bleak to chic

A new year's resolution

2012-01-11T09:09:00.000-05:00

Neither Matt nor myself are really big on making New Year's resolutions, but this year we do have a major dream: to move to a larger home (or at least save a hefty chunk of money to do so in 2013).

In July of 2009, I became a first-time homeowner when I bought my rowhome in the Canton area of Baltimore. I knew I wanted a fixer-upper with lots of potential, and I got just that! Walls were torn down, hardwood floors installed, bathrooms remodeled, and the list goes on!

I also knew that this wasn't going to be my "forever" home, but rather, a step towards climbing the property ladder.

Matt and I are right in the hustle and bustle of Canton Square, where there is a plethora of restaurants, bars, and local shops/businesses. We're a 5-minute walk to Safeway, Starbucks, and Rite Aid, to name a few. At one point this past month I was having trouble uploading photographs with my card reader and walked to Radio Shack where I was able to have the problem resolved within minutes. Long story short, we LOVE being within walking distance to all the conveniences.

Another major pro is being so close to our friends. Most live in Canton or Fells Point, so we can either walk or take a short cab ride and be at a party or gathering within minutes. Oh, did we also mention we're just a few blocks from the Harbor? Sunset walks along the promenade in the summer are perfection....

Above: My old roommate Gina and me along the Harbor (June 2010). Fun fact: She later moved back to NYC to pursue her PhD!

So you're probably scratching your head... why would you want to move?

And at times we wonder ourselves...

But there are a FEW THINGS WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO:

1. More indoor space

Our rowhome is a bit on the small side compared to other Baltimore rowhomes. Coming it at just under 1,000 square feet, we've had to sell/get rid of furniture that wouldn't fit in the living room or bedrooms. The narrow width of the home has also cramped my decorating, and I dream of designing a layout for a room that isn't long and narrow.

At the moment we have a 2-bedroom house. We currently have the 2nd bedroom serving as both an office and a guest bedroom. However, since the bedroom is on the smaller side (note the recurring theme), we can't fit both the desk and full bed and bedside table; thus, we've compromised with a futon set up. Oh how I wish to have a permanent bed fixture in there... our guests deserve a great night's sleep when they visit! In addition, at this time, there is not enough desk space in that room for us to fit the printer in there, so currently the printer is set up in the hallway 10 feet away. With the growing success of my photography business, I've been having to spend more and more time at the home computer, and I'd love to have a dedicated space to work in where I have the room to keep everything photography-related in one location, as opposed to dispersed through the house. We'd love to have a separate office space and a separate guest bedroom space. Ideally, we can find a 3-bedroom home in our price range!

2. More outdoor space

Matt and I love to entertain. Our back patio can comfortably fit 8 people probably. If trying to fit any more than that, people have to stand up. In the summertime, we often have to open the back gate and let the party guests to spill out into the alleyway where we set up things like cornhole. If we had more outdoor space, we would throw many more parties!

Since adopting Addie, we also yearn for a grassy backyard. When we visit Matt's parents large fenced in backyard, we can see just how much she loves running around and exploring. I can just envision plenty of summertime BBQs with a larger backyard!

We also enjoy gardening. While we did our best this past summer by buying pots and beds, we couldn't overtake the back patio with gardening accessories or else we'd have no room to just hang! We want a place where we can plant more flowers, herbs, and vegetables. Yum yum!

WHAT WE'RE HOPING FOR:
1. Larger home, preferable single family... if anything, a WIDER home!
2. Older home with character
3. Backyard
4. 3 bedrooms or 2 bedrooms + office space
5. Fixer-upper... I love the creative process of truly making "a house" into "our home"

THINGS TO CONTEMPLATE:
1. The housing market is obviously not in its best shape right now. We plan to have an appraiser or realtor come through the house in the spring just to tell us how much they think we could sell our house for. If it's way below what we were hoping for or if we wouldn't be able to sell it for more than what we owe, the idea of selling would pretty much be thrown out the window. While we might not be able to sell the house for an *awesome* price, we hope that we would be able to BUY at an *awesome* price.

2. Moving away from the conveniences of living right where the action is. We probably wouldn't be able to walk to the grocery store, the pharmacy, our friends houses, etc.

NEXT STEPS:
1. Finish off any small projects that would make the house more sell-able. Topping of our list includes the following: a new front door, hardware and mail box, new stainless steel kitchen appliances, and paint touch-ups.

2. SAVE SAVE SAVE. Ideally, we'd love to put down a hefty down payment and have enough money leftover for any cosmetic changes and furnishings. We've already been saving, but it's time to get into high gear and really buckle down!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-03T08:16:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great time ringing in the new year!

2011 ended on a great note. Our last post detailed our latest foster puppy, Holly. She stayed with us a week, and with each passing day, Addie grew more and more comfortable around her. By the last couple days, they napped on the couch together and Addie even tried to play with Holly!

I did catch a few photos of them snuggling on the couch. It all started because they wanted to sleep in the same sun spot.. and eventually led to a bit of cuddling.

Holly tried everything she could to get Addie to play with her. She wriggled around on her back to try to wake Addie from her slumber, to no avail.

So finally Holly decided to nap as well..

In the last photo, Addie thinks if she puts her face further into the couch corner, her annoying foster sister will leave her alone to sleep in peace.

