A lot has happened in the past four weeks including a family vacation to Palm Springs, a weekend away for our 6th wedding anniversary in Chicago, University of Michigan was victorious over Michigan State, my Uncle Dan sadly passed away after a tough battle with pancreatic cancer, we celebrated a fun Halloween with the kids and… WE’RE MOVING! And holy smokes, someone pinch me, it still doesn’t feel real.
A few weeks ago, good friends of ours mentioned that their next door neighbors were looking to sell. One thing lead to another and somehow, all the pieces fell right into place. We bought our new home and sold our current one in less than a week and before Christmas hits we’ll be the newest residents of the Ottawa Hills neighborhood, which is less than a half mile south of where we live now. We’re gaining a second full bathroom (which is something we’ll need in the not so distant future), a few more bells and whistles (like walk-in closets and a spacious mudroom) and some more square footage in the rooms that matter most to us: the kitchen, dining room and the living room.
As we walked through the house for the first time I got butterflies because I could see, clear as day, the next 20 years of our lives unfold within those walls. Overly dramatic? Totally. But I’ll tell you this, the last time I had this level of confidence about something was the day I met Jeff Kladder - and he was the best decision I’ve ever made.
Needless to say, it’s unlikely we’ll put up a Christmas tree this year as we transition homes. Things have already started going into boxes and in my mind the new house is already put together. In the meantime, we’re soaking up the last couple weeks on Rosewood and I’m doing my best to practice self restraint with my online shopping for the new place.
And despite the commotion on the literal home front, we've been able to find some time to relax over the last month while on vacation. First, in Chicago Jeff and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a weekend of fun. We finally saw the ever anticipated Hamilton which totally lived up to our high expectations. We wined and dined, shopped and spent quality time with local friends over cocktails and karaoke. For the first time ever in Chicago we booked a food tour with Chicago Food Planet and had an absolute blast. We opted for the Chinatown tour because first, we didn’t know a Chinatown existed in Chicago, but second, we love Asian cuisine. It was three hours of food and drink with an expert tour guide who shared with us knowledge about the food, culture and history of the neighborhood. It was a riot!
Right after Chicago we escaped with the kids to Palm Springs, California for some time in the sun. We met Jeff’s parents there and covered a lot of ground: golfing, shopping, children’s museum, the zoo, hiking and lots and lots of time at the pool. Read more about our trip here.
For Halloween this year the boys dressed as sailors while us girls went as mermaids. The celebrations began in the morning with Natalie’s class party where I volunteered to run Bingo and the ‘Nail the Golf Tee in the Pumpkin’ station. I wore my sequined ‘mermaid’ jacket where I got lots of compliments from the 3 and 4-year-olds which resulted in me wearing it out in public later that weekend in Chicago - it was perfect for karaoke night.
On Halloween night we made a stop at our neighbors for a quick drink together before trick-or-treating with the kids and dinner at the Scholten’s house. The weather was crummy so the Dad’s got chaperon duty outdoors while Ashley and I handed out candy to the other trick-or-treaters back at home. Despite the rain, the kids cleaned up on candy and while they may have forgotten about their pumpkin buckets, Jeff and I have not. All the good stuff is picked over.
Another notable event from the last couple weeks was Disney’s Frozen Jr. at the Civic Theatre with Natalie and our friends Vienna and Emily. We are huge fans of the performance arts and we’re pretty excited that Natalie seems just as interested. I was super proud of both girls for being such fantastic audience members. After the show we grabbed treats and ‘cocktails’ at Littlebird - one of our favs. I have a feeling our girl-dates are going to escalate quickly!
Between the move and the holidays, December is bound to be an eventful one and we’re ready to rumble! See you out there!
ON DECK:
Winter Wonderland at the Downtown Market on Dec. 4th including a visit with Santa and special discounts on vendor items.
The Uptown Holiday Shop Hop on Dec. 5th, see you there!
The UICA Holiday Artists Market hosted at Steelcase on Dec. 7th.
A visit (or two!) to Meijer Gardens to see the live reindeer, Santa, the train & tree display. Check out all their available events here.
The Art Van Santa Parade is tomorrow, Nov. 23rd and begins at 9am. The kids are looking forward to waving at Santa.