splendor & folly

Does anyone else refer to food as yums to their dog?

‘you want some yum yums??’

If I ask Raleigh if he is hungry he always says yes barks – he is a genius.

This is not a story about dog food, this is a story about the time I made a Target/Trader Joe’s run and spent way too much time browsing $8 notebooks at Target and lost track of time and walked into Trader Joe’s at…8:52. It closes at 9:00.

Cue me frantically rushing around trying to get everything I came for all while giving ‘sorry, I know you are trying to leave’ eyes to all the employees. Phew! It was stressful. If you are a Trader Joe’s fan you know that half the fun is browsing, picking up some new things and staring at cheese for 5 minutes.

So it wasn’t that kind of trip, but I did manage to pick up the ingredients to make an awesome salad for lunch today. I dressed it with just balsamic and olive oil (not pictured).

And also – I got dark chocolate covered pretzel slims. They are not new to me, but they are a special treat. If you go to Trader Joe’s just keep your eye out for this wonderful purple bag, because clearly I’m not going to share mine.

A couple of weeks ago, I turned 28. Here are some random, bullet-pointed ramblings about it:

• 28 is kind of close to another age that rhymes with mirty. Does this scare me? No not really, I’m just kind of aware that it is there. I’m excited to enter my thirties, but still kind of glad at this point I have two full years before doing so. And when I look at it that way, I still feel like a young spring chicken.

• But on the other hand, always being annoyed at the ‘11’ wrinkle lines between my eyebrows does NOT make me feel like a young spring chicken. Well to be honest, I never feel like an actual chicken, which is good.

• But speaking of chickens, and eggs and things…when you are 28 is it pretty certain that your mind is on babies…whether you are single, dating, married or divorced, it’s just the topic that always seems to surface. Do you want one? Do you want another one? Are you pregnant? Are you trying? Are you not-not trying?

• Me personally, or I should say we because it always takes two to tang0 – we are not trying. However, my doctor told me it wouldn’t be a bad idea to start taking some pre-natal vitamins just incase we start growing a baby without meaning to. I figured that would not be a bad idea and also, they are supposed to make your hair grow faster right??

• So I used that as an excuse to purchase these:

And if taking some sour-patch tasting candy in order to be a responsible adult is what being 28 is all about, I’m all for it.

There was a pretty impressive lightning storm going on in Kansas City the other day. I spent some time trying to capture it on film, but never quite got the shot I was looking for.

I think I would have needed something with a much faster shutter speed than my crappy point and shoot, but I didn’t end up totally empty handed…

So like my wedding recap post, this is old news if you are my friend on facebook, but I promise to get caught up soon and start posting newer stuff.

I decided that I wanted to surprise Jake with a portrait of Raleigh for his birthday. I looked around online and found Blue Giraffe Artworks – I instantly loved the style of the portraits. The artist’s name is Micah and once I submitted some info on the form on her website, she emailed me back right away and seemed super sweet.

Here is the picture I provided – one of my all time favorites – I love when dogs do the tilty-head thing as if they are really interested in what you are saying :)

And after some anticipation and waiting – here is the proof that Micah emailed to me. She allowed for me to make any changes before finalizing, but to me, it looked perfect!

I was so excited when it came in the mail – she takes so much care in wrapping it and providing care instructions and a cute little thank you note. I was even more excited for Jake to open it. We love our little guy so much and I’m very glad that we now have this artwork to cherish forever.

Check out her website here – Raleigh even made the pet portrait gallery – he is an internet sensation! haha. :)