We had a great time watching Holly, but she's now onto her next foster home until she's big enough to get spayed and adopted out. Now that we're both back to work, neither of us have the time to dedicate to taking care of the puppy plus Addie. While Addie grew to like Holly more and more with each day, she is glad that a new year brings new found peace in the house with no foster siblings!

Temporary foster Holly

2011-12-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't think we'd foster again until we moved to a bigger home with a backyard, but that's not the case. We took on our first foster since officially adopting Addie!

A week or so before the holidays, we received an e-mail from MABB:
Foster Homes Needed: Last week, MABB received several desperate pleas from local shelters that were overflowing with puppies. In just three days, MABB rescued a total of 16 puppies! We still really need foster homes for some of them, especially over the holidays, as many of our foster parents are out of town. Please let us know if you can foster a dog or puppy, even if it's only short term!

I so happened to be fortunate enough to have the entire week off from Christmas through New Year's, so I knew I'd actually have the time to commit to caring for a puppy. In addition, we thought Addie might get along best with a small puppy as opposed to an older active adolescent. So I let the rescue group know we were a go for a temporary foster.

Last Monday, I picked up Holly (previously named Jupiter). She's an adorable 9-week old(ish) boxer mix who wants nothing more than to snuggle up on your lap or play with her reflection in the mirror. This is my first time ever taking care of such a small puppy (our family dog was 3 when we got her), and I was expecting the worst: constant crying, pee/poo accidents, off-the-wall hyperactivity. Holly has proven to be such a cute little puppy! I'm surprised by how well behaved she is for such a young thing. She has been so pleasurable to foster... so cuddly and playful.

The only hardships we've had is integrating her into the house with our resident dog, Addie. Addie is anxious around new dogs she doesn't know and gets defensive if one comes into her personal space too abruptly. We knew that their introduction would be a long, slow process. We introduced them outside on a walk together initially and for the past couple days have kept them separated inside the house. Addie for the most part has shown little to zero interest in trying to get to know Holly. Holly tries to initiate play but Addie in turn walks away to create space between them and retreats to her dog bed or crate.

The other night Matt noted, "Addie can't even be herself in her own home." Addie just seems to be walking on eggshells with Holly in the house and acts nervous and stressed. For instance, the other night Matt was cuddling on the couch with Holly and invited Addie up. (Addie used to frequent the couch daily for evening snuggle sessions). However, Addie seemed like she didn't feel comfortable being so close to Holly and instead retreating to the floor where her dog bed was. Even when I took Holly upstairs later that evening, Matt invited Addie up on the couch, and again, Addie resisted and stayed lying on the floor.

Over a span of just 2 days, we have seen some progress though. Addie has shown more interest in going up to Holly's crate or coming up to the baby gate to sniff her. She will go up to Holly, sniff for a few seconds and then walk away though. However, even this is a step forward from the beginning.

Above: Addie goes up to Holly's crate to sniff her and then proceeds to lay in front of the crate and observe. In the last photo, I'm in the guest bedroom playing with Holly and Addie comes up the stairs and sits at the top landing of the staircase and shows interest in watching us.

And just today Addie came up onto the couch and took a nap while Holly was on the other side of the couch napping too (I acted as a barrier between them). All in all, I think Addie is gaining trust in Holly, but I don't know if they'll ever be best friends by the end of the week!

This experience has made me wonder if we (and Addie) can handle fostering more dogs in the future. It simply seems to put a lot of stress on her, not to mention it's like she's a prisoner in her own home!

But at the same time, who can resist the cuteness of a new face?

Holly is up for adoption through MidAtlantic Bully Buddies. She, along with a slew of other adorable dogs, are in need of loving forever homes.

Christmas greetings

2011-12-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

I know I'm a little late to be posting about Christmas, but I do believe a phrase exists that sums it up perfectly: "Better late than never!"

Matt and I celebrating Christmas separately this year: he in New Jersey, myself in Maryland. No matter how we cut it, we couldn't figure out a reasonable way for us to split our time in both places, given our conflicting times off. However, we were able to throw a festive Ugly Sweater Party a couple weekends ago, and we both celebrated lovely holidays at our family's houses this past weekend.

Below are a few photos from our Ugly Sweater Party:

Even Addie had a great time. When she wasn't chasing ping pong balls around, her nose was to the floor looking for food crumbs. She was guilty, however, of napping during the party. How rude!

All in all, it was a festive party and set the mood for the rest of the holiday season. It's hard to believe that the New Year is arriving, but we're looking forward to it.

As for a little note to leave on, here's a sneak peek of what I'll be blogging about tomorrow:

Holiday cheer

2011-12-08T17:58:00.001-05:00

A few days after Thanksgiving Matt and I started decorating the house for the holidays. While we were home at his parents' house in New Jersey for Thanksgiving, we picked up their old artificial tree since they had since upgraded to a newer and better one.

Addie did a great job of supervising...

Did you notice in the photo above that we moved tree locations halfway through the set up? When I suggested to Matt that we move it, he let out a big sigh, but I think it looks much better in front of the window! We had to do some creative furniture moving (living in a small rowhouse has its annoying moments).

This little nutcracker man was our ONLY ornament. How sad? The tree looked too bare so we went to Target to get a few more ornaments, and after putting those up, the tree looks much cheerier. The last addition is a tree topper, but we'll get around to that eventually :)

Addie's sporting her new holiday collar & flower from Dogologie Designs. I found them on etsy and love their classic, preppier look. Here are a couple of the little girl posing in front of the tree.

