Doggie Debutantes

Fashion Show! Fashion Show! Fashion Show at lunch! (25 Days of Christmas version)

2012-01-03T17:28:00.093-05:00

So...long time no blog. One of my resolutions this year is try to blog more, so we'll see if I can stick with it! My other resolution is to be more like Kelly Kapoor of The Office. I'm totally kidding...or am I?

I've always thought it would be fun to do a picture diary as a sort of fashion show of what Rory and Lane wear each day, but somehow remembering to take a picture every single day actually ends up being quite a tall order, or maybe I'm really just that lazy. Keeping that in mind, I'm asking you to go ahead and excuse the poor quality of several of the pictures below. Sometimes my BlackBerry and poor lighting was the best I could muster up by the late hour I remembered to take the picture.

Rory and Lane have such a large holiday wardrobe, and I was pretty confident I could commit to the picture diary idea for 25 days starting on December 1 and in the process make myself feel better about the sheer volume of Christmas outfits they have accumulated. I succeeded on the first count and failed miserably on the second. I probably should be ashamed to admit that I grossly underestimated the amount of holiday attire, specifically dresses, not to mention pajamas, they have collected, so this picture diary is really more of a glimpse of the whole picture. This year, I think I may need to start the day after Thanksgiving and go through the end of December to make sure that everything makes it in the rotation.

It's just so hard to resist all the adorable handmade Christmas dresses! Should I even mention the cheap tees from the $2.50 bin at Target? I mean that's basically giving them away, and it makes them way too easy to buy and forget about. (Justify, justify, justify.) Since Facebook somehow managed, with no notice or explanation, to delete several of the picture posts uploaded in the past, including several of the daily holiday outfit posts, I'm even more glad I have this all in one place.

Now, without further aideu, here is Rory and Lane's 25 Days of Christmas Fashion Show in pictures:

Day 1: Elf-Sized.

Day 2: Bite Me.

Day 3: Tacky Holiday Sweaters.

Day 4: Sweet.

Day 5: Bah Humbug!

Day 6: Sorry Santa - I ate the cookies.

Day 7: Santa Baby.

Day 8: Santa's Little Yelper.

Day 9: Just go ahead and put me on the naughty list!

Day 10: Merry Christmas.

Day 11: Crystal Snowflakes.

Day 12: Santa's Helper.

Day 13: Holiday Patchwork.

Day 14: Lil Teddy.

Day 15: Winter Wonderland.

Day 16: The Grinch.

Day 17: Reindeer in Training.

Day 18: Santa Sweater.

Day 19: Christmas Elegance.

Day 20: Santa's Lil Helper.

Day 21: Holiday Party Taffeta Hand-Smocked Dress.

Day 22: Candy Cane Bouquet Strappy Ruffle Vest.

Day 23: Little Miss Candy Cane.

Day 24: Gingerbread overalls.

Day 24 (Christmas Eve dinner): Holly Halter Christmas Dress.

Day 25: Holiday Peppermint.

Day 25 (Christmas Dinner): Candy Cane Halter Formal Dress.

Get the Look:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, and Day 8 are from Target (in-store only).

Day 9 is Mudpuppies.

Day 10 is I See Spot.

Day 11, Day 24, Day 25 are go.fetch.

Day 12 and Day 21 are Oscar Newman.

Day 13, Day 14, and Day 15 are Ruff Ruff Couture.

Day 16 is SissyAngelWear.

Day 17 is SimplyDog often found at Walmart.

Day 18 is Dallas Dog Sweaters.

Day 19 and Day 22 are Prissy Paw Fashions.

Day 23 is by ChloeBella, who unfortunately is no longer in business.

Day 24 (Christmas Eve Dinner) and Day 25 (Christmas Dinner) are tonimari.

tonimari Easter dress

2011-05-25T14:54:00.022-04:00

When I think of Easter, there is always one deliciously sugary treat that comes to mind. I don't mean Cadbury Eggs, but YUMMO! I mean the deliciously marshmellowy goodness of Peeps. Peeps used to be synonymous with Easter (and blowing things up in the microwave or at least trying to), though I guess now that they've seen a marketing opportunity you can get Peeps for just about any major holiday.

This is my very long-winded way of introducing the girls' Easter dress from one of our very favorite designers, tonimari. When tonimari first posted a swatch of this Easter fabric, which I immediately began referring to as the Peeps fabric, I was instantly drawn to it. It wouldn't be the first time my stomach influenced a decision. Cupcake fabrics anyone? The instant I saw it I knew Rory and Lane had to have an Easter dress made from the Peeps fabric.

It's no secret what big fans of tonimari we are, so it was no surprise the finished design was above and beyond what we could have imagined! This tonimari dress is almost too much cute in one place, and I couldn't stop smiling when I opened the package. It's apparent each and every detail was well though out. Let's work our way from top to bottom of this gorgeous creation, shall we?

The dress pulls together two very complimentary colors, cotton candy pink and Tiffany blue. The pink fabric has a beautiful glittery sheen to it, which makes this fun, bright, and vibrant pink sparkle as it catches the light, making it the perfect fabric for any of our girly girls. The cotton candy pink Peter Pan collar is trimmed with Tiffany blue ric rac and is accented with a coordinating polka dotted grosgrain ribbon bow in the same Tiffany blue with pink dots. The bodice of the dress has an embroidered chick doing an adorable little jig with an expression of pure glee on its face. The embroidered chick is dancing in an embroidered field among the wild flowers and butterflies. It is the perfect spring portrait, making this dress suitable for not only Easter, but Spring in general. The waist is belted with the same polka dotted grosgrain ribbon found on the collar, complete with a centered bow above the d-ring for easy leash attachment. Moving down to my very favorite part (and it was extremely hard to pick a favorite part amongst all the cuteness) is the skirt, which is made from what I referred to above as the Peeps fabric. This fabric has the same sparkly sheen as the cotton candy pink fabric. The irresistible pattern on this fabric has the Peeps reminiscent chicks floating between colorful eggs in solid, dotted, checkered, and flowered patterns in colors of pink, blue, and green. The bottom of the skirt has detailing typically reserved for only the fanciest of children's holiday wear and is edged in white eyelet with a satin Tiffany blue ribbon running through it with pink ric rac trim, pulling together the ric rac trim from the collar. As always, the perfect finishing touch is the seemingly never ending layer upon layer of shimmering Tiffany blue tulle, giving this dress even more oomph.

We just love everything about this dress, and it is simply gorgeous to watch it shimmer as Rory and Lane twirl (okay, more like spin in circles and pounce on toys) and the light catches the fabric. Any little girl would be lucky to have this tonimari dress for Spring. I think it's safe to say the designer behind tonimari has outdone herself yet again!

You might have noticed throughout this blog that I never call the dress by name. That is because the designer has yet to come up with a name that will do this lovely dress justice. If you have any suggestions, please share them!

You can see more pictures of Rory and Lane in their tonimari Easter dresses here.

Get the Look

This, as of now, nameless tonimari dress, will be available for order in Spring 2012.

The girls are wearing boutique bows custom made to match by M'Lady's Dog Bows.

Guess who?!?!

2011-05-06T15:05:00.013-04:00

Guess who I finally got to meet?!?!

Last week, the whole family headed to Forth Worth, Texas for the 2011 Yorkie Kingdom meetup. During our trip, we were finally able to meet and visit with one of our very favorite and world renowned (seriously, her designs can be found in brick and mortar stores all over the world, including Belgium, Bermuda, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, just to name a few, but who can keep up?) canine couture designers, Desiree Mendoza. Des is the incredibly talented and sweet designer behind the fabulous go.fetch and ToniMari lines.

It's worth noting that despite several reminders from both my sweet fiance and Des that I waited until the last minute to get pictures of my girls with the celebrity herself, and we didn't have the greatest backdrop or lighting. Maybe next year...

Also, guess who else we got to meet? I don't want to make anyone jealous or anything (or maybe I do...nanny, nanny, boo, boo), but she also brought along her adorable little maltese, SeRi, who is even cuter in person (if that is possible) than in all her gorgeous modeling shots showing off her mom's latest creations.

