when we moved into our house last year in april…it was pure chaos for a bit, so when our peony bush bloomed, i was too distracted to notice {unfortunately}. but this year, i was able to watch it bud, slowly bloom, and full on, become a pretty little bouquet of beauty.
peonies are my favorite flowers. i do love ranunculus and garden roses, too! such beautiful flowers each. i soooo wanted peonies for my wedding bouquet but getting married in september meant they were out of season. i mean, i could have still gotten peonies for my bouquet but they would have been very expensive. plus, i wanted all my flowers to match, so the next best thing for me were ranunculus and garden roses! just as beautiful, romantic, and exquisite.
anyhoo, buying this house and finding out that there were beautiful peony bushes in our yard was such a bonus! watching them bloom every year is such a treat. they are so fragrant and pretty.
the other day, hc suggested that i cut a few stems for our house {duh!} and so i did. olive and i went outside to nab a few pretty ones for our dining table. she was so funny…the other day when we were by the bushes, i smacked one of the flowers to distract her. so, when we went out to the flowers, again, she remembered what i did and proceeded to smack the peonies around. soooo funny…and what a memory!
i picked three stems per vase and arranged them on our dining room table. the next morning, when i awoke, i headed out to our kitchen and when i reached the threshold, the floral, sweet scent smacked me in my face! it was so fragrant and lovely. those flowers smell so delicious!
[peony buds]
[slowly blooming]
[slowly opening]
[full bloom]
[fresh from the garden]
ahhhh, i love our peony bushes! my own little flower shop in our backyard! cheers to spring flowers everyone!
oh boy oh boy oh boy! warmer weather is upon us! every day gets better and better {and i am so thankful}. so, with that, it now involves a lot of outdoor time with miss olive. she loves to play in the yard, hang out in the garage with daddy, or sneak on a swing set nearby.
her current favorite activity? hitching a wagon ride with mommy! we cover the bottom with a towel {to keep it comfy} and i usually pack snacks and a drink for her ride. of course, she’s gotta wear her shades and bring her favorite bunny.
i will pull her around and around the block in her wagon. she enjoys the scenery and munches on her snacks {tough job being a kid, ain’t it??}. i love getting the exercise and i just adore watching miss olive having fun. she’s so sweet. we typically wave hello to the neighbors and enjoy our serene, calm time together.
[ready to rock and roll]
[cruisin’ along]
[we packed the wagon full of snacks, starbucks, and blankets]
[shoveling cheddar bunnies by the handful]
[the long and winding road]
we really love our neighborhood and we really lucked out. everyone who lives on our block are so sweet and kind. from the moment we moved in, they all have been so welcoming. we have gotten to know quite a few neighbors, through quick chats, walks in the ‘hood, or just hanging out {backyard parties!}.
it’s the kind of area where everyone waves hello to you as they pass by. it’s very suburbia…so different from the city {where no one cares or even looks at you!}. couples and families, dogs and cats, and everyone has 2.5. kids. like an episode out of leave it to beaver style {but not really}.
anyhoo, we love it and we love our walks and we love the warmer weather. cheers to more walks around the neighborhood!
it was an awesome day. the weather was amazing and the temperature was just perfect.
my bother and his roommate, carl, had been over all day fixing his car in our garage. since it was getting close to dinner time, we invited them to stay and have dinner with us. so, hc fired up the grill and i prepared all the fixings. i had purchased pre-made burger patties from whole foods {gorgonzola, swiss & portobello, and chipotle flavors} and a bunch of sides {kale salad, broccoli salad, and pasta} to accent our meal. it was an almost no cook night. we wanted it to be an easy, relaxing, and quick dinner prep & clean up.
we were super stoked because it was the first warm evening {on a weekend} and we were excited to have our first meal alfresco! well, it was the first warm evening that we had patio furniture where we could eat outside! ha!
