My random blogging breaks have been because I haven't been home much and while I have good intentions of posting while I'm away, I always seem to become too busy having fun to sit down at the computer. So here's a quick update on what's been going on. :)

After getting back from Michigan (where we spent July 4th) we had a week of birthday celebrations! Our sweet Ruby girl turned three! We took her annual birthday picture, gave her some steak and chicken, and gave her lots of extra lovies.

Loren and I also celebrated our birthday that week, though I have no photographic evidence. We had dinner at Ditka's in Oakbrook and it was so yummy. If you ever get the chance to go to one of the Ditka's restaurants I highly recommend it! We came home intending to have a relaxing night in but instead Ruby got sprayed by a skunk! So, we spent the rest of the evening giving her a scrub and trying to get the stink out of the house.

We did get out to the Naperville Ale Fest and Loren really enjoyed it. It was a cool event and nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Plus, pretzel necklaces.

I left a couple days later to head to Washington for almost a week. It was such a great trip. I managed to see a lot of friends, spend time with my sister, and just feel like I was home for a few days. There was lots of eating, some wine tasting, and a trip to Pike Place Market.

Every time I visit now, I go to the Future of Flight museum and sit outside watching the airplanes come and go. I always feel so proud when I think that I used to work so close to the airplanes that I'm watching. It's also fun to listen to the tourists that are so impressed.

Leaving is always the hardest part of the trip, but I'll be back. Hopefully sooner, rather than later! :)

Thankfully Loren and I had some fun planned for this week to keep me from being too sad. We hit up the Goo Goo Dolls concert last night in Chicago. It's our third time seeing them and they always put on a good show. I don't have many pictures because I don't feel like they ever turn out great but I thought it was really neat when they had a bunch of giant balloons sent out into the crowd!

I have plans for two more concerts within the next 10 days so apparently I'm in a musical mood! I think that wraps up my busy July. I'll be back soon with some house updates (I painted!).

Love,
K

Fourth of July Celebration

We spent the week of the Fourth up north at my cousin's lake house in Traverse City, Michigan. I tried to write up one big recap of the week but it got WAY too lengthy, so I'll do separate posts of the highlights of the trip. :)

The Fourth of July is actually one of my favorite holidays. I love celebrating this beautiful country we live in and when the holiday celebrations end in fireworks!? You can't ask for much more. The guys went golfing in the morning and us gals started the day lounging in the sun.

After the guys got back we headed out on the boat for some tubing and to watch the Blue Angels. We even took Ruby out on the boat for a little bit! She liked being on the boat wasn't such a big fan of actually swimming in the lake (and yes, I make her wear a life jacket).

When it was time for the air show to start, I was excited but didn't expect to be as moved by it as I was. Loren and I have seen the Blue Angels before when they do a show at SeaFair in Seattle but something about seeing it on the 4th was really spectacular. And being in the company of some of my favorite people in the whole world, that was the cherry on top. :) 

We spent some more time in the sun and then headed back for dinner. Once it was getting close to being time for fireworks we headed back out on the water for a party! We had glow sticks and good jams so we danced it up while we waited for the fireworks to start. 

Ruby was over all the excitement and just wanted to snuggle with Dad. :) Overall, it was one of my favorite Fourth of July holidays I can remember. I'm so grateful that we were able to have such a fun day, and can't wait until next year! Hope you had a great holiday as well! Thanks for reading!

Love,
K

Weekend Recap

Is it just me or did Monday arrive way too quickly?! My parents came to visit for the weekend and we had such a good time with them. A good mix of getting out and about, relaxing, and getting a few things done around the house. They're good helpers. :) 

It was my Dad's birthday so we had celebrated that and Father's Day by heading to the Chicago Cubs game on Saturday night. It was the first time any of us had been to Wrigley Field so it was pretty exciting...especially for my parents and Loren who really like baseball. And the Cubs won! 

So many blue shirts. The bus ride getting back to our house was a bit of a fiasco so we didn't get home until after 1:00am which I think through Sunday off for us a bit. But after sleeping in and having such pancakes for breakfast we all worked on a few house projects. My Dad and Loren hung up a few things for me and Mom and I worked outside getting flowers planted and the front porch cleaned up. Amazing what a little power washing can do! 

It was a great weekend and I'm glad I was able to spend it with them. I think it's been ten years since I saw my Dad on his birthday! Hope you had a nice weekend too! 

Love, 

K

P.S. We also went to see the new Kevin Hart movie Central Intelligence and thought it was hilarious! Check it out if you need a chuckle! :)

A Michigan Mother's Day

Over the weekend Loren and I headed to Michigan to celebrate Mother's Day with the important ladies in our lives. We haven't been able to spend Mother's Day with our Moms in at least ten years so it was fun to have the chance. Of course, we had our ever faithful roadtrip companion....

She's so cute. And the best little traveler. The weekend was full of fun. Loren and his Dad went to visit his Grandma. 

Then they met up with my Dad to all go golfing. It seemed like they all had a really great time. All three of them mentioned to me how much fun they had together. Made me smile that they had such a good time as a group. 

While Loren was getting his male bonding time in, I went and got my hair chopped off!! 

I hadn't had a haircut since Christmas and after a slightly dramatic Facebook post on the subject, my lifesaver of a friend/hair stylist Kristy squeezed me in! I think she cut about 4 inches off and I'm loving the fresh do! The picture is one I sent to my sister in an "OMG! Look what I did moment!" :)

That evening my Mom and I picked up my Grandma and us gals went to the Mother-Daughter banquet at Grandma's church. It was nice to spend time with them both. 