I liken Des to the Marc Jacobs (naturally after his makeover) of the doggie design world. It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear she got a call from Louis Vuitton to work alongside him, the current Creative Director, as the Canine Creative Director, if they ever decide they want to expand beyond dog carriers and collars and leashes. Seriously.

As fans of go.fetch and ToniMari already know, she is constantly pushing the envelope when it comes to her designs. You can find everything from doggie diapers to formal wear in her collections. It is apparent that she is never satisfied with even her most wildly popular styles by the way she continues to push the envelope and out do herself with each new design, season after season.

Incredibly, I think we are now even bigger fans of go.fetch and ToniMari. They've always had impeccable customer service, but it's always nice to know the person behind the company is someone who is so appreciative and gracious for all her success.

You can see more pictures of the girls with Desiree Mendoza here.

You can see more pictures of the girls with SeRi here.

Disclaimer: We only brought our crappy point and shoot camera with us to Texas. The flash caused all the pups to have those "demon" eyes, so we are left with these pictures, which I realize appear to be taken underwater, in a cave, while I was swimming by, with my first ever cell phone's camera from 1999. Okay, fine. My first cell phone didn't have a camera, but you get the picture; no pun intended.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane are wearing ToniMari's Madison sleeveless tutu ballerina dress, which can be found here.

SeRi was debuting a new style of tutu in ToniMari's upcoming vintage tutu line. We can hardly wait until these go on sale!

All the pups are wearing bows by M'Lady's Dog Bows. Rory and Lane are wearing velvet bow ties, and SeRi is wearing a single looped 5/8 inch bow.

Hoppy Easter!

2011-04-25T11:16:00.027-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter with the girls and ended our fun day with an Easter egg hunt, Hello Kitty style of course. The girls had beautiful, more formal, Easter dresses this year that we'll blog about later, complete with the obligatory photos of the girls in bunny ears. The perfect ensemble for their more active events of the day? Overalls with Hello Kitty, naturally disguised as a bunny, on the bib were the obvious choice.

The girls sure are glad they didn't make the same mistake as Dexter, especially since the Easter Bunny dropped off some goodies for them. Thankfully, it looks like Dexter only got to the Canadian Easter Bunny.

The Easter Bunny dropped off lots of plush toys, one of the girls' favorite treats, Cocotherapy coconut chips, Oscar Newman's Fantasia Tulle dress, Truly Oscar's Girlish Charm dress, go.fetch's Bubble Ducky flannel nightie, and tonimari's Some bunny loves you hooded pajamas. The hooded jammies are made from such a soft and cozy fabric that I wish I could find some in my size! Lane found the softness irresistible and couldn't keep her sweet little head off of them.

Rory and Lane were just like little kids rushing over to their baskets to check them out (read tip them over and attack). They always know when something is for them, or maybe it's just that they think everything is for them...and they are usually right.

We finished off our day with an egg hunt for the girls. We've had egg hunts for the girls before, so this year we decided to use Cocotherapy's suggestion for something a little different. We stuck Cocotherapy coconut chips inside the eggs, so the girls would be attracted to them and hid them (in pretty much plain sight) all around the living room. As to be expected, Rory was a whiz rushing around and pawing at the eggs. Luckily, she is a sweet girl and was willing to share her egg collection with Lane.

And this is why we can't keep tennis balls within their reach during the day:

I'd spend the entire day trying to fish tennis balls out from under the sofa!

You can see more pictures of the Easter Egg Hunt here.

You can see more pictures of the girls in their Hello Kitty Easter overalls here.

For even more pictures of Rory and Lane, you can find us on Facebook.

Get the Look

To compliment their adorable Hello Kitty Easter overalls, Rory and Lane are wearing boutique bows custom made to match by M'Lady's Dog Bows and custom Hello Kitty centers by Spotted Frog Designs.

Rory's Canine Celebrity Crush

2011-04-22T18:28:00.028-04:00

Rory (or maybe it's just me) has a canine celebrity crush, Whiz Portman. Natalie Portman has been everywhere these days between the pre and post Oscar buzz and her pregnancy, which means we've gotten to see a lot more of Whiz, her adorable yorkie. Not to take anything away from the very handsome Jake, in fact, I think they kind of favor each other, but Rory has definitely put Whiz on her safe list. You know, the list of pups she is allowed to play fetch with (literally) should the opportunity ever present itself, and it doesn't count as cheating.

Whiz looks like a giant teddy bear, and Rory found herself immediately charmed by his good looks. I obviously have a soft spot for teapot yorkies with floppy ears, and I admit I wouldn't mind cuddling up with him.

You can check out some pictures of Whiz in this feature by People Pets. Celebrity Dog Watcher also has several pictures of Natalie with Whiz, though you might notice he is incorrectly identified as Charlie in some of the photos. Charlie was Natalie's adorable terrier mix who passed away before Whiz joined the family.

Check out this adorable video of Charlie on David Letterman:

Charlie makes his appearance around the 6 minute and 10 second mark, though he is mentioned earlier in the interview.

Natalie and Whiz even starred in Funny or Die's Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis. Just a heads up, this video is NOT appropriate for children. I don't really think it's all that funny, but the adorableness of Whiz does steal the show. It looks like his mom isn't the only actor in the family.

One thing is certain, Natalie Portman has always had adorable pups, and I just love that she brings them with her almost everywhere she goes. Rory has started complaining she isn't as well-traveled as Whiz, so I guess we'll have to work on that...or marry her off.

Mrs. Whiz Portman...Rory likes the sound of that.

Rory and Jake, sitting in a tree, P-L-A-Y-I-N-G...

2011-01-06T15:06:00.005-05:00

Well, after talking it over with Rory's publicist (hopefully, you know I'm kidding), we decided it was time Rory went public with her love life. She's been keeping a big secret for almost two years now, and she is tired of hiding from the puparazzi every time she goes out on an imaginary play date. Rory is finally ready to confess: she has a long distance lover, an adorable little yorkie named Jake. Dressed in a penguin suit, I dare say he is the studliest muffin of all. I think Carrie Bradshaw said it best, “Hello, lover!”

Jake asked Rory to “escort” him to an online Valentine's Day ball back in February of 2009, and the rest, as they say, is history. Not only is Jake, or Jakey Bear as I like to call him, just about the closest thing to a real live stuffed teddy bear (Teddy Ruxpin, anyone?), he also loves to spoil Rory rotten. There have been cookies, framed pictures, jewelry, toys, and clothes. So it comes as no surprise that Mr. Jakey Bear had his mom send Rory an amazing Christmas gift.

Jake sent Rory an adorable pair of fleece teddy bear print pajamas with a matching korker bow, along with a reindeer toy and plush bear toy that snores when you squeeze him! Even cuter, there is a hoodie you can pull up with ears on top. Always the gentleman, Jakey and his sister, Willow, made sure to include Lane in the fun with a reindeer toy that matched the one Rory got.

The girls have been obsessed with these reindeer toys from the moment they saw them. I think they are essentially rubber balls with squeakers covered in plush, so it's the best of both worlds in doggie terms. The girls love to toss them around and watch them bounce. As you can see, they simply couldn't resist, so we gave them a little break during our photoshoot!

The only thing cuter than Rory in her new pajamas? Jake in the same teddy bear pajamas! You can see for yourself in the new 4”x6” he sent to go in the frame on Rory's nightstand.

Since Jake and Rory have yet to meet nose to nose, she spends a lot of time dreaming of the day she and her Prince Charming will be able to fetch toys together.

Get the Look

Rory's new pajamas are made by Klippo.

Rory's new matching korker bow is made by Anabella's Bows.

The reindeer toys are made by Grriggles and can be found here. Okay, so Amazon calls it a moose. Reindeer was more festive though.

Lane's Christmas lollipop boutique bow is from M'Lady's Dog Bows.

