tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22699079182108662152024-03-05T06:31:58.948-05:00When Harry Met ShannonThe adventures of a boy, a girl, and a dog...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-58595189945573850452015-08-10T14:37:00.001-04:002015-08-10T14:37:48.597-04:00Taking Care of Turtle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While huzz and I have been moved into our new home for over a year now, Turtle's home hasn't changed. In fact, he has spent more than a year in his aquarium which sat on the floor of our living room...so classy. I really wanted to give him some new digs but couldn't find a small table that fit my style, the bill, and could hold his heavy 10 gallon filled tank.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enter my old beat up aquarium stand from my tweenage years. This beaut used to sit at the end of my daybed </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">with a 20 gallon freshwater tank atop it </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">in my childhood underwater themed bedroom. Eventually the only living fish in it was the algae eater and even that died. I'm not a good fish Mom. Luckily turtles are more resilient. I remembered the shape of the stand and asked my parents if they still had it. Lo and behold!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rust covered and dirty, it was still in structurally good condition. After Mom & Dad brought it over I cleaned it and gave it a good coat of matte black spray paint in the backyard and put a second coat on a couple hours later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I measured the distances between the rails and thought for sure I could use a leftover 2x10 from our <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2015/07/backyard-transformation.html" target="_blank">farmhouse table</a> to be a tabletop. I was a tad short because even though a board is called a 2x10 it's really more like 2x8 and some partial inches. So we made a trip to Lowes and got a 2x12 which fit like a glove once cut to size.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This was how I spent part of my 30th birthday. I was told I should "do something I loved" on my birthday...which at the moment is using my new power tools and making things. So while everyone in the nation was celebrating freedom and my birth (I'm a 4th of July baby) I was in the backyard using my power sander, staining the planks, and later on applying a spar varnish (the same from the farmhouse table).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I bought liquid nails thinking that would be how I'd secure the planks to the metal stand, but no need. The stand is stable on its own so I didn't need any binder or screw to hold the planks in place. They fit perfectly across the rails, so I let it stay that way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Later on huzz gave Turtle's tank a ridiculously good cleaning and we hung some artwork above his abode. The bottom shelf needs some styling but right now it's housing Turtle's tank things and his food and some cozy blankets for TV time. Harry and I are big blanket fans.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Turtle seems pretty happy to be off the floor. He actually can see our faces instead of our feet. The only downside is he's losing his face to face time with Harry who would stick his nose into the small opening of Turtle's tank. But now during TV time, Turtle can watch too! And he does, I swear. Turtle gives this project a high five!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-48683355713495026782015-07-29T16:27:00.000-04:002015-07-29T16:27:00.146-04:00Backyard Transformation!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our backyard has recently gone through a major transition. Upon moving in, a two foot concrete patio extended off the back of the house and the yard was stalks of alien Philadelphia weed that were taller than corn, taller than me. Immediately the huzz sawed them down...using a hand saw no less and I attempted to dig up the roots which only created a ghastly dirt hole in the center of the yard. The entire ordeal was eventually covered up by a super sketchy contractor who installed pavers while simultaneously wrecking the foundation of our house by the back entry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Since then, and since the wedding, it's been our primary project to get the yard spiffy enough for barbecuing and gardening. Our first project involved building garden beds--</span><a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2013/05/harrys-green-thumb.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">similar to how I did them before</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">. I really wanted to bring the boxes from our old place into our new backyard but they apparently have started to disintegrate. It took one day to build two custom sized garden beds, and a couple days to fill them with dirt. Bags of garden soil are ridiculously heavy. We needed 18!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are a ton of tutorials for building these yourself but essentially you need to know how tall to make them depending on how deep the roots of your plants should go. The veggie box (L shaped) is twice the depth of the flower box. Other than that it's a series of ensuring square corners and screwing wood into little corner pieces that you can see above.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also spent a long time painting the dingy concrete wall with outdoor paint. I cut it in with a brush and huzz used the roller. It was a post work activity that I zoned out doing. We shared this job but worked individually...which was odd but it worked for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I knew I wanted to attempt to build something with all the tools I registered for from the wedding (clearly not a normal bride) and the first project was our Farmhouse Table. We used <a href="http://ana-white.com/2012/11/plans/farmhouse-table-updated-pocket-hole-plans" target="_blank">free plans from Ana White</a> that were so easy to follow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ana White's plan sheet gives you your shopping list, your cut list, and then step by step instructions throughout the whole project. She makes it so that you're not buying excess wood and chopping it down to leave you with a ton of scrap. The plans mentioned above utilized a pocket hole creator -- like the Kreg Jig. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once we had all our cuts, all the pocket holes drilled, and the notches for the base chiseled out we were ready to assemble with pocket hole screws and lots of wood glue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A couple times we put pieces together backwards, which is all in learning how to follow plans, but we were able to fix our mistakes quickly. The trouble started when we attempted to lift the 100% wood table after working in the heat all day. Trouble for newlyweds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lifting furniture is probably one of the major causes of divorce. The urgency and lack of communication is a fast lane to frustration and muscle fatigue. Building this table resulted in a sad Sunday. But later in the week once two coats of stain and poly were on and twinkle lights were strung, it was water under the bridge. We are thoroughly enjoying our new-found paradise...can't even tell we live on the streets of Philly!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-1594441188359682452015-07-22T13:28:00.000-04:002015-07-22T13:28:27.783-04:00Club Wed Continued....<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Like I said in the previous post, I didn't document all my DIY like I wanted to, but still want to share them and the tutorials that helped me along the way. To start, we finally got our professional pictures!! Our photographer was <a href="http://aaronalmendral.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Aaron Almendral</a>, and any amazing pic you see (vs ones from my phone) are his work. He was seriously the best...very chill which was a nice counter to my manic panic...and willing to take a shot of anything, including my fur-baby.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harry's sign was a DIY but from my brain. A scrap of plywood with two holes drilled on the corners, some chalkboard paint slapped on, twine strung around and then written on with chalk marker made for a superb dog sign. Ever read the comics on The Oatmeal? We love the one about <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/dog_paradox" target="_blank">his dog and his erratic behaviors</a> which inspired Harry's sign.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikz0UEwLFt40mYEQkiwcygCvCeNKr17lTIs_f6Ei5tNV3Gd-s4zm8PnwfpE2YDgtsoR6NZRjY_WRDd7iyNlEqREnExKN_yd3tzLntUObVpJ5V1IG2F9XVYdc75chm5NMgMbIb8hW6Z-Fc/s1600/1510975_10153435163980832_8775506430968723713_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Chris and I created our own cocktail menu based on our world travels. It was a fun way of personalizing the event and educated some of our wedding guests that may not have known Chris and I very well. We invented appetizers from food we actually ate abroad and ran it past our caterer who was more than happy to oblige. She and the chef loved our creativity. Above is a tent sign I made using two pieces of scrap wood, chalkboard paint, a hinge, and two eye hooks with twine in-between to prevent the sign from flattening out. No tutorial on this one but I do have crappy pictures of me cutting wood that I'll spare you from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Guests found their seats via their place cards which I <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7O4RDS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00" target="_blank">mini-clothes pinned</a> to twine strung across an old frame (trash pick!). I screwed eye hooks in the interior of the frame equal distance apart and then tied twine across. The place cards were created via a <a href="http://www.michaels.com/gartner-studios-black-border-place-cards/10174933.html" target="_blank">DIY pack from Michaels</a>--the cheapest option I came across aside from cutting poster board down. The cards came with an online template to download into word. Each guest had pre-chosen their meal which I recorded and indicated to the catering staff via a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/102740947/wedding-menu-stamps-wood-mounted-select?ref=shop_home_feat_2" target="_blank">stamp</a> of either a chicken or a fish. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In addition to getting place-cards, guests were asked to sign in via our "wedding tree" which was hand drawn and designed by our most artistic family members. Guests chose from an array of green inks to 'leaf a print' (get it? GET IT?!) and sign below. We're framing the drawing as a very special keepsake. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We directed guests with tons and tons of signs. That's one thing nobody tells you about wedding planning...you need to make a butt-load of signs to direct your guests around like lemmings. Even with mega signage you'll also need a coordinator to move them around. It might have something to do with the combination extreme happiness and alcohol. I attempted to solve the issue with a multi-directional sign informing guests where it all was going down. It involved cutting scrap plywood into rectangles, defining points to make an arrow, painting, staining, screwing, and yet another use for my chalk paint marker. Since we weren't allowed to stake anything into the ground (venues have strange rules too) we had to make a 20 pound weighted cement and moss filled bucket to hold this thing in place. Huzz did that for me in the same way he made the ones for our arch, except this one was permanent. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Finally! Time to party. The hanging welcome sign was a clearance find at Burlington Coat Factory ($4 what up) probably because it was all scuffed and bent out of shape. It fit perfectly with the vibe, so I used my trusty chalk marker to personalize it. I googled a lot of welcome chalkboard signs to figure out what I wanted to do and kept the images on my phone while I meticulously copied onto chalkboard as best as I could. Secret to my success! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had no idea what our flowers would look like before the day of our wedding. I kind of didn't care--as I was more focused on my own flower project (the bouquets). We found <a href="http://www.phillymag.com/best-of-philly/triple-tree-flowers/" target="_blank">our florist</a> via venue hunting, and he just happened to have a spot in the Rittenhouse Square and Clark Park farmers markets where we could visit him. We said, "all colors!" "whatever you think!" and ended up with bright, charming, arrangements with these crazy yellow flowers I didn't know existed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The arrangements sat on slices of cedar cut by my grandfather on our family tree farm. Not only did the place smell great, it was such a nice personal touch to the whole tablescape. The runners were crafted by moi with burlap and white pom-pom fringe (available for resale as soon as I clean them all!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tables were identified with handmade nail, string, wooden table numbers--one of the very first things I made for the wedding back in April 2014! They were a labor of love...and I still stare at them from time to time. Bonus, <a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/239909113/full-set-of-wedding-table-numbers-rustic?ref=shop_home_active_3" target="_blank">they are for sale in my Etsy store</a> (or if you just contact me). