A Dose of Style to Cheer You Up

I am cranky cranky cranky today. I know all I really need is a good long nap with the puppies and I'll be fine, but I've still got a couple more hours left in my work day and it will be 5 or 6 before I get home tonight.

Check out these adorable pup earrings I found on etsy from Tillylula... Aren't they fabulous!!! Just my style.

A Late Night

So it hasn't climbed above 5 below today, and I was right, Gus and Charly made it half way around the block and they were done with their walk. It took Dan all of his strength to get them to finish their miserable trip to the toilet, i.e. their pooping street which is located about three blocks from home. Once the business was all taken care of they hurried back to the house, where the boys spent the rest of their day basking in as much sun as they could get through the windows.

I on the other hand have been working all day, 12 hours to be exact... I never ever work more than a 10 hour day, I don't believe it's healthy, but today I made an exception to help a co-worker out with a move project she was managing. Unfortunately, things went a little slower than planned and the movers are still here, and I'm still here. It's 8 pm and we'll probably still be working this job for another 2 hours at least. We are the designers for the project and so we have to be around to answer any questions and make sure things get put in the right place.

So that's my day. A lot rougher than expected, since I've been on my feet since basically 7 am. This t-shirt from Canine Styles (unfortunately it's no longer available for purchase) perfectly expresses how I feel about working more than a normal 8 hour work-day, and also how much I hate this weather!

Remind Me Why I Live Here?

So we're getting pounded with snow today, and it looks like the next couple of days are going to be the coldest in two years. Yuck... Makes me want to stay at home and nest, never leave the house, except to walk those puppies, and most likely they won't even want to go out in this ridiculously frigid weather, which would be kinda nice for me.

We were lucky enought to miss the entire month of December here in Minneapolis, which was apparently pretty darn cold from the reviews we've gotten from friends and family. My mom actually called me up one day in December to tell me that Gus and Charly were refusing to even go outside to do their business, and she had to force them outside so they wouldn't be in pain from holding it all day long. On those days she'd walk them around the block, long enough to go potty, and then head straight back into the house. The dogs couldn't get back into the warmth fast enough.

So I figure we won't have to walk them a whole lot in the next couple of days, although I'll still have to come into work, which means I will actually have to leave the house. Bummer.

I want this Kikkerland dachshund business card holder from Shop Fosters. Instead of collecting business cards in my pencil drawer I could actually display them nicely on my desk, and actually find contacts when needed.

A Brand New Closet

When I moved in with Dan a couple of years ago, we had my mom remodel all of the closets in his townhouse, except for the small closet on the first floor at the entry. Don't ask me why we didn't have her do that one because I don't have an answer. The new closets changed how we live our life upstairs... We have become so much more organized, clean, and honestly, happier since we've had functional closets.

But downstairs we've continued to struggle, and it's been hard to keep a clean and inviting entry to our house because of the lack of sufficient storage for our boots, coats, hats, scarves, mittens, umbrellas... and don't forget dog leashes, coats, and booties.

So we broke down last week after getting home from Europe, and ordered a brand new custom closet from Diseno Closets, which we had installed yesterday. I must say it looks terrific, and our storage capacity in that closet has doubled, if not tripled in size.

Now all I've got to do is find some hardware for the sliding doors... I was thinking about these dog bone shaped handles from Knobs and Things. Would Dan go for these... probably not.

Morning Commute

We're remodeling our entry closet this afternoon, and because our dogs are, like many others of their species, not so welcoming towards workmen, we had to get them out of the house for the 2pm. installation.

So, this morning, I got up at 6:30 sharp, while the sky was still dark, and the temperatures were at 15 below zero Farenheit. I took a quick shower, had a cup of coffee, and made it out the door by 7:15AM, with the dogs in tow. Dan and I are still sharing a car, and I've got a number of different appointments I need to make this afternoon, thus I was tasked to get the dogs over to grandma's house, so the closet installers wouldn't have to deal with their incessant barking.

I drove from our place in Minneapolis, to my mom's house in Saint Paul, and back to downtown Minneapolis, and still made it to work by 8:00AM. That's the Twin Cities folks! Yes, it's freezing in the winter! Yes, it's a damn long winter! Yes, it's not Chicago, or New York, or San Francisco... But you can make it just about anywhere in the cities in under an hour, even during rush hour! And I like that.

This French antique clock circa 1810 can be found on the website of Gavin Douglas Fine Antiques Ltd. It's a bit spendy at 10,750 English Pounds...

Missing In Action

Wow! Has it really been that long since I've written a post? This may be the longest amount of time I've gone with out updating this blog since I started it almost a year ago. I'm sorry for the delay... moving back across the ocean can take up a lot of physical and mental energy, thus my three week long absence.

But we're back in Minnesota now, and life seems to be getting back on track. It took a couple of hours for Gus and Charly to adjust to our homecoming, but they've been super dogs since moving back into our place with us. Grandma brought them to the airport when she came to pick us up a couple of weeks ago, and although they were both jumping and wagging their tales when they saw us, they also seemed a bit confused by our re-appearance. An hour or so later, they were both acting as if we'd never been away, and now, two weeks later, we're back into our normal routine: 7:00 am morning walks in the blistering cold, twice a week shuttles to and from grandma's house, snuggles on the sofa, and lots of hugs all around.

I love this painting by Lisa Ballard, and although it's already sold on her website, you can find many more dog inspired prints on her Etsy shop. It sure would be nice if the dogs could drive themselves to grandma's wouldn't it?