The Best Christmas Presents Ever

It's true, it is the thought that counts when giving/receiving a gift. The most memorable Christmas presents I have received and may ever receive were from my dad and Aunt Anita. In 2003 my Grandmother, Anne, passed away. She loved to cook, as do I. Over the years she, as any great chef does, accumulated many recipes and created some of her own. Opening her recipe box you would find many of her handwritten favorites, rummy scores from games she and Papaw would play religiously, and postcards from their grandchildren. I suppose this little box was a place to keep all things important. For Christmas 2004 I received "Mamaw's Cookbook" from my Aunt Anita. She compiled many of the handwritten recipes that were discovered in the recipe box. into a binder with Mamaw's smiling face on the front. The book included the favorites which we all grew up on, such as cream candy and pound cake. I miss Mamaw often, but opening her cookbook brings back a heartfull of great memories.

This Christmas, I am extremely blessed to have another holiday with my Dad, which is a 'best' present in and of itself. Last Christmas Dad was at the end of what would be his last round of chemo. He felt fairly well and displayed a nice shiny noggin. This year, we find ourselves basically out of available treatment options for his cancer. We've spent much of this year driving to Duke, sometimes twice a month, for a clinical study he participated in there. Regardless of why we were traveling there, it was great to spend so much time from my busy life with him and my mom on those long road trips. He is a little fatigued these days and his numbers seem to be looking well, despite the doctors telling us the disease continues to progress. With that, I fully appreciate that this is a Christmas to treasure and savor.

As to another physical gift, when I was little, Dad would recite from memory, Twas the Night Before Christmas. I knew exactly what I wanted when I saw the latest holiday offering from Hallmark was that traditional story, in a recordable version. Apparently everyone in the country also thought this was a great gift, as well since ALL of the stores sold out. Even small county Kentucky Hallmarks sold out. My mom found one on Ebay and didn't have to pay too much of a premium. Dad was a ready and willing participant to record his voice. Thus, for years to come, I (and maybe that kid that we may or may not have) will always have my Dad to read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

From our home to yours, I hope everyone has a merry Christmas filled of wonderful memories and a happy New Year.

Santa Baby...a new wrist watch for me...neon purple

I am totally loving the Toy Watch. What a fun watch to have! Even Mrs. O sports one in my fav color! It's not so serious and takes me back to the days of Swatch watches. when I was in elementary school. However, I would have to give some serious thought to dropping $195 on a plastic watch.

I want...

How cute is this tee from JCrew's Crewcuts? I bought one for my little cousin for Christmas. Maybe if I lost like 25lbs I could fit into it!

I did however purchase this in a big girl size...hopefully it will be here before Christmas!

Mmmmm Butternut Squash Soup...

I am continually trying to perfect my roasted butternut squash soup recipe and I think I stuck the landing tonight with this recipe:

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash (4+ pounds raw)
3 cup organic chicken broth
1 large onion (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tsp. nutmeg
olive oil
salt
black pepper

Garnish:
crème fraîche
toasted wheat croutons

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.

2. Slice the squash in half length wise. Using a spoon, core the seeds. Place in a roasting pan. Liberally coat with olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Fill about 1" of the pan with water. Roast in oven for about half an hour or until the flesh is easily pierced with a paring knife.

3. Remove from the oven, and let cool so it is not too hot to handle. Remove the skin and roughly chop any large portions of the flesh remaining.

4. In a large pot over medium heat, add 2 Tbsp. of butter. Once the butter has stopped bubbling, add 2 Tbsp. of olive oil.

5. Add the onion and then the garlic garlic. Cook until the onions are translucent and starting to lightly yellow, about 6 min. Add the nutmeg and stir. Cook for another 3 min.

6. Add the roasted butternut squash and stir. Let cook for about 5 min before stirring again. You should start to see carmelization on the bottom of the pan. Add the honey and let cook again for another 5 min.

