cali girl at heart

a little sun and sand was just what this mrs. needed. back in january i convinced my mom to fly to san diego with me for a few days of pure relaxation. luckily for me she agreed! i couldn't be more excited. getting through january and the first part of february was okay because i knew i would be in the sun soon. 

i flew in first and waited anxiously for mom to join me. you would think it had been years since we've seen each other with our greeting in the airport. we were both that excited! we spent the rest of the week doing a lot of nothing! shopping, eating out, playing games, walking along the beach, window shopping, more eating and lots of laughing. 

at night we went back to the hotel room, turned on our favorite shows and laughed while crocheting. seriously i have not been that relaxed in so long. love that we could just sit and crochet and have fun!

it was seriously the most perfect mom and daughter get-a-way. it was over 5 years ago that my mom and i had a good mother daughter trip, just the two of us! it was long overdue. we took a ton of "self portraits" (aka selfies) and laughed at most of them. but, it isn't a trip without pictures so i decided to share.

oh the joy of selfies with my momma. this is us...after the mormon battalion historical site in old town san diego // us again on the beach... of course!

our insane brunch at "the mission" in san diego. it was well worth the wait. // as you can see i was a bit surprised by the size of my pancakes....didn't stop me for eating way more than i should have!

shopping of course! i decided to get a picture with the most expensive designer bags. i don't think the sales lady was super excited about this picture // cute uncle duff and aunt lori took us to dinner our first night. i loved spending time with them and fell in love with their place (can i move in?)

yep, another selfie at laguna beach. we spent sunday just walking around the cute little shops and relaxing on the beach!

look how excited we were to be in old town! maybe i was a bit more excited to be able to walk around in sandals and see the blue sky. seriously...check out that sky. no filters or editing needed!

one night we watched the sun set from la jolla cove. i kept thinking "we were so close to living here..." haha. i think it's a good thing we didn't end up moving to la jolla. i think spence would have lost his wife to the beach. 

seriously i can't get enough of that blue ocean. it was incredible! we didn't go in because well it's still a bit chilly but we did sit and just watch the waves. there is something so relaxing about ocean waves.

dinner...haha i wish. you have no idea how close i was to getting this little beauty for dinner though. i'm slightly regretting not!

 more laguna beach lovin'...and and of course ice cream! 

pictures out of order much? mom wanted to get in on the designer bag action! love the bright colors and the selfie

our last selfie of the trip. i cried as i watched my mom go through security (my flight was a few hours later). though i was excited to get back to spence i was so sad to leave the sun, sand and my best friend!  thanks mom for the best girls trip!

 one day i will be a cali girl. mark my words.

my mom

last week was one of those weeks where i just needed my mom
i called her on monday
i wanted her to come out to chicago
but i just couldn't ask that of her.
she offered, without having to be asked

the next day she was in chicago
just like that
words cannot completely describe what that meant to me

as soon as she walked into our apartment she started cleaning
she deep cleaned our whole house (it so badly needed it)
she put away our christmas decorations
helped me get the house back together
she stocked our fridge after being empty for far too long
she took me shopping for fun new things
she got us ready for a fresh new start of the year....just what we needed

she held me
she painted my nails
she gave me foot rubs
she played with my hair
she cried with me
she gave me the support i needed
she gave me the support only moms can

it made home feel not so far away
my mom is truly the most beautiful person i know

mom,

thank you for last week

i couldn't have done it without you

you are my best friend and the support that i needed most

you made last week so much easier for spence and i

we both needed you

we are both so grateful for you coming to chicago

thank you for being there for me

for crying with me

for watching countless hours of downton abbey

it was what this little girl needed

one day i want to be a mom just like you

thank you

love,

your little girl

the mrs. got a surprise!

so this post will be mostly for me. i want to document my mom and grandmas surprise visit to chicago. its long so don't feel bad about skipping to the pictures...lets be honest i'm guilty of that sometimes!

