hb to my hubby.

today is hubby's birthday.  his BIG gift?  he got a home cooked meal.  the thing is, i think i can count on my fingers the times i have used our kitchen in the last year.  maybe add in a few toes.  i think the moment life got hectic, we trusted our box of take-out menus to serve us dinner most nights.  i felt super rusty and out of place, but attempted to make a simple meal of homemade chili and cornbread.  kaila insisted we bake a chocolate brownie as well.  the moment kaila said "thank you mommy for cooking dinner - so yummy", i said to kitchen, "you are going to get sick of seeing me - pinky promise."

{iPhone}

had to show a pic of hubby before marriage and after marriage eating his 3rd bowl.  the things hubby will do to make me happy...   {before pic: Bob & Dawn Davis Photography}

happy birthday.  i love you.

30 for 30

a close friend of mine is turning thirty today - happy birthday grace!  we celebrated her birthday this past weekend and for her big 3-0 i bought 30 gifts with a story behind each one.  i saw this idea on a few blogs in the past and thought it would be perfect for grace.  i have to admit it was challenging, but seeing her reaction made it so worth it!

i started out welcoming her to the thirty club.  {i want the whole kitchen section from anthropologie}

and bought a few items for her worldly travels.  {i absolutely adore the travel journal from anthropologie}

can't go wrong with "cute as a button" nail color, yellow studded ring, and itty bitty shorts & tunes for her love for running - all packaged with twine and numbers.

wrapped a cheetos box in fabric {old korean lady style} and she was happily surprised it wasn't a box full of cheetos.  haha.  then she started reading all the personal notes/stories written on the back of the numbers...

#30 was a strawberry whipped cream cake from lutz {forgot to take a picture} but here she is with most of her gifts - success!  a few of my faves: crumbs cupcake, pepper spray, mighty leaf green tea, & crazy stupid love dvd - how can you not love ryan gosling?! 

love you grace - xoxo.

sound of music birthday.

after a heartbreaking morning in the last few hours of my 24-hour shift - i witnessed my first pediatric death on a 3-year-old - i went to a celebration of a 3-year-old's life.  strange how life works, huh?

* * * *

the theme of the party was the sound of music, the birthday girl's favorite movie.  it was an intimate gathering for her adorable friend, colette, & i'm so happy i was able to witness kaila having a blast!

genius idea, no?!  a ball pit in a pack-n-play!

K & C having a ball.

delicious cupcakes made by her friend! i had to drag K away every 5 min from eating all of these.

happy 3 colette!

K was in heaven.  eyes closed and all.

hair pieces to match the sound of music. :)

K wore this for maybe 30 seconds.

and decided to put it on top of ava's cute head.

watched a part of the classic while eating lunch.

at the end of the party, i found K like this.  i guess she was ready to go!

K then threw a temper tantrum at home demanding she sleep with her goody bag, the cookie bag, the balloon, & her blankie, of course.  i wish i had taken a picture - it was a sight to see.  haha. 

the second wifey.

second wifey? yep, you heard me right.  my hubby really loves his 2nd wifey... stares at her all day long, talks to her, plays with her, holds her, adores her.  --  who is she??  hubby's iPhone.  and she was the center of attention last night.

kaila hosted an epic {the word hubby chose - yay!} bowling birthday bash for her daddy's BIG 3-0 birthday yesterday.  it was hard to keep K quiet from spoiling the surprise, but hubby sure was surprised! 30 friends, unlimited pizza & soda, a game of bowling (with an amazing prize dangling in front of them), and a cake from his 2nd wifey made it a memorable night.  hubby = happy --> happy wifey.  2nd wifey was happy as well.  here she is in all her glory.

some of hubby's favorite apps.

thanks to Luscious Layers for another stunning & delicious cake!

happy 30th birthday hubby.  we love you.  all 3 of us.  ;)

the countdown begins...

