September 2, 2011 - Flashback!

This photo from September, 2008, is of Tom, his sister and his niece on the ferry to Ellis Island. They were visiting and we had a really fun day doing all kinds of tourist-y things... including the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side (I recommend it highly!)

September 1, 2011 - Flashback!

Ok, this is pushing it... I have no idea when this picture was taken - but, I scanned it on September 1, 2007 so it kind of works. This is me and my dog Toni from probably around 1975-76. I got her in 1974 after my brother was born and named her after Tony Orlando because I thought "Tony" was the coolest name ever. She was an incredible dog and just a wonderful soul.

August 31, 2011 - Flashback!

From August, 2007... Hurricane Irene reminded me of the 2007 tornado that passed right by us and tore many trees completely out of the ground. Here's a shot I took walking around the neighborhood that morning.

August 30, 2011 - No More Leaks

Since we moved into our house, we've gotten little bits of water in the basement whenever it rained. Our bathroom contractor offered to seal around the base of our house, so we were thrilled when one of his guys came and did it just before the hurricane.

We still had one little stream of water on Sunday, but it was much less than I expected based on previous rainstorms and considering how long the rain lasted. I'm guessing there's just a spot that got missed, so we'll take care of that too & this is what they used if anyone is interested in sealing their own place.

August 29, 2011 - Irene's Aftermath

Brooklyn escaped almost any major damage from hurricane Irene, but we did have a few trees knocked over. Here's a shot of one that fell in my neighborhood.

August 28, 2011 - Napping

So. Sweet.

August 27, 2011 - It's Hurricane Day!

It's really sad to see the mess that Hurricane Irene left behind... but this isn't her fault. This mess has been left behind the house next door to us for months! (It became the dumping ground during some renovation work they did earlier this year.)

Tom and I spent some time prepping our back yard to secure stuff in case of strong winds and were worried that all this crap could start getting flung around. I didn't want to try and move anything and possibly get blamed if somebody else's property got damaged from it, so I took this in case something did happen and anybody asked to see a "before" picture.

Luckily, nothing happened.

Unluckily, all that crap is still there.

August 26, 2011 - Bread Panic at the C-Town!

When people realized a hurricane was a-comin' to Brooklyn, they swarmed the local supermarkets. At our neighborhood store the bread aisle seemed to get hit the hardest. This is what it looked like at around 8pm.

August 25, 2011 - Flashback!

From August, 2009... When Tom I bought our house, we knew we wanted to get new windows. This is a shot of them getting installed, including a re-framing of the porch windows. It was definitely worth it - they look great and our heating bills got cut by about a third!

August 24, 2011 - Sofa Time

Proof our sofa seats four comfortably

August 23, 2011 - Where's Scrappy?

Scrappy likes to hide under chairs... can you spot him?

August 22, 2011 - Scrappy Likes Cuddling

Scrappy is really a cuddler and he loves getting scratches and belly rubs... it's just hard to do it and take a picture at the same time!

August 21, 2011 - Three Little Pugs

You knew this was coming at some point, right?

08/20/2011 - Flashback!

From August, 2008... Our realtor hired someone to take this photo when we put Tom's condo up for sale. Doesn't the room look awesome?? Doesn't it look like a fantastic place to live?? We're sure glad someone said "Yes"!!

August 19, 2011 - Back to Work

Scrappy is a good helper at the office!

August 18, 2011 - Little Buddies

Tom stayed home with the dogs and sent this... AWWWW

August 17, 2011 - Lazy Dogs

This speaks for itself

August 16, 2011 - Flashback!

From August, 2007... Tom and I spent a weekend in Las Vegas and got to stay in a ridiculous suite at Bally's (because of some problem with the room that Tom was supposed to get when he arrived.) It was decorated in 70's fabulousness and besides an incredible view of the strip, it had 2 separate lounge areas, a bar, a dining room table, a hot tub in the bedroom & a huge steam-shower with 2 entrances... good living!

August 15, 2011 - "Oh, Howard"

"Oh, Howard"
my reaction to his sweet face when he's sleeping

August 14, 2011 - Foxy & Scrappy

Foxy & Scrappy have a somewhat complicated relationship. They mostly ignore each other, but at times there's a lot of growling for dominance. The funny thing is, Foxy has pretty much given up her Alpha role in most cases. It's kind of crazy that this little 13-pound bag of bones has taken over the house in a week, but it seems to work for everyone so we'll just see how things develop.

