack, ate, walked some more, shopped some more, and walked back to our hotel to chill. we were almost comatose before our reservations for our anniversary dinner but we dragged ourselves up, got ready and headed out the door for our sushi experience at satsuki, another michelin star restaurant. it was creative, well presented, and made our mouths happy!

after dinner, we walked west {in the rain} and ended up in times square!! ha! it’s such a madhouse there. soooooo many bright lights and tourists! we actually enjoyed it but hey, we’re not new yorkers who loathe this area!

the next day, we packed up our things, checked our bags at the front desk and this time headed north. we, so blindly, headed in the direction of carnegie deli with nooooo knowledge that it had closed down. duhhhhhh, no wonder we couldn’t find it on google! well, that gave us an opportunity to eat from a food truck! just what hc wanted. we found a halal truck located right next to copious amounts of outdoor seating and scarfed down our delicious street food fare.

we then headed north through central park {in the rain} and ended up in the upper east side at my favorite place…ladurée!! yummmmmmm! there we bought macarons and hc and i sat down inside the shop to enjoy the coffee and the scenery! it was absolutely perfect. ahhhhhhh. we walked back, south, shopped along the way {for cheesy souvenirs and tees for the babes and nephews}.

aaannnnndddd the end.

happy 7th anniversary my love!

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[waiting to board our flight…it was toooo early for me]

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[i decided to take a picture on every bench i saw in nyc {just kidding}, here i am in the flatiron district,…don’t mind the blurry pic as hc, after years of me owning this camera, still can’t focus on me as a subject]

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[yup, another bench picture in soho]

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[yeahhhhhh, wondering what food is like at the egg shop, yet another blurry picture]

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via tandeminlove.com[flowers at chelsea market]

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[soooooo pretty]

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[yummy sarabeth’s restaurant]

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[sooooo many delicious pastries]

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[i loved the cozy, warm, rustic feel of the restaurant]

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[ready to manger!]

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[it’s never too early for a drink, because it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere!]

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[soooooooo good!]

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[financial district]

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[9/11 museum]

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[flyers people put up of their loved ones missing…this was a projection onto the wall, changing photos every few seconds]

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[the only standing stairwell in the south tower…stairwell A, where 18 survivors traveled down and where everyone else went up. it’s also know as the ‘survivors’ stairs’]

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[box columns]

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[no day shall erase you from the memory of time]

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[FDNY ladder company 3 fire truck damaged by the falling north tower. this company lost 11 members to the collapse of the north tower]

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[last standing column as the recovery site neared completion. it was then decorated by family members, first responders, recovery workers, and volunteers]

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[fountains where the towers were]

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[seeing this really moved me…so much sadness still]

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[we walked over to battery park to catch a glimpse of lady liberty!]

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[our cloudy, rainy, overcast day]

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[stomping the streets of ny in the rain]

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[ready for our anniversary dinner!]

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[we stumbled into times square!]

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[ed sullivan theater]

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[he had been looking forward to this the entire trip]

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[radio city music hall]

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[this looks crazy but it was soooooooo good!]

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[traipsing around central park]

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[serenity surrounded by concrete]

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[carnival rides in central park]

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[i love this place!]

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[sitting down to relax, drink coffee and eat macarons!]

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[the prettiest ribbon display]

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[sooooo yummy!]

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[ellie showing me what gramma got them while we were away]

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[digging into their ladurée bag]

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[ladurée flavor card]

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[she is so good at giving me the funniest looks…she’s so silly!]

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xoxo

day date

hc and i needed to find counter stools and we decided to make a day date out of it. my dear sister, thuy, kindly decided to watch the girls for us! we were so excited to have an afternoon with just the two of us.

we headed out to wrigleyville to a favorite brunch spot, southport grocery. we walked in and the hostess said, “it’s a 30 minute wait.” okaaaayyyyyy. we looked around and there were 4 tables open. yes, there could have been other people on the waiting list in front of us but there was a table in front of the window that was open, that we noticed, and when they text us that our table was ready {20 minutes later}, they seated us in that same table that was open. huhhhhh? ok, and maybe some people in front of us on the waiting list didn’t come back but highly unlikely!

anyhoo, we sat down and ordered drinks right away. some sort of old-fashioned drink for hc and a mimosa for moi! i was a bit bummed that they changed some of the ingredients in the omelette that i usually ordered {but i love that they keep it seasonal}, so i went rogue. i ended up ordering the avo toast and i think i have a new favorite! it was so yummy and the perfect amount of food!

after brunch, hc and i headed over to wrightwood furniture to shop for some counter stools. we knew what we wanted but you never know if you’ll like it until you see it! initially, we liked it but we wanted to walk around and peruse the shop, just in case we might like something else more! well, we came back to the original stool and closed the deal. we walked away with the stools we needed and once we got them home and put them in place, we looooooved them! they are a perfect addition to our kitchen!

after being out and about all day, we all stayed in for the evening. hc concocted a yummy app plate of hummus and other delicious dips right before he cooked a wonderful dinner for us!

what a day! it was lovely, perfect, and fun; our evening in together was just what we needed to end the night!

