hot fun!

yesterday, with the temperature up around 90, we decided that the pups needed a bit of a cool off. so off i went to purchase them a new kiddie pool! barkley had one last summer and absolutely loved it, but then decided to destroy it once it started creeping into fall weather. so without further adieu, here' s mirabelles first kiddie pool experience.

i must admit, i did roll up my jeans and stick my feet in for a cool off too. before they made a muddy mess of it that is.

here's to pups and summer... two of my favorite things!

smooch that face!

just incase you needed a little cuteness today...

mirabelle, 14 weeks, best mouth ever!

where do the days go?

i've gotta say, these have been some very busy, but very very great days! adam & steph's wedding is this saturday and evan & i have been helping them get all of their last minute DIY projects all finished up. the amount of handmade goodness going into their wedding is just amazing. i'm so excited to see how it all comes together. pictures will definitely be shared next week!

also, today i am FINALLY going to get my hair trimmed up! i currently have this weird mullet thing happening and it is not cute! if you've been following along then you know that i'm trying ever so hard to grow out my do. it's a rather tough job growing out a pixie cut, and i've been waiting for as close to the wedding as possible to get my trim up so that it looks all nice and freshy fresh for the big day. the sides of my hair have finally grown over my ears, which is what i was waiting for, so it's looking like i'll be able to do a simple little bob. those hair & nail vitamins have been doing their job!

pictures...

1&2

snuggling my boy * strawberry banana smoothies

3&4

DIY goodies for steph's wedding * working on the seating arrangements

5&6

mother's day cookout with evan's fam * beautiful morning sunshine

7&8

evan on his boys weekend getaway * mirabelle being cute as always

9&10

tempeh tacos * creepy salvage yard finds

11&12

adam & steph's sweet boy * monkey lounging in the window

bark in the park

last weekend evan and i took a lovely drive down a very skinny, very windy little road, to help out the dog rescue i volunteer with, at this years bark in the park. it was such an amazingly beautiful day, and the fact that there were about 1000 dogs there certainly didn't hurt the fun factor...

evan gives betty a little snuggle...

this is one of mirabelle's brothers!

oh, hello sweetness

big and little...

EARS!

oscar is sweet as pie...

kiddos and puppies, a match made in heaven!

hershey, so chubby and my favorite of the day...

hello bart!

and a few non-doggie friends were there too! these are some sort of scottish cow. i forget their names, but they were so adorable with there long frizzy hair and big brown eyes. love 'em!

and a baby one relaxing under a shady tree... heart-melt!

i started working with North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue shortly after evan and i moved down to NC from NY. they used to be located just outside of charlotte and i would go almost every day to help out. then because of zoning issues they had to move about an hour and 45 mins away... sadness indeed! i'm so excited though because they've recently purchased a building back here in charlotte and will be moving back in a couple of months. that means lot of afternoons taking dogs for walks and giving snuggles all around. i can't wait!

busy days

here's a little peak at the treasures captured by my phone these past few days...

finally met our friends little girl lucy * squirrel being pretty * delicious noms * dental checkup for me!

oh ya know, just some cute puppy goodness!

presents in the mail from a friend * new sneaks * plenty of rain clouds * puppy tail hole!

dog sitting great danes * smoothies * whipped up some bunting for the bedroom * big doggie snuggles!

tonight evan's bff, and our old brooklyn roomie, gets into town. he's only here for a night so we've got to jam pack the evening with quality hang outs and delicious vegan eats! should be a great night with friends...

photo dump...

tofu scramble * friends band * roller skating bridal shower * saving squirrel from a tree

*sleepy sleepy pups*

view from the hammock * vietnamese nibbles * stitching party with steph * good fortune

*more puppy cuteness!*

*proper hammock lounge attire*

stitching up an order * big smarties lollipop * snuggling siblings * editing photos

i'm so excited because our friend lesli and her boyfriend dave are coming into town today from NY... and they're bringing their dogs! it's always fun having lesli around because she likes to gossip, and talk smack, and drink wine with me. good times! it's going to be a crazy full house here for a bit, but it'll be absolutely worth it! barkley has a big time doggy crush on moods (that's one of the pups), and they always run around like maniacs and exhaust each other out, which leaves us with sleepy puppers, and that is always nice :) this will be mirabelles first big doggy play group too, so we'll have to see if she can hold her own with the big guys.