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I really wanted a BAR marquee anyways for our eventual party basement and I thought it couldn't hurt to create one for the reception and keep it afterwards. I used paper-machee letters from Amazon, drilled just enough holes for the string of lights I had gotten at an after Christmas sale ($2!), and spray painted a glossy red. We had a full bar, but the most memorable drink was the groom's cocktail of honey whiskey, lemonade, and thyme. It was gone before cocktail hour ended! Ok we also have really boozy friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Across the dance floor behind the DJ booth was a festive tissue paper tassel garland I made from the millions of tutorials online (such a cheap and easy decoration). In front of the DJ booth were these ridiculous LOVE letters I made. They're very bold, but they turned out to be a really fun party prop as you can see. They made it into the conga line too. These were made via a <a href="http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-giant-fringe-love-letters/" target="_blank">tutorial from Green Wedding Shoes</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last but not least, dessert! We ordered a ton of donuts from our <a href="http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/56-beiler-s-donuts-and-salads" target="_blank">favorite spot</a> in Reading Terminal Market. I made a quirky Love is Sweet sign from foam board and string and a hot glue gun that was pinned to the table cloth in the dessert room. The process was the same with the Mr. & Mrs. chair hangers....although I can't find pictures of them in action at the event. I had used Fedex/Kinkos to print the words for me, and I traced them onto foam board. Cut out with a serrated bread knife (it works great!) and strategically wrapped. I got the words to stick together with a toothpick--that's how the S is attached to the L and the i is attached to the e and the w. I ended up reinforcing with popsicle sticks behind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And the LOVE letter display I had made on our return from Europe was placed in the dessert room too. I was really really really happy to have everything created be out and about. That tutorial can be found on this blog, <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2014/06/diy-tutorial-souvenir-style-sign.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And of course somewhere along the way our cake topper made itself onto donuts. Harry and I made these with bamboo skewer sticks, string, and triangles cut out of our Europe maps. Those maps were useful! From boutonnieres, to signage, to cake topper...I think they got some wear.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And now...I think I'm done talking about the wedding! Back to home projects and the like, of which I've been doing a lot of so hoping to share soon. We were so fortunate for our bridal party who really put in a lot of sweat unpacking and packing up all the decor. The amount you need even for a basic wedding is no joke, and thanks to specific instructions psychotically labeled on each bin of decor, the bridal party went to work. It was unnerving for me to not assist, control freak that I am, but when I saw everything out I was extremely grateful. Thanks guys!</span></div>
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<span id="goog_761526543"></span><span id="goog_761526544"></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-50864979352236537032015-06-19T11:57:00.000-04:002015-06-19T11:57:09.992-04:00Welcome Back from Club Wed<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh hey there. It's been a while. As much as I can multi-task, blogging was one of those efforts that got swept under the rug while I spent three months prepping for the wedding and one month recovering. I had hoped that I could come back with a bang and have professional wedding shots to share with you, but alas they take a while. Maybe in another month!? <br /><br />I spent the majority of my time in non-blog mode creating as much as I possibly could for our wedding--which was totally bloggable! But in project-mode my focus was on getting it done, not sharing the process. However, most of my creations came from other bloggers' tutorials which I figured I'd share. For this post I'll just focus on the ceremony as there's so many crafts to post. SO.MUCH.DIY.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To start we had to get married and we did so under the crafty arch I tutorial'd way back when. I got the know how from following <a href="http://apracticalwedding.com/2014/01/bohemian-wedding-arch/" target="_blank">this tutorial</a> from A Practical Wedding and made it my own to match the garden vibe of our venue.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHmuq0j-it8oSo_Avv2iyTnyx0bqsmGhe_2ATUtFgPDIqo93q25LVTH3Dr5kTNRWLHo7koX_eUTB5Iq4bzNYhdsBM8nVibCy2yg3yJRGZsfuRMKbEOAzndibwrEQFtVo2I-tJpichbj4/s1600/11068330_10100850373611625_3779387787295390979_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHmuq0j-it8oSo_Avv2iyTnyx0bqsmGhe_2ATUtFgPDIqo93q25LVTH3Dr5kTNRWLHo7koX_eUTB5Iq4bzNYhdsBM8nVibCy2yg3yJRGZsfuRMKbEOAzndibwrEQFtVo2I-tJpichbj4/s640/11068330_10100850373611625_3779387787295390979_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Before this, our guests found their seats and did so around our aisle banner that was tied between the last two chairs on the aisle. I found this idea and customized it based on this <a href="http://somethingturquoise.com/2014/11/07/diy-wedding-ceremony-aisle-tie-off-sign/" target="_blank">tutorial</a> from Something Turquoise.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpAKPXmgysDG4p0OCJ9dMup6mrMRvzugNHSbWZyCa2x3qOVRl-Esrd7K8gKcKZCMx0hMofqJmpRoDPvzoxTwFBwWeWA5YyNqXKW7pn7davOAcMPXgM3aSqbpGPQc7GD8rmQmRmxBHVIg/s1600/11259095_10207062202820230_198469520186575319_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDpAKPXmgysDG4p0OCJ9dMup6mrMRvzugNHSbWZyCa2x3qOVRl-Esrd7K8gKcKZCMx0hMofqJmpRoDPvzoxTwFBwWeWA5YyNqXKW7pn7davOAcMPXgM3aSqbpGPQc7GD8rmQmRmxBHVIg/s640/11259095_10207062202820230_198469520186575319_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SwB6GttZj3ESHnGweDPhUCFxffIYNuVj7BQhh1LQK3o5hyphenhyphenEdRSH_eWspDbflhViBp8nBXHXVvsuYz1Dexfgc2572yHgGkXgGkoEUkmQNEQEvNztcCAshSyx8pFuc-MCIkuyRCAJiUX4/s1600/11046696_10100213401254147_6084126567122889056_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2SwB6GttZj3ESHnGweDPhUCFxffIYNuVj7BQhh1LQK3o5hyphenhyphenEdRSH_eWspDbflhViBp8nBXHXVvsuYz1Dexfgc2572yHgGkXgGkoEUkmQNEQEvNztcCAshSyx8pFuc-MCIkuyRCAJiUX4/s640/11046696_10100213401254147_6084126567122889056_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Guests were accompanied by programs fashioned into a fan....thank god. Our wedding day was the hottest, stickiest, muggiest day of May peaking at about 95 degrees and humid. There are so many program ideas out there and I just happened to find one that had a free template that I customized to our ceremony. I even used the monogram created for us for our wedding invitations. Printed these on cardstock, folded in half, and used packing tape to get a craft stick inside and then glued down the edges.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyxKTJ-jAIyuZLJ3bTu6BO84DXZahI3d79fmcIR-sxOJt58fNikS3Ibe2Bka7orKIh92FgadGD35GkGgCDQdhdIDlwDUZ_D0bDRlPqZBpS4biBaKVZd4uKQ67Ya1gc7ZhaQwBAPALC78/s1600/11018344_10100850372693465_6478035820760274241_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAyxKTJ-jAIyuZLJ3bTu6BO84DXZahI3d79fmcIR-sxOJt58fNikS3Ibe2Bka7orKIh92FgadGD35GkGgCDQdhdIDlwDUZ_D0bDRlPqZBpS4biBaKVZd4uKQ67Ya1gc7ZhaQwBAPALC78/s400/11018344_10100850372693465_6478035820760274241_n.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KNSpVE8Y4dKnJVpAQVwp-cColqBFewphwKRmPFgpA6JYkGTPH0-U2-gXMcRossEpvYpQc020NxoLo60FgjKstmeEJ27MRtNEI_dn8b98N9OKqOyfzJYM64RpO33_gvfvO1yugZqNv5Y/s1600/11053167_10100213402067517_7865185431840836260_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2KNSpVE8Y4dKnJVpAQVwp-cColqBFewphwKRmPFgpA6JYkGTPH0-U2-gXMcRossEpvYpQc020NxoLo60FgjKstmeEJ27MRtNEI_dn8b98N9OKqOyfzJYM64RpO33_gvfvO1yugZqNv5Y/s400/11053167_10100213402067517_7865185431840836260_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These were picked up on a little refreshment table done up with signage that offered tissues and vintage handkerchiefs I had picked up at a flea market for a song. I clothes pinned them around an "apple picking basket" bought at Michaels.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEPqikzGiA__h052vOOXgytWfSmZc9L4jBZnPts_r4BDmpIAFxaJvZRHbFu3hf_zUu6MO8Rl-qdGwgWbIhjiXNuXeczvyCpn6AwD9Y9MaiBkEpw-_31Hrdv4lzx-Z7Y9uKBUa8YetFl0/s1600/11102783_10100213402152347_5515791173987674282_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMEPqikzGiA__h052vOOXgytWfSmZc9L4jBZnPts_r4BDmpIAFxaJvZRHbFu3hf_zUu6MO8Rl-qdGwgWbIhjiXNuXeczvyCpn6AwD9Y9MaiBkEpw-_31Hrdv4lzx-Z7Y9uKBUa8YetFl0/s640/11102783_10100213402152347_5515791173987674282_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our bridal party rushed down the aisle as things got started late, and our ring bearers carried this down the aisle. I made this DIY up as I went, creating a shape on burlap that I had leftover from table runners, folding it in half and sewing the edges together with a zig zag stitch. Then I sewed the top together with enough space for a dowel to fit through. The verbiage was puffy painted on in my best imitation calligraphy.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vwXz7OPhyphenhyphenvMRSiLQKY6Zld_qvl9bAD7IAza7tygrdEWi9BCTZxtlEaE2rOspzDUOZV2IZgelxYBMmBLpLi97gqBnvmRTuV-oKZR6noBzKFyu7sIio06MJw7zNcYbvVIr4lYWOzkq4-M/s1600/10373842_10152974741338224_2822062620877689285_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3vwXz7OPhyphenhyphenvMRSiLQKY6Zld_qvl9bAD7IAza7tygrdEWi9BCTZxtlEaE2rOspzDUOZV2IZgelxYBMmBLpLi97gqBnvmRTuV-oKZR6noBzKFyu7sIio06MJw7zNcYbvVIr4lYWOzkq4-M/s640/10373842_10152974741338224_2822062620877689285_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My niece was meant to follow the boys, but the line-up got out of whack despite rehearsal efforts. I don't think anyone really noticed...it's amazing how much chaos is behind the scenes of "running smoothly". Her little sign was an impulse $1 buy at AC Moore that I wrote on with chalk marker. But her flower crown is based on a <a href="http://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-paper-flower-crown/" target="_blank">tutorial</a> from one of my fave blogs, Honestly WTF.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyxCWdT_5SLyc6WdJLfZ-JIzum5z3lvcz-B6pe6q8K5swPBUst5F7Uxxs_Wt-FlkvhF1QrhT7eJxZ9rZbHeXXZrzJ7h-thfX-3_JtNgFTXkQ4aC64OLvJlXV5bG2077sJkphFJkjBo94/s1600/13391_10207062207740353_7592462963178730885_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyxCWdT_5SLyc6WdJLfZ-JIzum5z3lvcz-B6pe6q8K5swPBUst5F7Uxxs_Wt-FlkvhF1QrhT7eJxZ9rZbHeXXZrzJ7h-thfX-3_JtNgFTXkQ4aC64OLvJlXV5bG2077sJkphFJkjBo94/s400/13391_10207062207740353_7592462963178730885_n.jpg" width="265" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdltFeE6DUq0kZuyifArbbaWVjiNQMjNTSlJ00dZIVlEHUj-VqzrcQ_a9o9tPIn5w6lablLGlGQ7DUUtgXjSHBSr61Lbkc2d8IkRgNkHWl9Z942SMxvRMmYgJ_W1Rju2e4qxsflvwCakg/s1600/11244714_10207062207420345_322664329628523491_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdltFeE6DUq0kZuyifArbbaWVjiNQMjNTSlJ00dZIVlEHUj-VqzrcQ_a9o9tPIn5w6lablLGlGQ7DUUtgXjSHBSr61Lbkc2d8IkRgNkHWl9Z942SMxvRMmYgJ_W1Rju2e4qxsflvwCakg/s400/11244714_10207062207420345_322664329628523491_n.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the most fun projects, had it not been done at the last minute, was putting together the flowers for myself and the bridesmaids. Such a valuable DIY! It saved us at least $500 and now that I've mastered it I'm just waiting on friends to call on me to create something special for theirs. I was inspired by <a href="http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-farmers-market-bouquet/" target="_blank">this tutorial</a> on Green Wedding Shoes and got the majority of my flowers from Produce Junction. Whole Foods provided the peonies. I also created charms for all the bridesmaids and myself so they could identify their bouquets later on. I got the instructions and the idea from <a href="http://somethingturquoise.com/2014/10/03/diy-personalized-clay-bouquet-charms/" target="_blank">this tutorial</a> at Something Turquoise. Incredibly easy and very satisfying. To boost the savings, I used faux succulents in the bouquets! By adding wire and floral tape, I just clustered them into the bouquets. I wrapped the girls' bouquets in black ribbon and used the cut hem of my dress to wrap my own (the seamstress gave me the idea!).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslo7LcnFuTkWzGPqLLrmgPsDriDFcV7i2uySo4pg38nQPKL13S5YLhHwuVfMLzliIOTCSichMdoBgCIx8hzOQvQOu4Lr8M8qKQYrqCbwvn5oexmmLyvAoefywhGDA-SQplqbuxapNNp8/s1600/11226910_10100850362758375_3243077724538480281_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslo7LcnFuTkWzGPqLLrmgPsDriDFcV7i2uySo4pg38nQPKL13S5YLhHwuVfMLzliIOTCSichMdoBgCIx8hzOQvQOu4Lr8M8qKQYrqCbwvn5oexmmLyvAoefywhGDA-SQplqbuxapNNp8/s400/11226910_10100850362758375_3243077724538480281_n.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As for the boys' "flowers" I made them all pinwheel boutonnieres using the actual maps that guided Chris & I through the European adventure that ended in our engagement. By following an easy <a href="http://www.leslietryon.com/3dcolorcutout/makepinw/makepinwheel.html" target="_blank">pinwheel tutorial</a> I figured out what size they should be. Mini pinwheels went to the ring bearers. Using hot glue I secured the paper and then glued a pin to the back so they stayed put the whole night. You can kind of see Chris's pinwheel bout in the pic below. So wish I had my professional ones! Chris was the only pinwheel made from our map of Paris since that's where we got engaged.