we love our new set, although, like the rest of the house…i can’t wait until we have a new patio to go with it! big dreams, big dreams…
anyhoo, we prepared all the food, dan and carl cleaned up from fixing the car all day and we all sat down for a lovely, delicious dinner under the stars. it was fantastic. i loved eating outside {especially with miss olive who loves to throw her food everywhere!}, i enjoyed our conversations and i just loved the fabulous weather that surrounded us. {before the crazy bugs populate!}
[we love our new patio furniture! we just now need a new patio…]
[burger trimmings]
[chillaxin outside]
[i’m slightly obsessed with funny olive eating pics]
after devouring our savory burgers, sides, and imbibing our beverages, i cleaned up while the boys and a girl sat outside. i brewed some coffee and served sweet treats i had picked up from whole foods {which they graciously left two tasty morsels behind for moi!}. as the boys hung out, i cleaned up the kitchen and the dishes, grabbed olive for a quick bath and continued to clean up the house.
[the remnants of desserts {and coffee}]
it had been a long day for them so while i was dressing miss olive in her p.j.’s, dan and carl swung inside to say their goodbyes. it was such a perfect, wonderful evening together. i had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather with my family and friends! seriously, my life revolves around my friends, family, eating, love, shopping, imbibing, and fun. not necessarily in that order and not everyday…but almost.
it’s may! it’s may! i love it when it becomes the month of may. it’s the month where everything turns green, all the flowers on the trees bloom, and the weather is on it’s way to being consistently warmer. woot! woot!
i love having a ‘new’ home. a place to call ours. i have the best time decorating it, especially with the seasons and/or holidays. now, granted, we are still in the process of remodeling our house. with that said, our kitchen is oooold {not our counters or appliances but pretty much everything else}. as you probably have seen in previous pictures, we have wood paneling on our walls. yes, you read that right. frickin’ wood paneling. i can’t wait until we hit up this room and update it.
anyhoo, decorating our place is fun but sometimes difficult, because the aesthetics of certain rooms negate what i am trying to do. so, i try my best to incorporate my likes onto my dislikes. for example, i love the fireplace that we have but i totally dislike the mantle. to me, i can put something super nice and pretty up on the mantle but all i see is that fugly mantle! i hope y’all get what i am saying!
well, i fancied up our home with some spring/easter fun decor. i love spring…the segue into summer! i always start with our chalkboard. i love drawing something fun and festive onto it, whether it’s a pretty picture or saying. that always sets the tone for the decor!
[i love chalkboard writing…ever since i was kid]
i am obsessed with these paper flower garlands from target. obsessed. they are so pretty and delicate. i fell in love as soon as i laid my eyes on them while shopping a few weeks back. i love decorating our front bay window with every holiday that comes around or i like to put something seasonal in there to jazz it up. i thought these garlands were going to be perfect up on our window and they are…natch.
[how gorgeous are these paper flowers from target?!]
[another view]
[ok, last one…so purrrty!]
i then pulled out some ‘old’ decor i had from our basement. when hc and i moved into this house {almost} last year, i had purchased some easter decor that had gone on sale at some stores {after season} and then packed it away for next year! well, next year is now here and i pulled out the decor i had collected. i was excited to see all the goodies i had picked out last year come to life in our house, finally!
[let’s go on an easter egg hunt!]
[i love green glass anything]
i love spring and i love that it feels light and springy in our house with our festive touches. now, we just need the weather to catch up and mother nature needs to stop with all that snow! well, it might be cold outside but it’s warm and fun inside our abode!
spring is here! spring is here! we are so excited, ’cause that means that it will only get warmer and summer is on it’s way! yipeeeee!
i love spring for it’s warmer temps {which we have been blessed with lately…hey, i’ll take a few 70’s but high’s of 50’s will do, at least it’s not zero degrees!}, flowers a bloomin’, things turning greener, and lots o sunshine! ya know what i love most? the snow has melted. hallelujah. don’t get me wrong; and i’m not trying to jinx us…it does typically snow after the first day of spring but at least there is {almost} no snow on the ground!
my hubs has been ecstatic over the change in weather. he’s been outside non-stop. whether it’s him tinkering with his cars, riding his bike, taking walks with miss olive, or playing in the parks, he is loving it.
