Throw Some Glitter, Make it Rain

"And in the end, its not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years"

I am officially 26 years old, as Jamie would say, I am more that half way to 50. I had an amazing birthday, despite the fact that I was sick (just a hoarse voice and throat). Thanks to my husband, parents, in-laws, and best friends, I had the BEST birthday to date... so I guess 26 ain't too shabby!

We ate at one of my all time favorite restaurants, Pappasito's. If have ever been on vacation for a while, I crave this place when I get back to Houston. In fact, I am craving it now just typing about it! We all met at the restaurant and they put us in the back room which is pretty secluded, but that makes it so nice! We only had 12 people in our group, but we needed an extra small table for my cake and gifts, and I guess there was no other large party because no one else joined us in the room which could have easily held 3 more groups our size. Loved that!

One of my best friends, Adriana, came. She was my college freshman roommate, and we are still great friends. We don't see each other as often as we would like, even though we live in the same city we are 45 minutes apart! Crazy!!

My other best friend, Traci, came as well. We were roommates senior year at Baylor, and I wish that we would have found each other way earlier! I also don't see her as often as I would like, but we have the best time when we do get to hang out!

My great friend Christy also came, and I was so glad when she said she could come! We have known each other for about 13 or so years, and she is the person that even though I may not have even talked to her for a year, we can hang out and it is like no time has passed. We pick right back up where we left off, and it is so wonderful! The main reason I am so glad that she came is that she is moving to San Diego in a couple of weeks and we really won't get to see each other often after that! I am definitely planning a summer trip to visit her!

My amazing hubsand worked really hard to make the night special for me. I have been talking forEVER about how I wanted a nice birthday cake this year, he picked out the perfect one! Loved it!! He also put up with me giggling with friends all night and taking a billion pictures (remember by New Year Resolution?) and he didn't complain one time, in fact, he even said he had a great time!

My beautiful parents also made the night special. They said that since Tim hosted the cake, they would host the dinner. They also got me what I had been wishing for since Christmas, my new MacBook Pro!! I am still getting used to it, but I think I will get the hang of it...you should have seen me trying to put in these pictures into the blog... not pretty!

All in all, it was the best birthday dinner/party I have ever had! Close friends and family is all that I need, and I got that! Happy Birthday to me!!

OCD Dog?

Can a dog be OCD? I think that mine is. You know how some OCD people act totally normal except they have to tap the light switch 1o times before they leave the room? Well, I think my dog is one of those kinds, kind of a 'mild' OCD. You see, he has these little quirks that my husband and I put up with, but when with friends and the conversation turns to him, we always notice that we say, "Oh, he does this really weird thing..."

One of the wierd things is that he will not get out of his kennel, unless he first grabs his toy. His HUGE toy. If we have confiscated the disgusting, smelly stuffed animal, he will grab is other go-to 'toy'. I say 'toy', because it is really a blanket. But he has a way of stuffing the entire blanket into his mouth so it is really balled up pretty nicely. I always take him to potty immediately after releasing him from the kennel, but I don't want the toy to go outside, so I take it and toss it aside from the door. He will go potty, and careen around the door to get his toy of the day.

The other wierd thing that he does is that he will not...... go number 'two' until he has had a drink of water! I am totally serious! He will walk circles around the house, his clues that he has to go, but when we take him out he won't go. Then we give him water, and he will go straight to his corner and go!

I don't know, OCD? Maybe. Wierd quirky dog? For sure!

Canine Inspiration

Dog Silhouettes

I have been reading a blog called Epoch Elly, and she recently talked all about how vintage inspired silhouettes are making a come-back in today's design. I am not a designer, and barely manage to have 75% of my house decorated, but when I see an idea that I like and that I think I can recreate..... well, darn it, I re-create it!!!

Here is how I made my dog silhouette art:

1. Find a picture and make a silhouette out of it. You can use one of your own, or search online like I did. I found a silhouette of each breed of dog that I own, and projected it on paper in my classroom. Then I traced it.

2. Next you cut out that tracing so that you have a tracer to work with on the color of paper that you ultimately want to use.

3. Trace this silhouette on the color of cardstock/scrapbook paper that you will want to use in the end. I went back and forth on the idea of having the decorative paper as the actual silhouette, or the decorative paper as the 'matting' around the silhouette. I even bought extra paper so I could try both. I ended up wanting the actual silhouette itself to be darker and defined. I went with a rich chocolately brown which can be found all over my house.

4. Cut out the background paper to fit the frame window. I used an 8 X 10 frame that I found at my 2nd home.... oops, I mean Hobby Lobby!!

5. Place the silhouette on the background, and then put it all in the frame. You are done!! All in all, it took me about an hour. Not bad!

Here is a finished product! This one is Bailey, my basset hound mix.

At the top, you can see all three of my puppies' silhouettes, Texas a Great Dane, Bailey the Basset mix, and Sophie the chihuahua. I will hang them all together somewhere.....