The Twitter 500

If you follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you will already know that preppy puppy became very ill last week. As in life threatening ill. It was very sudden, very scary, and she was hospitalized in critical care (who knew there was canine critical care?) last Wednesday night through Saturday afternoon. I will spare you all the gory details-and trust me, they are GORY- but she is now home and resting. Her road to recovery will be a bit slow and with 8 pills a day that need to be given during various times and a special diet, I think it's fair to say I will be sticking close to home this week. Every day she seems to be doing better though and we are all so happy to have her home where she belongs. And speaking of now having her home, don't be at all surprised if you see preppy puppy and I sitting on the curb of a busy intersection with a sign that reads "RECOVERING SICK FAMILY DOG. DONATIONS WELCOME!" as the vet bill was so astronomical that Mr. M. grabbed his chest and gasped for air when he saw it (and I need him to not have a heart attack so you know, he can pay that bill and all).

Now, tomorrow I'll be back with a crafty Martha-esque project, but in the meantime, if you don't follow me on twitter, CLICK HERE. Why, you ask? I'm pretty close to 500 followers and once I reach 500 I will do a great giveaway on my blog, RIGHT HERE at Monogram Momma's, of one of my many fabulous new products on Paper Concierge. And let me just tell you, I'm now carrying Dabney Lee, Fontaine Maury, Demby+Solomon, & Bonnie Marcus and MANY MORE top notch lines! So tweet it up, share it, blog it, whatever. But right around the corner there is a great giveaway coming but the magic number is 500!

I Lied...

So I lied... I am still waiting for some of the actual wedding pictures from friends who weren't in the wedding, so I won't be posting a wedding re-cap today. I have mine from the bridesmaids luncheon and rehearsal dinner, but I'm hoping to get a few from the wedding today.

In the meantime, I just had to post these paw-sitively posh houses that any preppy puppy would love to have. Could you just imagine? I love preppy puppy but this is going a bit overboard!

The Worlds Most Expensive Dog House
Among many other amenities, this dog house has sheepskin-lined, temperature-controlled beds, a $250,000 sound system, and a 52-inch plasma TV. Automatic dispensers ensure the dogs, who each have their own bedroom, will always have chilled, filtered water and dry food available.

Paris Hilton's Dogs House
This two-story mini-mansion was constructed to resemble Hilton's own California home. It features a balcony, miniature Phillipe Starck furniture, a black crystal chandelier, black ceiling moldings, and a heater and air conditioner. The first floor is the living room, while the upstairs contains a closet and bedroom.

Cave Dogs
Made of TerrierRock—faux stone made of reinforced papier mache—the caves have a durable four-layer wall construction that helps keep a dog warm and dampens sound. Each has a hand-dressed arch created from wood salvaged on western Vancouver Island and is stamped with a paw print from Scottie, the company's canine president.

Fit for a Khan
Inspired by tents used by Genghis Kahn and his Mongolian officers and measuring 22 inches wide by 25 inches deep by 30 inches high, it is topped with a gold finial and ostrich plumes, designating royalty or high rank.

Rex-Mex

This pricey hacienda was built for model, actress, and reality TV host Rachel Hunter's pooch. A similar model can be custom built with amenities including terra cotta floors, running water, lighting, air conditioning, and heat. It can also be made large enough for children and dogs to play in together.

First Green Dog

The doghouse is modeled on Greek Revival architecture, the perfect complement to the White House, and is constructed of wood from Tennessee aromatic cedar trees that were planted by President Andrew Jackson along the driveway of his estate, The Hermitage, and were felled by a tornado year later. It has a green roof and is coated in zero-VOC paint. It will be presented to the Obamas

source: This Old House

There Once was Girl from Nantucket...

**UPDATE** YAY! Great news for MM readers! See this comment left by Maria of Charlotte Carey Photography & book your summer session with her now! MM, Thanks so much for your lovely post about Charlotte Carey Photography. I would love to extend to your readers a 75 dollar discount off their session fee if they mention "monogram momma" upon scheduling. Discount will be available for June-September, 2009.Thanks so much for being one of our biggest fans and I hope to meet some of your other readers very soon out here on Nantucket!

So, as I was saying... There once was a girl from Nantucket, who was fabulous and talented and cared for sick people in her day job but took pictures of slobbery canines in her free time. What? Did you think I was going somewhere dirty with this little poem of mine?