i love that i will soon retire my puffer coat. i love that i will no longer feel like i am peeling off a whole ‘nother layer of clothes when i get inside. i love that i can wear flats. i love seeing the ground. i love driving around with my windows down. so saaaaweet!
here is a little pic of our mantle. i love mantles. i love this but i can’t wait until we remodel this area! anyhoo, i whipped up a fun design for our chalkboard to celebrate the spring season. the banner is a nod towards st. patty’s day but i feel like it’s just a cute sign to have around because i do feel lucky {st. patty’s day or not!}.
well, lovies. happy spring indeed! i am counting down the days until summer but look forward to every warmer day we get with our spring season!
it’s a beautiful, sunny, perfect easter day!!! i hope you are enjoying this holiday, whether it be a lovely service at church, a fun easter egg hunt with the kiddos, a charming morning with the family and your little ones, who get so excited that the easter bunny has paid them a visit!
although olive is too young and wasn’t quite sure what the easter bunny is or what to do with her basket of goodies {daddy sure does know what to do with her basket…nom, nom, nom!}. i’m sure she was super excited for it all! just look at that expression on my little lamb down below!
[hoppy easter everyone!!!! from baby lamb olive]
anyhoo, we’re off to celebrate with the famille! woo hoo! can’t wait for easter brunch!
more to come of this beautiful day in a future blog my lovies!
“Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again”
the second half of our vacation was filled with rain, intermittent sunshine, and sporadic warm temperatures.
on wednesday, after a homemade breakfast by the hubby himself, we decided to head back to the outlet mall. just hc and myself. last time we were there, it was a bit difficult to shop with all the kids. so we wanted to head back to really take a look at stuff, take our time, and get a chance to try things on. it was a lovely day and it was very nice to get a chance to spend some alone time together.
i got olive dressed and left her with gramma and papa to have a day at kiddie land! she had a great time with them while we were away having some fun adult time!
[olive wearing corduroys due to the cooler temps and pretending to be shy]
after some shopping, we came back to relax. everyone kind of did their own thing that day, which was a change of pace. later on that afternoon, hc and i went on a walk with olive and jane. something we haven’t been able to do at all with the long winter that we have had!
[a lovely, lovely walk on the beach…olive loves the ocean!]
after a stroll on the beach, we came back and i did an outfit change for miss olive. she had to get dressed up for her first time at a bar! her outfit du jour was a gift from grace marie herself!
our restaurant of choice was duffy’s. home of “world famous” burgers. a dirty little bar joint. it had lovely plastic chairs and bleached cleaned table tops. it had a very simple menu, burgers and chips…no fries! i ordered the mushroom swiss burger and a side of potato salad. yummy…but i wouldn’t call them world famous. i’d call them good burgers.
olive was a hit at the bar. a lot of the patrons just adored her, how could you not love a baby in a cute outfit like that?!
[duffy’s tavern…world famous burgers]
[olive’s first time at a bar! she was most interested in sophie]
after dinner, we came back to the house to…guess what?! yesss, relax. we got comfy and chilled. olive was so relaxed that she found it super funny pooping while sitting on daddy’s lap! so classic and i’m so glad we snapped a pic of that special moment!
[olive literally pooping on daddy’s lap with a very content smile on her face]
on thursday, it was olive’s four month birthday! yay! papa always insists on having cake on olive’s special day. so that morning, we had a breakfast coffee cake to celebrate! i also dressed the little peanut up and shot her four month photos! i love my cutie pie.
[olive’s four month photo on vacay]
this day, we had tickets to the pittsburgh pirates and new york yankees pre-season game, thanks to aunt wendy.
[exhausted from her all day birthday celebration at kiddie land with grandma and grandpa]
it was raining from the moment we woke up, but we were on track to go to the game. we bundled up {it was much colder than i thought…such a bummer since we were going to be sitting outside! the weather report lied to us! it was suppose to be 70 and sunny!} and headed out to the field.
we got there and right away, we had to get our hot dogs and beer! after noshing on our bites, we headed into the stands to find our seats. we sat there in the rain, watched them play ball, and ate a lot of junk food. an american classic outing. after a few hours, we decided to head out but not before we perused the souvenirs shops.
