my teddy girl is two!

my teddy girl turned two a week ago and has officially entered "doghood," although, she will always be my puppy.

M & i are pretty lucky to have her.  she's there to love us in whatever condition she finds us, eager to play, explore, be a goof and the best dog we could ask for.  teddy entertains us just by being her, she's one of a kind, the best kind.

as everyone knows, i say the word "teddy" more than any other (including the, is & a).  i was a little sad to hit another birthday, visions of her six weeks old, running and falling through the seemingly tall summer grass get me choked up.  it feels like yesterday.  

but then i think of all the many memories we've already made in her young life and i realize she's lived such a full two years, and therefore, so have i.

and yes, i know she's a dog.  but like betty white says about animals, i find i relate to teddy better than most humans (not including all of you, of course!).  

all i can do is thank the pup for being wonderful and putting up with me!  time for a walk:)

estate sale finds

i enjoy domestic things.

i like them a great deal when i get them for cheap.

and by cheap, i mean ".25" sticker cheap!

last weekend we went to an estate sale, M, my mom and i... oh and miss teddy too!

it was a very good thing it was only on the parkway a couple blocks away, considering we went to and forth i want to say 3 times!  one trip M carried his new-to-him 30lb dumbbells and was so wiped, i don't think i've seen him use them since;)

here's the breakdown of the scores:

// my mom got a few new, gigantic wine glasses.  if you know her, you know she was pretty happy with her purchase.

// M scored dumbbells, minnetonka moccasins, and a baseball glove.

// i scooped up two homemade half aprons, two turquoise plant pots, a stoneware pot, table cloth and fruit bowl.

someone host a garage sale, i'm addicted and lost not having one to attend!! 

**actually, i might be the one hosting, considering i keep buying!

soma's see italy: rome *pt 2*

 {hello ancient rome!  beautiful stuff.}

Are you ready for moooooreee? 

 {hello noah, how's the sea?}

 {a capital morning to you... and a bad joke!}

 {the roman forum in all of its glory!}

{look, no head!} 

{some really big old round table?} 

{the coliseum!  wowzers!} 

{preparing for battle... you know, do as the gladiators do.} 

{is this a face & fist to mess with?  no sireee!} 

{imagine bears and tigers and lots of "oh my's"!} 

{thhaaankkks rick steves for the enlightening audio tour!} 

{rome defeated the jews and had them build a monument to celebrate the conquering.  not always nice, those romans.} 

{smiling in rome!  see we did really like it!} 

Onto Sienna!  Sienna!  Sienna!  (Clearly, an “upper” for my spirits.)

somas see italy: rome *pt 1*

I could sugarcoat Rome.  I mean, where else do you literally run into ancient ruins around every turn?  The Coliseum, Roman Forum, and Palentine Hill, along with the Vatican, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Tivoli Fountain…  these are once in a lifetime things to see that only Rome affords you.  But, as you can tell, I have a buuttt coming.  We loved the things we came to see, our checklists runneth over, you could say.  Yet, we had a really hard time there.  The pace of the city, its people and traffic, is unsettling and I longed for some sort understanding between us and everyone else.  We had a couple major culturally naive moments that really got us into tizzies, like not knowing restaurants suddenly close for siesta time from 6-8pm and that you’ll be called out and persecuted (ok, not persecuted but humiliated) if you dare sit on a stair and open a map at the Victor Emmanuelle monument.  And if you were hoping to see the Vatican Museum and then exit, eventually, good luck, it’s a winding maze that we took for four hours until departing; that actually turned out to be a blessing, because we ended up viewing the Sistine Chapel twice!  Overall, I just got the feeling that we were inconveniencing everyone, or maybe being a guilt-ridden Midwesterner, I projected this in some way.  We tried to take solace in our hotel room, find maybe a little English on the TV… and what was the only thing we could find in English?  Hahaha, the Jersey Shore.  Sad.  We definitely hit a low in Rome, but I think we wallowed a little bit too long; we missed home and Rome just wasn’t as accommodating as we had ideally hoped for.  But there’s a saying for all of this, that we clearly overlooked!  “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”  We didn’t.  I regret not trying harder on this point.  No, I wasn’t about to take up chain smoking, wear Adidas shoes and sun myself too much, but I could’ve learned more Italian, understood when they eat and their perspective on the annoyingly constant stream of tourists they have to deal with.

Anyway, contrary to my rant, we did have some really great moments in Rome.  Because, common, it's Rome for heavens sake!  Here they are, documented!

 {theme of trip: old & important stuff... broken up.}

 {theme of trip #2: m impersonating ceasar, quite impressively i might add.}

  {hello pantheon!  i've dreamt of you!}


The Pantheon really puts life into perspective.  This one building has been in continual use for 2,000 years.  When its revolutionary design was constructed, Romans were still worshipping pagan gods and wearing sheets.  Wow!

  {the eye to the sky}

  {neato architecture}

  {trevi fountain!  are we in a movie?}

  {throw a coin in to have successful marriage & return to rome.  check.}

  {spanish steps!  & people!}

  {back at it!}

  {i'll run over you, trust me!}

  {piazza navona}

  {why hello.}

 {umbrella trees!}

 {hello you, pope.}

 

  {hello michelangelo.  you done good.}

  {impressive.  even the sun thinks so!!!}

  {once you enter, you'll never get out!}

  {where is the fig leaf?}

  {raphael's rooms!}

  {school of athens!!!  whaaaattt??}

  {uncanny.}

 {again, uncanny!}

See part 2 for more excitement;)