August 13, 2011 - The Underbite

I've mentioned Scrappy's horrible teeth a couple times, but he does have a pretty awesome underbite!

August 12, 2011 - Howard & Scrappy

It wasn't hard to guess that these two would be hanging out together before long...

August 11, 2011 - The Four Musketeers

The newest member with his brothers and sister.

August 10, 2011 - Scrappy and a Bone

Scrappy has horrible teeth, and doesn't really like to chew stuff too much... but I caught him working on a bone one morning and it was really cute.

August 9, 2011 - Scrappy at work, Day 2

Another day, another dollar.

August 8, 2011 - Scrappy goes to work

Since we weren't sure how Scrappy would do at the house all day alone with the other dogs, I decided to bring him with me to work. I'm really lucky that my office is so dog friendly, and it was great that so many people were around to give him lots of attention.

August 7. 2011 - SCRAPPY!

As most of you readers probably realized... this blog has been sorely neglected for the past month. The reason? This little guy who showed up in front of our house on Sunday, August 7th. Tom and I were heading to Home Depot and this tiny, severely undernourished pug was just sitting on the sidewalk by our driveway. We ended up taking him to our vet first to get him checked out since the local rescue place wasn't open yet, and while we were waiting in the lobby, he started growling at some big dogs, prompting the name, Scrappy. All checked out pretty well with the Dr. who guessed him to be around 8 or 9. She didn't find anything obviously alarming (except for his teeth and his weight.) He had a patch of missing fur on the top of his head too, but the Dr didn't think it was anything to be worried about.

After the vet, we planned to drop him off at Sean Casey Animal Rescue, but we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. We decided to see if he could get along with our dogs, and keep him for at least a little while. Of course as you can guess, a month later he is here to stay!

It's really heartbreaking that someone treated him so poorly and we both think someone purposefully left him at our house knowing that we had pugs. But, we feel lucky - he's a sweet, sweet dog and we love the newest addition to our family.

August 6, 2011 - Flashback!

So this photo is from August, 2006 - when Foxy and I lived in Park Slope. She used to jump over the radiator so she could sit on the windowsill and look at squirrels all day long. It was really cute and sweet.

August 5, 2011 - Oysters!

A bunch of us from work headed over to Maison Premiere in Williamsburg to enjoy $1 oysters on a summer Friday - it was crazy and wonderfully excessive!

August 4, 2011 - Brooklyn

I took this photo on the way home from dinner at the intersection of Coney Island Ave & Cortelyou Rd. There's nothing specifically interesting about it, it's just my neighborhood in the middle of Brooklyn. But even after living in NYC for twenty years, it still excites me that I'm in this crazy city and that this is my everyday world.

August 3, 2011 - Flashback!

One of my favorite photos... Howard and Sean from our trip to the Hamptons in August, 2007. Tom, the dogs & I drove out for an overnight getaway to celebrate Sean's birthday and we all had a great time!

August 2, 2011 - Random Subway Photo

Hmm - this is one of those photos that happened because I was on the train and thinking, "I haven't taken any pictures today. I better take one now just to make sure I don't forget." Ta-da.

August 1, 2011 - We're Ready to Go Outside!

I had the dogs wait at the top of the back stairs while I was unlocking the door so they could go out... they wanted me to move faster (and stop taking their picture!)

July 31, 2011 - Howard is Chillaxed

I don't know if Howard is really watching TV, but he sure knows how to get comfortable on the sofa!

July 30, 2011 - VA Road-trip

Colleen did a show in Arlington, VA, so Tom and I travelled down with her for a very quick Saturday-Sunday road-trip. The show was at the Signature Theater in the Village at Shirlington (which is a cute little 4 block mini-town development with restaurants and shops) and afterwards we went to the Village's Irish pub* with our dear friend Pat for Irish nachos** and celebratory drinks! I don't remember what Colleen was showing Pat in this photo, but the night was full of laughs and we had a great time.

