Dog Care Essentials

One major part of my life (after my husband of course) is my dog, Dolly.  Dolly is a 4 year old English Bulldog, that we absolutely adore and as I have mentioned in my bio, is admittedly spoiled rotten.  Over this past weekend it dawned on me that I haven't really taken the time to write about the one subject I have learned a great deal about over the past four years- dog care!  There are so many aspects to caring for a pet, but for today's post I wanted to focus on sharing a few of my favorite products.  These items play a huge role in the everyday care of Miss Dolly and have helped to keep both Dolly and my home, healthy, happy and in overall great shape.  While this isn't a list of every essential pet care item, these are certainly items at the top of my "Must-have" list and you can rest assured that there will be plenty of future pet care posts coming to the blog featuring more of my favorite products and pet care tips.   

Furminator

Do you remember those dated rake pet brushes (the ones you would have to use outside because pet hair would always go flying with each brush stroke)?  While the rake brush did remove dead hair from your pet, they were awfully messy and I'm not sure how effective they actually were.  Enter the FURminator!....

When we first adopted Dolly, I spent a lot of time researching proper dog grooming practices.  During my search I came across this one youtube video on dog grooming that featured the FURminator.  After watching the video I was sold and immediately had to have this fantastic grooming tool.  The FURminator is a grooming brush that collects dead hair from your cat or dog with each brush stroke.  The FURminator can potentially reduce shedding by up to 90 percent and if nothing else, it certainly reduces shedding more than any other grooming tool on the market.  The FURminator is offered in a variety of sizes and styles based on the size and hair length of your pet.  I absolutely adore this tool and have found it to be extremely effective with reducing shedding and keeping my dog's coat super soft. 

Douxo Maintenance Shampoo

Everyone who meets Dolly always comments on how soft her coat feels.  I am constantly asked to divulge the specifics of Dolly's grooming routine.  Well here it is- we bathe her once a week, FURminate her weekly and use Douxo Maintenance Shampoo. This shampoo is actually a 2-in-1 (shampoo plus conditioner) gentle cleanser that preserves the lipidic film in a dog's coat, while still nourishing, hydrating and cleansing the dogs coat.  In addition, this shampoo is hypoallergenic, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory, making it an ideal shampoo for almost any type of dog.  

Nail Clippers & Styptic Powder

Nail care is very important aspect of pet grooming that needs to be maintained even as frequently as monthly depending on the breed.  For the first three years of Dolly's life, we would clip her nails ourselves (*note- do not clip your pets nails until you receive proper training from a vet).  She has white nails so it was easy to identify the location of the quick and avoid having any adverse experiences (my preferred nail clippers are here and here).  Every time we clipped her nails we always made sure to have a jar of Styptic Powder (blood clotting) on hand in case we accidentally clipped a quick.  Luckily this only happened once in three years of clipping, but thank goodness we had that powder on hand.  Around age 4, Dolly started rebelling against our monthly nail clipping sessions so we now take her to a local groomers at a cost of $18/clipping.  She is in and out of there in 5-10 minutes and happy as a clam every time.  So honestly, I say it is money well spent!

Rain Coat

Regardless of the weather conditions, a dog still has to go to the bathroom.  Hurricane Sandy, Snowstorm Jonas, etc… Dolly still had to go outside to alleviate herself.  While a little snow on my dog isn't the worst thing in the world, a rain soaked dog is not fun.  Not only does the rain give her that malodorous stench of wet dog, but then she comes inside my nice clean house and shakes off the rain….EVERYWHERE!  To minimize the effects of rain on Dolly while out for her "business time," we have invested in a raincoat (and OMG what a lifesaver!).  I found this adorable rubber ducky poncho at Unleashed by PETCO for $12.99.  Unfortunately Dolly is too thick for the size that fits her length and too short for the size that fits her girth.   To remedy this situation since the coat was just so darn cute, I purchased the size that fit her girth and then had it hemmed for $8.  I know that sounds ridiculous to have a dog's raincoat altered.  However, for a grand total of $20.99, I have a raincoat that fits my dog perfectly and keeps her dry when it rains.  Totally worth it! 

