Monday notes

I have some fun things in the works, but in the meantime, I'm getting really excited for the holidays. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house again this year, and then the day after will be a decorating frenzy. Few things get me as excited as decorating for Christmas!

In case you missed it, I'm back from a two-week vacation on the west coast: to Seattle, Portland, Napa, and photos from San Francisco coming soon. I'm spending the day snuggling with my Sprout before I get into cleaning the house and doing other chores.

The Everygirl has some great tips on how to do well at a meeting.

Don't miss Piperlime's 25% off items under $100 sale!

Some items I'm coveting this season: over-the-knee boots, a monogram necklace, elbow-length leather gloves, a dog bed with Sprout's name on it, and much more vacation time.

image via

outfit: the blues

Do you ever have one of those days where you go through three or four outfits before finally finding something you're comfortable in that suits your day? It seems to happen to me more often than not, which is why I have a healthy collection of easy shift dresses for summer work days. Sidenote: I need to start taking photos in the morning, when I don't look exhausted from the work day.

Someone really wanted to be in the pictures. Here's the look he got after pawing at my hand, to which his face said, "What? I'm important."

Calvin Klein dress (similar) // Anne Klein cap-toe pumps // Old Navy scarf (old, similar here and here) // essie "Sunday Funday" // Cape Cod bracelet

recent happenings

I recently invested in a DSLR camera, so of course I had to try it out on my favorite test subject, Sprout. (Also note the mess of wires in the background - at the top of the house to do list.)

He thinks he's a dog model.

Meanwhile, this room serves as both my office and my closet, so it's easy for me to make a mess. (Think piles of clothes on the floor next to piles of homework... not good.) I went through a closet purge yesterday and then converted a picture frame into a jewelry hanger to get rid of the jewelry mess on my desk. 

I'm also in the final planning stages of my sister's bridal shower and bachelorette party. Party planning is one thing I love - the lists, the logistics! Can't wait to share how both turn out!

What's on your mind this weekend?

BarkBox and a giveaway

I signed Sprout up for BarkBox almost 6 months ago, since I kept hearing such great things about it and thought it might be fun to get a new box of goodies each month. So far, he has loved each time I put a new box down. We even found a few new favorite things because of BarkBox, like Puptato Chips and this Planet Dog strawberry toy!

Sidenote: I really should change the name of this blog since I talk much less about fashion and decor and much more about Sprout than I originally intended.

And here's where you can enter the giveaway! I have a code for one free month of BarkBox ($29 value) to give away to one lucky reader and their pup (7/24 Note: I decided to give away 3 instead of one, since I'm feeling generous today). This giveaway is open to the US and Canada.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



I received a code for a free month to give to someone else's pup just for having a subscription. This post is not sponsored by BarkBox and, as always, includes all of my own opinions.

it's not a party until someone ends up in a cone

Is it just me or do the weekends go by faster when the weather is nice? 

What a whirlwind of a weekend! One of my closest friends asked me to be in her wedding next summer (I obviously said yes) and Sprout's birthday party/adoption party was so good that one of his friends ended up in a cone. The barnyard theme was complete with bales of hay in the backyard. I didn't get a good photo of the 4 little ones together, but here's Petunia the Pug, Rowdy (Sprout's bffl), and the birthday boy himself. Not pictured is little Morkie, who was off at the vet during this photo op.

I'm so looking forward to the rest of the summer weekends - hoping they don't go by as fast as this one did!

Sprout Saturday: Sprout's hair diary

Having a dog with hair rather than fur makes for some interesting looks (and photos), especially when it's been too long between haircuts - see Exhibit A toward the bottom of this post. 

Sometimes they cut too much on top but leave a large beard... and then Sprout thinks he looks like a professor, so he wears a bow tie.

Other times there is the "Mr. Miyagi", with too much on the sides and not enough elsewhere.

Sprout's embarrassed by this next photo, taken when his hair was far too long (and he had just woken up). Friends, this is what will happen if you have a non-shedding dog and don't take him for a haircut every 8 weeks. It's not pretty (but it's kind of cute).

