Conehead Puppy = Unhappy Puppy

Well we had a little bit of drama last night. I get home from work and take Spencer for a walk. She's definitely getting more energy back and feeling better from the surgery. So we're hanging out after the walk and I go to check the stitches on her belly. Well the nice little row of black stitches are GONE. There's 1 single stitch and then just the wound from the cut of the surgery. And it's oozing (sorry - i hate that word too, but there's only one way to describe it). So I call the vet who did the surgery (who is not her regular vet - we had to take her to the shelter vet to get her spayed as part of our adoption agreement). They say this is very bad and we need to get her checked out right away. Well that vet who did the surgery is about 45 minutes away, so I call our vet and they say to bring her right in. So she has to get 7 STAPLES in her belly from our vet to hold the wound together because apparently it was on the verge of opening. OMG. I was obviously freaking out.

Since I ASKED the vet who did the surgery for a cone for her when I picked her up Monday and they didn't give me one...I was MAD. I KNEW she was going to lick/bite her stitches...hello SHE'S A DOG! She doesn't know any better. They told me it wouldn't happen and she would be fine without one. I'm already planning on sending a not so nice letter to this other vet who did the surgery (there were other things that happened with the spay that i was not too happy about) So she now has to keep the staples in for 10 days and wear a cone pretty much 24/7 to keep her from licking/biting these out. Let me tell you...she is PISSED. As soon as we put the cone on her, she pretty much becomes catatonic and just stands there, with a glazed look in her eyes. It's bizarre. Last night as we were going to bed, she was making the most pathetic whining noises...it was horrible! But she has to keep it on pretty much morning noon and night. We're going to ler her have some cone-free time when we're with her in the evenings, but that's about it.

I have to admit, it's pretty hysterical to watch and see her with the cone, but we're trying not too laugh at her too much. She's meeting Sailor boy's parents this weekend for the first time and we warned them last night that she may not be herself. I hope she doesn't figure out a way to get that cone off!

Random

So we went bridesmaid's dress shopping on Sunday and it was very interesting! Nordstrom was very disappointing, but we did find a few good choices at Lord and Taylor and actually Macy's. The most interesting part is as we were shopping, I think K may have changed her wedding colors!!! Since the wedding is on a huge lawn (ceremony and reception), I think she's worried that the aqua color might looks weird with all the green grass. We found one dress that both me and L LOVED...in bright yellow. We checked the designer's website and it doesn't come in any other colors. So that may change things a bit...I'm a big fan of yellow and I think K may be leaning towards it as well. Here's the dress (it looks much better on than in the pic -- the best part is the amazing big bow in the back...it's so cute!)

In other news, Sailor Boy is back from San Diego for the bachelor party and he's definitely struggling. I told him he's not as young as he once was and he can't party all weekend and then fly back for work on Monday morning. He was not amused. I think he's just mad because all the other guys he was with seemed to be able to "hang" (aka drink all night and then get up the next day and start drinking again) and apparently he can't. I've turned him into an old man. I don't think it's a problem to not be able to binge drink anymore...we're obviously not in college anymore and there's really no reason to do that to your body. I'm perfectly content having a glass or two of wine at dinner and then being able to wake up the next day and not feel like death.

Spencer got spayed yesterday and that was quite the ordeal. She's in serious pain and she's acting like she hates us. I've been giving her baby asprin mixed in with her food but I'm not sure if it's really helping or not. Last night was pretty bad, but this morning she was at least walking a little better and going up and down stairs on her own. She looks at you like she wants you to pick her up (since she wasn't really walking on her own), but as soon as you touch her, she howls in pain. I'm hoping she gets better today with plenty of rest.

This weekend at work (Saturday) I have 3 weddings and a bridal shower. What the HECK am I going to do??? I don't have an assistant (not that I haven't tried to get my boss to hire one) and I really think it may be physically impossible to set up for all 3 of these weddings. The hotel has 1 ballroom and then a smaller private room, so we have a daytime wedding in the ballroom and then an evening wedding up there, and then one mid-afternoon smaller wedding in the private room. The smaller wedding is the biggest headache of the 3 of them!! They have a ton of set up and they're very picky and somewhat bitchy about everything. It's a very last minute wedding and the bride and groom are very young (like 20 -- juniors in college). I've tried to be as helpful as I can, but I'm not a miracle worker - I'm sorry that they waited so long to start planning! Plus, the private room holds 60 people MAX which I've told them about a million times and she called me Saturday to tell me their guest count is at 82 and that's still not final. HMMMMM. So I'm dreading that wedding for sure...