L'Oreal's Dogtober Fest II

2010-12-06T16:35:00.009-05:00

In early November, we headed to Etsch Farms for L'Oreal's Dogtober Fest II. We'd had so much fun at L'Oreal's Your Dog is Worth It Too Day that we knew this smaller-scaled event with all the proceeds again supporting the Susan G. Komen Fund packed full with Fall activities would be just as fun, so we packed up our HHMB and thankfully found the farm without a problem. Of course, I thought wearing a sweatshirt and jeans would keep me plenty warm, but I was very, very wrong. Thankfully, my fiance gave me the thermal shirt he was wearing under his hoodie, so I had a little something extra to help block out the wind. Despite my resemblance to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, I had a great time waddling around all afternoon.

As expected, there weren't nearly as many vendors and rescues as the big event in August, but we loved having all these Fall activities to do with the girls. We started off with pumpkin bowling, which consisted of using a pumpkin to try and knock over ten shampoo bottles. Naturally, we let the girls sniff the pumpkins for good luck before our turn. I'm ninety-nine percent sure if I had left the pumpkin in front of Rory for another second she would have attempted to take a giant bite. Since she does get canned pumpkin at home sometimes, I'm just going to assume she's very fiber conscious. Oh, and apparently, all the time we've spent Wii bowling has not paid off since neither one of us got a strike, but we did pick up two shampoo bottle consolation prizes.

Next, we headed over to the corn maze, which was my favorite part of the whole day! There was a smaller corn maze, which we completed without too much difficulty, which my 6'5” fiance reminded me wasn't much of a challenge since he was taller than the corn stalks and could see the entrance and exit. Perhaps feeling a little overconfident, we headed the larger maze. We decided it would be fun for the girls to let them choose which path to follow. Since Lane is typically a follower, it is not surprising Rory happily led the way at every turn. I only wish I had thought to take video since at certain forks in the path she would literally look from side-to-side trying to decide which way to go! A few times she was anxious to make her own “path” straight through the corn stalks to greet another person or pup, but we didn't permit any cheating. We were having a lot of fun answering the trivia questions along the path and posing with the different corn figures that it wasn't until after about twenty minutes we realized we were getting nowhere near the maze exit. So, at one point, when Rory decided to go one way, my fiance vetoed Rory and said we should go the other. Not ten seconds later did we walk into our first and only dead end in the maze. If only Rory could talk...I can only imagine what she would have had to say! Needless to say, we continued to let Rory make the decisions until about twenty more minutes later we found the exit. I have to say I think Rory might have been Toucan Samming it (I love making up words) and following her nose to the exit, where I discovered my newest addiction (and quite possibly Rory's too), Sweet Jersey Kettle Korn. More on that in a later blog.

We let the girls walk around in a bin of corn to sniff for Milkbones, but I think they all must of have been gone by the time we went through since neither of them seemed very interested in anything other than trying to grab pieces of the corn, which did make an appearance later in it's same form. You're welcome for the extra information.

We rounded out the day posing in the cutouts screaming photo op and with a hayride around the farm. I think the girls thought it was just a very slow car ride though.

Overall, we had a wonderful day, and I was thrilled to have a day of Fall activities that was dog-friendly, even if it was only for this event. I will say I never understood why more farms aren't dog friendly all the time, but after attending this event and seeing all the people who unfortunately didn't deem it necessary to pick up after their dogs, I'm sad to say I get it. To date, these L'Oreal events have raised over $500,000 for the Susan G. Komen Fund!

For more pictures of the event, including the amazing goodie bag full of L'Oreal products, be sure to check us out on Facebook here.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane were staying nice and cozy in velour monkey joggers by MonkeyDaze.

Their matching bows were custom made to match by M'Lady's Dog Bows.

Go (October)fetch yourself!

2010-11-07T20:30:00.017-05:00

A few weekends ago we drove out to the Salem County Fairgrounds for Fido Festival's Octoberfetch. That doesn't really give our trip adequate justice though. Using the GPS built into my car, a Garmin, and my fiance's cell phone's GPS, we finally found our way there after about a 45 minute detour! What kind of street address isn't even a listed street number in either my car's GPS or the Garmin?!?! You'd think using a street number off by less than 100 that was recognized by our GPS would put you close or in the vicinity. Wrong. My head is still spinning trying to figure out how that highway was numbered.

Unfortunately, our several detours meant we arrived too late for the costume contest at 1:30, or so we thought. Later, we found out the emcee of the contest never showed up and after waiting quite awhile they finally started the contest without her around 2:00. I'm so bummed since we had the girls already dressed in their costumes from last year and changed them out of them when we got there at 1:40, so poor Lane wouldn't have to walk around in her fat suit in the heat. I think a Ghostbuster and Slimer would have given at least a few people a chuckle.

Here they are in their Halloween picture from last year:

Feel free to chuckle here.

After a quick walk around the festival, we stopped by the play area hosted by Camp Bow Wow, where the girls attend daycare regularly. They were very excited to see all their human friends from camp, and I think it might have been Rory's favorite part of the day. She loves to make an entrance! It typically consists of sprinting in and running the length of the room/yard and immediately greeting all humans and pups in the area while simultaneously casing the joint to make sure no one accidentally left a stray tennis ball. Unfortunately for Rory, no one did, so she had to settling for lots of running, sniffing a lot of butts, and appeasing me by running through the tunnels and into the pop-up dog house on command.

After we left the small dog area, we bumped into Gizmo and Bella, some of our yorkie friends from our local playgroup. The girls were so happy to see more familiar faces, and maybe a bit jealous that both Gizmo and Bella's mommies had slings to carry them around in when they got tired. I'm still not sure carrying a 12 pound yorkie around in a sling is a good idea for my back, but I'm starting to think it might be worth finding out. Apparently, doggie strollers are so 2009. Not that I'll be getting rid of ours any time soon, it's wonderful to have a place to set my purse and shopping bags.

Pawsitively Famous was there to offer training tips and search for new talent. There were quite a few adorable dogs who immediately got stage fright once they got up there. They'd freeze and look at their owners with a confused look on their face. And then there was Rory. There were several steps up to the stage, and I felt confident she wouldn't jump off the stage. Also, my fiance was sitting in the audience with Lane in the stroller, so I knew if Rory decided she wanted to take an unchaperoned tour of the fairgrounds he would be able to stop her. The second I pulled her step-in harness and leash over her head she made a mad dash running around all areas of the stage, sniffing everything and ignoring me completely. I suppose it was just Rory making one of her grand entrances but talk about embarrassing. Never again will I let her off-leash for another contest! I know not to chase her (or any dog) when she runs. I know she thinks it is a game. So I'm unsure why I found myself chasing her all over that stage. She finally walked to the edge of the stage where the trainer met her and stopped her. When I finally retrieved her from the trainer and put her harness and leash back on, she did all her basic tricks perfectly (sit, down, roll over, circle, counter circle, shake, speak, etc.) and finished up with getting me a Kleenex out of a tissue box when I “sneezed.” Needless to say, I believe her entrance overshadowed her perfect execution.

I have no idea what gets into Rory when she gets on stage, but this is the second time she has done something like this. Last year at a Woofstock festival in Atlanta, she darted off within the fenced in yard when I took her leash off to show off her tricks. She has excellent recall during our Paw Scouts training sessions and at the dog park, so I'm not sure what gets into her when it's time to show off on a stage. I don't trust her (or Lane) off leash anywhere that isn't securely fenced in for obvious reasons, but I can't figure out what it is about the outdoor stages that makes her lose all interest in me. She does great when she is front and center at any indoor event. Maybe the great outdoors are just too much for her to resist. Thankfully, there are no pictures of this.

After the embarrassment that was Rory's performance on stage, I thought I was done being embarrassed for the day. I was wrong. We bought our tickets for Lure for the Cure's lure racing, with all proceeds going to the National Canine Cancer Foundation (Hutch would be so proud), and waited in at least a thirty minute line behind other dogs and their owners for our turn. A couple in front of us had two large mixed breed dogs. The male dog had what I refer to as a “scream bark” that was higher pitched than Lane's and only stopped when his owner held him in her arms!!! He was easily sixty pounds too. As we got closer to the front of the line, Rory, like many other dogs, noticed the lure and started barking and went into attach mode. I figured the girls would be naturals since they love to chase the laser pointer at home, and they are also constantly on squirrel patrol when we are out on walks.

