One Heck of A Halloween!

Hello lovelies! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I sure did!

Halloween is by far one of my favorite holidays! The simple act of dressing up and getting my make-up done is reason enough to love it! ;) Not to mention that our party was a MAJOR success. So, let's go straight to the pictures, shall we?

[party host and hostess]

[Miss Universe 2009 Contestants]

[with my baby boy]

[funfetti cookies were the bomb dot com!]

[with my PRETTY BESTIE <3]

[Miss Ireland, Miss Greece, Miss USA, Miss Brazil]

[with my hubs!]

[love her!]


[our cute little hippie neighbor baby]

[making sure I didn't contract the swine]

[best costume of the night, hands down]

[all 8 of the Miss Universe contestants!]


[pumpkin carving battle 2K9]

[my drawing of Charlie's face :)]

[charlie thought mama did a good job :)]

[of course hubs' pumpkin HAD to be sports related]

Dear Charlie,

I love you. I really do. Ask the Internets. They’ll tell you I call you the World’s Greatest Dog, Ever. Because in my eyes, you really are.

But you need to stop abusing your powers of the puppy dog eyes and cuteness. And this time, mommy means it. And I mean business.

Last time mommy checked, the stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

The dishes located on the floor are yours and contain your food. All other dishes are mine and contain my food. (Please note: placing a paw print in the middle of my dinner does not stake your claim on it, nor do I find it aesthetically pleasing in any way.)

Your Daddy and I cannot buy a bigger bed. So tonight please do us all a favor and try to sleep vertically. And please remember that it is not necessary to be stretched out to the fullest extent possible.

Also, don't think for a minute that making a sad face and whimpering pathetically will get you out of trouble when I find a puddle of pee on the floor. The face and the whimpering only validate and prove that you knew it was wrong when you did it.

I don’t know how many times we have to tell you this, but your parents really like using the bathroom alone. When mommy runs to the door, happens to beat you there and manages to get the door shut, it won’t help to whine and stick your paw under the edge to try to pull the door open.

And last but not least, when you see Daddy asleep on the couch, it is really funny not funny to make a sudden leap onto his stomach and drop a chew toy, bone or jingle ball on him… although it does make Mama laugh uncontrollably.

So dear little Charlie please remember that while you are our baby and we love you to pieces, your sassy little attitude needs to be taken down a notch. And yes, we know we aren’t perfect either. But you do look adorable in that lifeguard visor.

Weekend Wrap-Up!

Good morning and Happy Monday lovelies!

Our weekend was perfect. Friday night we picked up Charlie from the vet. Here is a picture I took of him from my phone right after we came home. Have you ever seen such a sad, pathetic looking pup?

* My poor little Charlie had a rough day Friday. As soon as he came out from the examination room, the whole packed waiting room let out a collective “awww” and giggle and said how sad he looked. He couldn’t walk straight from the wearing anesthesia and was terrified we would leave him again. He also wouldn’t walk with the cone on. So he spent most of the weekend cuddled up in either mine or hub's arms sleeping. We've been told to keep him calm for 10 days. Calm means no running, jumping, playing, etc. Do they not know that is all little doggies are made of? It should be an interesting few weeks for us to say the least! And thank you all for the well wishes you have been sending our way. We hope that he heals up soon and puppyness is back in full effect. I have playdates to schedule!

* Saturday was a lazy day full of Lifetime movies, shopping and …naps. I took the best and most glorious, two hour, no-need-to-wake-up-and-do-anything nap that I haven’t had in ages. Later, my Mama and I bought the whole store did a little shopping and I actually even mangaged to find a bathing suit relatively painlessly within an hour. A big woooooot! :)

* Sunday I attempted to be productive. I killed planted some pretty flowers in my yard, and also did a little bit of grocery shopping and working out. Then last night hubs and I saw The Hangover. Hilarious. Go see it. Now.

___________

A big item on my agenda this week is planning my bff's bachelorette party that is taking place this Saturday! ohmygawd. Being the obsessive compulsive freak planner that I am, I already have a lot of it almost finished, but I swear, every morning I wake up with new ideas. I would love to spill all the details, but I simply can't just yet. However, what I *can* give you is the picture of the look that im going for! Lots of pink and black, feather boas and cute decor. Fun, right? I can't wait!

I

Good Vibes Needed.

Happy Friday pretties!

Today my Charlie is going to have surgery. I just dropped him off at the vet and he is getting his manhood taken away. :-(

I am so nervous about my puppy being put under anesthesia. I can't stop thinking about what he is doing at this exact moment. Deep down inside I know that he will be in good hands and I’ll get to pick him up later today but what can I say? I am anxious for my little baby.

Could you send some good vibes Charlie’s way and hope his surgery goes smoothly?

This nervous mama would appreciate it. :)

We have a couple little things planned for the weekend but I will mostly be completely overbearing taking care of Charlie. I will make sure to post pictures of Charlie with his cone on Monday!

