Skiing and Coffee and Animals, Oh My!

Well, it's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of skiing, 4.5 years of staring at fungal toenails in a ski boot shop and the person attached telling you what a big deal they are will do that to you. However, I am an athlete, and as such, I can certainly appreciate the coolness of the sport at the Olympic level. I for one have watched just about every Olympic sport playing on my new flat screen 42" high def TV nightly from Vancouver. I'm hooked.

Of all things, I think I enjoyed the mogul skiing almost the best. I was blown away at the springy-ness of the competitors legs and the cool tricks they throw down in the middle of their ski run. Wow. And, I was super psyched for the genuine good energy that Shannon Bahrke had after her bronze medal win. I loved her free spirit, her pink hair, and her family cheering her on. Then I found out she is living here in Salt Lake City. How cool is that?! Then, on top of all of that, I learned that Shannon is a huge supporter of Best Friends! Not only that, but she has her own coffee company- AND, that she has several bags of Best Friends Blend. With each bag, Shannon donates $5 to the Sanctuary. A rippin' skier, a coffee connoisseur, and an animal lover and philanthropist? That's my kinda girl.

Shannon also supports other athletes by having different Athlete Blends that feature the them and they all designate their favorite charities. Shannon then donates $1 to their charity of choice, then a dollar goes towards helping the athletes fund their Olympic dreams. Rad sauce.

Thank you Shannon for supporting the animals and your community!

Worst...blogger...ever

But, finally got that new sofa! Yay to becoming a couch potato. We are currently on the hunt for the TV that will be mounted across from the chaise.

I was really psyched on the service we got at Copenhagen West. In addition to being really nice people, Diana, our sales person even came to the house to help me...'envision'....I need that, believe me! I'm such a visual person, and it was a huge purchase, I wanted to be happy, and I was fully prepared to send it back if it didn't work.

So, enjoy the pics, can't wait to host some movie nights, but be forewarned, if you spill anything on my couch, I will kill you! Break out the Granma plastic!

And, thank you to my fabulous friend Cerre, for coming over and helping me through this anxiety ridden decision process!

Vinto Pizza

There's a new kid in town...Vinto Pizza.

If you love woodfired pizza, reasonable prices, and a hip but comfortable setting, go check out Vinto.

We enjoyed a proscuitto and apple pie with shaved parm and arugula, a baked mac and cheese with fontina, parm, cauliflower and crunchy baked breadcrumbs, and a delicious sorbetto and gelatto sampler.

The wine list is good and affordable, good beer selection, and great service. GO! NOW! What are you waiting for?

http://vinto.com/

418 East 200 South

Pits and Perception Art Show

Please join one of Best Friend's founding members and wonderful artist, Cyrus Mejia for a reception and art show entitled Pits and Perceptions running from 12/18-1/30/10.

This is an incredible collection of paintings featuring some of the Vic(k)tory Dogs and other pitties from the Sanctuary. You can visit Cyrus' website here:

http://cyrusmejia.com/art/pits-and-perception

This show has traveled the country and is finally stopping in Salt Lake! Please come to the reception and be sure to stop by while the exhibit is up!

I am truly honored to have a digital display of my photography featuring some of my favorite dogs at the Sanctuary that will be up during the exhibit. Please come to the opening and support the show, the dogs, and me!

GRRRL Power- Outdoor Inspiration- A Divine Line

My good friend Jaima has started a new website to help connect the female backcountry enthusiasts of the Wasatch. Her site is called A Divine Line and her aim is to have a forum, gear reviews, classifieds to buy and sell used gear, interviews, and great trail information for ski touring and climbing in Utah. Jaima is an amazing athlete, from snowboarding, to backcountry skiing, to climbing, she is pretty much a badass, and her website will no doubt be a fun, inspiring place to visit and a great way to connect with other women who enjoy the Wasatch backcountry. Stop by and join her forum today!

Pinups, Puppies, Pitties, and Pumpkins- Oh My!

Cute pupper!

Pumkin or Puppy?
Short, brindle ballerina SUNNY girl!
Oscar
Lindy Princess

Heeler Pups!
One of the new heeler pups!
Campaign Tables At Pinups Event
Pinup and Adoptable
It's been a busy week for me helping the dogs! On Tuesday, we had the Pinups for Pups event, it was fun, and sexy, and if you are a single dude, you blew it by not attending...lots of beautiful women dressed as the old time pinups walking adorable adoptables down the runway. You can see pics of the Pinups for Pups event here.

Today, we held a Pittie Pumpkin Party at Salt Lake County Animal Services. I got to meet the new heeler litter...oh....my....GOD, they are so precious! Then we carved pumpkins and had a pittie parade with many of the shelters most adoptable pitties in costume.

We had two very deserving dogs go into foster care, including one of my personal favorites, Oscar, who went to crash on my good friends' Jessica and Justin's couch for a while...yayyy, I get to visit! Sunny also went, and for anyone who is a sucker for short, squatty, brindled dogs loaded with love and personality, this gal will steal your heart!

Fun, fun events, for great, very deserving dogs. Hope to see more of you out there next time!

For more puppy and PPP pics, go here.

