Keep Away

Yet another rainy day in Minneapolis. That makes two in a row. We'll probably get three if the weather stays around for Saturday. All the football fans are going to be miserable. An outdoor stadium is great, especially when it is all new and exciting... but I'm not sure I'd like being out there on a cold wet Saturday. Even if it is Gophers vs. Badgers.

Poor pups. They're also going to be miserable if this weather continues. Rain makes it very unpleasant for all of us to go on our walks, and the boys get uptight and bored when they can only get out two or three times a day. I've tried to take them out in the pouring rain but they will have none of that. If it is sprinkling they don't mind, but if it's coming down hard they refuse to leave the house. And it's been on and off raining hard for the better part of two days.

Gus must have known they were going to be stuck inside for a while because on Wednesday when I dropped them off at Grandma's house he already had a plan to keep himself entertained. We just didn't know about it...

Grandma spoils the dogs rotten, and that day she had been to Petsmart and bought a couple gigantic raw hides for them to play with. Charly doesn't seem at all interested in raw hides. He never really has been. But Gus, he loves them, and in general will have one all chewed up within 10 minutes. That day, Grandma gave Gus his raw hide, and promptly left the house for an appointment.

When she returned home, Gus and Charly were both waiting excitedly for her, and the raw hide was no where to be seen. So she assumed Gus had eaten it up right away, like so many other times in the past.

Wrong.

That evening, as she was getting ready for bed, she noticed Gus sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at it intently. Grandma brushed her teeth, poured a glass of water, and started walking towards the bed with the intention of getting into it for the night. But as she got closer and closer to her bed, Gus became more and more agitated, to the point that he was barking and jumping and stomping all around the room. When she backed away from the bed he would stop, and when she would move forward again he would continue to bark.It was so disturbing that Charly, who had been quietly waiting on the bed for Grandma to get in, immediately jumped off the bed, thinking Gus probably didn't want him there.

Eventually, Gus hopped up on the bed and began to wrestle with the blankets, burrowing himself in the comforters. Some people call this nesting, when dogs make a mess of their beds, your bed, or the sofa. Grandma finally got into bed, and Gus made such a fuss that she took off the covers thinking he might want to get inside too, what with it being so cold and all.

And that's when she saw it, the raw hide, tucked neatly between the covers and a crack between the bed and the wall. Gus hadn't eaten the toy, he'd deftly hid it in Grandma's bed for safe keeping, but Grandma found out and ruined the secret! And took all the fun out of the next two days stuck inside.

On days like today sometimes I wish I had a heat lamp, one of those that's supposed to be good for your mood. Wouldn't it be fun if this lamp from Pure Design wasn't just a lamp but a heat lamp that could make you feel better when your feeling rainy day blues or boredom?

Celebrate Your Imperfections

I love this pillow Heather Hamilton from Dooce found on Etsy... It makes me think of Gus when he was a puppy, forced to wear one of these cones for weeks while recovering from his hip surgery. Poor puppy... In addition to this humiliation, there were several weeks where Gus had no pants, as the vets had to shave his entire midsection for the operation... how embarrassing!

Charly's never worn a cone, but he has his own imperfections, like the fact that he can't help but bark at little kids... bad dog. But we love them all the same, like we love our family, our friends, and ourselves, all of us with our own problems and bad habits. 

Better Late Than Never

My alarm clock went off at 7:15 this morning, and thinking that it was Saturday, I turned the damn thing off, muttered a bit of frustration under my breath, and went back to bed.

The next thing I know I'm up at 10:30, and as I make my way slowly to the kitchen for some coffee, I suddenly realize that it in fact is not Saturday, but Friday, and I'm supposed to be at work, instead of lounging around in my pajamas!

Oops! I immediately call my boss, and explain to her why I'm not at work, and she laughs histerically, because nobody's ever used this excuse on her before. I'm so lucky to work with some of the coolest most laid back people, because she then tells me that if I want to take the whole day off, I'm welcome to do so.

It really is a spectacular day here in Minneapolis, and man was I tempted to accept her offer, but I have so much to get done before leaving for Germany in a week, that I forced myself in to the office. It's going to be a long day...

Gus and Charly have two matching leopard print beds, that we've now retired in favor of the DoggyArchy beds I got for them a month ago. But I may just have to buy them these very soft and stylish leopard doggy blankets from Canine Styles. Don't you just love this photo? So cute!

Time's Up

Well, I'm officially burned out on wedding stuff... and the wedding isn't even until next August, which means I have months and months of planning ahead of me. So if this week feels bad, with wedding planning appointments every night of the week except Tuesday, what's the rest of my year look like?