Toys

Dogs enjoy chewing.  Some more than others and the degree of chewing power ranges.  As you may have probably guessed, Dolly is a very active and powerful chewer.  As a puppy, she went through many plush toys and even developed a habit for door stoppers and electrical wires (it was exhausting and had me constantly on edge worrying about her safety).  What we found over time was that the more difficult projects (very hard toys) kept her occupied the longest and away from chewing on things she shouldn't.  I have to be honest, I have purchased too many toys for Dolly over the years (and am way too embarrassed to show you her ridiculous toy bin).  However, through my extensive toy research I have found that the best/safest toys on the market for dogs would have to be the Nylabones and Naturally Shed Antlers.  These toys cost more than the average toy, but they last exponentially longer.  Giving dogs plenty of projects (high quality toys) will keep them entertained and out of mischief. 

Something Blue - A Few Favorite Finds

With all of the Valentine's Day prep over the past few weeks, it occurred to me that both pink and red have been in abundance on the blog lately.  While it has been fun to showcase various ways to incorporate the festive color pairing into food, decor and entertaining, I have to admit that I am actually more of a blue and grey girl at heart (coincidentally my alma mater's colors as well!).  Of course, that's not to say that I don't enjoy a variety colors, I have just noticed over the years that my color preference has always leaned towards a cooler color palette.   So for today's post, I wanted to reintroduce those cooler tones back into the blog and highlight a few pretty blue finds that I am currently loving.

Sugarfina

About a month ago, Sugarfina opened a store in Bethesda, Maryland.  For those of you who may not be familiar with Sugarfina, they are a Beverly Hills based gourmet candy company focused on catering to the sophisticated adult sweet tooth.  Yes, a candy store for adults!  

Visiting one of their store locations is reminiscent of walking into Tiffany & Co.  Beautiful displays featuring a wide array of the most delicious jewel-like candies, packaged in the prettiest blue gift bags.  These candy treat boxes make for fabulous party favors, birthday gifts, hostess gifts and will satisfy almost any sweet tooth craving.  If you don't live near one of their brick and mortar locations, not to worry!  They also have an online storefront.  Bottom line- this candy store is a definite must try!

Crate and Barrel Union Square Bedding

Ever since my acquisition of this fur throw blanket (featured in this post), I have become totally obsessed with faux fur blankets.  Over the holidays I learned of the bed-sized version of my faux fur throw blanket and have been dreaming of owning one since!  

Over this past Valentine's weekend my husband surprised me with a new addition for our bed (the faux fur bed blanket), which had me jumping for joy.  Naturally, the new blanket addition inspired a mini bed linen updating.  Swapping out my Dwell Studio Citrine Peacock Linens for this Crate and Barrel Union Square pattern, has given my bed a refreshed look that is very seasonally appropriate and soooo comfortable!  

Hyacinths

Every year around this time, I look forward to Hyacinths coming into season.  They are gorgeous in color (the blue/lavender is my absolute favorite!) and super fragrant, making them an ideal flower for a large open space and/or a powder room.  Trader Joe's currently has them in stock for less than $6/bunch.  Such a beautiful flower from top to stem and one that I recommend incorporating into your home decor during this time of year.  

Cobalt-Colored Drinkware

Adding a splash of color to my table decor is essential.  In addition to flowers and table linens, I occasionally enjoy adding colored drinkware to my tablescapes.  These cobalt glasses from Pier 1 Imports are a personal favorite.  They are inexpensive, gorgeous in color, dishwasher safe and the small stem gives them a very elegant feel.  Regardless of whether you choose to dress these glasses up or down, they are a fabulous addition to almost any table. 

DIY Valentine's Day Garland

With Valentine's Day less than two weeks away, preparations for this day of romance have officially commenced!  I know that many disregard Valentine's Day as the "Hallmark Holiday," but I really enjoy having fun with this holiday.  Sure you should celebrate your significant other all year long, but it's still fun to have a day that's strictly devoted to love and romance.  

This Valentine's Day I have a few fun and festive projects planned, starting with the most basic and essential…decorating my bar cart!  I know this sounds a little ridiculous (and maybe it is), but I plan on serving up a very special champagne bar cart on Valentine's Day to enjoy with my husband before dinner.  There is nothing more romantic and elegant (in my opinion) than enjoying a delicious bottle of champagne together.  To get my bar cart holiday ready, I am going to start with the decorations.  Specifically, this adorable DIY Valentine's Day garland made out of colored paper.  It's easy to make and really adds a festive feel to any space.   