7. Add about 1/2 cup the broth and deglaze the pot. Once all those nice brown bits are up from the bottom of the pot add the remaining broth. Bring to a boil and let cook for about 5 min at a low boil.

8. Turn off the heat and let cool for another 5 min.

9. Puree the mixture in a blender until you have a nice smooth texture. Return to heat and lets simmer until you are ready to serve.

10. Garnish by adding a dollop of crème fraîche and croutons. Serve very hot.

Enjoy!

Homage to BelleAge

This evening me and one of the bunco girls went to BelleAge Medispa's open house. All products were 25% off and many offered rebates as well! I purchased Latisse and an intense pulsed light (IPL) facial to zap off the damage I received in the Dominican. I debated on buying two IPL services, but thought one treatment did the trick the last time. Then much to my surprise I won an IPL treatment in the door prize drawing! I can't wait to start using the Latisse and plan on getting the first IPL after Thanksgiving. Hopefully I will have new fresh skin (brown and red spots sloughed off) and long lashes by Christmas!

One more reason to shop in Cincy

I move from NKY and great things come! WTF? Recently the Queen City became the home to Ikea (which is at the same exit as the Ballard Designs Outlet), Cincinnati Premium Outlets off of I-75 and now H&M! Jimmy Choo shoes starting at $129! Need I say more. H&M opened in the Kenwood Town Centre on November 5. To date the US site does not offer online shopping, but the Euro site does. Given that I don't understand Sweedish, that site is a little difficult to navigate.

Shine On

I regrettably learned tonight that one of the downtown fixtures, Lewis Gill Cobb, the shoeshine man passed away. I would bump into him weekly. The typical conversation started with him telling me how nice I look and then leading to him asking if I needed a shoe shine. I probably did on many occasions, but never accepted his offer.

While I was a prosecutor Lewis was cited several times by the city for peddling without a license. We could not dismiss any more charges and he understandably didn't want to pay a fine and plead guilty. He, with the assistance of the honorable Gatewood Gailbrath, set the matter for trial. I didn't want to prosecute Lewis. After all, he was just trying to make an honest living, shining shoes. Maybe I was the first person to ever read the "peddling without a license statute" and concluded that since it said one is guilty of peddling without a license when they are selling goods without a city license. I asked myself what 'goods' is Lewis selling...it's a service. I contacted Gatewood and we thought it would be worth a shot for him to file a motion to dismiss the charges since this ordinance didn't even apply to Lewis' operation. Judge Bouvier, a jurist whose talent's are wasted in district court, consulted the Uniform Commercial Code, and ruled that Lewis was not selling goods, but offering a service and thus could not be in violation of peddling without a license. All counts against Lewis were dismissed. From that point on, Lewis could shine all the shoes he wanted along the streets of downtown Lexington.

Lewis was such an intriguing character that a UK student produced a documentary about him. I purchased the movie, but am yet to watch it. Lewis would ask me weekly "have you watched my movie yet?", which I would honestly tell him I had not had time to do so yet, but was going to. He was one of those unique fixtures of downtown, along with Tony the shoe repair man and Butch, those folks you look forward to running into everyday. I will miss him terribly and can only hope that he is shining shoes in heaven.

In Search of the Perfect Sweater Dress

I'm somewhat of a curvy girl. A little junk in the trunk and a slight Buddha belly, so finding a flattering sweater dress has taken some investment of time. A few contenders are the J.Crew Dream lycée turtleneck dress, however I think it looks a little dowdy.

Next is the Anthropology Lancet Arch Sweater Dress. This may be the winner. If only we had an Anthropology store so I could try this on in person.

My fav is from Athleta, is the Vitis Sweater Dress, but of course it has sold out in any normal size in grey!

All of these would potentially look great with the new Marc Fisher Agnes riding boots I just ordered.