This fabulous woman of whom I speak is my cousin, Maria Carey of Charlotte Carey Photography on Nantucket Island. And since many of my readers regularly summer on Nantucket, I thought some of you might be interested in having some professional photography done while you are there. Don't think twice about it, just call her. After all, you know you've been putting off doing this for a while now, right?

A mom of two golden retrievers (Zach & Sophie), she is wonderful and personable and very talendted and gifted. And no, I'm not the least bit biased as her work speaks for itself (why just look at this picture of adorable little Hazel!). While her focus is on pets, she does photograph children as well. She shoots in natural light and will even travel to New England if you find yourself doing more of a staycation in lieu of your regular vacation and thus can't make your way to Nantucket this summer.

You can also keep up with Maria on her blog, Pups on a Sandbar. Tell her I sent you and you won't be sorry!

Sick, Sick, Sick

Sick child with ear infection.

Now, a sick Monogram Momma with the FLU.

Husband out of town.

SOS!

ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Has it Really been a Year??

Can you believe new Preppy Puppy is 1 year old today? Because I sure can't! I've got an awesome discount from A. Tierney coming to you later today, plus tomorrow, new SWAG holiday designs (which are soooooo cute, if I do say so!). But in the meantime, raise a glass (or dogbowl) in honor of New Preppy Puppy's 1st Birthday and check out this photo montage from her 1st year!

Happy Birthday, Brown Girl!!

New Preppy Puppy Update

New Preppy Puppy is really growing into a lovely young lady. She is most polite and understands all her basic commands of sit/stay/come/down/off/kennel. In addition, she will also shake your hand, speak to you, and wave "bye-bye" to you when you leave. Now if I can just get her to work on her penmanship for writing her thank-you notes and I think we'll almost have it covered.

Now 5 months old (can you believe it?), she is weighing in over 50 pounds and is becoming quite precocious. Like all puppies, she loves to play and squeak the most annoying toy she can find for what seems like hours on end. She loves to fetch! That is no big surprise though given her breed, and we are all anxiously awaiting her first of many trips to the beach with us in a couple weeks. I know she's going to love the sandy beach and salt water as much as Ginger did. She loves riding around in the car and has gotten used to her place in the car (that would be the way, way back of my suburban!), and especially loves being in the carpool pick up line at mini #1's school where she gets lots of visitors coming to say hello to her.

Her favorite thing? That would have to be using the mini's as bowling pins when she comes charging in a room "like a cheetah!" (as mini #2 calls her) and literally bowls them over and knocks them down to play with her. They aren't so fond of it as you can imagine so we're working on a more graceful entrance and invitation to play.

It's still incredibly hard for me on a daily basis without Ginger. She was and is my heart and soul so as much as we are enjoying New Preppy Puppy, Ginger is never far from my thoughts. It's hard not to compare the two, you know? However I know that every single dog we will ever bring into our family will always be compared.

On Mothers Day we took NPP (read New Preppy Puppy) for her first swim ever. She had a blast! Enjoy the pictures and you won't believe how much she's grown and changed!

Xo-MM

Things I Love Today: Nautical Pups

Time to start getting Fido ready for the beach! Well, okay. So maybe it's a tad soon, but we are looking forward to taking new preppy puppy on her first beach vacation this summer, so I'm already looking for products to fit my nautical needs. Lucky for us, I subscribe to Coastal Living and they had the BEST beachy pet products that I know ya'll will just love.

The Boat Canvas Carrier Hampton Bag for those pooches small enough to carry. Now Fido can have a Boat 'n tote all his own

What pooch doesn't need a nautical rope toy?
New Preppy puppy will most definitely be wearing one of these nautical rope collars for her many beach excursions so she can match her brother's bracelets!

The Essential Beach Collar, encased in water-resistant, anti-microbial material and paired with Mascot's signature bone buckle.

Things I love Today: Yuppie Puppie

I have been so excited to tell you guys about Yuppie Puppie since I found it on Etsy a couple weeks ago. It has been such a challenge to find a cute preppy dog collar that every dog at the park won't have on. Preppy Puppy wore Coach for her everyday collar and had some specialty collars as well just to mix it up a bit, but new preppy puppy is still too young to receive a Coach collar. And I know you guys are as particular about your canine children as I am, so I can't recommend the designs over at Yuppie Puppie more. I know I will be purchasing them for each stage of her growth!

I purchased two collars (a girl needs choices, right?), the Brier and Star Paisley in Green and they are ADORABLE beyond words. They are very durable and thick, extremely well made with extra stitching. Want more good news? They are so affordably priced at $12.99 ea! Kerrie at Yuppie Puppie really knows what she's doing! Matching leads are also available to complete your park ensemble for your own preppy pooch, and she told me she just purchased new Amy Butler fabrics (which she so graciously shared with me and I of course will be purchasing yet another collar when those are ready) so new designs will be added to her already huge selection very soon! Enjoy!!

