chicago | day 2

It was quite cold in Chicago. Not as cold as Christmas, but pretty darn cold for taking a baby out and about. We spent the day swimming at the hotel and doing a little shopping. It was a very relaxing day and everyone seemed quite content taking turns holding the baby.

Madison flew in last night from St. Louis with my dad and Melissa. She is quite the baby hog.

We ended the day with dinner at Morton’s.

Matchers!

chicago | day 1

We set off for a weekend in Chicago on a very early morning flight. Boarding started at 5:50 am and that is tough for some of us night owls. We were going on very little sleep, but were so excited to get to Chicago to visit with family.

We arrived bright and early and some of us were in some wacky moods…

My mom and sister, Becky’s family live in Chicago while my dad and Melissa flew in for the big weekend. My nephew was being baptized and we had lots of family time planned for the rest of the visit. Unfortunately Stacy and her family were not able to make it out from California as they were in Chicago the previous week for my mom’s birthday. We missed having all the cousins together.

Lily

My gals could not get enough of their baby cousin. Annabelle could have held him all day long.

Adorably doting cousin

He seems to always have someone in his face.

We met up with the rest of the family for dinner at Ditka’s in Arlington Heights. We watched the Olympics, had dinner, laughs and of course everyone fought over who got to hold the baby.

stomp

We received tickets for Christmas to see Stomp at the Denver Performing Arts Center. The girls had no idea what to expect from this show and were just blown away. The show is just nonstop energy and we loved every minute of it. It was a favorite for the entire family.

Gwyneth stepped over the vent and had her own Marilyn Monroe moment. We were all cracking up.

Great seats for the show

Such a wonderful time!

happy valentine’s day

I have been terrible about taking pictures with my camera this year. Most of my photos have been snapped on my iphone which is convenient but not the best quality. I know some people can get great pics from their phones, but I don’t seem to have much luck. I’ve missed taking pictures with my big ol’ camera and dragged it out this morning.

We had a lovely Valentine’s morning and everyone was in good cheer. That’s not a small thing around here – Gwyneth and I are awfully grouchy in the mornings. The girls got to wear pink and red to school today which is always a treat to not have to wear uniforms.

Annabelle wasn’t interested in making Valentine’s for her class this year. Of course my emoji loving gal found the perfect treats to take for her friends.

I snuck out last night and got Valentine’s donuts to surprise everyone. Donuts are Gwyneth’s favorites so the chocolate chocolate heart with brownie crumbles was a big hit. I feel an apology email to her teacher for the sugar overload may be in order.

Gwyneth made lovebugs for her classmates. It was a family effort because we didn’t start until around 8 pm after dance class last night. Nothing like a little procrastination…

We’re not big gift givers, but the girls each received a Valentine Gingerbread House Kit and a cookie decorating kit. I love the gifts that are activities we can do together.

B gave me with these beauties. I love, love, love red roses. They are my absolute favorite. I also know they hike up the prices for Valentine’s day so it was pretty special because we’re a pretty frugal family.

Last night after everyone went to bed I decorated their doors. I’ve wanted to do this for years but have never planned ahead. I finally got my act together this year and it was such a fun surprise when they woke up this morning.

After school the girls got right into decorating their gingerbread houses. They decided the cookies could wait a few days since they had also nabbed some candy from school and our house was a bit overrun with sugar for the moment.

Ha! That girl is so silly

The gingerbread houses turned out great and we finished off our evening with heart shaped pizza. There was a lot of love and Olympics in our house tonight. Happy Valentine’s Day!

paint day

Our plans were changed today due to an unexpected snow storm. Annabelle was going to head to Girl Scouts, Gwyneth to paint at Whimsy and I was going to try and get caught up a bit at my studio.

Girl Scouts was cancelled so Annabelle asked if she could take a friend with me to the studio. Absolutely! I love it. The girls painted all different kinds of poop – yes, poop. I have quite a line of emoji poop items and I can barely keep them on the shelves. They are so popular.

Gwyneth and Ella spent the morning at Whimsy painting unicorns.

They did such a great job and had a blast.

After a morning of painting we grabbed lunch at Hu Hot.

We spent the rest of the evening watching the Olympics and reading our books. I’m not sure we could ask for a better, more relaxing evening.

las vegas | flamingo

My annual work conference was at the Flamingo this year and even though I was just in Las Vegas a few weeks ago (here) I was pretty excited to head back. It is really nice to meet up with other owners and hear other great ideas for our studios. I really do enjoy what I’m doing these days so it makes work trips a lot more fun.

