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!

via tandeminlove.com[avo toast…so good!!!]

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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

brunch in the city

it’s been a while since i’ve blogged anything. a few things contributed to this…one, my computer went kaput on me {part my fault and more on that later}, it’s still kind of ‘broken’ but i’m just getting by. i really need to get it looked at but {cue the little violins} i feel like i don’t have enough time everrrrrrrr. the idea of dealing with apple help makes me want to crawl under a rock. two…i have been feeling uninspired and overwhelmed {was it the winter blues??}, maybe that was causing me to not want to crack open my computer and type.

the whole situation with my phone and computer crashing and all the time we spent trying to fix everything was exhausting. i just needed a break. plus, i took a break from going out! nothing new, since after valentine’s day…there isn’t much in-between and relaxing was in order!

we did head out the weekend prior with my girlfriend olivia and her guy aaron but i really wanted to just enjoy my time with them. i didn’t want to snap a million pics and plus, it was at night and i didn’t feel like being intrusive with a camera and a flash!

i’m so glad i did because it was wonderful to catch up with them and just relax, enjoy our time together, and soak in the city. we went to sushi in bucktown and then had a night cap at a new hotel lounge across the street and it was just perfect!

well, the following weekend, i had a date with my girlfriend dana. ohhhhhh, my darling dana. she is 6+ months pregnant and looking fabulous! the holidays and winter always puts a damper on catching up with my friends. it’s not always as easy, so this date was long overdue!

we met up at our stomping ground {southport grocery and cafe} and had the best time. i absolutely loved catching up with her. we talked babies, we talked about giving birth, we talked about nursing, life, friends, hubby’s, and everything else in-between. i really think the tables next to us were appalled or shocked at our topics of conversation. i exclaimed that i loved child birth. yes. it’s true. as painful and crazy as it was to deliver both my girls, it was the BEST moment in my life {besides getting married to the love of my life}.

words really can’t describe childbirth and the miracle that it is. i absolutely loved being pregnant and i absolutely loved giving birth to my two beautiful girls. i view it as the most powerful thing i have ever done in my life. i could do that over and over. no joke. so, that is why the tables next to us gave us the side eyes. hahahaha!

anyhoo, we shopped a bit afterwards and then called it quits. this soon to be mama needed her nap; and i am allllllll about that because there’s really no sleeping after the baby comes. hahaha!

ohhhhhh, i am glad to be writing again and i am so glad to be on the move with my sweet friends!

happy week lovelies!

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[the mama to be]

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[coffee and juice]

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[goofy smiling]

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[we always have our go to favorites]

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[i can never pass up an omelette, biscuits, jam, and potatoes]

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[i love the good stuff they sell]

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[i love their displays! they’re always so pretty]

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[iphone selfie…gosh, the the camera phone make us look so well rested!!! ha!]

xoxo

ahhhhh back to our roots…

i was so excited to have made a date with dana!

we were going to meet at our old stomping ground, southport grocery. we used to do this all the time and then dana went and got a monday thru friday job and it was a bit more difficult to have lazy afternoons in the middle to the week!

anyhoo, we actually arrived on time {what?!} and ran into dana on the street as i was pulling out suitcases of our stuff {hahaha! we only leave with everything but the kitchen sink when we go out!}. we walked inside the restaurant and it was quiet and not busy at all. yay! it gave us more time to chill and chat, space for olive to play, and plenty of room for all of our stuff!

it was so nice to share our stories and current life happenings. even though we try to see each other once a month {give or take}, so much happens in-between our visits. the kids grow up, life throws curve balls, and fun, new things pop up! i thought maybe dana had a ‘secret’ to tell me but that was not the case. darn it!

olive and dana got along quite well! if you show an interest in her toys, if you are sweet to her, or just act silly to her…she will like you immediately. olive can be shy at first but then she will open up and be a total talkative goofball and then becomes your best friend! she’s so sweet like that, i love how stinkin’ sweet and thoughtful she is. oh my little babe, such a doll!

we were at the restaurant for quite awhile, at one point i was holding ellie and olive wanted me to hold her too! so, there i was, holding both girls in my arms…it was so fun, quite the sight, and so freakin’ adorable! dana snapped the cutest pics of the girls wrapped in my arms. they were being so sweet and heart melting, i loved all the pics she took of my silly girls!

after we ate, we shopped southport and hit our typical stores…anthropologie, francesca, and papersource are our staples whenever we are there. we had so much fun at each store but honestly, it was olive who made every store a blast! she is just so much fun! after perusing each store, buying things we don’t need, dana and i said our goodbyes. she was going to get her nails done and the girls and i were going to go home sweet home.

it was such a fun, relaxing, awesome afternoon with my sweet, dear friend dana. i love this girl so much! i look forward to many more chill afternoon brunches with this babe!

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[besties]

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[showing off her favorite toys]

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[me and my babes]

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[sweet babe]

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[ohmergawd i love them!]

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[cutest babes]

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[peek a boo]

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[heyyyyyy girl]

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[she’s soooooo funny!]