Happy Halloween

ThaKing and I had a great time greeting the neighborhood trick or treaters. I found out about 4:15pm that trick or treat began at 5:00pm. I rushed to shower and get ready. ThaKing had to handle the first round of pint size beggars on his own, and this was Elka's first Halloween, mind you. She nearly burst out the door and ran over the kids! I ran down the steps in my bathrobe almost handing out an unintended treat, just in time to grab Elka! After a few kids, Elka got the hang of it and laid nicely at the front door, forcing me to step over her long frame.

Doggie Duvet

How cute and stylish is this? I know a giant white dog that may be getting one. At Molly Mutt you can order these lovely duvets, along with stuff sack which you fill with all of those old t shirts, socks, etc. Way more haute and green than the run of the mill dog bed!

Happy 1st Birthday Elka!

Elka turned 1 this past Friday! She is such a big girl now! She listens better and is readily eager to please. Weighing in a 75 pounds (and still growing) she is a big white mountain of love!

Go for the Gold

Washington State University just started shipping their wonderful, award winning, cheeses to KY. I immediately placed an order for some Cougar Gold, a white cheddar, on Monday. I was so surprised to open our refrigerator on Wednesday to find the Cougar Gold had arrived! It's only $18 for a 30 oz. can. Go Cougars!

I heart fall

Fall is here! The opening day of Keeneland was plagued by a monsoon so I did not deem it worthy of attending. Hopefully next Friday the weather will be better. Regardless, tomorrow thaKing and I are going down the road to Boyds Orchards to pick out some pumpkins. I hope they have the ghost pumpkins! I plan to make butternut squash casserole or soup for dinner (still undecided on which). Sunday we are going to brunch at Jonathan's in Gratz Park, thanks to taking care of a traffic ticket for someone. I love getting paid in gift cards!

Busy Weekend

Last evening we went and looked at a house that is for sale in the Stonewall neighborhood. It is on 1/2 acre and has a fabulous yard! A yard...not a .10 acre yard, but 1/2 acre. However, the house is slightly smaller than the one we live in currently. It is really hard to envision how our furniture will fit in another house...given that we bought our present house and pretty much all the furniture that goes in it, simultaneously. Then there is the whole "can we sell our house" issue! I fear change.

Tonight, we (and by we I mean me, thaKing and Elka) are all just laying around catching up on the DVR since thaKing and I were both gone last week. Tomorrow will be spent watching the Tide roll over the Cats, I'm sure. On Sunday I am going to London to spend time with the parents and see my sister and nephew Parker. I haven't seen him in forever so I can't wait. Somewhere in the midst of all that I hope to find time to plant the mums I bought during last week's monsoon. I need another vacation or to win Powerball.

Baby Cakes

I had the pleasure of co-hosting a baby shower for my BFF Susan today. She is one of the most beautiful baby mommas. We went with a sweets for the sweet theme and only served desserts. I provided cupcakes from Baby Cakes. All baby cakes are freshly made, never frozen, from scratch and it shows. We enjoyed the Sweet Dreams--comforting brownie cupcakes with chocolate chips nestled inside & covered in vanilla buttercream and the Natural Beauty --moist vanilla cupcakes topped with creamy vanilla buttercream. The Sweet Dreams were a little chocolatey for my liking but they were fresh you could certainly tell.

Gator Bait

thaKing and I went to the UK football game on Saturday. The only fortunate thing that occurred was the monsoon that was last week stopped right before kickoff. There is always a scintilla of hope when the Cats play the Gators, that after 20 some straight years of being beat by the Gators, the Cats may actually win. That hope was slashed immediately in the first half of the first quarter. At least we had the entertainment of the guys sitting in front of us. One fan became angry with the guys because they were booing the Cats. The angry fan called them out for wearing Wildcat blue and booing the Cats. I thought I was going cry laughing when one of the guys yelled to the angry fan "hey guy, hear that, I'm booing a bad call that was made against the cats." Guess you really had to be there though.

