Nobility Dogs

Tristan, my awesome soon-to-be brother in law, just sent me this little piece of amazing. I think it's my christmas present. I'll take it, sir!

(I think the watermark is supposed to be a deterrent, but really it just adds to the majesty)

Ryan Gosling

I always knew he totally gets me.

Hamburger Wrapping Paper

Great idea. Though I would hate to get a gift wrapped only in the "meat patty" sheet. It's glistening.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Loki!

Here's to the best little floofball I know!

eight weeks old and sleepy  

total polar bear

just chillin' so hard

just sliding face-first into a mud puddle

stone cold digging

being an ewok

frolicking with his BFF Winston

 wearing the cone of sadness 

so gonzo

so noble 

so river-dipped

the Falcor to my Childlike Empress

a prince among pups

the best-looking member of our family

You're a good boy, Loki. 

Meanwhile, in the countryside

This public art by Niklaus Ruegg is awesome, I wish I had seen it two Halloweens ago.

How to Survive Black Friday

Put two very furry dogs in a car:

(one might wear the other as a hat)

Take them on a pretty hike:

If one dog gets tired, give her a lift:

That's my little brother, Kief

Observe some fall foliage:

(bougainvillea totally counts)

"Detox" from turkey day with an epic smoothie:

Take pictures of yourselves at magic hour *without* a camera shadow on your face:

(whoops!)

(much better.)

Admire your handsome husband:

Pose interestingly:

 Finally, cuddle with Loki on your brother's couch 'cause he's not allowed on the couch at home.

Success!

Bicycle Animation

People do neat things.

Signs of Life

When we lived in Iowa we had a sweet old house with an enormous yard that looked, sometimes, like this:

Dreamy!

In the late spring I would plant a fantastic vegetable garden: 

and by the summer our dinners would often look like this:

90% home grown. Just look at those purple potatoes!

It was the tendency Iowa has of looking like this that was a major motivation to get back to sunny California just as soon as grad school was over:

I still get cold/sad just looking at this.

Hilariously, now that we're in this magical climate where one can garden year round, we're living in a yard-less apartment.

All we have is a sunny shared back patio that I'm still too shy to use, and a bunch of windows...

But lookie here, the windows are working!

(parsley, basil, lavender, strawberry)

Just check out this sweet strawberry baby:

Observe my little lemons:

One of these days I'm gonna stake a claim to the patio, where, when I peek out timidly through the curtain I can see that my neighbors are growing tomatoes, kumquats and a ton of flowers. But until then, I'm happy with my little window champions. One day soon we're gonna have dinner based entirely on strawberries and lemons and it will taste so. good.

I love this place.