i've got some very very exciting news to share tomorrow, so be sure to stop on back!

sweet pea mirabelle...

just had to share this bit of puppy sweetness :)

sweet puppy love...

if i seem distracted lately, it may be due to unbearable cuteness...

yesterday i was informed from a gal at the dog rescue i work with, that they needed some help placing a litter of 10 puppies in foster homes for a few weeks. she also asked if evan and i might be able to take one for a while. well certainly we could! we've fostered before and i've had puppy fever lately so i thought that this might be just the thing to get me over it. i went with another rescue gal, to the house where these pups were currently staying, to give shots, take pictures, and pick up one foster puppy for us. well not 10 minutes after evan met this little baby, (who was originally named precious, but we are calling mirabelle) evan was already saying that maybe we might keep her. we've been thinking for quite some time about getting barkley a little friend, and we've always wanted a pit bull (there needs to be more responsible owners out there to help break their current bad reputation, and educate as to what amazing, loyal, sweet dogs they really are), and it seems that she just may have come into our life at the perfect time. so without further adieu, here is sweet little miss mirabelle...

barkley already loves her to bits...

we took her over to our friends shop (to show her off naturally) and she proceeded to zonk out on the counter...

so it looks like we've got ourselves a new member of the family. let the days of sweet puppy breath, nibbled shoe laces, house training, and lots of snuggles begin!

13 views from the weekend...

my goodness am i one tuckered lady! evan and i have been bit by the spring cleaning bug big time and we spent this weekend getting things DONE! we fully intended on spending this past two days cleaning up around the house, but it ended up taking on a life of its own and we got so many little projects finished. it feels super good to be productive!

on saturday evan pulled out all the dead bushes in front of our house and we planted these sweet little babies right here... so much better then the ugly shrubbery that was there before!

i made a spur of the moment decision that our living room table absolutely needed a makeover. it was blue/grey before and now...

is a violet/grey!

i scored these sweet little vintage doilies on my antiquing trip on friday. they are now our coasters!

i also gave this tiny end table that we found a few months back a face lift. it had been sitting around waiting to be painted, and today was its lucky day...

so much prettier! oh and that skull you see there also got a face lift today. he was originally white! in my opinion there are few things that don't look good painted gold :)

we also rearranged our bedroom and hung up some new little bits of decor. hehe... i just noticed barkley left his kitty toy on the bed. love that pup!

a pretty little birdie...

a vintage tin lid that i also found on friday...

the full view of the ship in its new home...

these lights were in our living room before, but my original intent was always to have them in our bedroom. they finally made it there and barkley approves!

and while i'd love to say that it was all work and no play, we definitely had a few relaxing moments in the hammock. the weather was finally nice here in charlotte after raining for about a week straight so no way were we going to miss out on this!

the view from the hammock. ahhhh, so good!

hope a lovely weekend was enjoyed by all! i think i'm going to head back out to that hammock and enjoy the last few minutes of sunshine before getting back to work...

let sleeping dogs lie...

i was browsing through some old photos this morning when i came across the one above, taken at an event i was working with the dog rescue i volunteer with. the event that day was just a few blocks from where evan works, so i told him that he NEEDED come down on his lunch break and meet this little booger of a dog! at this point we had zero plans of adopting a dog. we were in an apartment with a no pet policy and were already hiding 3 cats inside! a puppy was just not in the cards for us yet. so with the best of intentions i decided to just bring barkley (then named carter) home after the event to foster for the weekend. i would get to snuggle him for a few days and then bring him back to the rescue on monday. welp, as you may have already guessed, barkley never went back to the rescue.

i've taken quite a few pictures of barks since having him in our lives, and while browsing them all this morning i've noticed a reoccurring theme. this dog sleeps A LOT... and apparently i like to photograph it. so without further adieu, i present barkley... sleeping.

life wouldn't be as snuggly without you barks!

weekend bits...

what a fabulous little weekend it was! it consisted of having zero plans to start off with, but ended up being filled with some surprise visits from out of town friends, some impromptu afternoon cocktails, and a bit of work productivity to boot! here are a few little snapshots off the old iphone from the past few days...

spring has sprung in our backyard...

delicious morning treats...

come on, is this really neccessary?

just letting a little friend have the right of way...

a monkey in a box!

brunch with miss steph, sooo...