All things Elka

I know I need to blog about more things than just Elka, but these invitations are too cute not to mention! Elka will be 1 year old October 23rd and I'm thinking of having a Yappy Hour to celebrate! Barkaritas, cupcakes, and a birthday cake from the Barkery! I think it will be a blast!

Elka tired....

The Dog Paddle absolutely wore Elka out! She finally perked up on Sunday around 6:00pm. We arrived at the Dog Paddle on Saturday about 10AM. We were informed to get there early because the water gets nasty. I'm thinking lots of dogs, saliva, so that makes sense. It was something much worse. I will leave it at that.

Elka walked into the Woodland Park pool on her back legs alone. thaKing was trying to prevent her from pulling, which resulted in lifting Elka up in the air. Pinch collar or not, Elka saw other dogs to play with and she desperately wanted to get to them. I proceeded to sign all of us in while thaKing tried to control the howling Elka. I affectionately referred to her as the crazy dog, while signing in without a dog in immediate tow.

Once inside the fenced area, we released Elka from her leash and immediately lost sight of her. Was she headed towards the water? No, just running laps around the pool and chasing any dog that would give chase. Eventually I caught up with her and leashed her up to lead her into the wading pool. After-all, the water was why we were there. She walked in the water and was slashed and howled at by another dog. She wanted none of that and leaped from the pool to run some more.

After she tired out some, she accepted the fact that the water could be fun, as she chased tennis balls into the water. I think she also watched her new friends Callie and Ajax enjoying the water, so that helped her acclimate. We left after about one hour and half. Elka napped some when we got home but then I took her back out to go to the Barkery since she was so good at the Dog Paddle. She slept until about 8AM on Sunday to just go outside and then come back in and sleep until 9:30AM. Why can't we have a Dog Paddle every weekend!

Dog Paddle

Ahhh... one of the reasons I wanted a dog...to go to the Dog Paddle at Woodland Park of course. The Dog Paddle is this Saturday, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Woodland Aquatic Center. (The rain date is 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13.) The cost is $10 per dog with a limit of two people. There is an additional cost of $5 per person beyond the two. Proceeds will benefit the creation and maintenance of dog parks in Fayette County. All dogs must have a 2007, 2008 or 2009 rabies tag and proof of vaccination. I can't wait to take Elka!! She will love, love, love it! If she is not too stinky and wet after the swim, I think I need to follow through on that much discussed trip to the Barkery afterward.

Keeneland

It's never too early to start thinking about what to wear to Keeneland this fall! I'm loving this dress from White House/Black Market, paired with these shoes! They're so cute that I think any pain would be worth it! However, there is a Milly trunk show at Belle Rose this weekend which comes with a 10% discount. Maybe worth a look see for that day at the races outfit.

Jeremy King Photography

My talented husband has decided to take his hobby of photography pro. Check out his website and book your session today!

Blogger back log

So I've been very lax in blogging, obviously. I've been swamped with work and with the interception of facebook into my life...I've neglected the much more creative outlet of blogging. Anyway..Elka graduated from boarding school at Durham Kennels at the end of May. We are overwhelmingly pleased with how well she is doing. She still has puppy outbursts occasionally, but all and all it is an absolute pleasure to walk her around the 'hood and take her to events such as the Farmer's Market and Thursday Night Live.

In July I celebrated my Super Sweet Sixteen Redux (i.e. 32, there I said it). Jennifer Miller with Baker's Bliss made my cake which was fabulicious. Yes, it was planned for the dress to match the cake! Several of my friends joined me and thaKing at Atomic Cafe to celebrate my birth. We decorated foam coozies with foam stickers. You are never too old to enjoy crafts! It was a blast and I truly appreciate my friends coming out to make getting older way more fun!

Vacation Finally!