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And lastly, Chris and I read handwritten vows to each other that we had in our own little notebooks. This was another really good project, because for the life of me my head was just one big buzz the entire day, and I can't remember what Chris said AT ALL. Horrible I know. But luckily we still have our books and I can read it anytime I want <strike>to kill him</strike>. We each read our own summary (is that the best word?) that we individually wrote and then read joint vows/promises that we wrote together. I used a <a href="http://somethingturquoise.com/2015/04/03/how-to-make-wedding-notebooks/" target="_blank">free template</a> from Something Turquoise to put ours together. We also wrote our own ceremony that we guided Chris's grandfather through as he was our "officiant" though we used a Quaker self uniting license. Totally the way to go for any non-denominational fiancees out there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And that was the ceremony! So much work for 20 minutes--but that's why I was away and not posting updates. For those wondering if I included Harry in the events, I did! He was there pre-ceremony and we took some family pics together with his own DIY sign (of course). He had his babysitter come get him (which we found through Dog Vacay, click on Services up top to learn more) right before things got started and spent the rest of the day frolicking. I really wanted him to be in everything but knew that he might talk throughout the ceremony...which in hindsight probably would've helped me relax until I realized it was bugging people. I'll post another update in the next couple weeks of the rest of the projects, and then back to what I really love writing about...HARRY!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-17783171684865559402015-02-16T11:16:00.000-05:002015-02-16T17:14:39.285-05:00How to Marry your Dog in your Kitchen...or DIY Wedding Arch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One of the more intimidating projects for the upcoming nuptials was figuring out our ceremony decor. Our venue is kind of a blank slate for the ceremony as it's just nature. Essentially all we really have reserved for our ceremony was chairs, and we need a little bit more to make it look like a wedding beyond a bridal party. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />Being inspired by the natural setting I wanted to have an arch of some sort, but I didn't want to overpower the greenery. I had a bunch of inspiring examples:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">http://www.weddingbells.ca/planning/ceremony-ideas/eye-catching-wedding-arbor-ideas/</span></div>
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<img alt="Three Piece Wedding Arch - Chuppa /Birch Poles" height="640" src="https://img1.etsystatic.com/042/0/5761824/il_570xN.562778659_thc3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="425" /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I also found a tutorial at <a href="http://apracticalwedding.com/2014/01/bohemian-wedding-arch/" target="_blank">A Practical Wedding</a> that gave a how-to to create a super bohemian one complete with poms and rainbow ribbons. I followed the step by step guide to create the structure and then decorated to my own style.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You'll need:<br />3 7 foot Birch poles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 Silver buckets (about $20 each at Home Depot)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fake Moss</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Decor (use a silk flower garland like I did, or your own idea!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A stepladder, unless you're not as vertically challenged as me</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To start, we had to create a base that would hold the birch poles in place. I got my birch poles on <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/ForestDecor" target="_blank">Etsy </a> and had to wait until they arrived to buy the supplies for anchoring them so that I could measure the diameter of the pole itself. Two buckets, a bag of cement mix, and a PVC pipe later, we were ready to start assembling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Foo was super helpful and hands on setting up a cement mixing station in the basement. He cut the PVC and set it in the center of the bucket, and then filled the sides in with cement. After curing the result was a 25 pound bucket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We topped the cement with decorative moss found at AC Moore and we'll have to turn them backwards so we're not showing the stickers that we can't get off the buckets! Inside the PVC are wood shims that we'll use to wedge the poles in so that they stand straight.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After setting the poles in their holders, we had to place the third pole across the top. We screwed two eye hooks into the tops of the side poles, and then used a zip tie to secure the poles. We're hoping that this kind of assembly is easy to do day of. Hoping really hard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's an up close shot of how we secured the poles together. The zip tie is hidden by a tied satin ribbon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Instead of going nuts with ribbon (I had originally wanted to tie a bunch down the center), I picked up two silk flower garlands at AC Moore (40% off yo!). I secured them in the middle with floral wire and then again on the sides. Day of, we'll just have to re-attach the sides after the structure is secured. The above shot is taken pre-purchase of extra shims and ribbon where we were using a paint mixing stick and my stash of ribbon bits for last minute gifting. Will you marry Harry?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Excuse the pile of recyclables and focus on the end result here. I think the flowers look pretty realistic...and our audience will be sitting back a few yards. Beats paying for a florist to do similar work! After making the buckets, the assembly and decorating took 20 minutes tops, and that included me mulling over how to cover the zip ties and where to start and end the garland. We're going to leave the garland secured to the top piece so that assembly is even faster for the ceremony. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hoping this helps any other DIY or budget brides hoping to do something similar! At the end of the day this project cost just about $100 which was mainly the buckets and birch. A rental of something similar or paying a florist to decorate a rental would be a pretty penny more! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What have I been working on? Oh just wedding things every single solitary weekend. Expecting it to be like this til May. Originally I didn't want to write about this stuff because it's an audience limiter and most of the time I'm ashamed at how excited I get over a wedding craft (mainly because nobody cares except me and Harry and only because I use a really enthusiastic tone of voice when I finish). But then I realized there is a small margin of people that might benefit from shared information and a lot of the wedding stuff can be duplicated for house stuff or other projects. So screw it. I'm going rogue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The latest project, due at the end of February, is the invitations. Dear God I learned so much unnecessary information regarding paper in the past month...also about postage. I also learned how ridiculously expensive invitations are. For me, invites are a silly place to blow a ton of cash, so even though I created a reasonable budget to start it was my life goal (for like 2 weeks) to come in under. Way under. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I realized how much an invitation suite was going to cost on a site like Minted ($700 before postage and envelopes--for 100 invites) I reconsidered my approach. Etsy is a great source for invitations, especially for suites. Shops offer printable invitation suites that you can print yourself, bring to a print shop, or send to an online printer. The suites go for a flat rate and you have unlimited printing power. I used <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/PrintableWisdom" target="_blank">Printable Wisdom</a> for their Elizabeth suite and worked with the artist, Ashley, on personalizing the suite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After finalizing the design (final version is not above) I had to order paper products. Ashley recommended the very affordable site <a href="http://cardsandpockets.com/">CardsandPockets.com</a>. Their envelopes and high quality papers were the cheapest online, not to mention you could order samples with free shipping. I was afraid my printer wouldn't be able to handle the recommended 110 lb card stock (yea there's a whole thing about how much paper weighs and the difference of weights between stock types) so I resorted to Staples where I bought 250 pages of 110 lb card stock for $17.99--enough to cover me for all invites and then some. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once printed, I had to cut and the paper cutter we have at work was not cutting it...HA.HA.GET-IT?<br /><br />Anywho I went with the <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00007E7M4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">Carl paper cutter</a> from amazon and it does the trick. It took me about two episodes of Revenge to get through all the cutting and I realized I probably need something to hold all this stuff together....and those things are called belly bands. I found another thrift-minded person on the interwebs who provided a <a href="http://www.topweddingsites.com/wedding-blog/wedding-invitations/diy-banded-invitations-with-template-instructions-and-material-list" target="_blank">template</a> which I personalized for my invites.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOijn-QsmM1xUCRW_Lgh2nuhH32s9TOlABH9Ero7BplQx8lEspOZjUwoN9NCpvdRecCAZdWfNEOYGPbmc6lyLfF8aETlJsz5cMSIuRLOy7DmGJCc7l6f59DEb_0-22gqN2FJRKDNSQgJw/s1600/IMG_4925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOijn-QsmM1xUCRW_Lgh2nuhH32s9TOlABH9Ero7BplQx8lEspOZjUwoN9NCpvdRecCAZdWfNEOYGPbmc6lyLfF8aETlJsz5cMSIuRLOy7DmGJCc7l6f59DEb_0-22gqN2FJRKDNSQgJw/s1600/IMG_4925.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another super awesome way to add color and fanciness without adding weight was making envelope liners from wrapping paper. I followed this awesome <a href="http://thebudgetsavvybride.com/envelope-liner-tutorial/" target="_blank">guide</a> using a really pretty roll I found at Hallmark. Papersource had fun wrapping paper but at $7 a sheet that wasn't helping.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This <a href="http://www.cardsandpockets.com/zipdryglue.aspx" target="_blank">bogus glue</a> was also really helpful and lived up to its reputation of not being a piece of crap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Briefly -- when it came to minimizing the weight of the invitation as a whole, I opted to eliminate a second large insert identifying all the details of the day and squished this info onto a smaller card. I also did away with the RSVP stamped envelope which saved on weight and on additional postage...plus all the time of putting our return address on everything. Instead we're using a site called <a href="http://www.hitchedup.com/">www.hitchedup.com</a> which allows you to upload your guest list to your personal URL and when guests rsvp they just search for their name. It even lets you put a question in like, do you want chicken or fish? Or what song do you want to hear at the reception? I like it because it goes straight to my email when someone responds and I can immediately update my psychotic wedding spreadsheet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So yea, DIY invites are really not that much of a PITA especially if it's freezing outside and there are a ton of Oscar nominated movies to watch pre-awards. But the best part of the entire thing was that it cost me half (actually even less) of the Minted version, postage included! Plus I get to keep a sweet paper cutter, address stamp, and have a lot of leftover material for any additional printing needs. At the end of the day, the only people who are going to hold on to these buggers are yourself, parents, grandparents, and crazy stalkers. In my opinion, it's not worth spending or stressing over!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-88469904152045896442014-10-01T10:51:00.000-04:002014-10-01T10:51:53.650-04:00Dogs in Engagement Photos<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">House, wedding, house, wedding - right? Since we're about 8 months away Chris and I have started to dig into the wedding planning. We've got the big stuff done (all except what we're wearing) and are hoping to chip at the to do list week by week. Last weekend we crossed off engagement photos and soon we'll be crossing off "send save the dates".</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit <a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When we were first engaged I was mostly excited about thinking about ways to incorporate Harry into the event (see </span><a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2013/11/dogs-in-weddings.html" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Dogs in Weddings</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">). I've still got to train him to calmly walk in-between chairs surrounded by the familiar smells of all his people to ensure he can actually be a part of our ceremony, but as a prelude he helped us out in our engagement photos!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WGgOvfYiFy0/VCwO58MKcoI/AAAAAAAAMV4/5y5XuczWKOQ/s1600/shannon%26chris-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WGgOvfYiFy0/VCwO58MKcoI/AAAAAAAAMV4/5y5XuczWKOQ/s1600/shannon%26chris-2.