Let the Healing Begin

Isn't she beautiful? As I type this post, new preppy puppy is sleeping in my lap. She won't be able to do that for very long! As it turns out, Mr. Monogram was put in contact with this breeder the week we lost preppy puppy. Knowing how hard her loss would be for me, he purchased the new puppy (the only chocolate female in her litter of 12, just as Ginger had been) and kept it to himself. I have to admit, I was FURIOUS when he finally came clean, but now I see it was the right thing to do.

Yesterday marked one month since we lost our beloved little girl, and it's honestly been the worst time in my life. For me the pain hasn't gotten better with each passing day, it's gotten worse. The emptiness in the house has been unbearable. But picking up our new girl on Saturday has already helped the dark clouds to lift a little. She is a real doll and is sleeping beautifully through the night (thank God!!). We picked her up from the breeder Sat, and she was 6 weeks to the day. She has amazing parents with her mother being a field trial champion and her father being the top CSI and man tracking canine in the state, as well part of the international research institute for canine tracking. He even wears his own law enforcement badge on his collar! Speaking of collars, her collar? SO FREAKING CUTE you won't believe it until you really see it. In fact, I bought her 2 adorable collars from the same person, whom I can't WAIT to share with you guys later. I know you will all go as crazy for her dog collars and leads as I have.

I've got to take the little one out to potty and get mini #2 awake and dressed and fed, but look for me later to hop on with such a fabulous pet find you are all going to go crazy!
XO-MM

Frugal Fido

When preppy puppy was but a tiny baby, Mr. Monogram and I were in college. With my AMEX in hand, we would frequently hit up the pet places and let me tell you, she wanted for nothing. Had I only known then, that I could have actually made those tug-o-war braids that she loved so much (I ask you, what feisty gal doesn't love a good game of tug-o-war?), I could have saved myself (okay, my dad) some serious cash.

You Will Need
-3 cute dishtowels (washed and dried)
-scissors


Instructions
1) With your scissors, cut an inch wide strip from one end of two dishtowels


2) Bunch the 3 towels together, and use one of the strips you just cut, to tie them all together very tightly.


3) Now that the 3 towels are held together, tightly braid them, and use the other strip you cut to tightly tie the other end of the braid.


This nifty little toy trick also works with fun and colorful napkins or even argyle socks.


Credit: Thanks, RealSimple!

My Absense

Dear Friends,

I only have a few minutes but wanted to tell you how sorry I am for letting you all down with my absence and not sharing my crafty posts this week. I have so many fabulous things to share with you, but I haven't been online much this week. Also, if you've emailed me and I haven't gotten back to you, I will do so this weekend.

Preppy puppy has become very ill this week and I've spent a good chunk of time either caring for her or taking her to and fro the vet. We're hoping for some answers today from pathology but suffice to say, I have literally been worried sick all week. I have never been this scared about her health, so blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind. She is truly like one of my children.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers that whatever is going on can be treated. As you know, she just celebrated her 12th birthday and up until this week, has been a pillar of strength and health.

Thank you for your understanding & I'll see you soon!
MM

Pets on Parade (costumes for the furriest family members)

First of all, let me say a whole hearted THANK YOU to the very kind 8 people who commented on my blog yesterday. That is 3 more than I thought were reading so we are really rocking and rolling over here at Monogram Momma’s! WooHoo!

So yesterday was pretty much the perfect fall day. And after 3 straight days and nights of heavy torrential downpours here in Somewhere, SE, I should say we deserved a gorgeous day like yesterday. The clouds parted yesterday morning to a beautiful sun, the falling bright red, orange and yellow leaves, and a high temp of 62 degrees. Amazing! It couldn’t have been more amazing had I ordered it up myself. And as luck would have it, Cresta had a Halloween/Fall party planned for the kids yesterday. It was such a blast and everything looked so Martha, that honestly? I might have felt the drop of a little tear in my right eye. Really.

More on the party later, because right now I am finishing up costume week with some very tolerant pets on parade that have been circulating through email. Honestly, I can not believe some of the things people do to their animals, so you should really get some good ideas in this slideshow. Let me assure you too, that I will not be putting preppy puppy through any of this costume torture. Until next week, have a great weekend and enjoy the cool weather.