In just over 1 week, thaKing and I are headed to the Dominican Republic! The last two vacations consisted of going to the ACL Music Festival in Austin and Las Vegas in the winter. A nice beach vacation is overdue. We are staying at Dreams in La Romana. It looks fantastic! I can't wait to take introductory scuba lesson in the pool, go windsurfing, kayaking, jump on the ocean trampoline, and play tennis. Will 8 days be enough?

Solid Shampoo

A friend with beautiful blonde locks recommended the Lush Blonde shampoo bar. Her hair looks great so I decided to give it a try. Shampoo in a bar form...it was like buying a block of cheese wrapped in bucher paper with a similar label. It's a different concept to lather up your hands to wash your hair but if it works, why not. The bar is very soft and and the lather quickly produced for application to my hair. The end result was seemingly shinier more manageable hair. I am now a new fan of Lush.

Great Giveaway!

Pretty in Pink Megan is giving away a CUSTOM-DESIGNED HEADER from Front Porch. Stop by and check her new layout (which is fab) and register!

ThaKing and Queen

Where were these stamps when thaKing and I got married? How perfect would that have been...wedding invitations adorned with the usual love stamps, but not just any love stamps--love stamps fit for a King and Queen. The five year anniversary is coming up...maybe we should throw a "Can't Believe We Made it this Long" party and use these on the invitations! Also, if you haven't caught on, we're not pretentious, just the last name is King and we were tagged with the nicknames, thaKing and Queen, by one of our friends.

The Busy Life of the Queen

How can I seem to be so busy and not even have a 'nury' kid? May was quite the whirlwind. You may have caught on due to the lack of posts. My parents and I traveled to Duke University to determine if my dad was appropriate for any of their clinical trials. We learned from very hot, Dr. George, that dad has a good prognosis, given that the prostate cancer has not spread to his bones or organs and there are treatment options still available. It looks like we will soon be returning to Duke, where my dad will be in a trial to receive a drug that was just recently approved for treatment of kidney cancer and appears to work well in stabilizing other cancers. To say we were reinvigorated with hope from all this news would be quite the understatement.

On a sadder note, I went home to London over Memorial Day weekend to say goodbye to one of the dearest, sweetest ladies. My BFF Lindsey's grandmother, Mary Ray Luker (aka Granny) passed away. She was a beautiful lady bubbling over with excitement and spirit any time you saw her. She set the example for how to organize and throw a lovely party/luncheon. I always think whenever I'm hosting something, Granny would have done so much better. For example, she loosely tied thread around rose buds to prevent them from opening up prematurely. I bet she knew a trick or two that even Martha Stewart was not aware of! She always sent thoughtful thank you notes...an act that is sadly absent from today's culture. I will always cherish the time she took to take Lindsey and I to Shakertown for archeological digs, to see the Nutrcraker, and numerous shopping trips among many other things! Being considerate of others to the end, she planned her own funeral, years in advance. With jazzy upbeat music and wonderful poems, you could feel her presence. She will be truly missed.

Elka was gone for the month of May at boarding school to learn how to be a great dog. She was already good you see. Jeremy and I both feared she may come back with a broken spirit. Any change of personality lasted only about the first couple of hours that Elka was home. Then she was back to harrassing the cat and playing with squeaky dog. She learned lots while away at school. On command she waits patiently at doors until she is given the 'ok' to go through. Now if we could only get me trained on how to correct her for those rare opportunites that she messes up.

Serious Sandal Sale

Target is having a buy two get one free sandal sale thru 6/6! With so many faboulous finds, the $50 threshold to achieve free shipping is easy!

Hot yoga...oh yeah!

I went to my first hot yoga class tonight and decided to OD with back to back classes. What was I thinking? I had not done yoga in well...maybe 2 years, let alone in a 90 degree room. I loved it! The instructor noted class went by faster than usual since there were no beginners...fooled him! Also, fortunately, I was not the only girl with junk in the trunk having problems balancing. I plan to go back next week...maybe just not OD, since Elka will be home from boarding school by then. Gotta have enough energy to walk with my girl!