Lastly...Red and White Preppy, can i get an invite?? I really want to read your blog!! Thanks!

Happy Puppy!

Sailor Boy is away this weekend and I had to work all day today, so my wonderful bff K offered to watch Spencer for the day so she didn't have to spend all day cooped up in her crate. She has a fabulous fenced in back yard, so Spence got to play and hang out all day. Here's the adorable pictures she took of Spencer today:Happy Weekend!

Friday evening wedding

So I have a Friday night wedding this weekend at work. They're not very popular, but I usually have a few every couple of months. It always seems like weddings that are held on Fridays or Sundays always have a different dynamic than Saturday weddings. I'm not sure why, but it's definitely a unique vibe for Friday and Sunday weddings.

The wedding here tomorrow should be no different...the couple is covered in tattoos from head to toe! They are actually super nice and have an adorable 5 year old daughter named Ruby, but when I first met them, I was a little surprised. Our hotel is very traditional and nautical, so I was very shocked that they would be interested in it for their wedding. But they really loved it and the bride is so excited every time I talk to her. Another good thing about this couple is that they are very laid back...It's so refreshing to have a bride like that. It makes my job a lot easier (since I'm a very laid back person myself and I handle my job just like that too...which I think surprises some people). I totally understand that there is stress in planning a wedding, especially when it gets down to the weeks before, and I have definitely seen my share of crazy bridezillas. So I hope tomorrow is nice and relaxing and fun.

I actually DO NOT have a Saturday wedding at work this weekend, which I'm super excited about. I will actually get to leave work Saturday at like 4pm...and enjoy my weekend! Sometimes the strain of working every Saturday gets to me...especially in the summer when all my friends and Sailor Boy are out having fun all day. I get off Sundays and Mondays to make up for it - but it's not really the same since everyone else is working that day. I usually will just go lay by the pool all day by myself in the summer, but it does get lonely. I do LOVE my job, so it's definitely worth it...but this field definitely has a high turnover rate. I've been here for about 2 years now and I definitely don't know if i'd be able to do it once I'm married and have kids.
Luckily, that's still a ways off...hehe...so I get to enjoy my job for another few years at least :-)

Changing the subject, I'm loving alot of the new spring sale stuff at jcrew.com. I'm so tempted, but I'm REALLY trying to be good with spending money. I may just have to treat myself to 1 or 2 new things...

We may have a breakthrough!!

Spencer didn't bark this morning!! Well I won't say she didn't bark at all, but she only barked for about 2 minutes, then settled down and enjoyed her new rawhide toy. I am so relieved! We also covered her crate with a sheet at the advice of the rescue group we got her from - apparently it makes them feel calm and safe. So we have a happy and quiet puppy!!

So I promise I'm not turning this into a dog blog...I do have other things going on in my life! My stupid camera is still broken (but it is in the shop as we speak), so hopefully as soon as I get it back I can post the pics from the engagement brunch we threw my bff, K a few weeks ago. It was a total success!! She was so surprised, she cried! I love when you can pull off a surprise party! The weather didn't coorporate, so we had to do it inside, but it will still fabulous and everyone had a great time. I have to say - my days of planning surprise events may be coming to a close. It's so hard!! I've already told K that her shower will NOT be a surprise...haha.

Sailor boy is going to San Diego this weekend for his cousin's bachelor party, so I will have the house to myself. Just me and the puppy dog. I think Sunday I'm going with Bride to be K and the other bridesmaid L to try on dresses for the wedding...we're going to try Nordstrom and Lord and Taylor first. Since there's only two of us, i'm hoping it's nice and easy to find something. K has basically said we can pick whatever dress we both like, doesn't matter where it's from and it can be any style. We're both almost the exact same size too, so we should both fit into the same dress easily. The colors for the wedding are red and aqua (which i totally LOVE - it's so chic), so I think we are going to wear aqua dresses with red bouquets. I personally like this aqua dress from my fave place:

I love the pockets and i think it would be amazing with some bold red jewelry and a red bouquet. The JCrew at our mall is tiny (boooo), so it doesn't carry any of the bridal line dresses. I guess you could twist my arm and i could just order it...you know, to try it. haha.