We paid for two runs thinking Rory would zoom through the course, and Lane would be more timid and perhaps not complete it. Wrong again. Rory was up first and immediately launched after the lure, but once she got close to it she backed up and continued to bark at it. She was terrified of the lure! I was trying to communicate to the guy working the lure that if he would just let her sniff it without it moving, she would be okay with it and go for it, but I don't think he heard me. We attempted to do both girls together hoping strength in numbers would prevail and also thinking if Rory was this scared Lane wasn't going to do anything but bark and run to us. Well, Lane had other plans. She darted off when she saw the lure, but, unfortunately, they put all the jumps at the beginning of the course and the small dogs can't see over the lure over the pipes (jumps) like the taller dogs can, so she kept backing up thinking she had lost it. I eventually walked her over the jumps, and she was off and really cruising until she reached the tire jump. We've actually been working on jumping through hoops in Paw Scouts, but apparently a tire jump is different enough to be utterly terrifying.

Here is a video with a few clips of them attempting to lure race:

Be sure to note Lane's imitation of a charging bull around the 31 to 34 second mark. You can also see Rory back her little yorkie booty up towards the beginning while Lane zooms off.

For more pictures of the event, check Doggie Debutantes out on Facebook here.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane were sporting their Halloween fufus to the event and can be purchased from Fu Fu Fashions.

Their adorable matching candy corn bows were made by M'Lady's Dog Bows.

Brangelina, TomKat...and Rulu?

2010-10-01T12:00:00.038-04:00

I'm sure everyone remembers when Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston after falling in love with Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr and Mrs. Smith. Team Aniston for sure, and I think we know who Rory would have supported, but, without her misfortune, Brangelina and the invention of celebrity names might never have come to be. To be honest, I think at this point most everyone has forgotten how Brangelina, the couple themselves, came to be, but this isn't a celebrity blog, so...

TomKat immediately makes me think of Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch over his new love, Katie Holmes. I forgot about Gigli pretty quickly, but who could forget Bennifer? Or Jennifer Lopez's Jenny from the Block video prominently featuring her larger-than-life relationship with Ben Affleck. The Bennifer nickname is still fitting since Ben Affleck ended up marrying Jennifer Garner. I do remember hearing the name Bennifer II for awhile, but it didn't really stick, and I think Bennifer now frequently refers to Jennifer Garner.

Spederline, or Britney Spears and Kevin Federline, didn't last long. The nickname or the couple. But KFed and subsequently KFat did (VH1's Celebrity Fit Club or not).

Naturally, I decided it was very important for my girls to have a fabulous celebrity couple nickname, especially since once they become the next big thing I'm pretty sure they'll have substantial staying power, and I would hate for them to be stuck with an awful celebrity couple nickname. Though their pairing is not romantic, they would be attached at the hip if Lane had her way, and they are always together. I've previously explained where their names came from and all about their various nicknames, so there isn't much to say in that regard.

I didn't like Rane (Rory + Lane); I didn't like Lary (Lane + Rory); I didn't like Lory (Lane + Rory) since it just sounds like another girl's name; I just didn't think they had staying power. So, I decided to go with combining nicknames since I generally refer to them using their nicknames anyways, and I came up with Rulu (Roo + Lulu). It's fun, and it's different, not to mention it's so much easier to enunciate than Rory. Of course, just about anything is. Rulu has stuck for the past almost two years, so unless someone can come up with something better I think it's here to stay.

The funny thing is I never call them Rulu when I'm calling for both of them, but I speak and type it to my friends and family all the time. I guess it isn't that weird – I highly doubt Brangelina calls and makes dinner reservations for two (or eight if the kids are coming minus nannies) under Brangelina. Actually, I doubt they call for reservations themselves at all.

Brangelina:

Bennifer:

Bennifer II:

TomKat:

Spederline (and Bit Bit! It should go without saying, but PLEASE do not support pet stores and by default the puppymill industry):

Rulu:

See what I mean? It won't be long before Rulu is huge. The invastion of privacy is already maddening! The puparazzi must have used a super zoom lens to get this shot of the girls during their bath, especially since we live on the 14th floor.

Do your pups have a celebrity nickname? Have you ever thought about it?

What a load of crap!

2010-09-27T09:38:00.012-04:00

As dog parents, it is somewhat understood that talking about dog poop is a-okay. If you don't feel this way, you probably shouldn't finish this blog.

My girls eat raw food, which typically creates less waste. Even so, Rory gets so revved up on our hour long walks she somehow manages to always leave us presents on at least two separate occasions, so, bare minimum, we need three baggies on our walks. Rather than depositing our baggies into the designated trash cans, what if we did this instead? Though slightly gross, I think it is a very clever idea! Better yet, I wonder if those who seem to think it is perfectly fine to leave their dogs' fertilizer out for other people and dogs to dance around would be inspired to pick up after their dogs and make a deposit into the tank. Talk about a win-win-win!

I'm doubtful I'll see something like this in our neighborhood park soon, so, for now, we'll load up on biodegradable baggies.

Be Still My Heart

2010-09-17T10:53:00.007-04:00

Last night while I was fixing dinner for the girls and simultaneously trying to strategically avoid Lane's “pogoing” so she didn't sweep my legs and/or knock into the back of my legs exactly where my knees are causing me to come crashing to the ground (not that this has ever almost happened), I couldn't help but notice those sweet little faces looking up at me and noting one of the many things that I just love about them. The shape from their little black olive noses to the tips of their beards forms a heart. Rory's has been like this for as long as I can remember, but it seems the longer Lane's beard grows the less it resembles a heart.

It reminds me of one of my favorite quotations from Edith Wharton:

“My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet.”

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Oh, and I think Lane liked her dinner.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane are wearing the adorable Twin Pops strappy ruffle vest by Prissy Paw Fashions.

The coordinating gold bow is also by Prissy Paws Fashions.

Babes in Toyland

2010-09-14T13:36:00.029-04:00

Mr. Burns, Happy Feet, Flounder, Pig in a Blanket, Jaws, Archie, Beard Face, Pepe, Geoffrey, Road Kill, Lucifer, Samsonite, Georgie, Henrietta, Bones, J. Peterman, Scrappy, Stuart Little, and Hamm.

Those are the names of just some of the girls' toys. And just in case you were wondering...

Bald eagle, penguin, fish, pig squeaker mat, shark, gorilla, Christmas elf with crinkle beard, skunk, giraffe, squirrel, devil, squid, monkey, hippopotamus, skull, rainbow colored caterpillar, tiny dog, mouse and pig.

The juvenile ways we find to amuse ourselves never ceases to amaze me. A perfect example of this is the naming of the large majority of Rory and Lane's plush toys. Newsflash! Rory and Lane have A LOT of toys, an embarrassingly large number of toys even. So, here are ten of the toys Rory got for her most recent birthday and the stories or lack thereof behind their names.

Meet Beavis:

Uh huh huh huh...not a whole lot of creativity here unless you think looking at a stuffed bumble bee and naming it Beavis is creative. Because you know, bee sounds like BEAvis. Oh so clever! And so not my idea.

Meet Martha Stewart:

This adorable cupcake we named Martha Stewart along with Beavis are both from Martha Stewart's new line of toys for Petsmart. Since Martha has her own book on cupcakes, and I love to check out her show and website for fun ideas, especially around the holidays; it seemed a fitting name. I wish there was a sound chip that said “yum!” inside, but it's just your typical run-of-the-mill squeaker.

Meet Cake Boss:

That's it. It's a cake, and TLC has a reality show called Cake Boss. We did toy with the name Buddy, but decided in the end it was best to K-I-S-S, keep it simple, stupid. It's amazing how The Office always manages to provide me with such valuable words to live by. Thanks to Dwight Schrute for passing this gem on.

