Chester's October BarkBox

About a month ago, Chester got his October BarkBox. We've since cancelled his subscription (for now), because we already have a big stockpile of treats and don't need anymore. I think it's a really cool service though.

Chester was very excited for his BarkBox to arrive. He spent a lot of time sniffing it and trying to open it like a present (we're so mean!).

We finally helped and opened it for him.

Inside, there were five different items. He didn't know where to start!

- Chevron bear (I thought it was an owl!) from Pet Qwerks
It's super cute and he loved it, but it's not the most durable. He enjoyed chewing the nose almost off, so it was taken away to be used for catch and supervised play only.
- Mutt Meatball Mix
Interesting item. It's a meatball mix that you add a pound of lean meat and an egg to it and then cook. We haven't tried it yet.
- Baker's Best Autumn Harvest goat treats
Haven't tried them yet (as I said, we have an excess of treats)
- Fruitables Share Pack (mini treat bags)
8 cute little bags with 10 or so little treats in them. It's a variety pack, so some of the bags have soft treats and some are crumbly. It's handy to take if you're going somewhere, or to give to puppy visitors!
- Lamb ears
Chester was very interested in these, but we haven't given him any yet. They make me a little nervous/sad.

Chester loved his BarkBox though, and is sad we're not going to be getting it anymore. Maybe after Christmas?

WR: Christmas tree + Fam Visit

We started off the weekend with some house cleaning Friday night in anticipation of my fam staying with us on Saturday.

Then we decided to put up the Christmas tree. Yes, it was freakishly early, but we had many reasons to do so including taking our Christmas card photo in front of it. Thanksgiving is so late this year, and we'll be gone, so I didn't even feel bad about it.

 I wasn't feeling much in the Christmas spirit, but blasting Christmas tunes from the Pandora Holiday channel soon fixed that problem!

Chester got into it with his Christmas tie!

I love putting the ornaments up and remembering what each one is from. I got a bit sentimental about a few of them. 

Chester soon grew tired, and sacked out on Adam's chair. 

Saturday morning, my parents arrived around 10. My mom and sister normally come up mid-November for a girl's weekend when my dad is off hunting. This year, with my sister up here at college, mom came a week early and brought my dad too. The guys had a fun afternoon with lunch at The Blue Door and browsing at Gander, while we did some shopping.

We picked Christine up at her dorm, and then headed to Galleria for C&B. My sister and I each picked out some ornaments as is tradition, and got a few gifts as well. We checked out a few other places and then went over to the mall for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. 

As we dropped off mom to put in her name while we found a parking spot, it started pouring. We were pretty soaked by the time we got in. The wait for our table was long (definitely not the promised 15-20 minutes), so we were pretty hungry. We split deep fried mac & cheese balls for an app. Yum. After our mains, we each got a slice of cheesecake to split three ways. We only made it partway through the second piece before we were stuffed and took the rest home. 

Our next and final stop was Target. Somehow we were there for two hours? No idea how that happened!

We met the guys back at home around 5 and relaxed for a while. We ordered Savoy's pizza, and had a nice evening at home. While dad and Christine watched a basketball game, mom, Adam and I played Carcasonne. Then, all of us except dad played Settlers of Catan. It was fun!

We also snacked on a bag of these that we found at Target -

Pretty good! But not as good as the kind you get from the candy shop.

Sunday morning, we went to mass with Christine and Kelly on campus. Adam stayed home with Chester because DirecTV was coming any time between 12 and 4 to install the DVR (after Adam spent 1.5 hrs on the phone with them Monday night trying to get it to work - they didn't send us all the equipment we needed).

After mass, we couldn't find anywhere to park for lunch, so we ended up at Salut on Grand. It was delicious! It worked out very well as dad really wanted an omelet and I wasn't in the mood for breakfast. I got a yummy French Onion Soup burger with frites. 

I saved half for Adam. We dropped the girls off, and then my parents dropped me off and headed home. Of course DirecTV hadn't come yet, but did soon after I returned. I grabbed Chester and camped out upstairs so he wouldn't freak out. I read the paper while he prowled the room and sniffed under the door. 

The installer left just in time for the Vikings game at 3:25. I was happy when they lost to Seattle, keeping the #1 draft pick hope alive. 

Why do weekends have to go by so quickly?

Spaghetti & Farkle

Wednesday night, we had Christine over for dinner. It worked out well to pick her up on the way home from work.

She's been missing Mom's spaghetti (with Prego sauce), so we made spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread with Prego sauce for her and homemade for Adam and I.

We also played two rounds of Farkle. Adam won the first time, and Christine the second. I was woefully behind both times. It was so much fun!

Chester was jacked up to have a visitor. We love having her so close by!

WR: 2-4-1 Sisters Shopping Adventure & Potluck Game Night

I've been terrible at blogging lately. My apologies. This is going to be a 2-for-1 weekend recap.

