Crazy little bride for a day

Yesterday I had a mission: Track down and purchase as much Flourish in Robin's Egg Blue Wedgwood china as I could. This required me driving to 3 different Macy's stores, being referred to as a "little bride" multiple times by a sales associate, and inspecting multiple plates and cups and saucers for imperfections. It took me back to last June, feeling like a crazy bride again where only 1 thing mattered. Back then it was searching for tiny picture frames for the table numbers, or the perfect color ribbon to tie together the flip flops. This time I was in search of more of my beautiful china place settings, because sadly my pattern has been DISCONTINUED.

I have to say, Macy's you frustrate me. I first realized something was up with my china in September when I looked up my Macy's wedding registry and the china was no longer available for purchase online. When I called Macy's to ask them about it, they weren't totally sure why it wasn't online anymore, sometimes things go on and off the website, but that it was still available in the stores. I went to a few Macy's stores and yes it was still on display, so I stopped worrying about it.

Fast forward to 2 days ago when Rob's grandma emails us about a situation with our china. She ordered us a nice serving piece for our wedding gift back in July, and Macy's told her and us that it was on back order and we wouldn't get the dish until January. That seemed like a long time to wait, but no big deal. Well, Grandma got a letter from Macy's last week saying that the china pattern was discontinued so we would not be getting the serving piece at all. Luckily she is a determined, strong woman and wasn't going to let Macy's win this one, so she went to 4 different Macy's and somehow tracked down the serving piece. Woo hoo! After she informed us of this, I decided I needed to track down more place settings and accent plates asap. I'm happy to report that I found the last available place settings in the Atlanta area, and we are now all stocked up in the china department.

Rob and I had to stop and laugh, because to be honest, all of the china we got as wedding gifts is still boxed up and sitting in our dining room buffet table. Essentially it is untouched...besides the occasional time I take a piece out to say how pretty it is. And here I was freaking out that I didn't have enough of the so far untouched china. But I knew my freaking out wasn't unfounded, because my mom and the older Macy's sales woman reassured me that I was right to be tracking this stuff down now before it is harder to come by, more expensive and before one of my pieces inevitably breaks and I wish I had a replacement.

When I told Rob that I needed to get the appropriate storage materials from the Container Store to finally un-box and store the china in the buffet table he couldn't believe I was going to un-box it all. He pointed out that we would be moving again in the next few years, and how much easier it would be to move the china if it was still in the box. I told him he had a point, but that life is too short, we are using the good china now and then, especially after yesterday's adventures. "You're going to use it for a regular Tuesday night dinner, just the 2 of us?" I told him yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

Christmas ornaments

Had to share this with all my Delta readers out there. My sister Michelle gave me my first Tri Delta Christmas ornament for my birthday, isn't it super cute?



My Christmas ornament collection has really grown over the past couple of years...we have Hawaii honeymoon ornaments (3), a banana leaf angel ornament from Bermuda, a wood carved ornament from Burlington, VT, one from the Kennedy Space Center, a SanFran cable car, a BU hockey ornament, a cruise ship ornament, etc etc etc. This was supposed to be the first year Rob and I got a real tree, as there was just literally no space in our last apartment for a real tree. It finally hit me a few weeks ago that no, there will be no real tree in our apartment this Christmas. Pine needles are one of Roxanne's favorite things to find outside...specifically pulling the needles off of the branches. Not good for her, and not good for our ornament collection. I'm pretty confident she would find a way to destroy a fake tree as well. Oh well, another year with a tiny table top tree!

Marathon medal number 4

The hubs did it again! Another great marathon under his belt. Even I was a tad bit nervous about how this race was going to go. Mostly because of how Rob spoke about it in the weeks leading up to the marathon, but also because of his foot bothering him, how the hills and heat of Atlanta made training more of a challenge than he was used to, and add grad school and a puppy to the mix- he wasn't getting as much sleep as he should have.