...as to bribe her to let me take some pics of her wearing my new spring headbands. (they'll be up in the shop soon!)

a new tradition was born... mimosa sundays!

and last but certainly not least... what time is it???

it's cookie time!!!

weekend bits...

happy valentines day friends! what a lovely weekend it was here in charlotte. the sun was shining and it was around 60 degrees every day. i now officially have spring fever, so let's hope it sticks around! here are a few peeks at what my weekend looked like...

*sleepy puppy*

*signs of spring*

*trim ups*

*lunch with steph*

*cast iron hunting*

*sunday evening dog park trip*

Monkey & Squirrel... at bath time!

i thought i'd just share this little video of my blogs namesake. this is Monkey & Squirrel! Monkey is the black kitty on the receiving end of Squirrels bath. Squirrel is such a good little momma hen, she's always keeping Monkey clean and yelling at him when he gets a bit too crazy. these kitties keep life entertaining!

pardon the darkness of the video. we were having some evening snuggles when this occurred and it's the best i could get with my phone :)

bits from our snow day...

and a little video of our snow day antics...

merry holidays and all!

happy holidays friends! i'm officially taking off for the next few days. heading up to NY to celebrate with the fam and enjoy some much needed time off. i wish everyone a happy happy christmas and a very merry new year! see ya in a few days...

time away...

i took a little time away from blogging last week. i wish i could say it was for some grand happy reasons, but that just wasn't the case. evan and i lost a member of our little family last wednesday. one of our cats, juan, quite unexpectedly passed away. he's was a chatty, silly, big chubby kitty, and his absence is greatly felt in our home. so juan, here's to you. you are terribly missed...

puppy nose!

i full well realize that i may be biased here, but isn't barkley just the most handsome pup in the world :)

we were about to head out on a walk, my camera was sitting right on the table, and i just had to snap a shot of that little face. dogs... aren't they just the greatest!

weekend visitors!

this weekend evan and i had a couple of very welcome little visitors. if you happen to follow me on twitter or facebook then you've already seen these adorable faces. if not, then be prepared for a ridiculous amount of cute...

i posted about these little guys HERE, and was lucky enough to be able to take two of them home on saturday after an event with the rescue i work with.

i just wanted to give them a few days of being absolutely spoiled rotten... and spoil them we did!

evan and the pups take a little nap...

then barkley and the pups do the same...

they are so super sweet, already crate trained, and ready for their forever homes!

how can you resist this much sweetness...

in about half an hour i'll be heading out to drop these guys back off with the rescue. i know for sure that we're not ready for another puppy, but dang it am i gonna miss them!

adios summer...

my internet was down for an entire 24 hours beginning last night... it was a rough day let me tell you! it's back now though and i thought i would just share this adorable little gem before i head on off to bed.

apparently my little Barkley has decided that he's done with summer, and went ahead and kicked off autumn by destroying his kiddie pool. how could i be mad? i mean really... look at that face!

Big Day!

quite a day i have in store for myself today. first on the list is finishing up my breakfast of oats (uncooked), raisins, banana, cinnamon, kashi protein powder, and soymilk... coffee will follow soon after. a great way to start off the day if you ask me. then its off to JMD, the law firm where my hubby works, to meet up with fred. fred is going to help me file all the paper work to become LLC and get my tax id #. how very legit of me! this is apparently the kind of work he really enjoys so he's going to do it for me pro bono. yay! he says its the american dream to be able to start up your own small business from nothing. i am an american dreamer! after that bit-o-business i'm heading to the social security office with my marriage license to officially change my last name. we've now been married a month and 10 days and i've put this trip off long enough. it's not the name changing that's got me procrastinating you see, its the SS office. i don't like lines. they make me cranky.... naturally.

once the legal and social business is taken care of, i'll run on over to the dog rescue where i work. feed and walk some pups, give out ample portions of love, and by the looks of the rain clouds in the sky, maybe get a little muddy. totally worth it!

then its on to my favorite task of the day. cast iron hunting! about 20 mins from where i work there is the best little salvage/antique spot. my cast iron goodies have been my best sellers on etsy and i need to add to my supply. when i buy them they're all gross and rusty, but i take them home, give them some love (sanding, fresh paint, 2nd sanding, clear coat) and they're reborn to fill their cast iron destiny! hopefully i'll get to paint some of them this weekend and get them up for all to see.

a busy day ahead... now it's on to that above mentioned coffee!