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[puppy dog eyes]

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[mimosa]

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[hc trying to take a pic of me but focusing on the flatware instead]

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[hc put together this yummy app plate before he started cooking dinner!]

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xoxo

cubs game ’18

yaaayyyyy! i love cubs games!

i really, really do. i grew up loving the cubs. my most favorite team? andre dawson, ryne sandberg, wilkins, mark grace…my love for the cubs intensified then. i was that child that would rush home from school and turn on the cubs games on wgn and actually watch all nine innings. yesssssssss.

anyhoo, prior to the game, we had abraham’s bris {you can read that in the previous post}. we purposely arrived late to the game because 1. we had the bris to attend and 2. it was soooooooo dang hot, we didn’t mind showing a wee bit late. we scored rockstar parking and walked our way into the stadium. we grabbed some dogs and beers and maneuvered our way to our seats. ohhhhhh, it was hot! the temperature in the stadium was 102 degrees F. yowza!

we really enjoyed ourselves. well, i really did…although drinking beer, mixed with hot temps seemed like a disastrous combination. my body temp started to rise and i was feeling super parched, but survived. once the game hit the 8th inning, hc was done. i was surprised because usually i am the one done but hey! it’s the cubs game!!!! i love attending any game and it’s even better when they win. i absolutely love singing the go cubs go song at the end of the game!

well, i wasn’t going to argue! so, we left. we stopped by a shop to find a hat that hc was interested in. we knew that a storm was coming but we really didn’t plan around it. once hc purchased his hat, we hit the streets to walk back to the car. that was when the sky opened up and it rained on us! it was actually awesome! it was so hot, so a rain shower was appreciated! it may have rained for 6 minutes and then it stopped and the sun came out again.

i loved that we attended two events that day, i really had a great time despite the 102 degree heat, hc and i both purchased hats {like we need any more!}, we were rained on, and…

we left at a poignant moment in the game! the twins caught up and then the cubs won the game by one run! holy cow!

we hit the road again and cruised home to meet up with hc’s parents, who stopped by our house {they watched the girls over the weekend!}. it was such an eventful but heart-full day.

go cubs go!

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[we arrived late to the game]

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[it was sooooo hot outside]

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[we left at the 8th inning]

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[nice face hc]

xoxo

hc’s birthday weekend

it’s friday night and i just got paid…

on friday morning, the girls and i were running around everywhere to get stuff for hc’s birthday, get errands checked off, and having fun while we were doing it all!

i planned on decorating for hc’s birthday on saturday night. i thought it would be fun for him to wake up on his birthday and be surprised with all the decor but olive had other plans. she obviously knew we stopped by the party store to order balloons, so when we came home, she asked me when we were going to decorate for dada’s birthday. i said not until tomorrow night and boy, was she bummed.

she said,”but the balloons are in the car…you have to get the balloons and we have to decorate.” be still my heart. i told her the balloons were still at the store and she begged me to get them so we could decorate. oh, her sweet little face and voice melts me, so i had to fulfill my end of the bargain!

we decorated the house and waited for hc to come home. although olive ended up spoiling it! hc called us on his way home from work and olive blurts out, “dada, we got balloons for you!!!”. hahahaha! there goes our surprise!!!

it was a weekend long celebration of hc’s birthday! friday night was family sushi night! we relaxed, ate sushi, and just enjoyed our time together with just the girls. on saturday night, we celebrated hc’s birthday with his family. we went to maggiano’s and had a great time eating and drinking too much. the girls, of course, entertained everyone! ha!

on sunday, hc and i had a cubs game lined up but the weather was aaawwwwwwful. it was thirty something degrees and snooooowing. wahhhhhhh! we were going to go, regardless, and hang out at the ball park, the area, and the bars but they ended up cancelling the game. womp womp. i suggested for us to go to wrigleyville regardless but hc wasn’t feeling it because the weather was so bad, so he wanted to stay in. hey, it’s his birthday and he can do what he wants to, do what he wants to!

overall, it was a pretty good weekend. i am sure hc had a great time!!! i wish our sunday turned out differently but what we ended doing was absolutely perfect!!!

happy birthday my dear love. you are an amazing husband, partner, best friend, and father to our beloved girls. you are always thoughtful, kind, sweet, considerate, forgiving, and loving. thank you for being you. we are so blessed to have you.

DECOR

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[birthday chalkboard – olive chose a rainbow theme for her dad’s birthday!]

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[she’s so excited!]

*****

DINNER

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[kisses from papa]

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[hc and grace]

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[she’s so silly]

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[jane, missy, and hc]

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[sibling love or rivalry?]

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[a mug from the late aunt gloria]

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[polka dot twinning]

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[happy birthday hc!!]

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[hc’s birthday cake]

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[she loved the cake!]

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[we’re ready to sing happy birthday!]

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[stealing a look]

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[i love the way she’s looking at him]

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[follow ellie’s eyes]

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xoxo