Take a look at the view of our home at night from the outside. December would be so gloomy without all of the Christmas lights!

As promised, here is an entertaining video of Addie seeing a stinkbug for the first time. Stinkbugs invaded much of the Maryland/East Coast area this past summer, particularly the suburban areas, since they love wooded areas. We actually did not see them in the city much - I think we saw one lone bugger throughout the whole year. However, when we opened up the Christmas tree box that came from New Jersey, out crawled one little stinker. Here's Addie's reaction to her first stinkbug experience:

Addie faces stinkbug from Harper Kubicek on Vimeo.

And finally, since we're talking about Christmas decorations and dogs, here's a funny video that popped up on my Facebook news feed this morning. Let's hope this isn't the scene in our house in the weeks to follow:

Where in the world....

2011-12-07T14:19:00.001-05:00

is Carmen San Diego

have I been?

Wow, my last post in this blog was October 19, 2011. Please excuse me as I go hide behind a rock in shame. So much has happened since then! I'll try to highlight a few of the biggest and most interesting happenings:

October 12 - 16: Matt and I fly out to California for Matt's childhood friend's wedding in Sonoma. We fly into San Francisco and quickly make our drive north and make a pit stop at the Golden Gate Bridge and Muir Woods Redwood Forest. We make our way to Sonoma valley, tour a few vineyards, and then wedding festivities take up the rest of the weekend with the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner/wedding/etc. What a gorgeous and amazing time... we must go back to see more!

October 20: Matt and I miss Addie girl immensely while we're gone, but Jess over at Pittieful Love takes great care of her!

Distance must make the heart grow even fonder because when we return we finally decide to sign the official adoption paperwork for our little girl! She is now a permanent member of the household!

October 29: It's Halloween!! Er... almost. We go to our friend's annual Halloween party in 1920s circus performers costumes, inspired by the book Water For Elephants. Addie, of course, has a Halloween costume as well.

November 7: I get called for the first time for Jury Duty in Baltimore City. As luck would have it, I am Juror #12, sitting in on a criminal case. The trial goes until November 16, and we find the defendant guilty on all charges of rape, sexual assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault, robbery, and theft.

November 9: We have our first session with Jules Nye of Sit Stay and Play. Now that she's officially ours, we want to "raise" a breed ambassador! We implement positive reward based training and get used to using a clicker and hope to gain impeccable leash walking, sitting at curbs, etc. as well as work on Addie's uncertainty of new dogs. So far, we've been seeing great results and look forward to our 2nd session.

November 13: I photograph my last high school senior of the senior portrait season! After photographing 13 seniors this year, things were hectic all of September, October, and November. Pssst: check out my newly re-designed photography website here designed by the talented Krista A. Jones!

November 18: Matt's grandmother passes away and we head up to Harrisburg for the funeral and spend time with his family. I meet his extended family from Florida for the first time.

November 24: Thanksgiving festivities begin! I spend the first 2 days of the 4 day weekend at home in Maryland with my family and then head up to New Jersey to celebrate the tail end with Matt's family.

December 2: I've put it off long enough, but the day has finally arrived for my wisdom teeth surgery. All 4 impacted ones come out and I spend all weekend being a bum: sleeping, napping, eating, watching TV, etc.

Whew!! What a whirlwind. Have you actually read this far and made it to the end of this post??? I pinky swear I will update this blog more often. In fact, check back TOMORROW for a nice little holiday post with photos of Christmas decorations, Addie, and even an entertaining video!

My pink chair

2011-10-19T22:02:00.000-04:00

This is my pink chair.

Sometimes I like to look out the window..

Sometimes I like to rest my head on the window sill..

Other times I like to rest my head on the arm rest...

But most of the time, I really just like to sleep on my pink chair..

Living room evolution

2011-08-29T13:19:00.000-04:00

Back when I wrote this post about adding the chandelier and crab prints above the sofa, I remember thinking that it was a great upgrade. At the same time, I remember looking back on the "after" photo and thinking that the living room was boring and safe. At that moment, I started brainstorming ideas on how to make the space more bold and exciting.

The first lightbulb moment was realizing I needed to add color to the room. With the neutral wall color, white curtains, white sofa, etc., my initial idea was to add some pops of color. I searched Craigslist for a chair to replace the director's chair in the corner to add a more of a statement. I knew I wanted the replacement chair to feel more substantial. I found a great chair for $30 with good lines and in great condition but not-so-great fabric.

After oscillating between a printed fabric vs. a solid color fabric for reupholstering, I decided on a bright pink fabric. I remember coming home from Jo-Ann Fabrics, pulling the fabric out of the bag, and asking Matt what he thought.

Me: What do you think of this fabric?
Matt: For what...
Me: To reupholster the chair.
Matt: Well.. that wouldn't be my first choice...

Too bad. The females always win the decorating battle, right? For a split second I thought about reupholstering the chair myself, but then I remember this battle I started a couple years ago that never got finished and quickly decided on finding an upholsterer to do the job for me. One week and $200 later, I got my chair back! And boy, was it pink! I started second guessing my fabric choice, but once it was placed in the living room, and once I assembled the rest of the pieces of the room, it has really grown on me (and even Matt).

Check it out!

