Craftalong for Sandy Relief

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!  Is anyone else participating in the Craftalong for Sandy Relief?  Perhaps you haven't read about it yet?  You can click that link to read about it on Vickie Howell's blog or check out their Facebook page here.  The whole idea is to warm up victims with handknit, crochet or sewn items like hats, mittens, scarves, socks and blankets... but everything needs to be sent asap, for obvious reasons.

Vickie's blog has links to a few very quick patterns if you need ideas.  I dug through my stash and cast on a chunky knit hat...

It works up quite fast and I got a good chunk (no pun intended) of it done last night while watching Person of Interest.  My goal is to finish it and hopefully one more this weekend, then package them up with these two hats and ship them to NYC on Monday.

We all know crafters are among the most giving bunch of folks out there, however I do realize this is a "hurry up and create" project.  Fortunately, I already had those two colorful hats knit up.  If you can help, please do!

Yesterday our buddy Jet tagged us in a "Share Seven Things About Yourself" meme, so here we go...

1. Sophie is the youngest of the Lapdogs and will be turning 6 on December 6
2. Zeus is the senior member of the pack and also the largest, at 118 pounds.
3. Lola really should have been a Mom.  She has natural instincts and truly mothers all of the foster pups who come through our house.
4. Teutul still thinks he's the baby, and is the most vocally annoying of the pack.
5. The Lapdogs think I love peanut butter even more than they do... and they're probably right.
6. The Lapdogs have their Daddy wrapped around their paws, even if he doesn't quite admit that.
7. We received a special surprise from the folks at Purina as a thank you for being at the top of the leader board in their Family Points social media program.  Perhaps you caught it in our Wordless Wednesday post this week?  We think it's pretty cool and unique... and yes, it is just a one-time deal and it's full of stuffing, not kibble! ;) 

We're supposed to tag 7 people to follow along, but instead we will just invite everyone reading to go ahead and post your Seven Things on your own blog!  We also wanted to point out the Kmart Gift Card giveaway we currently have going on, in case you don't stop by every day.  Go ahead and enter... who can't use a gift card just in time for the holidays?  Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a wonderful weekend! 

GIVEAWAY: Kmart Gift Card

Kmart Gift Card

I am participating in the Kmart Decorate It Forward mission from smiley360 and as a result, was just chosen as a featured blogger.  So, what does this mean for you?  It means a chance to win a $15 Kmart Gift Card to get your holidays off to a great start!

Have you visited Kmart lately?  If not, what are you waiting for?  The Kmart Online Christmas Shop is open and ready for your business!  They have everything you need to decorate your home inside and out.  From sprucey trees to twinkling lights, glittery ornaments to warm stockings, Kmart has it all.  I'm a little partial to this inflatable 3' tall Scooby Doo, but I'm afraid the Lapdogs might have a problem with a strange dog in their yard...

While you're browsing all that Kmart has to offer, be sure to check out the Decorate It Forward Sweeps and you could win a shopping spree with Sandra Lee and Jaclyn Smith!  Make sure you also check out Smiley360 and learn how you can get on great missions like the Kmart Decorate It Forward one! 

So...are you ready to win a Kmart Gift Card to get your holiday decorating started?  Enter through the Rafflecopter widget below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: Smiley360 is providing the $15 Kmart Gift Card to the winner of this contest, free of charge.  I was not compensated for my review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Day-After-The-Election... it's time to get Wordless!



 

Stay tuned for this review!

REVIEW: BarkBox

BarkBox

Where to Find: BarkBox

The Lapdogs sure got their tails wagging when they received an October BarkBox for review!  After all, what dog wouldn't be wagging their tail over this... just look at all that stuff crammed into the box!

BarkBox is a monthly subscription service designed for our favorite four-legged babies.  Once the humans sign up, the dogs receive a fun box filled with four or more selected products and presents... every month!  Boxes include everything from treats and bones, to toys and leashes, to gadgets and, yes pups, sometimes even shampoo!  But trust the Lapdogs, your pooch will be so happy with all of the fun stuff, he won't mind the occasional grooming product. 