Meet Slappy Joe:

This toy reminded me of their flappy toy, so I changed it to slappy, because I'm just fun like that, and added a twist of Adam Sandler (around the 2:10 and 3:30 mark).

Meet Rammstein:

This one was all my fiancé's doing. He was in disbelief I didn't remember the German rock band, Rammstein. I'm not sure why though. After being together for nearly seven years and me being the Top 40 pop music fan that I am, I don't find it all that surprising. Of course, had he said they sang this song, I would have at least recognized them as the guys who sing "that song." I wasn't aware many people knew much more than the “du hast” in the chorus, but I might be wrong. After all, the one and only SpongeBob Squarepants covers it.

Meet J.D.:

If you followed Scrubs, you probably already see where I'm going with this one. The main narrator of Scrubs is a doctor named John Dorian, or J.D. for short. His drink of choice? The Appletini. Voila! The applehead toy became J.D.

Meet Marcel:

Kind of a no brainer here. Who didn't love Friends, and in turn, Ross's monkey Marcel? In reality, Marcel is apparently a female monkey named Katie.

Meet Muffin Man:

Yes siree, as in do you know the muffin man? Our little guy doesn't live on Drury Lane though. More like a New Jersey highway. Actually, I have it on pretty good authority the Muffin Man is married now.

Meet Quackers:

A duck quacks. People feed ducks crackers (though bread and crackers are actually not good for ducks). Quack + Crackers = Quackers. I'm pretty sure quackers isn't even a real word, but it probably has origins in the word quack, as in a phony or fraudulent doctor. I just saw there is a yellow duck in this series named Quackers. The official name given by the manufacturers of this guy is just Duck. Borrrrrrrrring. Surely you come up with something better than that Ty.

Meet Weenie:

I thought this one was at least slightly more clever than Quackers, but I noticed after we named him ourselves that the name listed on the cardboard backing was Weenie. Darn! Any small amount of pride I might have felt in giving him a somewhat clever name quickly circled the drain as I realized I was on par with the creative geniuses who gave us Duck.

Get the Look

Beavis and Martha Stewart can both be found at Petsmart as part of Martha Stewart's new pet line.

Cake Boss and Slappy Joe are from one of our favorite online retailers, Poochie Heaven.

Rammstein, J.D., Marcel, and Muffin Man are all by Room Candy, but I was told last Christmas they were discontinuing their line of dog toys, so it will probably be hit or miss trying to find these guys.

Quackers and Weenie are part of Ty's line of Bow Wow Beanie Babies. As an aside, these are some of Rory and Lane's favorite type of toys since they squeak and crinkle.

Rest in peace sweet Hutchy

2010-09-08T11:40:00.008-04:00

My darling bullmastiff, Hutch, passed away exactly three years ago today, just a few months shy of his eighth birthday. I think about him all the time, and I'm not sure he would have liked Rory and Lane very much!

He was originally the family dog, but we always had a very special bond, so he came to live with me when I graduated from college. When I would come home from school to visit my parents and it was time for me to go back to the dorms, he'd jump in the back seat of my car or the trunk in an effort to get me to take him with me! It broke my heart every time.

He was 135 pounds of pure love, and he attracted attention everywhere we went (some of that may have been due to the outfits he was wearing). It's the little things I miss the most. The sound of his tail thumping loudly against the wall in the morning when he woke up was like music to my ears. Every week, for nearly two years, after his chemo, we would stop by McDonald's for a double cheeseburger for him. The vet told us he could have anything he wanted to eat, and we took it to heart! So, stop by McDonald's in his honor today.

Here is a long (poorly made) video that I made in memory of him a few years ago.

Rest in peace my sweet boy.

Because your dog is worth it too...

2010-09-05T21:26:00.029-04:00

About two weeks ago, we packed up my hairy high maintenance babies (or HHMB as they shall now be known) and all their essentials in the car and started the journey to the Your Dog Is Worth It Too Day event at L'Oreal headquarters in Cranbury, New Jersey. The drive actually wasn't too awful, and we didn't even have to resort to the alphabet game to pass the time, though how great would this sign have been if we were playing?

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.

Three candles make a lovely light...

2010-08-18T14:49:00.023-04:00

Happy Birthday to Roo;
Happy Birthday to Roo;
Happy Birthday dear Rory;
Happy Birthday to Roo!

Remember what I taught you about replacing “Roo” with “you” in songs...

I can't believe how quickly the time goes, but on August 5 my little Rory Roo turned 3 years old! In years past, we have had huge theme parties (e.g., Alice in Wonderland and Doggywood) to celebrate her birthday. Since our relocation earlier this year, we haven't had the chance to make many new friends in our area, human or doggie, so this year we decided to celebrate on a smaller scale all weekend long. I hope Rory didn't notice her party was downsized. I've been sleeping with one eye open just in case.

On her actual birthday, we celebrated with Cocotherapy's Coconut Banana cake. As you can see from the picture below, I don't think Buddy will be calling me to help him shape cereal treats for the Cake Boss cameras any time soon. Luckily, the adorable cake topper custom made to look like Rory by Christine Monroe Sculptures helps to distract from my baking skills or lack thereof. I guess it must have smelled pretty good at least to yorkie noses. Perhaps, most importantly, Rory and Lane gobbled it right up and then begged for seconds...and thirds.

On the Saturday following her birthday, we took the girls to doggie daycare while we ran errands to pick up all of Rory's party supplies. I decided lots of balloons coordinating with go.fetch's Birthday Balloon Bash dress would be a fitting décor, and I threw in a splash of Hello Kitty for good measure. Not nearly as fun of a theme as in previous years, but I thought lots of table glitter could help make up for it. Pretty sparkles! Thanks to my fiance's “if only his basketball skills were a little bit better I'd be living the life of an NBA star's millionaire wife” stature (aka 6'5” and some change) no ladders were needed to complete the decorating for Rory's family party. I like to think I was instrumental in the decorating process by tearing off two inch strips of tape and handing them to him. Oh yes, and I sprinkled the table glitter myself!

Unfortunately, I did not plan very well and most of Rory's big presents and clothing items did not arrive in time for her birthday. I guess that means we'll have to continue to celebrate until everything has arrived. Other than the cake, she seemed most excited about the toys and flossies (maybe those are what Fergie is singing about?) anyways.

Oh, and since I wouldn't want anyone to feel bad, and I love to project my human emotions onto the girls, I typically buy double of everything even on birthdays to prevent Princess Pouty Pouterson from rearing her ugly head (plus, they like to match, duh!). P^3 inhabits the bodies of both of my girls, but, thankfully, usually not at the same time.

On the Sunday following her birthday, the girls had their small dog meetup group, and I got permission to bring in pupcakes and cupcakes to help celebrate Rory's birthday. The pupcakes were made from scratch using Cocotherapy's Coconut Banana and Coconut Blueberry cupcakes recipe. The cupcakes for the human guests were right out of the box, Pink Funfetti to be exact, and quite delicious if I do say so myself. Yes, I plan on completely ignoring the fact the doggie cupakes were made from scratch while the human ones came right out of a Pilsbury box.

***WARNING*** The following photos contain obscene amounts of doggie nudity.

Not much of a "Where's Waldo?" when the Birthday Girl is in bright pink. I think she is begging for her approximately 100th pupcake here.

Can you spot Lane's little booty amongst all the naked doggies?

For even more pictures, be sure to check out Doggie Debutantes on Facebook here.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane wore the Oscar Newman Birthday Party Hand-smocked dresses, which can be found here on Rory's actual birthday and to their small dog meetup.

Lane's little booty is covered up while at the meetup with a pair of Fu Fu Fashion's Lime Green Sparkle fundies to help prevent her from marking like the little boy she isn't.

The limited edition Birthday Balloon Bash dress debuted by Rory and Lane during her family party can be purchased from go.fetch.

Rory and Lane wore M'Lady's Dog Bows' Holiday Boutique 23 bow to match with their Oscar Newman Birthday Party Hand-smocked dresses, and they wore boutique bows custom made to perfectly match the Birthday Balloon Bash dresses.

