March Updates

::: Spring in Chicago is so funky. We've seen great weather and some really shitty weather. Yesterday, the kids and I were having our lunch outside, had been to two parks, and I got sunburn - and today, it's snowing and I'm sitting at a wine bar with a sweater and boots on. 

 

 

::: Life's been great from all accounts. I'm finding less and less motivation to log on to this blog though. I feel like I don't have much to say or share that I'm not already sharing on Instagram. I feel the blog slowly slipping away, and that makes me pretty sad. 

::: We had the stomach flu hit our house last week and it was literal hell. We had been at a party and literally like contagion - SO many people got knocked down after 36 hours of being there - it was insane. It was the sickest Leo has ever been - and I just literally kept catching his puke in my hands. It wasn't fun but I was SO grateful that it was relatively quick moving and that everyone is back to normal. 

::: We didn't do too much for St. Patrick's day. We took the opportunity for a cute photo op on our holiday shirts, and shared corned beef dinner with both of our parents at dinner. It was perfect. 

::: Are you watching Summer House? I think it's a few years old but I just got into it, and I'm obsessed. Given the choice, I would totally rather watch Summer House over Real Housewives. I'm pretty much over NY and BH.

::: I've been hitting is SO hard at the gym lately. My girlfriends and I are on a text chain and since the gym has become such a social spot (and a day care option) I feel like I've been at the gym 5 days a week for the last 6-8 weeks. I can feel some of the strength that I've been working on, but not really seeing it - so I'm hoping that shift happens a little sooner than later here ;) 

::: Over Spring Break, we took a weekend getaway with friends to Galena - and we had the best time. For my own record keeping purposes, I'm going to back post and share some of our secrets to a successful weekend trip with friends.

::: I finally made dinner with the Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi - and holy cow it was so good. What a solid dupe! I will say - it's a little tricky to work with - but overall, especially considering what a light dinner option it is - we loved it. I used Liz Adams recipe from her "Cooking with Liz" instalive she does - and I can't wait to make it again.  (she doesn't have the recipe on her blog, that I can find! Check her instastories!) 

::: I bought these darling easter baskets from a neighbor and I couldn't be more obsessed! 

::: I think I've shared a bit that we are fixing up our basement a bit. Drywall finished this week, and next week the ceiling is getting spray painted black! I can't wait to see the space totally transform. When the ceiling is done, we are going to paint the drywall (revere peweter), do a deep clean, and rearrange bit here and there. I'm hoping to add a ping pong table down there, and eventually a TV, and try to make it as "industrial cool" as I can. 

::: That's it for now. I'm sitting at the cutest little coffee and wine bar that just opened in our hood, but the internet is painfully slow and I have about 15 other things I've got to knock out before I let the babysitter go home! Ha! 

Weekend Recap

We had kind of shitty week last week.

On Monday, I woke up, and instantly knew that I was barely going to be able to make it from my bed to the sink to brush my teeth. I felt like total shit. I begged Joel to stay home that morning, just to give me a few hours to see if I could power through it after dayquil and some extra sleep, but at 10am, I was still feeling like crud, so he took the whole day off to tend to the kids.

Thank God.

Tuesday morning, Joel woke up feeling like total shit. I wasn't out of the woods, by any means, but I at least felt like I could rally to be with the kids. Joel stayed home from work, stayed in bed most of the day, and I did my best to keep the babes happy until our babysitter showed up.

Joel and I both felt better on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, after parent teacher conferences, decided to go out for a date. It was lovely - at one of our all time favorite spots....but something I ate bothered me, and at 3am I woke up and was violently ill. Not fun - but thankfully, after I got it out of my system, I was ok.

Friday, all was seemingly normal, and we went to my parents for happy hour/dinner. When we got over there, Leo started chattering - looked really white - and then over an hour just totally nose dived. I took him home before dinner - stuck him in bed with gatorade and a movie - checked his temp (103.9), and basically decided that this week was just shit. 

Thankfully, Saturday morning, he had slept through the night, woke up with a much lower fever and actually felt great, and we were able to salvage most of the weekend. I went to the gym Saturday morning, hit up the grocery store, and then went to my moms house for happy hour with my sister.

That night, my girlfriend Jenna and her husband Zach came to spend the night with us. We made tacos and once the kids were in bed played darts for hours. 

We had such a blast and basically fell into bed.

Sunday morning - Jenna and I snuck away for a dance class at my gym - my MOST favorite class of the entire week - and then came home to hang for a cup of coffee before they headed out.

Joel and I did a few things around the house....we hung oars in Leo's room, and brought a new couch base down to the basement. I had stopped at a garage sale at a local preschool on Saturday and had bought that red bookshelf for FIVE dollars along with a puzzle organizer for THREE dollars, and literally felt like I had won the lottery. 

 

 (*pretty cool note about these oar's: my mom found that at an antique shop in Lake Geneva, Wi. and we used them at my wedding and my baby shower for Leo. Now they hang in my 3year old son's room.....insane).  

