It’s almost winter, people!

Winter will probably punish me for saying this, but fall doesn’t really impress me.  It tries hard with its pretty leaf action and moderate temperatures, but I know what’s coming.  It’s always the same pattern with fall. First the time changes and then fall is all like, “Look over here, forget that the sun is setting at 5pm, look at these pretty leaves everywhere, don’t you like how they crunch under your feet as you walk? Look. Look at me. Don’t you think I’m pretty!?”

Coco chills out

Coco keeps an eye on her kingdom (the back yard) from a throne of dead leaves.

Luckily this year there is a bright shining light, a month from now, that burns for us in sunny, Miami… our wedding! And that makes the changing of seasons more tolerable!  Even when every bush in the yard is shedding little tiny spiky seeds, and Coco cleans them all up in her hair!

Coco look at your face!

Forgive her for she knows not what she does.

“]”]son of a female dog

son of a female dog

But then she goes and totally redeems herself by being cute.

OBSESSED.

Obsessed with Charlie.

She thinks I'm alright.

Fall Collectanea

 That summer went by fast!  Reflecting on the past few months I realize I didn’t use my warm weather wisely.  This is evidenced by the fact that this is the first summer of my entire life that I didn’t suffer a single sunburn.  How the heck did that happen?

On the bright side, we have managed to cram fun miscellany into our days before the weather gets dreadful.  For starters, we took a trip to San Francisco.  Charlie was traveling to SF for work and Facebook’s F8 conference, so I tagged along for the latter part of the trip since I had never been to the city free love and rice-a-roni built.  Love in SF isn’t always free, as it turns out, judging by the person in the hotel room next to us – but that is a story for another time!  The past few months’ events can best be described by the resulting pictures:

Almostweds

Nearlyweds

Full House

"What ever happened to predictability, the milk man, the paperboy, the evening TV, you miss your old familiar friends, but waiting just around the bend..."

Antique Sewing Machines
Not the best picture, but hundreds of antique sewing machines line the windows of this SF fabric store.
Cheesecake and Guava

Cheesecake and guava ice cream with a shot of espresso, yayyy!

Then there was that weekend we had a hurricane and we were stuck inside.  So we had a “humanization of dog” photo shoot which resulted in some pictures we used in some wedding-related propaganda.

Professor Coco Loco
Will do anything for treats.

A Coco photo shoot can best be described by one of us hollering commands at Coco with treats while the other tries to take the perfectly timed picture.  We had another photo shoot in an effort to get some images for the table numbers at our wedding.

Okay Coco... staaaaay, staaaaaaay

Speaking of humanizing dogs, we also attended a “puppy pool party” which was sponsored by The Wag Pack. Coco swam and ran so much she was a zombie for the two days following the party.

Going...

Going...

 

Going...

Going...

 

yep

And... we're wet!

Then there was the weekend I celebrated a birthday, had a bachelorette party weekend in the Keys, and picked up my wedding dress at Rex Fabrics, whew!
It was a happy birthday

It was a happy birthday!

Charlie brought me the most paleo-friendly birthday cake!

Primas and Pals

Rex Fabrics is haute

I wish Rex Fabrics had an adult summer camp.

 

And last, but best of all… my family welcomed a new human at the end of September!!

Lily!

Our new cousin Lily!

I love you, summer.

You know that feeling of getting in a car that has been simmering all day, and it’s so hot it takes your breath away, the leather seats burning your thighs? I love it.

You know that feeling of going for an early morning jog (or walk with the dog) and the dew on the grass feels cool against your ankles? I love it.

Playing all day at the beach and coming home salty and sandy? I love it.

Summer may be the season of the bugs, but I’ll take it over the season of the snow shovels any day.  And although Coco seems to love a romp in the snow, I don’t think she minds the extra walks she gets, and the added time spent at the dog park.

Happy summer everyone. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to go for a r-i-d-e in the c-a-r to the d-o-g-p-a-r-k.

 

Remember nature?

What is the lesson that we learn every year?  A guerilla winter should not be underestimated, and my ability to detest any temperature below 50 (or 60, let’s be honest) knows no bounds.  This year was no different.

Ooof, winter.

Ooof, winter.

Winter is hard.  With butt-clenching temperatures rendering going outside an exercise in opportunity cost analysis, Coco suffers the most because she doesn’t get walked as much as she should.

 

Pay attention to meee

Pay attention to meeee

Let’s face it, we all get antsy and start to do crazy things in the winter.

you know what would be funny...

yes, that's spaghetti

But now, the heavens have smiled upon us and it’s FINALLY spring.  Spring, to me, is the two days of the year where the temperature is solidly between 60 and 85.  Those days totally make the long winter worth it (sort of).  I love having seasons (sort of).  Spring, all 48 hours of it, is FANTASTIC.  It’s hard to be mad at winter when the backyard looks like this.