Well, you never would have known any of those things were a concern on race day. He did an outstanding job, finishing and finishing well, in 3hours 15 minutes. Kimberly had an iphone app that allowed us to watch live footage of the elite runners in the marathon, and also track Rob along the course so we always knew what mile he was at and what his pace was. We saw him at mile 17 on 1st Avenue and again at mile 24 in Central Park. All I can say is thank goodness we saw him and he saw us. That is always the best and most nerve-wracking part of any marathon for me- being on the look out for Rob, heart skipping a beat with every green shirt runner I see wondering if it's him, holding my camera in position ready to get the action shot, wondering if I somehow missed him go by, and then seeing him run by- doing what he loves and works so hard for throughout the year. The next best part is seeing him after the race and giving him a big hug. He makes me such a proud wife.

What a great experience it was going to the NYC marathon (more so for Rob obviously). The fun thing about marathons is that they all have a different vibe to them. Whereas the Boston marathon was our home town race, and the Burlington, VT marathon was more of the small town race, the NYC marathon was definitely the big city race. One downfall of the big city race is my second favorite part of the marathon- trying to meet up with your runner after the race. It took us nearly 2 hours to get from our look out spot at mile 24 to Rob. That meant he finished around 1pm, and we didn't get to congratulate him until 2:30pm (much different from the Burlington race where I was hugging him within minutes of him crossing the finish line). I am so glad I was with my Father-in-law. The number of subway lines and blocks we had to walk to get to Rob, I don't know if I ever would have found him on my own.

What's up next? Back to our home town race baby...Boston in April!

Goodbye Roxanne, Hello NYC

First, I'm happy to say Roxanne is doing great. She is back to her old self, and hasn't had any more vomiting episodes. She is on soft canned food for a couple more days, along with a medication for upset stomach. Rob managed to avoid feeding her yesterday and today, and lucky for him we'll be away this weekend so there are no more chances of him encountering the "absolutely disgusting" canned stuff. Darn.

This afternoon I'm dropping Roxanne off at Grandma and Grandpa Pekarek's house. We have told her many times to please behave, or they will never watch you again and you'll be in the kennel. They have an 85 lb labradoodle, Bailey, who I'm sure she will have fun chasing around, even though she can't keep up with him. I'm not sure how thrilled he will be to share his house with her though! On Sunday my parents are going to pick up Roxanne from the Pekarek's house, and take her back to our apartment to watch her for the day. So basically it's a weekend with the grandparents for Roxanne.

And Rob and I are off to NYC! Rob and I have been to NYC many times, but never together. I can't tell you how many times I tried to talk him into taking the sketchy Fung Wah bus with me from Boston to NYC, but it never happened, which was probably for the best. It will be a short trip, but a great weekend of marathon excitement and seeing family (Rob's Dad and Kimberly) and friends who live in the city. I am so proud of Rob for taking on another marathon, especially one of the top marathon races in the country. It will be challenging, given the complications he has had with his foot over the past month or so, but I just hope he can enjoy the race and feel satisfied he gave it all he had at the end of the day. Good luck babe!!

Our first crisis as puppy parents

Right before dinner last night my Mom called. She asked what all the background noise was and I told her I was putting ice into the Margaritaville machine. Taco nights are even more fun now that we have a margarita maker. She said "Ohh margarita maker, sounds like a party!" Well, she couldn't have been more off. Taco night did not go as planned.

As we sat down to eat we noticed Roxanne over near the couch eating or chewing on something, and when Rob investigated he discovered she had thrown up. It mostly looked like a big pile of food and treats, so we weren't super concerned at first. Maybe she just ate too fast or too many treats upset her stomach or something. So we put her in the kitchen where at least she couldn't go back to the vomit spot with cleaner on it, and if she got sick again she wouldn't be on the carpet. From the kitchen table we could still see her through the gate, so we did get to enjoy our taco and guac feast, but once dinner was over it was really over.

We started clearing our plates and let Roxanne out of the kitchen, and within minutes she was behind the couch throwing up again...2 big piles. As I started to clean that up, Rob put her near the front door and she threw up liquid...2 times. Back to the kitchen she went, so we could clean up the mess by the front door. Five minutes later she was throwing up in the kitchen...4 or 5 more times (I lost count). It was unreal. It was messy. But mostly we just felt so bad for our little girl.