Germany should be a welcome respite to all of this wedding madness. I'm looking forward to tuning out for three months, and just enjoying our engagement. The days can't go by fast enough, I want to be there already.

Well, I'm off to meet a wedding planner. Dan thinks it would be beneficial for us to hire one just for the day of our actual event, so I'm not running around like a chicken with her head cut off, which will definitely happen if we don't find a different point guard.

By the way, today is my official one month engagement anniversary! Here's a clock I love in honor of this month that's passed. It's from Bellacor. Check it out!

Correction

Ok, well, it's possible I spoke too soon, jumped the gun, whatever... because it looks very nice out there today! The sun is out, the weather is temperate, not cold or too hot, and the weekend is here...

I should clarify my last post a bit by saying that PTK/PRK/laser eye surgery is definitely not a terrible thing. A recurrent corneal erosion every week is a terrible thing, and this compared to that is a piece of cake. Seriously.

And may I just add that my surgeon was the best! The surgery literally took 15 minutes total, I was awake the whole time (localized anaesthetic!) and didn't feel a darn thing. Of course two hours later I definitely felt some pain... my eye stung quite a bit, and watered a whole lot. This discomfort continued for about three more days, but decreased with every hour that passed.

So yesterday I felt great, and today even better.

I love this chalkboard from Trendy Puppy. Mine says: Out for the weekend!

Snuggle Up

Well, summer has come and gone already up here in Minnesota. And we didn't even have an in between... last Sunday it was an unexpected 90 degrees here in the Twin Cities, and the day after the weather turned ugly, and it's been cold and colder ever since.

Every year, we Minnesotans, most of us at least, complain about the ever approaching winter ahead of us. Everything you've heard is true, winter here is BRUTAL. It is freezing, it is snowy, and it is LONG. Way too LONG.

But I think almost everybody who lives here would agree that the summers here make it worth our while. And if you're brave enough, winter can be quite fun too, as long as you've got yourself a nice warm pair of long underwear.

Currently in Minneapolis it's 55 degrees and raining. Days like this make me want to stay at home, curl up on the couch and snuggle up with a blanket like this one from Thorsten Von Elten, and a good book. Oh, and don't forget, a dog at either end of the sofa.

Homecoming

I picked up my boys yesterday. They'd been at my mom's house since Monday afternoon, and I can't describe to you how terribly we missed them, and how incredibly excited I was to take them back home with me. I practically sprinted out of my German class at 8:30 last night, and had to try my very hardest not to speed down I-94 at 75 miles and hour. I tend to have a lead foot, and I've spent the past year and a half battling my speed demon. Gus and Charly were, as usual, happy to see me, and not at all reluctant to hop into my car for their shuttle ride home.

I like this very modern pillow design from Lila Paws at Luxury Pet Department. Add some pup style to any black and white interior, without taking the edge off.

Redemption

We were fairly incomunicado on our trip West, but I did manage to receive one very important phone call from my mom in Minnesota, who told me how our dog Gus, the one I was so incredibly disappointed with last week, had found Mr. Puppies, her cat who had been missing for almost two weeks. And my love for him was redeemed.

Mr. Puppies had went out one evening as he always does, and didn't return in the morning. We walked the neighborhood many times over, looking for him and calling his name, but our searching was futile and we began to think he was gone forever.

Just as this sad realization was beginning to settle, Gus decided he wanted to take a walk down an alley street he's never traveled. My mother, holding the leash, thought it was so strange that Gus would want to veer off course, and pulled the dogs the other direction, towards their favorite park. Despite her tugging however, Gus refused to move (he can be very determined) and ultimately lead my mom down the alley to where Mr. Puppies was crying desperately on top of a garage roof.

Getting Mr. Puppies down was a difficult endeveor in itself, requiring a ladder and a lot of coaxing. The poor cat was terrified, hungry, dirty, and exhausted, but glad to be back in my mother's arms. Mr. Puppies has never had much of an affinity for Gus, but I wonder if his feelings towards him will change, seeing as the dog saved his life.

In honor of Mr. Puppies' safe and surprising homecoming, I'm featuring this wool cat blanket from Mungo and Maude. We're all so happy Mr. Puppies is back, and we're thankful to Gus who brought him home.

Sleepovers

My youngest brother Grisha stayed at our house last night just for fun. I think it was his first time sleeping over at our place, and I hope he enjoyed himself. I think we had a good time. We took the dogs for a walk down to the beach, baked a bad ass lasagna, and watched some excellent episodes of Law and Order. I went to bed early since I have to work in the morning, but I think he and Dan stayed up pretty late playing games on the computer. They're obsessed with a new game called Dino Run, where your dinosaur has to survive an asteroid by running through prehistoric lands as fast as possible eating small bugs and rodents for points.

