ellie’s first haircut

Posted on March 25, 2020 by tandem in love

ellie had her first haircut! {pre-shelter in place}

at 3.8 years old…girlfriend had her first cut! olive had hers at 5 years of age but things go so much faster when you have an older sister to inspire you!

olive had been wanting to get her haircut for awhile. she likes it long and her hair grows so fast, but it was getting too long and dried at the ends that it was so hard to brush! every time i brushed her hair, it sounded like a scene out of a horror movie and someone was getting axed to death. LOL

i promised her we would go to get it cut. week after week and month after month went by but it was so low on my priority list, i kept forgetting to make an appointment. i finally put a reminder in my phone and called the shop and secured an appointment for olive. while we were talking about it, miss ellie said she wanted to get her haircut too! i asked her repeatedly because there are so many times she tells me she wants to do something but it all ends up being a farce.

we arrived for their appointments and i asked ellie if she wanted to get her haircut. she said no. typical. i coaxed her and she continued to say no. when miss keisha was ready for her, she reluctantly went. miss keisha was super reassuring and enticed ellie with shows on an iPad and ellie gingerly got into the chair.

she started smiling, seemed comfortable and ready to get her hair chopped! miss keisha asked us how much we wanted to cut off and we showed her where. she measured how much we wanted to cut lop off and it was 7 inches! miss keisha got her scissors warmed up and off went her hair! ellie was quite happy and it looked great! oh, i really loved how it looked! her hair looked so short, cute and fresh!

afterwards, olive had her haircut and she cut off seven inches too! now they both have shorter hair and they both look adorable. i do love how easy it is to maintain the shorter do! the girls love it and olive is not screaming bloody murder when i brush her hair in the morning either! hahaha!

of course, the girls didn’t leave the ‘salon’ without lollipops and a toy! no wonder they love that place so much!

[ready but not so ready for her first haircut!]

[here we go!]

[she cut off 7 inches!]

[happy with the results]

[my sweetie…super happy with her haircut experience]

*****

O L I V E’ S H A I R C U T

[she had 7″ chopped off too!]

xoxo

true food experience

Posted on January 9, 2020 by tandem in love

we were given the opportunity to try out the brand new true food kitchen in oakbrook center! we were excited! who doesn’t want to try out a new restaurant in the area…privately?! everyone within the restaurant was personally invited and we were treated like royalty! it was so fun and a wonderful experience!

the restaurant is fueled by the philosophy of food should make you feel better! they believe that nutrition and delicious dining should go hand in hand! the dishes are creative, beautiful, and flavorful. they use whole foods, organic, and partner with amazing chefs to creative delectable dishes at each location!

we started off with a herb hummus and edamame dumplings…both soooooo savory and delicious!! i also had the prairie mary drink and my husband ordered a libation just as tasty! hc ordered the unbeetable burger and i chose the korean noodles. hc loved the burger and i thoroulgly enjoyed my glassy noodles! olive and ellie highly recommend the grass fed burger and expressed strong opinions on how yummy it was!

we had such a great time chatting it up with everyone, learning so much about the restaurant, the history, and appreciating the passion behind the food. i feel that a lot people hear ‘organic, healthy, or whole’, it’s not going to be tasty or filling but trust me, it’s amazing! every bite, every morsel had my mouth singing!

i’m a fan, my fam are fans and i so positive you will be too!

come check out the new location at oakbrook center and find out for yourself! you will not be disappointed!

happy eating my friends!

[we have fun together]

[get yur drink on]

[this babe is so extra]

[spicy bloody mary]

[this was sooooooo freakin’ yummy!]

[my girl gang]

[korean noodles with tofu]

[goofing around]

[dig in!]

xoxo

a visit with santa

Posted on January 6, 2020 by tandem in love

our seasonal visit with santa was a bit of an obstacle this year. every year, i will get an email stating when santa was coming to town and to make a reservation. every year, i do but not this year. i pushed it off and by the time i checked the site to make a reservation, the entire month was booked!!! whaaaaa?!

yes, and on the random days i checked in to see if they had any openings, they were booked. ughhhhhh. one day, we showed up, the girls all jazzed out for santa, and stopped by the place to see if there were any openings, nope. they were booked. extra yuck.

i was feeling defeated. i mean, there were plenty of options everywhere to visit with santa. it wasn’t like this was the only choice but i was a stickler for wanting to go there because it’s been the only place we’ve ever gone to for a visit with the guy in red.

sooooo, one day, i stopped by and they had open slots for visits {they apparently said the weekend before christmas would be open to walk in’s}, i put in our name and was super excited! olive had written a letter to santa weeks prior and it was urgent to get it in his hands!