Sunday was spent visiting with family and Loren's Mom and I made a trip to the Pottery Barn outlet before we had to head back to Chicagoland. It was a quick and fun weekend. Looking forward to another visit soon! 

Love, 

K

Life Lately

Hi friends! Stopping by for a quick update on things. We've been working on moving into our new place and I'm getting a post about that together to share soon but thought I'd just give a quick look at what we've been up to lately.

Loren and I went to game four of the Blackhawks playoffs. While the home team lost (and ended up losing the series) we still had a good time. Hockey at the United Center has yet to disappoint me.

My parents came to visit and check out our new place. It was so nice to see them and to get some help around the house! They came and helped with whatever we asked and I SO appreciated it. I like to do the unpacking on my own but really needed help with outdoor work so that's what they did. My Mom was awesome at raking and picking weeds/sticks out of the yard and my Dad helped Loren clean out our gutters which were practically growing trees! We did manage to squeeze in a little bit of fun though! They'd never been to Chicago so we took them to see our apartment and then showed them around town a bit.

Such a fun weekend! Since we've been staying at the house I'm playing carpool Mom and driving Loren to and from the train station. Ruby always joins me and it's so cute watching her wait for her Daddy!

It's also cute watching the strangers smile at her while they walk by. She makes everyone smile! :) Side note, Ruby tried a new daycare today and it seems like a great place. I'm so impressed with how well she's done during this move, it really blows my mind. It seems like as long as she knows we're still here with her, she's okay. Love that pup.

Anyway, I think that's a good update! I'll be back soon with a move-in report.

Love,
K

A Full Lovetank

This past weekend Loren and I took a trip to the Seattle area to surprise my sister. It was SO much fun and I'm super happy that we were able to go out for a quick trip. Laura and her boyfriend invited us to their housewarming party and I said to Loren "wouldn't it be fun if we could surprise her and go?!". I looked up tickets and couldn't believe our luck! Seriously, the cheapest flights I've ever seen to Seattle. We booked quickly, let her boyfriend in on our plan and tried to keep our yaps shut for the next few weeks. I've never surprised anyone before, and it's the nicest feeling! It was fun to see her reaction and happiness that we were there to celebrate with her. Priceless!

We were just there for an extended weekend but managed to schedule a few meet ups with our old pals. It was good for the soul (mine at least, Loren probably wouldn't say something so dramatic). Moving away turned out to be so much harder on me emotionally than I ever would have imagined so to see some of my nearest and dearest friends, and know that they were still happy to spend time with me, meant the world.

Lunch date with some of my favorite peeps. 🍕🍕🍕

A photo posted by Kristen Ayotte (@kristenayotte) on Apr 15, 2016 at 5:47pm PDT

I had met a few friends for lunch and afterwards while I was waiting for Loren to wrap up his lunch date I stopped by the Future of Flight museum to take a peek at the flight line where I used to work. It was nice to see all those airplanes lined up again. I maybe cried a little...there was a guy sitting in his car that I'm sure that I was a weirdo. Haha! 

Happy hour with my girls. 💜💜💜

A photo posted by Kristen Ayotte (@kristenayotte) on Apr 15, 2016 at 5:56pm PDT

It's a good day when you get to have lunch and happy hour with people that make you smile and feel happy! I was so grateful to have been able to meet up with them. Friday evening Laura, Diego, Loren and I went wine tasting in Woodinville. No pictures from that...must have been too busy tasting! :)

Saturday we went to one of my favorite places for breakfast, visited another couple friends, and helped where we could to get their house ready for the big party! It was a great party and I think everyone had a fun night.

A small photo shoot on the steps! Hahaha! :)

Love those goofballs!

Sunday we did a little more wine tasting and then went to lunch at a friend's house. We got to meet our friends new baby (adorable!) and see all the other kiddos that we love. Crazy how they grow up so quick! The day went by too quick and before we knew it we were at our last visit and then headed to meet back up with Laura & Diego for a quick snack and to say see ya later.

It was a weekend filled to the brim with love and fun. I try not to be such a sap, but it really did my heart good. And to have been able to make Laura so happy was awesome! I am all heart eyed emojis! :) Thanks for reading! Until next time...

Love,
K

Family Fun

Recently my in-laws came to town to visit, they spent several days at my sister in law's house and then came to stay with us in the city for a few days. We had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and showing them around the city. 

The boys having a couple drinks at dinner. :)

We went to the Macy's Flower Show. I guess they have it every year at the Macy's on State Street. I had pretty low expectations but it was gorgeous! The theme this year was America the Beautiful so they had displays to represent all the different areas of the US.

This cute little goober posing in the barn. :)

We also visited the Willis Tower Skydeck. It was a somewhat gloomy and drizzly day but we lucked out and managed to get a look around before visibility got too bad. We were able to see Loren's new work building (the red brick one in the photo below), and some other interesting buildings that are part of the Chicago skyline.

The last night they were in town my MIL and I went to the movies while Loren and his Dad went to the Bulls game. After the game we all met up for some happy hour snacks at our favorite local bar, Rudy's.

A photo posted by Kristen Ayotte (@kristenayotte) on Apr 2, 2016 at 6:45pm PDT

While it's always fun to play tour guide, I think Loren and I would both agree that the best times spent with visitors are when we're just hanging out together talking and laughing. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next visit!

Love, K