The Return of the Camera

I loaned my camera to my sister about two weeks ago and didn't know how much I'd miss it. I got it back on Sunday and it's been like the reunion of two long-lost pals. I'm so happy.

And I have some pictures from when my brother, his girlfriend, and my niece visited recently. They live in Florida and it's been almost two years since I've seen them (I met Bria for the first time that weekend!) so it was a fun weekend. Seriously, how cute are these two?

They're jumping on a trampoline my nephews got from Santa and are having just the BEST time. Ben is my sister's son and they're both about 2 years old (Bria's a month older). Ben's a little peanut. :)

Shawn (brother) and Jack (nephew) also had a lot of fun together. I need to be an equal-opportunity aunt here, so here's the obligatory photo.

Oh, and the dogs had fun too. :) Although Sadie tormented Cody a bit.

I'm so glad the camera is back. Wee!

Three Things

1) I'm moving tomorrow and it's supposed to rain. Sigh. That's 2 out of 4 moves that are going to get all of my stuff wet. Luckily it's all IKEA and Target and easily replaceable for $4.99 if need be.

2) My dog becomes totally depressed in the rain. She lays on my bed, looks at me and sighs. Weirdo. I think she has SAD.

3) Why do hangnails and papercuts hurt MORE when they're wet? I just washed my hands and it was a horribly painful experience for my thumb. Usually water makes owies feel better...

Harry Potter 5

I can't handle it. It looks AMAZING.

Graduation Day!

Last Thursday was Miss Sadie's graduation from puppy school. She had to take a final exam in front of the whole class (sit, stay, come, etc) and she did really well! She had to be convinced to come, but she did it. She even got "bonus points" for shake and down. What a good little girl!

After everyone had taken their final exams, we took a class photo, took pictures of the pups with their cap and tassel and then they all got ice cream sundaes as a treat! It was really cute. All of the doggie parents had their cameras out taking photos like paparazzi.

I had loaned my camera to my sister for a couple of weeks so I had to use a disposable and can I say, I'm totally spoiled by my digital. The pictures came out dark and grainy and just...not that nice. I've tried to photoshop them a little, but they're just not that great. And on top of that (not to bitch too much) the film was scratched so there's a white line through most of my pics. Such a bummer. Luckily I have wonderful friends who are graphic designers that have offered to help. :) I'm a lucky girl. I've included one below so you can see how cute she is in her cap. There are a couple more on flicker (see right) if you're interested. These are non-photo-shopped pics, by the by.

Oh, and I'd like to plug Marcus from Petsmart. He was a great trainer...funny, knowledgeable and never judgemental on how quickly or slowly your dog got the commands (although, you all know that it's the owner that's getting trained here, not the dog, right?). I highly recommend him as an instructor. If we ever go back to class, we'll be seeing Marcus again.

And that concluded my free advertising for Petsmart. To all two of you that read this!

Bark in the Park 2007

I'm totally excited--I just signed up for Bark in the Park 2007. It's a 5K walk in Chicago that benefits The Anti-Cruelty Society that allows you to bring your dog to walk with you. So fun!

There's a whole "raise money" thing to it as well, but it doesn't seem to be too high-stress. I've hit up my family of course, so I hope that they can hook me up with a couple $$. :) I've also drafted a friend of mine to go with which'll be fun. It's at 9am on a Saturday, but if it's a nice day, we'll have a good time. And maybe Miss Sadie will get some treats!

I'm also pretty happy that this benefits the ACS. That's where I got Sadie from, and while it's a big shelter-type place, they treated my puppy really well (the vet confirmed this) and were so nice and professional. I'm happy to do anything that I can do to help lonely doggies and kitties and give back to those that helped add to my family.

Check it out. And sign up to walk with us! It'll be a fun time. (PS...you get a t-shirt! Wee!)

Lollapalooza Lineup

So they released the Lollapalooza lineup today--it looks pretty good! Ever since I went to the one in 2004 (the two-day 100-degree heat-a-palooza), I've been trying to expand my music tastes beyond Hilary Duff and Justin Timberlake, and it appears I've actually done ok!

When going through the list, I recognized at least half of the groups and already own a number of tracks from them (ala itunes, of course...I haven't bought an actual CD in a LONG time). The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Fratellis, Cold War Kids, TV on the Radio, Tokyo Police Club, Yo La Tango, Regine Spektor...the list just goes on and on.

But who I'm most excited to see if Amy Winehouse. She's amazing, although it took me a bit to warm up to her, I have to listen to her disc at least once a day. Incredible. Check out her site, seriously.

She's going to be at Schuba's May 3rd and I'm totally bummed that I'll be missing it--I really can't afford the $100 price tag those tickets are going for on craigslist. As of today, she'll be the highlight of my lollapalooza experience. (not Pearl Jam. Whatevs. They're so 1992 for me...snore)

Photos!

Fun! I just figured out how to add my flickr pictures to this blog. I don't have many up there, but I added a few to share.

Yep, I'm procrastinating. But I'm all proud of myself since I did something html-y. My next quest is to figure out how to hyperlink to other places.

Like Jamie's blog. It's her birthday. You should go visit and wish her a happy day. (the funny thing is, I think that Jamie's pretty much the only one that reads this!)

Happy birthday Jamie!

Update: So apparently it's really easy. And I already knew how to do it. Silly me.

Easter

So I just had a serious scary moment. I'm in the burbs with my family for Easter (happy hoppy) and got a call from my roommate who is dog sitting. Miss Puppy got away. They are both out with his family in a northern suburb and she escaped from the yard spike she was attached to. After pacing around my mom's house for 20 minutes, I decided to go up there to help with the search. As soon as I text that I'm heading up, I hear she's been found. Which brought on more tears, of course.

She's fine. She was picked up by the cops. They can't figure out how she got away since the hook that was attached to the spike was still looped and she hadn't chewed on anything. But frankly, I don't care. All I know is that she's fine.

Oh my. I'm exhausted. Too many emotions in just a short amount of time.

I think this is an ice cream moment.

Confession Time

I'm currently enjoying Hilary Duff's new album.

Ugh. I have such horrible taste in music.

At least it's not La Lohan's album.

Entry, the First

So, here it is. The first post. How do you start these things, really? Do I give a bio of myself or just jump in?

Eh, I'll do a combo of both.

First of all, I just want to say that coming up with a "title" for this blog was immensely more difficult than I thought it would be. After spending a good 20 minutes brainstorming on Word (using the thesaurus feature and checking my spelling) I came up with what you see above. Yes, it's lame. But I'm ok with that. Make a decision and move on. No regrets.

Which means I'll want to change it in about a week.

For those of you that actually make it here, I'll give you a warning up front: I'm a terrible speller. And I work as an editor. Yes, I know, "how can that be??" I understand the irony, but that's how it is. Side note: ever since Alanis, I've not been able to use the word irony without thinking that I'm using it incorrectly. Forgive me if this is incorrect.


I also don't re-read what I've written, so my words may come out as a jumbled mess. But that's actually exactly how it is to talk to me in person, so at least I'll sound the same here as I do when chatting with people. Except here, you may have a chance to understand me, for in real life, I speak too quickly for most people to comprehend.

I also over-use commas.


So, a quick bio: Female, 30 years old, live and work in Chicago. And I have a dog. And she is awesome. And, as you can see, I do not make my bed. Unless gramma's coming over.