the girls got dressed up and we had plans to hit up dinner at roka akor afterwards. we arrived at the santa station and it was a bit crowded. we checked in and there was a lot of commotion going on inside. people were irritated and annoyed with their wait times and reservations. right after i checked in, a girl came up to me and asked, “how did you make a reservation?”, i was like, uhhhhhh…i stopped in earlier in the day. there was a particular women there who was mouthy, rude, and obnoxious. she constantly got into the host’s face and had such attitude and was so angry at her because they had been waiting a bit to see santa. what a prime example of patience and kindness she was showing her kids! LOL there was such a negative vibe going on, it was almost unbearable!

i must admit, the wait time was way too long and i assume they overbooked people, causing all of us to wait longer than expected. our reservation was at 6 and we didn’t see santa until 50 minutes later!!!! there was no turning back…we needed to see the big guy but our restaurant reservations were at 6:45!

well, of course we didn’t rush our visit with santa. we walked inside the airstream and santa was just chilling. ellie freaked out and olive was so excited! immediately olive went over to sit with him. she spent a few minutes with him while ellie hid behind hc. when it was time for some pics, i literally had to peel ellie off of hc like she had the claws of life on him. it was funny. for us, apparently not for her. she resisted but i reassured her he was super nice. santa read to them and was super kind and patient. ellie was doing just fine, although still quite skeptical.

overall, i was so proud of both babes for being so good! i always say 3 is the magic number. olive was open but not keen on santa at that age and then the following year, she was a super fan! i am expecting the same with ellie…next year will be even better!

we literally ran to the restaurant after the santa visit! i had called to let them know we were going to be late and they were so gracious with letting us get there 25 minutes later than expected! the restaurant was so good and we had a wonderful experience.

our visit with santa ended being fantastic despite the horrible wait time and environment and our dinner as a family was just as fun and delicious! i would have to say it was a win win evening!

[ellie not impressed but olive enjoying reading time with santa]

[classic looks from my girls]

xoxo

sunny fun day

Posted on August 8, 2019 by tandem in love

it was a sunny day and we couldn’t wait to get out! we headed to oakbrook center with my sister to grab some lunch and look around. we beelined for table at crate, as thuy hadn’t eaten there and i really enjoyed my prior experience.

it was such a beautiful day! we sat outside, facing the fountain and enjoyed our meals. as we were finishing up the girls wanted to play by the fountain and i let them, as they were in eyesight from our table.

we basically lounged around, relaxed, walked the mall and the girls had fun wherever we went! i thought jeni’s ice cream was open but i was wrong! it wasn’t open yet and we were a bit bummed because we were looking forward to getting some yummy treats there! instead, we hopped on over to lolli and pops for some sweet treats and decided to walk towards nordstrom on our way out to the car.

uhhhhh, that was a big mistake! we walked by top shop and i couldn’t stop shopping! i found so many good things and we ended up being up there for 45 minutes or so. then, i brilliantly decided to go to the kid’s shoe department and buy the girls some new shoes. the problem here was that i needed to meet hc and grace for dinner!!! we were still shopping for the girl’s shoes when i should have been at the meeting place! LOL terrible! we rushed though our purchase and the worst part about us being late??? we still had to drive thuy home to our house so she could get her car!!! arghhhhhh!

well, the good news and not so good news was the wait for the restaurant that we wanted to eat at had a very long wait, so that was our saving grace! we sped home, dropped thuy off, the girls took a bathroom break, we freshened up, and zoomed back to downtown dg to meet hc and grace for dinner! phew!

all in all, it was a fabulous day and evening! we had such a great afternoon with my sister and topped it off with a lovely dinner with our family. cheers to sunny days off!

[the coolest stairs]

[posin’]

[leave it to my girls to organize the chess board]

[coloring]

[love our view while eating]

[salmon]

[at nordstrom]

xoxo

a sunny day out

Posted on July 25, 2019 by tandem in love

on ellie’s actual birthday, my sister kim took the back half of the day off of work to meet us for a lunch outing to celebrate miss ellie.

we met them at table at crate, a new restaurant inside crate and barrel. actually, the only restaurant inside any crate and barrel. it had opened seven days prior, so we were super excited to try it.

i was excited there was no wait as we waited for kim and the boys to arrive. we were seated inside, as they do not have seating for more than a party of four alfresco. our server was super sweet and nice, the kids were well behaved, and the food was delicious. we absolutely enjoyed all the dishes we ordered!

my most favorite dishes were actually the waffle fries with aioli and the shishito peppers. the peppers were made with a soy balsamic and dusted in chili flakes. not too spicy or hot and perfectly balanced in flavors for lovely savory bites. the waffles fries came with a couple of dipping sauces and all of them were tasty and delicious. i mean, who doesn’t like to dip?!