What you will need... 

• Stapler
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Red and Pink Printer Paper

Instructions

1. Stack 2 sheets of red paper and 2 sheets of pink paper together, ordering them either pink-red-red-pink or red-pink-pink-red
2. With a pencil and ruler, draw straight lines across the width of the paper on top of the stack, spacing the lines approximately 1 inch apart. 
3. Keeping the stack together, cut into strips 
4. Take one stack of strips and staple each end together, thus collating the 4 pieces together
5. Using scissors, cut the strip in half so that you have two 4 1/4" collated stacks
6. Take one mini stack (Stack #1), peel down the two exterior strips and staple them together at the base and set aside
7. Repeat step #6 with a second mini stack
8. Take Stack #1, bend the ends of the two interior strips inward, insert the tail of Stack #2 in-between the inverted ends from Stack #1 and staple together
9. Repeat this process until desired length is achieved.  Reference images for more explicit directions on how to assemble garland.  

**Next week I will be unveiling my Valentine's Day Edition Bar Cart on the blog!  So stay tuned!

Closet Renovation Project

Over the past few months, we have been undergoing a bit of construction in our house to create a new butler's pantry and coat closet.  As I have mentioned in various posts, while I love my kitchen, it is not the biggest and the storage is limiting for someone who frequently cooks and entertains.  Just to be clear, by "limiting," I mean that every time I needed to use my food processor or get out my cake stand, I would have to go upstairs to the attic to pull those items out of storage.  Not ideal but hey, it worked.  

We had initially planned to have a built-in custom cabinet installed to the right of our existing coat closet, however the quotes we were receiving from various contractors had my husband and I turning white in the face.  It wasn't until my mom actually took a look at the space and suggested re-purposing our current closet, that we finally saw the light.  She suggested that we consider reducing the existing coat closet and inserting a pantry to create into a hybrid butler's pantry/coat closet. Finally we realized we were onto something!  Of course as the universe might have it, a California Closet's Store opened up down the street from our house right around this time, so we decided to go and talk to a closet consultant to see what they could do for us.  

After a store meeting and home meeting to measure the space, California Closets sent us 3 different proposals for how the space could be designed (at various price points).  My husband and I made a few additional tweaks to the proposal we liked best, the contract was finalized and the building process began!

The whole process took about 3 weeks including construction, below are the details from start to finish along with the options we selected.      

Phase 1

Before we could have the new closet unit installed, we needed to have a general contracting team come in and widen the existing door frame.  Widening the door frame would provide us with the necessary latitude to install maximum depth shelves, drawers and rolling shelves.  

The construction took approximately a day and a half to complete.  When all was said and done, it looked great and they were very respectful/careful with our property.  The one piece of advice I have for anyone about to undergo construction in their house is -- get ready for an invasion of dust!  Our construction team used tarps, cloths, etc… and still the dust that covered every surface post project was incredible.  If you are going to have any work done to your home, I would strongly encourage you to avoid having the work take place near any time when you plan to be entertaining.  

New Coat Closet

Our new coat closet is now a fraction of the size it used to be, but it's perfect for holding our everyday coats or our guests coats when entertaining, has a storage space above for all of Dolly's supplies (see this bin) and even room for a few everyday cleaning tools like our Swiffer!  My husband and I do not have extensive coat collections, so we found it much more beneficial to allocate the space towards kitchen/dining storage.  

Pantry

As I mentioned above, we opted to have the doorframe widened so that we could install the maximum depth shelf option.  We have enough room to house placemats, cheeseboards, cake plates, dry goods, baking supplies, the majority of my small kitchen appliances and even a few of these fabulous bin organizers.  I feel like I am honestly swimming in storage space these days, which is something I never dreamed would be possible given the size of my kitchen paired with my serious habit for kitchen equipment and entertaining accessories.  

Drawers

Oh what a luxury it is to finally have additional kitchen drawers!!  As I have mentioned in previous posts (like this one), our kitchen is only outfitted with two drawers, so having additional drawers included in our new butlers pantry was an absolute MUST.   Prior to having these new drawers, I was storing my kitchen linens in a basket situated in a high cabinet, which was a total nightmare.  These new drawers have given me the room to store and easily access my dish towels, oven mitts, aprons and table linens.  Talk about luxury!  