The October BarkBox was stuffed with these goodies...

• Feelgood Trail Blazin' Bitz, Turkey Liver Recipe:  Handcrafted in Canada, preservative free, and evidently quite tasty, as all four dogs inhaled them! 
• Humunga Stache: Quite the humorous toy indeed, although I think it's a bit large for even my big dogs.  I did manage to get Zeus to pose with it for a couple of very quick shots...
• Lollycadoodle Wool Pet Toy: Having purchased other felted wool toys in the past, and knowing they didn't last long before our dogs started leaving bits of felt all over the house, I not yet given them this puppy to play with.  Our former foster pup Harper, who receives her very own monthly BarkBox, received a purple one and immediately decided it needed a hair cut. 
• TropiClean Clean Teeth Gel: We have not tried this yet, but I plan to use it on Teutul soon.  I love that there is no brush involved and this little 2oz bottle provides 120 applications!
• Poopy Packs poop bag roll: I'm going to put this roll in one of our holders next.  I love the chic colors!

One of my favorite things about BarkBox is actually what it is not... it is not one-size-fits-all!  When you sign up, you are first asked to select a size; Small & Cute (0 - 20 pounds), Just Right (20 - 50 pounds), or Big & Bold (50+ pounds).  Once you have chosen the appropriate size (we opted for a Big & Bold box), you are then presented with 3 plan options.  If you're not sure yet, you can opt to pay full price of $29 per month, or you may commit to a 3 or 6 month plan.  A 3 month plan is discounted 24%, making each monthly box $22 and a 6 month plan is discounted 40%, making each box just $17.50 -- a fabulous value!  No matter which plan you choose, shipping is always free!

Not only is the BarkBox fun for dogs of all ages, it's responsible too.  A portion of the proceeds of each box goes to help doggies in need!  What more could you ask for?  The Lapdogs think all pooches should ask Santa Paws for a BarkBox subscription this year -- and they aren't ashamed to admit they would love one as well! 

So, what do you say?  Are your dogs ready to find out what all the tail wagging is about?  Or perhaps you want to give a BarkBox subscription this holiday season?  Click here to learn more and you will received $5 off your first subscription!  




Disclosure: BarkBox sent this October box to Lapdog Creations, free of charge for review purposes. I was not compensated for this review and all opinions expressed are my own.

GIVEAWAY WINNER! Merrick Dog Food Revolution Kit

Thank you to everyone who entered to win a Merrick Dog Food Revolution Kit! The winner has been selected by random number generator...

Here are your random numbers: 6

Congratulations to blog-less Tanya and her gorgeous pack!  The Lapdogs are sure they are all going to be wagging their tails with joy!

Thank you again to everyone who entered... please stay tuned, as we have several more great reviews planned for the coming weeks! 

TGIF

Happy Friday!  I'm still picking up the pieces, rescheduling appointments and catching up from our power-less week, thanks to Sandy.  We will return to regularly scheduled blogging - including some great reviews I had planned for this week - next week! 

As mentioned yesterday, I did get some knitting in and I actually have a Finished Object to share for Fiber Arts Friday!  It's another Rolled Edge Cap...

I seem to always have a basic hat on the needles for mindless knitting, and lately it's been baby hats.  The Rolled Edge Cap has become one of my go-to patterns, as it is well written, and did I mention mindless?  The yarn here is TLC Essentials in the colorway Surf & Turf.  I'm almost embarrassed to admit it's TLC, but the colorway really caught my eye and I had to knit with it!  Besides, we all know new Moms appreciate washable knits!  It's actually quite soft and I would use this acrylic again.  In fact, I'm pretty sure there's enough left for another hat out of the skein.

If you haven't already done so, you have until midnight tonight to enter to win the Merrick Food Revolution Kit valued at $150!  If we get a chance we'll announce the winner over the weekend, otherwise stay tuned until Monday!  

We hope everyone has a great weekend and we are sending lots of good vibes and crossed paws to those still without power from Sandy.  Please stay safe and warm. 