Reaquainting Myself with an Old Hobby (preppy puppy can thank me later)

There was a time, years ago, when I did a lot of needlework. I’ve done baby quilts, baby bibs, hand towels, pillows, Mr. Monograms fraternity coat of arms, and so on and so forth the list continues. But I got away from it and I really don’t know why. Burnt out maybe? Ya’ll should know by now that sometimes my OCD gets the best of me and I can’t stop whatever it is I’m doing. For instance, did I really need to force myself to stay awake finishing The Red Tent (lousy, btw) when it was so damn boring the dog even checked out and went to bed without me? Honestly, I really should have sent that book off to the second-hand bookstore and paid them to take it.

And speaking of books, this summer, like last summer, I found myself nearly needing to take out a second mortgage or at the very least, offer to barter my spleen for books to the fine folks at my local Borders because I was reading about a book every two days (what? What do you think I’m doing when I’m sunning on the beach or at the pool?). Add that up and that’s quite a nice monthly chunk of change! The public library you say? Well that just requires too much effort (although I do drive by it probably 3 times daily) and what if I go to all that effort and they don’t have my book? Then I’ll just be irritated so no thanks.

So my solution to my summer book obsession was to start picking up my needlepoint again (but don’t worry, you know me, I’m still reading). Now, in the past, I’ve only used numbered graphs and charts which told me what colors to buy of what type of thread and how much of each color at that. But after seeing Lisagh’s great designs, I was determined to sink my teeth into my needlework again.

First project? A needlepoint belt for Mr. Monogram for football season. I have to admit, this is riddled with mistakes as I was so intent on finishing I got a bit careless in a few places. And it certainly didn’t help that since my canvas wasn’t printed, my counting for the first repeat was sooooooo off I had to rip out the thread 3 different times! Grrrrrrrrrr. Anyway, it turned out pretty good, and it’s now off being finished. I’ll post the completely finished result when I get it back (hopefully any day now!).

But my second project was really more of an experiment, and that’s what I wanted to lay out for you here at Monogram Momma’s. A needlepoint dog collar for your own preppy puppy (or kitty?) that won’t leave you breaking the bank to have it finished.

Admitedly, since this was an “experiment” I wanted to test this out on a little neck instead of preppy puppy’s large neck. Lordy knows I did not want to take a month to work on this little project and my idea not work out and have to throw it away. So I chose my favorite personal shopper’s little pooch to be my guinea pig. He has quite the discriminating taste, after all, as you can see here from his photo with his carefully chosen sombrero.

You Will Need
-18 count needlepoint canvas project

-sewing machine
- Inexpensive dog collar with plastic clasp & D ring on it (cut the collar so you can take the pieces you need: the 2 part clasp and the D ring.)
-grosgrain ribbon the width of your collar
-Clear nail polish

Now, I’m going to assume here, that you know how to needlepoint so I don’t have to tell you the basics. If you don’t, and you want to learn, then go to Lisagh’s where she painstakingly laid it all out for you. I couldn’t even attempt to go into the detail as she has and she makes it super simple to understand. Her tutorial is an excellent teaching tool.

Determining Your Width If you have a small dog who wears a narrow collar, then you want to make your collar approx ½” wide, finished. That equates to 11 rows. I stitch 3 rows above, and 3 rows below in my solid background color though, for when I fold it over. If you happen to have a big dog like preppy puppy, then you want to make the width approx 1” wide finished, the same as a belt. That equates to 22 rows. Again, don’t forget to allow for your 3 extra rows on top and below your collar for folding it over. So in actuality, for a small dog’s collar, you need 11 rows of design/pattern + 6 rows of solid (3 top, 3 bottom). And for a big dog’s collar, you need to stitch 22 rows of design/pattern + 6 rows of solid (3 top, 3 bottom).

Determining Your Length In the case of length for this project, it’s always better to have too much than not enough. I messed this up with Senõr Baci’s collar and had to add some length on the end. What you want to do is measure the length of your dog’s current collar, and that will be the length of your design. Then what you want to do is add approximately 3-4” on each side (to the left and right of the finished design) of your solid background color. The reason you need that extra length is because you are going to have to feed each piece of the buckle/clasp onto each end. Therefore it has to be long enough to be fed through there, then folded over the back and sewn on tightly.

The Design I have one of those school composition notebooks that is filled with graph paper, and that is what I use to play around with different designs. I then use a scrap piece of canvas and stitch the design I’ve created in whatever colors I happen to have on hand, to see if I like it. Once I’m happy with my design, then I stitch the whole canvas.

