My Latest Obsessions

The Fam and the Stanley Cup = Pretty Sweet! 

Our George giving a thumbs up to His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

Summer is officially half way over. It took us awhile to get in to the swing of our summer routine yet soon it will be time for the kiddos to head back to school. And wow, this year MMC will be heading to 2nd Grade and CMC will be in 4th Grade. And Georgie starts his first official year of pre-school. Time flies. I vividly remember 3 years ago (next Tuesday to be exact = GMC's bday) moving back into our house (after several months of renovations). 

This past Monday we had an opportunity to get our picture taken w/ the Stanley Cup. The kids were ecstatic. Very COOL! I had NO idea how old the cup is until I did a little research. We were lucky to be a part of the summer of celebration w/ the Cup. Each player and staff member gets 24 hours w/ the cup. Love that! 

I must admit that I'm pretty into all the Royal Baby Madness. Call it a Royal Crush if you will. Come on now, I was totally up at 4:30 am the day that Princess Catherine and Prince William got married. I loved it all. I knew that the name George was in the running for the Royal Baby boy. It was fun to tell Georgie the news (see pic above). And what a name = George Alexander Louis. Love it. Speaking of my crush on the Royal Couple I appreciated Joanna Goddard's post on Princess Kate. I love her too. I too was pleasantly surprised by the fact that she very gracefully walked out of the hospital proudly displaying her "I just had a baby" belly. She didn't hide it. Cheers, Kate! Well done. And she looked stunning none the less. What a class act. She is so relateable (so much that I think my Georgie and her George would get along just fine on a playdate)! 

We're off to pick up our own Cate this weekend. She has been up at the Lake w/ her grandparents and an aunt/uncle and cousins since this past Tuesday. This little break couldn't have come at a better time for her and Margaret. Margaret had horse camp all week and the time apart has been great for the two of them. Everyone needs a little time apart, right?! We are excited to see Cate this weekend and hear about her little "vacation" and Margaret is SUPER anxious to tell her all about her horse "Sam." And of course GMC wants to dish about the the Royal Prince being named George! 

Have a FABULOUS weekend! XO - D2

Some of my latest faves: 

• LOVE the Jenny Packham dress that Princess Catherine wore out of the hospital. Do you think she had a pink one ready in case she had a girl? I wonder. However, she was channeling her late mother in law - see pic. And wowser = the "Kate Effect" = the Aden + Anais blankets are sold out. Georgie still carries around the same exact bird one that Prince George was swaddled w/ on his way home from the hospital. 
• Very pretty art deco notebooks. Love these! 
• We had some dear friends over Wednesday evening for dinner. Menu = 3 ingredient pulled pork (w/ pretzel buns = YUMMY), finely chopped coleslaw, Ina Garten's fresh corn salad, and watermelon feta cucumber salad (combo of sweet + salty = awesome). I tried the night before to make this Chocolate Chip Cookie Icebox Cake, however, for some reason the heavy cream and mascarpone cheese did not stiffen up. Plan B worked out just fine. The next morning I went out and bought some vanilla bean ice cream and used the cookies (8 dozen mind you!) and made ice cream sandwiches out of them. The sandwiches were AWESOME (mostly due to the fact that the cookies were so yummy). I bought Almond Joy Coconut homemade Cookies from the gourmet section at Jewel. A friend passed along the tip that they sold them. Quite good! So, if you are in the hood PLEASE stop by and pick up an ice cream sandwich (as we have plenty in the freezer)! PLEASE! 
• These DIY glitter vases are very cute. 
• I vacillate between being a morning person and a night owl. However, my problem always seems to be that I am both (leaving one quite exhausted all the time). I thought this was an interesting article on the One Thing These Crazy Successful People Do Every Morning. 
• PFC and I went and saw the movie Before Midnight last Saturday evening. It was tough but we crammed in both Before Sunrise and Before Sunset before seeing the 3rd film in the Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy trilogy. Nuts to think that these movies span from 1995 to 2013. Very interesting. Loved ALL 3 of the movies. The writing is excellent and the dialogue between Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) is so real. I enjoyed seeing the progression of a couple. I thought the films were creative and original and quite different from standard hollywood flicks. And it was interesting to learn about the inspiration for the movies - the real couple behind Before Sunrise. 
• I adore this getaway dress. So pretty! 
• Next Thursday = Opening of the Fashion Outlets of Chicago. FUN! Who doesn't love a good deal?! 
• The Day I Stopped Saying Hurry Up = a great read that makes you think. Another good read = How I Learned to Disconnect to Connect. I'm very guilty of both of these things. For sure. Right before school started last year we headed to Kinnikinnick Farm and did just that = DISCONNECTED. It was AH-MAZING. We're excited to head there again. 
• Who doesn't want a sophisticated yet welcoming home?!