if i'm being honest, i was bummed about celebrating my birthday without my family. this was the first birthday alone. friday night i was playing the baby. i cried the day before my birthday...haha. my actually birthday was pretty amazing. spence did a great job making me feel special even if my family wasn't near. more on that later.

my mom told me my present was on its way. it was supposed to get to me on saturday. i was so excited to come home and find a package with my name on it. but of course it didn't come on saturday. i wasn't super worried because we struggle getting packages. i called my mom and told her it didn't come. she said she would find a tracking number so i could figure out where it was.

sunday morning i got a text from mom. "didn't have time to find the tracking number, i'll look again later. i'm back to back most of the day so i'll talk to you later". no big deal, she's the relief society president for heaven sakes. of course she is  busy on sundays.

that night we went to dinner at friends, had a blast and then headed home. i practiced the harp, wrote a few thank you notes, and started getting ready for bed. suddenly spence started cleaning the place. this isn't a huge surprise but when he started really cleaning the kitchen stove, second room and family room i was impressed. my thought "wow, spence is in a cleaning mood. i'm going to stay up and see if i can keep him going". haha, yep that is what i thought. i was so excited to have a clean house for the coming week.

i was slightly bugged that my mom still hadn't called. it was 10:30pm at that point. i pulled out my phone and started a text to tell her i was headed to bed and that i loved her. right then i she called. she sounded worried. she told me my birthday package said it was delivered today.

me: mom it didn't come today
mom: but it says it did
me: we don't get packages on sundays.
mom: will you please just go check
me: mom, i've been outside tonight. there is nothing there (i then looked out to our mail area...nothing).
mom: syd it said it was delivered. will you please just go outside and check
then she hung up on me. how rude

i was bugged, it was raining. i didn't want to go outside. and seriously who actually thinks delivery companies work on sundays? spence convinced me we should just check. i put on shoes and my coat and we headed outside.

once we got outside i saw their umbrellas. my cute mom and grandma stood outside my door, in the rain, singing me happy birthday. i started crying. i couldn't believe they were there, in chicago, to visit me.

we rushed inside and just hugged and smiled. they really pulled on over on me. it had been planned for weeks. spence was in on it. my cute sister in law was in on it as well. (side note, she thought she gave it away earlier when i talked to her on sunday. haha i had no idea. megs, you played it well)

spence had realized that i would want a clean place for my mom and grandma. how cute is he! we worked together to get two beds set up (yep we have two air mattresses...your turn to come visit) and got ready for bed.

we were all worried that i would have to work most of monday and tuesday. because of my dc trip this week i was supposed to be super busy. i got some work done on sunday night and then woke up early on monday. i talked to my boss and he was so great, he let me take some time with mom and grandma.

so we had ourselves a couple of perfect girls days! we did what we do best....SHOP!!!! of course grandma wanted to check out the millennium mile so we started there. we were able to steal spence for lunch at our favorite brunch place "yolk" downtown. after lunch/brunch we started with our tradition...nordstrom.

when i was growing up some of my earliest memories are of my grandma taking me to nordstrom for lunch and shoe shopping. it did my heart good walking into nordstrom with my mom and grandma and starting in the shoe section. grams found a couple of cute pairs and mom and i had a blast looking at all the crazy shoes. seriously who wears some of these?

we explored some more stores and then headed home to rest. that night all three of us cuddled up on our couch and watched downton abbey. i couldn't help but smile, i loved all three of us, cuddled up watching "chick flicks". i think spence appreciated that he didn't have to watch it with me :-)

tuesday i had a bit more work but it was okay. we picked up a car and headed to target to run some errands. my mom always takes care of me when she comes to visit. i felt so spoiled by my mom and grandma. after target we had some time and decided to find a "cutesy" area to walk around. we drove for just a few mins and found some fun shops by surprise on clark. we loved walking in and out of these cute boutiques. mom kept saying "we'll have to come back here when..." i love that she is already talking about coming back!