I love love love the pillows on the couch. I bought the pink linen 14" pillow covers on Etsy and the Amy Pit Bull Pillow on Ruelala. (See more information on the source list at the end of the post).

And last but not least, a side-by-side of the room back in June 2011 compared with August 2011.

SOURCE LIST:
Chair: $30 Craigslist
Upholstery: $200 Allison Fomich Upholstery
14" pink pillow covers: $35 for both Etsy | CraftChi
Amy Pit Bull Pillow: $50 The Premium Pet
20" pillow cover: $7 each IKEA
Gray curtains: $29.99 for both IKEA

MidAtlantic Bully Buddies photo shoot

2011-08-08T13:00:00.002-04:00

If you've been following my blog for some time, you may be aware that Matt and I foster dogs through MidAtlantic Bully Buddies. For each foster, I take photos and send them to the rescue group so that they can update the dog's Petfinder profile.

Recently though, I was asked if I could shoot a mini-session with some dogs that needed new glamour shots taken. A few foster parents brought their dogs down to the Canton Waterfront Park just blocks from my house and we took some photos in the grass and also along the brick promenade along the harbor. Most of the dogs were actually scared of the water and didn't want to get close to the edge!

There were some adult dogs, some adolescent, and some puppies! All of them were beautiful though, and I hope these photos help them get adopted faster.

Up first is Vida with her gorgeous brindle coat:

If puppies weren't just so much work to potty train and "raise", I'd foster one in a second because they are a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e. But I figure I can get my fix by photographing them instead. Meet Oreo, one of two puppies I photographed yesterday.

I can't get over how big their paws look when they're puppies!

Little Bali was so handsome in his orange bandana. He also loved playing with any dog that would play with him! He and Oreo had quite a the kiss session at one point, they kept taking turns licking each other on their mouths!

The other puppy was Julia, and she is Oreo's sister. Julia has a beautiful dark brindle coat.

And last, but certainly not least was Miss Mimi. She was my Top Model - she sat in her poses and just "chilled" and showed that great pittie smile.

Check out their Petfinder profiles along with the rest of the great MABB dogs up for adoption here.

Head rest

2011-07-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

So this is what a dog bed is for?

Addie's shower time

2011-07-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

I'll be the first to admit I've been a bad blogger recently. It's a combination of the following: a) the obvious - I've been so busy with work & more work and b) not too many house updates and c) not too many Addie updates.

For those of you who've been following her story since her surgery, we're happy to report that she's recovering quite well. At her 2-week vet follow-up, the vet said that her wound is healing nicely and said that we were able to take her on longer walks now! So long as she walks slowly... She's putting weight on her leg now when she walks slowly, but once she starts trotting, she'll hop on 3 legs. However, her energy level is up again, and she tries to do her zoomies!

Also at her 2 week follow-up, the vet cleared us to give Addie a bath. She had acquired quite the odor, and we couldn't WAIT for the opportunity to get her smelling all fresh and so clean again.

So a couple weeks ago, Matt and I gave Addie a shower. Below are the two bathing essentials:

1. Soap

2. Treats

For the record, Cloud Star did not pay us to post about these products! Actually, we bought that shampoo back when we had our first foster dog months ago, and just recently we ended up trying out Buddy Biscuits. I didn't even realize they were from the same company until I photographed them before the shower!

Anyways, back to the story.. we got Addie in the tub. Matt's job is to be in the shower with Addie and wash/rinse, while I sit outside and feed treats every now and then.

Here, Addie is thinking, "OK, I'm in the shower, can I have a treat already for being so calm and well-behaved?"

I just so happened to read Addie's mind, so I fed her a treat.

And then I let the man do the work. Addie was so fresh and so clean in no time!

Update: Addie's surgery

2011-07-07T08:01:00.002-04:00

After spending 2 nights at the vet after her surgery, Addie came back to our house this past Saturday.

The vet said that the surgery went very well and that they were able to deepen the groove in the knee socket so that the bone can no longer slide in and out and cause pain. Her entire right leg was shaved of her fur and she has a 4-inch incision.

When she saw Matt and me in the waiting room, her tail wagged nonstop and it was evident she loved seeing a familiar face. She mostly hops around on her left leg, but every now and then, she'll gingerly put some weight on the right. The vet said to keep her activity to a minimum, as not too put too much stress on her "good" knee, which, as you may not know, also has luxating patella (just not as bad as the right).

When we got home, she was pretty tired and rested and slept the rest of the day/night. She still has less energy than usual, but with each day, we see she gains a little back. For instance, today on our walk back through the back patio after her potty outing, she stopped in front of the hose and refused to come back inside until I called her. Her favorite pre-surgery activity was playing with the garden hose water, and it looks like she thinks she's ready to start playing again. Unfortunately, she gets too excited and jumps a bit too much for comfort to "play hose" this soon after the surgery, but perhaps in a couple weeks!

Part of the recovery process involves taking Addie back to the vet 6 times in the next 2 weeks for laser therapy. Apparently the laser therapy speeds up the healing by accelerating tissue repair and cell growth. Her first laser therapy was last night, and she took it well! Beside the laser therapy, she also goes back for a check-up in 2 weeks. A lot of trips to the vet in such a short time frame!

Anyways.. now on to the photos:

The incision on her leg. She now sits and lays down in the weirdest positions (with her leg extended), but at least she is still able to sit/lay down!

