Labor Day Weekend

When James and I found out that our baby was due December 30, we realized that would mean no trip home for Christmas. And we didn’t want to wait until after Christmas, because that would mean no trip home for well over a year. That’s too long!

So we decided to plan a little trip home over Labor Day weekend. And it was short, but very, very sweet. We had perfect weather – high 70’s, low 80’s; sunny clear skies, and perfect views of the mountains.

And our lovely mothers threw us an incredible baby shower! They went above and beyond in making decorations, preparing food, and hosting a huge crowd of friends and family for this special day. It was so fun to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, friends from high school, and even friends from college join us to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our sweet little girl. James and I were truly overwhelmed with all the love and support everyone showed us and our baby. Here are some pics of this fun occasion.

Our moms did a storybook theme for the party. I LOVE the little storybook garland they made.

Here's a closer up pic...each little book had pages from a Mother Goose book...so fun!

And here is the menu: Little Boy Blue Blueberry Scones, Peter Piper Prawns, Baker's Man Brownies, Little Lamb cookies, Mary Quite Contrary Salad, Goldilox tea sandwiches, Humpty Dumpty Egg Quiche, and Hush-a-Bye Bellinis.

Here's part of the spread...so much good food! Lois made these scones with fresh whipped cream, berry preserves, and this delicious lemon curd.

Lois also made these sweet little lamb cookies, each little one with a pearl and bow. They didn't last long...

And can we just say that our little lady was beyond spoiled! She is going to be quite well dressed...I can't wait to play dress-up with her! And she even got some clothing that James appreciates - Bob got her a little Carhart jumper with pink camo, and my Mom got her a little Notre Dame outfit. So it wasn't all ruffles and tu-tus. :0)

And I suppose this gift was more for me than my little girl...I always wanted a Molly Doll growing up, but never got one. So my mom finally broke down and got one for my baby...hopefully she likes Molly! I'm sure she will...I'll make sure to start reading her Molly books when she's three.

The rest of our weekend was lovely as well. My brother took James fishing with Jason and Bob, and they all caught some salmon. My brother also brought home fresh-caught crab, so we fully feasted on PacNW summer foods. While the boys were fishing, my mom, Lois and I all went out for lunch and strolled along the Bellingham Bay waterfront. It was perfect!

And the next time we return home, we'll finally have our sweet little girl to introduce to everyone. We can't wait!

Nursery Chronicles (vol. 1: Inspiration Board)

I've got a new post up on the Types of A blog! Check it out: http://typezofa.tumblr.com/

Meet Me in St. Louis!

At the end of July, James and I were able to meet up with several friends from grad school for a little mid-summer reunion. We met up in St. Louis, where our friends Adam and Alison were lodging at Al’s parent’s house for the summer before their departure to Switzerland for the upcoming year. Alison’s sweet parents hosted James, me, Karen, and Sara in the house that Alison grew up in. This trip was definitely one segment of the “Homeland Tour” that we had always schemed about (homeland tour meaning we visit all of our friends’ hometowns – fun, right?) We had a great weekend, and it was so fun to explore St. Louis with a native.

Our friend Sara actually flew into Chicago a day early to hang with us, and then we all drove down to St. Louis together. The weekend was blistering hot, so we did a lot of back and forth from the house to keep cool throughout the weekend. Some major highlights:

1. We met up with Adam, Al, and Karen at an Oster Bar in downtown St. Louis, then went to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium.

Given that the heat index was 110 degrees, I think we're looking pretty good here!

Love the awkward boy pic :0)

1. 2. Celebrating Sara’s 30^th Birthday! This was a few months late, but we wanted to celebrate her birthday nonetheless. We had a big BBQ, and Alison’s mom Patsy grilled up some of the best pork tenderloin I’d ever had. Sara is a huge paleo fiend (read: eats LOTS of meat, veggies, healthy fats, and very few carbs), so we thought a meat cake would be appropriate for the occasion. :0) Don’t worry, we also had plenty of ice cream, hot fudge, and sorbet after our meaty feast.

1. 3. Playing LRC (left-right-center) with Al’s family. This was a game that we played with Adam and Alison for many of our Princeton holidays together, and we always heard how raucous it was when the Eitel family played it in St. Loius. And they delivered! It was a great round, and as you can see Karen rolled in the dough.

1. 4. Surprise Baby Shower! On our last morning in St. Louis, our friends surprised us with a lovely Baby Shower brunch. They know how much I love brunches, and this was just perfect! Our little baby was so loved, even at 17 weeks!

Our brunch menu:

I love that this lovely lady was a part of our shower!

Super cute onesie Cookies!

Looking forward to the next reunion, whenever that may be!

New Blog...