FIVE more days of work & here we come LA & Maui!!!
is it just me or is time really flying by these days?
how is the weekend already over!?

we spent part of saturday at kaila's 3rd cousin's 1st birthday party.
joelle, the adorable birthday girl, is the daughter of the daughter of the mom who is kaila's grandpa's cousin... confusing, huh? haha.

the birthday girl in her fabulous korean hanbok.  she is TOO cute for words!!

here's K with her favorite toy.  on K: Janie & Jack sweater, Gap gray jeggings, Ugg Boo boots

the party happened to be right when K is supposed to be snoring away for 2 hours.
to prevent major meltdowns, the iphone was her best friend... and ours.
how do other parents keep their kids entertained when they are out dining??
it's still a mystery to me...

my last twenty...

today i turn 29.
and my goal is to really live this year like i'm still in my twenties! HA.
the last 2 years it has been work-baby-work-baby-work-baby... but no more!

more date nights with hubby in "feel-sexy-who-cares-if-i-can't-breathe-dresses"

more "laugh-until-you-pee-in-your-pants" girls nights!  with girly drinks, please. ;)

more "stop-and-just-breathe" moments...  (and enjoy the view!)

more time with Him.

more "be-silly-who-cares-if-you-look-ridiculous" moments.

more "get-my-pale-body-in-the-sun-to-get-a-great-tan" time.  and maybe come up with better couple poses.  ;)

 here i go twenties...

furry baby

i love baby fashion that has duel purposes, like faux fur vests - warm & fashionable!
i didn't get a chance to see all the cute furry wear at gap or zara before i bought my baby K a furry friend from Janie & Jack (thanks to gift cards from friends!), but i still love this one!

here's kaila before we left for a twins birthday party this past weekend

fur vest by Janie & Jack, striped long sleeve by Zara, mini skinny jeans by Gap, Ugg "Boo" boots

birthday boy ethan!

birthday girl emma!

sending abigail & kaila down the slide - wheee!

baby K loved it! @ Treehouse in lake zurich

more pics from the birthday party @ www.novemberseventeen.com

are you a fan of faux fur?

DIY like a laxative

as i was talking with one of my pain patients, i hear a mix of liquid and gas bubbles exploding into his colostomy bag. i guess i reacted, and he says, "they just gave me something to move my bowels and i think my pain is all gone now."  oh boy. 

getting the courage to start a DIY project is like a laxative.

you make the decision to just go for it, pop in the pill, and let it take its course.

and once you let loose and finish your project, you are so relieved -

regardless if the end product is pretty or ugly. 

that's how i felt with my very 1st DIY task:

fabric poms & fabric banners for my daughter's 1st birthday party.

although i spent way too many hours late at night cutting and gluing with an alarm clock of 4:30am approaching, i was surprised to feel so content with the way everything turned out. 

being an amateur with design, i learned a lot along the way, and i hope i can give you some tips to save some time and money!



i ended up making 15 banners - sorry i don't have more pics!



Fabric Poms - detailed pic to come!

there's a great tutorial on once wed that i followed, but a few tips that may help:

• try to get the smallest chinese lantern you can find - otherwise it will take too much fabric and time to glue together
• i ended up using about 3 yards for each fabric pom with an 8" chinese lantern - considerably more fabric than i had anticipated
• there's a time commitment of about 2-3 hours for each fabric pom if you complete it in one sitting

Fabric Banner

after looking at a few different banners online, i decided to go the easier route and avoid sewing.  i went with baker's twine, heatbond iron-on adhesives, fabric in blue/pink theme, and iron-on black letters from a craft store.

• to create about 10 10ft banners, you only need 1 yard of 5 different fabrics - my mistake was overestimation
• choose your fabric wisely since you want both sides of the fabric to be identical (not a faded pattern on the back of a print fabric) and avoid thin fabrics if you are using adhesives
• for a clean, crisp look, measure out 2 inches with a pencil between your fabric pendants instead of arbitrarily placing the pendants on the twine

happy DIY!