99 Red Balloons...

2010-08-12T14:46:00.018-04:00

Actually, it's more like a dress with four adorably monogrammed balloons and a skirt filled with vibrantly colored balloons and not really at all like 99 Red Balloons. Don't worry it's the English translation of the song. I speak fluent English, some basic French, and have a pretty good grasp of Yorkienese (Rory and Lane dialect). So, sorry, no German, but I do love German chocolate cake.

Rory and Lane were thrilled to help the always adorable SeRi of go.fetch unveil the Birthday Balloon Bash Dress! The owner of go.fetch was kind enough to fit this new addition to her birthday collection into her busy schedule earlier than planned, so Rory could celebrate her third birthday in style.

We love everything about this dress from the Peter Pan collar to the monogrammed balloons on the bodice to the tri-colored tulle and perfectly scalloped skirt topped off with bow accents. Like all of go.fetch's dresses, the Birthday Balloon Bash dress comes standard with a d-ring for quick and easy leash attachment. As an added bonus, this dress is offered in hot pink, lavender, and turquoise, making it perfect for those with multiple pups who like to coordinate. Perhaps one of the best things about this dress is that it is the perfect party dress for any occasion, whether your pup is the guest of honor or not.

Definitely keep that last part in mind if you like to “justify” all your purchases on a per wear basis using girl math (total cost of item divided by number of times it can be worn, typically leads to a mere pennies per wear) like I do. Of course, I think all the custom made dresses from go.fetch are priceless anyways!

The Birthday Balloon Bash dress is only being offered in very limited quantities, so if you are interested, be sure to order soon!

Here are Rory and Lane showing off the lavender and turquoise varieties of the Birthday Balloon Bash Dress.

For more pictures, please visit Doggie Debutantes on Facebook here.

Get the Look

The Birthday Balloon Bash dresses can be ordered from go.fetch under the Custom Apparel tab.

The boutique bows were custom made by the always fabulous M'Lady's Dog Bows.

Yipes! Stripes! Fruit striped gum!

2010-07-30T12:33:00.005-04:00

Anyone remember Fruit Stripe gum? After I got Rory and Lane dressed this morning, I couldn't help but notice how much their hooded dresses reminded me of the old Fruit Stripe gum packaging.

While giving a dog any type of gum is a bad idea, it is very important to remember that sugar-free gum is particularly dangerous. Many sugar-free items, especially gum, contain xylitol, which can be toxic to dogs of all sizes. Xylitol can quickly become fatal in toy breeds, especially puppies and tinies, where the ingestion of a single piece of gum causes an immediate and rapid drop in blood sugar among many other life-threatening conditions. If you even suspect your dog has ingested something containing xylitol, it is very important to get them to a vet immediately.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane's dresses are made by Lulu Pink and can be found in Walmart stores (or Wally World as it is “affectionately” referred to in our house). Occasionally, Lulu Pink has a limited selection online.

Their pink bows were made by Prissy Paw Fashions. Since Rory and Lane are bigger yorkies, I prefer the 7/8” sized ribbon in a double loop style bow. The bows they are wearing above also have flagbacks.

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream!

2010-07-29T18:39:00.021-04:00

Well, it's Thursday, so you know what that means...pizza night! Since I have the refined palate of a four year old, it won't surprise you to learn that one of my other very favorite foods is ice cream. With so many different flavors, toppings and serving options, what's not to love? I know Lane is in complete agreement with me since she howls her little heart out any time she sees the opportunity for a taste. It was actually one of the first foods she expressed interest in after we rescued her. Of course, we didn't just order a double scoop and let her go to town, but she was sitting on my lap when we stopped for some ice cream and her little tongue darted out, which somehow led to me sharing my vanilla cone with her (if that isn't true love...). These days she has to settle for a tiny lick off of one of our fingers.

With my love for ice cream, I thought it was only appropriate for Rory and Lane to add Toni Mari's Slurpy Ice Cream jumper to their wardrobes. These precious jumpers are perfect for summer with their light weight fabric, satin lining and bright colors. If for some reason you aren't a fan of ice cream, though I'm pretty sure people like that don't exist, you're in luck since Toni Mari offers jumpers in several other adorable fabrics. You can find Toni Mari online and in stores all over the world.

When we were living in Atlanta, we loved to stop by Bruster's for waffle cones and free doggie sundaes for the pups. Unfortunately, there are no Bruster's locations near us now, but hopefully there is one in your neighborhood.

For more pictures, please check out Doggie Debutantes on Facebook here.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane's Slurpy Ice Cream jumpers can be found in purple here or aqua here.

Their matching boutique bows can be ordered from the always wonderful M'Lady's Dog Bows.

Get the door. It's Domino's!

2010-07-23T12:41:00.059-04:00

We have a little tradition in the “Nelson” household. Every Thursday night is pizza night! During the regular TV season this is coupled with the awesomeness of NBC's Must-See-TV, not to mention Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Thank goodness for DVRs.

We certainly aren't pizza snobs and love most of the big chains. With delivery service being a major selling point, we are frequently ordering Papa John's or Domino's. We have nothing against Pizza Hut, but we have apparently moved into the only suburb in America that does not have a Pizza Hut restaurant, let alone Pizza Hut delivery.

So Thursday nights typically go a little something like this in our household...

First, I go online to place our order with whatever coupon is featured that week. Let's face it, paying full price for most of these pizzas is a rip-off. I then get a confirmation email and about 30 minutes later my cell phone rings with the delivery guy asking to be buzzed into the building. This naturally sets the dogs into a barking frenzy, since like Pavlov's dogs they too can be trained to associate a “bell” stimulus with a predictable response, and they have come to recognize the generic T-Mobile ring tone on my cell as danger, danger! At least, I was clever enough to give close friends and family a custom ring tone, which seems to have thrown the girls off for now. Anyways, about five minutes later (since we live in a building with elevators that could quite possibly be the slowest in the entire world), there is a knock on the door which prompts my ever dutiful guard dogs to rush the door. Meanwhile, my fiancé arms himself with the squirt water bottle and commands “no bark!” He opens the door and the girls realize, that just like last Thursday, it is the pizza man who brings delicious smelling food to them, and perhaps they should try to be his friend. Some delivery guys (and the occasional gal) like to make small talk about the dogs, paying them compliments and probably secretly hoping it will earn them a slightly higher tip. Smart!

So one Thursday night, a couple of months ago, the scene is playing out as usual. For whatever reason though, the girls aren't dressed, which is definitely odd for them, but I'd wager to say not for most dogs. We hear knocks at the door, and while making small talk, the delivery guy comments on the fact the girls aren't dressed. I'm not sure if this was an accusation of doggie neglect, or if we just order too much pizza!

Smile Rory! Maybe we'll end up in an ad.

I'm pretty sure they got two pizzas, so we could each have our own.

Yorkie bookends for pizza?

Remember how Rory and Lane were named for Gilmore Girls? Well, one of my favorite scenes involves Lorelai asking her dog, Paul Anka, his thoughts on pizza versus salad (about 40 seconds in):

And here is Rory, who seems to be in total agreement with Paul Anka:

Here's your pizza Rory!

Oh, and since I like to "just say no" to pancreatitis and avoid potential emergency room vet visits, not to mention their prices when possible, Rory and Lane do NOT get to eat any of the pepperoni or sausage off of the pizza. The most they get is a tiny bite of crust. Works well for me since I'm a vegetarian and would prefer not to touch the meat anyways.

Get the Look

Rory and Lane's Truly Oscar floral braided tank dresses can be found here.

The coordinating bows with their intials on them can be found here.

The Name Game

2010-07-22T14:20:00.116-04:00

I've mentioned previously how I came to name my girls, but the truth is they recognize and respond to far more than just Rory and Lane.

Rory, Rory, bo-bory
Banana-fana fo-fory
Fee-fi-mo-mory
Rory!

