You know what happens when your parents wake up early on the weekend and treat you to a trip to the farmer's market and the dog park and you pay them back by rolling in feces at said park? YOU GET A BATH. A LONG, UNPLEASANT BATH. AND A SCOLDING.Seriously. Must we stoop to that level of gross? Really?I will never understand the "instinct" that some dogs have to roll in dead things or poop.The rest of the weekend was pretty mellow around the house. We were very busy with chores and the like, but the mood is pretty low around these parts as we are still deeply saddened by the loss of Alby. No internet share today, folks. I just don't have it in me to browse online for funny things when all I want to do is curl up in bed. I'll try to get back on the horse tomorrow.In the meantime? Go hug the people you love. Tell them how much they mean to you. Enjoy every day that you have.

One of the most fascinating parts of Magda's personality that's coming out more and more as she get's "older," is her sensitivity to emotions. I've started to notice that if I get upset about something (even if it's something I'm reading -- meaning there is no physical or audible reaction), Mags will pick up on my mood change and hide. And should I get mad enough to vocalize my frustration about something? Watch out.For instance, at the cabin a few weeks back, I read "The Fault In Our Stars," (Don't judge! I love easy brain candy books at the cabin!) and at a few points in the book I began to tear up or cry. About 20 minutes later I would realize I didn't know where Magda was, and I would find her hiding under beds or couches. I think it's this sensitivity to emotion that also makes her hide from kids (talk about little balls of emotion). I always joke that she better shape up or I'm gonna make her walk the halls of Southwest High School with me (imagine the hormones at play there!).Anyway, this morning I was reading up on my emails, and Magda was snuggling with me on the sofa. I had several notes from friends that were really hard for me -- ranging from the death of a dear friend last week in California (cancer) or another friend's ongoing difficult battle with, you guessed it, cancer or another friend who had opened up about some real difficulties she's facing right now. Between the three things swirling in my head at about 6 am, I was an emotional basket case. And boy, Magda has been down about it all day long, the sweet thing. I keep finding her in corners of the basement, hiding in big blankets or her crate full of big sighs and sad eyes.I get you girl. Life is hard sometimes. But I've never had a dog who felt it like this one. I never would have guessed her heart was capable a year ago* -- imagine all the other things we have to learn about our sweet vizsla in the years ahead.For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to photos of last night's super moon. It was cloudy here in Minneapolis, so I didn't see it myself. But wow, do I love these images!* I would like to point out, however, that should I be pissed at HER for bad behavior, she has absolutely no reaction. In fact, she just kindof glares back, like, yeah, I ate that thing of yours. Deal with it. Sooo... don't go getting the idea that she's this sweet all the time.

So now that it's August, and this family is about to expand a bit in the next few weeks, I've *finally* made time to slow down on work and start, you know, preparing for the kid or whatever.First of all, see those floors up there? My husband refinished those ON HIS OWN after we were abandoned by the person we hired. And he did such a good job (very proud of that guy). We have a little touch up painting left to do in the kid's bedroom (and by "we," I of course mean "Jamie"), and then we can start assembling furniture etc. In the meantime, I am gathering all the gazillion awesome gifts and clothes and diapers and supplies that have been gifted to us or handed down to us from a variety of the most generous people on the planet, and I'm trying to organize them by age so I can get an idea of a) what I have and b) what I need.Today? I thought I'd start with my favorites: The Shoes. OMG how adorable are those camouflage baby shoes?!? And the vans?! Suuuuper excited about those. I tried to get Mags to wear them for the photo, but she kept trying to eat them off her feet and I didn't want them damaged, so I gave up and just tried to pose her with them. She better be good though or I might try to wrestle her into a onesie. Just sayin'.

Man, it's muggy and hot here today guys. The heat index was about 105, and as soon as I put the fan out, this guy settled in for the breeze. What a handsome guy.And because of the heat, Mags hasn't gotten in her walk which means she is constantly wanting to play tug of war. And that's about what we're up to over here besides processing and editing photos and meeting with clients.I have two internet shares today! The first is the real estate listing for Horst Rechelbacher's (he founded Aveda) condo that overlooks downtown Minneapolis -- it's going for a cool $8 million. I love perusing these kinds of listings... And the second is of this happy man on the dance floor. Who doesn't love seeing senior citizens get down?