K also ordered two sample color swatches from Two Birds Bridemaids (one in deep ocean and one in peacock) to see if either of those colors would work as an aqua. Has anyone heard of those dresses before? Its one dress, fits any size, that can be worn like 8 different ways. It's pretty amazing and I'm sort of obsessed. That's one dress I would definitely wear again. So fingers crossed that the color is right.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Enjoy the gorgeous spring weather!

Doggie Advice Needed

Sailor Boy and I live in an apartment, obviously. We have 3 neighbors, two across the hall and one next door. We've never actually met or seen any of these neighbors in the year we've lived here (very bizarre i know...it's not by our doing...we just never see them). Anyways, we knew getting a dog might be a little straining for our current living situation, but we figured we could make it work for a few months until we started looking for an upgrade when our lease is up in July.

Well Spencer has extreme seperation anxiety. Like, EXTREME. You can even close the door to the bathroom and take a shower without her going crazy and barking/howling like mad. Now, we know she is part beagle so she's prone to barking and being loud and we have no problems with that. But this is not normal. We need to be able to live our lives and run a few errands without her flipping out. She is in the crate all night long without a peep, happy as can be. But the second you put her in there during the day to leave for work or run errands, she's freaks. It's starting to become a big problem because if our neighbors complain, it's all over for us. We really can't risk getting evicted over the puppy (as much as I would want to pick the puppy over our apartment - which I told Sailor Boy last night and he was not amused).

She's such a wonderful fun puppy 95% of the time when you're with her. She hardly ever even barks outside of the crate and being alone. We called the foster mom she stayed with before us and she said Spencer never did this with her - she would bark for a few minutes and then quiet down. We've left toys, chewies, kong bones stuffed with peanut butter in her crate with her and nothing works. Yesterday was my day off, so I put her in the crate while I ran to the grocery store. I left quietly and then drove around to the back of our building to see if i could hear her. I sat in my car outside our building and waited - she didn't stop barking for 20 minutes. So I finally left and went to the store for about an hour. When I came back, I pulled around back again and listened - you guessed it - still barking. That's a total of almost an hour and a half of straight barking. And this barking is not just little barks...I could hear her from my car with the windows rolled up!! So i walked up to the building and came inside to the apartment. She was like freaking out when she heard me come in. I let her out and didn't say a word or make eye contact with her (that's what it said in our puppy book). We just walked straight to the door and went outside. She's still barking like crazy and jumping up on me. I turned my back to her and just stood there (another tip from the puppy book). She finally quieted down and we walked - and she turned back into her normal loving self.

What can we do??? She obviously had something happen to her when she was really young, but this is super extreme! I don't understand why she's doing this now, when she didn't do it in 2 months at the foster home. We really have to get this figured out ASAP or else our neighbors are going to kill us! So I need advice badly...if anyone is reading this and has any, please let me know. We are desperate! I'm going to call some dog trainers this afternoon to get some advice and figure out what is going on. Help!!

wow...

i had a whole blog typed up and then blogger ate it before it could post...boo. so i'll start again.

spencer has lived with us for 3 full days now and it's definitely getting a lot easier. because she's a little older, and she's lived with another family for 2 months, she's had a hard time adjusting to us and to her new home. but today she is really starting to respond to us (she will actually look at us when we say her name) and she seems excited when we come home. i guess having a rescued dog can definitely have it's challenges! we think that by the end of next week, she'll have warmed up to us completely...at least we're hoping! she didn't sleep AT ALL the first night we brought her home. 8 straight hours of whining, crying and barking. it was seriously the hardest thing ever...i was crying myself! I think sailor boy was freaked out and wondered if we did the right thing.

so after that night, things have progressively gotten better and better. last night she barked/whined for only 2 minutes before she went to sleep!! success! the thing that's hard is that her foster family let her sleep in bed with them...that's a big no way for me and sailor boy. so she's having to get used to her crate for bed and when we're not there. it will just take time for her to want to sleep and hang out in there. but we still love her and think she's a sweetie.

my camera is still not working properly, so here's a few pics i took with my cell phone of her napping on the couch the other day...

