Happy Easter weekend!

There's nothing like a crafty morning to get my good mood flowing this Good Friday! I went to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up the necessary supplies to make this super cute Peeps Wreath I found on Mama Pea's blog. Now mind you I haven't done anything crafty since high school and that was only scrap booking, which is a pretty easy hobby. Here's the link to the wreath I made:
http://peasandthankyou.com/
I know don't have any kids yet but I swear, I felt compelled to make this my darn self! Like most people I know, I hate the way peeps taste and yes, I find this a bit unfortunate because those buggers are so cute it almost makes me want to eat one every time the Easter season rolls around. As if I need to remind myself every year that BLEGH, they are super gross!
Anyway, back to the craft. I'm confused as to how MP and her kids made a cuter and more organized wreath than a grown adult (ME) because sadly to say, mine didn't turn out as great as hers.

I spent the better part of my morning walking around Jo-Ann fabrics because
1.) I couldn't find anything in that gigantic store and there weren't many sales associates around.
2.) I forgot how much fun it is to browse all the do-it-yourself crafts.. this could get dangerous..
3.) There was a 60% sale going on and I picked up some necessary Easter decorations for next year (Shh.. don't tell the hubby!)

 

looks kinda cute from afar...

and then once you're up close, you can see it's many flaws!! Oh well, it's still a cute idea!

Back to last night, we tried out a new pizza joint for dinner called Spacca Napoli in the Ravenswood neighborhood. We found this place by chance when browsing through our stack of $10 off cards.

http://www.spaccanapolipizzeria.com/

Our starter was this seafood salad with poached calamari, cuttlefish, shrimp, celery, kalamata olives, with lemon and olive oil, which was fresh and plentiful but we both agreed that it didn't have any flavor. Well...flavor besides just the freshness of the seafood. I was thinking maybe they could have used more flavorful olive oil? Just a thought.

The bread came with the salad and it was a bit soggy (I prefer my bread crispy on the outside and soft on the inside!)

T had the Funghi e Salsicci that included mozzarella, basil, mushrooms, and Italian sausage. I didn't take a slice of his because I wasn't in the mood for all those muddled flavors- and by muddled I mean the Italian sausage!

I was craving something more simple so I had the Bufalina pizza with basil, and buffalo mozzarella. The pizza was tasty and reminiscent of those I had in London but my only problem with it was that there was too thick of a crust and not enough pizza! In my book, it's okay to have a thick crust if it actually tastes like something other than bread but it's not okay if it doesn't and just takes up all this precious space. I still thought it was good enough and will definitely come back when I'm craving pizza like this.

Our morning omelet this morning that T made using our leftover bibimbap from this weekend. I told him after today it is time to throw that bad boy out! I have a policy of keeping leftover food for over 5 days.. yucky!!

Happy 33 weeks! My boy's kicking up a storm today.

Happy thoughts for Good Friday and Happy Easter weekend!

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."
-- 1 John 3:16 NIV

Buy Buy Baby

While on one of our many visits into Chicago, I took T to this cozy pizza restaurant that I went to while back in high school. I believe the only time I've been was after my high school prom and I remember the pizza being very unique and delicious. The restaurant is in the Lincoln Park neighborhood with $8.00 valet but we managed to snag a spot close to the restaurant- score!

We started off with a Mediterranean thin naan style bread covered in different spices- it was salty and delicious!

Here's our giant salad we split- I swear I could only eat a couple bites of each appetizer because I wanted to save room for the main event.

The pizza pot pie had all my favorite ingredients: meat sauce, mushrooms, and a thick layer of mozzerella cheese- yuum!!!

Some more eats:

 

We stopped by Yu's Chinese restaurant on our way back from Chicago on Wednesday (T had ANOTHER  interview) and I ordered the always amazing and tasty seafood noodles.

After lunch, we stopped by Buy Buy Baby in Schaumburg and managed to snag most of our nursery furniture and bedding. The furniture looks so much better in person but here's a small sneak peak. I can't wait to put all our cute bedding in it!! We also found Buy Buy Baby to be a much better shopping experience than Babies R Us so we're nixing Babies and going with Buy Buy for all our baby purchases. Not only can you use as many 20% coupons you can find (Bed, Bath & Beyond, text coupons, AND in store coupons), the customer service is top notch; the sales rep really know their stuff and are eager to help you find everything you need and you practically don't have to ask because they'll come up to you!!

Breakfast @ Egg Harbor

http://eggharborcafe.com/

pumpkin pancakes

 

Who knew a squirrel could be so fascinating for all!! 

patiently waiting while T negotiates our furniture package

On Friday, we spent the morning @ The Room Place and bought most of our furniture for our new apartment- couches, coffee table, kitchen table, bedroom set, entertainment stand, and lamps. I didn't take a picture of all the stuff we got but I was really pleased with everything, especially our marble kitchen table!!

this color?

After we had finished furniture shopping, we went to the Hyundai dealership to check out some SUV's and test drove the Sante Fe, Veracruz, and the Kia Sorento.  I liked the leg room of the Veracruz but since it was a bigger model, it didn't drive as smoothly as the Sante Fe or Sorento. Ultimately, the Sorento won out because of the three seat row option and what I thought was better handling.

or that color?

 

a trip to BWW for lunch

Coldstone Creamery for dessert

we're one step closer to buying a car..

and we're new KIA owners!! Whoop Whoop!

Mom came to town!

Amuse Bouche

 http://www.clubgascon.com/library/CHRISTMASspecial%20MENU%20CLUB%2011web.pdf

shellfish plancha- my fav along with the pumpkin soup

pumpkin soup- I had the soup in place of foie gras which was a wise choice because it was DELICIOUS!

halibut

capon

donut

chocolate fondant

Sonoma knows someone is comin...

 

She waited eagerly by the door before....

jumping like crazy to see my mother come through the door. What a lovely way to be welcomed :)

my mom is in town to visit for three weeks and she brought along some snacks

We're starting the kid off early!

and she brought over the cutest onesies that T purchased online. Seriously? Are these clothes supposed to fit a human being? They are SOOO tiny!

Love it!

Life

For a future mother, nothing is worse than losing your baby. No matter how short, or how long that baby was growing inside you, it still hits like a ton of bricks. You wonder if you can recover from such news. Lord knows, things will never be the same. A mixture of emotions flood you and the tears don’t ever seem to end. You feel robbed and angry of what could and should have been. While others around you have glowing first time pregnancies, you’re left with so many unanswered questions, but mainly WHY. Why me? Why us? You know your next pregnancy will never be the same.

So, when I found out the news we were expecting again, I did what I did the last time. I prayed. My prayers went something like this: Dear lord, I know things haven’t really been the same since I last talked to you, but I hope you can forgive me that we haven’t been as close. Now with me being pregnant again, I know you know how scared and worried we’ve been. Please, I pray, if you’re listening, please protect this baby. Please keep it healthy and safe, and let it grow.

and boy, did it grow! Weeks turned into months, and by month three, I was able to breath a certain sigh of relief. 2 arms, 2 feet, all organs, and a loud beating heart. Is there a better sound in this world?

Dear Baby, you aren't here yet but I love you more than words can say. This must be what unconditional love feels like