Travels with Charlie: Sunday Stroll

Sometimes our travels take us far and wide and sometimes we don't go very far from home. 

On a recent Sunday we didn't stray very far from home at all. We visited a local shopping center that has a special place in my heart because I worked there at a temp job over the summer. I love all the cute shops and outdoor seating areas.

 As with most of our outdoor shopping areas, the Crossroads is very dog friendly and Charlie enjoys a visit there as long as we don't visit her doctor who is located at the far end of the parking lot. 

She would also prefer that we didn't make her ride in an elevator. She really is not a fan. So, like any good mommy, I made sure to get a picture.

Don't worry, no dogs were forced to ride in elevators in the making of this picture.

She loves to walk on the wide sidewalk and try to visit the stores.

Some of the stores actually encourage her visit.

Of course the reason the hardware store is so pet-friendly probably has something to do with the fact that there is a big pet food store right next door.

On this particular Sunday we weren't looking for hardware or pet food. We were in search of CAKE!

 You see, this year Mr. T and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary. Yeah, I know, I can't believe it's been that many years either. Of course, I'd love to have a nice party with family and friends to mark the occasion, boy how I would love to, but that's not in the cards again this year. So we're doing the only thing we can do - we're eating a boatload of cake all year.

Each month, on our anniversary date, we are getting some form of cake to celebrate. This month we had a coupon to "buy one, get one free" at the cake store so that's just what we did.

Mr. T had chocolate chocolate chip and I chose white chocolate raspberry. He made his last 2 days...I can't say the same. I ate that whole thing in one sitting and wished there was more.

It's probably a good thing we're only celebrating once a month.

It's possible that Charlie pouted a little bit because we didn't share. 

But she'll be ready next week for another big adventure when we Travel with Charlie!

charlie

Charlie has been a part of our family for almost 6 months now and I am grateful for her every day but it has taken on a new meaning in the last couple of months.

Early in October Charlie started acting differently, not jumping up on the couch or bed and just generally being subdued. She kept eating well and she didn't seem to limp but clearly something was wrong.

All she did was lay around on her bed and look at us with sad eyes. It was heartbreaking.

We took her to different vets, loaded her up with supplements and even tried acupuncture. Everyone concurred that she had slightly injured herself and would be fine but it might take a little time. She would get a little better and then she'd be bad again...over and over. Just when we'd start to relax, things would go backwards.

It was several long weeks and we worried and cried and felt helpless. We missed our happy, energetic little puppy, missed doggy kisses and snuggles, missed all her crazy antics.

Then one day, just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over and our Charlie was back. She jumped on the couch, flipped over on her back and wanted a tummy rub. What a relief. Of course we took our vet's advice and have been over-resting her so that she doesn't reinjure herself but it's not easy because she's so excited to feel better. It's like she's filled with joy.

I know how she feels.

I love you, Charlie and I'm so thankful that you're a part of our family.

Travels with Charlie: Santa Paws

Every year a local rescue organization (the one we got Charlie from) offers pictures of your dog (and family) with Santa for a small donation.

Every year I want to do this but I either a) find out about it too late or b) can't afford even the small donation or c) both.

This year was, finally, different. I got an email about it well in advance and, for the moment, it wasn't beyond us.

Yay!

So we got Charlie all gussied up in her little outfit and headed off to the local mall.

They have the cutest Santa's Workshop all set up for the kiddies which they let the rescue organization use the weekend before it opens up to the human public.

Of course no kid can go by without wanting to peek in and see Santa. He was nice enough to come out and talk to a couple of them which will probably be a really special Christmas memory for them.

When our turn came we went inside the workshop and took picture after picture, pose after pose. It was warm and cozy in there and you kind of forgot the rest of the world existed. We ended up with 35 pictures with several different poses. It was a really good value, I want to do it every year.

I don't want to post too many pictures until we pick the ones for our Christmas card but I do have one that I love.

Merry Christmas y'all!

outtakes

Just had to share a couple of pictures from yesterday's photoshoot with Santa. I'll write all about it later this week. We had the best time.

Santa was really patient and we got some great pictures...just not these. Can't wait to share more with you. 

One of the pictures will be our Christmas card this year. If anybody wants one, send me your address! I'd love to exchange Christmas cards with you.

hanging out

 

 I hope everyone is enjoying the day as much as Charlie!

Happy birthday Carmel

I really love this time of year, especially when it's time for the annual birthday parade in Carmel which is held on the Saturday closest to Halloween. This year it actually was on the big day itself. Carmel incorporated on October 31, 1916 which made this the 99th birthday.

