in my (sometimes) humble opinion

Just wanted to give an update on Gizmo: she's slooooowly recovering, her stomach is looking better and this morning she even ate a little on her own (as opposed to us shoving her face into a mushy mix of food until she eats some). One thing she's started doing is grinding her teeth, so we'll have to ask the vet about that. She's still way too skinny and hardly has any energy, but we're appreciating the baby steps. And for anyone in the area, Oaks Vet Clinic in Des Moines was amazing and unbelievably only charged $240 for all the x-rays, surgery, medicine, hospitalization, etc. Love them. (That pic above is from Wednesday night when we got home from dinner. Can you tell Ollie missed cuddling with her sister?) Have a great weekend, and take the time to appreciate good health!

Our little ferret Gizmo is in the hospital for the second night in a row tonight. She'd been lethargic over the weekend and not eating, not even treats. They did an x-ray Monday and could tell her stomach was full of gas, so they thought maybe she'd swallowed something that was blocking her intestines. They did surgery and found a spot that looked like something had been stuck there and was infected. They flushed it and sewed her back up and were waiting to see if she'd start eating again, but she didn't. This afternoon they were going to start force-feeding her and I guess we'll see how she's doing in the morning. It sucks to think of her there alone and in pain, now from the outside as well as the inside. And poor Ollie without her sister, they've never been apart before for more than half an hour. They actually recommend having 3 ferrets so if something happens to one the other one won't get lonely and depressed. Anyway, just wanted to send some fuzzy love to Giz tonight.

Back from California! We spent a few days in San Francisco, then down to LA for a quick visit (Matt's first time). SF was great, our hotel room was on the 35th floor in the middle of downtown (I think). We visited some cool neighborhoods (with great little shops) and even did the tourist-y thing, which was actually really fun. LA was nice too, I loved our cute little hotel in the middle of West Hollywood with a pool and hot tub on the roof. Jeff and Jen were kind enough to give us a tour of LA, then took us to the Santa Monica Pier. It was so nice of them.

So now I'm home, preparing to work my little buns off getting ready for the Grey Market 2 (in 23 days, oh crap). And sad because it snowed today. It's too soon, I'm still enjoying fall. And it has to be a good one, cuz it might be our last in Iowa!

Getting ready to head to San Francisco tomorrow. I was thrilled to see that now you're allowed one quart-size bag of travel size liquids on the plane ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Obviously I'm way more excited about this than I should be, but on my last trip having to check my stuff probably added an hour at each destination. I knew it couldn't last that long, it was too arbitrary (that SNL skit last week read my mind I swear: "What about a turkey sandwich with mustard, that's a liquid!")

edit: I just realized how small a quart is.  Oh well, better than nothing. 

Wanted to share a few blogs I've become addicted to recently: Emily's Inside a Black Apple (I didn't realize it was possible to be dark and adorably charming at the same time), and Victoria's SFGirlByBay (her Bohemian Modern sense of style is amazing).

Also, I just posted pics of a new book I made inspired by Joleen's quick journal. It was weird to do something all about me (usually I just do stuff for other people) but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Coincidently, Ali Edwards just posted a beautiful book she made about herself as well! Of course hers took a day to make and mine took a month. :)

If you're in Ames this weekend, Stuart Davis is playing at the Octagon Saturday. When Matt and I were taking fliers for the show to businesses downtown, the lovely (I forget sarcasm doesn't translate well in type. By "lovely" I mean "rude") woman at Keeper's Music refused to hang it saying "This is a family store!" Here's the image, which my 6-year-old niece and I had a long discussion about, she said it doesn't bother her at all, it just looks like Stu's meditating. If anything the eyes are a little creepy, but none of the other business had any problem with it. Whatever, Mrs. Keeper.

I'm pretty sure this is my longest post ever, so I better wrap it up. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back with pics from San Francisco!

Matt's going to San Francisco for a week, and I get to join him! I've never been, so if anyone has any suggestions… Sadly what I really want to do is go see The Science of Sleep, since it never played here, and I love Michel Gondry (what, Gael Garcia Bernal is in it too? I had no idea! Why yes, I do have a ginormous crush on him, what a coincidence!)

It's a gorgeous fall day today, I took this pic wanting something similar to this one. Geez, I've definitely gotten my money's worth for those shoes!

A couple quick things: Liza is doing the second Grey Market in Des Moines Nov 2, 3 & 4th, more info here. Also, Jessica from Funky Finds is having a cool contest, but you gotta hurry. Have a beautiful weekend!

Back from my quick trip. It was nice, and obviously Ava is adorable. Her hair is amazing, it naturally grows into a fauxhawk. Love it. They'll be back here for Christmas, I don't know if I can wait that long to see her again.

On a sad note (geez, my blog's been like a rollercoaster lately!), Tippy died yesterday. I'm pretty sure she was like 200 years old, but it's still sad, especially for Esther who's been taking care of her since March. When we first got her from the Animal Shelter, she cowered at any movement (she'd been abused). Then she became a diva, always wanting attention. Then she was just full of love, even letting Esther's new kitties attempt to nurse from her ears. She was a good dog.

Flying to Vegas tomorrow, then driving up to Provo to meet my new niece! Plus I get to see my brother, two sisters and two brothers-in-law (brother-in-laws?) that I haven't seen in a while. Woohoo!

I was going to go off about how stupid it is that I can't bring lip gloss on the plane, but I can bring 4-inch pointed metal scissors, but I decided to give in and just check my suitcase. I thought this was supposed to be a war on terror, not hydration while traveling. I kid, I kid… Besides, you are allowed 4oz of personal lubricant, so obviously parts of you could be hydrated (hehehe).

Almost done with my samples for Notting Hill ("Des Moines' Anthropologie"). So excited to see the shop (even if I don't end up selling my stuff there). Have a great rest of the week/weekend, I'll be back Monday with a ton of pics of Ava. If you're in the area, make sure to get to the Octagon's Art Festival downtown Sunday!