Lola's Mommy & Me Day

Lola & I had a wonderful Mommy & Me Day on Friday!  We got ready, packed a bag for the day and off we went to meet up with Tanya & Seamus (for my long time readers, that would be the Lapdogs' Auntie Tanya/Mom to Tut's late brother Tango).  On our way out, we had to run a few errands... you know, fill up the gas tank and get some cash.  And no, I did not have a mini freak out after getting gas and putting my debit card in my back pocket, then getting to the ATM and being unable to find said card.  Nope, that wasn't me...

Next stop was lunch with Tanya & Seamus... pizza!  And yes, the dogs got the crust.  After eating, we consolidated: 2 crazy dog ladies, 2 large spoiled dogs and 1 car (I lost count of how many tote bags of water, treats, bowls, presents...).  Then it was off to visit Booth at his forever home!

I was so excited to see Booth and couldn't help but smile when he acted just as excited to see me as I was to see him!  After the initial shower of puppy kisses and loving, he proceeded to show me how happy he is and how much he loves his family.  He would run over to me for a bit, then go sit by his Mom or Dad.  I believe it was his way of letting me know that he "got it" about transitioning from his loving foster home to his loving forever home. They really are smart when it comes to showing us they are happy and doing well and that truly makes me smile! 

Lola was also very happy to see her little Boo man, although his sister Brita wasn't so happy to see her.  Brita is a little protective of her home and ended up going inside to hang out while we were there.  Boo gave Lola some kisses and was very interested in following Seamus around (maybe he thought he was getting a big brother?). Unfortunately (and so not like me), I didn't think to get the camera out until we were getting ready to say goodbye.  Booth's Mom tried the good 'ole treat trick to get him to sit for a picture with Lola...

After she realized she was going to have to wait for the treat, Lola promptly decided to do what she does best and lie down... I do adore this shot though!

This isn't a fantastic shot of me, but I adore that big puppy grin and had to share!  The combination of that big 'ole pearly white smile and those ears gets me every time.  The second shot is my favorite of Lola & Boo, just haning out.  It was a wonderful visit and I hope we can plan a dog park play date soon so that Matt can catch up with the little man as well.

 

After the visit, it was off to the farmer's market.  The dogs were quite the hit as soon as they got out of the car.  I had several folks ask what kind of dog Lola was and some were just pointing and laughing at Seamus (Tanya tells me he gets that alot).  The little girls who were pointing to both of our kids exclaiming "BIG doggie!" were the cutest however.  Just as she does at the dog park, Lola took a stroll around and then went in to old lady mode as she found a nice shady spot to call her own.

 

At least she picked a good table... Sweet Lydia's!  The treats on the table are some of the most amazing s'mores you will ever taste, made with their own marshmallows and graham crackers inside chocolaty goodness.  The Toasted Coconut one is absolutely delish!  (Yay, so Tanya and I went to the farmer's market and came home with mostly unhealthy goodies, but that's ok, right? I found maple cotton candy too... and you know how much I love that!)

My girl made friends with the sunflower man...

After the farmer's market, the crazy dog ladies - who were now well stocked with chocolaty treats and cotton candy - needed a pick-me-up, so it was straight to the drive-thru for iced coffee.

From there, we made stops at a farm stand (who happened to have the cleanest veggies I've ever seen, and most delicious snap peas) and at Thwaites Market for some fabulous British meat pies.  Tanya bought one for the dogs to share in the parking lot.  Yup, there we were... two crazy dog ladies feeding a much sought after meat pie to dogs.  We're sure the older women in the parking lot thought we were nuts.  Imagine if they knew that between the two of us, we had six more spoiled dogs at home...

Lola & I had an absolutely fabulous day out with Tanya & Seamus and can't wait to do it again!  My old lady was completely pooped by the time we got home!

 

A Little of This, A Little of That

Happy Monday... or rather, happy let's-get-this-week-over-and-done-with and onto-the-long-weekend day!  Time for a little of this and a little of that...

I had lunch this afternoon with Tango's Mom and was able to give her some gifts that I can now show off to you.  The first was "Lil Tango," as his creators Karen & Cyndi named him.... 

Lil Tango & Newman

Lil Tango & Newman side view

Karen and Cyndi make these adorable stuffed pups and earlier this year, they had gifted me with "Newman" (on the right) in honor of Ryan Newman and his US Army paint scheme.  He was so cute, I just had to ask if there was anything they could do for this special circumstance ... and I can't thank them enough!  Although Tango is mainly a black beauty, they got to thinking and creating...  The result is Lil Tango, who I truly hope will bring Tanya some comfort when she needs it, as I know the days are still tough....

 

I also got her this beautiful engraved pebble necklace from sjENGRAVING.  I thought it was something unique that she could either choose to wear or hang in a special place, depending on her mood.  The polished pebble also reminds me of a "worry stone" and I love that she can hold it in her hand and use it in that manner as well.  I highly recommend their Etsy shop to anyone looking for any engraved stone items.  The stone truly is simply beautiful...

The kids are glad Mom made a new friend at Zuke's!  Before she left the daily grind behind (although really, how hard could it be to work at such a great company?) to take off on a cross country adventure, Andrea sent us a big 'ole box of  some of their favorite treats, as well as 2 awesome Zuke's tees for Mama Lapdog!  Thank you Andrea, we luvs it all!