We spent the rest of the day with my sisters, we walked, had drinks, talked, and just hung out before we ordered pizza and they went back on their way.

I will say, as much as it sucks to get used to the new time change - I am SO happy to have the sun shining at 6pm. It gave me SUCH a pep in my step tonight, I cannot even tell you! I am ready for you Spring!!!!!!! 

ohhhhhh, Mexico

You guys, take me back.

We honestly had the best vacation in the world. 

Everything, and I honestly mean everything, went off better than I could have expected. 

The flights were on time and decently smooth, the car picked us up at the airport with two car seats installed (this gave me anxiety for whatever reason), our condo was perfect (had pack and plays and high chairs), we brought the right stuff, was able to grocery shop and create our own mini home, the kids transitioned perfectly, acted perfectly, stayed perfectly healthy, and we had SO much flipping fun.

 

 

 

 

It does. NOT. get better than that.

Truly. 

I'm so thankful for this trip. It was so much fun to be with my whole family, my babies, Joel, in one of my most favorite places in the world.

I only wish we could go back tomorrow. 

 

Housekeeping

::: This weekend was unfortunately a very sad one for our family. Joel's cousin was tragically killed in a snowmobile accident at the young age of 32. We got the call on Wednesday morning and instantly the week changed. It rocked Joel's entire family, and while we came together and celebrated his well lived and loved life - it was difficult. The service on Sunday was nothing short of beautiful and gut wrenching, and to be honest, we are still digesting the new reality. 

Since there is never any eloquent way to really move on from such loss - I'm just going to....with a truly broken heart. 

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::: Over the weekend - right before most of Joel's family arrived - we had tickets to see Disney on Ice. We weren't sure how Drew would do for the entire show, but honestly, she did fantastic. The first half of the show kept her entire attention - and Leo was truly in awe the entire time. We packed plenty of goldfish for the second half and left right after the Frozen performance, and had such a fun, special morning. 

We had friends at the same show, so before we drove home, we met them for pizza and beer which was a perfect way to cap off the fun event.

::: So last week - thanks to a few readers suggestions! - I convinced my sisters to do a "Day in the Life". All three of us did actually - all of us, sadly, on Wednesday, but we have all of the pictures and now I just need to organize them into posts and have my sisters caption them. They both had a lot of fun with it - and they thought that next time we should do it on a weekend day to see how truly different our days are ;) 

::: If you live in Chicago - you know - but the weather has been crazy. We have gotten snow literally dumped on us for the last few days - and this upcoming week is supposed to be the coldest temperatures in years. It's only Monday, and I've already got cabin fever.

Thankfully we leave for Mexico in two weeks so the countdown is ON.

And I will now always be booking a trip to Mexico for February, because holy shit Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. 

Weekend Recap

Ok - this is big. It's Sunday night, I'm level 11 tired, (it is only 7:30pm, but I'm weak), I'm already in bed, and I just had Joel bring up my computer so that I could actually get a weekend recap post up before 8am tomorrow morning! Making progress over here!!

I had a fantastic weekend - and I hope you did too. 

Friday night, we had book club at my neighbors house. Luckily, I was able to walk, because that night we got like 7 inches of snow. It was the perfect night to sit inside with a bunch of girlfriends, snacks, and red wine. 

I totally goofed up on taking any pictures of our night - I was too busy chatting and bringing my wine glass to my lips - but it was a really fun time. We had read When Life Gives You Lululemons which was a fun book to discuss with a bunch of suburban moms. 

Saturday morning, my mom and I took the train into the city to meet my sisters for a belated birthday celebration for my mom. 

We started the day off at Nordstrom, and shockingly, I found an amazing bathing suit, and we couldn't help but splurge on suits for the kids too for our upcoming trip.

After a little shopping, we headed to the Peninsula for High Tea. 

The Peninsula hotel in Chicago is one of my all time favorites - and their high tea is truly delightful.

We enjoyed our tea, snacks, champagne, talked, watched the snow fall....It was lovely.

 

 

We took our buzz over to Zara for a little more shopping and then found ourselves at Mastro's for a martini in their bar (which I love). 

After a drink, we went back to my sisters for a few minutes and then headed to Coast Sushi in Bucktown for dinner. 

We had a perfect light dinner, and my mom and I headed to my cousins house before we crawled into bed at 10! It was perfect! 

Sunday morning, my sister Hannah, cousin Amanda, and my girlfriend Mary (Hiiiiii!!!), met up for a sculpt class at CorePower. We got our butts handed to us, but it's one of my all time favorite workouts and I always try to fit it in when I'm in the city.

After quick showers, we prepped for brunch at Amanda's. Joel and the kids drove into the city and my girlfriend Sara and her fam came over too.

It was perfect. The kids played, ate, hung out, and then we loaded up the car by 1:30 and were home by 2:30.

My parents took Leo to their house for a few hours so that we could get our fussy little Drew home for a nap - and then we met over there for Sunday night dinner. We had a great, healthy dinner and got everyone home, cozy in bed, early - just the way I like it!