catch up ::september::

September. I hit the "15 pounds lost" mark, but I have stayed there...and haven't budged. More details on that later. It's pretty obvious that all the events in this post and my August post are a good indication as to why I haven't lost any more weight but guess what? Everything was so completely worth it and the good news is that with all this fun stuff I haven't gained anything, so I'm still truckin.

So here we go with another great month!

First up : Chicago.

Labor day weekend Jessica, Monica, Jamie, Laura and I went up to Chi Town to visit Liz and Meredith in the new city they get to call home!

We were so lucky to be able to stay at Amy and Robert Landers' awesome apartment while they were out of town and dog-sit Finley, their adorable chocolate lab. Friday night we stayed in and had cocktails and snacks on their huge private rooftop deck, overlooking Wrigley Field ... which was as horrible as it sounds...
:)

Saturday morning we went to the Bongo Room for brunch, and I'll just let the pics do the talking here.

Happy dieting, Molly. 

my loves.

We walked it off a bit on Southport Avenue, and then got to go enjoy Caroline's (liz's niece) 1st birthday party at a ballet studio located in the same building as Liz's school.

a little unsure about this cake thing....

That night we went to a bar on top of the Lincoln hotel and then Cafe Ba-ba-reeba for tapas and sangria. Delish and such a blast. Fun fun friends I tell ya.

Sunday was our day of  tourism...we went to another cute area of town and got ice cream and lunch, in that order, then took the train to Millenium Park to see the bean and walk along Lake Michigan.

back bends. the instinctive pose.

We ended the trip with a stop to see Maggie and Duane and their new condo. It was so great to see them and Maggie was such an adorable pregnant lady! (Lady, woman, girl, chick? Please tell me how to properly refer to my adorable pregnant friends!)

Dinner at Caro Mio followed, a BYOB italian restaurant with the best gnocchi I think I've ever had. I spilled wine on Liz's new anthropologie shirt I begged to borrow. We closed the place down.

Can't wait for our next girls trip, there really isn't anything better. :)

The rest of September has been full of two trips to Manhattan for football games, a late anniversary celebration, the plaza art fair, and Taylor's busy soccer coaching season. This weekend we have nothing planned and I am so excited to relax and enjoy this beautiful weather! The farmer's market and dog/people parks are calling my name. Wish it was the weekend already. Fall 2012 is turning out to be quite a spectacular one! Maybe I'll get festive and carve a pumpkin this year or decorate my house. Maybe.

catching up :: august ::

Well, the last time I posted was in the middle of summer and now summer is over!! Ahhh!! It was very busy and absolutely wonderful. Here are some August highlights and of course the illustrative instagrams....

The weekend of August 4th we went on a float trip with some friends down to the Elk River in Noel, Missouri. It was a blast, even with an extremely low water level, equalling a lotta paddling and not so much floating.

The following weekend we went out to California to visit my family. It was action packed and SO wonderful. Two trips to the beach, one to the horse races, drinks on the beach, great food, hiking, an 80s cover band concert, Liam's friend's birthday party, working out (at the club all the real housewives of the oc work out at, nbd)  :) ...and more and more and more. It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again soon!

Fiona's new wetsuit!

Pat, Cindy, Sam, Jennifer, Taylor and I at this amazing bar on the beach in Laguna.

sunset view.

First day at Laguna beach. Fiona is really shy, we just can't break her out of her shell. :)

Liam and Fiona on the train ride to Del Mar.

The races!

Can't complain!!!

The following weekend was Laura's wedding weekend! The rehearsal dinner was at Carmen's Cafe in Brookside, and of course beautiful! Rehearsal dinners are my favorite, they are always just so special.

the soon-to-be LaHues!

....and the married Lahues!!!

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and so were the bride and groom! Here you can see a little bit of the alter that her dad made out of barn wood, it was mega awesome sweet cool.

Bridesmaids. :)

It was so awesome to be a part of this wedding, the day was so relaxing - we even went to brunch at the Farmhouse in the river market after we got our hair done. Laura was such a perfect bride and the day couldn't have gone better! She and Pat are such a wonderful couple, I'm so thrilled for them!

And that is August is a nutshell! Pretty great month I'd say...