I will say I fell even more in love with Rob tonight. He handled the barf-fest very well- and if you know anything about him and his reactions to certain bodily functions you would have been impressed. This gives me hope for the future when he encounters his first diaper change. He loves Roxanne so much, I think he might do anything for her. At first I was optimistic, telling myself I'm sure she's OK, but then when the vomiting wouldn't stop I began to get upset. Rob called the emergency animal clinic and decided we should take Roxanne in, so he figured out the directions, drove us there and checked us in.

Wouldn't you know, and knowing her I was not surprised, that once we walked into the waiting room Roxanne was walking around, wagging her tail, checking people out, and of all things trying to eat the leaves off the plant near the door. We felt like the stereotypical 1st time parents who freak out over things that end up being nothing at all. I even commented to a woman in the waiting room that she was not acting this OK 15 minutes ago...she said "It always is that way, isn't it?"

The doctor checked her out and said things seemed normal from what he could tell, but was concerned about dehydration so they gave her a shot of fluids and an antacid to settle her stomach. Since she is up to date on her vaccinations he wasn't too concerned about it being something serious, but said that if the vomiting continued we should definitely take her to the vet.

I was confident she was going to be fine, but then at 11pm she started gaging again. I ended up sleeping on the floor with her by the front door in case she got sick again. Sure enough, at 1am and 4:30am she got sick. I just felt awful. Back to the vet we went after I dropped Rob off at work this morning.

She's been there all day, and we're picking her up around 6pm. The vet gave me a couple of updates, saying the anti-nausea meds are working well, she is keeping food down, and in one of the x-rays they think they saw a piece of something that could have been plastic, a sliver of wood, or a sewing needle. The needle is out, I don't sew. But the wood or plastic are definite possibilities, she chews on and tries to eat anything she can outside. Since whatever they saw disappeared in a second x-ray, they think she will be able to pass it fine. So now she'll be on a bland diet and stomach meds for the next few days. It sure is quiet without her around the apartment today! Hopefully she has a fast recovery, especially since the grandparents will be watching her this weekend since Rob and I will be in NYC for the marathon. Get better little monster!

Can't forget the guac!

In my post-Naples blog entry I forgot to mention what I know my mom and Kate would say was quite a perk of the trip...a huge avocado tree right next to the pool at our condo! And the Florida avocados are huge, nothing like the Hass avocados I usually buy at the store.



Good thing my uncle told my mom about the tree, or we might have missed it altogether since the avocados are pretty well hidden high up in the branches. I'm not sure how often the senior citizens are out there avocado picking, but we were out there standing on pool chairs to reach the things. Kate and I each took one home, and both of us made the best thing you can make with an avocado, guacamole!



All of that guac from one free avocado. How do I like mine? With garlic, red onion, tomato, Tabasco sauce, salt and lime juice. Tonight we're having tacos for dinner, so this will be a nice addition to the meal.

Our little pumpkin

We had a great first Halloween weekend in Georgia. First of all, we had really nice weather. Can't complain when you can still wear capris and short sleeves at the end of October. I wonder if I will ever have to give up the flip flops for something warmer? Knowing me, probably not.

Not only was it Halloween weekend, but it was the big football rivalry weekend in our household, Michigan vs PSU. PSU hasn't had the best season so far, and I hate to say it, but that on top of hearing everyone on ESPN pick Michigan to win the game and knowing we were without our starting QB, I had prepared myself for the worst. In case you haven't heard, PSU won 41-31! And since I didn't want to rub it in at home, I'll say it here on my blog, woo hoo!!

Saturday was also Linnea's birthday (bro-in-law's gf, who is from the Atlanta area and happens to be attending law school at PSU), and she was in town visiting this weekend. Her parents threw her a really nice birthday dinner party which we got to go to, and we had a really fun time. Her parents are super sweet, and the food was delish.

Since it was Roxanne's first Halloween, and I am one of those dog parents that loves little dog outfits now and then, I got her a costume at Petsmart despite Rob's protests. She was the cutest little pumpkin I've ever seen, and as long as she was eating treats or playing, she really didn't mind the costume. Eventually she would try to bite it off, so we only did the costume in small doses. But for $3.75 I think the costume was worth it for the pictures :)