Who Let the Dog Out?

Me. I let the dog out. My worst nightmares coming true!!!!!! But before I tell you that story I should start at the beginning. The Single Gal had to go to Savannah Saturday night for our friend Little A's engagement party after our morning run. So she entrusted the Housewife household with taking care of Hogan. Which was apparently a big mistake on her part. (Just kidding. We really are seasoned pet owners we are just out of practice since Bailey has passed on from this world. She was blind in her last few years so she never strayed far in the end and would not run away.)

We picked the H-Man up on Saturday and no worries. He's visited here before and #1 quickly began following him everywhere and doing her "woof woof" speak and pointing at him. She loves dogs. A lot. Thankfully Hogan tolerates her shenanigans very well and shares his toys with her. Sunday morning we wake up with relatively little drama from H-Man that night. We get everyone ready to head out of the door to church and we are loading #1 up in the car so I run back inside because I want to make sure I "doggy proofed" everything that Hogan might think is tasty or fun to tear up. So come in my laundry room from the garage and go move two things and head back out but I pause........WHERE IS THE DOG???

Panic, panic and more panic. I hit the laundry room and the damn door is OPEN!! Why????? Who left the friggin door open? (ME! Stupid Housewife.) Turtle is waiting in the car at the opposite side of the garage and I fly through the door and spy Hogan just past our other car at the top of the driveway. Major panic now. I can't breath. How could this be happening? For those of you who don't know Hogan is a runner should he be let off the lease or escape the clutches of your home. I'm thinking the Single Gal is going to spike my head on a pole for this. The Turtle is highly confused as he sees me bolt down the stairs  in my skirt and boots chasing and yelling for the dog very much like Julia Roberts in My Best Friends Wedding when she is running after Michael who is chasing after Kimmie. Oh the drama.

So the dog bolts. Turtle gets out of the car and I run in the get the collar and leash and he goes after the dog. I yell at him because I'm not seeing enough sense of urgency. And he tells me no wonder the dog kept running because I'm yelling like a lunatic and chasing after him. True, I think to myself. So he goes off and I get the car and do a round and luckily when I'm coming back down the road Turtle has at least gotten Hogan back up on our street even though he's still lose. I jumped out of the car and calmly and rationally got the dog. Thank you baby Jesus. Disaster averted. Then as Turtle and I drove to church we debated the pros and cons of telling the Single Gal.

The Housewife aka Professional Dog Chaser

Dog Lady

Hi, I'm the Single Gal and I'm obsessed with my dog. But I'm sure you knew that.  Anyway, I scheduled a small family portrait session for myself and Sweet Hogan a few months ago and we had our shoot a little over a week ago and I have been dying for the proofs.  Seriously.  I thought I would die before I saw them.  I tried to show some of them to Hogan on my computer when I got home but he still just likes to do "dog stuff" like play with Nasty Squirrel.   And, I don't think he was cut out to be a model because poor guy slept for the entire afternoon once we got back from our adventure in photography.

Love and Sunshine

Our photographer was the lovely and talented Kaylan and she is based out of Atlanta.  She is super organized, totally nice, and gorgeous.  She was so nice to put up with my dog-lady self before I even had my morning coffee. 

View here website {here}.  Stalk her fun {blog} like I do. "Like" her page on Facebook.  Check out all of her lovely work.  Hire her for goodness sake!

You can find lots of our proofs on her blog from {our session}, and I will leave you with a few of my favorites, even though I love them all.

That's right, Hogan can do "Blue Steel". 

Besties.

~black and white~

<3

Happy Tuesday Y'all! It's a bit gray in Georgia this week but I hope you find sunshine, love, and happiness in something before the week is over. 

~the single gal~

Party Like It's 1999

OR........like you have to run 20.5 miles for marathon training BEFORE having #1's first birthday party this  Saturday. Yeah. Seems like a great idea. I'm only starting to mildly panic about the party prep (or lack of prep).

Gah. The Turtle and I have not even started to practice her smash cake yet. Not to mention now I want to make some of these adorable rice krispie treats for the party guests as well.  Similar to these except minus the additional hooker pink glitter on the top. Seriously, it's like clear heels on a stripper. Bad accessorizing rice krispie treats, bad.