Rolling Shelves

We opted to have 2 rolling shelves installed on the two bottom levels of our pantry.  Reason being - who wants to crouch down onto the floor and dig around the back of a shelf for an item?  Definitely not me.  Adding the roller shelves allows for easy access to all items on both lower levels, which is especially helpful when you are storing big bulky kitchen appliances.  In addition, the lowest rolling shelf has doubled as a pet food/feeding storage space.  Dolly's bowls and kibbles can finally be stored in the same location, making her meal prep super easy and convenient.  

I would have to say that what I loved most about using California Closets for this project, was the ability to customize every single aspect of this cabinet.  We were able to choose the doors, interior and exterior hardware and stain colors for all shelves and drawers.  The best part?  Because California Closets is a closet manufacturing company, the cost to build this pantry was a fraction of what we were being quoted by various independent contractors.

As this project comes to a close, there are a few key takeaways that I wanted to make sure to share with you all while everything is still fresh in my mind. 

1. Before trying to create a new storage space, see if you can re-purpose an existing space.  You will save on expenses and keep your home from looking crowded if you use a space you already have. 
2. When it comes to specific home improvement work, you will save money by going to the experts instead of an independent contractor who is most likely not readily equipped with the materials that may be needed for proposed project (like a custom closet).
3. Err on the side of more details as opposed to less.  For this project, I pulled out everything I had wanted to store in this new closet so that the designers at California Closets could get a more accurate idea of my desired end goal. 

While we still have a few loose ends to tie up, like the two holes in the floor where the old door frame used to be, the lion's share of the work is complete and I couldn't be happier with the final product.  Starting off 2016 on an uber-organized note is the absolute best!

Styling My Bar Cart

I have been wanting a bar cart for some time now (by that, I mean years).  During that time, my desire to own, style and use a bar cart for my various entertaining activities has also grown significantly.  So much so that over Thanksgiving this past year, I put together a needs assessment for my husband detailing all possible uses for the cart including the obvious bar service, dessert and coffee station, birthday breakfast in bed delivery, etc. By the time Christmas came around, I think everyone was just tired of hearing me talk about the bar cart because my entire family had offered to buy it for me.  

To my delight and somewhat surprise, my husband came down the stairs on Christmas Eve with a large wrapped box containing none other than the bar cart!  Literally I felt like a little kid again, wanting to "play with my new toy" immediately.  I did manage to get it assembled before we left for Utah, but it wasn't until we returned from our trip that I actually had the opportunity to get to work styling it.  

I must admit I did spend an excessive amount of time on Pinterest researching various ideas for how to go about outfitting my bar cart (see this board).   Once I had conducted a fair amount of research, the next step was to assess and collect the items I already had in my house that I thought could be used/displayed on my bar cart.  I knew that my Williams Sonoma Bar Tool Set, Kim Seybert Linen Cocktail Napkins, Diamond-Cut Mixing Glass, Gold Foil Coasters (similar here) and Vintage Nut Dish would all be excellent additions to the bar cart, but it was actually my bottle of Napa Cellars Saint Helena Cabernet Sauvignon (part of their V Collection- a must try!) that ended up being the inspiration for my bar cart color story.

The next phase was shopping.  First stop?  Target of course!  Let me just start by saying that Target is definitely on point this season with their home decor collection!  In an effort to incorporate a few non-bar decorative items of various textures and sizes, I opted for this faux plant,  a Threshold Casted Metal Steer Skull on a Stand and this round basket to hold fresh lemons. Next, I went to World Market for a set of these gold stemless wine glasses to place next to my wine service on the top tier.  Finally, to finish off both levels of the cart I purchases an array of unique and delicious bottles of various liquors including: District Made Vodka (love including a fab local find), Hangar 1 Buddha's Hand Citron Vodka and Hendrick's Gin.  

I can assure you that my bar cart will most definitely be making regular appearances on the blog in the future.  I am so over the moon with this fabulous entertaining vehicle. The endless possibilities it holds for all of my hostessing and decorating endeavors has me completely inspired for 2016.  Stay tuned as there will be plenty more bar cart themed posts to come!