Friday Favs

Friday Favs, so much to be thankful for...

our nana dog Hank nursing the Mr. and I back to health

watching the national dog show on the big screen

not having to cook when you don't feel well, and still looking like Martha Stewart

having an in unit washer/ dryer and a Grandma who taught me hospital corners

my best friend Henry who made me the happiest girl on earth, 

and my little man Hank who is hands down the best birthday gift of all time

Life Lately

First of all I swear I am not quitting blogging. Even if I had 12 extra hours in the day I still wouldn't have been posting lately. In addition to normal client projects, I have been working on a new website. Mom and I have never really loved our site and updating it without our web guy is flipping impossible so I thought I would transfer it over to a format that will be easier for us (me) to update on our own. It turns out putting the whole thing together is not as easy as I thought it would be, if only websites were as easy to tweak as FB pages and blogs! I promise to get back into blogging soon, but for now here's whats been going on in our world.

remember when he could fit in here?

On a side note, the Mr's flip phone was on it's last leg so I went through it to see if there were any great photo's worth transferring. Thank the lord I did because I am so in love with these pictures of Henry and Hank. I can't believe they were taken with a $30 old school phone!

In The Weeds

Lately Mom and I have been completely in the weeds. I am not complaining, being busy is way better than the alternative, but with all the work going on I have had absolutely no time for anything else. We are working on launching a new website which has taken my attention away from the blog, but I am going to try to get back into more frequent posts. For now here is an update on my dog bed dilemma! I had a Pottery Barn gift card that I forgot about left over from Christmas so I decided to spend it on our little man and I purchased this bed

Since I don't looove the PB dog bed cover options I decided to have one made. I wanted to do the Schumacher Chenoncaue fabric but there is no way I am spending that kind of mullah on a dog bed, at least while he is still in puppy phase anyway...  So I settled on the Imperial Trellis, cliché I know, but with so many knock offs out there I figured why not. I found the trellis knock off (is this even legal?) on Spoon Flower and chose to upgrade to the heavy cotton twill fabric so it would be more durable. That bumped up the cost to $32 per yard but still no where near the cost of ordering the real deal. Long story short I think the bed turned out perfectly but I would have been disappointed if I was purchasing the fabric for anything other than a dog bed. 

  Schumacher                             vs.                         Spoonflower 

 Clara did an amazing job at hiding the lines in the fabric with the piping. 

In the end the only thing that matters is a happy puppy dog! 

Pet's on Furniture, Do or Don't?

Monday's post about adorable Nursery's got me thinking about how the Mr. and I are completely not ready for kids right now. The main reason? He's a push over when it comes down to saying no to Hank. One of my favorite blogs Desire To Inspire, does a segment that features pets on furniture, which is adorable, but I am on the fence about the issue. My beloved Henry, who was positively perfect in every way, knew never to get on furniture except the bed; which the Mr. and I referred to as our "Time Share." The bed was Henry's from 8:00am to 9:00pm, obviously we were free to join him during those hours but only if it didn't disturb him. Hank on the other hand is one cheeky little monkey. All this kid wants to do is get on the furniture with us. There is one chair in particular which he thinks is his, it's like in the Flintstones when Fred throws his pet out the front door and he jumps back in through the window... The other night I made Hank get off the chair six times, until he decided that maybe sitting next to me on the sofa would be better. I'm trying to be firm, and it's hard to say no to that face, but it's even harder when your husband wont say no. Even the threat of me buying a new sofa, in the likely event that Hank ruins it, has not swayed his feelings on the topic. Then again if he knew how much the living room furniture cost he might agree, or kill me. So I can't decide, let Hank join us on the sofa, or splurge on a posh doggie bed and hope he stays on the floor? 

A phone pic the Mr. sent me while I was at work to taunt me. Thats not an app to 

make the image look vintage, he literally has an old school flip phone with gravel embedded in the lens. 

Cute yes. Practical? Not so much. Who wants to come over for cocktails to sit in a dog chair?

My idea to remedy our situation...

Until we (I) figure it out, Hank will have to deal with Henry's spot...

Henry my love- we miss you buddy! 

Doggie beds via here and here

Vacation Highlights

The Mr. Hank and I returned late Wednesday from our 4.5 day trip to New England. I don't know what I loved more, spending time with my family or completely unplugging from reality. At the house there is no internet, cable, telephone, heat or air condition, dish washer, washer or dryer, and no shower. Staying in a house with so much family history is amazing, one of those "if the walls could talk" type of experiences. Reading the house Guest Book, which dates back before 1938, was probably my favorite. For some reason the House Guests who signed the book on the first few pages didn't fill in their arrival and departure date, nor did they leave any comments along with their entry. If only they knew how much it would have meant to us if they had! 

 It is so funny to think that at one point in time there were no trees within 300 yards of this rock which is now hidden by 40 foot tall trees deep in the forest.

 I don't know who these ladies are but in the background you can see the house before the kitchen addition.

House Before & After:

 These pictures may not fully illustrate how awesome of a transformation our Before and Afters really are, and to be perfectly honest my Mama is probably going to kill me for posting these, but oh well!

Before

the small child on the far right is yours truly ;-)

After
or "In Transition" if you ask Mom: Grandma Lizzie's old den sofa, two new Ralph Lauren navy and white ticking stripe pillows from HomeGoods, two new Ikea Ektorp chairs, and two new seagrass rugs is the most updating this room has ever seen.

Before

Pictured above are my Dad, Uncle, and Aunt with their Aunt and Grandparents.

After

I love how my Great Grandpa is standing in the before picture with my Dad and his siblings, and now his Portrait will forever hang on the wall behind him. 

Before

The only before picture I could find, which is actually too adorable for words, is of Grandma Lizzie baking cupcakes with my brother Sam and my cousins Jack and Tyler. 

After

 Our lovely farm house sink was centered in the kitchen to fix some plumbing issues, and placed under a stained glass window that was salvaged from the barn when it fell down a few years ago. Mom also added Some new Home Depot base cabinets, lights, and countertops from Ikea. 

I don't know who had more fun on our trip, me or Hank. Running around without a leash on for 4 days straight, attempting to learn to swim with his older mentors, catching frogs and spitting them out, and playing fetch with rotten apples that fell off the tree on the hill; what more could a pup ask for? 

The Garden

The Lake

Doing our laundry the old fashioned way

And last but not least, a peaceful car ride home!

Saturday At The Studio

Friday evening a crazy storm rolled through our area and virtually everyone lost power. When I found out The Studio was one of the few places that actually had power I was so excited, and so was my little man who got to come with me! Take your pup to work day was a complete success. I know Mr. Hank will only be able to fit in here for another week or two, but I'm pretty sure the Noir Kemp Dog House has never looked so good!