Tootsie Roll Thursday: Back Hair, Overbite And A Snuggie

In case you haven't heard, this little big part of my life called dental school tends to cramp my style from time to time, and the bloggie world, unfortunately, gets put on the back burner.

(Disclaimer: Despite these current harsh feelings {also due to the fact that we still had school today even with a massive snowfall -- AGAIN -- last night}, I am still very thankful my school accepted me into their program :-)

Anywho, so, I'm a couple days late with this post (as it is usually Tootsie Roll Tuesday), but I figured Thursday begins with a "T" too.  What the heck ... I'll go with it.

Well, surely you guys know by now how much we adore our little puppy-child.  I mean, don't we all love our doggies??

We love Tootsie for lots of reasons, but she has two qualities that make her especially charming.

First, let me introduce you to the Tootsie Roll back hair fiesta:

So hilarious.  Before you think I'm weird, let me explain: Like most dogs, Tootsie loves a good belly rub.  When she's standing on all fours during said belly rub, a line of hair on her back stands right up.  Puppy goosebumps, if you will.  It's so darn cute.

Do you know what else is so darn cute?  Her OVERBITE.

As a dentist-to-be, I especially love this one.  Hehehe!!! 
:-P

I mean, who ever thought a dog could have an overbite?  You can't notice it just by looking at her straight on, but a good crank of the neck and ... BOOM, there it is -- those pearly whites sticking out where they shouldn't be.  We actually didn't even notice it until the vet pointed it out to us.  Now, we just can't get enough it.  Hmmm ... I just hope it doesn't cause dental problems in the future.  :-/ 

Annnnnnyway, did I mention Tootsie was famous?  Well, take a look for yourselves ... ;-)

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I may be biased, but I think little Toots is much cuter.  Here she is sporting her Snuggie: 

Can you tell she's thrilled?

Because of her short coat of fur, the poor girl tends to get pretty chilly these days -- and the Snuggie is just the solution.  Yeah ... right.  About 15 seconds after I put it on her, she immediately proceeded tell me how she felt about it.

Then, she ripped it off.  Maybe better luck next time?

Oh Toots ... how we just love your little back hair, overbite and Snuggie self.  :-)

Happy almost Friday everyone!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Hello, friends! :-)

I'm linking up with the lovely Jamie for today's edition of "What I'm Loving Wednesday!"

So, without hesitation, let's get this WILW party started ...

I'M LOVING that we're going to see the Broadway show, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, tonight!  I may get a case of sweaty palms because of all the risky stunts performed during this show (which, I might add, have contributed to a fair share of problems/injuries for some of the actors).  So, for the sake of everyone, I'm hoping Spidey's stunts run smoothly during tonight's show.



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I'M LOVING LOVING LOVING that my mom and sister have booked a flight to spend an April weekend with us!  I can't help but envision three days chalk full of New York City entertainment.  We're already planning to go to an opera at the Metropolitan Opera House, which will be a first for all of us!

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I'M LOVING that we finally hung these sconces on the wall above our bed.  They were a gift to me from Derek, and I hadn't seen them for about two years because they sat in storage (with all our other stuff).  But, when we moved to our new apartment over the summer (and finally got back all our stuff), they reappeared!  And, if you ask me, they make this wall look good.  (Pardon my MIB reference ;-)

I'M LOVING our new latte/espresso/cappuccino machine that Derek's siblings gave us as a Christmas gift.  We're still learning how to use it, and, um ... we're not that good yet, but still, when we get it right, it is muy delicioso. 

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I'M LOVING that Spring Break is less than two months away.  And, what makes it even better?  Derek and I actually have the same week off this year!  We don't have any real plans, except to enjoy our city.

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I'M LOVING that Derek is more than thrilled to be almost done with law school.  He just began his last semester and is due to graduate in May.  Can I get a Hallelujah for him?  He can't wait to be done, and I don't blame him.  Me, on the other hand, well, we won't discuss how much longer I have.  :-/

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And, as always, I'M LOVING my all-around wonderful hubby and our so-cute-it-hurts puppy. 