we went home for some rest, lunch and work and then headed out again! this time we took a cab downtown to see macy's all decorated. oh wow can i just say how excited i am to live in this city for the holidays? macys was AMAZING! fun windows, christmas trees everywhere, lights, ribbons and bulbs! let alone just the building, vintage pillars, huge fountains etc. seriously the most beautiful department store i've ever seen. we had a blast picking out festive jewelry, trying yummy chocolates and trying on hats. like i said i was spoiled rotten by these two!

after our macys adventure we ran to northface to pick up the mr. a warm coat (it's getting cold here in chicago!) and then to our new favorite italian place downtown. after a yummy dinner we grabbed some sprinkles cupcakes to go and headed home.

we ended the night watching disney's brave and eating cupcakes. is there a better way to end a girls trip? i think not!

i tried to get the cute christmas decorations outside of macys....looks like i need to work on my picture taking skills

mom enjoying macys chocolate store

this little guy was a carrot cake truffle. yes grandma bought him and yes we all shared. he was yummy!

mom and grandma while exploring some cute shops

my face looks huge....ahh!

grandma's first bite. she loved our little snowman

hat shopping. we had such a blast trying on hat after hat. they were all too big for grandma...sad day

haha, mom was holding up grandmas hat so it didn't fall over her eyes. aren't they just the cutest!

moms new shoes. check those babies out!

even though it was short those two days with my mom and grandma were two of the best of my life. i have never had my mom and grandma to myself before. what a treat. we talked, laughed and just had a blast the whole time.

mom and grandma, thank you so much for the most incredible birthday present. your time in chicago was so special to me. just what this mrs. needed. i love you both so so much! you both are the most beautiful examples to me. thank you so much! words cannot describe what your trip means to me.

the mrs. had a surprise

excuse me for being mia for the past couple of days.
i had the greatest surprise late sunday when these two showed up on my doorstep.
don't worry i'll tell you the whole story later (mostly because i want to keep this great memory)

we had the best couple of days
i cried when i drove away this morning
yes, i had to leave before they did

now i'm in dc for work
and trying not to be sad i'm not back in chicago with my mom and grandma
seriously, best birthday surprise ever!!!!

chicago feels more like home with visitors // weekend recap

momma barfuss came to visit us. she came to watch spence in his white coat ceremony but really i think she came just to play (or at least i like to think so). we loved having her here with us. it made me feel like i was not on a vacation and that i really lived in chicago. it was fun showing her around "our" places and neighborhood.

mom rented a car (lifesaver really) and on friday ran a few errands for me. we've been surviving well without a car but it was nice to have one for a few small out of way type of things. we spent the rest of the morning driving around and seeing fun neighborhoods. then was spencers white coat followed by a night out. we wanted to give mom the true chicago experience (even though she has been here before). we of course had to have deep dish pizza. pizzeria uno it was. we have been told that was the best place to go but to be honest it wasn't our favorite. still good though!

mom and spence. after we ate our life away in pizza....

sadly this is a typical picture for me. i try not to post too many of these but i couldn't resist this time. 

saturday we slept in (so heavenly) and went grocery shopping. again so much nicer with a car. our sweet mom loaded us up on all the important items including ice cream. how nice it was to not have to budget our groceries this ones. she was so nice to really take care of us!

we spent too long at the grocery store that we almost missed our architecture tour. luckily we made it with about 30 seconds to spare. sadly we couldn't sit by each other. thank goodness for little kids who were more interested in the treats downstairs that we finally got to sit together for the last half of the cruise.

welcome to our beautiful  city. we are in love.

it was so blasted hot on saturday...oh wow! i thought i was going to die. it was one of those days where we should have gone to the beach instead. it was still fun on the cruise seeing all the city.

my cute husband. this was towards the end of the cruise where we were all sweating to death. i'm impressed he looks so happy still :-)

again...i can't get enough of our city!

we had a blast learning some of the history of chicago and playing tourist. though i think we'll be playing tourist for a bit longer still. i'm still walking around wide-eyed as i slowly explore the city.

