Happy Thanksgiving

I'm not one to be super wordy, so lets just say I have lots to be thankful for. I can't believe the year is almost coming to an end. And looking back, I certainly can't complain.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. May you celebrate the holiday in good company, with a full plate of food and a seemingly bottomless glass of wine :)

Here's an oldie but goodie from last year.

PicMonkey: Halloween Edition

Two back-to-back posts. How unlike me!

I often use the free photo editing capabilities of PicMonkey. I especially like them to create simple photo collages, which is something that's more tedious to do in Photoshop. Anyhow, they have some Halloween filters available to get you in the holiday spirit.

Introducing.... Meatsie the Vampire. No need to turn myself into a vampire when I have a dog readily available.

Seriously, hours of fun.

Happy Easter!

Terrible Photoshopping job, but I couldn't resist...

Meatball

Lots of dog postings going on around here lately. Last one for awhile, I promise.

Completed 2012
22"x28"
Oil

 I finally finished up Meatball's painting. I have no idea where we are going to hang this. But isn't he cute?

I worked for a good 15 minutes to try and get him to pose with his painting. He was unsure at first.

Then finally.

 

He's such a good sport. Or he just got tired of me stalking him during his naptime.

*** UPDATE: prints available here ***

Sammy

My parent's beloved dog Sammy had to be put to sleep yesterday. He suffered from some health issues. It was his time. He was only 4 years old.

Sam was one spunky Golden Retriever. He was not at all like Rusty, the Golden we had growing up. You know the dog in Marley & Me? Yea, Sam had a similar sense of humor. He made sure you knew he was there. Even on the last day I went to visit him the little bugger couldn't help himself and tried stealing my scarf.

To Meatball, we referred to him as Cousin Sam. (Meatball understands.) Although the two didn't always get along, it was nice having another dog in the family to help "socialize" Meatball.

Meatball didn't always share though. And anytime Sam tried to play with one of Meatball's toys, Meatball would snatch it back. Sam learned quickly to wait until Meatball was sleeping. Then sneak attack! They were an unlikely pair but they made it work.

Everyone says a pet is a member of the family. It's true.

We'll definitely miss Sam. Luckily Rusty will be there to welcome him into doggy heaven.

Jowls

Sunday would have been a good day for some of that snow we were supposed to get. That never happened. Instead I had no good reason for not leaving the house all day. But worse things have happened.

I did mostly spend the day working on Meatball's painting. His eye is piercing blue but I like it.

In other Meatball news, we played fetch today. This might surprise a number of people, but he CAN actually run. And he runs quite fast. But most importantly, he makes ridiculous faces when he runs. Like any respectable bulldog, his jowls flap in the wind!

Yes, it was a great Sunday.

It's beginning to look a lot like Meatball

Meatball will finally be getting his own painting. He's earned his keep around here.

I've partly been holding off  until now because I wanted him to be full grown before freezing his image. Even though he was super cute as a puppy.

Our walks are still a lot like this.

Every time I look at his puppy pictures I want to get another puppy. Every. Time.

So.. I have his painting sketched out. Not sure how long the rest will take. But soon I'll have my two favorite pets of all time painted. I'm excited.

Magic

There are things I really should be doing right now. I woke up early on my day off and I don't have much 

to show for it. 

For the last hour or so I've been learning a new Photoshop skill. Via Bower Power I learned how to enhance the eyes of my photo subjects. I might actually be able to apply this to people one day. But not today. Today I enhanced Meatball.

Amazing, right?

This actually was not super difficult. Most of my hour was spent downloading the Photoshop Actions to actually do this, which I highly recommend.

So far Pioneer Woman has given me a lesson in turkey brining and free Photoshop Actions. I like her.

Monkeying Around

Completed 2012
18"x24"
Oil

I am assuming the future child that is getting this painting will be a Redskins fan. (According to his father he has no choice.)

I am also assuming this future child will like monkeys. Let's hope so. So far his world is covered by them.








Shout out to Meatball for helping with this one.

Merry Christmas to Me

I finally got around to ordering my wedding collage canvas that I started back in November. Since I was ordering Christmas cards, it seemed like a good time to do a massive Shutterfly order.

Here it is. All 24x36 inches of it.

And a close up.

And hanging on our photo wall.

It's definitely large.

As for that Christmas card. Here's that. Although most people reading this have already seen it. Hi Mom :)

I'm certain people would rather see Meatball over Mike and I. And no, he is not actually wearing this hat. Lately I've been turning to Photoshop instead of props. Meatball would never sleep this peacefully with something on his head.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas is exactly a week away. Less than a week if you consider that Mike and I do our own Christmas on the night of the 23rd.

House decorating is done. Most of our Christmas shopping is done. We have a lot of baking to do, but that won't happen till later this week. Aaand I'm pretty pumped for the pumpkin pie and various cookie recipes that we are trying out this year. I've also been busy working on a variety of crafty project/ presents that I'll share later- after the gift-giving is done.

In the meantime, a tour through our festive home...

Starting with our front door. This year's new wreath.

Meatball resting by the tree.

 

THE tree.

The stockings.

Best nativity scene. Ever.

Home-made Christmas donuts. Recipe here.

Not our home, but the carousel at the mall.

Meatball watching Santa go by on the fire engine! (By the way, I LOVE this tradition.)

A view from outside.

Now I'm counting down the days till this weekend. And looking forward to my short week at work :)

Halloween

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love pumpkin flavored anything. And I love candy. This year Mike and I were invited to a Halloween party which means we got to dress up! Although we had the reoccurring conversation on whether I could make an abominable snowman costume in time, a la this guy...

We decided to go simple this year. So we dressed up as nerds!

Aka, my costume was "Caroline with Glasses." I came to the realization halfway through assembling my costume that most of the stuff I either, already owned (the graphing calculator, the Chucks, the spiffy collared shirt), or would be happy to wear after the costume party was over (hat and bag!). Aren't we cute?

The bag was one of the fun parts of the costume assembling. I totally stole the idea off of Pinterest, which has it posted all over the place, like here and here. Supplies: $2 tote from Michaels + ComputerCrafts iron-ons that I've had sitting in a drawer for a couple years. And ta-da!

And then of course there's my favorite part about any holiday: dressing up Meatball. The poor guy is such a good sport about it too.

This year he rewore the costume I made him last year: Count Dogula. Even though he was only about 5 months old around this time last year, for some reason it didn't occur to me that it might be snug on him this year. (Hence the neck roll.) For comparisons sake, here's a picture from last year. I had also previously posted a picture over here.

See how it used to actually drape around him? haha.  Needless to say I had to make some slight adjustments to the straps.

Despite the costume snafu, Meatball was my trusty companion while I handed out candy to the kids. Here's him eagerly awaiting their arrival.

 

And here's him standing watch at the door.

 

Oh and those sad little pumpkins and lights were my only Halloween decoration this year. I know, I slacked off. However, those small pumpkins will be turned into pies and treats soon. Can't wait!