Bless Your Heart

My swap box from Pam arrived today! Let me just say that it is so fabulous it literally almost brought me to tears. Seriously. Pam nailed me. Even with me being so slack about my survey, there isn’t one thing in that box that I don’t adore. Ok, in the box we have (as listed on the adorable Le Packing Sheet): Handmade cinnamon & mint soap bars, and handmade rose petal and fall leaves soap (these all smell so good and were made in Indiana. I’m so in love with the little soap leaves), Smart Women napkins and Tattoos (which will all come in handy at my next cocktail party), Cherry Republic tea, chocolate covered cherries, and a candle (they all smell sooo yummy), Holiday Chocolate Cheeseball Mix (which I will definitely be making for the next social gathering), snowflake stickers and cake decorations (how did she know snowflakes are my favorite winter design?), Gill’s Grape earrings that Pam made herself (so cute!), a periwinkle Smackers set of lip gloss and nail polish (all my favorite things), lots of cute table confetti (I’m all about the table confetti let me tell you), a bunch of other cuuuute stuff, and then, the ultimate: Pam made for me an I.N.K. bag with Ike’s picture on it!!! I am so amazed at her! I saw that it was a bag and got all excited then saw the PUG tags and cool interior lining and fell in love and then I realized it was my Ike on the front and about fell over! AND it’s my favorite picture of him!! Jon came home and I showed him and he says “That is so cool- a pug bag.”, and I say “yeah but look at the pug” and he realizes who it is and I’ve never seen this man get excited over a woman’s tote bag but he was all “this is so amazing! How did she get this picture?? It looks so professional!!”. I know, he’s right. Click here for a close up: pugbagclose.JPG Pam- thank you so much! I love everything!! A much deserved thank you package will be in the works soon!

That’s my mom holding Ike and my sister holding her baby, my nephew Jake, while they jump on my mom’s trampoline Sunday.

All that playing wore Ike out. When we came home it wasn’t too long before I caught Ike and Jon catching a nap.

Blue Man Group was so good. We saw them on our honeymoon in Vegas at the Luxor so when we heard they were coming to town we had to go. Tracy Bonham opened for them, then sang with them and she did an amazing job. We had great seats. You weren’t supposed to bring a camera in, and Jon was all worried I was going to get thrown out, but I managed to get this one shot of the set.

He peed on me!! The other night we’re all cuddled up on the sofa and Ike’s hanging out up around our necks as usual. He walks over to me and stands on my chest then all the sudden I feel something warm and he peed on me! Ew! We couldn’t believe it!

Yesterday we went to the vet for puppy visit #2 and she said it wasn’t an aggression thing or anything, he probably just had to go. After our vet visit (he’s still doing great, but had to get a vaccination and yelped which made me sad), we went across the street to this pottery painting studio. We painted his paw on a Christmas ornament and a coaster. The lady that ran the shop fell in love with Ike. Here’s the little Picasso.



Tonight we’re seeing the new Blue Man Group show- so excited!!

Filled out a survey for our fabulous stateswap. Realized I’ve never done one of those 100 things things. Thought maybe this could be a good substitute.

Name: Shannon ******* *******

Birthdate: Aug 3, 1973

Favorite color(s): blues (all of them), periwinkle, purples/plums, silver

Least favorite color(s): mustard yellow, mauve, hunter green

Favorite kind of music: I like everything. The current cds in rotation: Barenaked Ladies, Lyle Lovett, Dido, Bollywood, Bend it Like Beckham (soundtrack), Guster

Type of drink: sweet tea, dr pepper, toasted almond, tazo chai creme frapp

Least favorite drink: coffee

Favorite foods/flavors: spicy, chinese, mexican, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, shrimp, crab rangoon…

Foods/flavors you hate: boring food, lima beans

Hobbies/crafts/interests: all kinds of crafts: beading, painting, scrapbooking, etc. decorating the house, travel, shopping (esp at target, ikea, and any cosmetics/beauty supply place). i’m a beauty product aholic esp when it comes to hair products, makeup and lip gloss.

Website address: http://www.newsouth.blogspot.com

Favorite travel location: Vegas, mountains, cruising, Baltimore, especially anywhere I’ve never been.

Favorite thing to collect: Eiffel Towers, dragonflies,paper (stationary), pens.

Pets: 1 pug pup named Ike, 2 kitty girls named Nimbus & DaBrie.

Children: None yet- but we’re trying.

Married? Single? Dating?: Married for almost 3 years to the fabulous and scrumptious Jon.

Any other important info: It’s been said I am a 13 year old girl in an adult’s body. I love all things sparkly, glittery, kitschy (sp?), and offbeat. If I could start every day with a full on spa treatment I would. If only to have my hair washed by someone else in those cool sinks with the cool sprayers.

**I’d like to add to this: Things I’d hire someone else to do if I had the money:

1. clean the kitchen

2. put away the laundry (I’m all about the washing, drying, and folding. It’s the carrying upstairs and putting away that I could do without)

3. putting away the groceries (love the actual grocery shopping, just not the aftermath)

4. unpacking after a trip (the worst part of travel)

5. menu planning (I love to cook- I just never know what to cook).