I woke up this morning to find Charly sitting right outside the closed door of his own room, with his nose almost through the crack between the door and the carpet. He must have known Grisha was in there, because otherwise he would have been on my bed, waiting for me to get up. Charly went to bed with me last night, so he didn't actually see Grisha make his way into the dog's room to sleep. Charly must have sensed or smelled that Grisha was in there, and he was obviously waiting patiently to be let in. It was really cute.

I like this handcrafted doorknob hanger sign from The Spoon Sisters, but it should say "Sleeping. Bark if you need to be let in".

Puppies and Babies

Yesterday I ended up at Shoe Zoo in Uptown, a children's shoe store that specializes in very stylish, top quality, imported and domestic shoes for tots. I was there to help a friend of mine pick out twenty different pairs of kiddie shoes for a children's fashion photo shoot her employer is doing on Thursday. This little store was jam packed with tiny shoes... little converse all stars, cowboy boots, pink ballet flats, Italian leather sandals... We had no idea it would take us over an hour and a half to coordinate the outfits with the right footwear, there were just so many options.

Our children's shoe shopping spree last night reminded me to post about these super cute wall hanging tiles from My Retro Baby. Each 4x4 Poodle tile is personalized with your kid's name, and comes with coordinating ribbon. Maybe I could buy these for Charly and Gus, but I have a feeling they wouldn't be all into the Paris Poodle theme. I'll have to wait...

Bookworm

I'm super busy at work, so posts this week will be short and sweet...

I just started reading a new book called The New Yorkers, by Cathleen Schine, and I've been engrossed since page one. This novel, about living and falling in love on one block in New York City, also shows us how profoundly our dogs can change the course of our lives. In The New Yorkers, neighbors fall in and out of love, and it's their dogs who inadvertently act as cupids.

I'm loving these dog bookends from Restoration Hardware. They're heavy enough to shoulder the thickest novels, but stylish enough to stand on their own.

Vamos Gus!

I called my mom yesterday to find out how the dogs were doing, and she immediately launched into a long and detailed story of her walk with my dogs the day before. Which reminded me that I still haven't bought her that sticker I posted about a month ago.

Deborah: Hey Mom! How are you?

Mom: Doing great! (said in thick Argentine accent) Walking the dogs. Gus is amazing!!!

D: Oh really? (as if this is the first time she's ever said this to me)

M: Oh yeah, he's just amazing, amazing! (Her tone of voice begins to get higher and higher)

I needed to finish up the drawings for Hanson Partners, you know, the builder I met three months ago at The Parade of Homes, the one who's building the house in Prior Lake, the beautiful house I told you about. Oh it's just gorgeous, you should see it.

D: Mom, what about Gus?

M: Oh! I asked Grisha (that's my little brother) to take the boys for a walk since they hadn't been walked in a long time (read 1 hour!) , so he grabbed the leashes and took the boys out. Three mintues later he came back to tell me that Gus was refusing to walk. He didn't want to walk! I said to Grisha, that's impossible! And Grisha told me to take them out myself. So I took the leashes from Grisha and went outside. And Gus still refused to walk! When he doesn't want to go anywhere, it's impossible to make him move. He's so strong Deborah, he's amazing. So I went back inside and I told Grisha he had to come with me to walk the dogs. I told him that Gus was speaking to me, and he didn't want to go on the walk alone with out both of us. Grisha (reluctantly I'm sure) grabbed Gus and I grabbed Charly and we tried again for the third time to take them out. We were finally able to get past the front yard. Poor Charly, waiting and waiting. He's so patient. Los quiero tanto, tanto! And Gus kept looking back at Grisha to make sure that he was still with us during the entire walk around the neighborhood. They are incredible these doggies. I don't know what I would do without them!

D: Mom, you've told me a similar story before (read at least 4 times) but thank you for filling me in.

***Leash holder is from Wrappables. You've read enough haven't you?***

There's A First Time For Everything

Daniel did a bunch of laundry yesterday, and he decided to include the dog bed covers we hadn't washed in three years. There's one particular bed that Gus and Charly both love. They take turns lying on it, and although they share the dog bed, I've never seen them actually lie down on it together, until last night.

Daniel stuffed the dog bed into its newly laundered cover, and the minute he set it down on the living room floor, both dogs threw themselves onto it, and didn't move for the next 2 quarters of the Celtics/Lakers basketball game. It seems even dogs prefer fresh clean bed sheets. Who knew... I mean, earlier this weekend they'd spent a half an hour rolling around in the dirt at the dog park.