Pinups for Pups Event

This is going to be sooo cool and really fun! Pinups for Pups is a great group that does all kinds of unique fundraisers to help animals in need. Details to come, but please save the date for October 27th at Club Bliss in Salt Lake City. Please, put this on your Facebook or other social media outlets to help promote attendance! I will be there representing the Salt Lake County Pit Crew and Best Friends Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will hopefully even have a few adoptable ambassadogs there for foster and adoption!


Halloween themed event--Oct 27th

6 :00 Doors open.
6:30 Fashion Show with Models from the “Voodoo Darling’s” local talent and adoptable dogs .
6:45 Interlude & Music setup -“Best Friend’s “animal sanctuary and Local Rescue Groups speak.
7:00 Singer/Songwriter: Nicole “kole”
7:30 Singer/Songwriter : “Melody with Tyler Forsberg
8:00 Singer /Songwriter : Ashlee Dickson
8:30 Singer/Songwriter : “Alicia Mcgovern



Music will finish by 9:30-10 p.m. thereafter, participants can mingle and pose for photographers until 11 p.m at culmination.

“The Depot” will be promoted as the major sponsor of this event with: “Pinup’s for Pups”

The participants are volunteer’s and the proceeds will be donated to local animal rescue’s in partnership with Best Friends Animal Society. The aim is to create an environment to educate and unify the community in support of local animal groups . We promote awareness; people want to be involved, many just don’t know how.

A table will be set up to dispense materials to attendees on fostering programs, adoption and how each person can make a difference. There will not be a fee to attend the event in hopes of encouraging more to come out. This is a method we have found successful in other markets to get people in the door. At the event we have girls walking around encouraging donations throughout the evening.

Sondra Shannon (Pinups for Pups ) has arranged ‘star clad’ fashion events in Los Angeles , Nicole Christensen (Summer Jam West) event promotion and planning , Deena Marie (women of a thousand faces) in media, and Jennifer Tarasevich (voodoo box, and the voodoo darlings) production. All these reputable ladies have joined in support of this great cause with confidence of it’s success and passion for the cause.

Thank you for your support, this will be fun!

HERA Climb for Life '09

 

 

 

 

Here's just a few of the pics I shot at the HERA Climb for Life event this weekend in Salt Lake City.

This year I was one of the climbing pros that got to guide participants climbing to raise money and awareness for ovarian cancer. I have tried to do this event every year since 2005, when I met Sean Patrick the founder of HERA in Las Vegas at Red Rocks. Sean passed away this year, and she was sorely missed at this years event, but the spirit of HERA seemed even stronger as everyone was inspired to 'do it for Sean' this year. Nearly $100,000 was raised by participants from all over the country.

My group was very cool and everyone was so positive it was infectious. We had the father-son duo of Sean and John, Diana, Shelly, and Alison. Some of these climbers were very new to climbing, or had never bouldered outside. Everyone was determined, and every climber enjoyed tons of personal success.

I was proud that the company I work for, Black Diamond, as well as one of my climbing sponsors Five Ten, were involved in making this important, inspiring event happen.

I hope to see many of my faithful readers at next years event!

Super Adoption Success

These are some pics from the Fall Super Adoption, and our first annual Salt Lake County Pit Crew Tent. This is an exciting collaboration between Salt Lake County shelter and Best Friends Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog Campaign. During the three day event we adopted out about 45 animals, about 10 of which were pit bulls! In total, I believe close to 400 animals were adopted out between all of the shelters and rescues that attended the event.

Special thanks to No More Homeless Pets in Utah for organizing and hosting this wonderful event twice a year, it's a tremendous effort and none of this would be possible without them. Thank you NMHP!!

Salt Lake County Animal Shelter Unveils New Bully Program

Meet some of the new adoptables in the progressive new Bully Program over at SLCO. This program offers the opportunity for volunteers to pair with an adoptable pittie or pittie mix to obtain the AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. Additionally, it provides FREE spay and neuters to pitties and pittie mixes in the County, as well as low cost Canine Good Citizen training for all pitties and mixes in the County. The goal of this program is to address the disproportionate numbers of pitties in the shelters which would also reduce the disproportionately high euthanasia rates for pitties.

Best Friends will be supporting and collaborating on the program with it's Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will be a volunteer extrordinaire and photog, and am hoping this program is a huge success. As always, these programs rely on YOU, faithful readers to volunteer, donate, foster, whatever you can do!

 

 

 

 

Meet from the top: Ziggy, Zip, Lewis, Lilly- ALL ADOPTABLE

Photos by Yours Truly

AscenDance

My good friends Skippy and Isa came to town to put on a helluva good show at the Outdooor Retailer street party last Tuesday.

AscenDance can be described as dance-climb fusion, and as a former dancer, gymnast, and current climber, I think it's pretty badass.

Isa and Skippy live in the Bay area, and they are incredible athletes and all around great people. Isa's choreography was beautiful and displayed so much strength and grace in each piece. They made it look effortless, and trust me- it's not. They taught me one move, and I was sore for a week!

Check out their website, AscenDance Project.

 

 

 

Capitol Hill

 

 

 

 

 

Every now and then it's fun to take time to smell the flowers. After walking some of my client's dogs, Adam and I headed out to the Capitol Hill area to photograph the sunset. It was simple and beautiful, and the dogs had a ton of fun rolling around in the four foot deep wheat grass. It was a great way to unwind after a long day.