This is all so new!

This baseball in October thing has pretty much never happened in Dallas, but it seems like people are getting the hang of it pretty quickly.  The crowd shots don't feature morons wearing Cowboys jerseys like I would have expected.  People seem to have figured out how this works.  I never really cared about baseball until I moved to Missouri, where the people actually care about baseball.  No one really gives two craps about the Royals (except fireworks Fridays), and since the company I was in included some of the most avid Cardinal fans out there, the choice was easy.  The Cardinals are to St. Louis what the Cowboys are to Dallas.  Not just a team- a way of life.  So it was quite natural to get caught up in it.  In my 13 years of living in Dallas, I went to about 2 Ranger games.  BUT, I am a proud Native Texan and I am ON the bandwagon!  And this bandwagon is flying along.  I sure hope I don't fall off! 

The fall air is so crisp and has the faint hint of fireplace smoke.  I love it.  I have the window barely open, lest my cats get any daredevil ideas, but it's open enough to pick up the nice breeze that whips through the courtyard between the two buildings. 

There really isn't anything new to report.  It's almost Halloween and I haven't picked out any costume ideas.  I did decorate.  I just don't have the energy to go looking for a ridiculously overpriced and poorly made costume.  Perhaps I will make my own?  I'm such a seamstress *sarcasm*.  To date this is probably one of my more involved costumes:

The picture was taken on a leisurely stroll from O'Bannon's to Dry Bean around 11pm, but if you look closely you can see an over-the-top Marie Antoinette next to Douglas the sex crusader and Spiderman.  No that's not my hair.  Anyway, that was about as creative as I got.  So any ideas would be appreciated.  I don't even know if I'm DOING anything for Halloween, but I would hate to be unprepared.  

Anyway, I'm off for now.  This was wildly entertaining, I know.  I know how to keep an audience coming back for more.  I leave you with Truman and his "stick."

He was so agile with this thing, bumping into shit and trying to carry it, but essentially just dragging it along.  Whatever keeps him happy.

Wedding Bells

Two posts in one day!  How rebellious I am!  I actually typed that other post a few days ago and just now posted it.  So, it's not really that scandalous.


Anyway, I went to a wedding yesterday.  When I first got engaged, I was in excited planning mode, and booked all the venues pretty much immediately.  Then, the bar exam happened and I started working all the time, so I haven't been as aggressive in planning for quite some time.  To be honest, the majority of the stuff I have to plan doesn't really get my creative juices flowing (as I've said before, I don't get excited by napkin designs, chairback ties, or menu styles).  Because of that, I had started to wish I hadn't booked anything, and instead we were just going to go on a super honeymoon with a quick courthouse wedding.  But, the wedding yesterday rekindled my interest in actually planning a wedding.  I still don't care about some of the supremely OCD details, but I am excited to revisit some of the ideas I found back when I first got engaged.  So I figured I'd share some of what I like.  I promise not to bombard you with post after post about weddings.  Every now and then I just want to post some stuff I like.  So, here goes:

The ceremony venue is the Jewel Box in St. Louis.  It was built in 1936, renovated a few years ago, and it's on the National Historic Register.

We sneaked in while they were setting up for a wedding to see what it looked like with chairs.  I like!

I like it because I think it's a pretty unique venue, and it has a pretty rich history in St. Louis.  That and there are beautiful flowers blooming year-round both inside the building and outside.  Well, they probably don't bloom in the dead of winter, but pretty close to year-round.   We went this year towards the end of August to see what it looked like, and I was impressed.  Even better that the greenery and flowers on the inside have some pink accents to them, matching the pink accents I want in my colors.

The reception is going to be at Windows on Washington in downtown St. Louis.  It's just a few blocks from our loft.  I was unaware of it's popularity when we booked it, but everytime I tell someone where our reception is they have great things to say about it.  So yay. 

 

This is our reception room.  It's on the top floor, and we have the whole floor to ourselves (no sharing bathrooms!)

When we took these pics, they were setting up for another event.

Once you book the venue, you don't have to pay extra depending on the room you choose; price is all based on the package you pick.  So we chose the top floor room because we loved the high ceilings.  The room seats up to 350 I believe.  Obviously our wedding will be nowhere near that big, but it will be nice to be able to spread out the tables a little bit, and give the room a more open feel.  

So now to the colors:

 

I love this color combination with the green and black.  I actually found a great deal on table overlays with a black and white damask table runner, and I ordered a sample to see what they looked like, and I was impressed! 

