surgery day

Maren, soaking up the sun by the window for a nice nap.

Little Maren had to go in at 8:00 am for surgery today; she is being spayed. I'm pretty sad about it even though I know it's the right thing to do for her and for us. I hated leaving her there and she had this puzzled look on her face as I walked away. Many fat tears slid down my face on the way home, but I know she will be ok. The nurse promised to hold her little paw through it and, knowing her, she will.

UPDATE**** Maren is doing great! Thanks so much for all the well-wishes! She was pretty out of it when we came home but she's already almost back to her old self today! She just has a tender belly and can't jump on things (which, of course, she keeps trying to do). The nurse informed me she DID in fact hold her left paw the whole time (and then decided to trim all her nails while she was at it).

Angel Lily

We decided to get a new plant...an angel lily. I wanted something that would flower all year long but be basically easy to take care of and this fits the bill. We also found a cute pot with a peacock on it at Anthropologie (at a great price for heavy ceramic) to put it in. It makes the kitchen much more homey and the sunny window sill now has life-sustaining purpose!

busyness

A random pile in my office; pencil case from Koch Handbags.

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I've been so absent. I've been so busy with business that I've had to put any blogging to the back burner. I'm back and I'm loving the nice warm weather! We took advantage over the weekend and went hiking on both Saturday and Sunday; both in different spots. Maren loved it...getting to see all the people and all the other dogs she's never seen before. We even passed by lots of people on horseback. It was nice to get out into nature and away from the television or computer. We've decided to reconnect through hiking a lot more from now on. Sometimes I get so involved with my work endeavors and with blog-reading that I forget to enjoy living my life. I forget to slow down and notice everything around me. To stop and enjoy my husband and pup. These things, in turn, will inspire me later. But I have to stop and MAKE TIME. And more importantly...DO SOMETHING. I like it!

Tuesday Inspiration

Chris and I went for a walk this morning and it was so nice to enjoy the weather and just be outside. There were pretty little blooms falling off the trees everywhere so I grabbed one and put it in a glass to float. I also love this page from the latest issue of Elle Decor magazine...I love the different fabrics on the couch and I also love the grass wallpaper on the wall. You can click on the image to see it larger. I would love to do a small part of a room in that paper... Busy day; I'm off to continue to check items off my "to do" list, including printing my next stationery set design. Happy Tuesday!

Summer Sun

The weather has been amazing lately! So warm yet not humid. Trying to enjoy it while it lasts. I had my first reflexology appointment today and it was amazing. It's the use of foot massage and working certain areas of the feet and ankles (and sometimes hands and ears) to balance the inside of the body and thus treat illness/imbalance. I have tendonitis in my right hip and chronic pressure hives so I thought I'd give this a try since nothing else works to help. My hip felt immediately better when I left; and we'll see how things go with the hives. I have to go back a few more times so we'll see! It felt great and I highly recommend it. I had a follow-up doctor appointment for my other recent issues and the doctor thinks things are going beautifully. I'm finally putting the whole thing behind me and am excited for the future. I'm trying to stay positive to bring positive things into my life. And finally, I got notice that I'll be getting the plates for my new limited edition designs on Wednesday. I can't wait to work with them! But tomorrow I'll work on my new stationery prints for my shop and do some administrative work for my business. And onward we go!