Girls Day Out

Since I am now part-time, Friday is my completely free day that is mostly catch up around the house and lots of playing with little one, but once in a while a fun girls trip is planned. This time KelleyAnne, Hope, Taylor & I headed downtown to check out a fabulous selection of decorative fabrics at High Fashion Home for Hope's bedroom makeover. How fun is this sectional?!

Taylor was a fabulous shopping partner (no worries, her other shoe is in the stroller!). After a visit across the street at High Fashion Fabric to get some darling ribbons for Taylor's hair accessories and some beautiful Heather Bailey fabrics, we had a yummy lunch at Kraftsmen Bakery on Montrose (thanks, KA) and then I had to take them to my favorite packaging store, Palmer Packaging. They just moved to a new location and have a great selection of vellum bags, boxes, ribbons and all the fun packaging essentials.

Saving the best for last, we stopped at Crave on the way home for some fabulous cupcakes. It was such a fun treat and the perfect way to end our adventure.

Thanks, Girls!

Daddy's Girl

The house is quiet again, J&J's six week visit ended too quickly and Taylor has been more clingy to her dad this week - we think she misses her brothers (and all their attention!). Here is a sweet moment I was able to capture of the two of them.

YUM!!!

A fun surprise came to us from some dear friends! Thank you so much J & L!

A Little Farewell

As Johnathan is preparing to head to the Dominican Republic in September, we had an open house for friends to come by and wish him well. It was so great to have so many people come and visit with everyone. We were not great about taking pictures, so here are just a few....

Jill, Sarah, Emily, Ali, John & Julie
Friends from HS - Kyle, John, Tim and Austin

True Talent

A fun package came a few weeks ago from my darling, extremely talented and creative cousin, Chelle. She had made this dress and did all of the handwork. How spoiled we feel to have Taylor as the special recipient of this gorgeous keepsake!

I love all the detail, even the back is so darling!

Our little model - we need a formal photograph in this dress!

What Every Girl Needs

What every little girl needs (and big girls too!) - Pink Patent Leather Driving Moccasins! You do not know how many compliments Taylor has gotten on these darling shoes - thanks, Barbara, for your thoughtfulness!

Indoor Tricks

Our Little Fashionista

This is the picture I got on my phone during a business dinner....

Becoming Mobile

Happy Birthday John!

A fun splurge for John's big day last week - an amazing show!
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Celebrating with a Lau family favorite "Flat as the Plains Chocolate Cake" or Chocolate Coconut Marshmallow Cake - i use butter instead of oleo; I added sliced almonds to the chocolate icing so they became almond joy bars. Yum!

Late Night Antics

Practicing a new dance move Jordan wearing John's cheerleading pants from high school

Team Work

J & J filled in for the week that Taylor's nanny was on vacation. She loved all the attention and fun - wouldn't you?! Look at the love and attention she got!

Chicago (part 2)

Here is the rest of our trip to Chicago - its taken a while to get them posted and get the pics from Johnathan's camera too. Sorry!

Man, I love this town. I started coming when I finished grad school, for work and to play with my dear friend from grad school, Dicy who works for Wrigleys (see the Wrigley Tower!). Many fond memories of girlfriend trips have been had in this city and I still love it and am so glad that Dicy still lives here! It was so fun to share it with the boys.

The boys headed to Wrigley Field and Taylor & I played with Dicy, Eleanor & Trey. It was so fun to spend time with them and be an urban mom for the day. We went to a great park that is tucked away in the city and relaxed and caught up. Eleanor was a great friend to little Taylor The icon of our Midwest

We then had dinner at the House of Blues - Taylor looks a little tipsy - this is before the music startedThis great blues musician was performing during dinner and Taylor was fascinated and loved it (and the sweet potato fries!).

The next day John, Johnathan and Jordan went for a Segway tour and Taylor & I had a power walk through Millenium Park, went to Garrett's popcorn (its the best especially when you eat the caramel and cheese together!) and did some shopping on Michigan Ave. We also had to make a stop to my favorite paper store, The Paper Source.

The segway tour was 2.5 hours and they had a blast exploring the lake front and museum district. The weather was perfect - sunny but in the 80s. Pleasant enough not to remember sunscreen...ouch!

We met up for lunch on Michigan Avenue and then grabbed a cab to O'Hare to come home! Great trip - loved it!

Hanging out on Michigan Avenue!

A Little More Culture

We had another "field trip" downtown, this time to the Museum of Science to see the exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors from Xian, China - next best thing to actually going to China this summer!

The next generation of warriors!

Taylor meeting Shi Huangdi - The First Emperor Our fair maidens

Dinner in Chinatown at Tan Tan's and then its not complete without Shakes with tapioca pearls from Star Snow Ice!

Taylor's new best friend....!