Should I?

Has anyone ordered or tried on this dress??

JCrew has started their spring sale (YAY!!) so that dress is now reduced and I'm debating ordering it. I love the color and I think it would be awesome for spring and summer, especially to just thrown it on, but I'm worried about the lack of shape. I'm not exactly the curviest person ever, so sometimes those kinds of dresses have a tendency to just hang there and look unflattering. Decisions, Decisions...

Preppy Puppy

We get to pick Spencer up TOMORROW!! craziness! I think we're both still in shock that we're actually getting a puppy! They were going to spay her and then give her to us, but they decided that it would be a big shock to get spayed AND deal with a new home and new family. So we're going to have her for a few weeks and then take her to get spayed, so she has time to get used to us. That means, we get her tomorrow! Wowza!

Yesterday was my day off, so of course I used the day to shop for some preppy finds for Spencer. I went to Paws, which is this adorable and preppy dog and cat store in my town. I was there for over an hour!! They have the best selection of collars (literally an entire WALL) of every color and print you could imagine. Since Spencer has a boy name, but she's a girl, I really want to get her a girly collar so people don't think she's a boy. Well Sailor Boy has a problem with pink collars...he will not walk her with anything too girly. I called him from the store and he was like "don't buy one, i want to help in this decision" ARE YOU SERIOUS?? so i had to leave the store empty handed!! well not quite...

I picked her up a set of food and water dishes like the one above! How freaking cute is that?? Ours actually has polka dots all over it, but it's the same color scheme. Sailor Boy isn't too fond of them, but he really can't complain.

So we also ventured out to PetSmart last night to finish up shopping for supplies. We got the basics and some really fun toys for her. Sailor Boy picked out a huge stuffed pheasant that squeeks...since she's a hound, he thinks she will like it and it will appeal to the hunter in her. we'll see...the thing is like bigger than her! I think she's going to be scared of it. We also perused the aisle of collars and leashes and STILL couldn't agree on anything. We finally picked out a kelly green leash but didn't get a collar. We have come to an agreement that if she has the green leash, I can go back to Paw's today to get any fun pink collar I want! It's all about compromise!! So she'll still get to be my cute little green and pink puppy! Love it! Here's the collar I'm thinking about:

I don't know how i'm going to make it through work today and tomorrow!!

FINALLY!

OMG!!! WE GOT A PUPPY!!! i am so excited you have no idea!!! after thinking that no rescue group would ever let us have one (getting rejected SUCKS)...we got approved for her yesterday after our home visit!!!!! and here i was, worried about our "home" (aka tiny apartment) and they actually loved it! they were super impressed with how much green space there is around our apartment and the fact that we can walk to 2 different parks, one of which has a huge dog park area. so pretty much as soon as the lady left, she called us to say we had been approved and she was ours!!

SOOOO here's the scoop on our newest family member. They're estimating she's 5-6 months old, but they really have no idea because she was found abandoned on the side of the road 2 months ago. She was TINY (undernourished) when they found her, but once they placed her in the foster home she became really healthy and grew quite a bit! She's only about 15-20 pounds right now, but they're thinking she may get as big as 40 pounds because her paws are gigantic! As far as breed, that's another unknown. She DEFINITELY has beagle in her, because her coloring is just like a beagle. They also think she has foxhound in her because she has super long legs and she's very trim and athletic looking. So to me, she looks like a very tall skinny beagle...hehe.

They named her Spencer and we actually LOVE the name!! (and trying to find a name both me and Sailor Boy like has been hard!!) Plus, she's already learned it and responds to it, so we're definitely not changing it. They other awesome thing about her...she's housebroken!! seriously, it's almost too good to be true! of course, she will probably still have a few accidents because she'll be getting used to a new space, but overall, she's apparently really good at letting you know when she wants to go out. She also knows sit and stay already...she's really smart! Her foster mother just loves her and said she has obviously spent alot of time training her and working with her. She said she would only let her be adopted to a good home and she felt like we would be a perfect place for Spencer...I was so touched!