June? Already?

It’s already June. WHOA. Can anyone tell me where this year has gone, because I really can’t figure it out?!

I survived Hubs and I both survived the trip home and managed to have another fantastic weekend with friends and family. I am back with tons of pictures!

**** **** ****

Saturday morning we left pretty early to go to the Indians/Yankees game. The game didn't start until 7 p.m. but hubs and his friends organized a tailgate party. I swear, I never heard of tailgating for a baseball game until I met hubs. But this guy will tailgate for anything. *Le sigh*

Moving on. Thankfully, I was not the only girl there. So while the boys played corn hole and cooked out, the girls ate and chatted about anything and everything (more specifically, J&K+8, or now J-K+8).

{my sissy and I before we left!}

{and again}



{hub and his brother}

{us!}

{playing corn hole. he prides himself on his perfect technique, but I just think he's a hottie! }

{at the baseball game~!}

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And while we were away, Charlie was having his own fun with my sister. I swear I sometimes get jealous of my dog. Is that wrong? But I am not kidding when I say that *he has the life*. For example, while we were gone, my sister took him to the pet store, bought him freshly-baked doggie doughnuts and then took him to an exclusive doggie beach park, called Bow Wow Beach where they spent all day. Needless to say that once we came home, he was out.

{on his way to Bow Wow beach.}

**** **** ****

The rest of the weekend, we spent some time with our neighbor baby! Can we talk about how stinkin' cute this little guy is? Not to mention that he is the world's best baby. Of course. Just my luck. Why can't I be stuck watching a baby that constantly screams and cries? Then I wouldn't want any. But being around this little guy, I've been feeling some urges. But it was probably just gas. Right? There's still stuff I want to do before I start peeing on $15 plastic sticks. :)

{a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e.}

I hope you all have a fabulous beginning to your week.

The Love Of My Life

This week marks Charlie's 6 month birthday and 4 months that we have had him! I can't believe that it has been that long. It seems like we brought him home just yesterday..

From day one, Charlie has been the sweetest, most loving little guy. I will never forget going to the breeder, when he waddled over to me, crawled into my arms and just fell asleep. I am such a sap, but honestly that's when I knew that he was the one and that I just had to take him home.

It has been such an amazing experience watching him grow and develop his own sassy personality. He is goofy and silly and perfect! He brings so much happiness and entertainment into our lives every day, and we adore him with our whole hearts. The funniest thing about having a dog for us has been co-parenting. Figuring out who sets the rules, and who breaks them. Who is the 'good guy' and who is the 'bad guy.' {yupp, you guessed it, I am the latter in both cases. and i can't even make any excuses for myself besides the fact that when he looks at me with those eyes, my heart melts}

And even more than that, it is all about hard work, schedule coordinating and priorities. {In our pre-furbaby days, happy hour shindigs were our thing. Not any more.} But all this has truly made me realize what a great father Matt will be one day. He is so dedicated and compassionate with Charlie, that I can't wait to see him with our non-furry babies.

And with all of that said, here is a little video I accidentally found yesterday. It is Charlie's first day home with us! Look how stinkin' tiny he is! And please ignore the annoying background noise. That would be my annoying voice :P




Edited to Add: Here is a video of Charlie we took last week, doing his sit, shake, down, roll tricks :))) He is such an over-achiever!

Weekend Recap!

So today I am having a much better day, thankfully! A good night's sleep and a season premier of the Bachelorette definitely put me in a great mood! :)

And here is our weekend recap. This weekend flew for us but it also feels like last week was lightyears away.

Friday, hubs and I decided to volunteer and babysit for our neighbors, while they went and furniture shopped. A while back I announced that they had their baby and was super excited to spend some time with the little guy! And let me tell you, he is adorable. It should be illegal to be this cute. He is only a month old, so he basically slept or just stared at us the whole time we had him, but we had a blast.


isn't he just so stinkin' precious! it took everything out of me to not run away with him. :)

Saturday was equally as exciting as I got a chance to hang out with one of my best friends that I haven't seen since the wedding. She currently lives in California, and so we see each other only once or twice a year. We went to a yummy Mexican place to catch up. We literally closed the place down and had to be kicked out. And after fours hours of non-stop chatting, I was so sad when we had to leave! She plans on possibly moving back one day, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it's sooner rather than later. I miss the days where we used to hang out every single day!

Sunday we decided to relax. Hubs cooked out and then we took Charlie on a walk. I found an amazing recipe for Sweet BBQ shishkabobs that I have to share with you all. They are delish!

What You Need!
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks (1-1/2 inch)
1 each: red and green pepper, cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce
3 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

Make It!
HEAT grill to medium-high heat. Using 8 long wooden skewers (placing 2, side-by-side, for each kabob), thread chicken alternately with pineapple and peppers onto skewers to make 4 kabobs.
MIX barbecue sauce and juice concentrate; brush some of the sauce mixture onto kabobs.
GRILL 8 to 10 min. or until chicken is done, turning and brushing occasionally with remaining sauce mixture.






