Nashville's Dog Day in the park

i took phyllis to Dog Day in Nashville's centennial park on saturday. No priscilla because Travis is out of town and i can't carry them both at once. I really excited to go, but it was just ok. You had to pay 5 bucks to get in, and there were dress up contests and vendors and food and music. Maybe it would have been more fun if i hadn't been alone.



we saw a few pugs and i contemplated buying a dog stroller. i don't know if i'm ready for that though. haha.  i feel like i would be explaining to everyone that we have it because they are both disabled and can't walk a long way.
phyllis loved getting some attention and she liked all the treats people gave her. and she LOVED the huge dogs. there seemed to be tons of great danes/mastiffs and phyllis always wanted to go meet them.
there was bad traffic on the way home, so i took lots of pictures of phyllis while we waited. seriously, she is so cute it KILLS me.




so, if you are in nashville and tempted by dog day, it's really not worth 5 bucks. save that for pugfest ;) (i cannot wait for pugfest!! only 6 weeks away!)

Saturday Caterday

the pugs get most of the photo love around here but i have cats too! scout loves to hang out in that window.


and here is mr. handsome, murray hewitt himself.

can't resist grabbing those paws. even if it just gets me clawed. with love of course.

and i saw this sign today. i really can't fathom what the last word is supposed to be. and the "correction" under it makes it even less. clear. what do you think it is supposed to say?

Collection 1: Salt and Pepper Shakers

i love looking at the things that people collect, so i thought it would be fun to share my collections! First up, my salt and pepper shaker collection.this is most of it. there are a few new shakers that aren't pictures, but my collection is mostly about vintage (and animals apparently.) I find it really easy to tell when shakers are vintage vs. modern but when i try to explain it i have a hard time. you can just tell by the way it is made. but if you flip them over you can find some easy clues:

 made in japan and cork bottoms will almost always guarantee a vintage find.  occupied japan is even better.
 i don't look for valuable/rare stuff, i just pick up stuff that i like. like these little owls painted like parrots. i usually only like to pay a few dollars a set as well. you can find all kinds of cute sets at antique malls. i don't find many good ones at thrifts or estate sales


you don't have to pass up a shaker just because its mate is missing. just make a cute new set. i loved that cat, and the donkey just kills me. what a sweet pair they make!

a friend gave me this pair as a thank you for watching her boyfriend's dachshund! isn't that cute? chloe might be staying with us again soon! i can't wait!

another gift from a friend. i love that they are obviously squirrels (check on the acorns in their hands) but they were painted like skunks, with halloween cat eyes! i actually saw these a few times at a favorite antique mall but always resisted. then i got them for christmas! perfect!

 i love vacation/tourist sets too! i have a few from florida.  orange flocked pigs with magic wands make you think of florida right? so that is part of my collection! i think we have around 30 sets. we display them on little house shaped shelves in the "cat hall" (where the litter boxes are) very glamourous. if you like salt and pepper shakers, and find yourself in gatlinburg, tennessee, definitely check out the salt and pepper shaker museum. there are THOUSANDS of vintage shakers all arranged by theme. a whole huge case of food! and holiday! and travel! and owls! we will definitely be back on our gatlinburg trip this fall.

a to z

this little survey has been going around lots of blogs lately (i think i saw it on katie's pencil box first. I haven't done a survey in FOREVER so I thought i would join in on the fun.

A. Age: 26 

B. Bed size: full. a little too small for two people.  

C. Chore that you hate: scooping the little box. hanging up clothes (i don't mind folding)

D. Dogs: i love dogs so much. always have. every dog every where. 

E. Essential start to your day: brush my teeth, put on my glasses. kiss a pug. 

F. Favorite color: bright red and robin's egg blue

G. Gold or Silver: silver

H. Height: 5’6″ (i think)


I. Instruments you play: i can play blink 182 songs on bass guitar. i can read music and pick out a tune on a piano. i played bells in the middle school band. 

J. Job title: body care buyer at whole foods market

K. Kids: none. maybe never. 


L. Live: nashville, tn

M. Mother’s name: Renita


N. Nicknames: raecus p., dog (my best friends and i call each other dog and doggy unironically but i was the original, haha), dr, strange pug (a friend at work let me borrow dr. strange love and i hated it, he has called me that ever since) raezer blazer (by my dad), rae rae 

O. Overnight hospital stays: not since i was a baby. 


P. Pet peeves: people who ask "do you work here?" when i am wearing my uniform and stocking shelves


Q. Quote from a movie: “Don’t dream it, be it." 

R. Right or left handed: right.


S. Siblings: one baby brother. he is 24. 

U. Underwear: those cheap ones from target

V. Vegetable you hate: parsnips.


W. What makes you run late: the internet. playing with the dogs. packing lunch. playing pokemon on my ds in the car before i go in. 