Finishing the Canvas Once I’m done stitching the entire dog collar, including my extra rows, I cut off the extra canvas surrounding my collar, then fold both the top and bottom extra rows, towards the back of the canvas, and iron them. Do the same for the ends of the dog collar also.

Adding the Ribbon Since my finished dog collar width is ½” in this case, I bought coordinating ½” grosgrain ribbon to finish the collar with. I cut it slightly longer than my dog collar, then put some clear nail polish on the cut ends (TIP: Clear nail polish is the best product to help prevent ribbon from fraying). I folded the ends under the ribbon, and then just did a quick stitch on each end so my ribbon was then the length of my dog collar and I wouldn’t have to worry about yucky frayed ends. Now just sew the ribbon to the back of the completed collar using clear thread, so it doesn’t show up on your needlepoint and your project looks nice and neat.

Attaching the Buckle/Clasp With your grosgrain ribbon now neatly sewn to the backside of your canvas, you are ready to feed the canvas through the buckle. This part is really self explanatory, but here’s what you do just in case. Feed one end of your finished canvas through the slot on one piece of the buckle. Turn your collar over, then sew very well (do a square box repeatedly, then go through the box diagonally with your machine), the front side of the collar to the back so the buckle piece is securely attached (sorry, this is hard to explain but easy to figure out. See pictures). Then do the same for the other side of the finished collar with the other piece of the buckle/clasp. On that side, however, don’t forget to add on your D ring so you can attach your leash and dog tags.

Once you’ve attached those pieces and sewn them on securely, your collar is all done. This is such a simple project, and for those of you who aren’t into needlepoint or any type of needlework, don’t be scared to give it a try. It is SUCH a portable and simple hobby, something you can do during your lunch break, on the train, the carpool pick up line (yes, that would be me), and even just relaxing at home and watching tv. I have all my things in a little canvas tote and it pretty much goes everywhere with me. Try it! You might really like it! And if nothing else, your own preppy puppy will thank you for looking so stylish in his/her new collar and isn’t that worth the effort? I should say so!

2 Things Everyone Should Know

The weather is so amazing here today, I jsut can't even begin to tell you. After spending far too much money at Hobby Lobby this morning, Mini #2 and I picked up his big brother and a friend from school and headed to the park for a picnic and some playtime outside in the fresh air. We were lucky enough to have the train go through the park twice while we were there to, so nanturally that is all the boys have been talking about.

At any rate, we're home now and in the spirit of Martha I thought I'd share a couple tips you guys might find as useful as I do. Just don't look for them in my "30 Things Everyone Should Know" book because unfortunately monogram momma doesn't exactly have the star powerhouse that is MSLO backing her to write such a helpful little handbook!

I don’t know about your puppy, but preppy puppy has the longest and fastest growing nails I’ve ever seen. We just can not keep up with them and the quick is so long that trimming her nails is fruitless. Not to mention she squirms and complains while huffing and puffing while we are trying ever so carefully to trim her nails without painfully cutting the quick. So at Christmastime, we sat her down and pulled out the Dremmel. Honestly it was so painless for preppy puppy and quick and easy for me that she didn’t even mind. For some reason, filing or sanding the nail and quick doesn’t make the quick bleed like cutting it does, so I was able to file them super super short without any pain whatsoever (to either of us!) that this. I will say though, it took Mr. Monogram holding her and just rubbing her belly while I filed and I recommend using the attachment thingie so you don’t have the entire weight of the dremmel in your hand. Check one more thing of your “To Do” list this weekend!

Most of us probably have some hooks installed in our closets to hang up those ever important monogrammed bags and pretty pink and green scarves, no? Well I for one was tired of all my bags, scarves, and misc little accessory items taking up my much needed closet shelf space or even, ending up on the floor (the horror!). So after taking a little cruise through the aisles of my local home improvement store (read: Lowes), I picked up 6 or 7 of the industrial hooks they sell for hanging bikes or ladders in your garage. Why did I choose these? You can see how these are long and deep hooks and I can get twice the amount of things on them than I normally would with other hooks, and my bags aren’t all squeezed together holding on to the hook for dear life. I love this idea!

Looking Ahead: I won't tell you why right now, but start gathering up all your old silk scarves and old ties of your significant other. Pick up some patterned silk fabric remnants or some inexpensive scarves and ties. I have a great project heading your way!

