Puppy needs a home!

Yesterday, I found this adorable puppy wandering around our neighborhood. Something about her made me stop and, after inquiring with several neighbors as to who's dog she was, I discovered she was probably abandoned. No collar, no home. So I scooped her up and brought her home, couldn't bear the thought of her getting hit by a car or left alone.

After a little research, I've deducted she's a sort of Patterdale Terrier and Border Terrier mix—resulting in a well-tempered, laid back and exceptionally loyal dog. She's about 5 to 6 months, extremely well-mannered, cute as can be, freshly bathed (by yours truly!), appears to be healthy, house broken, kennel trained (she slept in there all night with no accidents) and comfortable outside and around other dogs. She's also good with kiddos! One of the neighbor's toddlers came out to play and this pup couldn't have given him more TLC. Just charming and hilariously curious. She's made me laugh every few minutes.

Will you please help me find a home for her? We're in the Houston area and she's staying with us until we can find someone who will love her dearly in their own home, or until a space opens up at a pet adoption center. (I'd just hate to put her through the latter, she's so sweet and those big brown eyes are just begging me not to.)

Pass this post around to any friends or family in the Houston area that might be in need of a sweet and adorable puppy—let's find her a home!!

{Travel} Oh, Canada! Part II

After finishing up our time in Niagara Falls, we walked through the gift shop for a few keepsakes, then loaded back up into the rental car and headed for Toronto. We didn't have much of an agenda for the capital city, other than to take a look around, find a local pub or two and enjoy a show at Second City Comedy that night. (There are only three of them, located in Chicago, Toronto and Hollywood—we'd been to the one in Chicago and loved it. This one didn't disappoint, either.)

This is about the time our second "mishap," we'll call it, occurred. Someone got left behind. We had pulled into Toronto and made it smack dab into the middle of downtown. But the husband started getting awfully antsy behind the wheel until I finally inquired as to whether he actually did indeed have ants in his pants or if he simply impatient to reach our destination. Turns out it was a little of both—he'd been holding it for a restroom since well before we'd reach the outer city limits. And he informed me he was about to burst in that there driver's seat if he didn't get a bathroom break real soon.

Apparently real soon meant right that second. He viciously looked around and eyed a restaurant to our right—we were sitting amongst four lanes of track, two lanes in each direction, with streets of bars, restaurants and shops lining both sides. I told him it was a bad idea, don't do it, just wait! "It'll be like a Chinese fire drill," he says. "Oh yeah, we're doing this."

He hopped out of the driver's seat and scurried over to the makeshift rest stop, nearly disappearing before I'd had time to react. So I scurried on over to the driver's seat and barely had a few seconds to adjust the steering wheel and reach the pedals before..... the entire street opened up and the cars hauled through. I had no choice but to go. Anxiously I scanned the right side of the street, hoping that my husband would pop out of the doorway and scramble over to the car before I had to seriously commit to the gas pedal. But there was no sign of him and away I went. (Note: we couldn't use our cell phones because we were out of the country and don't have international service. So there was no simple call to solve this wee dilemma!)

Naturally, I figured he'd come out and see that the cars had gone and would wait for me to return. I wish I'd had a camera for his face when he sauntered out of the restaurant, confident in his ability to handle an impromptu bathroom break, then realize there was not a vehicle in the street. (Really, it was completely empty!) He later tells me, after much peace making and apologizing, that his first words were simply, "Oh, shit." I'm sure a grave expression followed his remark.

Briefly, I'll clue you in that Toronto's downtown streets are no easy task to manuever. You have your typical one-way roads like any downtown destination, but some of the streets were "no way," meaning you couldn't turn left or right. There were streets that veered off diagonally from each other, making it nearly impossible for me to determine which route made sense for a simple U-turn. I figured I'd make a box and come back around, find the husband patiently standing at the side of the road where I'd left him and slow down long enough for him to climb aboard.

About 10 minutes and one very difficult turnaround, I slowly drove back down the scene of the crime, looking for him on the sidewalk. Not only did I not see him, but a festival of people abruptly flooded out into the sidewalks—thus making it impossible to locate anyone specifically. I made one more U-turn and drove back around, then another, driving up and down both sides of the streets, anxiously scanning for his white A&M hat bobbling around in the crowds of people. I had my windows rolled down so I could shout for the husband when I saw him, but then a homeless man came up and tried to stick his head in the window and accuse me of stealing the car I was driving, so I rolled them back up. (Sheesh!)