 This is way more pink than I want, but I just wanted to show the green/black/pink combo that I'm looking for.  The majority will be green and black, but I plan to use pops of hot pink in things like the flowers, and some small decorations here and there.

I like these wedding dresses because they are unique and they aren't too formal for a summer wedding with fun colors and a light, happy theme.  I really like the bottom one.

 

I LOVE the cake in the middle row on the far right.  It's simple and it's exactly what I'm looking for.  Square tiers with a black ribbon around the bottom of each tier, simple off-white icing (maybe with a pattern like the one in the pic), and then accented with fresh pink and green flowers.   

I saw this at Sam Moon online, and thought it would be a cute idea to go in the bridesmaids' hair or something.  I think I want to do black dresses for them, but accent that with some green and pink jewelry or hair accessories (maybe even fun shoes!)

Speaking of fun shoes:

Obviously it's highly unlikely that I'll be wearing Louboutins, but I like the idea of wearing some fun pink shoes with my wedding dress, and maybe I'll get a pink hair clip similar to the green one above to wear at the reception.

Anyway, those are my ideas so far.  If you have any good ones, pass them along, because I rarely remember important details!  Have a good day everyone :)

Canine Fight Club

Ok, so I'm aware that this blog is starting to look a lot more like Marley and Me than it is a blog about anything else.  Unfortunately, however, at this point in my life most of the "exciting" things that happen to me revolve around my animals.  On any given day, I wake up, take them out, get ready for work, go to work, work while daydreaming about the TiVo I'll get to watch that night, come home, take them out again, and proceed to drown my nightly boredom away with a glass of wine and said TiVo.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job, and every week there is a new fire for me to put out, which keeps me on my toes. That being said, work tales are those "you had to be there"-type stories to begin with.  Add to the fact that I do a lot of work that I can't really talk about and there's just not much to say.  So, being that work and the dog park take up the vast majority of my day, you're left with dog park.  Deal with it.  My blog, my rules.

Now I know the first rule of canine fight club is that you don't talk about canine fight club, but I'm going to.  Again, it's my blog suckas.

Anyway, today I take them to the park like any other day.  It's pretty packed once again.  Everyone is playing and having a good time.  There is this little wirehaired fox terrier there that has a bit of Napoleon syndrome.  He's being a jerk to all the bigger dogs, trying to prove his worth or whatever.  At first I don't really notice him; but then he starts bugging Truman.  At one point he latches on to the fur around Truman's throat, and when Truman whips his head the little shit goes flying off with a tuft of fur in Truman's mouth.  Truman is so docile that he just goes about his day trying to avoid the little terror. 

While this is going on, Cherry is having a good time chasing the tennis ball with a few other dogs, and they all take turns tackling one another.  They're all running around, tails wagging, having some good old fashioned dog park fun.  Cherry winds up with the ball and lays down to relax.  She likes to protect the ball, and will roll around with it in her mouth, or put her paw on it to shield it.  Anyway, she's just laying there when little terror comes up and tries to get it from her.  At first he just stands there staring at her, and Cherry's tail starts wagging like they're about to play.  Then the little terror starts growling, and Cherry's tail stops and she looks at him in alarm.  Before I can stop them, the little terror unleashes an angry bark, and lunges at Cherry's face.  Cherry can handle quite a bit of nagging from other dogs, and for the most part, she likes wrestling, but this dog really pissed her off, and she responded by losing it.  She gets up and attacks him right back.  It's a mess of tails, legs, and angry growls.  While I'm trying to get over there, the other owner is just WATCHING, like an asshole.  I finally grab Cherry's tail and pull her away and the little terror keeps coming at her, so I essentially have to kick him away.  Without a word, the little terror's crappy owner leashes him up, and they silently leave the park.  After he's gone, another owner is the first to break the silence by saying that the little terror was a mean and improperly socialized dog and his owner should know not to let him around other dogs.  Everyone pretty much agreed that Cherry could have killed him if she wanted to.  I'm glad it didn't get that far.  As an owner of bigger dogs, it's my responsibility to make sure they play safely and don't get out of hand.  I can't stop Cherry from defending herself when she's attacked, but the hard part comes in making sure she doesn't hurt anyone because some small dog is stupid enough to pick a fight with a giant.  It's the stupid dog's fault, but if he gets hurt because he attacked my dog, that's on me. 

So anyway, Cherry is officially a badass, or something.  I don't condone doggy violence, but I can't stop her from defending herself when she gets face-murdered.  Fortunately no one got hurt and I hope I don't see that little crap dog there anymore. 