Looking Ahead & Things I Love Today: September

You may have heard me mention once or twice or [ten times] before, that Fall is my MOST favorite time of year. While Spring tends to wake most people up and make them feel a little more alive, this is what Fall does for me (personally, you can HAVE Spring and all the murderous allergies that come with it). Whether it’s the changing leaves, the cool windy days, throwing on my cords, or heck, maybe because it’s time for SEC football again, I don’t know what it is about my love affair with Fall that really gets me motivated and moving. Coincidentally, this is also my busiest time of year. Once pre-school begins, it’s like someone’s fired the start gun and I hear a loud “Annnnnnnnnnnnd They’re Off!” being hollered somewhere in my subconscious.

For instance, I’ve still got all my fall planting and decorating to do, pumpkins and corn stalks to buy, Halloween costumes for the mini monograms to work on, Halloween costumes for my nieces to work on, mini monogram #2’s birthday and invitations to plan, 5 additional immediate family birthday’s to buy for, vacation to pack for (not to mention that’s a week of productivity down the tubes), crafting to do and somehow, SOMEHOW, I got roped into being BOTH of the mini monograms room mothers, so that means 2 class Halloween parties to organize as well. Oh yes, lets not forget my daily blogging! Whew! It’s enough to make an anxiety attack kick into high gear. Yes, nothing says welcome to a new day like waking up not being able to breathe with a feeling you’re going to vomit and have a heart attack all at the same time. Talk about crushing your creativity! It’s quite lovely, really.

So I know, I know. Quit my complaining, right? Well, it’s not so much complaining as these are all things I love to do this time of year, but more of an up-front explanation why some days will be more interesting and dare I say, snarky than others. So all I’m asking is you just bear with me and understand that while I’ve got a HUGE list of fun fall projects and ideas that I promise I’m going to be passing along, I can’t possibly do a project every single day without DFCS coming and taking me away for ignoring my children, so some days will be focused on good deals I want to pass along, stationary finds, the craziness that is just my stay-at-home-life with two little boys, and just fun preppy stuff I love in general. But like I said, I’ve got loads of really great projects looming on the horizon and I’m always eager to take your project requests too!

So, as I head out to look at birthday party invitations today and mark off a few things on my list, here are a few things I love today.

The Diaper Roll-Up allows you to carry all your diaper changing essentials in one pretty little rolled up pacakge when you need to do some quick little errands or run into Target. This handy little creation by FiFi Vanderfluff for Babies holds two diapers, wipes, and disposable bags and rolls up perfectly and pretty to fit into your purse or stroller so you can say goodbye to mangled diapers and wipes! Perfect for the mom-on-the-go (and what mom isn't, really?), it's Genious!

To feed into my stationary addiction (because we all know it's much better to keep feeding an addiction than to admit you actually have a problem), I have been turned onto Three Designing Women who have one of the most unique stationary concepts I've ever seen. Design your large personalized stamp (examples above) then use their fun and colorful stationary with a special spot designed speficially for your stamp, to personalize your notecards. This is such a fabulous gift, I am all over this!

Fresh on the heels of our preppy puppy contest last week, is this luscious monogrammed dog sweater from The Company Store. And with FREE MONOGRAMMING right now you should have no excuse not to spoil your preppy pup!

I've been a huge fan of Gina Alexander's bags for several years now. They are high quality, made to last, and worth every penny. This is definiltely NOT a cheap looking photo bag. I was thrilled to see Gina added a few new designs to her collection such as the Black & White Candy Bag (above) which is so gorgeous with the black and white fabric side panels. Make sure you also check out The Audrey Bag and The Fairfax, which with it's pretty round hardware rings will make you really stand out in a crowd.

Who doesn't love a sale?! So when Lisa, one of the chicks at Three Chickadees emailed me to say they are having a Fall Sale through next Monday (10/2) good for 15% off your purchase, you know I'm going to love that! Enter discount code "FALL" at checkout. Thanks, Lisa!

Reader Requests: Gift Giving Ideas

From time to time I will be sharing with you some of the many fantastic Martha-esque, Emily Post, or Preppy related questions you all send to me. Which, let me add, I love receiving, so keep ‘em coming and I’ll do my best to get back to you in a timely manner. So with the holidays around the corner, I know I am already in my shopping mode and making out my list (which is in Excel format on the computer, btw). Well don’t act so surprised, I’ve never tried to hide my obsessive-compulsive list-making from you!

So Kiki writes:
I am asking for you help on a gift idea. I have a wonderful veterinarian who has been our family veterinarian for three generations. This past year my pets have needed special health care, and Mr. Vet. has just been super kind. I would like to give back. I haven’t been feeling well lately, and my mind is just coming up with zero. I want something that they can eat or use right away but doesn’t look like I spent too much time stressing over it. The staff is one male (the vet) and around ten female employees. Any suggestion even if it is just wrapping or presentation ideals would be highly appreciated.

