Just getting out the door with my HHMB can be a real challenge. I carry what I refer to as their doggie diaper bag whenever we head to a meetup or event. The abbreviated version of their essentials consists of some pee pads, wet wipes, water, treats, clickers, brushes, combs, spray shampoo and conditioner, their balls, and a change of clothes. You are probably thinking that a change of clothes FOR A DOG is completely unnecessary, and at one point in time I would have agreed with you. In fact, I decided for some strange reason to try and behave like a “normal person” and nixed the extra change of clothes in an effort to pack lightly. Of course, the very first time I try to pack more lightly this happens. The girls were invited to a doggie birthday party over Labor Day weekend last year, and the birthday girl's mom had an amazing backyard with an amazing pool. Unfortunately, Lane was in a summer dress, not her bikini, when she decided to swan dive (the judge from Yorkshire gave it a 10.0 for execution, but only a 3.0 degree of difficulty) into the pool. Thank goodness we had all her grooming supplies with us, though not a change of clothes! The hostess was nice enough to loan us a hair dryer, and even after a complete blow out Lane still shivered for quite a bit, and this was in Atlanta (you know HOTlanta) over Labor Day weekend last year! I have learned my lesson and will never try to pack lightly again. Besides, how much room do two doggie outfits really take up?
Anyways, after we found a parking lot that still had some open spots and figured out a way to wrangle the stroller and doggie diaper bag onto the shuttle bus, we finally arrived! I had heard many wonderful things about this event, with the most important being how much money they are able to raise for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. This year I read it totaled $150,000. So amazing! Even more amazing is that this extraordinary event is put together by the employees of L'Oreal along with some volunteers in honor of coworkers they have lost to breast cancer. I can't think of a more touching tribute and wonderful way to include the whole family in the fight against breast cancer.
There was so much to see it was a bit overwhelming at first! We decided to do a quick stroll past all the different tents on our way to pick up our goodie bags, which did not disappoint!
We got to meet Elwood, who was unbelievably cute and handsome in person. Rory even whined until she got to sniff Elwood nose-to-nose. She actually showed some restraint and didn't try to give his little tongue a lick, but I could tell she was very, very tempted. She so was thrilled to meet a doggie celebrity in person, but I'm afraid she was just another babe of many to Mr. Elwood!
I honestly think Rory's biggest thrill of the day though was when we bumped into two of the yorkies from our small dog meetup group. She was so excited to see them and gave them a greeting fit for kings! Of course, knowing Rory's personality, she probably thought everyone at the entire L'Oreal event was there for her anyways.
Even Rory, the eternal social butterfly, got tired eventually and wanted to ride in the stroller while we shopped around at the different vendors for awhile. Lane was a bit overwhelmed by everything, and she preferred to “referee” the other dogs from the safety of the stroller while lounging and cruising in style.
Since my fiancé and I are both big kids at heart, one of the things we enjoyed most was all the booths setup with carnival type games. You purchased tokens (with all the money going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation) to play the games and earn tickets, which could then be traded in for prizes. My fiancé did a much better job than I did, but I did manage to score a few legit tickets (and a few pity tickets as well). Rory and Lane did absolutely nothing to cheer me on, but I think I heard Lane catcall me a few times as I was lining up a shot. We were able to trade in our tickets for a Sister Bear stuffed animal of Berenstain Bears fame (Sister Bear made me so happy for no real reason I can think of!), a Ralph Lauren Polo Bear, and some eyeshadow (L'Oreal, of course!). Probably equally as fun as the carnival games was squishing the whole family into a photo booth for some pictures. We even got one (out of four) with everyone looking at the camera!
With so many vendors, I managed to be on my best behavior and only do a limited amount of shopping. I was able to find a few things I was really wanting to try out like Pupcakes 2 Go and the Water Rover. The Water Rover is especially nice after having used Gulpy water dispensers for many years and being forced to dump most of the water out each time I offered a drink to my dog in the tray. Lane was always a little hesitant to drink from the tray too, but she has no qualms about drinking from the little bowl attached to the Water Rover. I seriously think it might be my favorite new dog product this year! There were lots and lots of freebies and samples too, and Rory was sure to sit and give her best “my parents starve me face” at any of the booths with cookies out. We had so much stuff that the stroller became weighed down and actually started squeaking, and my always helpful HHMB were sure to make sure we didn't forget any of their new loot when we unloaded the contents of their stroller into the car.
We left the L'Oreal event after about three hours, so we could head over to a Woofstock festival that was being held in a park closer to our home. I will definitely plan better for next year since we missed out on the yorkie races and costume contest. After being at the L'Oreal event, the Woofstock festival was pretty underwhelming, especially since most of the booths had started to close up or had left altogether two hours before the end of the event. We did meet a very cute little girl, who smiled when she saw Rory and Lane and then asked if she could pet them. I told her yes and she immediately sat on the ground and let them approach her (perfect!). She asked me what their names were and when I told her Rory and Lane she immediately noted there was a Rory and Lane on Gilmore Girls. Ten more bonus points for her! I've had so many experiences with children rushing up to the dogs and starting to pet them without asking and in turn scaring them that it was really nice to meet a little girl who had good doggie manners.
I guess my energizer bunnies managed to recharge on the drive over since after we finished a quick walk around the Woofstock festival we stopped in the small dog park where Rory immediately scoured the park for abandoned tennis balls. I had left their doggie diaper bag which had their balls in it in the car, and once again I was left unprepared! You'd think I'd have learned by now. Of course, Rory was none the wiser and luckily there were plenty of abandoned tennis balls to be found, so my HHMB got to enjoy some fetch before going home for the evening.
For more pictures of the L'Oreal event, check out Doggie Debutantes on Facebook here.
Get the Look
Since Rory and Lane always insist on dressing for the occasion, I had pink ribbon fufus with coordinating bows made for the event. I really like that anytime they wear them they will be bringing attention to such an important cause too.
The fufus were made by Fu Fu Fashions from a C&C fabric, which I realized is just like the oh so comfortable C&C tanks I have taken out stock in for myself! The girls' fufus were very lightweight and so soft, just perfect for a hot day.
The fabulous coordinating pink ribbon bows were custom made to match by M'Lady's Dog Bows.
For more pictures of the Pink Ribbon fufus and bows, you can click here.
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