Happy Birthday Elka!!

Elka is 6 months old today! We love her so much! It's such a pleasure to come home, after a crappy day dealing with crazy people, and see her tail wagging and be so excited to see mom. She was 'hit on' Sunday by another shepherd owner at the duck pond, when asked "hey is your dog spade." Does that line really work? And yes she is. She doesn't need to hook up with some black and tan shepherd to better her self esteem. But it's nice to no her beauty is recognized. I look forward to many more birthdays with Ms. Elka.

Athleta Coupons?

Great news!! Athleta is now part of GAP, Inc. which means as a luxe card holder I get free shipping! Hopefully, Athleta will start having more sales and offer discounts.

Me Gusta Athleta Update

So I ordered both of the dresses featured in my previous Athleta post. The Honey Wrap dress which I swooned over was a big let down live and in person. The faux wrapping awkwardly bunched. However, the Azur Senorita dress is definitely a keeper.

Keeneland Spring 2009

Although I have not won any money significant enough to speak about this Spring meet, I've had a great time hanging out with friends and family. We went with the Zegafuses for a very rainy Maker's Mile day, to follow up the next day for Bluegrass Stakes with the fam under warm sunny skies. Bluegrass Stakes Day has become the newest Lewis family tradition. My sister Holly, pictured, brother Stephen and cousins Jason and Latishia along with their spouses, join ed me and thaKing for a day at Keeneland. For whatever reason, they all turn to me for betting advice. Please! The only ticket I seem to cash these days is the cash voucher!

Derby is around the turn

Perhaps it is time to start collecting Barbies again! I can't believe Barbie waited all this time to go to Derby?

Keeneland

Why can I never think ahead for Keeneland fashion. It sneaks up on me every meet! How great would this dress have been for the Maker's Mile on Friday?!

Get ready to strut!

Start training and get registered for Mutt Strut!
Monday, May 25^th, 2009
9am at Keeneland Race Track
2k Walk (1.24 miles)

Join us for this year’s 12^th annual Mutt Strut at Keeneland. The fun begins at 9am on Memorial Day and this year we encourage you to bring your four-legged friend to our pet friendly walk. Mutt Strut is one of our primary fundraisers and helps us to care for the more than 5,000 animals that come through the Lexington Humane Society doors each year. This year our goal is to raise a record number of donations for the LHS critters! Register today and learn how you can help!

Individuals: $20 (Includes a t-shirt)

Teams: $200 (10 or more individuals make up a team. There is no max number of team participants. Includes a t-shirt for each registered team member.)

Race Day Registration or Registration after 5/10: $25 (no t-shirt)

Register TODAY online, by mail, or in person at LHS!

For the Stylishly Challenged

I love Fabulous Florida Mommy's blog! She styles outfits mainly from J.Crew. Have any of you ever looked at the J.Crew catalog and thought there is no way in hell I would pair that together? For instance, a fantastic suit will be featured with some graphic print tee. Well that's great if I'm going to be in Mid-town that day...but what about the real world?!

NCAA Holiday

The first day of the NCAA tournament should be a national holiday. It's not as exciting considering the Cats aren't in the big dance, but even if they were, I don't believe they would be making it past the first round anyway. Elka went to play with her friends at Uptown Hounds today so thaKing and I could enjoy uninterrupted basketball watching action.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I love March! St. Patrick's Day, March Madness, and spring begins to show her face. Also, you know Keeneland is just around the corner. We received our tickets for Bluegrass Stakes Day! Can't wait!

Anyway, thaKing and I ran in the Shamrock Shuffle on Saturday to benefit the Pat Smith Habitat for Humanity Endowment Fund. It was about 42 degrees and raining. We arrived just in time to get our race packet and head to the starting line. If I had more time to think about running 1.8 miles in the cold and rain, I probably would have taken my race shirt and headed to Starbucks to watch the other racers while I sipped my Grande and ate a lowfat blueberry muffin. But no, I ran (forgetting to activate my Nike+!). I beat last years time, and most imporatntly, beat thaKing! I was 5th in my age group which is something I'm quite proud of considering I've only been running about 2 miles every week.