That, in short, was our weekend! Hope you all are having a fabby Tuesday!

Edited to Add: What did you think of last night’s Bachelorette season premiere? Any early favorites? Who sounds intriguing to you? And did you watch the previews? Apparently a few boys have current gf's, and one said to the other guys he went on the show to try and be the next Bachelor. Craziness!
p.s. who the heck spells their name Mathue?

I Quit.

I can't do that again... From now on, if there's a dog on the front of the movie with a big cute doggy grin on its face, I'm going to follow to instincts and head towards the movie with the man with a gun on the poster (big explosions...less tears).

Hubs and I just saw Marley and Me, and despite my gut telling me to stay faaaar away unless I wanted to be hurt, we still rented it. 2 hours later, I cried more for that dog than I have for any human person (in my defense, it's not like I've known anyone who has died...)

And whenever my mind wonders to 'that scene' I'm still nearly crying, even as I write this review. I loved the movie. Don't get me wrong. You will laugh and cry and never forget it. This movie is a masterpiece of real life. Marley and Me dealt with married life in a surprisingly realistic way with some of the funniest moments of dog humour that the previews promised. At the same time, never have I seen a movie before where my heart was torn out of my chest like that. For those of you who haven't seen it just know what you're getting yourself into. And although I knew exactly what was going to happen, I spent the last 20 minutes of the film just waiting and mentally preparing myself...and still I sobbed so hard, I could barely catch my breath.

Edited to Add: On a happier note, Britney pictures & reviews coming tomorrow! My camera is completely dead, so I have to wait for the battery to charge to download the pics. Overall, the concert was AMAZINGGGGG! [I have three very painful blisters to prove it]. Ms. Spears rocks!

Furbaby Friday

Wow, a lot has happened in the last two weeks since I've posted about our beloved, semi-human dog Charlie. He has started barking occasionally, and can make it up and down the three stairs from our porch to the yard. Not to mention that he has cracked the 5 pound mark! He now officially weighs a whopping 5 pounds 3 ounces. :) And, most importantly, he is slowly growing into his large head... slowly but surely. But in addition to all these physical changes, he has finally learned his name and sometimes sits on command. He also is developing all kinds of sassy personality.

For example:

Mom made me go outside for some 'walk' pictures but I wasn't feeling it. After all, I'm an adult and can make my own decisions these days.

This is my, "What the heck do you want, lady?" face.

You like?

Grrr, 'tuff' puppy.

Please, Mom, don't pretend like you love me.

I refuse to look at the camera for you.

Last picture. I just can't take this sun anymore.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Furbaby Friday

Being the gushing Mom that I am, I had this idea to dedicate a Friday each week to post new pictures of Charlie. We can call it furbaby friday. He is growing up so fast and with that he's definitely developing such an attitude a personality.

My favorite face currently is the "im not happy with you"

On another note, is it 5 o'clock yet? I really really need this week to be over. I'm slammed at work and have been working late almost every night. But I can't complain. I always remind myself of how lucky I am to still have a job :) And to be working for a place that i LOVE, doing what I LOVE.

But here is what I am looking forward to this weekend [in no particular order]: no plans, being lazy, drinking lots of wine, warm warmer weather, cooking out, getting my nails done, lounging, sleeping in, doing laundry [honestly. i love it], shopping for a valentine's day outfit, Real Housewives of Orange County marathon, Charlie, pilates.

Sweatpants and nights at home make me happier than maybe they should at my age. But I am more than okay with that. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Charlie's Got Style

First of all, thank you all for your compliments and sweet comments about our little guy. Charlie and I really appreciate it :)

However, recently, I have been spending hours a few minutes online shopping for a full wardrobe few things for munchkin.

Here is what I am thinking:

Pretty cute, huh?

Hubby calls it excessive, but I call it necessary. I always thought putting clothes on dogs was for decoration until yesterday. We took Charlie out and he was shivering like a leaf. Hubby is still totally against walking a "little dog with clothing." But I think the items in the pic above could be considered "manly" enough to walk the dog in public with. Right??

I can only imagine the abuse our bank account is going to take once we have kids. Geesh.

To my blog readers...♥

This past Saturday, we welcomed a new addition to our family!!!

...I present to you our precious wiggly, cuddly furbaby Charlie. He is a 2 pound, 8-week old, King Cavalier Spaniel. :) Words cannot express how absolutely ecstatic we both are to have this beautiful bundle of puppy love! Our little man is incredibly gentle, kind and smart and he is adjusting nicely!

Here are a few pictures of the love of my life :) ♥

I will continue to update the blog as we follow Charlie’s tentative footstepts (or is that pawsteps?) into adulthood. So stay tuned!