The past few weeks at work have been really long and stressful. Friday nights have been for recuperating. We get home, and we don't go anywhere. And it's been glorious.

Two Saturdays ago, my sister and I spent the day coat shopping. She needed a winter coat, so we first looked at Kohl's. No luck. We then tried Macy's and Herberger's (but I did find some new boots there!) before finding something she liked at JCP. Unfortunately for us, it was not on sale and I didn't have any coupons. I whipped out my phone to look online for a coupon, but could only find coupons to be used online. During this process, I discovered that the coat was on sale on JCP.com, but JCP doesn't honor their online prices. Boo. Since she didn't need it quite yet, we decided to order it online later. (And luckily we did, because with the sale and a coupon code it was more than half off the store price!)

With that small victory, we headed to lunch at Big Bowl. Christine had the stir-fry bar with chicken, and I had the stir-fry bar with tofu. To drink, we both had delicious raspberry infused lemonade. So good.

After lunch, we went and found some warm light grey mittens for her, and then left the mall. Next, we went to Barnes & Noble so she could use her giftcard to buy the final book in the Divergent series, Allegiant.

Next, we went to Target for a few items. We found a warm grey scarf to go with her winter coat ensemble, and grabbed pizza supplies.

Back at home, Chester was overjoyed to have a visitor! 

We all hung out, made homemade pizza, watched the Fall Stars baseball game, and ate ice cream. I took her back to the dorm around 9:30. I really enjoyed hanging out with her all day!

On Sunday, we lounged and binged on Orange is the New Black on Netflix. It's dark, and hilarious, and addicting! Puppy loves lazy days at home!

Last weekend, we spent Friday night vegging.

Saturday, we cleaned in anticipation of having friends over that night. Chester was a big help!

Our friends came over at 6:30 for a potluck. We made crockpot beer chicken sandwiches with BBQ sauce. It was so easy and delicious. Caitlin and Russell brought a salsa and guac sampler with chips for our app. To go along with our sandwiches, we had some yummy coleslaw from Michael, and a build-your-own salad bar from Alan. For dessert, Laura brought homemade cherry pie. She also brought spiced apple cider. People brought beer and wine as well. It was perfect!

We had a blast playing Truth be Told. I haven't laughed that much in a while! It was so much fun.

Without the Vikings to watch on Sunday afternoon, as they had stupidly won on Thursday night, I got a lot done. It was beautiful outside, so I dug up the Calla Lily bulbs and Dahlia rhizomes from my flower garden. I laid them out on the table to dry, and the I'll store and replant in the spring.

Then I started digging out the vegetable garden spaces. I'm trying a new thing this year called "lasagna gardening." I put down newspaper, got it wet, and then piled compostables on top. In my search for things to put on the pile, I raked the back yard and gathered all the leaves on the patio. We'll see how it turns out in the spring!

I felt so productive!

The rest of the day we relaxed and snuggled the pug.

photo by Adam

photo by Adam

WR: Halloween Edition - Game of Thrones + Puppy Cow

We had a very Halloween filled weekend.

Friday night was spent by me in a mad rush to complete our costumes. It didn't happen. I started the process on Wednesday night by unboxing my birthday present sewing machine, and threading the bobbins. Thursday night I started working on the tail. I cut out the spine with a triangle pattern, and then sewed it onto the tail.

On Friday night, I sewed the tail shut, filled it with stuffing, and then had to hand sew it onto the one-piece pajama (the only piece of Adam's costume that I bought already assembled).

By midnight, I was exhausted and decided to deal with my costume and Chester's on Saturday.

Saturday morning, I fixed Chester's costume to not be too big. I cut off some of the velcro, and part of his udder.

I picked up Christine at her dorm around noon, and then we got lunch at Jimmy John's and brought it home to eat with Adam.  We headed over to the Paw-a-ween Pug Party at 1:30.

Chester was an adorable cow!

He was really excited, and spent the whole time running around sniffing butts,

and barking. Lots of excited barking.

Too much barking. We didn't end up staying long because of all the barking. It was fun to see all the pugs dressed up though!

See his cute little pink udder?!

Back at home, Christine hung out with us while I finished up the costumes.

I made my armbands and train of sorts out of silver tulle. Chester was a good helper.

Christine was my dressform.

Around 5, I dropped Christine off back at school, and then went home to get ready. We put Chester in his dragon (dinosaur) costume from a few years ago for a Targaryen family portrait.

This was the look I was going for - Daenerys Targaryen / Khaleesi

RAWRRRRRRR!

We went to Zack and Kellie's annual Halloween party. It was so much fun!

Right before we left, the guys had a dance party. The only thing that would have made it better was if Adam was still in his dragon costume!

On Sunday, we slept in and relaxed. Around 6, we headed over to Adam's parent's house where we had nachos and watched the Vikings vs Packers game at 7:30. We went home at half time, and watched the rest there. I was a little sad they lost, but mostly relieved. I'm going for draft picks now! We have a legitimate chance at #1!