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In an effort to stray from the traditional, Chris and I will be having donuts from our favorite spot in Philly in lieu of a wedding cake. A well kept Pennsylvania Dutch secret, Beiler's donuts in Reading Terminal Market are donuts on crack. They're sweet, usually warm, and stuffed with thick sweet cream that will definitely make you sick after half a dozen...but you want to eat half a dozen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For our photo shoot I wanted to highlight the donut theme from our wedding (aka I wanted to eat donuts) and I also wanted to include Harry in some shots. We combined the two to make for a seriously fun shoot.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E3yqnShQpH0/VCwO0o6h8iI/AAAAAAAAMRo/JF0zWxDrW2c/s1600/shannon%26chris-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E3yqnShQpH0/VCwO0o6h8iI/AAAAAAAAMRo/JF0zWxDrW2c/s1600/shannon%26chris-10.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our pictures were taken by the super talented Erin Pitts of <a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a> whom I found through the Philadelphia Improv Theatre (more on that in the future). She made us feel so comfortable that I didn't feel insecure housing donuts with my dog on the floor of my kitchen. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHN5e9SZZKEUvw4dBoV8Pi4qNLgYgL6LIMaAq8_-fQ6w0hOBHlR598cdFkICRBP2vvpdoZOjLTkpq8TSrefKJ0M5em5X4TyZl_bafJz1j3scy8bHcNUNu1bCy-fl3YdSv1bMXEDdgfCBY/s1600/shannon&chris-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHN5e9SZZKEUvw4dBoV8Pi4qNLgYgL6LIMaAq8_-fQ6w0hOBHlR598cdFkICRBP2vvpdoZOjLTkpq8TSrefKJ0M5em5X4TyZl_bafJz1j3scy8bHcNUNu1bCy-fl3YdSv1bMXEDdgfCBY/s1600/shannon&chris-4.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I created our backdrop using crepe paper streamers and painters tape and then used a rolling cart draped in a table cloth to place the donut trays upon. Our special edible save the date was made using a catering lid and some hot pink Pilsbury frosting that actually came with edible sparkles. The cake trays are flea market finds that I keep collecting in hopes of using them all on our dessert table spread at the actual event...plus they just make regular food look fancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I made Harry's bow tie using this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln9fWB8vswY" target="_blank">great tutorial</a> I found on YouTube. I amended her ways by using velcro as an attaching device instead of elastic. Harry had two to choose from for our shoot and chose the green and creme one to match my dress--how thoughtful!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We had such a great time with our pictures and are so happy with how they turned out. I highly recommend using Erin for any photography needs be it engagement, family photos, or new baby - she really let us run amuck while providing helpful tips on posing as she found the best angles to get a great picture.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Credit </span><a href="http://erinpittsphotography.com/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;" target="_blank">Erin Pitts Photography</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-48988965749056213992014-09-26T09:15:00.000-04:002014-09-26T09:48:54.411-04:00DIY Stenciled Closet Renovation<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was hesitant to share my progress of my master closet renovation because it's not 100% done yet. But I don't think anything in my house will ever be 100% done because like me, the house will continuously evolve...and I'm not superwoman. First off, I am so grateful to have my very own master closet that I don't have to share with anybody. From what I've learned in my house-hunting experience, closets in the city are rare creatures. The fact that we have his & hers in our bedroom is a gift. A gift from a unicorn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we moved in, the closets were each just a room with an open doorway. There weren't any closet structures that we could immediately hang clothes on. So for a while we had our clothes split amongst bedrooms and Chris actually used a shower curtain rod in the 2nd floor bathroom as his closet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Having the closets figured out was my number one priority as far as house projects were concerned (of which there is a very long list) so I began researching custom closet solutions and DIYs of closet solutions. What I found was that building a closet wasn't going to be cheap unless I had an array of power tools and the woodworking skills of Bob Vila OR lots of time. I had neither although by this summer I think I'll be a mini-Vila so tried to mesh the two methodologies and self install an MDF board closet system from Home Depot. First I drew up my measurements and an idea of what I had in mind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, using ClosetMaid software I was able to input my closet's measurements and customize their products to fit my design. Below is what I came up with:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So off to Home Depot we went armed with housewarming gift cards from our parents and extended family and a Lowes coupon (they take competitor ones there).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While I began painting the interior of the closet, Chris put together the pieces that would eventually be installed. Everything was flat packed so the entire structure had to be assembled and eventually secured to the wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For paint, I chose Behr Beluga in flat to be on the wall opposite the doorway and the wall to the right of the doorway. The other two walls were to be stenciled, as I wanted my closet to have a boutique feel (even though I'm not Mariah Carey). I feel that bathrooms and closets are the places to really have fun with patterns and colors while living areas I generally play it safe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I had some help taping and painting....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And when everything was dry I was able to begin stenciling! I found a really awesome company, <a href="http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/" target="_blank">Royal Design Studio</a>, through Etsy. I chose <a href="http://www.royaldesignstudio.com/products/starry-moroccan-night-stencil" target="_blank">Moroccan Starry Night</a> as my stencil hoping it would be more geometric than floral looking...I have a weakness for floral prints. At first it was my intention to do the stencil in both our closets so we matched...but after a week of stenciling that was not going to happen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used a light grey on the wall to start so that my lines would be that color in between the stars. Then I used the same Beluga black, a darker grey, and gold paint for the stars. The gold is a Ralph Lauren brand of paint from Home Depot -- expensive, but it's hard to find cheap metallic paint in mass quantities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I spent about two hours a night for a week stenciling with Spotify blasting Beyonce. My technique used foam brushes instead of typical stencil brushes because I wanted a graphic look. Had I gone with one color overall, I would've used a roller. Here's progress...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The pattern is so eye catching and busy that it's hard to find any mistakes at a glance...it looks like I did it perfectly when in reality there are little globs here and there mussing up the clean lines. After I was finished I used a smaller brush to repaint those lines and get my shapes cleaned up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When my stenciling was complete (YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!) Chris and I installed the closet structure he was putting together while I painted. I pretty much jumped around excitedly taking pictures and thanking him profusely while this was going on....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then it was all done! We had to cut the MDF boards to fit perfectly -- and had to take them to Chris's Dad (who's the Bob Vila type I aspire to be) for trimming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It didn't take long for me to pack all my clothes into my new closet! After taking careful measurements of the shelves, I went to IKEA and bought boxes that would fit perfectly. I also returned to Home Depot for shoe cubes to organize the insane amount of shoes I've collected (it's a problem). Lastly I hung a mirror I had picked up years ago at a flea market opposite my jewelry storage and installed one of my handmade jewelry holders (<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/WhenHarryMetShannon?ref=hdr_shop_menu" target="_blank">you can buy on Etsy friendssss)</a> beneath. <br /><br />There are still some add ons I'd like to do, like above the doorway putting shelving using brackets I got on sale at Anthropologie, eventually installing doors or making a curtain, and changing the light fixture - but this project is finished for now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I'm able to see everything I own and making dressing decisions in the morning is a lot faster than it used to be when I was running up and down the stairs to find my clothes. I've also made a promise to myself to not stock up on a bunch of items just because they're cheap or on sale and to be more thoughtful about the pieces I add to my wardrobe....also I don't think much more can fit in here!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thanks for taking a look at my project! Hoping to share more accomplishments as we make our way through the house!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-41441705039030325602014-09-10T15:12:00.001-04:002014-09-10T15:18:30.487-04:00DIY Tutorial: Broken Mirror to Chalkboard<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This might be the busiest/most exciting year of my life so far. As I've mentioned in posts previously, Chris and I have moved and we're also planning our wedding that's in less than a year. Balancing house and wedding priorities is a really great way to completely stress yourself out. At the moment I've tried to alternate house/wedding/house/wedding...but sometimes the house projects are way more fun. The best case scenario is when a house project doubles as a wedding project!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Craigslist is my bff and also a big point of contention between Chris and I. Why would I want to drive all the way out to east jabip to pick up a piece of junk....WHY WOULDN'T I? Those are the two viewpoints. When I found a fabulous, HUGE, valuable yet cheap vintage art deco mirror on the Craig for $25 I had to have it, so with heavy feet Chris accompanied me...because hello? Craigslist Killers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When the mirror was presented it had a slight flaw that wasn't in its posting pictures. It had a teeny 4 inch crack in the glass starting from the bottom. I thought I could fix it with a glass repair kit so I still agreed to take it for a discount. And it was offered for free! I couldn't turn down free but my other half saw it as me taking home trash. As we packed it into the car the crack made its way all the way through the mirror. Needless to say it wasn't the most pleasant ride home, or the most pleasant Friday night, or the most pleasant Saturday morning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But hey, stuff happens. People get angry. Instead of letting the huge broken in two mirror loom over us for the weekend and instead of that Friday night going to waste, I attempted to turn the mirror into something else completely. I had seen the same scenario on <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2014/03/diy-custom-chalkboard-paint.html" target="_blank">Little Green Notebook</a> where their gorgeous scroll mirror got damaged in their move to Phoenix. With some modifications, I adapted their salvage techniques and turned my broken mirror into a fabulous chalkboard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There she is - my fractured mirror. I removed the glass very carefully and realized that the backing I expected to be my future chalkboard didn't exist. Behind the mirror was an open frame. Quick on my feet I decided to use the glass as a stencil on plywood to create my own chalkboard base.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you look really closely, you'll see that I'm using two pieces of plywood underneath the mirror. Having a 4 door sedan means I can't lug home huge products...which is a total bummer because I think this prevents me from getting all the Craigslist things I want...so I had to improvise. I traced my mirror and then used a jigsaw to cut out the curvy corners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Voila! Using another piece of plywood behind the front, I was able to get the two pieces in line with each other by gluing it to the back with wood glue. Now I had the issue of a gap in the surface of my chalkboard. And I also have the issue of losing the pics of the next two steps! So I'll summarize...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used joint compound aka sheetrock aka spackle all over the surface of the plywood so that the crease was covered and an even surface was made over the entire piece. Once it dried I sanded it with a sanding block to an even level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Then, I painted with chalkboard paint on the spackled surface. After two coats and allowing it to cure overnight I was able to "prime" it with chalk..aka write all over it and erase to leave that chalky base.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The mirror was supposed to live in our entry way being a grand focal point as you entered and left our home. After it went through trauma, we re purposed it as a chalkboard menu and gave it a home in the kitchen above our table. (Also I totally realize I left the O out of Chalkboard. Butttt Harry looks so cute in front of it I couldn't not show this!