Here's me and my guy. Merlin has had a bit of a rough go lately, and we're just not sure how much juice is left in this old guy's battery. Some days (like today!) he's fantastic and curious and sweet and loving and in need of attention. And other days he just sleeps and barely moves around. Oh how I wish dogs could live 20-30 years... not that it would be any easier...Anyway, one regret I have about Miss Memphis is that while I have a MILLION photos of her, and tons of them include Merlin and Jamie, I don't have any photos of me with her.So I asked my amazingly talented buddy Margaret to come over yesterday and snap a few photos of Merlin and I during our morning snuggle routine. The photos are, of course, phenomenal. Margaret has such an amazing photographic eye. Anyway, this was one of my favorites, so I thought I would share it with you.For your internet share of the day, one of my favorite old school bloggers has returned to the internet to fill in for a friend, and she wrote this piece about those ridiculous Restoration Hardware catalogs. Did you get those in the mail? TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY AND PAPER AND RESOURCES. I was infuriated. Anyway, Sarah's humor here is fantastic. Enjoy!

And you thought frozen grapes made me lazy! Ha! I can beat that!Sometimes, in the summer, when I really cannot stand the thought of cooking, I have a night of "snacks for dinner." I actually love doing this because, c'mon, it's just like American tapas! And you can mix and match and keep it totally healthy. And? It's even more awesome with wine ... (oh, how I miss my wine...).The key to "snacks for dinner" not turning into "cheetos in front of the TV" is that you have to plan out the food groups, and I always find it nice to still present it on the table for a sit-down meal. See? Not *quite* as lazy as I seem...This was the "snacks for dinner" that I put together last week when my parents were in town. But you know who else it works well for? Kids. Because they can nibble on a little of everything.I try to represent all the food groups with my snacks, and I also strive to get a lot of bold color (ie nutrition) in the mix. Here are some standbys that I try to include:Carbs/Bread: Crackers, sliced baguette or pretzels. Dinner rolls or croissants also can work well here.Fruit & veggies: Any kind of berry works well, grapes, sliced apples, cherries, baby carrots, pickles, cauliflower, for instance.Meat/Protein: Nuts, smoked fish (perfect for summer!), thinly sliced prosciutto, sliced salamis or sausages, pepperonis all work well.Dairy: SO MUCH CHEESE. Seriously. That one is a gimme. I love hard cheeses like shaved parmesan or Manchego, but brie or other soft cheese are great as well (oh... bleu cheese... you steal my heart).Fat and randoms: I love olives! I don't know what food group they fall into, but they are so good -- especially warmed up. I also will peruse the deli counter for a good cold salad. Up there I have included a chicken & pasta salad from the grocer, but I've also been known to add a tuna salad or smoked fish spread for the baguette.And how easy is that? You just put it out on the table and let people tear into it. And you know what you should have for dessert? One of these popsicle recipes! I would go for that brown butter dream, myself... Mmmmm.... 

This little girl was a bit of a pain this morning. Lots of barking, lots of knocking her sweet, old brother over, lots of nipping and wanting to play tug-of-war while mom was working. Finally, she went to the living room and calmed down. And then 30 minutes later I walked in to check on her, and she was EATING MY WOOL LIVING ROOM RUG. Bad, bad girl.After a chewing out and a time out, I then gave in and took her for a long walk, which seemed to appease the wild beast. I swear, I haven't had a day like this with her in about 8 months! I blame it on the lack of attention this weekend due to company etc., plus no walk yesterday due to the heat. Hopefully we can fall back into a routine again and get my sweet girl back.As for the collie? He was a super star. As usual. And isn't he handsome down there? I couldn't resist a snapshot of his sweet face.For your internet share of the day, I found these charts on what most people are stressed out about to be fascinating! Especially check out the age groups on who's most worried about their appearance. Very interesting stuff!

Magda here would like to wish you all a wonderful Fourth of July week! We are having some work done on the sidewalks/foundation outside of our house to make sure all this rain continues to flow away from the newly remodeled basement, and this poor girl thinks all that noise sounds like someone is trying to tear down her castle. She is very worried about it (resulting in lots of angry barking).In other news, my parents are coming to visit this week, which will be super exciting for both us and the dogs. My folks (ie, my dad) don't visit us very often, but this is what happens when you refuse to send them photos of yourself all big and knocked up and they want to see how you're doing. I predict lots of popsicles, dog walks and gin rummy once they arrive.For those of you wondering how Merlin is doing, he has recovered quite well from the cabin trip up north after a good, long acupuncture session. He's happy, eating a ton and barking at the neighbors again. He still struggles a bit to get up the stairs, but overall he's pretty great.For your internet share of the day, have you seen how these two pro soccer players take on FIFTY FIVE kids and still score a goal? Amazing.