they don’t have a washroom in the restaurant…they only have the ones they have always had, upstairs in the furniture section. so, ellie needing to go to the bathroom several times during our sit down meal was quite the trek! we were back and forth, back and forth, back and forth – up the escalator and down {most of them were false alarms} but i am so proud of her for doing such a great job at remembering to go when she needs to! my potty trained champ!

after our meal, we decided to walk the mall {it was so beautiful out} and go wherever the kids wanted to go. we stopped at a few stores, bought a few trinkets, and called it a day. i also happen to run into my friend kim and her friend amy! that was a lovely surprise! they were there shopping at the mall and we were able to chat a bit before i left to go home with the girls!

once home, we settled in, relaxed and waited for hc to get home. we had a very chill evening, lit a candle on a cake and sang happy birthday to our dear ellie. the smitten, joyous, slightly embarrassed expression on her face while we were singing is priceless. the whole day was very relaxing…just what i wanted for us all.

my dear ellie…you are the best. celebrating you and your uniqueness makes our hearts so full. thank you for being you. we love you so much my dear girl.

[her birthday morning]

[my silly girls waiting for their cousin]

[goofing around]

[this girl..growing up so fast]

[every restaurant should have crayangles]

[these shishito peppers were deliciousssssss]

[popcorn chicken bites]

[cavatelli ~ double smoked bacon, tomato sauce, basil]

[hey, hi, hello]

[my girls]

[my feisty babe]

[love these kiddos]

[he’s so darn sweet to her]

xoxo

hello santa!

Posted on December 18, 2018 by tandem in love

our annual visit with the big guy in red happened the other day! i didn’t tell the girls until we were about a minute away. olive got sheepish and ellie just didn’t care. i usually make reservations every year but this time around, i was like – let’s just wing it. i usually find that they are pretty good at getting non reserved families in and i was right!

we walked in, signed up and we were the second family to see santa! they snapped a family pic first and then the kiddos. it was cute! i wasn’t expecting to be in any pics but it was super nice to have one together {since we can be so bad at taking a family photo together}. the girl’s picture turned out so sweet too!

after those photos, we waited in line to walk into santa’s airstream trailer. when it was our turn, olive excitedly walked towards it. we walked inside and there was santa! olive was so anxious, excited, and nervous. ellie was like – nope. ‘who’s this big guy in red?! make sure i stay far away from him!’ hahaha!

olive gingerly walked towards him and sat next to him while hc held onto ellie. i encouraged olive to tell santa what she wanted for christmas. she had her hands slightly clasped and she looked right at him. as she started to speak, her voice was not quivering but her hands were slightly trembling, she told him she wanted a mermaid barbie, lol dolls, a cinderella doll, and a blue car with a big engine. it was soooo flipping adorable to see. she really wanted to tell santa what she wanted and practiced it with me before she went in. she did so well! i was so proud of her!

then hc set ellie down for a picture and it all went downhill for her! eep! well, as you can see in the pictures below…it was a very successful visit! after that, we walked away feeling so good {ok, minus ellie} and headed to dinner. after eating, we shopped around a bit in the mall and then headed home.

BUT not without losing bunny. that is a loooooong story. we thought we were donzo. that bunny was gone. we called all the places we were at and no one had bunny. we went home without him and we were devastated. especially olive. hc went back the next day to backtrack everywhere we went. he went back into stores and had no luck. then a christmas miracle happened. he searched the grounds and right in front of eddie bauer, there was bunny!!!! someone had found him and placed him up on the store front’s windowsill. bless their hearts for doing that! hc saved the day!

we had such a great evening! it really was! we had so much fun {minus the missing bunny}. santa’s visit was a success, dinner was so fun and yummy {the girls were sooooo stinking cute and well behaved}, and we had a good time shopping the mall and picking up some extra goodies!

[our family photo! i loved that they did that for us]

[they’re so sweet]

[ellie and olive’s looks! priceless!]

[olive is so mesmerized by him! ellie, not so much]

[she was sooooo excited to sit in his lap! what a difference from last year and the years prior!]

xoxo

olive’s first haircut!