Rory's first nickname was a natural progression of a mispronunciation. Aurora borealis - you know those lights in the sky that can sometimes be seen at night (my very technical explanation)? To this day, I can't imagine a conversation I would have been party to that included the words aurora borealis, but, nevertheless, it happened. Well, mispronounce that or say it quickly, and aurora borealis easily turns into “A Rory Bory Alice.” And voila! Rory Alice was born. Rory's first nickname even inspired the theme for her first birthday party, an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party (and might I add at least a year and a half BEFORE the new version of the movie was sweeping the nation).

Party Invitation

Rory Alice

As far as I can recall, Rory's next nickname was Roo. I'm sure you remember Kanga and Roo from Winnie the Pooh (never mind that I didn't “get” that until my late teens), but this nickname was actually thanks to my sister and her Old English Sheepdog, Bailey. Right about the time she started referring to Bailey as Bailey Boo, Rory Roo emerged, which quickly turned into just Roo, and, on occasion, Rooburger or Rooster. While simplistic, never underestimate the value of a nickname that rhymes with “you.” If you are anything like me and like to serenade your doggies in the privacy of your own home (and maybe in the car if the windows are rolled up), a nickname rhyming with you becomes priceless since it is only used in the lyrics to just about every song, EVER. A little Olivia Newton John perhaps? I love Roo. I honestly love Roooooooooooooo. See? It becomes obvious to me that this song was actually written (before I was born no less), so I could sing to my sweet Rory all the time. I'm also willing to bet all of Lanestein's nonexistent money (see Lane's nicknames below) that she just finished performing Physical.

Cousin Bailey Boo

Bailey's full name is Princess Bailey Boo Boo Hugs and Kisses Wigglebottom Diable D****[last name], but she is more frequently known as Boo, Boo Bear, Polar Bear, Polar Boo, Polar Sheep, Bailey Sheepdog, Sheep Bear, Sheepie Bear, or Lamb Chop. See? I'm not the only one who has a ridiculously long list of nicknames for my dogs. Then again, maybe it just runs in my family...

One of Rory's newest nicknames is Little Dog, which at first glance is lacking originality. But, with The Wizard of Oz on the brain, dropping a conjunction and changing the form of “your," you've got...I'll get you my pretty; you're a little dog too! This one is most frequently heard at play time around our house and is almost always followed by my best witch cackle and Rory's tiny little stump tail wagging with a full booty shake.

Lane, Lane, bo-bane
Banana-fana fo-fane
Fee-fi-mo-mane
Lane!

Oh, Lane. My sweet, little Lane. She certainly didn't have the best beginnings in life as a breeder dog in a puppymill, and who knows how much that has impacted the dog she is today. She's adorable; she's sweet, but she's just not that bright. Though, I will say she has been growing more and more confident at trick time, and it is an amazing transformation to watch. However, she is no genius, no Einstein (or caninestein as the case may be), and, in fact, we are pretty sure this (be sure those speakers are on) plays on repeat in her little head constantly. This is why Lane has been dubbed the “pretty one” and in a rather sarcastic manner been nicknamed “Lanestein.” The “stein” part is what makes it really fun though. No really, it does. Remember, that great game show that used to be on Comedy Central with Ben Stein? Repeatedly saying Win Lanestein's (nonexistent) Money in a very monotone voice never gets old (to me at least).

Frequently, I seem to come up with nicknames by adding an action or behavior to one of their already commonly used nicknames. For instance, Lane has an accident in the house, and Lulu Tinklestein is at it again. The Lulu deriving from much the same place as Roo, where Laney Lou quickly turned into just Lulu. Likewise, she becomes Marsupialstein when she curls up in the “pocket” of her K9 Kuddler.

Rory and Marsupialstein

So, I have no idea why this last one happens, but it seems no matter what a dog's name is, I just automatically add a “y” or put an “e” sound on the end of it. Lane quickly became Laney. Even when I'm using their “real” names, it's still Laney I call out to get Lane's attention. My late bullmastiff, Hutch (who had a sister named Starsky), almost immediately became Hutchy. You get the idea. The best reason I can come up with, again, has to do with how fun it is to hold episodes of Dance Party USA in my living room with my girls as the featured guests. Much like Roo (and Lulu if you speak quickly) works as a substitute for you in songs, Laney is a great substitute for baby. There are so many great bad eighties' love songs alone that contain the word baby. Bonus points are to be awarded when baby is in the title or chorus of the song. In fact, Lane may or may not think that Justin Bieber song is actually named for her...And I was like Laney, Laney, Laney, oh; like Laney, Laney, Laney, no; like Laney, Laney, Laney, oh; I thought you'd always be mine, mine. She totally has Bieber Fever.

Anyone remember Pinky and the Brain? You probably already see where I'm going with this, but guess what fits perfectly in place of Pinky and the Brain? Rory and Lane! Try it for yourself. The only thing is, as explained above, Lane is much more like Pinky and Rory the Brain. I could go on and on about the songs we (yes, I said we) sing to our girls, but I'll save something for a rainy day.

And, in most likely a failed attempt to keep this from being the longest blog post ever, I'll just list a few of their other nicknames with brief explanations when necessary.

The Bearded Laney - Obviously, this would be her "talent" if she decides to become a carny.

Laney Bug

Munchkin and Muffin – Because I think carbs are delicious, yum!

Pant-a-sauruses – The characters Rory and Lane transform into when they are vigorously panting after thirty minutes of intense fetch.

Piglets

Pogo – When Lane gets excited, she hops around on two legs like a pogo stick. We like to egg her on by chanting "Pogo, Pogo, Pogo" much like how John Belushi chants toga in Animal House.

Porkies - Plus-sized + yorkies = porkies. They are actually quite thin but are larger than the AKC standard.

Ragamuffins

Rat babies

Rory Ball Mouth – One of those name plus action originated nicknames and a nod to her obsession with Air Dog miniature squeaky tennis balls. Check out this adorable sign that hung on the wall at her doggie daycare in Atlanta.

Rory Halitosis (sometimes Hallie) – Derived from Rory Alice, and her breath is actually minty (err, peanut buttery) fresh since we brush their teefies every night.

Rory Hasselhoff - She naturally appears when Rory's chest hairs pop through the buttons of a shirt or hang out the neck of a top. I'll have to get a picture of this one for posterity.

Scampini and Scampinini Walters – While watching Anchorman, we naturally had a discussion about what Rory and Lane's newscaster names would be. Way better than Ron Burgundy or Veronica Corningstone and kind of makes you want to eat some Italian food, don't you think?

Squirt or Squirtosis – Hmm...kind of sounds like a disease.

Teen Wolf – Rory, just because...

Oh, and we name all their toys. But I think that is a story for another day...

Get the Look

Rory's Alice costume can be purchased here.

Rory and Lane's cozy K9 Kuddlers can be exclusively purchased here from Fu Fu Fashions in a variety of patterns/color combinations.

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

2010-07-16T17:18:00.017-04:00

I only recently discovered Prissy Paw Fashions, and, sad to say, I was definitely missing out! Earlier in the week, Rory and Lane received their My Little Monkey strappy ruffle vests. After giving them a quick sniff test, the girls were more than happy to show them off. Their eagerness may have had something to do with the cookies in my hand too.

The strappy ruffle vests are a darling new design perfect for summer. I have a hunch they are going to be a huge success, if they aren't already. These vests, like all outfits offered by Prissy Paw Fashions, are custom made to your dog's measurements and lined with satin. The satin lining is especially nice since it helps prevent the matting often associated with dressing your dog. You can add the d-ring (as I did) for a very small fee, so a leash can easily be attached for a quick walk.

My Little Monkey Rory

Adorable Monkey Bows

The only logical thing left to do after snapping some pictures was to put these vests to the ultimate test. So, without further adieu, here are my two little monkeys jumping on the bed.

Oh, and don't worry, neither Rory nor Lane fell off and bumped her head.

For more pictures, please check out Doggie Debutantes on Facebook here.

Get the Look

My Little Monkey Strappy Ruffle Vest can be purchased from Prissy Paw Fashions here.

Boutique bows were custom made to match by M'Lady's Dog Bows, and you can contact Marj via her website here for your own custom creation.

Gaga-mania has gone to the dogs.