I'm either doing to do a plain pink smash cake or a Cookie Monster smash cake. This doesn't look difficult at all does it?  I'm sure I can whip it together in a few hours perfectly. Right? The Turtle's mom made all of their cakes for their birthdays when they were growing up. Not just some cake with icing and piped on "Happy Birthday" but elaborate cakes. Therefore Turtle says "we" should make it. Does your husband or boyfriend ever "we" you? I get "we'd" all the time. ( "We" should change the sheets which equals the Housewife changing them.) As the Single Gal and I say it's about to be Cake Bossy up in here. #1 will probably cry because her cake is "looking at her." I'm kind of freaking out just looking at this picture of six cupcakes staring at me. They really do look like they are coming to get me.

If you need me I will be running errands to pick up party and baking supplies and when I'm running on Saturday I'll just pretend these cupcakes are chasing me with their large weird eyes and a cookie in their mouths.

The Housewife

Dress to Impress. And eat some protein for goodness sake.

Hi. I hope the Single Gal kept you entertained while the Housewife family was on vacation. Everything was wonderful with a few minor annoying details. Good news is #1 started walking while we were away. I mean, I guess it's good news. Someone asked me about it and I said, "Well either she's chasing me around the house or I'm chasing her."

We vacationed with Turtle's entire family and we had decent weather for most of the week. The only storm cloud seemed to be that certain family members didn't think we feed #1 enough protein and her pajamas were too small. I JUST bought her new 9 month pajamas people. I can't help that she is a little long for them in the feet and legs. I will take you to the baby store and show you the 12 month size that frankly looks like it's meant for a small giant. They are way too long for #1 right now. While I realize these comments were meant with love in their hearts I did get tired of the protein question by the 5th time it was mentioned. AGAIN. Over and over. Then the comment "I guess there are vegetarian babies out there" comes out.  Look, #1 just won't eat a lot of meat right now and generally the pediatricians say they get most of their proteins from the formula/milk. I'm not worried about it. Peace protein.

LOVED the beach. LOVED it. 

Back to the point of this post. The first birthday party is quickly approaching and I promised a sneak peak of the birthday girls attire. Again, it's not perfect but it's not too shabby for someone who didn't know how to sew a button on anything before making it. For real. Before I started sewing I mentally made a list of all the things I knew how to do. I can cut the grass, blow the driveway off, weed eat, and drive a five speed. (Obviously I can do more than that but I was thinking more of the "life skills" that I have.) I figured I was more suited to learn how to run a tractor than figure out how to use a sewing machine. But now I can sew. I clearly need to acquire more "housewife" like skills.

Ignore my dirty front door. 

There you have it. And can I get any shout outs for it not being pink??? I think the birds are darling. It reverses to polk a dots. She will probably have to wear some little white bloomers under it because the hem is a little shorter than I would like in the back but that's okay.

The sewing machine repair man called yesterday. Looks like it will cost more than what my vintage machine is worth to get it in good working order. Please send donations for a new sewing machine.

The Housewife

"I Don't Want No Scrub..."

So, I come home the other day and I am utterly horrified and embarrassed to find this in my mailbox: 

Yeah. That's right.  I seriously got pegged with a singles flyer.  A direct mailing and not some internet ad.  So I come in the house and I am thinking to myself, "Sweet Jesus.  Is this what rock bottom feels like? How did they find me? How did I get on this list!"  Basically,  I am standing in my kitchen dying a small death on the inside... 

...And then I turn the card over.  Sweet baby Jesus it was addressed to my neighbor and clearly put in my mailbox by mistake! 

At first I was relieved, but then I was super offended. I mean, Neighbor Pete was arrested for murder last year.  Murder people! I mean, I guess it's still alleged at this time....pending trial and all. (Note: I don't live in the ghetto, this is just a weird "All My Children" story-line that seriously occurred in real life -- basic love triangle, mistress and lover [Neighbor Pete] are just trying to be together and set mistress's husband's house on fire oops her husband just happened to be found dead in his burned up house.)  Anyway, this basically ends up bringing several concerns to the forefront of the "Single Gal Worries" section of my brain: 

• Why is neighbor Pete getting this mailer instead of me? He is clearly a murdering Scrub. Or rather, a Scrub suspected of murder.
• I will obviously be doing background checks on potential mates...which could get costly.
• I need to start praying harder to Little Baby Jesus if I am going to find someone to "put a ring on it" that's worth a damn. 
• Life isn't like all those songs Taylor Swift keeps releasing. What a liar. 

