Happy Valentines

I have such a love-hate relationship with this holiday and this year it was mostly love. While I had a Thai food eating, Notebook watching, sweatpants wearing night with a girlfriend, I set Duncan up on a blind date. It was love. He's tired from impressing his new lady friend and I'm tired from swooning over Ryan Gosling! (I am a bird) We hope you had a holiday filled with things you love, too!

Playing Catch-Up

Hello, here I am, the worst blogger ever. I'm actually blogging from my phone - Chris and I went the romantic route this Christmas and got each other new phones - so this is a test run. If it looks like poo then iPhone blogger no more. Anyway, I thought I'd do a "phone dump" of sorts to catch you up a bit... 

thanksgiving...

wears even the best of us out.

my how things change : reno : week 7

I've gotten so behind on my posts that I'm even confusing myself. So, here it is: Reno, Week 7. I (clear of throat. Literally; I just cleared my throat) intended to post at the end of each week. Week seven was actually October 25-29. I'm a few days behind on this one, but, oh, week seven was an exciting one!

Our faucet is working, we moved the food to the beautiful and beautifully CLEAN new fridge, our pendant lighting was installed (four total, you can see one peeking in the top-right corner), our trim is being completed, our hardwood stairs leading to the basement look beautiful. Sighh... it's all coming together!

And. We. Are. LOVING. It. I truly do not think I could be happier. I am never going to want to leave this kitchen, which should delight Chris, really. Homemade food all the time? Sign me up! Especially after what feels like the take-out tour of Cincinnati. And, yes, my pants are indeed fiting tighter. I think it was week six that did me in.

Every time I go through the zipped-up tarp that separates this beautiful new kitchen world from our increasingly messy living space to open up that big, pristine fridge to get the Brita (yes, we opted not to get the outer fridge water spout contraption) I breathe such a sigh of relief. I am one grateful girl. How many people get to design and then utilize and live in and love their dream kitchen? Not many.

All the while this little guy is still holding down the fort.

Which, as evidenced by the shredded curling iron and dvd player cords that we came home to, can be a rather boring job. Everything seems a little too safe here, might as well add some adventure to the day!

I guess he isn't quite ready to be left out of his kennel, but does something expensive have to be ruined every time we think he is? It'll be a while before I have an answer to that question!

Coming up in week 8: backsplash and cabinet hardware! You won't want to miss it!

my how things change : reno : week 4

Why not skip from week one straight to week four? We're currently in week FIVE, people. It's not total laziness. My camera broke, as you might recall. My super-lovely boyfriend gave me a new one, so now I can share some pics. I'll give you a bit of an update on all aspects. From weeks two to four: They did a lot of work on the plumbing and electric, which doesn't make things look too different, as you can imagine. Then they started and completed the drywall process, which, as you can imagine, DOES make things look much different.

 

And then they painted the kitchen - yay! This goes to say that we did select all of our paint colors. I'm pretty pleased with the green we selected for the kitchen. It's Valspar's Betsy Ross House Moss (6005-3C)

Mmhmm, drink it in...

Lately I've been (and have been trying to) take some deep breaths and notice the huge differences that have already been made. Opening up the french doors to let in some fresh air and sunshine has been so wonderful. The flow from the house to the deck is so much more natural.

We also selected and purchased a new couch and chair from Macy's "Elliot Collection." 

We ordered it in advance, all worried that they were going to want to deliver when it still looks like some sort of semi-organized tornado came through. They said, no, no we won't and now it turns out that its on back order anyway. You like?

They'll begin tiling the basement tomorrow. Chris selected a darker green for the majority of the basement and we picked the two browns on the right for the basement bathroom.

Anyway, things are going just swimmingly. We've dubbed Duncan the Foreman of the Job. He thought he'd better check in with you, and who am I to say no?

images: moi and Macy's

the curse of the best frenemy

Somewhere around the beginning of our final obedience class at beginner level, Duncan decided that he simply did not want any extra awards. No sir, he did not want "Most Improved" or even to allow us the opportunity to be "Best Handler." He was perfectly content with "Perfect Attendance" (8/8: what a feat!) and "Rescue Dog." (No, he can't rescue you. We rescued him.) Anyway, I believe the the exact point that he decided to throw it all out the window was when he spotted a look-alike (not hard in the dog world) of his best frenemy, George. I like to imagine he was rather confused about why George's impostor did not want to play. Er, I mean, try to beat living daylights out of each other. Maybe he was trying to remind him of how much fun they have together. Oh, yes! That's it! That's why he started growling, barking and, then finally, trying to bite this poor, unsuspecting woman's dog during a routine "sit, stay, by me (don't ask)" exercise! I'm surprised we he still got our his diploma and "passed go" onto Intermediate! THEN WE WENT TO THE GROCERY STORE TO RETURN THE ICE CREAM WE'D BOUGHT THE DAY BEFORE. Does that ever happen?? Obviously, that's another story entirely. Vacation seems so far, far away...

