my big birthday weekend

i was so excited for my birthday weekend!

hc had planned a fun agenda and i couldn’t wait to relax and celebrate. i still can’t believe i have hit the big 4-0. whaaaaaaaa? seriously, wtf? what happened? i still feel eternally 28 but those wrinkles and gray hairs are finally catching up with me. eek!!!!!

i really can’t tell you what i imagined what it would be like turning 40. i never really fretted about it or thought i would have a big hurrah for it. one, we ended up having a baby and two, i am one of those ‘moms’ that really loves to spend time with her family. don’t get me wrong…i love having date nights with hc and spending quality time with him but i have become a moooooooooommy. it doesn’t feel right when the kids are away, especially if we are out locally. i miss them dearly. now, give me a warm, tropical get away with hc…i can be convinced to leave the kids behind. hahaha!

anyhoo, we started out our morning quite chill – coffee, chaos, and cuddling. we packed everything but the kitchen sink to take downtown with us. oh my goodness. we seriously pack everything when we head out the door with the kids. first on our agenda was to meet the fam at macy’s on state for a fun holiday outing! we love looking at all the decor, hearing the christmas music, listening to the jingle of all the bells around us, and just enjoying the crazy chaos of the store. we met up on the 7th floor for lunch, bought toys, headed down to the walnut room to view the tree, and then we were off to the ornament area to pick out our ornaments of the season!

after spending a few hours at macy’s, we headed on over to block 37 to do some more shopping. after eating, shopping, a trip to starbucks, more eating and shopping, we finally retired to our hotel room. hc had booked a lovely room at the james hotel. it was so cute and cool! i loved the decor inside! our room was super cozy and i really enjoyed the warmth and friendliness of the staff.

as soon as we were inside, olive was out. she passed out in the car and actually stayed sleeping while i carried her into the hotel and up the elevator and into the room! olive slept, ellie laid around, and hc and i got ready for dinner! olive woke up a bit later and relaxed in front of the t.v. with ellie. it was too adorable to see them chillin’ together!

we got all jazzed up and went to david burke’s restaurant for dinner. it was sooooo awesome. we loved our server, we loved the food, and we loved how kind everyone was! everything was delicious and we had such a great time with my brother dan, who joined us for dinner. what made the night even prettier was that it had started snowing and it looked so serene and lovely.

after dinner, we retired to our hotel room. olive and ellie got cozy on the bed again and hc had ordered dessert and wine to be sent up for this birthday mama! it was a perfect end to a perfect day! i had such a wonderful time!

 the next morning, we headed to southport grocery for brunch! while we waited, we picked out gift baskets for our neighbors {something we do every year}. i love shopping there and gathering fun goodies for the christmas baskets. they have the most yummy, delectable treats to make any recipient happy! we enjoyed a fabulous brunch and spent the next hour shopping along the street. oh how i love chicago during the holidays.

it was a fabulous birthday weekend and i have to thank hc for conjuring up a fun filled agenda! i wouldn’t have celebrated it any other way. i was sooooooo happy to have my hubby and children by my side to bring in the big 4-0! as olive would say, “this is sooo ahhhhhmazing!”. i couldn’t agree more baby girl! cheers to a new decade!

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[crazy cousins]

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[loving her necklace]

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[macy’s on state]

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[chestnut room tree]

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[we put her down on the couch and her hair became electric!]

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[poor thing…i made her stand in front of every christmas tree. hahaha!]

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[i love christmastime]

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[she was like NO MORE PICTURES! eep]

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[so festive and fun]

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[so gangsta]

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[hotel living]

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[chillin’ and relaxin’ in our hotel room]

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[fancy kids meal]

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[back to the hotel room and ready for bed!]