They are going to spay her this week for us and then we can pick her up early next week!!! So we basically have this week to get ready and puppy proof the house and then she's ours!!! Unfortunately, my camera is acting up, so I wasn't able to take any pictures of her when she was at our house yesterday, but I stole some from the adoption website:

I'm just so excited...I can't believe she's really ours. We (alright, I) have wanted a dog practically forever, it's just so great we are actually getting one! She's just so lovable and fun and sweet, so it's just that much better. As Sailor Boy says "she's just a really cool dog, and I wanted to make sure we would get a cool dog".

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day!! I'm sure i'll be posting more about Spencer soon!

So much to do...

Busy weekend I have coming up! I work tomorrow until about 3pm and then I'll be over at my friend R's house to help start setting up for the engagement brunch we are throwing for our friend K on Sunday. I am SO excited about this! Mainly because we've kept it a secret for almost 2 months and I know K has absolutely NO idea and she's going to be so happy when she sees everyone! There's about 20 ladies coming, including her mom, soon to be mother in law and soon to be grandmother in law. We've convinced her that the 3 of us (me, R and our other friend L) are going to take her out to lunch to celebrate her engagement. Since the party is at R's house, we will just head there to "pick her up" and then SURPRISE! I love surprise parties!! I know some people hate them, but I think they are so fun!

The theme of the party is obviously pink, girly and fabulous. We've collected the most adorable pink supplies, and even got table linens and place settings that all match perfectly. I will be sure to take tons of pics! Unfortunately, it does NOT look like the weather is going to be in our favor (cloudy and a high of 58), so the party will probably not be able to be outside. Which is too bad because R's backyard is amazing! The inside of her house is pretty awesome too (it's like a 200 year old historic home that's been totally re-done), so it should still work out well. We're serving mini sandwiches, quiche, mini strawberry shortcakes and other fun girlie food. Oh and mimosas...obviously!

Also on Sunday we are meeting a dog! (that sounds so funny) We've still been in the process of trying to adopt a puppy, and we may actually be getting close on this one! i am NOT getting my hopes up AT ALL, but we made it past the initial stage of interviews and applications and now they are bringing the puppy over for a "home visit". This really scares me because our "home" is the size of a shoebox. They are obviously not going to be a fan of our current living situation. However, I'm thinking if we explain to them that we may be moving and tell them about our potential LARGE house with a LARGE yard, it might convince them we would be good dog parents. That's really the only thing holding us back. I've already met the puppy and pretty much fallen in love with her. Sailor boy hasn't met her, but i know once he does, it will be ALL over. he will LOVE her. she's about 6 months old, playful, sweet, very smart and already knows sit, stay, lay down and her name. She's also 95% housebroken and crate trained. basically the perfect dog. again, NOT getting my hopes up...but I'll keep everyone posted.

I'll leave you on this Friday morning with a recipe that Sailor Boy's mom gave me after Easter. It's for a blueberry "cake"...it's seriously AMAZING and I plan on making it for the brunch for K on Sunday!

German Blueberry Cake

Crust
1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
½ cup Sugar
Dash salt
½ cup softened butter

Berry Mixture
4 cups blueberries (use frozen in the winter)
1 Tbs. fresh Lemon Juice
3 Tbs. Quick Cooking Tapioca
¼ tsp. Salt
½ cup Sugar
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon

Combine flour, dash of salt, butter and ½ cup of the sugar. Mix with a pastry blender or fork, until crumbs are formed. Measure ¾ cup of the crumbs and set aside.
Press the remaining crumbs evenly over the bottom and about ¾” up the sides of a 9” spring-form pan

Combine blueberries, lemon juice, tapioca, salt, cinnamon and sugar. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes then spoon the berry mixture into the crumb lined pan
Bake at 425 degrees F for 20 minutes then sprinkle the top with the remaining crumbs. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until the crumbs are golden brown

Serve warm or cold. Top with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Enjoy!

Life Decisions...

I thought once you reached your 20's, life would get a whole lot easier. Life after college seems like it should be a piece of cake. (alright, I admit it...I've been out of college for almost 5 years...yikes...so I guess I can't really say I'm fresh out of school). Anyways, it seems like all my life decisions are now getting ALOT harder. I feel like, I have a great job, a wonderful boyfriend, fabulous friends and family, why are there so many little things popping up that are making my life so difficult??? The main thing right now is our living situation. Our teeny tiny apartment lease is up in July. They require 2 months notice on whether you are staying or going. So that puts us at May 1st to let them know 100%. Which is really not that far away AT ALL. I feel so much pressure to make a decision quickly, but to make sure it's the right one, since it could potentially change our lives.