[me and gracie trying to keep warm and dry at the pirates and yankees game]
[classic – baseball and hotdogs]
[rich and grace]
[go cubs go!]
we then ran into an area where they were selling memorabilia and auctioning off baseball souvenirs. missy was eyeing a ryne sandberg autographed framed photos and rich was interested in a ron santos signed baseball.
the starting bid for the ball was small, so rich decided to bid on it. missy decided not to buy the ryne sandberg frame so hc and i decided to buy it for her! it would be an early birthday/christmas gift! i snuck off to buy it while rich led the group the other way. when they came back to the memorabilia area, we surprised her with it!
rich won the bid on the baseball, missy had her ryne signed frame, and we were ready to go home!
[missy and rich attending the pirates and yankees game and going home with cubs memorabilia // an autographed ryne sandberg and an autograph ron santo ball]
once we got home, we were inundated with fun stories of olive’s great day with gramma and papa! they ‘took’ olive to ‘kiddie land’ {aka she rode ‘roller coaster’ rides on a blanket pulled across the floor! so cute!}.
missy, jane, and wendy decided to go for a walk and then sit outside at the bar and have a drink. i debated on going with them but decided against it. it was a bit too chilly for me to sit outside…walking outside, yes, but not sitting. so they left for their walk, while the kids, rich, and papa were at home.
rich and i decide ourselves to go on our own walk with little miss olive. it was so lovely! we had such a great time walking through the neighborhood and checking out the local shops {knick knacks, surf shops, restaurants}. we found some fun ornaments, magnets, and shoes to buy! it was so awesome to walk around, enjoy the weather, and spend some alone time with hc and olive!
while we were at the surf shop, hc found these awesome minnie mouse type sunglasses for olive! when we got home and walked through the door, i called out to jane. she came walking over and yelled in joy how cute olive looked in her new sunglasses! i agree…she is so cute!
[i wear my minnie mouse sunglasses at night]
[look at those cheeks!]
instead of heading out to a restaurant to eat for dinner, we decided to order food from skinny’s. after placing our order, missy and hc drove over to pick up our food. it was quite yummy but you definitely don’t stay skinny eating from skinny’s!
[dinner from skinny’s]
on our last full day of vacation, again the weather was not good beach weather, so we decided to check out the northern part of the island. i was super excited when jane presented to me that morning the onesie that i gave them for mother’s day last year! she had brought it with her on vacation! i gave her that shirt on that celebratory day last year to announce i was pregnant with little miss olive! i was so excited for her to wear it…it was her size, perfect timing!
[gramma brought the onesie i gave them. it was a baby announcement that i was pregnant, a gift for her on mother’s day! it looks perfect on olive!]
we drove up north to anna maria pier {which took 7 minutes from our beach house!} and walked the town and headed our way towards the pier. it was quite lovely walking it! after the pier, we found a restaurant to eat at, the waterfront.
olive was high maintenance during our lunch! she needed her diaper changed and there was no changer in the bathroom! that is so annoying! so hc and i walked around the corner {we were eating outside}, and put our portable changer on the sidewalk and changed the peanut! after that, she needed a feeding! so as usual, i fed her while i ate. we like to eat together 🙂
[a walk on the pier]
after walking the pier and eating lunch, we wanted to walk the area…there were a lot shops to look at! half of our group got tired out. so jane, missy, and i decided to stay and continue to shop. we had a really great time! there were a lot of cute island shops to look at.
the last store we looked at, i found some really, really cute stuff for olive! there was this darling animal swaddle blanket from angel dear. it was their farm yard swaddle…so charming! i had to have it for her! i also purchased this beautiful wood puzzle toy for her. i am obsessed with wood toys and especially this brand of toys. it reminded us of a banyan trees in florida!
after shopping the town, we headed back to the car and took the short car ride home to the house. olive was up and doing some tummy time…isn’t she’s so darling?! before our hodge podge of a dinner {clearing out the pantry before we headed home meant a mixed bag of goodies for supper!}, hc and i decided to go for a final walk around the island. we strapped olive in her carseat, took out the stroller, and enjoyed a very serene, beautiful walk around the area {being at the beach and ocean is so gorgeous!}.