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[dessert and wine delivered to the hotel room]

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[she was being so silly…she wanted me to take a picture of her with every.single.one. of her figurines]

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xoxo

anniversary morning

we had a very low key start to our anniversary day. it was calm, relaxing, and sweet. my hc is the best. he got up early to grab groceries for breakfast, let us sleep in, made me endless amounts of yummy coffee, and surprised me with beautiful flowers. i love him.

i can’t believe it’s been five years! what a milestone. i can’t believe it’s been five years since we had the best day everrrrrr! it feels like it just happened last week. wow, five years later, we now have two kids, a house, and so much more love around us. i feel so fortunate to be blessed with so much goodness, i feel like i need to pinch myself.

we’ve had our ups and downs like any relationship. we have had some awful fights. we have had high moments and tough ones. we have dealt with sick parents, the birth of our children, and so many obstacles and celebrations that have happened within the five years since we have said our i do’s. i couldn’t imagine another person to live this life with. to ride this wonderful journey of marriage with anyone other than hc. he is my rock. i might be stubborn, hot headed, and sometimes an ass but he is always there for me and i am truly thankful.

he teaches me to be patient, kind, loving, and appreciate the simple moments in life. i am very grateful for that because i sure need that in my life! he definitely balances me out. happy five years my love and cheers to many, many more wonderful happy years to come!

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[hc surprised me with flowers…as usual]

via tandeminlove.com[awesome lighting…a serene, quiet morning]

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[i love this babe]

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[olive chillin’ watching cartoons]

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[coffee…yummmm]

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[hc always cooking up something good]

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[loving her croissant]

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[croissant breakfast sandwiches]

xoxo

a night out

yay! we had a date night with our lovely couple friends, olivia and aaron!

too much time always passes by before we can see aaron and olivia! we finally made a date and we couldn’t wait to see them! we planned on meeting up at ramen-san in chicago. my sister had suggested it and we were super interested in trying it. who doesn’t love ramen?!

it was a beautiful evening. i am loving this spring weather. it’s so great that it actually feels like spring! the past several years have been great transitions in seasons. we parked the car and walked our way to the restaurant. i love walking and especially when the temps are great and comfortable!

we got there first and were seated right away. aaron and olivia showed up just minutes later and we were so excited to see them! we settled in and right away everyone ordered drinks. i was so oblivious and didn’t even realize that they all had ordered alcoholic beverages but they had also ordered shots! whaaaaa?! our server brought their drinks and then the shots…i was so perplexed! i had no idea they were starting off the evening with shots and i found it so amusing, for some reason. i guess it has been awhile since i have gone out where the party we were with decided to do shots! does that make me old?! ahahaha!

anyhoo, we ordered a multitude delicious apps. after another round of drinks and noshing, we ordered our entrees. i asked for the kimchee ramen. oh my goodness. it was sooooooooooo good! i loved it! olivia ordered the same and she really enjoyed it too. i love spicy and boy, oh boy, it was super spicy! yum!

after eating and drinking even more, we decided to walk over to eataly to have dessert. i am always for gelato! plus, we haven’t been to an eataly since we were in nyc and i was super excited to go, since it reminded me of our trip to nyc on our one year anniversary!

it was crazy packed inside but no matter. we had the evening and we had no restraints. hc and aaron went upstairs to try different beers while olivia and i waited in a very long line to get gelato. we were having a great time catching up while we waited in line. we finally got our order and went upstairs to find the boys. we literally walked in circles and couldn’t find them. we finally found them in a nook of a restaurant and we settled in to eat our gelato, whilst the boys continued to drink.

we sat around for a bit and the question came up on whether we continued the night or called it a night. i felt so guilty because of course i am pregnant and i always, always miss olive. i really do. i was tired and didn’t mind if we headed home. i hated that it all weighed in on me! but no matter, aaron was a good sport about it and olivia didn’t care.

we walked out and walked towards our separate destinations together. once we hit our point of different directions, we said our goodbyes and headed home. it was such a fabulous evening. i had so much fun hanging out with them! they’re a few of my favorite peeps! we love these two cats and i hope not too much time flies by before we see them again!!!

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[mmmmmmm]

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[seriously?! i had no clue they ordered shots, but that’s what happens when your pregnant and not included.]