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's the final product put to good use in our kitchen! I love how it's both beautiful and functional. The black and gold pop against the freshly painted Frost white walls. Just goes to show that you can turn a bad situation around and still create something beautiful. Now the bad memory of retrieving and breaking the mirror isn't so bad after all! And did I mention this was FREE?! To go back to the brief point about wedding and house projects being two stones, we're planning on using this board as signage for the reception likely as a list of the menu. Love it when my projects serve dual purposes!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-71614510013139373712014-08-29T13:07:00.002-04:002014-09-10T15:12:46.349-04:00Dog Beach<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My California travels have shown me that the West coast is exceedingly dog friendly. The city of San Diego especially with its dog friendly bars and dog friendly beaches left me full of envy. Only in the past year has a dog beach in the Philadelphia/South Jersey region become available to pet owners like myself. As the summer comes to a close, we took a weekend trip to make sure Harry got to experience the sandy salty fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The beach, known as <a href="http://www.bringfido.com/attraction/9653/" target="_blank">Longport Dog Beach</a>, is located in Somers Point right next to Ocean City, NJ. Parking is available in a smaller lot preceding the beach. Make your way through a jungle-like sandy trail and arrive in a puppy paradise swarming with happy go lucky dogs. Retrievers are usually out in the water enjoying a peaceful swim while other water loving dogs play fetch in the waves. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harry's not a big fan of water as I tend to take all my dogs when they are way too young into my parents pool for "swimming with Mommy". In the past three dogs I've raised, the experiment has always resulted in a water loathing animal. Naturally Harry is an example of the experiment gone wrong. He didn't mind trotting through the water following me and the fishy smelling shell I was baiting him with, but he wasn't in awe of the crashing waves or even the slightest sea foam that threatened his paws.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">What was enchanting for Harry was the unlimited opportunity for digging without consequences. He'd start digging and as he got more voracious he'd smush his face into the cooler damp sand and promptly sneeze, observe, and repeat the process. A park without boundaries is always a thrill for dogs who spend most of their lives in some form of captivity - home, backyard, dog park, leash. When there's a huge open area to safely run free, Harry takes full advantage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Taking Harry to the Longport Dog Beach was one of the highlights of my summer. I love watching him have fun and of course he was super tired when we got home. If you need to fill your Labor Day weekend with one last bit of summer, the dog beach is an awesome way to do it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-73648254761782715722014-08-05T13:32:00.000-04:002014-09-10T15:13:15.137-04:00Harry Bought a House!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It took him two and a half years. Harry saved up all his dog money for a down payment on a house with a backyard because the roof deck wasn't cutting it. Dog money you ask? Oh yes. Unbeknownst to the human community, dog money is exchanged between dogs for services, favors, or bets. Harry's primary source of income is his gambling winnings from racing in the dog park (second is the income from his sexual favors, also given in the dog park--helloooo why do you think dogs hump each other all the time? Dog money).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harry is still a bit shaky walking around his new place, probably because he's realizing how broke he is. At first his legs were wobbly, then they progressed to just being wide apart as though he needed the extra stability. More recently he's grown accustomed to the floors and has found a lounging spot where the sunlight hits the living room carpet. His observation deck is located on the landing between the first and second floor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Obviously the big ticket item in the house Harry bought is the expansive (for Philly) backyard. He was cautious at first, but then he couldn't believe it was all his. He ran a few circles and promptly pooped in it. Of course there's footage. Obviously I wasn't expecting him to immediately poop in his brand new yard, but it turned out to be a very special memory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Harry's new house is still pretty empty and it took a while for us to move all his stuff. Almost immediately after moving, we went on vacation to San Francisco and Harry spent the week with his cousin Pickle. While the frequency of blogging died in July, the subject matter should get more fun as we have a ton of upcoming projects - Harry related and not. Thanks for sticking with us while we were away!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-12360063340735277532014-06-19T16:03:00.000-04:002014-09-10T15:13:30.288-04:00He's Allergic, Harry Doggy Woggy<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All week long I've sang the "Harrified" version of the electric slide. <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-cone-of-shame.html" target="_blank">This time last year</a> Harry started itching, and we visited the vet several times and dosed Harry with a multitude of antihistamines, steroids, and antibiotics. We then put Harry on a strict hypo-allergenic diet of what looked like corn pops and cost more than our monthly grocery bill. After a while we <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2014/02/allergy-update.html" target="_blank">introduced new foods to the hypo diet</a> and watched for reactions. Aside from a horrible explosion after the egg series, Harry didn't react to anything except his former Blue Buffalo dog food and cream cheese. We went two months on a venison and sweet potato diet which was significantly cheaper than corn pops and at the start of this month Harry started itching again, developing two major hot spots.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Before Harry had a chance to completely inflate with an allergic reaction we reached out to our dermatologist at UPenn. It seemed as though Harry was displaying strong signs that he had been suffering from environmental allergies all along. We scheduled a skin test only two days later. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Harry's skin test consisted of him being put under sedation (not completely knocked out, but drugged), shaved in a patch, and pricked with 74 different allergens. After each allergen was injected, the doctor recorded a reaction. It only lasted about 20 minutes and we were called to pick Harry up only an hour and a half after we dropped him off. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upon arrival we were given a packet of what Harry had gone through and a long list of Harry's allergies. Harry is highly allergic to grass, yeast, dust, and mites. But then he's also slightly allergic to a slew of other things, humans included. My dog is allergic to me. Here's the list:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On the bright side, we finally figured out what Harry's allergic to. From now on we have to dose Harry for the rest of his life with allergy drops. We opted for drops instead of shots because neither of us are comfortable with injections....but the drops are kind of a pain. Harry doesn't like me sticking anything but treats in his mouth so this is a process he's going to have to get used to. The first set of drops are diluted so that Harry's body starts to adapt to them. Then as we move on he'll be put on a stronger solution. In high season we'll likely have to pair it with a zyrtec.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Only a week or so of steroids left and then we'll see if the drops are working. I'm so happy we went ahead and did the test. It was a little expensive but I can't imagine having another year of breakouts, panicking about Harry's health. If you're thinking about doing this test, I highly recommend it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-51995378238488852014-06-11T11:20:00.000-04:002014-09-10T15:13:47.651-04:00DIY Tutorial: Souvenir Style Sign<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When the foo and I travel I become a hoarder. Any paper product be it a ticket, receipt, brochure, or sometimes even a decorative bag I stash it in a corner of my suitcase. My bag is like the wallet of Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch me if you Can. Then when we come home the hoarder's pile of paper treasure sits in craft storage until I think of something to do with it. Our Peru travels inspired me to to <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2012/09/harry-were-home.html" target="_blank">decoupage a frame with travel mementos</a>. It's taken me up until this past weekend to do something with the paper collection from our Eurotrip of September 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On said Eurotrop, foo and I hit up four countries: England, Netherlands, Belgium, and France. As you can imagine, I collected a decent amount of "treasures". I tried to make a point of getting a newspaper from every country, but failed in Belgium. However, because it was absolutely necessary, we did end up with a map from each country. I decided to use this as a backdrop for a letter sign that we'll be hanging in our new home (yea more on that later) and also at our upcoming wedding (whattttt). It just so happened that visiting four countries gave me the perfect number of maps to spell a special four letter word. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To start, I needed four frames - one for each of my letters. I bought Ikea RIBBA frames particularly for their ability to stand if set on a table (dual purpose people - wedding & home decor). I printed out the word LOVE using Arial Bold font in size 350 and used them as a stencil on my maps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I used the frame matting to make sure I got all map and no ads in my end result. Most of the maps we got were fo frizzle! Measuring on all sides of the letters, I ensured I was centered. Above is Amsterdam. When I positioned my matting I tried to get some cool landmarks in sight. Above you'll see Centraal Station in the upper right and in the bottom right is the famous church, Zuiderkerk, known for being a subject in a number of Monet paintings. The O is surrounded by the many canals of Amsterdam.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once I got my letters centered I taped them in place. Using an exacto knife (on top of a cutting mat) I cut out each letter carefully. Above is letter E, ending the word LOVE and also our Eurotrip as Paris was our final stop and the location of our super romantic engagement on the Ponte de Artes bridge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once cutting was complete, I layered the map over white paper and secured it inside the frame. I actually just flipped the grey paper that came inside the IKEA frame. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Final product! It's not hanging on the wall yet, as we're not officially moved in. O</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">ur wedding has a bit of a travel theme in our cocktail hour and I'm hoping we can use this as decor somewhere on site or set up on a table. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> I love how each letter is unique but still cohesive. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Also, I'm ecstatic that the letters go in the exact order of our trip. L is a map of London, O is a map of Amsterdam, V is a map of Brussels, and E is a map of Paris. Plus Paris has the Eiffel Tower in the bottom right corner. Once we've got it hanging I'll add more pics. But for now I'm super jazzed!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-69986987422263100312014-05-15T11:41:00.000-04:002014-09-10T15:14:18.224-04:00Pickle Sitting<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's about time we returned the favor. After multiple Harry-sittings acquiesced by my sister, the foo and I took it upon ourselves to do the same with Harry's newest fur-cousin, Pickle. As Pickle is only six months old and only in his forever home for two months, he was a bit shaky when we picked him up. A few belly rubs, lots of hugs and kisses, and a house tour lightened him up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">During his week-long stay, Pickle got a little broken in. His shrieking yelp responses to slight noises outside our city condo decreased over time and he walked outside with more confidence each day. Being a city dog is a tough attitude to succumb to and unlike Harry, Pickle wouldn't settle for peeing on anything other than plush grass (aside from plush carpets). It was funny to watch the two of them walk together: Harry with an intense determined stride and Pickle keeping up with quick feet. On their leashed walks, Pickle would sometimes run underneath Harry giving the city of Philadelphia an amusing show of a harried sweating woman (me) untangling two excited and oblivious dogs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We did experience some puppy behavior the first day which resulted in social media dog shaming. Pickle seems to suffer from anxiety when left alone and during his first four hours of unsupervised crate time he managed to dig a hole directly through our carpet. He was eerily silent as I opened the door to his destruction, as if he knew he had done something bad. We ended up tossing the rug and replacing it with a rubber mat so Pickle couldn't do the same on hardwood. I imagine he could dig his way to China with those thick front paws of his.