Two of my Kids are Poster Children

 

 

 

 

I am so proud of my 'kids.' Honey will be the next No More Homeless Pets appeal dog. This means that she will be on a special fundraising letter with her photos and story to promote adoption, specifically special needs adoptions. This couldn't have come at a better time, because we have learned that Honey will need BOTH of her knees operated on this year, at a whopping $2500 per knee, so our in addition to helping raise money and awareness for NMHPU and adoption, we will need to mount our own fundraising goals to help pay for Honey's surgery.

Also, Tiggs will be featured on a large poster at a sale to benefit the Morris Animal Foundation's Meisha's Hope fund, which raises money for research to find a cure and better treatment for Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. Tiggs can be seen on this poster, about the seventh row down towards the right- one of my favorite pics that we snapped of Tiggs while living on the road, in Squamish.

Bravo to my brave furkids for helping raise awareness for special dogs everywhere!

Greens and Beans

MMMM, Greens and Beans is a simple, Southern Italian/Sicilian peasant dish. You take cleaned and chopped escarole (a bitter green like chard almost), sautee it with lots of fresh garlic and oil, then add a little broth and white beans. You can also toss in some sliced Italian sausage...Serve with a crusty artisan bread, and buon appetito!

New Front Door Color

 

With Spring comes a renewal of my OCD for house projects. On tap for the next month is and has been: painting the front door as seen here, painting my bedroom bright white instead of cave grey, ripping out the carpet and installing strand bamboo in said bedroom, putting in gravel in back yard beds to dog-proof and cut down on dust/dirt/and mud coming into house, then planting cool grasses in big pots in the gravel beds.

More pics to come as projects evolve!

Cookie Heaven with My Dough Girl

 

 

Holy cow, these cookies are to die for. My Dough Girl is the new kid in town as far as bakeries, and it is owned by a friend of a friend. The owner clearly has a background in Martha Stuartdom, or maybe she was just a designer in her former life. Her logo is darling, her cookies and graphics are all vintage pinup girls. Right now, my favorite cookie is the Gabrielle, which is a cocoa ginger confection. I could live on nothing but this cookie for the rest of my life. Cookies dough comes frozen and raw by the dozen, pretty reasonable, and you can also buy a fresh baked version while you deliberate which of the many dozens to buy. Check her out, 3rd West and 770 South.

Get Shorty

Yup, that's me, Shorty. Photo by Adam.

Blogosphere JACKPOT

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! I made Apartment Therapy again! I LOVE it, I'm so excited, what a huge honor to be recognized there. I check AT several times a day to find interior inspiration, and I love the variety of content there, all geared towards smaller space, creative design. So cool, I'm ecstatic. There is talk of a future online house tour of our home. We'll keep you posted!

And another blog, Plastolux, also picked it up! Thanks to everyone who has given us feedback.

New Camera

Ok, we spotted an amazing deal on Craiglist on the camera we wanted and snagged it. I can't thank my friend Joe enough for letting me try his out.

Please visit my Flickr page to see what I've been shooting, but it will come as no surprise to those who know me: dogs and interior design stuff. I promise to expand my skills, but for now, I'm working with what is right in front of me.

NMHP Adoption Event

 

Hugo the Heeler

 

Sherry the Lab/Cattle Dog mix

 

Bane the Pittie

 

Sierra the Lab mix

It was a slow weekend for No More Homeless Pets adoptions, except for the wonderful official adoption of Bane by Jaima. I was so happy to have been a part of it, and I know Bane is a very lucky girl. Another foster experiment failed! I give a lot of credit to foster families that can actually foster and then see the dogs they have helped be adopted out. Most of us seem to get attached and that is that. Either way, it's a win-win situation. Bane is a beautiful girl, and she will have a happy, wonderful life with Jaima and John and Loc, the little thug-muffin.

Playing with Joe's Camera

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe's Valley

 

 

 

 

It has been forever since I climbed outside due to injuries and/or weather, so this last Friday when Ashley and Rachel were psyched to get outside, I jumped at the chance. We had a fabulous girls day. Thanks ladies!

 

 

 

Saving America's Dog

This video that just posted by Best Friends is simply beautiful. It's only about 2 minutes, please watch it if you have two minutes to spare.

It's Official

 

Honey was officially adopted today, and is a permanent part of our family. We couldn't be happier. On site to welcome her to the brood was her Grampa Lipani, Tiggs, Adam and I, and Amber Randall of No More Homeless Pets.

Utah Gymnastics

We initiated Dad into Utah Gymnastics Fan Mania for his visit. We brought him to the Utah/Florida meet Friday night, which Utah dispatched with ease (well, after a slightly scary bars rotation). It was super cool because it was senior night, with two of the most favorite, successful gymnasts at Utah, Nina Kim and Kristina Baskett, compteting for the last time at Utah. Over 15,000 people came, and Dad learned the cheers. Here's us doing one of the cheers. Also in the crowd to support Nina Kim was her best friend, Olympic All Around Gold Medalist Nastia Liukin.

 

Pics from the Salt Lake Tribune.

Honey's Got a Grampa!

 

 

 

 

Today I took Honey back to the the vet that cared for her for 3 months. Dr. Hassinger of Mountain View deserves the Nobel Peace Prize in my opinion. It was a happy reunion, as all of the staff there were elated to see Honey, and they couldn't believe how healthy and happy she looked! They said it was so far from where she started- abandoned there by her last owner, who refused to treat her medical needs, bathe her, and wanted to put her to sleep. When they got her she was bald and filthy. They nursed her back to health for 3 months until they could find a suitable situation for her. It was evident how much they loved her, as everyone took turns coming to give her love and meet her new family- me and her new Grampa Lipani (too bad Adam was at work and didn't get to meet everyone)! Her new 'forever' Grampa, my dad, loves Honey, and she loves him. They took a snooze together. Later today I gave Honey a frisbee I bought her, and she looked like a flower when she put her face through it. She made me laugh! I'm so glad her story has a happy ending. We got her one month ago today, and she fits right in. Tiggs loves her, and Winnie still wants to kill her...we're working on it!

Consider Helping a Homeless Animal- Become a Foster Parent!

Ok, so I'm not doing so well at fostering, as Honey will most likely be a permanent addition over at our house.

But, I did convince my good friends John and Jaima to give fostering a try, since No More Homeless Pets is swamped with dogs right now. Our program is no kill, and we can only save and pull as many animals off of euthanasia lists at other shelters as we have space and foster homes for.

John and Jaima decided to give it a try since their sweet boy Loc has been lonely since their angel Ky crossed the rainbow bridge last Spring. Yesterday they picked up Candy, aka Bain (perhaps her new name?!). You can read about Candy/Bain here.

Five Ten Treasure Hunt

 

I'm not sure exactly how this works, but if you are on Twitter (that's YOU Cragbaby and Wasatch Girl!)then check it out!

Me As a Superhero!

This was really fun to make. Go here to make your own!