Back to the Land of the Living

Happy Thankful Thursday!  We are extremely thankful to be back among the land of the living today, as we finally got our electricity back late this morning.  Sandy hit Southern New Hampshire on Monday and left behind quite a bit of damage. PSNH said this was the 4th highest outage in their history, behind only the ice storm of 2008, 2010 windstorm, and Halloween 2011 snow storm (exactly one year ago).  Yes folks, we've now been tricked and left in the dark for two Halloweens in a row. 

We are very thankful that, although we were without power for nearly 72 hours, we had no major damage to our home and we are all safe.  We have a portable generator that allows us to hook up the fridges and a few minor luxuries such as the TV, a light at night and the microwave when needed.  The worst part is when we loose power, we also loose the ability to have simple things like running water, flushing toilet and heat -- and no, as of right now we don't have the ability to hook these things up to the generator.  That really needs to change soon!

I apologize in advance, as if you follow me on Instagram, these photos will be repeats for you.  I have photos on the real cameras and as soon as we finish catching up with life, I'll get those downloaded to share.  I'll also take photos of the clean up process...

The winds started picking up early on Monday.  Lola tried fighting Sandy off with a loud bark, but it didn't work.  We lost power on Monday at 12:23 pm, much earlier than most in New England!

While I may have been able to get things set up, I opted to wait for Matt to get home from work Monday evening to start the generator.  That gave me a chance to use my favorite pumpkin candle...

Sometime on Monday, that beeatch Sandy took down both of our very old and very large weeping willow trees.  Nope, the beeatch couldn't have taken a dying apple tree or two, she had to break my heart and take some of my favorites.  Surprisingly, we never heard them fall... I'm suspecting it was at some point while we had the generator running (which we do shut off over night, although many of our neighbors leave theirs running all night long).  These were the first devastating shots I took from our back porch on Tuesday morning...

We are thankful they fell the way they did (basically "up" our yard), and did not fall "forward" (toward the camera in these shots), where they more than likely would have come in contact with our house.  We are also thankful that this is the majority of our yard damage.  We have several small branches all over the yard, a decent size limb broken off a large maple up behind these trees and the willows are resting atop one of those half dead apple trees, but that is all minor in comparison.  After I got over the shock, I realized the sky looked quite lovely and although Matt would highly disagree with me, I thought our driveway was pretty (he had spent most of Saturday mulching up leaves and had the front yard & driveway bare before the storm)...

 

So what to do while mourning the weeping willows and cursing at the cable company for the shaky service (hey, if my generator is going to run the darn TV, I expect to be able to watch the news and know what's going on out there in the real world)?  Eat, drink and be merry... or something like that, with a little knitting tossed in for good measure.  And while the cable was on and off over the past couple days, I'll admit it was on more than it was off.  I'm thankful for that, since it did allow me a little normalcy, as well as insights into world while stuck at home babysitting the generator and wishing for a shower.  (btw, the Limited Edition Pumpkin Swirl bread from Pepperidge Farm pictured below is delish!)  

Here's a closer look at one of the two craters left from the weeping willows...

Although my biggest wish was for a shower and running water during our 72 hours, I truly am thankful that we even have a generator, as I certainly realize that many folks do not.  And I am thankful that our damage was minor and our home is still standing (we did have a water leak under the living room window during the heaviest rain that we must look into and we have some chunks of roof scattered around the back porch that will need attending to).  The pictures on the news of the New Jersey shore towns who are under sand and water are devastating to see, as is the Queens neighborhood that was burned to the ground during the height of the storm.  While I complain about my issues here in New Hampshire, I can not even begin to image what these folks are going through today.  We're sending them all good vibes and crossed paws.

 

Of course, that didn't stop me from drowning my own sorrows in a glass of wine or two during the ordeal.  Tut seemed to be begging for a glass of his own...

 

I snapped this picture of the sunrise early this morning, well before our power was restored.  Call it a ray of hope if you will, but I thought it was a rather beautiful shot... and yes, was very hopeful for power restoration by the end of the day.  We hope everyone out there effected is staying safe and warm, as the cooler temps are certainly beginning to move in.