Posted on December 1, 2018 by tandem in love

it was time.

all these years, i’ve always asked olive if she wanted her hair cut. she always said no. if i felt that i needed to get her hair cut, i would have done it but i didn’t care. so i just waited. i waited for miss olive to feel that she was ready and that time had come.

her long, long hair was getting quite tangly and it bothered her. one day while i was brushing her hair, after a bath, i asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut. she said yes and i was like done! after several more comb throughs and more yes’s, i scheduled an appointment at kids snips in oakbrook. my nephews have been going to the same stylist for yearrrrrrrrrs, so naturally, we had to go there too and get olive’s first haircut by keisha.

it was a very snowy day when we woke up. we hustled, headed out, and just made it to our appointment with a few minutes to spare. as we were pulling into the parking garage, olive immediately remembered coming here with my sister and her cousins to get their hair cut. she screamed, “we’re going where bennett and reagan get their haircut!” i was amazed that she would remember something like that just from pulling into a parking garage {especially since my sisters don’t usually park where i park in the mall}.

i’ve never been inside this ‘salon’, so it was all brand new to me. it’s so small and crowded!!! for every child there were two parents, so with it being so tiny, you can imagine how packed it gets inside, with no room to sit. olive was so excited to get her haircut and loved this place. keisha took olive right away. she was wonderful, very sweet to olive, and so kind to us.

olive ended up getting 9-10 inches in total chopped off! the initial cut was over 7 inches and then keisha trimmed it some more. after her haircut, keisha styled her hair and olive absolutely loved it!!

her first haircut was a success!!! olive was so wonderful and so was her stylist keisha. the total process took 15-20 minutes! it was so fast! thuy met up with us after olive’s haircut and we all then went shopping, natch!

from the moment olive was born…i was waiting for her first haircut and it did not disappoint. i was so happy she was happy and excited for her haircut, i couldn’t have asked for a better combo. her hair is now so easy to comb through and doesn’t get crazy tangly!

happy first haircut my beautiful girl!

[ready for her haircut. she was much more excited than she appears! lol]

[keisha undoing her hair]

[really ellie…such a funny girl in the background]

[she’s so grown up…wahhhhhhhh]

[measuring how much we’re going to cut]

[snip, snip…]

[there it goes!]

[excitement]

[this punk screamed until she was in a car just like olive]

[she’s so happy…i can’t tell you how happy this picture of her makes me]

[she LOVED her style by keisha]

xoxo

o + e santa visit

Posted on December 20, 2017 by tandem in love

every year, since olive had been born, she has despised her visits with santa claus. one picture after another, year after year…she is absolutely frightened and as a parent, i find it disgustingly hilarious!!!!

well this year was absolutely no different. a couple weeks before our visit to the big man, i asked olive is she wanted to visit santa and ask him for presents. she said no. i said, “don’t you want to ask him for gifts?!” and she said, “i don’t want to sit in his lap.” and i said, “you have to if you want to ask him for presents this year” {honestly…doesn’t anyone else find it so odd that you make your kids sit on a strange old man’s lap and ask for gifts?? hahaha!}. she then says to me, “reagan and bennett don’t sit on his lap!” oh yeahhhhh? i grabbed my phone and showed her a picture of her cousins sitting on santa’s lap from the other week. her jaw practically dropped. she stared in silence and disbelief at the picture for a good solid 30 seconds. then says to me, “i don’t want to sit on santa’s lap” and that was it.

so came the night we were going to visit santa. hc came home from work and asked if i told olive what we were doing tonight. i said no. he said, “aren’t you going to tell her?!”, so reluctantly i did. i called her over and said, “olive, we are going to see santa tonight and ask for christmas presents” and surprisingly she said, “ok” and walked to her room to change her clothes. whaaaa? i was dying. she is so funny and cute!

we arrived and olive was soooo somber. she whimpered a bit and mumbled something about not wanting to see santa but i could tell that she knew she was going to see santa whether she liked it or not. especially with her steadfast, crazy mama standing in front of her {obviously this whole thing is more for me than her! eep!}. olive knew there was no saying no.

first, the kids sit down and take pics of just them in front of a sleigh. olive spied santa around the corner and she couldn’t stop staring at him!!! i am so amused that the photographer caught her nervous glance on camera! olive and ellie did so well with their sit down pictures together in front of the sleigh. then came the santa pics…olive nervously sat on the edge of the chair. santa was super sweet with her…he asked her what she wanted and they exchanged words back and forth about dolls, fairies, unicorns, horses, teddy bears, etc. i was soooo proud of her! she actually did a great job talking to santa. she was very quiet and reserved but totally didn’t have a meltdown!

then came the moment we were going to place ellie in his arms. watch out!! hc placed her down in his arms and she flipped out. FLIPPED out! her boots flung off her feet faster than a tesla roadster. ohmergawd. it was hilarious. olive actually smiled but she was totally fake smiling and her hands were clasped so tight out of nervousness! oh my poor girls!!! they were so scared!!! but gosh…it makes for the funniest pics!! so sadistic of me, non??

anyhoo, and that was that. i must say it was a pretty successful visit! the pics turned out great, i absolutely love the one of just olive and ellie in front of the sleigh…my favorite! well, ’tis the season to make your kids do crazy things! ha! happy holidays y’all!

