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4
Aug

Around Town

posted by rachel, August 4, 2011

on the river in denver

I love stumbling on little hidden gems, like this adorable ice cream shop, Little Man Ice Cream. I mean, c’mon – it just doesn’t get any better than this. Homemade ice cream and gelato are their specialties and after a yummy pizza supper at Proto’s, it’s an easy walk up the hill. I indulged in the caramel popcorn and it was delish.

PLUS! Anybody over the age of 25 will understand the nostalgia of an old-school metal playground slide. Do they even make these anymore? Will kids of the future understand that feeling of sliding down a metal slide in the heat of summer and that fast burn up the back of your legs? And the haste of which you hop up off the slide to not burn yourself further?

Afterwards, an after-dinner stroll along into the park by LoDo and down to the river.
BOATS

Let's Chit-Chat { 2 }

29
Jul

Instagram Fun

posted by rachel, July 29, 2011

I’m late to the Instagram party, but man, I sure am loving it! Don’t get me wrong, I’m still madly in love w/ my DSLR, but it’s true that I have my iPhone with me all day every day, so sometimes it sees more use.

The original photo that inspired the one above. Jude was itty bitty! Maybe a month old?

This is us making our “sad faces.” We play a game where I ask him to show me his faces: sad face, happy face, crying face, excited face, hungry face, curious face, etc. Cracks me up every.single.time.

Jude ‘n Simon, lounging around at Mathis Bros. the other night. True story: that little blue chair was $170(!). And the adult one? $174. That’s right. For only FOUR DOLLARS MORE. Huh???

Did I tell you we made homemade strawberry cheesecake popsicles a few weeks ago? Super yum. Recipe here (I swapped out strawberries for blueberries).

Favorite summer outfit right now.

Second favorite summer outfit right now, inspired by this lady.

Let's Chit-Chat { 0 }

10
May

Red Dirt

posted by rachel, May 10, 2011

In case there was any doubt in your mind that Oklahoma does in fact have red dirt, these photos will definitely change your mind.

On Sunday evening we went over to Lake Hefner to hit the park, and thought Why not walk out on the red dirt beach? I’m kidding about the beach part – where we were standing is usually 10-15 feet underwater. We need rain desperately! Maybe this is what it was like when the Red Sea was parted. Haha

It was ridiculously windy, and a nice big Oklahoma thunderstorm was rolling in from the south.

Nice for boys to have daredevil daddies to do things with. Poor kid – look how white his little legs are. He gets that from me. :-

I love it that this park has repurposed the old Zoo drinking fountains. One of my parents’ neighbors actually have one of these bad boys in their backyard!

Simon is Mr. Incredible. I could never do this stuff as a kid, and I sure can’t do this kind of thing now.

I blame my weak arms. And general fear of flopping onto my head.

Clearly my child shares none of this fear. He gets that from his Dad.

Let's Chit-Chat { 18 }

3
May

Birthday Recap

posted by rachel, May 3, 2011

A special story today – a recap of a birthday surprise!

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When your husband comes home on a Sunday evening and tells you to pack your bags because you’re not staying there tonight, it’s probably a good indicator of your marriage as to how you react. Just kidding. In my case, I literally squealed because I knew Simon had something good up his sleeve. And oh, it was so so good.

After dropping Jude off at my parents’ and making numerous guesses as to the final destination, we found ourselves at the insanely gorgeous and historic Skirvin Hotel. For most of my life, the poor Skirvin sat sad and neglected, completely boarded up. Only within the last ten years has it been brought back to its former glory, and glorious it is indeed.

Architecturally stunning, the room we got was an enormous suite, complete with ginormous living room and equally large bedroom.

The details are so lavish – these are the elevator banks and original letter drop box. Look at that cloverleaf design. Gorgeous.

What birthday is complete without cake, I ask you? Pinkitzel is my favorite cupcake in town.

Yes. I had two. It was my birthday, ok?

All in all, a spectacularly memorable weekend. I love surprises and I love Simon for knowing just what would make my day feel special. We luxuriated in bed til 10:30am and had a leisurely coffee break at Starbucks before heading back into reality. But wait, did I show you my final surprise? Oh boy!

Yup, Simon – you win Husband of the Year! LOVE YOU!

Let's Chit-Chat { 15 }

2
May

Arts Festival ’11

posted by rachel, May 2, 2011

Ohhh, Oklahoma City! I barely recognized you, you beautiful thing! Saturday night, we headed downtown to the annual Festival of the Arts to meet my parents and my nieces and nephew. The landscape of downtown Oklahoma City is changing dramatically. Devon Energy is building its new, shiny tower and there is a palpable energy to OKC. Between the Memorial Marathon this weekend, as well as the playoff games for our most awesome OKC Thunder, and then the arts festival, OKC was hopping. Oh yeah, and the royal wedding! Was that not the best thing ever?

So it basically all boiled down into the Best Weekend Ever. This is a photo-heavy post, but I think it’s worth it. I am proud to see what our city is transforming into – we were delighted at every turn at the Arts Festival this weekend by the beautiful park’s makeover.

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Love this photo. LOVE it.

Sweet girl – she made me the most wonderful card!

Two peas in a pod in Jude’s stroller. This must be what having twins is like.

As evening fell, I was thrilled to pieces to run around with my camera and shoot photos. The Crystal Bridge was all alight with color, and the weather was perfection. Zero wind.