Dear Neighborhood Pet Store,

Today I felt like the biggest piece of sh*#. Raising a dog is much harder than it looks and sometimes I just feel like I'm doing it all wrong. Today I feel broken and confused. I'm not sure if this is normal, I'm not even sure how to fully process what has happened today. Or I might just be over reacting and taking it too personally.... Which is likely.  Is this how it feel to be a parent? I can't fathom how I'm going to feel when I raise a tiny human.

Dennis and I both work full time so Newman is home all day by himself for the most part. So our weekends are great to wear him out and play all day with him. This week he has chewed on my favorite throw pillow, and chewed a hole in our brand new rug... That we didn't even have it for a full 48 hours until he got ahold of it. With the start of the week already in shambles, I'm not surprise what was to follow.

Newman is wonderful at home with just the two of us(and the cats), but when we get in public he cannot contain his excitement. I swear he's a different dog. once we leave the house I'm a nervous wreck. 

So here I am Pet Supplies plus, apologizing.  I want to say sorry for the mess I left in your store and the sceen that occurred. Newman is only a puppy I am a new doggy mom and we are still learning how to behave in public. I understand we looked like a hot mess together, but I promise you we are working on our behavior every day. Newman does not get the privilege to go in stores and outings often, and I'm sure you understand why after we left.

I want to thank you for having such a wonderful toy isle. Newman seemed to approve when he had to pick up every ball in sight and throw down on the floor, causing them to bounce throughout the store. Oh and the stuffed toys, those were great too. He managed to get slobber on one in result making me have to buy it. It of course had a squeaker... we try to stay away from those, because I can't think straight when Newman chews on one all night.

After we somewhat composed ourselves we headed for the checkout lane.... I just needed out of there.  With parents hiding their children from the tiny lady trying to keep her dog on all fours was a no-brainer. I don't blame them. 

Back in the car I lost it. How could something/someone I have such a bond with completely ignore me and disrespect me in public? I was humiliated.

This must be how it feels for parents when their children throw a tantrum in the candy isle at Target. But at least your child is small enough to pick up and carry out of the store without everyone watching.  I can't carry my 55 lb pup with a bag of kitty litter in one hand.

Once I got home and let out a far share of tears I managed to forgive my turd of a dog and go on with my day. This experience, in the long run opened my eyes to let me know that he needs more training and how to act in public places. And it just doesn't happen over night.  We are working on this and will conquer it one day. We promise.

It just might take us a couple weeks.

Girls Night In: Painting Party

Finally the boys are out of our hair so the ladies can get together and get wild.... or just stay in and drink wine, snack on some cheese and grapes, and simply catch up on whats new. Thats exactly what we did this weekend and it was lonnnnng over due. 

Last weekend I decided to put a fun spin on a "girls night in" with some diy painting. I see ladies all the time going out with their friends to Wine and Canvas, all painting the same picture with an instructors help. Well, I decided I wanted to do something similar, but with a little twist. In fact a little fall twist. Thursday  marks the first official day of fall so what better way to celebrate than to paint pumpkins! 

But with this painting session we are painting with no instructor, 100% on our own and some of the ladies struggled with this, but thats what made it fun! With us all having different skill levels made it fun to help each other when we were stuck. I like this idea better than having a professional instructor tell you what to do. Personal preference. 

I'm pretty sure my home is a walking talking Hobby Lobby and Target commercial. Check out my IG page and you would agree too. Everything decorative is from one or the other stores. It's a problem I know, and I'm fully aware.... I just don't plan on fixing this issue in the near further.

Unlike the Wine and Canvas classes, here I wanted us to paint something different, but within the pumpkin theme. I had the gals pick out their picture and I went to Fedex and printed them off. If you are a student they give you discounts and sometime if you're only printing off a couple copies they don't charge you. Sometime. The staff there have been nothing but fantastic overtime I visit. Getting these printed was a more decorative reason, but also to help us look at something while we attempted to paint.  

I still can't decide if I bought these beauties for a center piece or because I was treating myself. I'm a sucker for flowers and I can't remember the last time I've been blessed with a bouquet... until now. 

Pinterest is the best place to find inspiration for any new project. The ladies and I searched for the perfect pumpkin painting that we thought we would love to have hanging in our homes.

These lovely plates are from the Fall Spirt collection at Target and they are adorable for any fall party. These perfect grey and gold tones make the table so inviting and festive. I'm in love. 

Coming up with an excuse to see these ladies is easy, but finding the time with our busy schedules is a little challenging. I'm so happy we were able to do something new and even though some of ours didn't turn out like we hoped, it was a blast painting together.