2010-07-15T15:49:00.026-04:00

I know; I know; I know. Rory and Lane are my children...err dogs (sigh!). They are first and foremost animals. However, this little fact does not stop me from humanizing them at every opportunity. I think the time I spend brushing them daily makes it my right to appreciate all the perks of their long luscious locks. And please, don't suggest a puppy cut though I do think it looks darling ON OTHER PEOPLE'S DOGS. I, however, have a very unhealthy attachment to my girls' hair, but that's a story for another day.

I have noticed it's only once the topknots come down that the real fun seems to begin, and so here are six somewhat iconic hair styles modeled by Rory and Lane. Please enjoy marveling at the uncanny resemblances.

The "Rachel"

The “Rory.” This look seems to pop up just as I've finished Rory's blow dry after a bath. She always shakes one final time before it's time for the topknot to make its reappearance, and that is how Rory Aniston was born.

Kramer

Rory as Kramer. Rory and Lane typically resemble Cosmo at bedtime after they've enjoyed a nice head massage.

Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

Lane Brady, like Rory Aniston, typically shows up after a bath and blow dry, frequently right before Lane rocks pigtails.

“The Donald's” Comb Over

Lane Trump is really representative of all the bad comb overs (is there such a thing as a good one?) out there. “The Donald's” just happens to be a superb example where something is going on in all directions.

Cousin It

Rory Addams is contingent upon the removal of the topknot at bedtime. Assuming the top knot is removed, she rears her pretty little head every morning when the alarm goes off.

Lady Gaga

Laney Gaga obviously didn't pop up on its own, but it is the product of a topknot run awry and my overactive imagination. This one is easily my favorite, and I think Lane could easily pass for Gaga herself when she is looking down! Laney Gaga also sings for her supper every night (just saying).

Maybe I'll get out the pink wig next week...

Birds of a Feather Flock Together

2010-07-13T10:06:00.026-04:00

Dog meetups are a great way to socialize your dog with other dogs, as well as meet others with at least one obvious common interest. When we relocated at the beginning of the year, we were lucky enough to find a wonderful small dog meetup, for dogs 25 pounds or less, in our area. The founder of our group, Le Petit Chien (no affiliation with other message boards of the same name), has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to all dogs, but especially toy breeds. Our monthly meetups are generally two hours with the first hour consisting of a guest speaker and the second hour an off-leash playtime. This year we have had speakers on several important topics, including heartworms, no-hassle pedicures, planning and preparing for emergencies, dental care, and heat exhaustion/stroke. The only problem I have is keeping the “Barky Bark Twins” quiet while the speakers give their presentations. To be fair, they are generally pretty quiet and definitely aren't the only ones who like the sound of their own voice, but last month our meetup coincided with bad thunderstorms, and they barked in an effort to challenge the thunder every single time.

Here is Lane (and Rory's paws) awaiting off-leash playtime to begin.

The founder of LPC also maintains an extensive website, which is an invaluable resource for all dog owners and particularly those with small dogs. If you are interested in becoming a virtual member or if you are in the Philadelphia area and would like to join us, please check out the website here.

For a meetup group in your area, check out http://www.meetup.com/, put in your zip code and search for your favorite dog breed or category. A quick word of caution though, not all meetup groups are created equal. LPC requires that all dogs be up-to-date on their rabies vaccinations, all puppies be at least 16 weeks old (and up-to-date on vaccinations), all male dogs be neutered after six months, and no females in attendance while in heat. These may seem like a lot of precautions, but it gives me great peace of mind to know that my girls are socializing with other dogs who are properly protected. It also definitely cuts down on the unwanted advances, typically from unneutered males, who seem to stalk my girls at the dog parks. You will want to check and see what requirements your local meetup group implements and make sure you are comfortable with them or the lack thereof.

LPC is full of all different toy breeds. There are Chihuahuas, Yorkshire Terriers, Rat Terriers, Chinese Cresteds, Pekingese, Pomeranians, and Shih Tzus, just to name a few. So with all these great breeds to choose from, why do Rory and Lane always gravitate towards the other yorkies? It happens when we go to the dog park; it happens at doggie daycare, and it happens in our meetup groups. To the best of my knowledge there has been no studies done to investigate this “phenomenon,” but I have heard owners of all different breeds tell similar stories. Since yorkies are one of the most represented breeds at our meetups, my girls have lots of playmates. There are two adorable yorkie boys in particular, named Chip and Harley, who Rory and Lane (and, okay, I) always look forward to seeing. My fiance got some cute video of them all playing at our meetup this past Sunday.

Here are Rory and Chip playing, which can be more accurately described as Rory attempting to clean Chip's teeth, with special guest appearances by Lane and Harley.

This next video is what inevitably happens at every meetup. Someone will take their dog out for a potty break or be running a few minutes behind, and with a room full of menacing guard dogs on alert at all times, playtime is often halted until the intruder's butt can be sniffed. Here is what I like to call “Lane and Chip Interrupted.”

Get the Look

The Hello Kitty dresses are by one of our very favorite designers, Toni Mari, and can be ordered here.

The bows made to match can be ordered here.

My Gilmore Girls

2010-07-12T14:23:00.011-04:00

Rory and Lane.

If you watched the Gilmore Girls, you'll probably instantly recognize my girls were named for the television show, which centered around a single mother named Lorelai (who also gave her daughter the same name) and her daughter, Rory (nickname for Lorelai). Rory's best friend throughout the series is named Lane. And voila!

Of course, there are those who didn't watch the show and are insistent Rory and Lane must be boys no matter what I have to say about it. These complete strangers have a conversation with me that typically sounds something like this on my end:

Yes, both girls.

Yes, those are unisex names.

No, they are not “boy” names, but please feel free to continue to refer to my dogs with the pink bows in their hair and leashes as pretty boys. I don't mind one bit.

Okay, so the last part I only say within the confines of my head, but I don't understand why once I've told some people the sex of my dog that it seems to immediately escape their mind. That or they have forgotten which pronoun denotes a male and which a female. Truth be told, the girls don't mind one bit. They just eat up the positive attention, and I laugh to myself remembering the time someone asked me if Rory's bow should be blue instead of pink. It's obviously a pet peeve of mine. Surely, I can't be the only one who struggles with this.

Exhibit A: Lane and Rory of Gilmore Girls

Exhibit B: Lane and Rory of Doggie Debutantes

What do you know? All girls.

More formally my girls are known as Lorelai Piglet Nelson and Lane Piglet Nelson. It does make life a little confusing when it comes to the monogram on their towels, but it's even more confusing when you know that neither my last name nor my fiance's last name is Nelson. Their full names are spin-offs of my first furry child, my late bullmastiff, Hutch Piggie Nelson. Sorry, still not sure where the Nelson came from though.

And that is how my girls ended up with “boy” names.

Hi. Hello. How are you?

2010-07-12T12:49:00.006-04:00

I thought I would give a quick introduction before I jumped right in with my first real posting. My name is Ashley, and I enjoy spending my life spoiling my two girls, Rory and Lane. Rory is a two year old yorkie that we brought home as a puppy. Lane is a three year old yorkie that we rescued from a puppymill bust in Alabama when she was approximately two years old. I'll write more on their backgrounds in later blogs.

I want to start a blog about all things Rory and Lane, all things spoiled rotten doggie. I want to give those who have dogs a place where they can relate and a place for those who don't to see exactly what it is to own a dog. I want to blog about the silly. I want to blog about the clothes. I want to honestly blog about the dog products out there. I want to blog about “frou-frou” dogs and dispel some myths. I want to have a voice for dogs less fortunate than my own and hopefully make a difference in their lives. I want to educate everyone on exactly what a reputable breeder or rescue is, and why it is so important to support one or the other when adding to your furry family. I have a lot of wants, and I hope I can accomplish them all.

Rory and Lane have also agreed to guest blog for me on occasion, so you can see things from their point of view. Of course, I'll have to do the typing as they dictate to me, but I promise I won't edit them too much in an effort to make myself look good. I hope you enjoy hearing about the daily lives of Rory and Lane as much as I enjoy experiencing it with them!