Archive for the ‘favorite things’ Category

Ah, fall is finally almost upon us. Time has come to stock up on canned pumpkin puree, huff cinnamon pine cones in public, and not wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of the air conditioner kicking on. I love including our bulldog Emma in seasonal changes, so I was glad to see this particular product from Blue Buffalo at PetSmart the other day. Not only do the Halloween-esque Boo Bars have cute packaging, but they’re so freaking healthy. The main ingredients are Oatmeal, Whole Ground Barley, Ground Whole Oats, Pumpkin and Cinnamon (no corn, wheat or soy!) which is great for our allergy-prone pup. Oh, and the smell: cinnamon! It smells like fall! I swear, I would have taken a nibble of one if Emma hadn’t already been drooling on my foot. Ahem. She loves them, I love them, and they don’t make her break out in hives like most treats.  It’s a win-win-win.

Image via Blue Buffalo

For the last four weeks I’ve eaten so much lasagna (thanks Mom and Justine!) that I sometimes feel a bit like Garfield. But not this Garfield. This orange tabby is all kinds of wrong he’s right.

Image: Pancake Pancake Pancake via Uniblog

Let’s face it: dogs stink. As is often the case, whatever they wear for an extended period of time tends to stink as well. As the owner of a particularly stinky dog, I’m so glad to have come across Dublin Dog’s All Style, No Stink Collars. Emma has the Simply Solid Pink & Brown collar, but there are half a dozen cool designs to choose from – like the pirate-esque Arrrgyle style, seen in the pic here, which makes me giggle. These collars use a retro buckle design and are incredibly strong as well as water repellent. After a month of use, I can detect absolutely no stink emanating from Emma’s collar, and aside from a slight tarnishing of the buckle, it’s in perfect shape. (Something I can’t say about many of the fabric-based collars I’ve bought her to date, which eventually fade and smell to high heaven). Dublin Dog has other neat things to offer, including engraved Dublin Dog Tags  and eco-Lucks Collars and Leashes, which are made of 100% post-consumer plastic bottles. With the No Stink Collar being such a hit, I’m looking forward to trying more of their shamrock-adorned products!

Image via Dublin Dog

I think it’s pretty clear that I’m a big fan of cats, but I also realize that they are strange little creatures sometimes. Illustrator Jeffrey Brown knows it too, and captures that quirkiness perfectly in Cats Are Weird: And Other Observations. Read the rest of this entry »