image: Coastal Living

my how things change : reno : week one

I seriously can't believe how quickly things change in a house (when you have a team of professionals coming in from 8-5 every day.) Actually, in a house, as well as with a dog. In our house Duncan is always some sort of goose. Chris and I are only occasionally some type of goose. Yes, I know this is weird. No, I don't know how we came upon this. Anyway, at the beginning of the week, Duncan was the sleepy-goose and the good boy. Hm, we never call him a good goose. Currently, as in while I am typing, Duncan is the whiny-goose, which then makes him the annoying-goose. With all these people in and out of the house, I think he is contemplating surrendering his title as "House Protector" (sometimes I call him the Pocket Protector.) He really doesn't deserve half of his lame nicknames; however, WHINY-GOOSE IS WELL DESERVED RIGHT NOW. Here he is, adorably feeling defeated:

Okay. Done with Love Fest Number One, my love of Duncan. Now for Love Fest Number Two, my love of how quickly and how much the house is changing AND how exciting all of the possibilities are. A display of the week's progress, and do remember, THIS DOESN'T EVEN INCLUDE TODAY. Hooray! (I'm basically a poet; if you didn't know it.)

View one, in a progression:

And view number two:

This week they knocked out lots of walls and built the necessary support, ripped up the flooring, framed and added the french doors and the bar top and began the basement. (Among many other things that my non-contractor mind isn't privy to.) Can't wait to show you all of the progress! I'm keeping the very beginning photos for the before-after reveal. Have a wonderful weekend!

happy hump day

Hello all! It's been a wonderful morning, so far. It looks absolutely gorgeous outside and I feel well-rested! Well-rested, even though last night was week seven (out of eight) of beginner obedience for the D. Besides the fact that I'm going into work an hour later than usual, I didn't need to walk or tend do Duncan much this morning. I got up at 6 to feed him his breakfast and send him off with our friend (and his sister) for Doggie Day Camp with a check and a signed permission slip. Hello motherhood! Okay, okay; I know mothering an actual human being is much different, but this is the closest I've been! Happy Hump Day!

image: Lovely Clusters

the wolf

Woah. Just when you (and I) thought I was back to posting regularly. Anyway, I had a busy busy week, which included Duncan's first day of training school. I wanted to take a First Day of School photo, but, as usual, we were rushing out the door. He was a whiny little boy, but definitely improved throughout the 1 1/2 hour long class. We learned that Duncan is really just a wolf. He might have been listening to the trainer too, as he showed his true wolf-like colors this week.

Burying his bone, even if it means hiding it in the most civilized spot:

and on the hunt (for his boxer-friends across the street):

Have a GREAT weekend! It is so beautiful outside. Maybe Friday will be Duncan's blog post day...

the good boy

It's official. Duncan will soon be (with fingers crossed) a certified "good boy." He will be starting obedience classes next Tuesday and probably not a moment too soon. He is pretty good, but just does not listen very well, which makes us especially nervous when he barrels across the street to greet (in a friendly or unfriendly manner) neighbors and fellow dogs. Of course, we still totally adore him. We took him to my parents' house last weekend, where he had his first dip in the pool. We could tell he really wanted to go in, so we helped him out. Albeit carefully and lovingly, he was not appreciative. After a few scrambling scratches he made his way to a a safe and comfortable spot to contemplate his life's complexities. Happy weekend to you!

The RB and The Roo

Heya. So, we've been having quite the adventure lately. We've been kept company (and for some amount of time, unbeknownst to us) by some four-legged enemies. Not friends. Enemies. Rat bastards. Oh yes, nasty, nasty vermin. The RB(s) have occupied far, far too much of our time, minds and money. The only upside (?) is that this has pushed us into thinking farther into renovating the kitchen. Just one bit of evidence, I'll spare you the more gruesome details:

On the other hand, we do have our little Duncan-the-Roo making us smile. He's no rat-catcher, but he sure is cute.

In his new favorite place to settle in for the night:

Have a great day!

the dog ate my shoes

Flip-flops to be exact. This was after chewing up a cigar (but, don't worry, not actually ingesting it), eating Chris's belt, our host's vacuum attachment and chewing on a duffel bag. He's been on a roll and I'm trying to stay positive, but still teach life-lessons that will hopefully result in no more ruined items. I'm off to get ready and find something that does not require brown footwear! Have a great day!

image: home sweet home

update on my heart

Hello everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I imagine you are very excited to see some updates on that little mutt of mine. He is pretty adorable, if I don't say so myself.

On his way to the park for the first time...

  Asking me if he can please eat this stick in the house...

Not a great photograph by any means, but a wonderful illustration that he LOVES to bury his bones. Not his most ingenious attempt...

After he licked the bathtub dry. Gross, I know, but really, really cute...

Always curious...

We hope you're having a great start to your week, and if not, Duncan gives you kisses! (I'm not so easy)