So, I can afford to pay someone approx. $7.50 a week for the above. Please inquire within. ;)

At Mom’s on Saturday: Morgan’s tongue rivals Gene Simmons’.

Mom’s dog Sam and Ike get to know each other.

We went to see Intolerable Cruelty– so cute- very witty. Love George Clooney in roles where he’s just a little quirky.

Here’s what you get when you cross a relatively odd couple on a lazy Sunday evening with a tiny dog that will fit into just about anything…

Wanna pitcher of Ike?

Ike’s mixing it up!

We finally wore him out…

sleepy Ike

*Pretty sure I have this link finally fixed to these pictures: Ike’s first weekend.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We had a TON of kids in such cute costumes. They were all so polite and they all said thank you. Ike loved greeting everyone and we were asked many times if we would just give him away instead of candy. Ike must have thought he was getting a raw deal- just eating dog food instead of tootsie rolls so as soon as I set the candy bowl down for a second he was all over it. He didn’t manage to steal any candy but he doesn’t look like he feels a bit guilty huh?

We’ve had Ike for one week today! It feels like we’ve had him forever. And yet it’s totally flying by. We can tell he’s grown already. He knows his name and comes when called. He’s doing great with his potty and crate training. I can’t wait for him to meet everyone over the holidays. I just wish he’d stay a little peanut a little longer. And yesterday he barked for the first time! Jon called me at work: “Hey- you hear that?! It’s Ike’s first bark!” Such a proud Daddy.

So…some more Ike pictures…

Fisheyed Ike.

Look at that puppy belly!!

He’s getting so big already!

Ok, that’s enough Ike bragging for today. Hope you guys aren’t getting sick of pug pup pics. I promise this won’t turn into a Pug blog. It’s just that the 1st couple of weeks with a newborn of any variety are all consuming.

Now, time to finish getting ready for Halloween tomorrow!

It seems like I spend a good part of every day with my fingers down Ike’s throat. He eats everything!! I vacuum the house constantly and we’re still pulling things out of his mouth. Just in the last 3 days: feather, upholstery tack, birth announcement, Morgan’s homework, toilet brush, various leaves, twigs, and mulch, lint, (lint people- who eats lint??), my hair (which he pulled from my head), and pizza. Oh, and he also likes to lick your nose. The inside of your nose.

In other news…

~I got my Blogger hoodie the other day. Thanks Blogger! It’s really cute- and good quality.

~I’m in love with the new L’oreal Glam Shine lip glosses.

~We’re so busy at work right now. Dealing with a new operating system. Between work and Ike I’m wiped out right now.

~A few weeks ago I got the cutest little “S” purse at Limited Too. Brown with light blue piping and monogram. Just the other day I won a larger, black and white version on Ebay. I’m apparently obsessed.

~I really want to try a hot rock (or hot stone) massage one day. I wonder what it’s like. Anyone out there try one? Was it just the most relaxing thing ever?

If anyone needs practice for having kids, get a puppy. No sleep, lots of cleaning up messes. Can’t get much done. But at the end of the day when he falls asleep on your chest and you just want to stay there forever… It’s so cool.

Friday we worked on crate training and learning his name. Then Ike and I went to visit my sister Sara and nephew Jake and their dog Ally. Puppies and babies- too much cuteness! Sara made us a fabulous dinner of salmon, wild rice, asparagus, and baby bella mushrooms. Hopefully she’ll post her recipe for that salmon. Ike really held his own with Ally, but Jake sure didn’t know what to think!

Saturday I worked and Ike stayed home with dad. I got a phone call mid morning that sounded like this: “he runs around peeing all the time and if I put him in his crate he screams like a monkey oh my God I can’t get anything done and that stupid book said if he walks in a circle he’s ready to poop but that’s all he does is walks in circles and he peed on the bed so I just put him in the bathtub and now he’s screaming like a monkey again!”. Heh heh.

After work I took Ike to Petsmart to get his ID tag and some presents for the kitties since they’ve been so good and haven’t hissed or scratched at him once. We walked in and right away spotted another girl with an 8 week old girl pug named Rosie. Ike was instantly smitten. He was a hit at the store. Everyone was coming up and grabbing him to hold him. He will certainly be well socialized.

Mom and Hale came over that night so Hale could meet Ike. We ordered a pizza and rented a movie (View From the Top- vaguely cute, rather disappointing). While I was out picking up the movie Mom was babysitting. I came home to a rather large pee spot on our new sofa. Thank goodness Ikea’s cushion slipcovers come off! After a wash in the washing machine it’s good as new.

Sunday Ike attended his first cocktail party. My ladies from work got together for cocktails and appetizers. Ike was quite the charmer until he projectile pooped all over the hostess’s daughter’s dresser and floor. I should just carry carpet cleaner in my purse!

When we got home my in-laws were visiting so Jon’s dad could meet Ike and we could have dinner. Of course he fell in love with him. Morgan came over too, and her dad stopped by, then Mom came to pick up Morgan- so now the whole family’s met little Ike. I’m having a hard time taking all the pictures I’d like. I keep forgetting to pull out the camera. I did manage to get a few shots from the weekend though. You can view them here.