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.

my 1st benefit dinner.

a lovely friend of mine invited us to join her at a benefit dinner for hanul family alliance.  it's a local non-profit organization that mainly serves seniors in the korean american community here in chicago.  the program included a heartfelt talk by euna lee about her unimaginable experience as a captive in north korea, a ridiculously hilarious comedic show by paul kim, & an energetic i-want-to-be-her-best-friend type of emcee by ellee pai hong.

we definitely enjoyed our night - unlimited EtOH can make parents who have a babysitter all night very happy.  but the company was even better.  we couldn't get enough of each other we ended up at denny's talking til the wee hours - gotta love that!

the lovely girls.

the happy boys.

i tried to get hubby to do an "outfit" picture with me, but we failed.

on hubby: shirt & suit - hugo boss, tie - bcbg. on me: dress - cass guy, earrings - palen

i was thinking about buying a new dress for this event, but decided to be frugal and pick at my closet.  this was my 4th time wearing this dress to a function.  am i the only one who continues to reuse her dresses?

why can't all weekends be 4 days?

wow.  what an exhausting, but fun weekend!

i seriously wish a work week lasted only 3 days...

don't you?

it was rare for me to be at home for so long, so i made a feeble attempt at bringing out some creative juices.  we had the turkey feast with the in-laws AND my parents at our house for the 1st time that went... surprisingly well.  here's a last minute centerpiece i made with pumpkins (the ones we forgot to throw away from halloween) and leftover paint:

used non-traditional fall colors for a festive dinner... okay, i only had blue, white, & gray paint @ home! (photo by hubby)

(that night, i did the unthinkable. i went to the outlet mall at 10pm for black friday deals with a friend in the freezing cold.  crazy? yes. fun? yes.)

the next day started out with a baby shower so i tried to make a fun gift by taking her registered bath frog storage unit and stuffing it with lots of goodies! cuter than a gift wrapped box, no?

boon frog bath storage filled with boy/girl onesies, good night books (kaila's favorites!), boon squirt utensils, & infant toys

then off for a date night with the hubs to an indian engagement ceremony/reception - let me just say, we were stunned.

i wonder what their actual wedding will be like!

and finished the weekend with a mini girls night! 

@ sepia with a delicious 1/2 off bottle of wine - their sunday special!

hope all of you had a fabulous weekend as well!