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Speaking of front paws, I decided that these were Pickle's most endearing feature. Soft but thick, unlike his rear paws which are akin to a typical toy size dog, Pickle's fat puppy paws were my favorite part of him. They seemed like they belonged to a bigger dog. Pickle was happy to have me obsess over them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having a small dog is nice in that you can easily take them wherever you want to go. Though we didn't get a chance to dine out with Pickle, he hopped in the car with us for a few errands - something that we generally leave Harry out of. The scary part of having a small dog is constantly worrying about stepping on them and stressing about them falling down the stairs. Pickle's famous paws often slipped on our hardwood stairs but he usually caught himself before sliding all the way down. Pickle's long body slides and rolls while his little feet scramble. It sounds so horrible, but since he was safe it was kind of funny to watch him excitedly get himself together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pickle and Harry got along quite nicely. Harry forgets how small Pickle is sometimes and how one swipe of his paw can take Pickle down, so we had to supervise their playtime. The two of them would play with their toys separately or engage in some sort of tag. If we had more room in our place I think the game would've gotten extremely intense. On Saturday, we took the two of them to the Schuylkill Banks dog park. Pickle had never been, but after spending a little while in the small dogs park he was introduced to the big dogs park and shown around by Harry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite their normal jolliness with each other, Pickle and Harry suffered one disagreement over a bone. Bone time was meant to be a let's relax and get our aggression out on this rawhide type hour. Unfortunately it turned into no sharing no caring hour. A few snarls and a scary bark led us to a separation for the rest of the evening. Pickle held a grudge that night and wouldn't let Harry into our room without freaking out. Apparently dog memory doesn't necessarily last 20 minutes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Now that Pickle has happily returned to his family, Harry's been sleeping. He's literally been groggy and sleepy for two days. I expect he'll be back to normal tomorrow, but for now he's enjoying some peace and quiet before he starts missing his cousin. It was fun being a Mom to two dogs for a week, but I think that we're ok having an only child for now. That's the nice thing about nieces and nephews - you enjoy them and then you give them back!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-45485104265829573542014-05-08T17:17:00.000-04:002014-05-08T17:28:15.407-04:00Pet Friendly Portland<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The past three weeks have felt increasingly crazy. Wedding planning, house hunting, and general life make for a stressed out soul. We did manage to fit a vacation in, cramming a West coast adventure into less than a week. Our recent trip to Portland and Seattle fit the criteria of our "Cities of America Tour" and it was a great time to experience spring in the West.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First off, Portland is a supremely dog friendly city. It was the first place I've been where a majority of lodging was advertising pet friendly. The foo and I are super users of the website AirBnB for our vacations and most hosts had a house dog or were open to you bringing yours for the stay. If flying wasn't so traumatic, we'd have loved to bring Harry with us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The city itself is very walkable but if you're not into walking, Portland boasts one of the easiest public transit systems around. They weren't advertised pet-friendly but there were certainly transit dog sightings on our short stay. Portland is also integrated with public parks and surrounded by the ethereal view of Mt. Hood. A stroll through Washington Park is perfectly ok to do with your dog beside you, and in May the rose gardens (which are huge and free by the way) are in bloom. Forest Park is another free dog friendly adventure and a must see in the Western city. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My compulsion to visit Portland was driven by the fact that the city is home to 53 individual brewers operating 73 breweries in the metro area alone. I am a big fan of beer, and a big fan of dogs (obviously) and there's a brewery in Portland that combines both: <a href="http://luckylab.com/" target="_blank">Lucky Lab Brewery</a>. While you taste all of their craft beers on tap, your dog can play outside on the canine patio with other brew loving pooches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the most memorable sights on our trip was the Columbia River Gorge. That area of Portland itself is home to 90+ waterfalls, 77 of which are on Oregon's coast, the rest on Washington. Of these the biggest one of all is famous Multnomah Falls, the third highest year round waterfall in the world at a drop of 627 feet. The Gorge is surrounded by a public "highway" which feels more like a country road. You can spend the day biking, hiking, or driving from waterfall to waterfall and of course, you're welcome to bring your dog. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All in all, if you're thinking of vacationing with your pet via a road trip, Portland is a great place to spend a few days!</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-44522563336734087232014-04-10T15:46:00.003-04:002014-04-10T15:46:57.809-04:00Harry on the Red Carpet<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Maybe it's a little late for Oscar buzz (ok yea, it's really really late), but Harry and I went crazy again for Oscars 2014. Last year, we hosted a pajama party, while this year the theme was based on Ellen DeGeneres - in that some guests dressed like Ellen and wore Ellen underwear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Every year I try to theme food off of the best picture nominees. Apparently, so does the rest of the internet, so I didn't have a hard time coming up with ideas when I was in a jam. And the Oscar nominees are:</span><br />
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<li><a href="http://allrecipes.com/recipe/teriyaki-marinade/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">12 Hours a Marinated Chicken Wing</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/09/slow-cooker-coca-cola-pulled-pork-with.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dallas Cowboy Pulled Pork Sliders served with a syringe of BBQ sauce</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/gramercy-tavern-gingerbread-103087" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Philomena's Chocolate Stout Cake</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.refinery29.com/2014/02/63364/oscar-themed-food-drinks#slide-3" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Somalian Chicken Skewers</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gravity Defying Popcorn Bar</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/312637/classic-champagne-cocktail" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wolf of Wall Street Classic Champagne Cocktails</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Carmine's Homemade Limoncello</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nebraska style Beer (yea that was creative)</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lifeasastrawberry.com/fifteen-minute-pizza-dough/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Her" Mini-Pizzas</span></a></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We spent the evening stuffing our faces, drinking too many champagne cocktails because we thought there would be a snow day on Monday, and playing inter-missionary games of Ellen's hit game Heads Up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While Harry schmoozed with our friends, some of us walked the red carpet and took a pic on the "Red Carpet Selfie Wall" which tied in nicely with Ellen's most re-tweeted selfie of all time. Studious friends took a time-out to complete their Oscar picks on their <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/02/26/oscar-2014-ballot-printable-pool_n_4859493.html" target="_blank">ballots</a> while pop culture enthusiasts made their way around our condo playing the "<a href="http://hmhdesigns.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/oscar-party-games/" target="_blank">Guess that Oscar Winning Best Picture</a>" game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">All in all it was a fabulous night, and an exciting way to spend a Sunday--however I highly suggest the Academy move the glamorous award show to a Saturday night so those champagne cocktails don't hurt so much the next day.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-46806987684833144702014-03-20T14:15:00.002-04:002014-03-20T16:21:34.647-04:00New Fur-Cousin!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last weekend Harry met our newest fur-cousin, Pickle. Named by my 5 year old niece, Pickle was adopted a few weeks ago from a family where he wasn't adapting well to the new boyfriend. Timid and a little shy, it took a couple of hours for him to really warm up to Harry. On the other hand it took less than 10 seconds for Harry to warm up to Pickle, but Harry did a good job of backing off and giving him space.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--0sSuhYiIhE/UyLZmOT8g-I/AAAAAAAAIpE/fjZj3vpk4yQ/s1600/IMG_2420.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--0sSuhYiIhE/UyLZmOT8g-I/AAAAAAAAIpE/fjZj3vpk4yQ/s1600/IMG_2420.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wcyl0XDc4PY/UysuBmeZGLI/AAAAAAAAIrI/cLnxax-ppko/s1600/14+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wcyl0XDc4PY/UysuBmeZGLI/AAAAAAAAIrI/cLnxax-ppko/s1600/14+-+1" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pickle is a lot smaller than his family's former fur-baby, Jager. About 90 pounds smaller being that Jager was a German Shepherd. They do, however, share the same German heritage and long snout as Pickle is a purebred dachshund. With his silky wavy hair and fast feet, Pickle is swift yet graceful - something that Harry had to get used to since his fur-cousin Jager was easier to catch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At first Pickle kept his distance from Harry and stayed close to his mom. Then when Harry wasn't looking or got too close, Pickle would pounce out and bark then quickly return to Mom-Base. Eventually the two of them found that they had a lot in common. Their moms kind of looked the same, and they both wanted whatever their family was eating. It was when Harry got tired from racing around the backyard that the two of them enjoyed each others company quietly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Having a new pooch, especially a puppy, is always an exciting time. We're hoping that by spending more time together with Harry, Pickle will come out of his jar (see what I did there) and stop cherry picking Mom-Base. We're so happy to welcome Pickle to the family!</span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-60305029793417566322014-03-11T12:15:00.000-04:002014-03-11T13:26:40.149-04:00Doggy Dining: Jimmy G's Steaks<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two polar vortices ago, our fam needed to cure some pretty bad hangovers. A night of friends and too much wine was forcing us into the kind of misery that can only be cured by grease. It comes along only once in a while, and that Saturday the craving for a cheesesteak was there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When a new cheesesteak joint pops up, it's met with skepticism in Philadelphia. The greatest cheesesteaks in Philly are legendary and have staked (see what I did there) their claim on the city decades ago. That said, in times of distress convenience trumps reputation and so our venture to Jimmy G's steaks began.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An order of a cheesesteak (American w/ onions) and french fries was placed. While we waited for our food we helped ourselves to sides of the array of peppers and pickles available to all customers no charge. After a short time our food was ready, our names were called, and we were ready to indulge. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite the chilly weather, we were able to dine outside which meant that Harry was able to join us. The outdoor area is enclosed during the winter months and kept warm with portable heaters. The foo and I sat across from each other on red picnic tables while Harry sat at the head enamored of our spread.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jimmy G's steak was up to par. Featuring chopped steak rather than the tear through it with your teeth type at Pat's, it was easy to eat with just enough grease and cheese melted throughout. The french fries were hot, crispy, and thick cut graced with perfect saltiness. Normally a cheesesteak lunch isn't about decadence, but facing the hangover and the stomach bug I was about to get in just 4 hours, this was the most decadent experience I had the entire week. Happily I engorged myself while Harry stared.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The cheeseteak cured my hangover, but it couldn't cure nor was it the cause of the GI fury that was took over the rest of my weekend. Jimmy G's was not only a steak to be revisited, it was the gleaming, radioactive, surging highlight of a terrible 48 hours.