My favorite part of the parade is that anybody can join in so every year we drag bring our dog to walk alongside us. Jasper got off easy every year, all he had to do was walk but each little dog has had to wear a costume. (insert evil laugh here)

  This was Charlie's parade debut so she had to have a special outfit. Luckily a wonderful friend is an amazing sewer and she offered to make something for my princess. It was so much fun picking out the pattern (Steampunk Princess) and all the material when my friend visited (from Maryland) in early October.

My sewing skills are pretty non-existent (although I really would like to learn) so I am so grateful for her offer. 

 We joined the big group of walkers - adults, children, and dogs - and walked past the cheering, laughing crowds. I saw several people point their cameras right at Charlie and heard a lot of "how adorable" comments from the onlookers. Charlie seemed to love all the attention and walked right along with enthusiasm.

Her hat was a little less enthusiastic; it kept slipping under her chin. We'll have to fix that for next year.

 After the parade we stopped at Nielsen's for lunch. This grocery store has been in Carmel since the '30s and they are the best lunch value in Carmel. If you're ever in town, try their 3.99 burger. You won't be sorry.

While we were at lunch, a couple of people asked if they could take Charlie's picture. She and I loved all the attention.

I can't wait to do it again next year!

NaBloPoMo

After toying with the idea of NaNoWriMo (for about 2 seconds) I decided that NaBloPoMo was more my style...so here I am getting my first blog post of November in under the wire.

Basically, NaBloPoMo is a commitment to post on my blog every day in November. Considering that I have been absent from this blog for quite a while, this might be a challenge but I'm up for it. It's been an eventful couple of months and I've got lots to say...tomorrow.

Until then, here are a few cute pictures of Charlie.

 

Until tomorow

finished project

The vintage cabinet jewelry organizer is finished, don't you just love it?

This is how Charlie feels about my painting

I think it's beautiful just like that but, of course, it needs to fulfill its destiny, right?

This part of our bedroom now feels complete. 

Thanks for stopping by!

new project

I just spent the last 3 weeks doing a full-time temp job and I had to dress like a grownup every single day. Wow, that was hard. So this is the picture I took on Saturday morning rejoicing in the fact that I finally got to be me again - lace, jeans and a hat. What a relief.

I'm sure the whole grownup/job thing will happen again soon (I'm not fond of temping but there doesn't seem to be much interest in my resume these days) but for now I have a few days free to hang out at home and that means it's time for a new painting project.

I got a pair of these awesome cabinet doors at Camp Vintage this year. I plan on repurposing them into jewelry organizers. At first I thought I wouldn't paint them at all because I love that mint green color but I have a couple of different ideas now.

Over the weekend I asked Mr. T to help me move this table over to the patio so that I could set up a nice workspace with plenty of room.

I've got all my supplies together and can't wait to get started!

Charlie, on the other hand, would prefer it if I would stop moving around and just hang out on the couch with her.

100 happy days

50 days ago I ran across the 100 Happy Days challenge on Instagram and I thought, why not?

Actually, what I thought was - I need this.

Florida wasn't turning out the way we'd hoped and I knew I needed to focus on at least one happy thing each day so that I wouldn't dwell on yet another disappointment. Five years of stress was starting to get to me.

Ironically, the day after I signed up for the challenge we found out that Florida definitely wasn't going to work out for us and we were back on the edge of the cliff. I chuckled at the irony of having committed to 100 Happy Days just the day before but I never once thought of not going through with the challenge.

50 days into it, it's definitely been a struggle to find that one happy thing each day. Some days are no brainers

Other days are definitely more of a stretch

This past week has been the biggest struggle of all, not only are we still dealing with our situation but there's big, heartbreaking stuff going on in my family that makes me feel helpless and alone.

But I'm determined to stay the course and keep finding that one thing that makes me smile each day because it really does help me keep calm and peaceful in the midst of the storms. It helps me to appreciate all the blessings that fill my life. I wish certain things were different but I am beyond grateful for my life and my family. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep posting my happy things long after the challenge is over.

Here are a few of the things that have made me smile over the past couple of weeks

Of course, some days there's no struggle at all. Something comes along that makes me VERY happy. Yesterday was one of those days. I had a chance to reconnect with a friend I hadn't seen since high school graduation. We found each other on Facebook about a year ago but yesterday was our first face to face meeting in over 3 decades and it truly was as if no time had passed at all. 

So here's to the next 50 happy days.