Never fear, monogram momma to the rescue! I can certainly understand your desire to want to show your gratitude to your vet and his staff. My preppy puppy was very sick this summer and required a great deal of care and I really don't think either me or my preppy puppy would have made it through without their tremendous care. I mean, it is not easy to calm down a hysterical monogram momma where her treasured preppy puppy is concerned, let me tell you. So naturally, I do have some ideas to pass along.

1)A monetary dontation in their practice’s name and then a certificate or letter letting them know you did that would be good.

2)A “Thank You” message bean plant from Spoon Sisters that they could keep in the office. Adorn it with some pretty grosgrain ribbon and a nice card attached to the ribbon from your pet

3)Photo cookies w/ your pet’s photo on it and packaged up in a nice large cellophane bag w/ tons of colorful ribbon (I also like to use lots of raffia) and a nice little note from your pet. Here are some good photo cookie sites: Cookie HQ.com or Ali’s Sweet Treats

4)Snack Attack from Red Envelope

5) A great piece of artwork, framed with a little dedication from your pet to her doctors, such as this great quirky piece

6)Doctors Orders Gift bag full of goodies from Delightful Deliveries

7)Or a Tower of Treats from Harry & David

Now, if you are set on doing a gift of food, one of my absolute favorite sites is called Nostalgic Candy. They’ve got every single type of retro, fun candy from way back when, and will do a great gift basket for you, such as this one, or you can buy a ton of different types yourself, go to Target and get a fabulous dog/cat treat jar, and fill it to the brim with all these fun treats. I will be re-addressing this link at the holidays as they do the most fabulously fun nostalgic holiday gifts of toys drums filled to the brim with nostalgic candy. But as for additional wrapping ideas, stay tuned as I will be posting on this later in the week.

Donna also asks:
...Being that you have two beautiful minimonogrammed boys, I was hoping for some good advice on what to give a friend who gave birth to a 9lb 10oz boy this morning. I only know how to shop for girls!

Whew! 9 lb, 10oz! I sure hope your friend received a generous "push gift" from her husband after all that hard work! Anyway, Donna, I must be honest. I am probably not a typical mom of boys in that I do prefer to put them in lots of smocked & monogrammed outfits, saddle oxfords and knee socks, and proper little jon-jons with peter pan collars for dress (not casual every day wear, not to worry). Their nurseries were not your typical primary colored boys nursery with truck or fire-engine themes, but custom made with pretty toiles and very soft colors. Mini #1 even had a chandelier in his nursery with matching shades. SO, because my taste is very conservative and let's say, a little stuffy perhaps (as I'm sure some will comment on here), my gift suggestions for boys really won't differ much from what I would give to a new baby girl. Just remember, you can never go wrong with something classic and timeless!

1) A beautiful embroidered linen tooth fairy pillow or white linen baby pillow with crest from Ambridge House

2) A matching chenille bib and burp set (monogrammed) from Lolli Tots (tell her MM sent you and she will take good care of you!)

3) An engraved silver brush and comb set or monogrammed silver piggy bank to adorn a shelf from my favorite little silver gift giving site, Hand Picked.

4) I am generally not a big fan of giving gift certificates as gifts for friends, however, you can go to Portraits by K.C. and for $50 order a gift certificate from her to have a professional portrait done of the new baby in either pencil or charcoal. Her prices are great and her work is fantastic. I’ve never used her personally, but you can see the quality of her work online and I think this would make a very special and thoughtful yet personalized gift that she will always remember you gave it to her.

5) If price really is of no concern, then I love the gift of a monogrammed sweater. It is such a thoughtful personalized gift, that a baby is sure to get a lot of wear out of with the cooling temperatures and I love Baby Knits & More. If you haven’t already stopped over there, take a quick peek at all their adorable things. In particular, I think the monogrammed cardigan and hat set would make the prefect baby gift, or un-monogrammed, take a peek at the cabled sweater & hat set for a great price. These gifts actually become heirlooms and when the baby outgrows them, can even be hung on a nice hanger from a hook below a shelf or above a chair rail in the child’s room.

6) If the new baby takes a pacifier, then I always love to give an engraved silver monogram pacifier clip. You can pick up a simple round sterling passie clip from The Palm Gifts or a more dressed up version (which I, myself prefer) from Kidables. This is such a great baby gift to both give and receive!