In the winter Sprout likes a little more fuzz to help keep out the cold. It helps him pose for photos in the snow. This is one of my favorites.

Sprout asks you to kindly not judge him (or me) for the ridiculous photos of him. It happens.

Sprout Saturday: Welcome

I recently came across a new-to-me blog, The Semi-Designed Life, and cracked up at the "Watson Wednesday" series highlighting her dog. I'm also kind of obsessed with Decor and the Dog, another fab blog. And that, dear readers, means that you now get your very own Sprout Saturdays, where I will share ridiculousness from my dog's life. He's kind of cute, right?

Sometimes he thinks he's a model (which is great, because I ended up using this photo - edited, of course - for our Christmas cards last year).

Around Here

Flowers are in bloom all around my yard, and some of them are so gorgeous. This is my attempt at using some of my new photo skills that I learned at Blog Better Boston. 

Sprout and I spend a lot of quality time together on the weekends, and last weekend after his new haircut, I made him pose for quite a few photos. This was his "Please stop, I'm tired" face. I think we got some good ones for next year's Christmas card, though! Success.

I feel like this Spring is busier than last. But with two graduations this week, visits from some really fun people I don't see enough, and some vacation plans in the works, it's mostly a very good busy!

Before yesterday's graduation event, my little sister and I realized how much our styles are alike:

Her Chanel pumps // My J.Crew Etta Pumps

Have a fabulous Monday!

dog-themed accessories

Every so often a product comes across my inbox and makes me laugh. And then I buy it. But seriously, how great are these pillows and sign from One Bella Casa, and this t-shirt from The Mountain. Thank you, ideeli and Fab, for making my day by highlighting these great products.

(Not going to lie- I did buy this t-shirt, mostly because it resembles Sprout- but I bought it for my nephew who is just over a year old. Sadly, you won't see me in this anytime soon.)

the making of a bar cart

I've been hunting for a bar cart for what seems like ages, and I haven't been able to find one that I love in my price range. And then I found this one, which was a steal at $65 (thanks, Target!), and I had to have it.

It arrived in a heavy box, and I got all of the pieces out in my work space (the living room), with my trusty sidekick helping (by napping). At first, my little project did not look like much, but quickly (and after just one mistake that I fixed in a few minutes), it was standing upright!

Please excuse the iPhone photos- someday I will invest in a "real" camera!

Once it was done, I played around with where to place it in the dining room. The room is an exact square, which makes it kind of awkward for furniture. Sprout came in to check out where I had placed it, which was under his portrait. And then he thought he would pose in front of it.

It doesn't 100% fit with the traditional dining room set we have, so I moved it into the kitchen where it's closer to the rest of the glassware and fits better style-wise. I'm so glad I finally have my bar cart! I'm considering adding gold touches to it, but it'll stay as-is for now.

On top are my Altuzarra glasses and shaker, which I wrote about here.

Sprout turns 2

Today is February 16, which means it's Sprout's 2nd birthday! And what better way to celebrate the cutest part of my life than a photo collage of some of my favorite moments of adorableness (I'm biased, what can I say)!

In his 2 years, Sprout has been featured on WomansDay.com as the cutest pet of the day and is also the image that greets you for a local dog training company, Paws Alive. He has also saved the life of a fellow canine (Jim, pictured with Sprout) while out on a casual walk. In short, he is pretty awesome.

Happy birthday, Sprout!

weekend recap with Sprout

Sprout experienced his first New England blizzard this weekend! 

Normally he loves the snow, but the 2 feet dumped in our yard over one night has made for a very difficult time finding his normal "route" on our walks. It doesn't seem like it in the photo below, but the snow is actually taller than he is.

He was quite the little trouper on Friday, riding around with me to fill up the gas tank in the car and get some last-minute essentials like bread and matches. 