The Bird and the Window

So, as many of you know (but some may not), I have a veritable zoo living with me.  For those that aren't familiar with the cast of true characters that I share my residence with, here is a rundown:

 

Evie.  My "first born."  She's actually a month younger than Truman but I had her first so she is my first born.  Anyway, she likes eating, getting in your business, and judging you.

 

Truman.  The real first born.  He likes playing games, sitting on your feet, chasing Cherry, and rocking the 80's denim jacket.

 

Shelby.  Consistently voted least favorite because of her tendency to be ridiculously obnoxious.  She does, however, entertain with her constant desire to chase the dogs' tails around the house and her propensity to do back-flips for a feather.  She has dreaded middle child syndrome and as such she requires constant attention and affirmation.

Cherry.  The baby.  The runt.  She certainly has a few screws loose, and she has been quite the adventure to raise.  She enjoys chasing anything, eating anything, and taking naps in really weird positions.  

So, there they are.  From now on when I tell stories about my zoo, you'll know who I'm talking about.  Yesterday was a beautiful day in St. Louis.  It was sunny and the temperature was in the low to mid 60s.  I decided it was a perfect day to open the windows of our loft.  Sadly, we don't have screens on our windows, so I was really careful to only open the window enough where the breeze could come in, but not enough where an animal could cause a problem.  So I thought.  

I go about my business and glance over to the window, and Evie is OUTSIDE on the ledge.  Six stories up.  I thought for sure her fatty butt couldn't squeeze through, but there she was.  I almost had a heart attack.  Meanwhile, she's just walking back and forth across the 4-inch wide ledge like it's no big deal.  I yell "Evie!!!" (not thinking about the possibility of startling her and sending her plummeting to her death) and she just looks at me with her usual judgmental scowl like "is there a problem?"  I run over to the window to help her in and she just squeezes right back through the window no problem.  My cat cheated death!

And then, there was today.  I get off work and get home to take the pups to the park.  The park is right across the street from our building, so it's an easy walk.  We get all leashed up and head over.  The park is pretty busy, which I like, because it means the dogs will actually run instead of chewing on random sticks.  Well when we've been there for a few minutes, I look over and see a flailing pigeon across the park.  My reflexes are too slow as ALL the other dogs in the park have already noticed this too.  They're all poking at it prancing around it.  Then here comes Cherry.  Of course, out of ALL the dogs at the park, MY dog would be the one to actually go there. Before I can stop her, she's got the flailing bird firmly gripped in her jaws and she's trotting around the park with extreme pride in herself.  I pick up my pace to catch her and at that she takes off running.  

Whee look at me!  This is so awesome I can't believe I really got a bird!

Truman, who has been idly watching this whole scene unfold, suddenly takes off after Cherry.  All the other dogs follow in quick succession, and I'm left to chase the ringleader of this entire bird fiasco as she plays keep-away.  The other owners call off their dogs, most of whom listen.  But not mine.  She's transfixed on this creature in her mouth and she's not about to let it go.  So, I continue to chase her, trying to corner her, while Truman happily barks and the other owners leash up their dogs to minimize the madness.  I reach out to grab at anything and I get a wing.  Because I was expecting fur and not feathers, I shriek and let go before I'm left holding JUST a wing.  Cherry takes off again, tail wagging as if this disaster is all some fantastic game and I purposely placed the wounded bird in there for her.  By this point I'm mortified because every other dog has calmed down on their leash and the other owners are either (a) similarly mortified, (b) LAUGHING, or (c) judging me for being unable to catch my dog.  I can feel my excuses flowing out of my mouth like verbal diarrhea..."well, she is a retriever"..."she's still kind of a puppy"..."she likes to run!"  But, I mean when you think about it, all of those are true.  She is a retriever.  Retrieving things is in her blood (nevermind that she didn't actually retrieve it, she ran around it with it)!  Obviously all the other "retrievers" at the park are shitty at their job...right?  

Anyway, after a few minutes of sheer chaos I manage to catch her and release the bird from her vice grip. At this point the bird is just sitting there flapping like a moron and we all have no idea what to do.  Suddenly, this pigeon whisperer homeless guy comes in and gently picks it up and hums to it as he escorts it to safety outside the park fence.  I'm pretty sure the bird needs to be...eliminated.  He's obviously gravely injured.  

After that, the madness slowly died down.  Some owners laughed; some left immediately.  The immediate leavers need to remove the stick from their ass.  I'm sorry my dog ran around with a flapping mad, near dead pigeon in her mouth.  These things happen.  She was quite pleased with herself, and being the good Mom I am, I love to see her boost her self-esteem.  

Anyway.  That was that.  Time to go meet sweet little baby Holden!