Jumping Back Into the Blogosphere... BARK WORLD or BUST!

So I've been dying to go to Bark World in Atlanta (only 3 hours by car for me) for 3 years now (holy dog, has it really been that long?!). This year I'm finally going to make it (unfortunately sans Olivia, but that may be for the best, it's sometimes hard to get everything you want done when you have a 'toddler' with you. Although I will miss her!)


So yeah, I'm jumping back into the blogosphere head first. I'm hoping to gain new insight and inspiration for future projects, having to do with this blog and otherwise. I'll be the first to admit that I'm very easily side tracked.

I can't wait to go to my first blogging conference ever!!!

I fell off the wagon...

Sooo.... I fell off the blogging wagon. Again.

Not really a big surprise considering how crazy busy I've been.

Here's the down and dirty of what we've been up to:

• Fiance (now (and newly) husband) purchased an equestrian apparel wholesale/manufacturing company called FITS Riding Ltd
• For this we spent 3 weeks in Portland, OR back in May (the company was based there)
• We moved the company to South Carolina where we live
• We've gone to 2 trade shows
• King of Prussia, PA and Cologne, Germany
• YES, Olivia does come to work with us EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. #bosslady
• We are building a house
• YES, It will have a dog room (which will double as my laundry room). And YES, it will have a dog shower. And YES, Olivia will have some sort of closet/armoire for all her clothes and accessories
• We were planning a wedding
• We got married!

Our wedding was a dream come true, Olivia and our 5 month old niece were the flower girls and had matching wicker strollers to go down the aisle in and matching dresses. Olivia was actually at the wedding until 9 pm and got to dance and go in the photo booth as well as eat her dinner kibble off one of the china salad plates.

I want to get back to blogging and writing. I miss it! Hopefully I can force myself back in the habit and stay on the wagon this time. PAWS CROSSED.

Wordless Wednesday: Olivia and her Donut [Video]

Holiday Update

Boy has it been a busy few weeks! I thought I'd get a chance to do this sooner but even on my days off from work it seemed like I just couldn't find the time!

Last year I went a little overboard for Olivia's first Christmas. I bought her every single toy that I thought was cute. This year I only bought a few things that I thought she would like or that were useful (like a pre-soaped sponged for bath time).

Olivia's stocking stuffers from my favorite local store

Her big gift was a Snoozer car seat. We put it under the tree on Christmas eve and she climbed right in for a nap. She definitely knew it was for her! She loved it still when we took her for her maiden voyage in the car with it. She couldn't decide whether to nap or look out the window!

We had a lot of fun goofing off and playing together this holiday season and Olivia even helped make ugly sweater cookies while wearing my childhood apron haha.

Olivia wasn't too excited about ringing in the new year but she did watch the ball drop on tv with Brian and I at midnight before we all crashed and went to bed.

My New Year's blogging resolution for 2015: Be more consistent with my blog!

Last Minute Gifts for Animal Lovers

With Christmas Eve being tomorrow there sure are a lot of people out shopping still. I'm betting some people will continue shopping right up until the stores close tomorrow night. I'm thinking some of these last minute shoppers may have an animal lover on their list so I decided to compile some last minute gift ideas for such folks.

Google Images

• A Calendar with the recipients favorite breed/animal on it

This may seem a little cheesy, but it's something that is usually pretty easy to find, especially in a pinch. Not to mention that most people use a calendar, whether in their personal or work life.

• Gourmet pet treats (specific to the animal they own)

Even if this seems more like a gift for the recipient's fur baby, I know that if I received gourmet cookies for Olivia I'd still consider it a gift for me because I would get to enjoy feeding those cookies to Olivia. 

• A gift card to a pet friendly restaurant

I love to take Olivia to restaurants with outside patios when the weather is nice, and I have a lot of friends who do the same with their pooches. You could even write a cute note with the gift card about how you thought the recipient could enjoy a fun meal out with [Fido]. Just be sure to ask ahead of time and make sure the chosen restaurant allows dogs, don't assume.

• Board Games

I don't know about other brand games but I know there is Cat-opoly, Dog-opoly, horse-opoly, and even dog breed specific -opolies. If you only know your friend has a dog and not the specific bree, you could just purchase the generic dog version. Even if they never play the actual game, it will still look cute on a game or coffee table!

• Tree Ornament

If you know the recipient's dog/cat/horse/bird/etc's name you can have it written on an ornament at one of those Christmas stores/kiosks that are at most malls. This makes a cute personalized gift that is relatively in-expensive and doesn't take long to make.

Funny Holiday Video

I found this on Facebook and thought it was pretty cute/funny! I wish our Christmas Eve dinner guests were going to be this cute!

Thinking About My Christmas List

With Christmas fast approaching, I've been doing a lot of Christmas shopping. I keep threatening Olivia that she will have coal in her stocking on Christmas morning because she's been rather naughty. We live in a neighborhood of horse farms and we have 13 acres of our own that Olivia loves to play on. But she and my parent'd dog, Fern Louise have gotten in a horrible habit of chasing squirrels. That in itself isn't bad, it's the ear splitting barking that causes us a problem. My mom is worried about upsetting the neighbors (even though they all have barking dogs as well). Fern Louise will come when my dad goes out to tell her she's being bad. But Olivia.... she won't make eye contact, and then she turns and runs away. You could ( and we have) easily spend an hour trying to catch her. She's just so darn stubborn. And this is why I keep telling her she won't be getting anything but coal for Christmas.

But there's one thing I'd love to get her (okay, I'd enjoy it way more than she would). The GoPro Fetch camera mount. It's GoPro's dog harness that has two camera mounts, one on the chest and one on the back. It looks so cool, and I already have the GoPro (it was my Christmas present last year). I jsut love tech-y toys, especially when there is a dog spin on them! Check out the promo video below and let me know what you think!

(And let's be honest, even with all the talk of not buying Olivia anything for Christmas... there will be many gifts under the tree with a "To Olivia, Love Mommy" tag loving taped to it. I can't stay mad at that adorable squishy face for any amount of time.)