Since getting the snow, Sprout has opted to spend most of the weekend indoors, playing and taking frequent naps. Romping in the snow is tiring!

on using Petfinder to adopt Sprout

With Sprout's second birthday coming up next week, I thought I'd dedicate a few posts to the little fuzz ball who stole my heart. Today, I'm talking about what we went through to find the little guy. Petfinder.com can be a bit more difficult than you think.

T and I talked about getting a dog and decided that if we found the "right" dog, we would both be 100% on board. Both of us grew up with dogs and love animals, so it was not a difficult thing to agree on, especially with our new house, complete with a sizable (and partially fenced) backyard. I made it practically a part-time job to check animal listings on Petfinder.com, where I had heard quite a few success stories of adoptions.

Having grown up with a well-bred Bichon Frise, who was allergic to everything (including cats and certain types of grass) and therefore cost my parents a lot of money, I was not opposed to finding a lovable mutt from a shelter rather than going the breeder route. My requirements were not extreme: I wanted the dog to be less of a shedder (so not a dog that you could touch and have hair fall all over you) and somewhere around 30lbs. We did have to be a bit picky on personality though, because we knew our hypothetical pet would have to get along with both other dogs and children.

But application after application went in and I constantly heard back that the dog was already adopted, an adoption was pending, or we lived too far away. I started to get frustrated with the process. How was I supposed to adopt an animal in need if there were no animals to adopt?

I talked to a few breeders, thinking maybe we would go with a breeder instead of a shelter, but they wanted a lot of money for a puppy, there was no option for a slightly older dog, and those ASPCA commercials (Sarah MacLachlan, anyone?) made me feel guilty.

Eventually we found Maggie, a sweet-looking dark-haired mix who was under a year old and living in New Hampshire with a foster, a short road trip from our home. We were approved for her and had the home visit- where representatives, usually prior adopters, come to your home to make sure you actually have the space you say you do- and made the drive to see the little girl. She was so sweet, but bigger than I had anticipated, and she jumped- a lot. But still, I was ready to start shopping for her accessories as we drove home to talk about it. After a day or so, I realized that the combination of Maggie's jumping and her shedding were outside of our comfort zone, and our search continued.

And then one day I saw that a rescue group in Connecticut had 3 puppies and their mother, all available for adoption. There was a video with the puppies' descriptions, and Winter, Sprout, and Cookie (the pups) were adorable. One of the puppies (pointed out in the video as Sprout) picked up a stick and then tripped over it, and I was in love. Sprout was described in his Petfinder.com write-up: "Sprout bounces when he walks and tries to bounce into your lap.  They are all lap pups who love to romp and play." 

Here is Sprout's 5-week old photo, taken at his foster's home.

Emails turned into an application and then reference checks, first with my childhood dog's vet and then with my best friend, T's brother-in-law, and others. Because we didn't already have a dog in the home, I was told that we probably would not be chosen for one of these puppies. But eventually (and not without tears, more emails, and lots of anticipation) we were, and we made arrangements for Sprout to be flown from Texas to Boston, where we would pick him up at the airport. I was so excited to meet him, and nervous that the first meeting would be when we were bringing him home.

Sprout at 12 weeks old, taken at his foster's home.

It sounds dramatic, but picking him up was an extremely memorable moment. We arrived at the cargo area of the airport and were taken into a huge warehouse, where there was a small crate on the floor, nothing else around it. The warehouse operator closed the massive garage door so that we could open the crate, and out peeked Sprout, a small, fluffy, timid pup. We took him out to a grassy area so we could get acquainted, and we took these first "family photos".

Sprout cared to explore more than he wanted to get to know me.

But he and T were best friends from the start.

This is one of my all-time favorite photos.

At home, exploring the backyard from a safe spot in the kitchen.

I found using Petfinder.com to be a time-consuming process, and it could be frustrating (expected, due to the nature of what I was using it for!), but in the end, it was all worth it. I'm glad that the shelters put so much time and energy into adopting out their available animals to the right homes. Would I do it again? Yes, of course!

Check back next week for more!