I mentioned a few posts ago about the house that we are thinking about moving into. Well there are a few issues. The rent for that house is going to be SIGNIFICANTLY higher than our rent right now. We had figured our apartment rent would be going up about $100-$200 for the 2nd year, making it a little easier of a decision to spend more money on a rental house. Well I talked with our leasing office on Monday and guess how much our rent is going up...$50! That's it...$25/each. Geez Louise! So now, I don't know if we can justify spending ALOT more to rent that house. We're actually not sure what the rent of the house will be (we're meeting with them Saturday morning to discuss everything), so this could be a moot point, but right now, I'm super stressed about it. I know because we are friends with the owners, they will be willing to work with our budgets for the rent, but at the same time, I don't want them to think we are using them for cheap rent or trying to negotiate to a super low rate and screw them over.

Also, the apartment we live in now pays for our heat, hot water and cooking gas. This is a considerable amount that we don't have to worry about at all. Obviously that will not be the case in the house, which will then mean even MORE money each money. However, the benefits of having a HUGE house with a huge backyard, garage, basement, etc. are so tempting. I think Sailor Boy and I would die of happiness from all the space, but then might die of shock as our checking account dwindles from paying rent and utilities each money.

My big thing for the past year or so has been to save as much money as possible and try to buy a house as fast as possible. Sailor Boy somewhat agreed, but since he is in the real estate industry (commercial and land development), he has a more realistic view of everything than I do. I just want our little house, a cute puppy and to start the rest of our lives together. So obviously moving into this house and paying more in rent means less that we can save each month, meaning we would not be able to buy a house next year. In our many discussions about this in the past few days Sailor Boy brought up a good point...what is our rush to buy a house? Especially if we aren't "really" ready and would be pushing it by next year to have enough saved? His thoughts are to move into this rental house, which while it will be more money, we would be more than willing to stay there for 2, 3 even 4 years while we TRULY saved and planned and got everything in order. Since the rental house is so great and big, I actually wouldn't mind living there for a few years until we really could afford our dream house. I obviously cannot live in the apartment for another 2, 3 or even 4 years, but the house...I definitely think we could. I guess I just need to get over my stupid stereotypes of people who rent vs. people who own.

So that's what's going on with our life right now. I think after Saturday, when we meet with our potential new landlords and work all the details out, I will feel ALOT better, but right now...not so much! Sorry this post is so depressing!! Happy Wednesday!!

YAY Flowers!!

Happy Friday! Even though the weather today is gloomy, I'm in a fantastic mood! I just got beautiful flowers sent to me from my best friend!! And the best part?? The attached card asked me to be in her wedding! YAY! Even though I had sort of figured I would be in the wedding, it was such a cute and springy way to ask all us girls officially! The flowers are adorable...there's tulips, sunflowers and gerbera daisies! love it! here's a couple of crappy cell phone pics:

The wedding is next April, the 26th at Swan Harbor Farm, which is this amazing waterfront manor house and gardens on the water. It's really beautiful and I can't wait! I've been helping her start the planning and I've been having so much fun! It just shows me that I am doing exactly what I should be doing career wise - I'm such a planner and I get such gratification out of helping brides.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I'm heading to a bridal shower for one of my good friends from college, A, who is getting married in May. Sadly I can't attend her wedding because of work, but I went to the bachelorette party last weekend and I'll be at her shower, so I hope that makes up for it! The shower should be a wonderful, it's a tea party! I'm planning on wearing this fabulous skirt for the shower:

It's Dakota Martin and I got it majorly on sale at a trunk show a few months ago. It fits amazing and I love the seersucker band at the belt. It's high waisted and so flattering!

Yay for spring...it's my favorite time of year!

Moving On...

So I'm doing much better about the whole puppy thing. I know we will get a dog in the very near future...we just have to wait for our perfect dog. The dog from the rescue organization we were going to adopt was obviously NOT our perfect dog...but he/she is out there and we just have to find him/her. I did make Sailor Boy call the rescue lady and talk to her (since i was not really in any condition to talk to her - literally i couldn't stop crying the day we found out). She said some really nice things about us, but they're job is to get all the puppies into the perfect home and ours is not perfect for this specific dog. We are still eligble for other dogs that come along that we would be a match for, so hopefully they get some other puppies in soon.