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[my best friend]

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[kimchi ramen….so stinkin’ gooooood]

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[love these two!]

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[we got gelato after dinner at eataly! so good!]

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[so fresh! i loved perusing around]

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[agreed]

xoxo

kind of a date night

so, we had an impromptu date night. yes, the stars were aligned and we jumped right on it!

our day started out with just me and olive. we chilled in the morning, did our usual routine, and then we got ready to head out to olive’s one year doctor’s appointment. traffic wasn’t so bad but {harhar} we were running late! we were about 15 minutes late and scored a close parking spot, so we were right on time to our predicted late time {ha!}. i was super excited to see how much my baby has grown! olive was in the 85 percentile for her head and height but she was at the 50 percentile for her weight…not too shabby. i really thought she was going to weigh more, but everything is just perfect. she is super healthy and just stinkin’ wonderful.

after her appointment, we went to starbucks and i bought a coffee. we then cruised down southport to check out some shops. of course, we stopped at our favorite store: anthropologie! we walked around and around enjoying all the holiday decor, knick knacks, and beautiful clothes. the store is so whimsical and fun but not only that, they have the coolest, prettiest dresses! after we shopped around for a bit, we decided to head out just in time for olive’s second nap during our car ride home. natch.

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[at our favorite store – anthropologie]

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***

olive woke up just in time for a shopping trip to target. we bought a bunch of grocery items and some holiday decor. while i was shopping at target, my sister text me about wanting miss olive to come over to my parent’s house because our nephews were over and they wanted to play with her! so right after our shopping excursion, i headed over to my parent’s house and dropped miss olive off!

i headed back home to unload the groceries and hc declared that we were going to take advantage of this alone time and go out to dinner! when he first mentioned doing something together, my mind immediately went to doing some errands together but he firmly said no. he said we were going to spend our time together doing nothing but enjoy a lovely dinner together with just us. what a fantastic thought!!

wow…it had been awhile since we went out to dinner, sat eye to eye, conversed, and not get interrupted by anything! it was amazing. it felt good. it felt like a true {short} date night! it’s crazy to think we haven’t done something like that in months! how simple things like that can be taken for granted! i loved every second of our alone time together. i am super thankful hc insisted on it and grateful he is a romantic like that. gosh, he helps me slow down and enjoy life, ’cause sometimes i move at warp speed and i need someone to tell me to stop and smell the roses.

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xoxo

flashback friday

today takes us back to december 2008.

our friends and family gathered together at 10pin for a holiday bowling party. nerdy hc and me decided to get matching bowling shirts personalized with our names on them {from strange cargo in wrigleyville…i love that store!}. ha! it’s a shame we have never worn them since. i guess that means we need to go to another fun, bowling party soon. dust off the duds and roll some balls!

we had just started dating here, barely together for two months in this photo! look at us! we look so fresh and happy; i’m loving our ‘looks’. anyhoo, we met up with everyone {my sisters and a bunch of friends}, bowled our hearts out, and noshed on some yummy not good for you food.

it was a swell time. we were loving our bowling shirts and loving each other. ah, the start of our relationship is so sweet to reminisce in. when we first met, it was quite rocky {at least on my part…as many of you know, i didn’t take to hc at first} and then we fell hard. december was a wonderful month for us. it was full of love, laughter, good times, and newness.

so, a bowling party like this was a fabulous memory we now revel in. we got all geeked out in our shirts and had a great time bowling with everyone. or at least i tried my best to avoid getting my balls in the gutter 😉

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[heine and deuce]

what are some of your favorite memories with your significant other?? what holiday pasts have you done that brings you joy? hopefully nothing bad that the ghost of  christmas past will remind you of {not scrooges allowed}!! i hope it brings a smile to your face when you reminisce! happy friday y’all!

xoxo

flashback friday

not that long ago…hc and i celebrated our six year anniversary. six years of being together! not long compared to some folks i know but six years sounds like a long time but, honestly, it’s been a blink of an eye for me. it feels like we just met! which, i guess, is a good thing!

here we are in our hotel room {i can’t remember which hotel it was?!}, in chicago. we were celebrating our one year anniversary. we were so excited. one whole year together! hc planned for us to have dinner at le colonial. i love that place. it’s so yummy good. i love the ambiance and the decor.

we got ourselves ready and headed out the door. we walked to the restaurant and enjoyed ourselves a yummy, delicious meal. it was a wonderful time. after dinner we strolled back and enjoyed the bustling avenue. i love chicago.