Addie and her e-collar. She does try to lick/nibble on her incision, so we keep this on if we can't monitor her.

Can she fit in her crate with the e-collar on? Check.

Last photo: She's still a happy dog, and happy to be recovering in a home instead of a vet kennel!

Addie's surgery day

2011-06-30T11:57:00.001-04:00

The rescue group decided to go ahead with Addie's surgery for her luxating patella in her right knee, as opposed to the other option of continuing medication (anti-inflammatory drugs& minimal exercise). Just a week after we got her, we were taking Addie to the vet because of her limp, and ever since then, she has been inactive from the "adoptable dogs" list until her health issue was sorted out. Because of this, Matt and I have had her all to ourselves with no potential adopters, and we've grown attached to her!

Today is Addie's surgery day, and I can't help but think about her and hope she's doing well at the vet. It is hard to imagine giving her up to an adopter after we nurse her back to health! She's been with us for 2 fabulous months, and recovery will take another month (if not longer) until she's back to putting weight fully back on her knee, which will be by far the longest we've had a foster dog stay with us. (The previous longest stay was 5 weeks with Phoebe.)

We've talked about the possibility of adopting her ourselves: she fits in so well with our lifestyle & is a great all-around dog. We question though if we're FULLY ready for the commitment of dog ownership: the financial cost, the time we'd have to dedicate to exercising & potty walks, what to do when we go on vacation, etc. What is great about fostering through the rescue group MABB is that they cover vet bills, vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery. On top of that, if we were to go away for vacation, they gladly arrange for a "babysitter" to watch the foster dog. Furthermore, if something comes up where one can't foster anymore, the dog simply gets placed into another foster home.

We know if we adopted Addie we'd lose those luxuries. Another thing that we'd lose is the experience of seeing new foster dogs come and go through our home. What I love about fostering is being able to see each dog's personality and knowing that I was a key role in the eventual adoption of a pet. If we were to adopt, we may put fostering on hold - making a move to a multi-dog home may be too much too soon.

Granted, these are just my ramblings at the moment, and we have to just take one step at a time. Our "plan of action", so to speak, is to see how Addie recovers from surgery and just take it one day at a time. We figure we'll have her for at least 1 more month, during which we'll have more time to weigh everything out.

----------------

On an unrelated note, two days ago we took Addie to the park for a pre-surgery outing, since she probably will not be able to go in the weeks following the surgery. We met up with Chris, my coworker/Matt and my indoor soccer teammate. He and his wife had been discussing getting a dog for awhile, and recently, they adopted a dog from MABB. Her name is Ivy, and she's an adorable little girl! She is smaller than Addie and looks like a puppy still, even though she's about 2 years old and is full-grown.

We walked around to together and Ivy and Addie got along tremendously! They had relaxed body language (ears back, tail down, no raised hair on the back) and Ivy kept licking Addie's face. While the humans chatted, they sat in the grass together calmly and even lied down and tried to eat the same glades of grass (much to our chagrin). At one point, Ivy rolled over on her back and Addie got into her play bow and tried to initiate play. Chris said that Ivy has not played with any dogs yet and may not know how to play with them. Three weeks into her adoption, she is JUST now learning how to play with toys at home, and Chris and his wife Emily have taken it slow with introducing Ivy to other dogs. Perhaps once Addie recovers from surgery, she and Ivy can go on more walks together and perhaps an off-leash play date.

Addie's tricks

2011-06-12T20:10:00.001-04:00

Addie is extremely food motivated, so it's been very fun being able to teach her some new tricks. So far, she's mastered sit, down, paw, wave, bang bang (play dead), and roll over. Matt took a video of me doing some tricks with Addie today, check it out!

Addie's Tricks from Harper Kubicek on Vimeo.

Our trip to the dog beach

2011-06-12T20:07:00.000-04:00

A couple of weekends ago, Matt, Addie and I drove 25 minutes south to Pasadena, MD to the Downs Memorial Dog Beach. We have stayed away from the dog parks here in Baltimore with Addie so far, because the parks here are small and crowded. Addie's not ready to be thrown into that mix, but Matt and I still wanted to let her run around (our city patio is just too small for off-leash play).

Before MABB took her in, Addie had a 2-month stay at the city shelter where they facilitate supervised dog play groups. They reported that Addie was a play group "all star". For this reason, and also the fact that she's always been cordial with dogs she meets on walks, we were pretty confident that she'd be OK at the dog beach, where there was a bigger space and less dogs.

We got the dog beach, and Addie said hi to the one other dog there named Edie. They greeted each other and ran around, and then Addie wanted to explore! She has shown keen interest in water, so we were hoping to get her swimming in the water! We tried coaxing her into the water with lots of praise and by throwing a tennis ball out. She would wade in up to her chest, but swim out to where she had to lift her feet off the ground.

Here's a video of her wading in the water and me trying to convince her to retrieve a stick:

Addie at the dog beach from Harper Kubicek on Vimeo.

Here's a video of Addie with the other dog Edie. Edie really wanted to play, and Addie was still exploring the territory and warned Edie to back off...

Addie and Edie from Harper Kubicek on Vimeo.

The incident where Addie growled at Edie made us realize that Addie was feeling a bit uncomfortable, so we moved further away from Edie. Edie also got the message and backed off and left Addie and us alone for awhile. So Matt and I continued to try to get Addie to swim all the way in the water. We found a nice stick, played tug with Addie, then threw it into the water. This time, Addie swam all the way out to it (went all the way in), and came back to shore with it! We were so proud of her, and we did it a few more times.