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xoxo

wrigleyville date

after two strikes, i thought i was going to get called out with my girl time with dana. but we fiiiiinally got together and did our usual routine. i’m going to say that dana was at fault for the both times prior we couldn’t get together for a brunch date 😉 the first time, she was sick {okaaayyy, i forgive her} but it did snow quite a bit and no one wants to go out when it’s snowing…a big pain in the behind. the second time, she just plain forgot. yup. she forgot about us. i texted her the night before and asked about our plans and she was like, ‘whhaaaaaa?’. yeah. she had last minute changed her work schedule and didn’t tell me!

anyhoozle, it worked out great because olive had a wellness check up {not too far from where dana lives} and it’s always easy peasy to jet on over to southport from where we were.

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[at the pediatrician…she was excited to be signing her own paperwork. that is until the nurse came in with needles…eeeekkkkk!]

after olive’s appointment, we drove on over to wrigelyville {which is less than 5 minutes} to meet dana for lunch. of course, we met up at southport grocery! it was a full house but we were seated right away {sweet}. we ordered our usual dishes and dana had a lot to share with me! so much new news and possible changes! oy, i was having a blast catching up with dana, as always. we only had a few hours together because she had to skadaddle to a purim party later that evening that she was hosting for jnf.

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[in our ‘hood…our favorite place to be: southport grocery]

dana was super excited that her and olive were having these amaze bonding moments. their relationship was rough from the start. from the moment olive came into this world, she had been skeptical of dana. she wouldn’t let her hold her. olive would barely let her look at her! it was a work in progress and they made leaps and bounds this past date!! yay!

they were like buddies. best buddies. holding hands, giving hugs & kisses, and she let dana hold her with ease. wowza…my baby is growing up 😉 olive was so amused by dana. she liked copying her and playing fun peek a boo games together. it was pretty awesome to see.

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[dana loving olive…]

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[studying her crayon colors]

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[work of art]

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[me and my beautiful babes]

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[can you see me? now you can’t. can you see me? yup, that game]

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[simple plating…boisterous flavors]

of course, after brunch, we headed on over to our favorite place, anthropologie. olive was in heaven. she ran around and around and around. she smiled from ear to ear and happily bounced everywhere in the store. her and dana just walked side by side and giggled at each other.

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[yeah, since we were walking two doors down, we wrapped her in a blanket and barely put on her hat. dana was dying over her cuteness. she was loving olive so much]

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[she was like, ‘wait, do i walk around with this blankie on me??]

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[she was soooo happy running around everywhere]

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[she discovered a bunny]

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[and then became one]

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[then found a little chickadee]

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[then became a funny bunny again]

after anthro, we hit a couple of more stores and called it an afternoon. we had a great time chit chatting, eating, having fun, and building memories together. i loved seeing olive and dana together. it warms my heart and makes it so full!

xoxo

the usual

as always, i get super excited to meet up with my darling dana. we both had prior commitments {conference call, possible venue searching, and a doctor’s appointment} but we don’t let that stop us from getting together! the good news is that everything else fell through and it was just going to be a me, dana, and olive day! i love how that happens. i told dana that i love how we are so busy but we will always squeeze in time for each other and the cards will all fall into place. natch.

so we met up at our usual place and ordered our usual breakfast’s, and did our usual thing. chit chat chit chat chit chat. we all sat together on the same booth, with olive in-between us. it was perfect. she was trapped, i could pay attention to them both, it was easy to feed her, keep her comfortable, and enjoy myself {because she’s content}.

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[hey, i’m just chilling]

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[always soooo serious]

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[the southern aka the usual]

we hung for a bit at the restaurant. it was nice to just take our time, relax, and be on our own schedule. we did our typical walk over to anthropologie after brunch, we perused the racks, checked out the sale, and then moseyed along to our cars to head to our next destination. we decided we would spend the rest of our date at target. woooo!

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[juice drinking maniac]

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[shopping our favorite store // olive loved riding shotgun just like this…so safe!]

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after i changed her diaper and fed her, she was a running fool! she did.not.want.to.be.in.the.cart. she just ran everywhere. she’s a fast little devil. i was trying to shop but i was basically just chasing after her! she was too cute. she would slightly touch everything but not mess anything up. she would run up and down aisles and she ooh’d and ahh’d over everything at her eye level. i was amused just watching her.

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[so chic, oh baby olive fashion]

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[keeping up with her]

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[mean mugging at starbucks]

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after an hour or so in target, olive was spent. she had the tiniest, tiniest morning nap and she was not happy by the end of our shopping trip. she was dunzo. it was time to strap her into the cart seat and have her go down for another nap. and so it was. i have to add in that it was not very easy to get there. {my next ten minutes goes like this} she was screaming, wouldn’t let dana watch her so i could use the restroom, i kept losing track of my stuff due to her fussiness distracting me {where is my phone? where is my wallet? stuff you shouldn’t lose track of!}, dana and i then spilt my venti coffee all over our cart and into my shopping bag {ugh!}, and when we finally got to my car, her car seat seat belt was all twisted {and i couldn’t get it untangled!} and my baby girl was screaming in her seat! oy…what a debacle. it was not the kind of end to our date that i wanted! i shooed dana away with a big hug and proceeded to tackle the seat belt with success. score: seat belt 0 – moi 1.

we finally drove off {phew!} and little olive was out within five minutes. she was a tired little peanut. all in all, it was quite a wonderful morning/afternoon with our lovely miss dana. muwah!

xoxo