we spent the rest of the day shopping. again thanks mom for all you did for us. she loaded us up on birthday goodness (for the mr.) and some kitchen gadgets that we couldn't have afforded (for the mrs.). we headed home, took a nap and of course played games. like i said i feel so much more at home with mom visiting. just playing games made me less homesick.

on sunday after church we decided to get out of the city and go find the temple. you can read more about temples here.

we look the long way to explore some more. on our way we found this gem. oh wow was all i could say. yes those are glowing red eyes. and yes they had a line out the door (even with it raining). and yes we will be back to visit when it's not a sunday!

keeping myself entertained taking pictures. again i can't say how nice it was to have a car. yay for cars.

oh how i love to see the temple. this was one other place that really made me feel at home. too bad the gates were shut and we weren't able to walk around. it was just nice seeing the temple and knowing it wasn't so far away.

it really was an incredible weekend. mom really took care of us! she made us meals, stocked our kitchen, cleaned the place, taught us new games and really made us feel special and loved. our first visitor was a success. after this weekend it was officially decided we love visitors. so please if you would like to come stay we have a room for you! yay!

thanks mom for everything!

mr. med school and his white coat

northwestern founders day ceremony was held on friday

aka spencers white coat

this was a special ceremony for all incoming m1's (first year med students).  it was when they received their white coats. after years of prep and applications and planning it was so nice to jus sit and watch. we were finally here. a day we have talked about for what seems like a life time. he may not be a dr. yet but this was the first big step forward. now, with his white coat he can go into the hospitals. help dr.s and treat patients. i loved looking at my cute man in his coat.

please excuse the heads in front of me....i was pretty far away and didn't want to stand up.

welcome to northwestern medical school. interesting fact...northwestern was the very first medical school to have clinical work included in the education. before northwestern med students just took science classes and called it go. they were dr.'s before even seeing the inside of a hospital. boy am i glad things have changed.

spencers mom flew out for the event. it was so wonderful having her with us. thanks to her spencer is here today. she and his dad put so much time, effort and money towards spencer and his education. thank you for getting my man to this place in life!

of course we had to run outside and get a picture in front of the water. we may not be in cali but chicago has great waterfront. thank you waterfront! boy does my man look cute in that coat!

the classic three. i have a feeling these three will be inseparable during the next four years. how grateful we both are for friends this early on. 

and the wives. boy do i need to grow a foot or two. how grateful i am for these girls. they are already my best friends here. girls nights are going to be in high demand with our boys studying late into the night.

in four short years a little md will be next to that name.

we finished taking pictures and headed over to a reception held in the med students honor. it was fun to see the sea of white coats, meet some of spencers friends and see what life as a med student will be like. we spent the rest of the weekend playing with mom!

so proud of my mr. med school

it's the mrs. mama's birthday!!!

today is my mama's birthday. hooray happy day!

my mom is my best friend  (i even blogged about it) and my best example

she is the most beautiful example of being christ-like

she is always giving, of her self, her time, and her yummy goodies

neighbor kids come over to play with my mom (she's that cool)

everybody loves my mom. (no joke, she's the most popular person i know)

because she is fun,

she is honest, she is kind, she is beautiful, she is fun, she is giving, she is wise, she is smart,

she is funny, she is musical, she is outgoing, she is friendly,

she is welcoming, she is crafty, she is lovely,

she is my mom

there have been so many times i've called my mom in tears, and every time she calms me down and gives the best advice.

since i've gotten married my mom has helped me out so much. she is the perfect example of a loving wife and mother.

if i could be one person when i grow up....i'd be my mama.

she truly is hte most beautiful person i know, inside and out.

so happy birthday mommy, 

i love you so much 

i look up to all that you are

thank you for being the best mother

thank you for being my best friend

happy birthday mama!!!

see she really is my best friend

she is so much fun! mama is the life of the party

she is such a great example of a wonderful wife!

see how much fun we have together. i get my craziness from her!