* the Village boasts a couple dozen restaurants in a very small area, and they all have the same sort of "This is the - fill in the blank - place" feeling. Besides "the Irish Pub place," we went to Guapos ("This is the Mexican place") for lunch, and Carlye Grand Cafe ("This is the Nice Restaurant place") for dinner, but we also saw the Italian place, the Thai place, the Bistro place, the Burger place, the Coffee place, the Yogurt place and more!

** Irish nachos are basically potato skins with cheese, sour cream etc etc... I don't really care what they're called - other than regular nachos, and chili, these might be my favorite food.

July 29 - Cheers!

From dinner at the Farm with Tom!

July 28 - Flashback!

Another day without a picture... the heat must be getting to me. Anyway, you're actually lucking out because instead of another 11pm picture of the dogs sleeping on the sofa, you get this fun photo from July 2007 when my brother and sister-in-law came to visit with my niece & nephew (Ann & Jack.) The twins were dream guests for Howard... new tug-of-war challengers!

July 27 - Subway Dawg

Dogs are not uncommon on the NYC subway, but usually I only see them in people's arms or in carriers. This guy was just hanging out & keeping cool!

July 26, 2011 - Safety Photo

It was almost midnight and I didn't have a photo for the day... luckily Tom was sweet enough to pose with big baby Howard.

July 25, 2011 - Sleepy Heads

'Nuff said

July 24, 2011 - Almost Ready...

Lots happened in the bathroom over the weekend. We've got a new potty... we've got a new sink... we've got new shower hardware & a new light fixture!!! It's all very exciting and I think a ceremonial ribbon-cutting is close at hand!

July 23, 2011 - Know What This Is?

Any guesses? No, it's not a little tomato... it's a sugar plum! And now I know what to get visions of at Christmas.

July 22, 2011 - Flashback!

Arrrgh! Another day without taking a picture - and I did fun stuff too... I met my friend Katie for a drink after work, I also met up with some friends after that to celebrate my friend Andres' birthday, plus I had a yummy burrito for dinner and watched most of Toy Story 3 with Colleen at home (and yes, I was crying at the end.) But, somehow no picture. Oh well - to the archives!!

This flashback photo is from July 2009 - I took a bunch of black & white shots of the dogs on our porch one afternoon, individually and a few of all 3 together. My favorite individual shots from the day are hanging in our hallway, but this is my favorite group shot.

July 21, 2011 - Gelato Memories

Tom and I went to Italy with his sister and niece last July and had a fantastic vacation. We saw beautiful sights, ate incredible meals and just had a lot of fun in general. And one of my favorite memories is thinking about the countless number of gelato places we tried (and we tried MANY,) including Grom - a popular chain in many cities. We went to the Grom in Sienna & I remember thinking it was one of the best (if not the best) from the entire trip. BUT... I didn't know until a couple months ago that there was a Grom in NYC!! And it's walking distance from my office.

I've resisted stopping so far because daily gelato runs on vacation are great - but in real life they could be trouble.

July 20, 2011 - Hucky's Hat

Hucky let me take pictures of him with Flower Baby on his head... awwwwwww!

July 19, 2011 - A Great Fortune!

Remember when I told you about the dumb fortunes I seem to get all the time? Well, today I got a great one... especially considering today is the day my love life became famous ;) !

July 18, 2011 - Mesa Grill

I caught up with my friends Deb & Anthony for lunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. We all took advantage of the special restaurant week menu and I had the following:
1) Cod Fish Cakes
2) Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno (pictured)
3) Mexican Chocolate Pudding
It was all delicious - the food and the company!

July 17, 2011 - Sunday Nap

I caught Hucky taking a little nap in one of his favorite spots...

July 16, 2011 - Foxy & Sneaky (#4)

Foxy spotted a kitty hanging out in the very back corner of our yard and chased it behind the garage. There are lots of cats in the neighborhood and I've named all the ones that look like this Sneaky (in honor of the one that snuck into the house and lived in the basement for a few days our first winter.) I have no idea how many individual "Sneakys" there really have been in the past 3 years, but 4 seems about right.

July 15, 2011 - We Have A Floor!

Work continues to progress on the bathroom, and the new floor looks fantastic. It feels like we are getting very close!