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it’s been a fabulous six years together. oh my, how eventful it has been! we have hit soooo many milestones in our short six years. so many wonderful milestones. i am thankful for all that i have been blessed with and i am fortunate to have this man in my life!

xoxo

as american as apple pie

so, after our apple picking fun, we ended up with a big bag full of delicious apples. buttttt, we couldn’t possibly eat all those apples! what to do. what to do. apple bread? caramel apples? apple pie? why, yes. apple pie. let’s make us some apple pie! i pulled up a recipe from the wonderful wide world of the web.

one night, hc and i got a crackin’ on making us some apple pie. it was total teamwork. he started the walnut base, i washed and peeled the apples, he started the pie crust, i cut and seasoned the apple slices.

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[a small but crucial ingredient]

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[the main ingredient!]

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[slicing apples for the pie]

we both laid down the base of the pie crust. we learned a very important lesson: we should have rolled out the pie crust a little bit more. the issue we were having was that it was super sticky and not rolling out right. we figured out that if you put saran wrap underneath and above it, it rolled out quite nicely. so, before we figured that out…we ended up stretching out the pie dough over the bottom and trying our best to get it up the sides! we did a pretty darn good job.

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[placing the crust for the base of the apple pie]

we placed down the base layer of the walnut mix. then the apples were coated with lemon juice, butter, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. i scooped them onto the pie crust and hc proceeded to put the extra pie dough as the top crust. the first pie was okaaaay. the pie crust didn’t stretch out as far as what we wanted it too {remember, we didn’t figure out the rolling part yet!}. but nevertheless, it turned out pretty darn nice.

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[cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, butter…yum]

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[baking fools!]

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[the pie above is the not so great crust pie :p]

our second pie turned out for the better…we rolled the dough out more and had a better pie crust overall. i brushed the top of the pie crust with milk and sprinkled it with sugar. phew! we were almost done!

we had preheated the oven and it was ready to go. we popped the pies into the oven and 55 minutes later, we had delicious pies! the whole house filled up with the sweetest smells. the aroma of apples and cinnamon wafted throughout our abode. it was fantastic.

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ta da! our finished, tasty, edible product. i must say…they were delicious pies! it had a flaky crust, the apples were sweet and tender, and the walnuts added in a wonderful texture and nutty flavor. my tastebuds were in heaven!

we had a wonderful time baking these pies. total hubby and wifey teamwork! we still have some apples left…hmmm, what shall i make next?!! happy october y’all!

xoxo

flashback friday

today takes us back to october 2009.

hc and i went to an apple orchard in woodstock with grace and his parents. it was such a beautiful day out. the sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and we were ready to have some farm fun!

there was little playground, where grace had some fun exploring all the obstacles & interactive stations. after watching her run around, jump around, and exhaust herself at the playground, we walked our way over to the petting zoo. here, we had a blast petting & feeding the goats, lambs, and llamas {well, really grace had all the fun doing so}. grace was super happy and excited to be able to be so close to all the animals.

a trip to an apple orchard would not be complete without some hot cider and apple cider donuts!!! yum! we indulged in plenty of both. i love fall!

of course, we came home with some pumpkins. we picked out a few good looking ones and had ourselves a carving contest later that night. it was grace’s first time ever carving a pumpkin!