Thanks to some wonderful ladies across the US, we just donated another 63 preemie/infant hats, 4 pairs of booties and 1 blanket to the Special Care Nursey from Friends of Emma!  Special thanks to my Mom for delivering them in person.  She informed me that the nurses had to take each and every hat out of the box to look at and even one of the doctors came out to thank us for them.

4 pairs of booties & 1 blanket

63 hats donated to SCN!

4th of July fun

Monday Question: What happens when you get an awesome camera to support your obsession with love of photography, but don't get around to downloading pictures off of it for a couple months? 

Answer: You end up with a tun of great shots to upload, blog, Facebook, share, etc. all at once!  The reader I use for my small digital camera won't pull files off of the cards I use in the Nikon (I think the files are far too large for it to read fast enough), so I have to find time to download them to the laptop. 

Today was one of those "ooohhh" and "aahhh" surprise days of viewing pictures I totally forgot I took!  As a result, a month later, I have 4th of July cook out pictures to share.  I had fun taking some "candraits" (candid portraits?) of the kids...

Little Miss Emma is growing up (and will have a new little sister in the coming weeks)...

My sister's double trouble adorable twosome, Amber and Austin...

I caught my Dad cooking... or maybe it was bothering Mom while she cooked...

 

More Emma ... because who can resist such a cute little face?

 

I have a feeling this might be a week of picture heavy posts... stay tuned!

Knit & Crochet Show recap

I took a much needed day off from work last Friday and headed off to the Knit and Crochet Show. I didn't take any classes... just went to shop, take in the atmosphere and spend the day with my friend Jane.  The showroom floor was certainly smaller than my first show in 2007, but probably about the same as the one I attended in 2008 (last year they moved the Summer show to New York).  The vendors were many of the usual suspects, with a few new ones tossed in and a few others noticeably missing (no Webs booth this year!). 

I was very selective and limited my purchases to those that I really wanted or were terrific deals... 

I bought the Kusha Kusha scarf kit at the can't-leave-without-buying-something Habu booth (the scarf sample is hanging in the center of the picture below). The "kit" consists of 2 cones of 1/20 silk stainless steel and 1 cone of lace merino, of which I picked out my own colors (purples, of course).

My only other yarn purchases were a couple of deals that were too good to leave behind... A single skein of Mountain Colors "Mountain Goat" in a beautiful fallish colorway called Sunburst.  Sure it's just one skein, but it was in the clearance bin... how could I resist?  It'll work up into a cowl or something small.  I also grabbed two hanks of super soft Peruvian Alpaca that were a mere $11 each, one in black and one in a "stormy skies" colorway. 

I also picked up a beautiful coral pendant, which I forgot to photo ... as well as a little birthday gift which is currently in the hands of the USPS on it's way to the recipient.

TKGA hosted a hat silent auction to raise money for charity on Friday.  I didn't bid, but snapped a few photos of my favorites...

Kate Lemmers' was my favorite design (I'm trying to find out if she has the pattern available for sale) and Kaffee Fasett's was, well, funky of course..

I couldn't resist snapping a shot of this cutie...

These are a couple of my favorites from the CGOA contest.  The bag only nabbed an "honorable mention," but I voted for it for the Attendees Choice award.  The train blanket was absolutely stunning...

At the 2008 show I met a wonderful lady and blogged about her and her unique Koala Caddie yarn aprons.  Mary and I had got to chatting about business and I mentioned Etsy as an outlet for her product.  She hadn't heard of the site before and was going to check it out.  Flash forward two years... she was back at the show and I was happy to see the hustle and bustle at her booth, as well as an expansion to her product line.  While I was admiring her great work, she was busy attending to customers.  I certainly didn't expect her to remember me or anything, so I continued to walk along until I heard someone yelling my name.  When I turned around it was Mary, with a huge hug and thank you! 

 

Mary was so excited to see me and I was so excited to learn that I had left such a great impression on a fellow crafts-business-women!  Truly a heartwarming moment.  Mary told me Etsy was working out great and she had sold 60 Koala Caddies in one year alone thru the site.  She now sells pick-up pillows (small magnetic "pillows" to help you easily pick up dropped pins, scissors, etc) and personal pillows (pictured above right).  The personal pillows are the perfect size for traveling and I plan to get a custom doggy fabric one from her soon!

In between the shopping, Jane and I sat down to lunch and a little knitting time.  She had been asking me to teach her how to knit socks for awhile, so what better time than a knitting show, right?

Jane knits and crochets, but this was her first time working with DPNs, so I got her started and off she went... knitting round and round on her very first sock!  I managed a couple of rounds on my Duckies as well (maybe this will get my sock mojo flowing again). 

Jane finished up the ribbing and is well on her way thru the stockinette leg... I think she'll be calling me to help turn a heel soon!

A day off from work with great friends and fiber... what could be better on a Friday in July?

Alpaca and Goats and Sheep... Oh My!

I'm certainly late in posting my photos from the NH Sheep & Wool Festival, but hope you'll forgive me while you enjoy this picture heavy post...

Everywhere you looked, it was cuteness, handsomeness, and loveliness... 

There were adorable babies...

 

There were perpetual looking babies, aka Angora Goats...

If there was an award for festival flirt, this guy won hoofs down!

There were even friends and fiber and yarn!  The fabulous Heather of Sereknity was on hand with a beauteous booth, bursting of color...

Matt even made a friend or two...

Are you bored yet?  If not, come back tomorrow for a little Part 2 just in time for Wordless Wednesday.....