In other semi-exciting news...we may actually be moving!!! Our lease is up in July and we've been debating renewing it. Right now our rent is CHEAP (i got an excellent move in special), but we know it will go up like $200-$300 for the 2nd year. We just don't know if our tiny little place is worth the extra money. Sailor Boy's best friend's parents own a rental property in our town and are actually going to be looking for tenants right around the time we would need to move. The house is AMAZING...awesome neighborhood, 3 bedrooms, a HUGE backyard and a nice size detached garage for all of Sailor Boy's prized possesions (i.e. fishing/hunting/outdoor gear). It has the most wonderful front porch with a swing! So we're going to talk to them about rent and all that good stuff. They have told us they want us to move in, since they obviously know us and know we would be good tenants...it's just a matter of lease terms and cost. I don't mind paying more for such a big house...we would probably die of happiness from all the space!! so we'll see how that goes. That also sort of factors into the puppy thing -- since it has a backyard, we would definitely get approved for a puppy and the future landlords have told us we could absolutely have a dog/puppy since they are huge animal lovers themselves! So we may just wait it out a few months and then really search for our dream dog!!! July is really not all that far away....

I'm having a hard time resisting the JCrew additional 30% off sale!! I've already placed 3 seperate orders...i just keep seeing stuff I like each time I look! Luckily i've been using free shipping codes for everything (ps --- 2703FS will get you free shipping through today). I ordered this skirt yesterday:

I've been needing a new khaki skirt (since i practically live in them all summer) and I like the color of this one and that it's a little bit different. The thing i love about jcrew is that I know anything I order online will fit perfectly...so the final sale doesn't scare me at all! Hope everyone has been taking advantage of the sale...it ends tomorrow!

So Maybe not...

so alot happened this weekend. Sailor boy and I talked more about getting a dog and we both decided that we felt strongly about adopting a puppy in need rather than going through a breeder (not that there's anything wrong with that - just personally, we want to adopt). So i started doing some pretty intense research and found a shelter in our town that has a good amount of puppies for adoption. I emailed them and got an immediate response, with a list and photos of all the dogs, asking me if I had any in mind. Well i pretty much fell in LOVE with this cute little puppy - a 3 month old beagle pointer mix. So we filled out an application for her and the woman told us that we seemed like wonderful ideal candidates. So we started getting very excited - the dog was healthy, young and seemed just right for us! She probably won't get bigger than 40 pounds, which I think is the perfect size. We got a puppy book, some toys, and started picking out names...

well after 4 days of waiting, the lady delivered the news - REJECTED. They apparently DO NOT think we would be ideal candidates, as we do live in an apartment and our "lifestyle" doesn't seem to match well with getting a puppy. What does that mean?? Apparently since we "work" (even though I work 3 miles from home and come home for lunch EVERY DAY), we wouldn't have enough time to devote to a puppy. I'd like to know who is adopting puppies that stays home ALL the time with them. If you don't work, how can you afford a puppy?? Plus, Sailor Boy and I have sort of unique schedules in that I work Tuesday - Saturday and he works Monday - Friday. So someone would be home 3 days a week!! I think thats better than most people! I am obviously devestated. I cried all day yesterday.

I just feel so frustrated. We wanted to do something good and help save a puppy who has had a hard life and we can't even do that. We may have to put this dog thing on the back burner for a while (probably a long while since we are a ways off from getting a house of our own). I wish the lady hadn't been so positive and got our hopes up. I understand she's just doing her job, but it still sucks. She of course was like "well we do have some other smaller, older dogs that might work for you". Sorry i don't want a consalation prize. I'm not going to settle for any dog...I want the perfect dog for us.

In an effort to make myself feel better, I hit up JCrew's extra 30% off sale this morning online before work. I was tempted to buy it all, but i was VERY good and actually just got 1 very inexpensive thing, but i LOVE it:

Just a plain tank, but it has embroidered pink crabs all over it! Totally in love! It doesn't make up for the puppy, but it's a start...