a lovely day

it was a nice but cool day. the sun was shining, so it felt lovely but in the shade, it was a bit chilly. nonetheless, it was a wonderful day to explore the city.

we did our best to get up early to beat the brunch crowd. 11-11:30 am is prime brunch time, that is when the wait gets cray. it’s the perfect time because you don’t have to wake up early but it’s early enough to not be completely starving. soooo, we arrived at the bongo room at 10:25ish and we waited, maybe, 20 minutes for a table for 5? score!

of course, brunch at bongo is always delicious. i usually get their seasonal pancakes but i was totally feeling eggs and potatoes that day. yuuuummmmm. hc and i each got a drink {mimosa for moi and a frou frou drink for hc}, it’s five o’clock somewhere, isn’t it?!

after brunch, we decided to explore bucktown. we love shopping around the area. we love the eclectic vibe and exploring the fun shops. what i find so interesting is that grace pretty much likes the same stuff i like, to a degree. we have similar tastes in some fashion, make up, and accessories. what is very different is that she is wayyyyyy younger and we interpret our choice in fashion through our age appropriate styles. i really enjoyed exchanging our opinions around items we liked though, that was a lot of fun!

while we were eating, i had text olivia and dana to see what they were doing. dana was busy but olivia and aaron decided to meet up with us {they don’t live far from the area}! while grace, the girls, and i were shopping at benefit, olivia and aaron showed up! it was great seeing them, even if it was for 45 minutes! after buying a few things at benefit, we all walked to reckless records and shortly thereafter, we had to leave to take grace to her driver’s ed class.

it was a beautiful, lovely day. it really was. i thoroughly enjoyed our day at brunch, shopping, spending the day with my family, seeing olivia and aaron, and just being in chicago. i love my tribe and i love chicago.

via tandeminlove.com

[my tribe]

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[my sweet girl]

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via tandeminlove.com

[she absolutely adores grace]

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[nice whipped cream]

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[pretty fruit plate]

xoxo

brunch + shopping

olive and i had an afternoon delight filled with yummy eats and a little shopping.

we met up with jodi and jett at southport grocery. i love going there!

we were a bit worried about the space inside, because it’s quite a small shop/eatery; but everything worked out though! we were able to squeeze ourselves in and enjoy our time there. i love spending time with jodi and jett. he is sooo stinkin’ adorable. like i’ve said before…i love his noggin’! his big head and big chubby cheeks are so cute!

jod and i caught up and enjoyed our time together. we got up to date with the latest news and oohed and ahh’d over our babies.

olive was quite, quite cute on our ride over to wrigleyville. she was wide awake on our way out and the whole car ride there. she was never like that before! she was so intrigued by her environment, just bug eyed and looking around. it was so cute. i couldn’t get enough of her adorable face all curious looking and gazing at everything. she was awake all the way to the restaurant, once we got inside and seated, that is when she started to drift. about 10 minutes into us being seated, she zonked out. too cute.

via tandeminlove.com[jett looking cute and getting creative on the table paper.  already an artist!]

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[selfie fun]

via tandeminlove.com[sleepy olive. what a little peanut.]

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[excited to eat!]

via tandeminlove.com[baked oatmeal and bacon! it was sooooo good. what a {somewhat} healthy, sweet treat to start the day with!]

after brunch, we strolled over to anthropologie to shop around. i had to get a few gifts and just absolutely love that store! they have the cutest, most whimsical house ware items. my most favorite, favorite candle is called volcano…i’ve been buying it for years. i loved it when they offered it the mercury container, so pretty and very festive for the holidays too!

i also fell in love with this matte lipstick! such a pretty color…it’s called geranium from albeit. a bright, poppy, coral pink. it’s goes on smoothly and lasts a really long time! it totally brightens up the face!

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{albeit matte crayon}

jod was shopping with me but i felt so bad dragging her ’round and ’round in circles trying to figure out what to buy! we finally hugged and parted ways and i kept circling the store! i finally decided on a few items…a couple of gifts for others and a couple things for myself 😉

it was quite an enjoyable afternoon, being able to relax with friends and my little one!

xoxo