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Faux Fire

It's safe to say that high-rise livin' isn't exactly the way to go if you're looking for that warm and cozy fireplace to comfort you on chilly winter nights.  Like, you know, those nights when you peer out your gigantic windows and it looks like this ...

 Yep.  A few days ago, Mother Nature decided to hit us again here up North.  And oh how a lovely wood-burning fire would have added the perfect touch ...

But, wait, my friends -- we found the cutest little device that satisfies my heart's desire for contained flames.

I present to you ... our faux fire. 

It's no where near real, but it does look pretty darn close.  And it's about the best we're gonna get around here.  I love it.  Really love it.  It puts out heat, too.  We can even turn off our heating units temporarily and use only this!

So, I've got my loving hubby and family, a view of the Manhattan skyline, my dream puppy and now my faux fire!  What more could a girl ask for??  :-)  I'm beyond blessed!

True Talent

Wowza!  Our travels plus all of the additional holiday hullabaloo made the 3-T world slightly crazy!  But now, with the start of 2011 and a new trimester/semester, we seem to be getting back to some normalcy around here -- I think.

That said, I do hope all your holidays were joyous -- and full of family and friends!

In other news (a.k.a. the point of this post) ... I'd like to highlight the lovely lady I call my mom.  To me, she's absolutely the "super-duper mom" type.  Really, she's both a domestic goddess and a tremendously hard worker.  Even through some of those dreadful teenage days when I seemed to take her (and the rest of the world) for granted, I've always had a deep admiration for her complete selflessness.

If you get my drift, more often than not, mom goes above and beyond the call of duty.  She's that awesome. :-)

For Christmas this year, she turned one of her hobbies into a fantastic gift for us -- er -- little Tootsie.

Mom took up quilting several years ago, and though she would deny it, I like to call her a master quilter!  Seriously, she produces some beautiful work!  If only I had some more pictures, I would certainly display them.

As I said before, the quilt above is obviously for Tootsie.  Isn't it just darling?  I am a little hesitant to cover her with it yet though, since her little chompers just may rip it to pieces.  And by may I mean will.  Ugh.

Along with the mini quilt, mom made us some matching coasters and a pot holder!

And, to top it all off: some notecards and a little treat holder to take on walks.  How divine!

If you ask me, mom's definitely got some true talent!

Thanks to her (and little Tootsie, of course) I definitely got my dachshund fix this holiday season.

The Black/White Wall

I've recently had a strong urge to do a wall collage.  So, I decided to use our move as the perfect occasion to make my desire happen.

Luckily, I had a nice collection of pictures that still needed to be hung.  And, whaddya know -- all those pictures were in black and white!  Splendid!  So, I came up with the genious idea to make a collage out of all of them.  After adding a few new touches, the black/white wall came to fruition!


The hallway is pretty narrow, so I couldn't snap a picture head-on.

For the most part, each picture has a special meaning to us.  Let me break it down for you.  :-)

I LOVE old, antique-y pictures.  So, first, we have two columns of 5 x 7s showcasing old snapshots of our families.  The left column shows my family: my dad (in high school), my mom (at my age), my mom's parents, and my dad's parents.  The right column shows Derek's family in an identical sequence: his dad, his mom, his mom's parents and his dad's parents.  It took a little work to get all these pictures then convert them all to black and white 5 x 7s, but it was oh so worth it!

The next picture is extra special to me.  The home where I grew up is a Kentucky landmark.  It was a red schoolhouse in the 1800s that was later converted to a home.  My parents are the second owners.  They have lived there for over 30 years!  They made several additions to the house, but left the school bell intact (although it was moved to a different location on the house).  Pretty cool!  And, if you peel back the wallpaper, you would even see chalkboards!  I love this house -- and I hope I have them convinced they can never move.  Either that or I'll just have to work up the funds to buy it from them.  ;-)  Also, we just recently received the little "Home" plaque as a gift from my in-laws.  It's from a new line of pictures called "Alphabet Photography."  I thought I found a pretty appropriate place for it. ;-)

Next, we have my favorite shot in Central Park (in winter, no less): the bridge that overlooks the Plaza Hotel and several other Upper East side buildings.  The snow makes the perfect addition to this picture!