I realized I needed a video of it, so I went to retrieve my camera from my bag and started taking video. Matt threw the stick in the water, and literally, at that same exact moment, a new dog (a black lab) came barreling into the dog beach, jumped ahead of Addie, and grabbed the stick before Addie herself could retrieve "her" stick. This is when Addie showed that she was toy possessive.

She growled and lunged at the black lab and showed her teeth. I have never seen this side of Addie before. We immediately put her leash on and escorted her out of the dog beach. I felt awful. I was embarrassed that we had put Addie in a situation where her success was not 100% guaranteed and that these other dog owners had to witness Addie being a bully. I left the beach feeling defeated. Addie had otherwise had a great time, and we did too for the first 20 minutes we were there, but I realized that I was being selfish and wanted to enjoy this dog beach even though we were not entirely sure if she'd succeed.

I am quite curious as to the reasoning she showed this side. Matt and I play with her every day with her rope toys and squeaky toys, and she's never once showed toy possessiveness with us. On the other side of the spectrum, Addie has also gone on walks with other dogs and has never shown reactivity then. It's when the two are put together that she gets wound up and tries to protect the toy.

So for now, we'll just keep Addie's dog interaction to on-leash walks in the park where she can say hi to dogs where toys are not involved.

Calling all voters!

2011-06-07T10:27:00.001-04:00

Hi friendly blog readers,

I'm writing this post in need of a favor from each and every one of you! A couple days ago I entered Addie into a "Funniest Pet Photo" contest on Facebook through a custom collar/leash designer, Cody's Creations. We ordered her new collar through them a couple weeks ago and she looks quite adorable in her new Bubblegum Stripe Collar.

Here's how I would LOVE your help.

1. Log into Facebook
2. Like Cody's Creations Pet Supply on Facebook (at the top of the page): http://www.facebook.com/codyscreations
3. Go to their photo album "Funniest Pet Photos" contest, find Addie's photo, and simply "like" her photo, and that counts as the vote!

The winner receives a free custom collar and leash, which I plan to donate to MABB (the rescue we foster through) since they're always in need of pet supplies. Please help!

Pssst... You must like Cody's Creations before you have the ability to "like" the photo. If you go to the photo and you don't have the ability to "like" it, please "like" the main page first! The contest ends tomorrow, Wednesday, June 8th at 12:00 pm so hurry over now! Thank you!!

UPDATE: Thanks for all of your help! Addie came in a close 2nd by just 2 votes! However, since it was such a close contest, Cody's Creations graciously decided to donate a leash and collar anyways! Read about it on this blog post.

Prettifying the living room

2011-06-06T13:24:00.000-04:00

Back in March, we blogged about updating the entryway of our living room. But, even with that upgrade, the living room was not finished. Below, I'll point out a few small issues...

So two weekends ago, Matt and I tackled those two issues! We installed a chandelier and hung some artwork. I'll start with a preview of the artwork. I was inspired by this post on Young House Love where they bought some frames from IKEA, so I ventured out and purchased the same frames!

Matt has always said that we should showcase some of my photography around the house, and I thought that we should bring a little piece of Baltimore into our home, so a few weeks ago, I went down to the water in Fells Point neighborhood and took a photo of a crab statue. Afterall: "Crabcakes and football, that's what Maryland does!" I then played around with the crab image in Photoshop, sent the prints to a photo lab, and mounted them in the frames to achieve this:

I thought the photos turned out well! Instead of paying money for artwork, I was able to just pay for the frames and at-cost prints. By the way, here's what the original, un-edited image looks like:

As for the chandelier, the installation of that did not go as easily. Whereas the frames and prints went up in about 30 minutes, the chandelier took about 8x longer. I will not go into the gory details, but let's just say that it took 5 frustrating hours and two trips to Home Depot to finally get that chandelier installed. However, in the end, it looks much better than what was there before. I'm ashamed to say I bought that chandelier two years ago on Craigslist and it's been sitting in the basement until now!

One reason why the summertime rocks...

2011-06-06T08:21:00.000-04:00

... we were able to grill this last night...

Mmm... grilled eggplant... pesto risotto with fresh basil from our backyard... Pinot Grigio... happy girl. :)

Water works

2011-05-31T07:00:00.001-04:00

This past Memorial Day weekend, Matt and I stayed in town and got a lot of house chores accomplished. We installed a chandelier (more on that later) and planted some flowers and plants out back. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend at home and mark some things off from our to-do list. I tried to document our weekend activities, so here are some photos of the back patio plantings:

Below: planting some petunias in our flower boxes to hang on the wall

A few weeks ago, we planted some herbs and veggies, but we had one pot left over. While we were at Home Depot buying the flower box flowers, we decided to try a cucumber plant in the left over pot. Below, you can see Addie is intrigued with the plant.

She actually tried to eat the potting soil! As a result, she got her nose pretty dirty....

So we thought she could use a rinse with the garden hose...

And we discovered that she LOVES the water. She tried chasing it around and jumping up for it and biting the water. She thought it was the best game ever!

And because you may need a little smile to start the day, here are a few of my personal favorites:

Addie + Beau = true love?