I'll be pondering these questions and more this week while I am busy putting down 32 miles over 3 days for the start of another really hard training block for the marathon with The Housewife.  I would complain, but I am pretty enthusiastic about the post break-up work outs I now have time for because I love to get "revenge hot".  And this time I mean business. It's not that I wasn't completely fabulous before, but I am seriously in the throes of getting Kate-Middleton-I-Told-You-Prince-Will-That-You-Would-Come-Crawling-Back revenge hot.  I figure running 19 miles on Saturday has got to have some sort of lasting benefit. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Gear Up

Our weekly mileage is really creeping up into serious double digits these days. We will probably be looking at 30-40ish miles per week until a few weeks before the marathon. It's only right that we share some of the things we love that help us through those long (and sometimes short) workouts. I'm not going to post our specific running shoes for one reason; you need to be fit for the shoe that is good for YOU (no more picking shoes because they're pretty). We recommend going to a local running store that specializes in this and they can hook you up with shoes that are like running on clouds.

shoe that fits you

Again, everyone is different but if you're going long you need fuel. This would include a fuel belt and getting calories back into your body. I prefer a larger water bottle instead of four little tiny ones. That little bottle attached to it is to fill with gel (see below) so you don't have 400 gel packs and trash to get rid of while you are running. We certainly don't condone littering on this blog people. Save the planet. 

Nathan Elite Plus Fuel Belt

Power Bar Gel Strawberry Banana

This is our flavor of preference because I can't seem to stomach the Vanilla flavored ones at all.......or anything chocolate for that matter either. This flavor also has caffeine in it.........and who wouldn't like a hit of caffeine when you're running insane amounts of miles??? Also, when you buy these at the grocery store it never fails that the cashier will question what they are and what the heck they are for. 

Last but not least the infamous Nike Tempo Track Shorts are the go-to for us when we are out sweating to the oldies.  It's hot in Georgia most of the time and hey, you really need something that dries out fast if you sweat like we do!  These are awesome and worth the money.

And here's the PS for you. I won't explain it; I'll just let you figure it out. This is a must have product though. Trust me. 

Happy Running! What products do you love? Can't live without something? Let us know! Also, anyone know much or tried these Sweaty Bands headbands? We have read great reviews but still don't believe there is a headband out there this cute that doesn't slip!

~The Single Gal and The Housewife~

Sunday Funday = Monday Bumday

The Housewife has seriously been wearing me out with all this running! I was so tired from 17 miles on Saturday that I made a lackluster attempt at having a few cold ones on Saturday while we were watching football (Sooooo sad about The Dawgs!).  On top of that I was a little overzealous yesterday when I was @Phipps Plaza patio lunching and shopping with my bestie EBM (does it get any better?). Ok, I was really overzealous.  A bottle of wine and 1 vodka soda later we happily ate our Tavern Chips and cruised the mall for hours.  Except that I felt like utter, complete poop today at work.  Seriously--I think I drove into work with the sweats at 7 this morning. I had to put the air conditioner on full blast for my entire commute. And I am a morning person tried and true.

No joke, this was the brand of Sauv Blanc we were drinking.  Should have listened to that label -- but this could be a legitimate instance where "no means yes". 

In reality, other than the accomplishment of the longest run of my life (to date) it was really not a productive weekend for The Single Gal -- unless you count the awesome Lilly Pulitzer sale items I snagged at Belk. A lot of DVR was conquered, some laundry, and a serious day o' fun with a friend on Sunday.  But here are few things I totes meant to put up last week when I never got around to blogging. 

Found a new Essie color -- "Over the Edge"! I am seriously obsessed with all things gray and this shade is so gunmetal without being too Twilight...I think. What are your thoughts -- is it too "Sons of Anarchy"? Does my hand look fat because I cut part of it off in this photo?

Starting a new collection for the gold stack. Sure, would I love all the new Michael Kors stuff? Cha. But Hogan would be starving if I bought any of them. And me too, probably. These beauties can be found at your local Forever 21 store. I know the panthers/jaguars/whatever that is are kind of out there. Fashion is hard y'all. I'm taking some chances these days.

Also, currently reading and fairly disappointed in the following:

One Day by David Nicholls

 

Now I'm off to prep some beach necessities for The Housewife -- ironing some cover-ups for her and making a pile of goodies for her to wear while on her vacay.  Now that I am back from St. Simons and most lake days and pool days are gone with the advent of Fall it is only fitting I send them with her for one last voyage.  After all, all good things must come to an end -- even this blazing hot summer we have had in Georgia this year.