I made the wooden "F" letter the centerpiece of the wall, since it represents the first letter of our last name.  Underneath the "F" sits two tiles from the country of Turkey.  One of my good friends from dental school traveled there this past summer and brought them home to me as a souvenir.  The picture to the left of the "F" shows Derek and I moving into our new apartment as newlyweds!

Are you getting bored yet?  ;-)  The last series of pictures show London and Paris -- our honeymoon destinations!  I took the first two pictures (of the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben) while we were there -- and I purposely left the date on them.  We purchased the last two rectangular posters of the Eiffel Tower and Paris at a later date.

I do love the asymmetrical look of the collage, but I may, at some point, add some additional touches to fill in the "gaps."  I was thinking a silhouette of a dachshund would fit perfectly under the Central Park picture!

I hope you enjoy the black/white wall as much as I do!

P.S.  I hope to get back to blogging more regularly here in the near future.  Derek's been using my laptop for his finals 'cause his decided it wanted to stop working THE NIGHT BEFORE HIS FIRST FINAL!  :-(  I'm glad I could save him!  One more final to go!

Random Ramblings (In List Form)

{1}  I'm BAAAAAACK!!!  :-)  Yay!  Even though I have a bajillion left to go, another trimester of dental school is over!

{2}  We went to see the Rockefeller tree last night and, of course, it was gorgeous!  I'm always amazed at the number of lights on that majestic beauty.  Unfortunately, I forgot my real camera.  Bummer.  We'll be back soon, though!  I was, however, able to snap a camera phone shot of the ice skaters as we enjoyed a scrumptious Peppermint Mocha.

{3}  Oh my gosh.  A tour diary for NKOTB is on TV.  RECORD.  They're currently singing, I'll Be Loving You (Forever).  Remember that one?  I just know how much my hubs is gonna appreciate this one on the DVR.  BTW, will someone please take me to the NKOTBSB concert??  (Even though I'm a true 'NSYNCer at heart ... ;-)

{4}  I think I'm gonna go on a cooking binge here real soon.  I miss it!  First up: pork piccata with spinach and mashed potatoes, courtesy of my absolute favorite chef, Ellie Krieger.  Did I tell you I got to meet her last year?!  Some homemade eggnog may be on tap, as well.  Wanna come over for dinner?

{5}  Speaking of cooking, homemade cherry vanilla oatmeal is sooo good (also courtesy of Ellie).  We had it for breakfast this morning.  Apologies if I'm making you hungry.

{6}  I need a food processor.  Why are they so dang expensive?

{7}  Call me a {huge} Christmas nerd, but even though I'm 27 years old, I love ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas!  Please tell me one of you does, too.  Anyone?

{8}  We're going to Carnegie Hall tomorrow to see the New York Pops play How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  Excited?  You bet!  I think I've told you guys about 548,971 times how much I love Christmas around here.

{9}  Oh my ... I haven't yet shown you our second Christmas tree!  Here's a sneak peek ...

{10} Project Closet(s) is getting underway today!  I've been putting this off since school began in, oh, August.  But, I knew I would need a block of several free days to finish it.

{11}  Our puppy makes life so much better!  I think I'm turning her into a little diva!  ;-)  She wanted me to tell you guys something ...

{12}  Please keep my husband in your thoughts and prayers as he enters his final exam weeks.  Law school finals are no picnic and I know he can't wait to be finished!  I'm so proud of him!!!

That's all I have today!  I hope you all are having a superb Friday!

A Short Break (a.k.a. School's On My Mind)

Hey gang!

You've probably noticed it has been a little while since I posted. 

Well, first I must say: We had a great Thanksgiving (I hope you did, too)!  See my previous post for details about all our activities! 

But, now, I must devote most of my time to school, since I have tests this week and finals next week.

I look forward to returning after December 8th! 

Talk to ya soon!  ;-)