Coco's Room

Coco's Room

 

Azaleas

Azaleas

Azalea

Azalea

And although Coco loves a good day of getting soggy in the snow, I don’t think she minds spring either.

Bike riding with her boyfriend

Bike riding with her boyfriend

ultimate frisbee

ultimate frisbee

coco in landscape

dog park pool all to herself

And although we still have to pretend to be anywhere near a beach, it’s nice to finally unclench.

make believe ocean

so close, so far

 

 

 

 

Happy Coco-versary!

This week we celebrated the Coco-versary.  A year ago, the Coco-bomb dropped and we had no idea what we were in for.

So happy. So naive.

So happy. So naive.

Even better than the Coco-versary, the weather was suddenly above 70 degrees!  There really is only one way to celebrate temperatures so high: BBQ and beer.  So that’s exactly what we did on the day before the first day of spring.

Smiling on Charlie's shoulder.

My tulips are coming up (roses) tulips!

There's something about going from 40 to 80 degrees overnight that calls for the smell of charred protein.

My feelings on spring being here can best be described by the following pictures:

 

Happy Birthday Coco Maria de las Galletas!

Last week was Coco’s first birthday, yay!!  Last year Coco was born during one of our monumental blizzards, and this year wasn’t much different.  Charlie and I both worked from home that day, because of a snow storm that had hit the night before.   So, we celebrated by showering her with treats and socks.

I like socks!

I like socks!

Then went to the dog park, but I guess because of the snow storm, no one was there. She didn’t seem to notice that no one came to party for her birthday. She was happy to play catch the snowball.

Almost!

Almost!

Wiiiiii!

Wiiiiii!

Good Girl!

Good Girl!

Got it!

Got it!

Coco on the rocks

Coco on the rocks

Everybody’s Got a Cousin in Miami

For Christmas we went down to Miami for a week to celebrate the holidays and get some wedding-related things done.  We had to drive because we were bringing Princess Coco Puffs, and it was too cold to fly with her.

Since we were going to hit the road at 4am, we loaded everything that needed to go in the car into the living room.  This is when Coco figured out something was happening.  She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was sure that she was ready to go “outside.”  Outside means walks, outside means rides in the car, and best of all, outside means the d-o-g-p-a-r-k.   We can’t even say that word now or Coco will look at us with a face that could only mean she’s thinking: “I know those words. YES the dog park! Bananas! Yesssss, we’re going? If we don’t go to the dog park I’m going to keep staring at you with these guilt-tripping-eyes.  Maintain. Eye. Contact. With. Owner. Until. She. Puts. You. In. Car”  In this case, outside meant a whole day in the car, but on the other side would be the bestest d-o-g-p-a-r-k in the world.  Miami.

Not sure why all this crap is in the living room, but you guys aren't leaving me in that crate.

So we got in the car and drove, and drove, and drove.  This is what we saw in the rear view mirror:

And when I reclined the seat to take a nap:

heh heh heh heh heh

The wait was worth it though, because once in Miami she got to play with her new boyfriend Wilson.  Miami was awesome for Coco.  There was Wilson, and sprinklers!  All Coco needed in life was Wilson and sprinklers.

Dog Blur

Miami was Coco’s new favorite place.   She even learned to return footballs!

When in Rome...

She got to play with her cousins Barkley and Wally in Pinecrest.  Barkley even let Coco try out her bed.

Have you eaten pork and yuca?

Madam Barkley

I fit!

The highlight of the trip was going to the beach with her cousins Emma and Mollie.

Wait, let me check if Emma ate pork and yuca!

Water dog

Mother-Daughter photo shoot

Coco even got to put the “nut” back in Coconut at the King Mango Strut Parade.  Her favorite part was sitting on Charlie’s lap the whole time.

Miami also had little tiny humans to play with.

And beds that allowed dogs.

When it was time to jump back in to the car and go back to Virginia Coco was sad to go.

Nothing that a rolled-down window couldn’t fix.

And when we got back to Virginia, Coco was all sorts of depressed for two days.  I’ll guess we’ll have to go back soon.

OMG, snow is my FAVORITE you guys!

I know what you’re thinking, all you want for Christmas is more pictures of Coco. Don’t worry, me too. Luckily it snowed the other day and I got to take these pictures of her playing around.

Another Day Another Collar

Wake Up Coco, You’re Dreaming…

Coco is obsessed with Charlie.  The proof is in the pictures.  I can’t blame her.  There is music to the video, so make sure your speakers are on.