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-82822732863384993342014-03-06T10:12:00.000-05:002014-03-06T10:12:13.233-05:00Snow Dog<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's been a hard winter, right? Snowstorm after snowstorm is preventing Harry and I from getting in our much needed runs and all of us from getting along since we're stir crazy and grumpy. The only cure for a grueling winter (besides an early summer) is watching your pooch go nuts in the snow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of the best things about the dog park is that it's not plowed. Which means when we go we get to watch all the dogs play in the snow together. It's like a totally new dog park! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While we froze on the sidelines, Harry scrambled around and around the dog park encouraging his friends to chase him. Since snow covered the entire surface of the dog park, there were no more boundaries. Benches were definitely base as usual, but there wasn't a differentiation between turf and non-turf so mutts were everywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">With the new terrain pooches were slipping, sliding, and tumbling in the snow. Yellow snow was made additionally yellow as other dogs noticed it, which made for easier navigation than usual for us humans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A couple weeks later when it snowed almost a foot in Philadelphia, Harry and I visited an open area so he could run around. Harry likes deep snow a lot more than regular old snow, and had a great time romping in it. So although the weather makes us grumpy, we might as well enjoy it while we have it, like Harry does!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Harry goes NUTS.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-70734599887790888792014-02-26T17:03:00.000-05:002014-02-26T17:03:05.644-05:00Harry Turns 2!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Although his level of maturity is still that of a 7 month old, on February 18th Harry turned two years old! Being a Tuesday I felt like a bad mom for having to work all day on Harry's birthday. The bad feeling magnified when Harry poked me in the eye with his nail first thing in the morning. And then tripled in size when I threw my back out that afternoon. Harry had to go without a special birthday walk, but his cooperation was rewarded when it was time to do presents and "cake".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You see, Harry knows exactly when his birthday is and what it entails. He wagged like crazy in the morning (his favorite time of day) and by night he was snuggling soundly on the couch anxiously awaiting Dad's arrival. When Daddy came home, birthday fun began!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since Harry's been on allergy trials, I couldn't make him <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2013/02/pupcakes.html" target="_blank">pup-cakes</a> like I did last year. Instead, I found the most luxurious food on his <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2014/02/allergy-update.html" target="_blank">allergy testing list</a> and saved it for birthday week. What's more luxurious than chicken? Than beef? Than salmon? Lamb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And so lamb it was, but it couldn't be just any lamb. For Harry's birthday it had to be special, and it had to have a candle in it. Using about a pound of lamb, I divvied it up amongst a muffin tin, using about 1/4 cup of lamb per muffin well (side note, what do you call one muffin spot on the muffin tin?). I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees and baked them for about 30 minutes which was enough time to get the internal temperature to 160 degrees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After letting them cool, I popped out one lamb-cake for Harry and made it birthday special with a candle. His Dad and I sang to Harry in his birthday attire (which he loved) and Harry waited eagerly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The lamb cakes were a hit, and Harry quickly swallowed a second before we began presents. Thankfully, we killed two birds with one stone (allergy trial and birthday cake) without Harry being unsatisfied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harry received a bag of presents and a card from his Dad and I. The card doubles as a bone and it was the first thing Harry completely destroyed, eating it within two hours. In case you can't see, it says "World's Best Mutt" because that's what Harry is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While Harry read and ate his card, I helped him open the rest of his gifts in enthusiastic fashion - ooohing and ahhhing over every item in the mysterious brown bag. Harry sniffed each item with wide eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We spoil him. Harry was overwhelmed with his toys and quickly ate one of them (his tire) in one evening. One of his favorites (aka my favorite) was his neon running vest which he begged to try on as soon as he got it (still me). Now when we go running together at night time, Harry is a professional!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For a weeknight Harry definitely had a special birthday with his family. He spent the rest of the night in toy heaven, comfortably perched on his bed surrounded by his new acquisitions. In human years, Harry is 14 - so it'll be on his third birthday that we really throw him a rager. He grows up so fast!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-75394405053183459842014-02-18T07:39:00.001-05:002014-02-18T09:39:02.444-05:00Adventures in Re-Upholstery<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My hands hurt. An obsession with mid-century furniture and a can-do attitude led me to the purchase of two Pepto-Bismol vinyl rolling kitchen chairs from Craigslist. This past weekend I put my heart, soul, and fingernails, into revamping one of them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">She ain't the cleanest biddy, but I saw potential in her gold rolling feet and funky shape. I firmly defended her place in our house, and am still working on a case for her sister.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Without a clue as to reupholster something, I learned as a deconstructed - which is where most of the hand hurt came from. Starting with unscrewing the base and later prying at least 100 staples out one by one, I took note of every detail of the chair's original construction in order to figure out how to put it back together. The details were documented with pictures which served a purpose to me as a reference point and also as a blogging demonstration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When I got started, I started to realize that the top of the chair was going to be way more challenging than I expected. This was going to be a reupholstery situation where I needed to use my sewing machine. My sewing training consists of one class taken to create a grocery tote bag...so I was intimidated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pulling out staples was some serious grunt work. I cursed the manufacturer for grouping staples in twos and threes (but forgave them later when I stapled in the same method). I used a flat head screwdriver to pry and needle nose pliers to pull each staple out. When I got an especially tricky one to burst loose it was equivalent to the satisfaction of popping a zit, or what I imagine a dentist feels like when he pulls a tooth. I was enveloped in staple prying madness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Above are the top and bottom parts of the chair completely disassembled. In the photo above that on the right is the part of the chair that wraps around the middle of chair back. It was by far the trickiest part of the job. I saved every piece I pulled off of the chair and used them as a stencil to trace on my new fabric from <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/KaryLynns" target="_blank">Etsy</a>. The arms were literally sleeves that I sewed together and pulled on like I was dressing a very stubborn child with amazing bone strength.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here we are on Saturday afternoon with one sleeve on the chair. I didn't take any pictures of my tracing or sewing because most of them would have been me with my butt in the air on the rug with a face of sheer determination and confusion. My brain worked so hard that weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And here she is with two sleeves! The next step to secure these would be stapling them on the edges, but I wouldn't do this until I created the middle section, just to be sure. This is where I left her on Saturday to move onto social activities. But she stayed with me. She was all I could think about. And on Sunday morning I went to her.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here is the completed middle section of the chair back. It was so hard to get this part right. The original part looked as though the vinyl was covering the piece front to back but with a section of the back cut out (pic reposted for comparison purposes). I attempted to mimic the original but to save fabric sewed four edges onto my curvy stencil. It was sloppy and I had to revisit it several times to get it just right - wrapping it around the chair to see if I covered all my angles, even cheating by pinning some parts directly to the foam. This step is the one I am fearing most if I decide to go the re-upholstery route with the chair's twin sister.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another tedious but rewarding step was figuring out the tufting on the chair. I started to freak out when I saw through my deconstruction that there was a metal rod going through the front and back of the chair. Any tufting experience I had (I did sew fabric buttons on some cushions last summer) was done with needle and thread. Eventually I figured out that if I really twisted and pulled hard, one end of the tufting needle would come off. I also double checked that this was normal by laying on the floor googling tufting techniques. Phew, at least my chair wasn't a FREAK.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I covered the vinyl buttons with my fabric and a glue gun, tucking all edges underneath so nothing would peek out. It was a nice change from laying on the floor being puzzled. Glue is easy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At last, the scariest part of upholstery, it was time to staple the beast. This turned out to be less scary and more exhilarating than I anticipated. I picked up a cheap staple gun at our hardware store for $13 and 3/8" 10mm staples. That means that the staple legs (I'm making this up as a technical term) are a certain length (3/8"), and you want longer ones for upholstering. Following the same method I witnessed during deconstruction, I pulled the sleeves taught, stapled them in, and began wrapping the middle section around the chair back. Every time a staple went in nice and flat, I found myself starting to grunt "YEA." I also felt that staple gun noises made me sound badass....unfortunately the Olympics was turned up so high on TV that the foo didn't hear me in all my glory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was able to slip my hands in through the sides to help me re-tuft the chair by finding the original holes through the wood and guiding the pins through. When I finished I was jumping. The hardest part was complete! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At this point I was determined to completely finish the project. I worked so quickly that I didn't stop to take pictures of my process. All I needed to do was trace the base cushion and create a cover. Similar to how I made a <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2013/04/diy-doggy-bed.html" target="_blank">dog bed</a> for Harry, I made the bottomless cushion. However I was in for a treat when I attempted to squeeze the foam in and staple it to the base of the chair. It seemed that as I left the foam out, uncontained by it's former vinyl barrier, it grew. I swear it because when I look at the pictures of it on it's wooden base as I had just took it apart, they're the same size. But when I put it back together, the foam dominated the chair base. It took a lot more grunt work than I anticipated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Some intensive cleaning of the metal frame and the chair was ready to reconstruct. And there she is! It was the proudest I've felt in a while...definitely patted myself on the back for a good ten minutes, and then visited her every hour just to see if she liked her new home. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There's a before and after shot. I love how the minty green is a complement to the dark teal walls in our second bedroom, and the light yellow pattern is a contrast to the damask rug. I'm obsessed with her and now I have to decide if I should do up her sister the same way or do something different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And of course, as this Harry's blog, he was a very good foreman while I completed the job. Periodically he checked in, but intelligently kept his distance when I was in a staple gun fury. He's happy to have a new friend in his bedroom.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-9902719524042514932014-02-11T11:31:00.001-05:002014-02-11T11:31:48.755-05:00Allergy Update<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As promised, I'm following up on Harry's allergy diagnostic testing (I sound SO smart). Over the past three weeks we've tested Harry on cheese and chicken with varying results. Testing involves including the variable ingredient in Harry's "constant" of hypo-allergenic food. After getting over a neck rash associated with testing him on his Blue Buffalo dog food, we were ready to introduce a new ingredient to Harry's repertoire.