Tam-uh-ruh

This weekend I will celebrate the birth of my dear friend Tammy. 9 girls are going to a beach house in Capitola :)

Here's what my life without Tammy would have looked like (not a pretty picture):

• I would not have danced in City Gate.
• I would not have worn a toilet seat cover around my head in a public place. Or made out with a Ronald McDonald statue. Or played with a fire hose on the roof of a building. Or swim with water wings... in college. Or sit in the back of a police car. Days of Virtual Criminal Activity would not exist.
• My goat island would have a few less residents.
• No Lost Savior Tour for our band.
• I would have probably weighed 10 lbs less in college. ;)
• I would never have met Frank or little Sam (oh my heart!). 
• I would not have met my husband.
• I would be short 1 really amazing friend.

Happy Birthday, Tammy. ily lots and lots. 

Reggie loves his Auntie Emily

Smoooooooch!

Myriah

My little love

As most of you are well aware, I really like my puppy. With Greg working full time and starting grad school last year, I told him that we needed a dog - that I needed a dog.

So began my search. I looked on petfinder.com - no luck. Local shelters - no luck. Local purebred rescues - no luck. Craigslist - kinda scary honestly. I had no idea it'd be so difficult. Most shelters/non-profits wanted an in-home evaluation. I'm sorry, I'm not trying to hide anything and I understand their intentions are good, but that's way too intrusive for me. Then my friend Elizabeth told me about her coworker's brother's beagle who'd gotten out, gotten pregnant, and just had a litter of puppies. She showed me this picture:

I claimed the little boy puppy (3rd from the left) with the white chest within seconds.

Elizabeth brought Reggie and his brother Rocky (who belongs to our friend Nick) home to us just a few days later.

Reggie was just 2 months old at the time. Now he is a wise, mature dog at the age of 8 months. ha! Not really, he's just as hyper as ever :) But he has changed and grown a lot. He's graduated:

He's made tons of friends, both human and animal:

Dakota

Jenn

Luke

Auntie Stef

Riley

Joseph

Lulu

Molly

He's gotten into trouble:

(Sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate a video on here)

But mostly, he's stolen our hearts:

It's a big world out there. I'm so glad I get to be the one to see it with you, little buddy. 

Myriah

Thanks x3

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink..." Thanks to my Phrase a Week newsletter, I learned that this phrase was recorded as early as 1175 and appears to be the oldest English proverb that is still in regular use today. It means that people, like horses, will only do what they have a mind to do. Isn't that the truth.

I think it's a good phrase, but I much prefer: "You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think." :) Thanks for the hilarious rewrite, Dorothy Parker.

And finally, thanks, Tammy, for telling me about Na Blo Po Mo. I might not post every day in November, but I'll at least get one in this month! <3

Make Your Own Jamba Night!

Eek! It is currently a sweltering 87 degrees in the apartment (at 7pm!) and I wanted something cold for dinner. We have absolutely nothing available to make a salad...

Sounds like a Make Your Own Jamba Night! This is something Mom and I used to do growing up in yucky hot Sacramento. (Only we didn't call it that... I don't think Jambas existed yet.) On top of being a light and healthy meal, you can use up random ingredients that you have in your kitchen.

For example, tonight I used:

rachel's cherry black current yogurt

nonfat milk

honey

nutmeg

cinnamon

vanilla

banana

almonds

peaches

applesauce

ice

Here's the final product

Try your own combination and enjoy your yummy creation!

Confession: The straw is mainly for show... The smoothie is definitely too thick to use a straw!

Cute Overload!

Please enjoy this out of control cute picture of Mom's dog, Molly, wearing her raincoat.

The lining and buttons are yellow duckies.

I NEED A DOG, people.

Curtains!

If I knew all along how cute curtains were, I would have done them years ago! I had no idea where to start (12 feet is a lot of window!), but thank goodness Greg's mom is a curtain master. She came over fully equipped with drill, stepstool, measuring tape, and all the essentials! After a trip to Bed, Bath, and Beyond we were ready to go. A few hours later, this is what we came up with...

I'm still trying to decide how I want to hang the scarf (the horizontal piece) but I think it looks super cute! Any ideas?

Note: I also really really want tassels (gold!!), but fear they are too corny. Agree/Disagree?