[olive doing some tummy time…so adorbs]
when we got back, we finished packing for our trip back home and snacked on very random food for dinner! we woke up very, very early the next day and packed up the rest of our goods and headed to the airport. so sad…bye bye anna maria island, it was a very good time!
olive was a doll on the plane ride back! she fed, she slept, and she cooed. when we landed, it was home sweet home chicago! annnddd it was cold! yuck!
[olive on the plane ride home…so cute!]
it was quite bittersweet, we were so happy to be back and sad to not be on vacation anymore! it was a wonderful week, lots of relaxing, shopping, and exploring…the beach and ocean were amaze. thanks dick and jane for an amazing get away! we love you both so much!
ta da! that wraps up our spring break trip! until next year!
woooooo! we were so excited for our spring break vacation! after this very long, very cold, very awful winter, a getaway to a warm destination was in order!
the locale of choice was anna maria island, off of florida. i am thankful to my in laws for coordinating this whole vacation! olive is a lucky gal to have pretty awesome grandparents who love her so much!
we headed out on saturday morning {4:30 am wake up call anyone?}, off to the airport we went in our pimp escalade limo ride. olive was riding in style! we got to the airport quickly and checked ourselves in. getting through security involved a lot more than we thought. it being the first time we have traveled with olive, we weren’t quite sure what the process looked like. not only did we have to do our usual thing {shoes, laptop, coats, etc.}, we had to break down the entire stroller, take off a wheel, flip the carseat upside down, and i had to walk thru the detector with olive and then get my hands wiped down for any dangerous chemicals! nutty. well, we made it through with no problems {no crazy chemicals on my hands…phew. i didn’t have to brawl with the tsa!} and we merrily went on our way to the gate {way to vacation!} . i immediately was on a mission for coffee. starbucks and food was in order!
[olive’s first time in the airport // breakfast at berghoff cafe]
we waited in quite a long line at berghoff cafe. rich ordered an egg and bacon croissant sandwich with a side of hash for the both of us. we ate and waited for the rest of our party to arrive. once everyone was there, we settled ourselves into the terminal to wait for our boarding time. oh boy…olive started to get fussy. it was past her feeding time and i really wanted to feed her during take off. our timing was a little off and while we were waiting in line to board, she had a melt down! i saw all the passengers eyes widen as this baby of mine shrieked so loud! oy. once we neared the plane, though, she actually calmed down. phew!
[family selfie]
i got to feeding olive right away. she actually fell asleep during take off and was quite calm during the whole flight. only for a few minutes did she fuss but then calmed down. woo! it was a great, non-fussy flight with little miss olive. what a good little traveler!
[olive representing the cubs // take off]
[sleepy olive]
[cutie pie waiting for daddy to rent a car]
[the scary road over the water]
we landed and were so excited to finally be in warm weather! it was warm and a bit humid. we got our car rented and started en route to our destination to the beautiful house on the beach!
the palm trees are such a treat. a novelty for us after a looooong winter in chicago! buuutttt after experiencing florida traffic and how cray cray they drive {i mean seriously cray}, i definitely can say…i wouldn’t want to live that everyday!
we finally arrived at our destination and got to explore the house. it was spacious and new. i loved our bedroom…it was big, had it’s own ensuite, a large flat screen t.v., and a lovely veranda! we were steps away from the beach and the house also had it’s own private pool! sweet!
[olive and aunt missy matching each other and the couch // us checking out the house]
[the beachy fun house decor // relaxing by the private pool]
[this was our walkway from the front of the house!]