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Cheese Test could be done with any cheese, but we chose to use Cottage Cheese since he loved it so much on his <a href="http://whenharrymetshannon.blogspot.com/2013/02/pupcakes.html" target="_blank">birthday last year</a>. Breakfast and dinner were met with such excitement you would think we had just told Harry he was going to Disneyworld. Just 1/4 cup was added to his current meal and then we waited. We observed Harry for a week while he consistently ate cottage cheese for dinner. At first everything seemed fine, and then his right eye got crusty. As the week went on it got oozier and crustier and his hair appeared more dried out than it has been. Then the itching began. While he never has stopped licking his paws, he started itching with his back legs more frequently than normal. The results were in, Harry is allergic to cheese.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It took another couple of weeks to clear Harry's system and wait for his symptoms to go away. He spent that time eating his hypoallergenic food and hypo treats. The next ingredient we tested was chicken. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Because we only are testing one ingredient at a time, it's important to make sure the cooking methodology isn't introducing anything new. In order to prevent oils from getting into the chicken, we boiled it in water. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cooking was simple. Place boneless skinless breasts in water, bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cover for 20 minutes. Drain chicken, and then shred. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We added 1/4 cup of chicken to Harry's breakfast and dinner for a week, and then observed. Chicken dinners were almost as exciting as cottage cheese dinners...I guess Harry loves what he can't have.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dinner was gone in approximately 30 seconds, and Harry didn't seem too bothered by anything for the entire week. He performed the same mouth wiping rituals as he does after any dinner and licked his paws just the same. Only this week (he's been back on hypo food for a week and a half now) are we noticing a small rash right next to his hoinky. I don't think he's allergic to chicken, but the rash is suspicious. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since Harry's birthday is coming up, I'm saving a special ingredient to test him on his birthday week. Lamb! Hopefully it doesn't result in a horrible allergic reaction which would be terrible for a second birthday party!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-74231799445072222862014-01-30T12:18:00.002-05:002014-01-30T12:18:37.453-05:00DIY Tutorial: T-Shirt Rope Toy<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In my recent quest to reorganize everything surrounding me, I've purged a decent amount of clothes. Finally, I let go of my pre-2007 sorority t-shirts and race tees from 2009. But then a <a href="http://bloggingcornerblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/diy-braided-basket.html" target="_blank">Pinterest tutorial</a> of making a basket entirely of T-shirts caught my eye and I held onto all the T-shirts I was about to trash...and I made this:</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4BBb_LBbu-0/UuhhYPwxjmI/AAAAAAAAH5o/nrHD4vS3AJY/s1600/14+-+1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4BBb_LBbu-0/UuhhYPwxjmI/AAAAAAAAH5o/nrHD4vS3AJY/s1600/14+-+1" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It also doubles as a hat in a very <a href="http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/56451/Erykah%2BBadu.jpg" target="_blank">Erykah Badu</a> fashion. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for Harry, I didn't need all of the T-shirts I thought I would for said tribal water carrying basket. And as I was braiding together t-shirt strips I thought that it might make a cheap (aka free) and functional toy for Harry to play with. And so, the tutorial for making a rope toy out of old t-shirts was born. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Materials:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 T-shirt, but for a multi-colored toy you'll need as many t-shirts as you want colors</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To start, use sharp scissors to cut your t-shirt into 2 inch wide strips. For one rope toy you'll need nine strips. You might be left with a T-Shirt loop depending on where you cut your strips. If so, turn that loop into one long strip.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Take three strips and secure them together. Either knot them (but not too tightly-you'll untie it later) or rubber band them together. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then, begin braiding one of three braids. Braid until you can't braid any longer and secure the end with knot or rubber band. Repeat these steps with the remaining six strips, creating three braids in total. This project is "no-sew" but I did use the thread holder on my sewing machine to hold down my T-shirts so I could braid them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When you've finished creating your braids secure all three together with a rubber band. Then create one thick braid comprised of three individual braids.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSeTSuu97F4/Uuhgd9KzECI/AAAAAAAAH6g/mopLK_qvA1o/s1600/14+-+12" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OSeTSuu97F4/Uuhgd9KzECI/AAAAAAAAH6g/mopLK_qvA1o/s1600/14+-+12" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once you reach the end, grasp the end and tie a knot. Make sure it's extra tight because this is sure to be the area your pooch will gnaw on. Repeat this step on the top end that was rubber banded together.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Trim any extra long pieces hanging out of your end knots and present to your pet. Then prepare to receive kisses and love for being super thoughtful and crafty!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-14748396052108011802014-01-17T16:15:00.000-05:002014-02-12T09:37:51.315-05:00Harry Hors D'oeuvres: Resolution Cookies<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's the most wonderful time of the year when everyone lists their goals for the new year! For many people, getting healthy and working out are top priorities. Sometimes the preface for this lifestyle change is a juice cleanse. Since a full cleanse was not something my body (mainly my mind) could handle I have been having a juice a day for about six months now. Juicing every day leaves you with a ton of juice pulp. I feel very guilty disposing of it, so I've researched all the different ways I could use it from carrot cakes, muffins, mixing it into pasta sauces, and even composting. That left me with a massive amount of baked goods that were too tempting and led me to turning them into healthy treats for Harry!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">To make these super healthy treats all you need is juice pulp and a food dehydrator. I use a produce bag inside the bin of my juicer to collect pulp and keep it in the refrigerator until it's time to make treats. Any juice pulp can be used to make treats so long as it's not on the <a href="http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/foods-are-hazardous-dogs" target="_blank">doggy do not eat list</a> (no grapes). The first round I made was carrots, apples, and celery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's my mega bag of pulp saved after just 5 days of juicing. You can imagine how much I end up with - such a waste!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pulp is pretty moist (sorry, I'll try to never use that word again). You really don't need any binding ingredient to hold these together through the dehydration process. This is what makes utilizing your juice pulp fabulous for allergy prone dogs. Harry's cousin Jager was allergic to wheat and eggs, but these treats were safe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Get your hands dirty by grabbing a palm full of pulp and shape them into bite size balls. I made mine slightly smaller than a golf ball. Layer them on the trays of your food dehydrator, and if need be, press them down or re-shape into smaller balls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You may end up with chunks of apple or some veggie/fruit flesh that didn't get completely devoured by your juicer blade. These will dry up just fine. When you're through with the pulp, turn the dehydrator on medium and leave it for about 8 hours, or until significantly dried out. The more moisture there is, the less time these will keep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After they've dried out, pry them out of your dehydrator and bag them up for your pooch. As they're super nutritious, it's hard to feel guilty treating your pet. Beta-Carotene in carrots can boost your pet's immunity as well as provide anti-oxidant and eye health benefits -- plus they taste sweet!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harry has yet to try a "Resolution Cookie" as he's still in allergy testing mode, but his cousins sure enjoy them!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269907918210866215.post-17483787297800841062014-01-10T14:48:00.000-05:002014-01-10T15:57:26.078-05:00Fur-Angels<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Losing a pet is a heartfelt loss. When you're a caretaker, pets are your babies. Harry is my son (also my snugglebug, angel-baby, and wild man) and a part of our family both immediate and extended. I can't imagine how I would react losing him and I prefer not to think about it. But when a family dog passes away it's something you do think about. Earlier this week, Harry's fur-cousin Jager went to dog heaven after giving us 10 years of love. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a sudden loss, as Jager was older but not visibly unhealthy. Because it was so sudden I know that my family is still processing it, and I hope my little post moves them towards remembrance and acceptance. Jager was adopted as a baby, only 7 weeks old when he became a part of my sister's family. He was one of the first puppies Harry's Daddy had extended contact with, as I would use our time together as an excuse to visit my sister and play with the puppy. He had super sharp teeth, was playful, nippy, and for the only time in his life, very small.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">He expanded into a huge German Shepherd, nicknamed Big Boy, with an unlikely fondness for stuffed animals. Jager's gentle giant status was something that always made us all laugh as he'd lay his head on his "woobie", a leopard print stuffed animal shaped like a bone and fall asleep. He had an entire toy bin of perfectly intact animals that he'd play with in rotation, always keeping woobie closeby. Jager was also a big fan of water and the first family dog in a long time that actually wanted to go swimming (the rest my sisters and I would force into the pool with us). As soon as the cover was off the pool (and sometimes when it wasn't) Jager would sit on the steps, splash water with his paw and try to bite it mid-air while yipping in delight. Then with the command of "go swimming!" he'd plunge into the water do a lap towards the deep end, turn around, and return to the stairs for more splashing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jager was also the first family dog to endure dog allergies. Not only was he a finicky eater (he required us to hold the bowl while he ate) he became allergic to wheat and eggs as well as pollen among other things. Luckily he had a nurse mommy who tended to his every need and even gave him weekly shots to ban the allergy symptoms. Yet another trait of Jager that made us all laugh---the intimidating German Shepherd with a fondness for stuffed toys who also eats duck for dinner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Just like Harry, Jager joined a human family and a dog family. When he first arrived he had an Uncle Chase - our family dog since I was in third grade - and during his tenure he had cousins Lucky, Karma, Boomer, Jack, Joey, and eventually Harry arrive. Jager both played with and disciplined his fur cousins with some backyard romping and a few disgruntled growls when his cousins were out of line. To Harry, Jager was both a grown up to look up to and a buddy to play with. As Harry joined us for more and more family gatherings, he started to know Jager's name at home when we'd ask him if they played together. With a cock of the head and a wag of the tail, we knew that Jager meant something special to Harry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As a dog mommy, I know there are also personal moments that are unforgettable about your pet. For me, it's when Harry consoles me when I'm sad or goes in for an extra hard nuzzle when we're snuggling on the couch. It's also singing and talking gibberish and English all morning, afternoon, and night to someone who doesn't talk back. So I can imagine having a quiet home is especially heart wrenching after a loss. </span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The great thing about pets, and dogs especially, is that they love unconditionally, they don't judge, and they are always happy to see you whether you've been away for two minutes or two days. They live their short lives to a fuller extent than humans, as if they know what their purpose is the second they arrive on Earth. Which is why when they leave us, although it's sad and we miss them, we know that they ultimately lived a good life with the people they loved the most. So although we're sad to say goodbye to Jager, we're happy that he led an awesome life and left it peacefully, surrounded by his devoted and caring family.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17441507738945685377noreply@blogger.com0