B wasn’t able to join me, but Lisa came along for the adventure. She has worked in my studios too. It was so lovely to have a friend along for the adventure.

This was the first picture I took from the trip and we sent it to our husbands. A bit of cruel mockery but that’s how we roll in this group.

Seeing all these Flamingos made me miss my girls. Gwyneth loves Flamingos and proved it with her Halloween costume (here).

We had a blast our first night on the town

This may not have been the best idea at midnight…

After another long day of meetings we hit the town again…

Flamingos for my Gwyneth

We may have been struggling a bit the next night but we are determined gals…

We did a lot of walking and again found our way to the Venetian.

Check out those donuts. They were HUGE! I wish I could have wrapped them up and taken them home to my girls.

My mom loves Cake Boss so I was excited to find this and send her a picture.

We played a little poker. I got a royal flush but I don’t bet much so I don’t win much. It was pretty fun though.

We found a great seat on the patio at Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at Paris. Lisa and I shared salmon on toast points and shrimp while sipping wine and martinis. Our seats were perfect for people watching and enjoying the Bellagio water show.

Lisa is such a dear friend to me. I’m so glad I met her almost 20 years ago. Everything is more fun when she is around.

It was a great trip and I learned so much. Two trips to Vegas in one month though will probably hold me over for a while.

boot

Our pool little Annabelle fell in gym class and really hurt her foot. Whatever damage was done was surely exacerbated by three hours of dance that evening. The next day her foot was swollen and she couldn’t much pressure on it so off we headed to urgent care.

After xrays revealed it wasn’t broken (thank goodness!), the doctor gave her a boot for a bad sprain and told her to stay off it for a few weeks. That’s not going to be easy for our active little lady.

violin

Gwyneth could not be more excited to start playing the violin. Her entire class has started but she is so excited she signed up for private lessons. She practices every night without even being asked. We’re starting to recognize some of her tunes and she’s currently working on Somewhere Over the Rainbow which couldn’t be more perfect for our Wizard of Oz loving gal.

las vegas | ny ny

My mom graciously stayed with our girls for 3 nights so we could head to Las Vegas with our friends Don and Lisa. We set out to celebrate Lisa’s birthday and what a weekend it was! We spent our weekend eating, drinking, a little gambling, a magic show and a whole lot of fun. It was such a fun getaway with the best of friends.

David Copperfield Magic Show. Don is a huge fan of magic and he was pretty excited.

Our seats were in the second row which was pretty fabulous. Even more fabulous – I got called up on stage to be part of one of the tricks. It was so much fun.

We stayed at New York, New York which is still one of my favorites. It’s not as upscale as some of the others but its quirky and I love it.

The next morning we were up bright and early and were back to exploring the strip.

We had lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s pub and grill at Ceasar’s. We had huge beers and good food.

We finished off our night at the Venetian enjoying Lobster Me which is basically a lobster lollipop which is not sad at all.

Our last day we walked and walked and walked and had the most delicious dinner at CraftSteak in the MGM. It’s a Tom Colicchio restaurant and being big Top Chef fans we couldn’t wait to try it. We had steak and lobster and monkey bread for dessert. It was decadent and over the top which pretty much sums up Vegas!

I wish we could have packed up one of these Eiffel tower cupcakes for the girls. We didn’t try them but they sure were pretty.

We had the most fun and I’m so grateful for an amazing husband, fun friends, and a wonderful mom willing to spend time with our beautiful babies.

nuggets vs suns

We are a Nuggets loving family. We’re all hooked on the team and love going for games.

We started our night of fun with drinks at the Westin.

Then off to dinner at the Thirsty Lion. This has become one of our favorite spots for pre-game snacks. The food can be hit or miss but their seasonal menu is always spot on and they make a delicious California roll. You can’t beat the location either – just a few blocks from the Pepsi Center.

We were just a few rows off the court for the game and were all cheering for our Nuggets. It was a great game and we all had the best time. The Nuggets narrowly lost to the Suns which a total bummer, but didn’t ruin our evening. We always have such a good time and are already planning for our next game.

We finished off the night with some ice creams at Mellow Mushroom. It was an amazing and memorable night not soon to be forgotten.