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i love doing activities like this. it just adds to the festive, seasonal holiday feelings of the month. it’s what it is all about! autumn = pumpkins, chilly temps, candy, farms, vibrants leaves, and fun!

xoxo

rain, rain, go away

it started out as a dreary, cold, rainy morning. bummer. hc and i wanted to go to downtown hinsdale, stroll around, and shop. we drove there and got coffee at the starbucks {first things first!}. we decided to grab some grub and to wait out the icky weather. we stopped into a little mom and pop restaurant called page’s. it was cramped, old, and not the cleanest but hc really wanted to eat there. he can’t pass up a greasy joint evah!

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[olive and i struggling to get a goodie photo in…um, fail?]

so, we plopped down and ordered some greasy food. we actually ordered a lot…but in the end, it just disappeared! how did that happen?? hee. i got eggs over easy, hash browns, bacon, and pancakes. yum. olive got lots and lots of cereal puffs. we ate, olive giggled and screamed, and we filled our empty bellies up.

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after breakfast, we walked back outside and it was raining. boo. we were super bummed because the weather was just not cooperating. it was cold, dreary, and rainy. a bad combo for wanting to walk outside. so, we decided to head on over to oakbrook. there, they have awnings and it’s more protected and easier to shop around. of course, on our way there, the day took a turn and the weather had become super sunny and warm! natch.

we spent the rest of the afternoon there and had a great shopping day! hc got some new things and we browsed around for olive. baby girl needed a new fall wardrobe {new, cozy fall clothes on the horizon}! we had a lovely time walking around and checking out some new, fun stuff.

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lately, i’ve noticed how big olive has gotten {watch out…total mom stuff coming}. i mean, she’s less a baby and more a little girl. oh, it makes me a wee bit sad. very bittersweet. i’ve enjoyed so much of her baby stage but now she is starting to show her independence. i like that she likes to entertain herself and can be on her own, but at the same time it makes me miss her totally dependent baby moments. i love her so much right now. we have such a bond and i’m amazed at how lovey she is. i love her hugs, kisses, and laughter. she is so freakin’ quirky and cute.

for example, the photos below…she was being so cute and funny. she kept swinging her legs back and forth and making funny faces. kids, they are so innocent and sweet. they totally live in the moment with such joy.

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our day ended up being fun {well of course it did}, rainy day or not, we will always have a swell time together! cheers to olive’s cuteness!

xoxo

happy 3rd anni!

oh my! it’s been three wonderful years of marriage for me and the hubs! wow, it feels like yesterday that we were just married! and now…we live in the ‘burbs {bye bye chicago}, we have a lovely house {hello downers!}, and we have a beautiful daughter named olive harper {our love and joy}. our world has changed so much and all for the better.

our wedding was amaze. yes, yes, i say it all. the. time. annnddd i say it all the time because it was. i tell everyone i could relive it over and over. it was the best time evah with our friends and family. the whole weekend was surreal. from our rehearsal dinner, to our wedding day, and our post wedding brunch. it was a whirlwind of happiness, joy, love, laughter, and great food. what a wedding and wedding weekend should be!

i am so blessed to have hc in my life. i am so lucky to have found him or did he find me?? we are total opposites with a common bond for life, love, and happiness 😉 i’m fiery, he’s calm. i’m crazy, he’s sane. i’m speedy, he’s slow. i’m loud, he’s quiet. but we love each other to no end. i can’t imagine my life without him and i am so thankful and grateful to God for leading our paths into one another. we were meant to be and my life has been so much fuller since he’s been in it.

thank you hc for always being so understanding, supportive, kind, thoughtful, loving, patient, and forgiving for all of our relationship’s ups and downs. you truly hold us together and i love you to bits!

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[handmade boutonnières with bike gears // hc’s love of bikes]

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[husband and wife! //st. clement church]

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[chicago fire department // his dad is a retired fireman]

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[cutting the delicious cake //how sweet it is!]

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[handmade invites // drawings by olivia g & personally curated vintage stamps to represent me & hc]

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last but not least…our lovely 8mm wedding film. relive the day! enjoy!

[all photos and vimeo by kate headley]

xoxo