X. X-Rays you’ve had: teeth.
 my knee when i fell at work and they went overboard making sure it was ok. 

Y. Yummy food that you make: i'm really good at making soup. and cookies. and cakes. and scrambled eggs. 

Z. Zoo animal: any babies. and meerkats. and coatis. and pandas.

feeling less like summer

today the weather was so perfect. the high was 69. it was perfect pug weather. i took phyllis and priscilla on a walk down our road and a nice lady pulled over to talk to me about them. she said she had a pug at home. then she asked me how i could tell mine apart. which is pretty silly. firstly, one only has 3 legs. second, one is half as big as the other. and third, they really look nothing alike. we walked down past the middle school and back and they didn't pant at all! so nice, i wish it was always this temperature.
i felt like it was shame to go inside once we got home so i brought out a quilt and read. our yard is fenced but i don't ever leave them back there alone. maybe i'm paranoid but better safe than sorry. bug spray for me and home made bug spray for the dogs. it is just geranium oil in water. it works great! i didn't see a single mosquito near them. and it makes them smell good. i'm reading the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fford. if you are a book nerd you will love these books. The first one on the front had a blurb that said something like "A mixture of buffy the vampire slayer, dr. who, and harry potter." Awesome right? and i had to include a picture of my dog walk clutch, which is the first thing i ever bought online, over 6 years ago! it is the perfect size for my keys and a little poop bag. i want to make one with a pug on it. phyllis and priscilla were cracking me up sitting back to back, on alert. Whenever they would hear someone talk nearby Phyllis would take off and bark like crazy, and Priscilla would stay and guard me. that banged up pipe is the air supply for our tornado shelter. yeah, like the one in the wizard of oz! it makes a little hill that sticks up in the middle of the yard, it is perfect to lay back on and read. i laid on my stomach to read and priscilla couldn't resist plopping down right in front of me. it was so sweet. we stayed out for almost an hour, until it got dark and a little cold. now they are passed out on the couch, snuggled up against either side of me. and all three cats are in the room with me too! pretty awesome. whenever this happens i get really excited and travis rolls his eyes at me. haha.

Betty's Birthday!

this weekend we went to hayti, missouri for travis' grandmother's 80th birthday! that is a pretty amazing milestone for anyone. almost her whole family was able to attend.
 

here she is in one of her school pictures. i love it! you can't read the cake very well but it says 'prettiest girl", the superlative she won in the eighth grade. how cute is that?

  hayti is a very small town. we walked around the square while we were waiting for her party to begin.     most of the stores were abandoned.       at first we thought this cat was stuffed.     nope! just mad!     betty's cake.     the party was at her church.   i loved watching the slide show of old family photos. this is betty and her husband bruce. grandma betty is moving into a smaller place so we were able to look in her house for things we wanted to bring home. she has saved all kinds of amazing things! and lots of them have family history. now we have lots of things that were made by travis' grandmother, and her grandmother. the history makes the beautiful vintage things even more precious.  

  i can't wait to share all the amazing things we brought home!

there isn't much exciting to report around here this week. it has been raining (and cold!) for the past few days, and i'm in the middle of working 8 days in a row. blech! i have been spending my afternoons snuggled up on the couch with the pugs, watching sad movies. it has been lovely. i also went to see the new miranda july movie (the future) a few days ago. i really loved it. and cried a few times. and laughed a LOT. this weekend we are going to missouri for travis' grandmother's 80th birthday. we have never driven ourselves there so i'm hoping we can make a few fun stops on the way! if you have any suggestions let me know! we are going to Hayti. the girls have been LOVING the rain. not going out in it, you have to practically force them, but they love to be dried off! they run around like crazy and bark and chase each other. it is so cute.

Vintage around the house

you might have noticed that i haven't posted many vintage finds lately. that is because we had lots of unexpected expenses lately so i haven't had any fun money to go out searching. so i thought i would post some of my favorite vintage that i haven't posted about before. and some that i have had since i was a little girl! to start, here is the Kron lamp i bought at pugfest last year! i got it in the silent auction for only 17 bucks and was SO HAPPY. i can't believe no one else wanted it! look at how creepy it is lit up! if you look to the left of the lamp you will see another one of my favorite vintage things in my house.. the owls are from an antique mall. when there is a real fire in there, their eyes glow! the fire in there was left by the previous owners of the house. i am kind of obsessed with it. when you turn it on the light flickers and it makes crackling noises like a real fire! kind of. that is the bottom. the metal stripes are what makes the noise and makes the light flicker. it is so so cheesy and perfect. now i just need to find a good fireplace screen. they used to sell one that looked like the graceland front gates but they don't have it anymore. my grandmother (on my dad's side) sent me the oil lamp recently. it belonged to my great grandmother, who i am named after! i love the reflector on it. she also send me the cookbook. it belonged to her when she was a young mother. i have actually been looking for a good copy of that book and how special to have one that my grandmother used to feed my dad! every page has cute illustrations or great tinted pictures. and my favorite, it has recipes she cut out of magazines in it as well. love it! these kittens were given to my brother and i by my great grandfather when i was a small child. they were made in occupied japan. the cat planter in the background was given to me when i received the bed that my grandmother (on my mom's side) slept in as a teenager! we sleep in it today. it is a little small for two (it is a full) but it is so cute i don't want to get another bed. this is a picture of that same grandmother on her wedding day. this is the only picture they had taken! i never saw this picture until my own wedding and i love it so much. it is just perfect. i have it on my mantle now. these two items didn't belong to anyone in my family but they are special to me because they are my first garage sale finds. i can vividly remember my dad taking me to a yard sale on our way to my friends house, and letting me pick out a few things. i was probably 7 or 8. i have treasured this box from the toledo zoo and this Airedale terrier for almost 20 years! i love that the ceramic dog was a souvenir from memphis!