Around here Lately...

Around here lately we've had a lot of puppy snuggles, hurried and hushed cleaning while Bear naps, early morning and afternoon sunlight and last minute preparations for a spur of the moment surprise belated birthday/5th grade party for my little brochacho.

Lately, I've smelled of puppy breath and wet fur with grass stains on the bottom of my feet. We are soaking up the last bit of summer sun but anticipating Autumns arrival greatly.

What can I say? I'm totally in love with this little nugget. I swear each and every day he grows an inch bigger. I can see the adult dog in his face now and it's totally bittersweet. I can't wait for big Bear winter snuggles and walks, being able to relax with him and take him on car rides with him blissfully sticking his nose out the window. But my heart hurts as well knowing I won't be able to lift him up and hold him in my arms any more, he won't fit into my lap when he excitedly rushes back with the toy he just fetched to curl up on me and happily play.

Yep. The day will come when he won't be able to anxiously crawl over to me in the car and stick his little face on my chest, looking up into my face with those big brown eyes and let out a little baby whimper. Soon he will be a handsome dog and I will be even more proud of him than I am today. But please, let that time be slow in coming.

Girls Night

Every now and then, you just need to slow it down, take some time to indulge in a delicious meal and watch a good movie with some great company. Friday night was one of those nights.

At the end of a long week, it couldn't have come any sooner. My neighbor and friend, Janessa, came over for a much-needed girls night to drink wine and catch up on life. We have been so blessed to have amazing neighbors and the more I spend time with them the more I think they couldn't get any more perfect.

Janessa came over with a delicious spinach salad with golden raisins, onions, strawberries, blueberries, cucumbers and goat cheese. Did I mention I don't like goat cheese? Well...I used to not like goat cheese. I think this salad made me change my mind!

I had made garlic/italian butter pizza dough the night before and Janessa brought over some sauce and cheese so I made a pizza! It wasn't as amazing as I had hoped but then again I did a halfway homemade with the sauce being of the canned variety. Still good though! 

Ain't she pretty?

Little Bear even made a surprise visit! For some reason, all of my pets are in love with Janessa. Although it's not difficult to see why, she's gorgeous and oh so sweet! 

After dinner we watched Elizabeth. The movie about Queen Elizabeth I of England. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much, but watched it because Janessa had such great things to say about it.  I am not typically a historic/period piece movie type of gal but I must admit I really loved it. I was expecting a cheesy romance movie based loosely off of history however it turned out to be a badass movie where Cate Blanchett, as Queen Elizabeth, discovers herself and kicks some serious back-stabbing treacherous ass! I recommend it, and I didn't understand half of what was going on in the beginning! 

I can't wait to see the sequel, although that mainly revolves around Bears nap schedule. Perhaps I'll wait until the next girls night to see it, I would totally be on board for girls night being a regular thing!