2011-05-17T12:45:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned in previous posts, a couple of weekends ago, a few of my friends from college visited us in Baltimore. My friend A.J. and her husband Chris, adopted a dog from a shelter in the NYC area. Before they adopted Beau, and before Matt and I even started fostering dogs, A.J. and I chatted back and forth numerous times about pit bulls, read online articles, and built a strong educational foundation on bully breeds.

Matt and I started fostering dogs through MidAtlantic Bully Buddies at the same time that A.J. and Chris starting meeting potential dogs to adopt. From the get-go, they were off to a rocky start: rescue groups were slow to respond or didn't respond at all, coordinating meet-up times was rough, the dogs they met were just not the best fits, and so on and so forth.

I even suggested to A.J. that they look at dogs from our rescue group. I thought our first foster Jake would've been the best fit ever for them! A.J. and Chris were persistent though - they were set on saving a dog from the high-kill NYC shelters.

After a seemingly long process, A.J. and Chris finally set forth to Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City, NJ, and fate presented shy Beau (or Snuggles at the time). He was a sweet, loving pit-mix who just needed a family to love him and show him that the world is a friendly place.

Above: Beau posing in his Hoboken home; Beau walking around town

Photos courtesy of A.J.

Since first getting Beau in March, he has made leaps and bounds of improvement! He's way more confident, has manners, and is well-socialized. Plus, he put some meat on his bones, and sure is a handsome fella (especially when wearing his latest blue plaid collar and matching leash.)

So when A.J. and Chris visited, they brought Beau along for the ride!

We knew we had to introduce Addie and Beau slowly, as it is with all pitties. Addie was in a shelter for 2 months before going to rescue, and they deemed her doggie playgroup "all star", and Beau had been introduced to the dog park several successful times, so we had high hopes of them becoming best friends!

When we introduced them, we went on a nice walk around the neighborhood together and found a small fenced in grassy area around the block where we let them off leash to romp around together on neutral territory. Beau was definitely the more playful one: running circles around Addie, trying to get her to play with him. Addie would give in a chase him for a bit, but then she would try to mount him! What bad manners.... When we got Addie off of Beau, Beau would then proceed to mount Addie! It was a game back and forth, back and forth. We ended up cutting the play romp short because it was getting ridiculous, and we didn't approve of this behavior. (Mind you, both of them are fixed, so it was a dominance issue).

So overall, our meeting wasn't totally as predicted. Instead of swooning over them curling up together and snuggling or playing with each other happily, we spent our time together making sure the other wasn't humping the other. A.J. brought them some yummy bully sticks which kept them both occupied for quite some time. Finally, the humans could enjoy some beers together!

For kicks though, here are a few photos I did manage to take. Sorry for the bad quality, but I don't have many options to choose from!

We tried to get a photo of them together! Beau was too busy sniffing around everywhere though, and both tend to have a blinking problem for the camera, haha! They could not sit still long enough!

Beau seemed to love this loveseat just as much as Addie did! Addie loved sleeping on the same side just hours before Beau arrived.

Addie's trip to the vet

2011-05-13T13:38:00.000-04:00

WARNING: Lengthy post ahead!

A couple days after we first got Addie I thought I noticed her limping a bit on one of her back legs. It didn't seem to bother her, and she was still a happy dog: going for walks, playing with her toys, chasing her tennis balls, etc. Matt and I thought maybe that was just her natural (yet quirky) gait.

However, one day, after she got up from resting in her crate, she was showing a without-a-doubt, noticeable limp. As the minutes wore by, she was able to put more and more weight on her hind right leg, but now we knew that she was, in fact, not completely healthy. Despite the limp, Addie still wanted to run and play, and she never whined with pain, which confused me.

I notified the rescue group, and they referred me to their #1 vet. I called and was able to get an appointment, which happened to be last Friday.

I was nervous and anxious to take Addie to the vet. How would she react being in the examination room? Would she hate it? Would the vet be able to diagnose what was wrong? We had only had Addie for 5 days, yet so many of my emotions were invested in her!

When we got to the vet, she wagged her tail, sniffed the different scents around the lobby, and said hello to a golden retriever and a boxer. A woman was holding her pug in her arms, and as Addie walked in the general direction with her tail wagging, the owner cradled the pug and said to the dog, "Oooohhh, look baby, that one wants to EAT you!" The comment made me sad for Addie. She just wanted to go say hi (and probably play) with the pug, but instead she was stereotyped.

After waiting for a few minutes, we were called back to the examination room. While waiting for the vet, Addie explored the room and got up on the scale on her own. She couldn't stay still QUITE long enough for me to get a 100% accurate reading on her weight, but the scale read that she's about 50 pounds. The vet came in and introduced himself and asked what the issues we were experiencing. I told him about the limp, and he had Addie walk around a little before starting the examination.

I had a proud mama moment at the vet - Addie was such a good girl - she held still for the vet as he took her temperature and examined her legs. Of course, she had those sad eyes, but on the bright side, neither was she a mess. I'm used to hearing stories of my parent's dog shaking and trembling and shutting down at the vet, and fully expected Addie to be the same.

Instead, she stood there politely. She even gave the vet some kisses on the nose when he said hi to her. The vet examined her good leg and then the bad one. Addie let out a faint growl to let him know that she was in pain when he was examining the bad one. After 5 minutes, the vet stated that he was 99% positive that Addie is in pain because she has luxating patella. At first, I was relieved to hear that they knew what was wrong, but as the vet went on to tell me exactly what it was, I felt more anguish. The problem is that Addie has knee caps that pop out of the socket, and she limps because the knee cap does not always go back in. In fact, the vet explained that she has it in both knees, but that one side is worse than the other.

