Tuesday's Top Ten: Puppy Products

I skipped a week - Let’s just call it an oops - and I'm not exactly on time this week. {That's what I get for picking a title with a day of the week built in.} Ten things is kind of a lot to come up with for a list. I may be switching to Friday Top Five in the future, but for today I have ten super cute {and some completely totally ridiculously frivolous} puppy products!

Now if a description of your little ones doesn't include fur, you may not be interested in this post, and I completely understand. Before you think I’m crazy, let me say that I know that having dogs and having children are in two totally different realms – but until I have people children, I cannot love a small bodied creature anymore than I do Lady & Rose. Don’t judge me. ;)

I do not own a single one of the following items, but in a budget less world, I probably would ;)

{10} Puppy Stairs
Steppin' up in style.

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{9}Petit Four Legs
Clever...wish I would have thought of it myself...

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{8}Food Canisters
FUNctional.

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{7}Puppy Life Jackets
If they start to float away, just grab your polka-dot pooch by the handle and scoot 'em your way.

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{6}Halloween Costumes
I believe Lady would make an excellent banana split and Rose a bumble bee.

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{5}Booster Seat
Lean back. Lean back.

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{4}Outdoor Chaise Lounger
A bit of shade to prevent premature aging.

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{3}Aged Nickel Pet Dish
I always say you can never have too much aged nickel. {Not really, but it sure is fancy. ;)}

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{2}Doggie Treadmill
I wouldn't have believed it existed if I didn't see it for myself.

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{1}Puppy Trundle Bed
You know, for puppy bunkin' parties. It's just a little chump change {kidding...$699! whoa.} But seriously, isn't that crazy cute and cozy?

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Next week I will be punctual and about people.

Have a great week!

Monday, Monday

This weekend I worked out of town filling in for some pharmacists who were on vacation. Do you know what that means? One glorious Monday off. Even better - the first Monday of the month off {it's a notoriously hectic day behind the pharmacy counter ... I know you were dying to know}

I love having a day off to recoup, unpack, wash clothes, etc. But after almost every step I take, I turn around to find these two small, furry shadows following. :)

They're really cute and really sweet, though, so I don't mind. Plus we were away from them for three days, so they need a little extra love and attention, even if it means I'm slightly less productive today...

Speaking of being away for three days, staying in a hotel always brings me back to my love of all white linens. I still haven't decided how to re-redo our bedroom, but no matter how many different looks I see or consider, white on white on white on white is always my favorite.

I mean, really, doesn't this make you want to dive in and take a snooze or snuggle back in bed with a cup of coffee watching The Today Show {or reading a book for those of you who do that sort of thing...}?

{Photo: westelm.com}

So since I can't seem to find anything I like better, I am seriously considering going for it. My only dilemma is that I don't want it look boring or cold. I want it to be cozy and inviting. And I want to like it for longer than 3 days.

Oh, and I'm also dead-set on having an upholstered headboard. We have one now, and there is no going back. {You know when you lean back thinking that your pillow is propped up, but it isn't, so you knock your noggin really hard against the headboard? Doesn't matter. Your headboard is a pillow on it's own, so you don't go to bed with a headache.}

This is one of my favorite headboards from Ballard Design because you can order it in any fabric you can find. {And I recently noticed that Southern Living comes with a 15% off coupon from BD, so that's a plus!}

{Photo: ballarddesign.com}

But having an upholstered headboard brings up the question of color yet again. Would a white headboard and bedding be too much or perfectly crisp and clean? Would a big contrast between headboard and bedding be best, or maybe a subtle tone-on-tone?

I just want to make it clear that I realize this decision should not be this difficult. But it just is. I will make no excuses, and I will gladly consider any suggestions :)

Introducing... Rose!

Isn't she just the cutest!?!


I mean...equally as cute as Lady :)
{we're working very hard to make sure somebody doesn't get jealous}.

We went up to Mountain Home last weekend to spend some time with my side of the family, watch my little brothers-from-another-mother play soccer, and get a puppy. Check, check, and check!

Last week we had called the people who sold {I know that sounds so impersonal, but there's just really no other way to say it} Lady to us, and they agreed to drive their puppies over from Harrison and let us find the perfect puppy #2. We already had a name picked out for her {courtesy of my new friend, Sarah}, so we just needed to find little Rose. And darn it- if they didn't have that itsy bitsy pink bow in her hair...

Tricky McTrickerson, the breeder, totally failed to mention that his price had gone up significantly {"since the economy has picked up a bit"} until after he had already let us cuddle and coo and goo over the puppy he and his wife thought would be just perfect {with the bow} for us... Then he gave us some sort of backwards discount for being repeat customers to make us think we were getting a deal even though she was still more expensive.

Hey mister, you may think we're dummies. We're not. We would have paid the whole price, but we did not. Ha. Who's the dummy, now? ;)

Who's that Lady...

She's a precious little/big Yorkie puppy who seriously rocked this Davenport world about six months ago. She's also the best impulse buy E.V.E.R.

See, Josh and I are not planners. We're talkers and we're doers, but we skip the in between part that makes everything flow seemlessly. We talked about getting a dog pretty much every Sunday for a long time. Especially sunny Sundays. Doesn't a sunny Sunday make everyone want a dog?

Turns out, sunny Saturdays will do the trick as well. We were in Mountain Home for the weekend. It was oddly warm for November...around 70 degrees. The sun was shining, and the birds were chirping, and Arby's sounded really good to me.

Josh and I were riding with my mom {she's fabulous, we'll talk more about her later}. As we were pulling into Arby's, she noticed puppies for sale in the adjacent parking lot. We were just going to go see them for fun...

I picked up a little female with a tiny pink bow in her hair. She immediately climbed onto my shoulders and nuzzled. Ohhhh shoot.

"Can we keep her, Joshie?" {The term "Joshie" can be very strategically placed when necessary.}

I handed her to Josh, and she nibbled on his ear.

"Sure."

"Really - like really, seriously?!?" I wasn't expecting him to just give in like that. I freaked out for a second. Are we really gonna be responsible for another living creature? I mean this is a big step. What if we can't handle it? What if she pees everywhere? {Ha! She totally did.} What if we hurt her? I think dogs might be expensive {right again...}. Holy smokes!

By now she was curled up on his shoulders {shoulders are her thing, I guess} as if she knew exactly she was doing. Not more than 30 seconds later, another man asked the seller if he could see the little girl puppy.

"I... think she's taken." Josh was hooked. She was ours.

Now that tiny little 2 pound furball is a whopping 8 pounds and counting. Her parents were 4 and 5 pounds. Sometimes I wonder if its God's way of preparing us to have an abnormally tall child since we are both...shorties. I'm 5'1'' {and a quarter if we're gonna get particular}, and Josh is 5'7," so one would assume our children probably won't play post for the NBA, but you never know!

I digress...

Lady, or "LuLu" as we often call her, is now pretty much like a child to us. I can't believe I'm saying that. I am admitting publicly my hypocrisy about dogs. I never thought I'd plan my weekend around a pet, let alone CRY the first time I had to leave her! Sheesh. I'm a convert.

I'm not sure if she supports my blogging, though ;)

Here's exciting news - We've decided that it's time for her to have a friend! While we walk her everyday AND play with her in the mornings and evenings and all weekend long AND let her sleep with us, Josh and I both work full time. {Sort of...I don't get paid...but regardless, I am gone 40 hours/week.} Anyways, I didn't know this, but my neighbor explained that because dogs are pack animals, spending all day alone can lead to less full and even shorter lives. Well, none of that for our puppy... She'll have a sibling by this weekend, and we are super excited!!