Between all this U-turning, I did manage to find our hotel. So I added that into my route, swinging by the restaurant then driving back to the hotel and careening my neck out the window to get a peek into the lobby in case he should be sitting in there. (Remember, our cell phones didn't work so we had no way of contacting each other.) About this time, I started getting mad. Why had he gotten out of the car? Didn't he know that was a dumb idea? And why wasn't he waiting for me at the same place he got out at? This is getting ridiculous!

I yanked the steering wheel over and angrily pulled into our hotel. "I'm done searching," I thought. "Hopefully he can find this place on his own." While I look out my car window into the lobby one more time, the concierge fellow popped up and slowly inquires, "Are you the one that was lost? Your husband came looking for you and said he'd be back so to stay here. He just left a few minutes ago to look for you some more."

It took me a second, and then I realize my husband must have already been here and told them what happened. And told them I was the one that was lost. The nerve! I promptly set the poor man straight and railed into him about how could I be the one that was lost when I wasn't the one that got out of the car? And how could my husband be looking for me when I was the one driving? And why hadn't he just waited here for me instead of marching off again?

Concierge man didn't have an awful lot of answers, so I jerked my suitcases out of the trunk before he could offer to assist then said, "I'm sure you'll see me later tonight, I'll be drunk and in a much better mood."

While waiting in the lobby for my lost husband to arrive, I decided to go ahead and check us in. Apparently the husband has already done that too (how long was he here for?!), and at that point they brought the manager out who told me the same thing: my husband had told them I was lost, he'd come by a few times and had gone out to look for me again and to wait here as he should return soon.

That's great, so now everyone thinks I'm an idiot that can't find my way out of a paper bag and my husband is back out on the street somewhere. I need a drink. I dragged our suitcases across the tiled floor in the direction of the bar. About this time, the husband quickly walks in the facing door of the lobby and lights up as soon as he sees me. By the time he's standing in front of me, the sheepish look on his face is almost unbearably cute and he can barely apologize fast enough for the whole mess. I smile and am glad he's okay. But upon arriving to the room, we have a talk about how he'll never get out of the car again and for the record, I was not lost!!

We hit the pub in time for (lots of) happy hour.

The final leg of our Canadian adventure, part III, is next!

The Falls of September

Happy weekend! I've been crazy busy this week with some magazine deadlines, preparing items for my first craft show for my jewelry biz, Texas Take, and traveling in and out of town at an alarming speed. I haven't even unpacked my bag from Dallas and I need to repack it as we speak!

But I did take a break from the yard work, laundry, writing and cleaning to pull my fall decorations down from the attic...

I wasn't going to decorate until closer to October, but then I realized I hadn't seen any of my fall or Christmas decorations in two years!!! In 2009, we celebrated the holidays abroad while living in Scotland (see our Thanksgiving and Christmas posts) and in 2010 we were living with friends during Turkey Day  while searching for a new home after moving back to Texas, which we moved into just in time for Christmas.

Soooo, I decided that a two-year hiatus called for any kind of decorating or seasonal celebrating I want! Typically, I'm a huge fan of summer time. I love coconut, pools, the smell of chlorine, tanning oil, hot weather (yes, I really do enjoy hot weather) and burning candles that smell like a piña colada. But because this is sorta of an exception with the near forgotten decorations and all, I just lit a pumpkin spice-scented candle and am breaking out the red and orange leafy garland. (Just one, though. I don't tend to go overboard since my husband is surveying the box of decor with a wary eye!)

These old kitties are keeping me company, too:

{Snowball, 13 years old}

{July, 19 years old}

What are you doing this weekend? Aside from traveling, we kicked off the official start of NFL football season at Buffalo Wild Wings with—you guessed it!—wings and beer. A gal should never be without a super flattering head shot of her lips on a beer bottle. :)

On a serious note, please keep Texas in your prayers, so many towns and cities have been affected by the fires that continue to rage. We know some unfortunate souls in Bastrop who lost everything and others who are in imminent danger of the flames reaching their home. Yesterday, our area of town was very hazy with smoke and smelled like a chimney. We need rain and we need it now.

Have a fantastic weekend!

{Travel} Oh, Canada!

When you think of a visit to Niagara Falls, you might inevitably think of those majestic roaring waters that pour over the edge of a rocky cliff, plunging into an icy blue depth below. It's one of nature's most beautiful phenomenons: rugged, stunning and breathtaking all at once.