Today I want to share with you these severely stylish dog beds you can buy at The Diva Dog. These beds are gorgeous to look at, but they're also stain, moisture, odor, and bacteria resistant. And you can even get the matching sofa pillows for yourself!

Scaredy Cat

We've been having some nasty weather up here in Minnesota for the past week. Yesterday was awful, lots of rain, lightning, and several tornado warnings throughout the evening.

Poor Gussy, he's absolutely terrified of thunderstorms. Charly's a brave little guy, he doesn't seem to mind the weather much at all. But Gus, he just hides in the bathroom all evening, curled up in a ball and shaking. No amount of consoling seems to make him feel better. Sometimes if we turn the radio up real loud he'll come out of hiding, just because he can't hear the thunder over Jack White's voice.

These draft stoppers from Nettle Green are really neat. Keep the wind out and add a simple doggy design touch to your entry. Comes in three different colors. Check 'em out!

Home Sweet Home

A very good friend of mine has come home for the summer and I am so happy that she's back, even if she's only here for the next 12 weeks. She and her husband have been living in Bloomington, Indiana for the past year while her husband goes to Business School at IU, but they're here for the summer for his internship at Target.

This door mat from Plow and Hearth would be a perfect home coming gift for them since they love labs and need something to make their abode a bit more inviting. Right now they're living with rented furniture, borrowed cook ware, and a mini television.

Notes On Cute

Dan just emailed me this short note: "Gus just climbed onto the couch and spooned Charly. It was beyond cute." Man o' man do I wish I had been home to see that! I'm telling you, these dogs are amazing. One minute they're tackling each other to the death, and the next minute they're spooning!!

These sofa pillows from KarenHilton Designs are SOOOOOOO great. The bright colors and bold designs are really edgy, but at the same time totally cute.

Pug Shot

When I saw this throw pillow at Z Gallery I immediately thought of this hilarious article I read a year ago in The Onion newspaper: Dog Breeders Issue Massive Recall Of '07 Pugs. I laughed so much I cried when I read this piece, but the truth is that pugs can have some pretty extensive genetic health issues including Luxating Patella, Progressive Retinal Atrophy, Pigmentary Keratitis, Elongated Soft Palate, Stenotic Nares, and Pug Dog Encephalitis. Despite their potential for what The Onion calls "dog malfunction", pugs continue to be one of the most popular breeds in the United States. Obviously! It's impossible to resist their soft snorting, gargantuous wrinkles, and curlycue tail.

Grab The Leash

Ok, so I have become completely obsessed with Photoshop. I am having so much fun learning how to use it, and I can't stop. Yesterday I spent another 5 hours glued to my computer. Dan had to literally turn the computer off in order to get me to go to bed. I now have about 25 photographs that I've altered and the effects are amazing! The retouched photos look infintely better than the straight-out-of-camera shots.

I came across this vintage leash holder from My Knapsack Dreams while searching for picture frames yesterday. I love the simple cottage look of this piece. It seems like I'm always trying to find a place to stash all of the dog products collecting in our house. Usually the leashes end up in the corner on the floor in our entry way.

Walk The Dog

I may just be the luckiest girl in the world. Yesterday I posted about my love for Schnauzers and coffee. I'm a terrible morning person, and if it weren't for my dogs and Daniel, there'd be no way to get me out of bed earlier than 9 a.m. Gus and Charly wake me up gently, snuggling at my feet, and I am so thankful for Daniel, my partner and our resident barrista. For him, getting up at 6 a.m. is effortless if not automatic, and by the time he wakes me up an hour later, he's already taken a shower, walked the dogs, and made me coffee.

Sadly enough, Daniel flew off to Providence, Rhode Island last night on a business trip, and left me to fend for myself this morning. After hitting the snooze button multiple times, I reluctantly pulled myself out of bed at 6:45, in order to walk those darn (READ adorable) dogs. Please note: our morning stroll was NOT fueled by coffee, as the barrista took the morning off.

Today's post was inspired by this blanket from Mungo and Maude titled "Walk The Dog". I would have preferred to sleep in a little longer, but sometimes a girls gotta do what she's gotta do.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

If you have a crazy dog like me, then there's no need for an alarm clock. But for those of you who don't, then this is for you. Check out how adorable and fun these alarm clocks are. And the best part.....no annoying buzz! When this alarm goes off you'll hear "Ruff-ruff, ruff-ruff" or "Meow, Meow" or "Ribbit-ribbit-ribbit".

Buy these at The Land Of Nod, a division of Crate & Barrel. You won't find your standard baby pink and blue products here but you will find fun, retro style decor options for your little one!