With her "good knee", he's able to manually pop the joint out of the socket and pop it back in. With her "bad" knee, he's able to pop the joint back in, but then it pops back out on its own and wants to stay dislocated. He mentioned that this is common in dogs that are in-bred, and that it's a genetic disease. He went on further to say that he recommends surgery for Addie in her "bad" knee, and that in the future, she may need surgery on her "good" knee if it gets worse.

Since Addie is technically under the care of the rescue group, of course I had to report everything to them so they could make a decision as to next steps. They are hesitant to do surgery right away, so instead Addie is on anti-inflammatory and glucosamine (joint supplement). We're hoping to see if her knee can heal on its own with joint supplements and strengthening the muscle around it. After 2-3 weeks, we'll re-evaluate and see if surgery is absolutely necessary, as it's pretty invasive and also costly.

In the meantime, the doctor said that she could still play with other dogs, go for walks, but to monitor to make sure she's not in too much pain. We had some friends visit this weekend with their dog Beau, so it was a relief to hear that they wouldn't have to be kept separated.

As of now, it's hard to tell how much she's progressed. She still puts weight on her leg (it hasn't gotten to the point where she doesn't use it at all), and at times she walks with no limp, but other times, you can see the limp still. We discourage any jumping or standing only on her hind legs, and we're hoping that she can lose some weight so she has less stress on her joints. Only time will tell though if surgery is needed. Until then, Matt and I continue to enjoy having her around the house.

And because a post is not complete without photos, here are a few. I like to name them "PassedOutDoggies.com I" and "PassedOutDoggies.com II".

Above: Addie and Matt were outside hanging out in the back, and when he came inside, Addie made herself comfortable on the loveseat. Here I am spying on her from the backdoor.

Above: The sun came out, and Addie wanted to sunbathe and catch some rays!

One room, two looks

2011-05-10T10:04:00.001-04:00

The office/guest bedroom has been - and still is - a work in progress. While most of the main elements are in place, I'm still trying to figure out what to do with all the empty wall space!

This past weekend though, we had our first real, out-of-towners sleep on the futon! Our friends A.J. and Chris visited us from Hoboken and brought their dog Beau too (more on that later). Awhile ago, Matt and I bought some new bedding and the storage trunk where everything is stored.

Take a look at the office as it's transformed into a guest bedroom:

Here's a view from the other side of the room that showcases my desk and work area:

(with very bare walls, unfortunately!)

Oh, and Addie girl loved checking out the new room set-up:

I spy with my little eye.....

Introducing: Addison

2011-05-04T08:40:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's hard to believe, but Matt and I are onto our fourth foster dog! It's really such a reward to know that we're taking them out of the shelter environment and showing them how to enjoy life.

Addison was rescued from a very overcrowded shelter in Baltimore which asked MABB to take her in, since she was such a favorite at the shelter and was not adopted even after a long, 2-month stay. Apparently she was seized and taken to the shelter in the first place. For what reason? No one knows.. maybe she was used for breeding by an amateur breeder, because it's apparent she's had at least one litter of puppies.

Whatever the reason, she holds no grudges, and is still a happy girl! When we first got her, she had just been spayed, so she spent a lot of time resting. It took a day for her to figure out what her dog bed was and how to use it, and she retreated a lot to her crate, which we have in the living room.

It's been so funny to see some of her quirks (some of them listed below):
* She loves to play with her blankie and carry it around between her dog bed and crate
* Whenever she uses her back leg to scratch her belly, her teeth chatter

Now that a few days have passed, she seems to be recovering from her surgery each and every day. This morning after our morning walk, for instance, she bounded in through the door, ran back and forth downstairs, found her rope toy, and slung it back and forth. And when she went upstairs and saw Matt brushing his teeth, her tail started wagging like crazy and she went up to him and begged for a head scratch and belly rub.

It seems like her personality is really starting to shine though, and I'm excited to share some time with this sweet girl.

View Addie's Petfinder profile here, along with the other dogs up for adoption through MABB.

Everyone needs a vacation

2011-04-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

Things have been quiet around here lately: no foster dogs to report about (until Sunday, that is) and no big house projects. Of bigger note, I was out of town all last week! I was cruising around the Western Caribbean... If you want to read more and see some photos from the trip, check out my photography blog post right here!

Goodbye Miss Sookie!

2011-04-18T08:15:00.012-04:00

After just 3 weeks with Miss Sookie, she made quite an impression on us, and quite frankly, stole our hearts. If we had kept her longer, we may have not been able to give her away - that's how much we bonded with her!

But it is with a smile on our face that we report that she's been adopted this past weekend to a great couple who will give Sookie all the love she deserves! Our last day with her was spent doing all her favorite things:

* Snuggle and give kisses:

* Go for a car ride to the park:

* Walk through the park

* Pose for photos

* Model the fashion sunglasses

* Be a polite tennis spectator

* Finally get to play ball!

We wish Miss Sookie the best of luck in her new home!

Want to adopt a dog? Take a look at the dogs that are fostered through the rescue group (MABB) we work with here. "Adopt Me" collar & leash was bought here.