Life Lately

It’s been awhile since we caught up last on a personal level, hasn’t it 😉 So much has happened in December and January–we traveled to Oregon before the holidays, spent Christmas with the Loftus family in Chicago, celebrated New Years Eve in our traditional fashion, and flew off to Mexico for a few days!

Here’s what we’ve been up to over the past few weeks, in no particular order…

(Warning…there are a lot of babies in this post! Haha!)

Last weekend we FINALLY registered at Bed Bath & Beyond!! It was our first time registering for anything and I’m not going to lie, I’ve been looking forward to using that scanner gun for a LONG time now! We were so impressed with their selection–we found pretty much everything we were looking for (even our china!) there! (And gold flatware. Swoon!) I’ll be sharing a little video of our experience soon. Hehehe.

My new favorite photo of all time, including two of my favorite people of all time. Well…one counts as a person? Noodle is also winking, which really adds to the hilarity. We went over to Kelly and Mitch’s last Friday night and it was a much-needed reunion. We both traveled so much over the holidays we hadn’t all gotten together in more than a month!

Over the “Christmas Break” as we called it, we stopped into Neal’s favorite store, Stock Manufacturing. While it’s an all-men’s store, I have to admit, it’s honestly one of my favorites too. A. I steal all of his Stock flannels to wear for myself and B. It’s so fun to visit! The guys who run the store are really cool, and they have a bar where they give you FREE booze. I mean, can shopping get any more fun?

 

Andddd another baby! Neal was having the boys over for football, so I crashed lunch with my friend Meg (who runs this amazing jewelry company!) and her husband Kyle. They assured me I wouldn’t be a third wheel, I would just be James’ date.  Their ADORABLE little boy baby James (you should watch Meg’s insta-stories, he’s soo cute!) is very close to Emma’s age. (They are destined to be soulmates, we all say.) They came over afterwords for prosecco and beers and obviously Neal stole him immediately because he’s obviously obsessed with all babies. They also matched, so there’s that.

How cute is he, seriously though?

If you read this post, you know that we have a bit of a New Years Eve tradition, where we go to a late dinner with just the two of us. This year, we went to our friend Emily’s pre-party and then went off to dinner by ourselves to Taus Authentic. It was amazing, so much fun, and being the old people we are, we were like “hey, let’s just walk home and watch the ball drop at midnight!” …then we fell asleep on the couch 20 minutes later.

We’ve had some uncharacteristically warm days here in Chicago. One of them was so lovely that we sat out on our front porch and drank a bottle of champagne! (I mean really…why not?) Our sweet cousins, Mandy and Bobby, got us a bottle of Veuve for an engagement gift, and we enjoyed every last sip 😉

Right before Christmas, I did the COOLEST shoot with Kendra Scott and my awesome photographer friend, Natalie Probst! (I can’t wait to show you those photos!) It was bridal and evening-wear themed, and they even wanted Neal to come at the end. He was so cute and such a good sport. We shot this at the Public Hotel–it has the prettiest lobby! Have you been? Their restaurant, the Pump Room, is one of our favorites!

My friend Debbie did my hair and makeup for the Kendra Scott shoot. What magic did she work with my hair!? OMGGG. If you’re looking for a hair and makeup artist in Chicago, I loveee her! Can’t say enough wonderful things!

Last but not least. How sweet is my new niece, Ashlynn!? She’s seriously so stinking cute. I can’t take it. I’m so thankful she arrived right before I went home so I could spend some time with her!

Ohhhhh Neal with a baby again! Okay sorry, that’s the end of the baby pictures. This one was just too cute not to share. I should’ve just called this the “Life Lately: Babies who are not ours [is that creepy?] edition.”

What have YOU been up to lately? This isn’t just a one-way conversation, you know. Tell me in the comments! 

P.S.  Do you believe in fate? and Why I’ll never stop dating.