Chicago Is For The Dogs

Dan's off to Chicago this weekend to visit with some college friends he hasn't seen in a while. I think it has been quite a few years since all of them got together, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a crazy weekend.

Inspired by Dan's trip to the windy city, I thought I'd search for a Chicago themed dog product and found this city-wide art contest Chicago held last year. High school students were asked to design a 2009-2010 City Vehicle Sticker under the theme “Dog Friendly Chicago," and the elected sticker will be displayed on nearly 1.3 million automobiles! Check out the 10 finalists!

Who Wants to Go On a Walkie?

We've had the dogs at our place for the past 10 days without interruption... my mother took an impromptu vacation to visit her family in Argentina, and we naturally took the dogs. It was rather nice to have the boys with us, day in and day out, with no scheduled pick ups or drop offs or chauffering, etc.

Well Grandma came back from her trip yesterday and drove straight over to our house to pick up the boys and you should have seen the spectacle that was our front entry. Gus and Charly could not contain their excitement to see their beloved grandmother. Jumping and barking and squealing and violent tail wagging, it was quite a sight.

Dan slept in this morning since there were no dogs to walk, yet despite his gratitude for that extra hour in bed, the first thing out of his mouth this morning was "I miss the boys."

This leash holder from Etsy seller Bublebellydesigns is so cute. I'm always scouting out good looking storage pieces for dog related things, and this one is on the top of my list.

Breakthrough

Well I've been sick as a dog for the past 4 days. Seems like this cold is running rampant through this city, and it's a pretty wicked cold. It started out in my chest and went straight up into my nose and mostly my head. I feel like a blow up doll and all I want is for somebody to stick a fork in me to let the air out. 

It's not ALL bad though... I stayed home from work today to try and sleep this thing off, and miraculously, Gus spent almost an entire two hours curled up with me on the bed. This is a pretty huge breakthrough since Gussie hasn't set foot in our bedroom for the past, I don't know, maybe 8 months... I think he got spooked a while back during a thunderstorm or something, and ever since then he hasn't been able to be comfortable in our bedroom.

I'm not sure what caused him to confront his fear and join Charly and me this afternoon, but let me tell you, this was the best nap I've had in a long time. The boys took good care of me today, now all I need is to get better by tomorrow because I can't miss out on another day of work. 

Remember last weekend when I spent Valentine's Day in New York City? Did I mention I had a grand old time! I stumbled on this awesome urban chic placemat featuring a New York City subway map and thought I'd feature it here today. Would have been perfect for last week's post, but it's never too late right? You can find this on Fab Dog Inc., along with other very unique items. Have fun exploring the site!

Love, Love, Love

Dan and I are celebrating Valentine's Day a couple of days early since I'm leaving tomorrow for a girl's weekend in New York City. I figure we have years and years of Valentine's Days left to spend with each other, it can't be that bad to skip out on him just this once?

To celebrate we're going to Chowgirls for a special tasting evening. We've hired Chowgirls to do the catering for our wedding this summer, and we thought this would be a great way to spend our own Valentine's Day evening, trying out the foods we're thinking of serving for our wedding celebration.

I've been waiting and waiting to share this Valentine with you from Kerry Beary on etsy. Perfect for your dog loving honey.

Cheers!

I like wine, but I've never really been able to say I love it... until Tuesday, when a friend of ours invited us out for dinner to celebrate our engagement, and popped open a 20 year old bottle of French Pinot Noir. Delicious!

I have never enjoyed wine as much as I did on Tuesday evening. I couldn't believe I could taste a difference between the stuff we usually drink at home and this generously aged wine. It was definitely an unbelievable improvement.

Not that the wine we drink at home is bad, but I must admit an aged bottle of wine makes the world of difference. Really.

And so does this t-shirt from Dogs Uncorcked. If you love your dogs and a good bottle of wine, this t-shirt is perfect for you. And while your at it, check out the book WineDogs, a photographic journal of stunning pictures and great stories created for the love of dogs and wine.

Welcome Baby!

The past few weeks have been, I don't even know how to express it... I guess very very busy will have to do. First things first, by brother and his wife had their first baby on Thursday, January 22nd... Ayla Rose, a beauty.

Daniel and I are enamored by this little bundle of cuteness, and we've been trying to help the new parents out by bringing them food so they don't have to cook or clean the kitchen, holding the baby so they can get a half hour break, and entertaining them with our presence so they have a distraction from breastfeeding and changing dirty diapers.

We haven't introduced Gus and Charly to Ayla yet, since we're still trying to find the best and least stressful way for them to meet. Charly isn't a huge fan of children, so we're a bit apprehensive of getting these two kids together. Honestly I don't know how he feels about babies, maybe he won't mind her?

In any case, it will be a slow, gradual process. Our first step is to bring one of her baby blankets back to our house with us, so the boys can get used to her smell. I think our second step will be to leash the boys up and bring them over to Ayla's house, so they can just be in the presence of the baby. Third, we'll let them smell her, and after that we'll see what happens. Most of the literature I've read says that if your dog doesn't fall in love with baby right away, all is not lost, and it's important to continue exposing the pups to the baby in calm and controlled environment. So we'll see.

Love these natural eco-friendly toys from ImagiPlay! ImagiPLAY products have been recognized by the media, children's advocacy groups, and parents' organizations for their outstanding quality, design and ability to inspire imagination. These dog inspired toys are perfect for a dog themed baby room.