7) You know how tricky it is to get all the baby food in your baby’s mouth, and how it ends up all over their cloths and arms and face, even when you’ve done your very best to ensure otherwise? Well I just adore this Little Elephant Bib or Ships Ahoy Bib at Posh Tots that not only cover their shirts, but also their arms. Pick it up and have it monogrammed under the design and I think it would make an adorable and practical gift.

8) last and most certainly not least, I’m sure you can remember how many countless thank you notes you write after having a baby, and for that reason, I think a lovely stationary personalized or monogrammed stationary gift set for the new baby complete with matching gift stickers would be a fantastic gift. I highly recommend you check out the uber-talented Lauren Goessling Designs, who I’ve mentioned before, and also Lemon Tree Paperie who I just love love love.

Envy of the Park

So we never found out what was wrong with Preppy Puppy. A thousand dollars later in a week’s time, and still no answers. And now she’s back to her normal peppy preppy self, ears flapping out of the car while I drive the mini monograms in their matching outfits running errands around town (note: the mini’s are always matching or at the very least, coordinating). Needless to say, Mr. Monogram was not thrilled that I was ready to auction off my spleen on ebay if need be to help find out what was wrong with the dog, and thinks she is just a typical female who wanted him to spend a thousand dollars on her to show her he still really loved her. Well I say, if that’s the case, then I sure taught her well! So with all these vet visits and moping around, I sent an email to Mr. Monogram that went like this:

Me: Can [preppy puppy] have a new summer collar please? It might really help lift her spirits since she's been so sick and besides, her other one is a leather Coach collar and is not recommended for swimming. (I mean seriously, you wouldn’t see me taking a swim with one of my leather Coach bags, would you?)

Him: I think she would much prefer a new bone…it’s your call.

Me: Excellent! A new collar it is then!

So with Mr. Monogram giving me his full blessing, I knew I had to find the perfect collar for my perfect preppy puppy. All I’m saying is, wouldn’t you feel better if you had a new necklace to wear? So I set off to find the very best and most chic collar I could for preppy puppy. So first I had to think about whom is as obsessed with their dog as much as I am. Naturally, that led me to Martha. And in her new magazine, Blueprint, she recommends Bella Bean Couture. Although you can’t purchase directly from their site, I ADORE their site and they tell you a bunch of other sites, such as Artful Pups that you can purchase their stuff from. So I headed on over to Artful Pups and seriously, there I something here for every dog. I even managed to pick up this collar for my parent’s lucky lab (a.k.a. spoiled late in life child), princess puppy. Wouldn’t you agree it’s what every spoiled girl needs? I then strolled over to the Haute Dog Boutique where I finally settled on the “Happy Chic” Collar by Bella Bean for my girl, which you can see here. But something was missing…AHA! A little personalization (isn’t that what I’m all about anyway?)! So I also opted to purchase the rhinestone initial pendant for her new collar. There, that should finish off her summer look and make her the envy of the park! It was a tough call though, because there are so many adorable collars and specialized dogs sites out there. A few more worthy of mentioning are Bailey & Wags where you can even shop by your dogs style, Four Preppy Paws, where a little boy I know named Stogie would look smashing in the golf cart collar, and you also don’t want to miss Big Dog Boutique where another little furry bottomed boy named Duke would look awfully handsome going to get groomed in the green whales dog collar. Oh, and I almost forgot, that there are some adorable “old school” diagonal preppy striped collars at Hot Dog Collars at very reasonable prices. Now, for my crafty monogrammers out there who want to try to make their own personalized dog collars, hop on over to Creative Design Works and for the VERY low price of $5, you can purchase a very simple dog collar kit. Yes! You can make your own dog collar! I mean, can you even STAND it, it’s so exciting! You just had to know I was going to tell you how, didn’t you? Well if that sounds like something fun you’d like to try on a Friday night, then hit your local JoAnn’s craft store and check out their ribbon selection, and I also HIGHLY recommend The Ribbon Factory and Ribbon Girls. Now, for those of you who really couldn’t care less about adorable dog collars or how to make your own (although, how could you not care?), then check back later and I’ll have a more universal, crowd pleasing post up. I should note real quickly here, that as I type this, mini monogram #1 is saying to mini monogram #2, “hey mini, you want to play dog? You put this dog bone in your mouth (handing him an actual dog bone) and I’ll get a leash for you.” Honestly. This is my life folks, that’s all I’m saying. And with that image in your mind, I think I’ll let both princess puppy and preppy puppy out to go potty.