I have started the journey of a new blog with some friends from grad school. We thought it would be a fun way to keep in touch now that we are spread far and wide (Chicagoland, Texas, Switzerland, and Philadelphia). The blog is called Types of A (a riff on the fact that we're all recovering Type A's!), and here is the address:

http://typezofa.tumblr.com/

I am still going to keep this blog up and running, as slow going as it is. This blog will probably continue to be random life updates, and I hope to post more on projects/crafts/fashion on my other blog. But I will put a link here to a new blog post whenever I do post on Types of A.

My first post on Types of A is "Pillow Talk." You can check it out here: http://typezofa.tumblr.com/post/10227487453/pillow-talk

Ravinia

A few weeks ago James and I got to experience one of Chicago’s favorite summer events – the Ravinia Music Festival. Ravinia is a beautiful private park, and in the summertime it features concerts nearly every night. The music ranges from pop music to classical, and we got to go one Friday evening featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing a variety of Brahms pieces.

We showed up around 6:00pm with a picnic blanket and a basket full of picnic goodies with our friends Adam and Tamara. There was some high class picnicking at Ravinia! People brought fancy table linens and vases with flowers and candles and Champaign and wine and cheese spreads. New time we might need to step it up a bit with our picnic spread.

Then the music starts around dusk, and there are hundreds of little white candles strung from the trees that get brighter as the sky gets darker. Brahms was delightful, we had a great time with our friends, and it was a perfect summer evening. We can’t wait to go to Ravinia again!

My parents just finished up a two week stay at La Casa Rienstra, and I think we’d all agree that the highlight of their time here was a weekend trip to the Michigan shores. James and I have been on Lake Michigan in the Chicago area, but we’ve heard about how beautiful the beaches are on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan. So we took off during the 4^th of July weekend for Sagatauk, Michigan. Sagatauk is a great little artsy seaside town, with beautiful walkways along the harbor, fun shopping, good food, and fabulous beaches. The main beach in Sagatauk, Oval Beach, has actually been ranked by several travel magazines and was ranked by Conde Nast as one of the top 5 beaches in the US. Not bad for the mid-west, huh?

On our drive up to Sagatauk, we stopped for a picnic on the beach in South Haven, Michigan – another great little beach town. The place was packed – it must have taken us 45 minutes to find a parking spot! But once we got to the beach it was well worth it.

Then we carried on to Sagatauk, checked into our hotel, freshened up, and hit the town to stroll the harbor, sip margaritas, and enjoy an amazing prime rib dinner for my parents’ anniversary.

The next day we packed a lunch and took off for Oval Beach – and Conde Nast is right – this is a fabulous beach! It has a very East Coast beach feel – sea grass, sailboats, and rolling sandy hills beyond the beach. And the water is so much warmer than the Pacific shores that I grew up on – you can swim in it without feeling numb! We all came home a little toasty after several hours in the sun, but very satisfied.

We hit up a really cute little restaurant on the water for our Fourth of July Dinner, The Mermaid, and had some of the best calamari I’ve had in a long time. Then we rolled out our picnic blanket at the park for Fireworks over the Harbor with a package of fudge from the local chocolate shop. Pure Independence Bliss!

Memorial Day at the Beach (And thank heavens there is a beach!)

Here in Chicagoland, this has been a colder spring than usual – so I am told. Thus I was thrilled to find out that we’d have a sunny, clear, thunderstorm-free Memorial Day of 91 degrees. Yahoo!

Of course, 91 degrees is HOT. And what does any sane person want to do on a day such as this? Go to the beach, of course. Now, I’ve lived on the West Coast and on the East Coast and so the beach is a viable option in either of those places. But now I live in the Mid-west, nowhere near an ocean. But to my very pleasant surprise, the shores of Lake Michigan feel very much like an ocean. You can look out at the water and see no signs of land, so far and vast is this expansive lake. Up to this point, however, I’ve only seen Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. And while the waterfront is beautiful, it’s no beach. There isn’t a sandy spread to lay out a beach towel and an umbrella.

But the locals informed me that if one moves beyond Grant Park, you can indeed find sandy beaches downtown. And, in the northern suburbs, there are some amazing beaches. So James and I decided to go check out the beaches in Evanston. This is a great town north of Chicago, where Northwestern is located. It has great shops, restaurants, parks, bookstores, and, beaches. James and I were thrilled as we strolled the paths along the water…and the beaches were hopping for Memorial Day! Volleyball, massive family BBQ’s, sandcastles, soccer, ice cream, and everything that makes for a good summer day.

So my plan is this…hit the beaches as many times as possible this summer, to store up on some Chicago lovin’ before I hit the winter again. Because man, I really hate the winters here. But I do love beaches, and Chicago, it turns out, has a lot of them. Thank heavens.