Make mine an ELKA size

I was looking back through pictures on my digital camera and realized how freakishly quick Elka has grown. She has doubled in weight since we got her December 21st. Anyone care to wager how big she will be once full grown? I'm hoping for around 75lbs. but I don't think that's happening...realistically given her enormous paws and legs...I'm thinking Elka could very well be 100lbs. Hopefully she will figure out how to get in and out of the SUV on her own before then.

Dog Blog

So with a new puppy to follow around damn near every second, I've been even more lax on blogging. Thanks to the two of you that actually read this, for noticing. Anyway, as previously referenced, thaKing and I adopted a white German Shep. pup right before Christmas. (She was actually grey, until after her first bath.) My mom said don't get a dog, you have a beautiful house with new hardwood floors, a dog is a lot of hard work, etc. For a second before we went to purchase the pup, I heeded her advice, but I negated it and thought I can handle a dog. So off we went to purchase a puppy. We picked the one female, out of six, that seemed to chew the least on our shoe strings. For the next week I wanted to cry every five minutes! I admit it. I am not a person that is going to lie and say a puppy is the best thing ever. They suck! Constant supervision, the constant feeling and realization that your life as you knew it is OVER!

A week after purchasing the pup, which we named Elka (translation: noble one in German), thaKing admitted he was at his wits end with me, for not being able to handle the massive onslaught of responsibility. After that revelation I went to Wal-Mart. I planned my best argument for finding a 'better' home for Elka. Upon returning, and producing my oratory on why we were awful puppy parents, thaKing proclaimed we could never give her up. Gratefully, thaKing out willed me, and we still have Elka. It has been a sobering adjustment, but I am totally in love with her and become tremendously excited over all the progress she makes daily.

She has doubled in size (pert' near 30lbs. now!) and we are quickly approaching puppy class graduation--weather permitting. Speaking of, in the second week of puppy class, she so beautifully demonstrated her superb growling abilities and how she can take off my hand. The trainer indicated that we would assess this aggression situation in two weeks all the while attempting to show us ways of appeasing the aggression. It seems as if the training tips worked, as we have not heard another growl or seen another display of full frontal teeth from Ms. Elka. She still remains the most vocal puppy in class, however. Nonetheless, it is so rewarding greeting her at the end of play dates with Augie and Sonny, daycare, or wrapping up (literally in a blanket) after dog park visits.

We started letting Elka share our King size bed. I was initially opposed to this given she may grow to be 70 to, dare I say, 100 pounds! However, this new sleeping arrangement came about one morning when I was up with Elka at 5:00AM. thaKing suggested I go back to bed and take her with me. We slept until 7:30Am and that was only because thaKing called to see how she did and I feigned being awake, to no believability. Since then, Elka sleeping in thaKing family bed has been a regular occurrence, and we have all been getting more sleep, which no one is complaining about.

I love my little big girl, and hope, I can hang on, as she gets even bigger! :)

Me Gusta Athleta

Why is it so hard to find fun spring/summer comfy dresses that fit someone that is not 00? I really want to purchase these two sundresses from Athleta, which I know would make me feel like warmer weather would get here sooner.

At Last

Everyone knew that the inauguration of President Obama would be a historic event. It surpassed my expectations. Watching such an event come to fruition before my eyes is amazing. My generation only read about the civil rights movement and has lived through extremely saddening historical events such as the Challenger explosion, Oklahoma City bombing, and 911. Thus, I relish being able to witness first hand such a positive historic milestone in my lifetime. It brings tears to my eyes to know my country has progressed so far, but also to see my country, at last, unite behind one amazingly intelligent and inspirational person.