[very unsure of what is about to happen…]

[so is hc…haha!]

[could this be any more perfect? olive spied santa from a distance and was soooooo nervous!]

[she’s like ‘ohmergawd…santa!’]

[check out that fake smile olive has and ellie…well that speaks for itself!]

[her shoes flung off so fast!]

xoxo

hanging out

Posted on September 19, 2017 by tandem in love

one day, before olive started school, i needed to get some back to school shopping done, so we decided to head out to the mall and grab a few things for her. i had already purchased all her school supplies at good ol’ target but she needed some clothes and shoes, so i decided to hit up a few fun stores to check things off my list.

it was a gorgeous day, perfect weather to walk around in. just what this mama needed to get her errands done. as usual, olive saw the water fountain and of course we had to stop. we stayed for one ‘show’ and moved on our merry way. we hit up zara first. i love that store for kids. they have the cuuuuutest clothes! i picked up a few leggings, tops, and most importantly, a fall jacket for her. i have found, the first two years, i have been caught off guard with the temps changing so fast and me not having a fall coat for this girl to wear when she needed it most! not this year! i am ready!

we then moseyed on over to gap kids to check out a few items. we found a couple cute sweatshirts for her, of course they were sparkly and fun…not yo’ average simple sweatshirt, and glitter shoes. her current glitter shoes are dunzo. like beat up and diiiiiirty. so, naturally we needed a new pair and gap had the perfect ones!

we then headed on over to nordstroms and picked up more shoes for this gal. we replaced her red hunter boots she’s outgrown and bought the cutest pink pair of adidas shoes for her to wear to school. her teacher asks that she wears gym shoes every day due to the fact that they will go to the gym on most days and it’s just sturdier for them to wear such shoes. it makes them less susceptible to tripping and what not if they wear shoes appropriate for running, walking, and playing.

after we finished all our stops, we headed on over to the food court to treat ourselves to some smoothies and doughnuts! yassssssss!

it was such a perfect afternoon with my girls! we had a great time shopping, we walked away with great purchases, and filled our bellies with yummy treats! yay!

[such a ham]

[i love this silly girl]

xoxo

a visit with santa

Posted on December 20, 2016 by tandem in love

i was hoping this year’s visit with santa would be different than the years prior. hahaha! nope. olive was not buying it. the moment we arrived and she saw the big panda bear by the entrance, she started to whimper. gah! this babe is so afraid sometimes!

while we were waiting inside the room to enter into the adventure of santa, olive didn’t have a meltdown like she did last year…thank goodness! she still wasn’t comfortable but she was being cooperative and patient. another family finally joined us and we were on our way to see santa!

we first met up with panda and he told us we were going to go to the north pole to see santa! we then went to a game room and played a few rounds of a snowy, panda sledding adventures on an iPad. olive absolutely loved this part! after a few gaming sessions, we were ready to get on the sleigh and take a journey to the north pole! olive was sooooooo freaking scared! i had to hold her so she wouldn’t freak out. she whimpered through most of the show and cried a bit when it became too loud. oh girl. she cracks me up!

we were finally to the north pole and waiting inside a room before we saw santa. they had more interactive iPads where you dressed the panda in festive clothes and of course, olive was having a blast doing so. they then called our name and said it was time to see santa! oh boy…i was not sure how olive was going to react, but i was so ready to do this!

we walked into the room and olive started screaming! hahaha! they shut the door behind us and that really freaked her out. she felt trapped. she ran in circles screaming, trying to get away from santa. oh my goodness. well santa decided to stand behind the chair and let us sit down to snap a few photos. olive’s glum face is priceless. she kept cranking her head behind us to see if santa was still standing there. um, yes, he’s still there baby girl.

i am so shocked she was so against santa! i prepped her all day. we watched santa movies throughout the morning and i kept asking if she wanted to see santa to let him know what presents she wanted for christmas and she flat out told me no. ha! oh girl.

well, ellie did very well! we wanted photos with santa for her first christmas and they turned out so cute. no crying, no meltdown, but more so a blank stare. she’s so good with that though! she’s infamous for that blank stare…it’s very daddy like {she does look a lot like her dad!}. i love her little face and surprised expressions all the time!

that was it, our successful(?) santa trip this year! it’s always worth it and honestly, so much fun despite olive’s meltdowns. hey, tis the season to get cray cray! i can’t wait until next year and see how olive reacts!