[checking out the scenery // palm trees usa]
[we love our selfies]
the most exciting part about arriving in florida?! meeting up with olivia and aaron. since they’ve relocated to fort lauderdale, we haven’t gotten a chance to visit them in the sunshine state. they timed their travels to match ours, they got there just a tad earlier than us {due to our unnecessary detour to the cracker barrel…long story not worth sharing}.
olivia texted me that they were chillin’ at a bar across the street from the house we were renting. she insisted that she would she us pull into the house. so, as we pulled in…i looked around and saw only houses. olivia and aaron were no where to be found. after we got inside and looked around, i texted her, wondering where they were at. sooooo typical olivia, they were at the wrong location. i have no idea where she got the address she had! they weren’t far from us and soon they arrived at the house! yay!
we spent the day basically chillin’. our only big mission for the day was to grocery shop. there was a local grocery store called publix nearby. hello spring break! it was a madhouse there. literally. it seemed like half the island was there stocking up on groceries! we fought our way through and survived. hundreds of dollars later and two full carts filled with food, we were on our way back home.
[selfie time // bruce the cutest puppy ever]
[hc and aaron holding their babies]
[olive’s curly q hair, thanks florida humidity!]
[olive’s first time at the beach!]
[the cute couple before they leave back to ft. lauderdale // as you can tell, olive is super happy]
the rest of the weekend, we walked the beach, we explored the island, lunched outside, and spent time together with this great duo…the best news yet?! olivia and aaron are moving back to chicago! woo hoo! see ya guys in a few weeks!
[aunt wendy consoling olive]
[neidre and olive…she was in desperate need of a nap]
right after olivia and aaron left, hc’s old friend from school stopped by to visit. neidre lives in tampa; she drove in and spent the late afternoon and evening with us! we drank wine, chitchatted, and caught up on life’s happenings. neidre is such a great gal! we love her! the last time we saw her was when we visited her brother, jason, in miami. that was an amazing trip as well {sunshine, beach time, and awesome weather}! one of the days, while in miami, we drove half way from our destinations and met neidre and her beautiful daughter, khaliya, for dinner. that was a great time together, it was my first time meeting neidre and khaliya and we had such a blast with them.
[blast from the past // miami ’10]
we cooked in and spent a very lovely evening together. after many hours of drinking, noshing, and non stop yakking, neidre decided to head out and home. so bittersweet. it was so awesome to see her and so sad she was leaving. it was a marvelous time spent together.
[hanging out with this lovely lady]
[super excited to be shopping]
since the weather wasn’t quite beach weather {bummer because we had a house on the beach!!!}, we did a lot of shopping. we explored possible shopping venues around the area. on monday, we went to breakfast at peach’s and then took off for the outlet mall right outside anna maria island. hc and i had a great time shopping around. there were a few stores where we found some great stuff in. the whole family enjoyed perusing the mall. good or bad news but everyone found something to buy!
[her pensive looks]
[bad news bear…a stop at wendy’s was no buenos! my favorite comfy target pants!]
on tuesday, we explored the southern part of the island. it turned out to be a very sunny day {although it was a very rainy morning}! we had a great time walking around the area. i found some great smelling body butters and lotions at a place called naples. of course, when we stumbled upon a macaron shop, i had to get a dozen flavors!
[relaxing in her stroller ride around the island // yummy macarons]
after shopping all afternoon, we came back to the house to relax. rich, grace, and daniel hit the beach. olive and i tried to sit out there but it was so windy, it felt like the sand was exfoliating our faces, so that was no. we headed back into the house to chill while rich and the kids played out at the beach.
a little bit later, before we went to dinner and after the beach, rich, jane, and olive went for a walk {a favorite activity of ours since we wanted to take advantage of this weather!}. it was a bit chilly {for florida!}, so we bundled olive up in a cute little hoodie. so adorbs.
[getting ready for her walk on the beach with daddy]
for dinner, aunt wendy wanted to go to the sandbar restaurant but it turned out to be a debacle. the wait was one hour and forty five minutes! no way with the babes could we wait that long for a table! so we ended up down the street at a place called sharkey’s.
it was a tasty place…i ordered the fish and chips {tilapia!} and it was delicious. after dinner, we headed home to relax {the theme of our vacation!}.
[having dinner at sharky’s]
[selfie at sharkey’s}
so, there you have it! the first half of our island vacation! lots of shopping, a lot of relaxing, plenty of walks on the beach, too much noshing, and loads of quality time together as a family {the most important part!}.
