Barring Salad Bars

I hate home-made salads. I have never found one that I've liked - They are always bland, even when i try to throw in nuts and fruit or special dressings. I don't know what it is, but I simply can't stand them. Now, I love restaurant salads. I think I have a new mission to find a good salad that I can make at home- why should it be so hard? What do the expensive restaurants have access to that I don't? Will someone give me the answer?!

There's Nothing Better Than Surprise Muffins

I woke up on Thursday morning, stumbled to the shower, then let the dogs out. To my utter delight, there was coffee dripping into the coffee pot, a travel cup with sugar already in it, and a lovely surprise of freshly baked blueberry muffins greeting me downstairs.

My Husband ROCKS!!

Slope-Scapades

We're trying to decide what to do for our front yard. We have a really steap hill that is a) hard to mow, b) impossible to climb up (therefore slightly dangerous), and c) ugly. We'd like to bring in some wow to our otherwise cutesy abode. Here are my three options I photoshopped up:

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Opinions? Other ideas? I'd love to hear 'em!

Office Art

I was looking through some of my files and found these photos I created for my office last year. My favorite is the rubber band ball because of the textures and colors.

Follow My Lead: Map It!

Yesterday I posted that I ran 3.3 miles. How did I figure out how far that was? No, I wasn't running on a track, or with a pedometer. No, I didn't just guestimate. I used Google Maps. No more driving the route and adding the approximate value of the car's miles in your head! Now you can know exactly how far you ran before you've run it.

Their new tool allows you to not only get directions by car, but also by public transit and walking! You can enter in your starting location, add a few points along the way, and viola! You've got a map and the distance of your run.

They also just fixed the tool this week so that you can drag portions of the route to line up on other streets if you dont like the way they are suggesting you go. Its truely awesome.

Running A-ways - Part 3

I've been trying to train pretty hard (long jogs 5 days a week) for my first 5K race, and yesterday I finally did it. I ran 3.3 miles!! (a 5K is 3.1 miles) It took me 36 minutes and 35 seconds, and it felt wonderful. I'm the girl who couldn't finish the mile in high school, and I'm running able to run 3 miles a day... I love this feeling!!

Creative Art Starts

I've always loved art. I love seeing it in museums, on the sides of buildings and in peoples homes. In college, I tried my hand at painting and have done probably 10-12 pieces since then - but none of them hang on my walls. I tend to stick to photos for my own walls though because I really enjoy how accurate the camera is.

Earlier today I saw someone else had tossed this huge frame on their curb alongside the other items that didn't sell in their yard sale. I've been looking for a frame this size, but certainly not a photo of a swimming pool! The framing was professionally done - something like this would have cost me atleast $50. So I decided to pick up my brushes and give it another go... I painted right over the photoboard. I have to say, I really had a lot of fun painting this one, and I'm actually quite proud of it. I'm even planning to hang it in the house!

Shine On Sweet Sidetable

Whilst walking last week, I found a couple of side tables someone was throwing away. I picked this one up thinking it may be just right for my sister's nightstand. The black and silver glass table top really makes this piece fun, but the poor table had been left outside a few too many years and had completely rusted over.

After a thorough cleaning, I treated it with some Rustolium primer and painted it a metallic gold. Now it will shine on years into the future.

Running Aways - Continued

This week I started my training for my 5K in August. I ran 2.4 miles 5X's this week, and walked the dogs for 20-30 minutes after each run to cool down. On Sunday & Thursday I walked the dogs instead of running as my "break"... I've never been a runner, and it was only after college that I found some stamina to make my body run, but I'm really enjoying challenging myself like this.

I figure next week I'll find another route that is somewhere between 2.4 and 3.1 (the distance of the 5K).

I should really buy some new shoes though... :)

My dog is not a Chihuahua

While walking the dogs yesterday, a group of passersby yelled out "look at that Chihuahua and the German Shepard!" That's the second time this month. Seriously, Trotter is 30 lbs and almost 2' tall. While we think he's mostly Whippet, I could understand people thinking he was a Grey hound, or even some kind of Terrier, but not a Chihuahua. That's just impressively dumb.

Over the past two weeks he has been mysteriously and terribly ill - none of the vets can figure out what's wrong with him, and right now he's on 4 different medications. While his pain pills are "on", he's his regular self - so that's good. I just wish we could figure out what's bothering my little man! He's the best pup anyone could ever ask for, and he doesn't deserve to be feeling icky. I also wish we had pet insurance. Hello vet bills!

The good news is that Missy (our beautiful girl) is doing quite okay even if she's now the old-lady of the house. We gave her a homemade haircut to keep her cool (in both senses of the word).

I think they both may have allergies of some sort though as they have been a little itchy. We'll be giving them an oatmeal bath today... they'll hate that!

All in all, even though my dogs are a lot of work and money, they give me more enjoyment than anything else in the world. I love waking up with them, going on our walks, laughing at their funny expressions and just spending time with them. I'm officially a dog person through and through.

Keep Trotter in your prayers - let's hope to figure this thing out ASAP!

A Window to a New World - Update

As previously mentioned, Bo and I have wanted to put a transom window in above our front door for some time now. Well, we (he) finally did it! It looks beautiful, and its all thanks to my handy and hansome hubby. My only input was the decorative glass stars inside. It really makes the room brighter. Can't wait to do one in the upstairs hallway!