This was certainly the experience my husband and I shared when we first spotted the falls upon arriving to Niagara a few months ago, after crossing the Canadian border from the Buffalo airport in New York. While I have seen the falls several times when I was younger (as a synchronized swimmer for 11 years, we seemed to have endless competitions in the Buffalo area), this was certainly different. First off, I was older and more appreciative of the scenery than ever before. And with that older-ness, came access to the casinos, bars and other nightlife-esque activities that the husband and I so well enjoy.

But first, I have to tell you about a particular early morning hour that nearly threatened to derail our trip completely. I'm not a morning person, at all. I don't feel like I get a better start to my day by waking up earlier than normal, I don't rise and "shine," and I completely disagree about the early bird getting the worm.

Either way, my dear sweet husband had already been working in the Niagara area for several days and I was flying up to meet him. Thoughtful as he is, he booked me on a 5:45am flight to Chicago, where I was to catch my connecting flight into Buffalo. Now, we've already discussed that I don't do mornings. Well, neither was my mom, who I was staying with in Dallas prior to leaving for the airport. She and I drearily woke up, got dressed and left the house. But then we drove straight the airport and out the other side upon arriving (we got confused and missed our turn, it was still dark outside!).

The delay caused me to miss check-in by five minutes. I felt my eyes getting misty. No way did I just get up at 4am to sit at the airport for seven hours. I was on standby for the next flight out just after 7am, but it was jam-packed and there were already a  list of other people standing-by as well. It was quickly becoming a painful realization that the 9am flight was my only option, which would cause me to miss my connection in Chicago, meaning I wouldn't get to Buffalo until nearly midnight.

It was a nail biting-hour as I perched on the edge of my distinctly uncomfortable airport chair and watched the stand-by list click through several names of folks that had been cleared to board. My initials still hadn't come up and I was beginning to worry. So I got up and stood next to the desk, my bag at my feet—feeling that this would somehow prompt things along and I would be closer to the gate so that when my name appeared I could haul for the plane. (Because that's totally how it works, right!?)

Miracle of all miracles, I made it on the first flight. I was the happiest I'll ever be at 7 in the morning, buckling myself into my tiny little airplane seat and hauling out my Julie & Julia book that I'd been reading all morning while awaiting the verdict—it get me occupied and in decent spirits.

My husband couldn't believe it and was thrilled to see me in the flesh when he wheeled around to pick me up at the Buffalo airport. His bags already packed into the rent car—and he himself thoroughly done with work for the week—we hauled for the Canadian border to begin our vacation.

Our first stop was our hotel, so we could freshen up and dump our luggage. As we neared the Sheraton—a spot I'd highly recommend as it's primely located—we rolled down our windows and could hear the gushing sounds of millions of gallons of water whooshing over the edge of the falls. It brought memories flooding back as I remember being here so many times when I was younger, and was instantly happy my husband and I were able to share this experience together.

The hotel more than met our expectations, it had tremendous views of the falls. We stood out on our balcony for nearly half an hour gazing at the water and relishing the fact that we'd made it!

That night's entertainment included dinner at the nearby Hard Rock (a bitter disappointment food-wise) and some gambling at the adjoining casinos. While the husband didn't do so great, I won our money back at my favorite game—roulette! Needless to say, I was feeling pretty confident when we returned to our room at night's end...

The next day we headed directly down to the falls, a short 10 minute walk from our hotel, to embark on the Maid of the Mist boats that take you right up to the fizzing, rumbling mountains of water. The boats are another experience I'd had the privilege of doing several times, it was especially fun for the two of us together. Plus, who doesn't look like a billowing smurf great in bright blue plastic bags?

Afterward, we grabbed a slice of pizza at Boston's (just up the street from our hotel), then hit the road for Toronto, a comedy club, wineries and later a B&B. Which leaves us at part II coming next, stay tuned!

{Etsy} My new jewelry items!

Hi ya folks, I know I have been neglecting posts on here lately, but there are several in the works I promise! I am almost finished recapping our trip to Canada we took, some new quick-and-easy recipes and more. I've been traveling and working a lot lately and when that happens, well, the ol' blog takes a beating. Or a hiatus. Or however you want to put it.

So in my absence, what's better than a few pretty trinkets to look at?

I've got some new items on my Etsy shop, Texas Take, that I wanted to share with you. My love of turquoise is still going strong but I've also branched out into cultured freshwater pearls, some gold and extra sparkle with Swarovski beads. Go on, take a gander!

Silver Fancy necklace

Ruby Reds necklace with dagger freshwater pearls

Chunky Love turquoise bracelet

Color and Bling necklace

Hope you're having a great weekend!