If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you've already heard the news, but I need to share here too! Chris and I brought a new little friend home...
Meet Cricket! She's a 3 lb. 12 week old chiweenie (that's a chihuahua/dachshund mix). We brought her home on Sunday after a couple of weeks of anticipation. The picture above was taken by her foster mom right after they got here, so we were all very excited and it's a little shaky. And don't judge my Uggs, haha! It's been snowing like crazy here so I have an excuse... at least I hope I do! :)
The whole story of how this came about is pretty interesting and full of coincidence, so bear with me while I share it...
I have wanted a dog for years, but it never seemed like the right time. Chris and I have talked about it for a while now, and he was definitely reluctant. He wanted to be sure that we could provide a stable and loving home, with plenty of time to spend with a pup and enough financial stability to cover whatever her needs may be. But for Valentine's Day he finally decided it was time to start looking. I've had my heart set on bringing home a little mini dachshund. I had one as a little girl and I absolutely loved her. We knew we wanted something small, Chris said he wanted a chihuahua or a dachshund. I had looked at doxie rescues in our area over the last few years just because, but I never came across anyone that seemed like a good fit. I knew we would get a puppy, for one because I thought it'd be easier to integrate a baby with Jeans, and two because Chris and I had our hearts set on raising a puppy together. I'd also checked out local breeders and found some that seemed reputable, but you really never know, and in my heart I really wanted to adopt.
When Chris gave me the go-ahead to start looking, I couldn't help but google local doxie pups that night. Lo and behold, I found a PetFinder listing for three chiweenie pups! The three little girls were adorable, but one in particular stood out. They were born in December and had Christmas themed names, the one that we loved was Holly. I was nervous but emailed the rescue organization about her. They got back to me the next day, and she was still available! I filled out an application, they checked out our references, and next thing I know we're buying toys and a leash and picking out a new name!
Everything seemed weirdly coincidental with this whole process. The timing was perfect, I wanted a dachshund and Chris wanted a chihuahua, and she's a chiweenie! Naming her too- I wanted a vintage-y girl's name like Winnie or Pearl, and Chris wanted to name her something weird and silly (his top contender was Adventure Time, followed closely by Buckets... yeah, he's 6 haha). We were watching tv and someone said cricket, and we looked at each other and said "yeah, Cricket". So she's our little bug and we've maybe been only buying her green accessories because we're dorks like that :)
The story of the pups being rescued is pretty sad (so if you're affected by that kind of thing I'd skip this paragraph...). The pups were born to a chihuahua mom, three girls and one boy, on December 5th. A day later, the mom gave birth to a stillborn puppy, and began to hemorrhage. The owners didn't take her in to the vet for another day, and by that time she was septic and too far gone that she needed to be put down. The puppies weren't getting enough nutrition from their poor sick mama, and the deluded owners were supplementing them with coffee creamer (which makes absolutely zero sense to anyone with half a brain). The vet that euthanized the mama told the owners that either they surrendered the puppies or faced legal action. I'm not sure exactly how, but other arrangements were made for the boy puppy and the three girls went to the rescue together. They were raised from one week old by a lovely foster mama who just did wonders for them. I am so thankful for all the work the rescue and the foster mom put in to save these little girls!
So there you have it! That's the story of our little Cricket. Things are going pretty well for our first couple of days. We're giving Jeans plenty of time to adjust and get used to her. He has a room that she's not allowed in so he can escape if he needs to. He's gotten close and sniffed her a few times, but he's still pretty unsure of her. It's getting better by the hour, I think, he gets a little closer and less skittish more and more throughout the day. We have our fingers crossed that they'll be buddies soon!
Please feel free to leave tips and advice for new puppy parents if you have it, we'd love to hear it!! xo
For the last few months I've been thinking about my place here on the internet and what this blog means for me. There are a lot of things I love about it, but I feel like it's become something that isn't the best representation of me. I feel too much pressure to "perform" and I found myself doing things that I wouldn't normally do just to blog about it. It's obvious that I'm not a very frequent blogger, which has added to the pressure I feel in this space. So I've decided to make some changes. I don't want to be motivated by numbers anymore. I don't want to be nervous about what I'm sharing. The main thing I'm doing right now is getting rid of paid sponsorships. There will be some other differences that I implement over time, and I am hopeful that I can make this a more enjoyable space for everyone involved. Thank you ♥
I'm totally biased here, but is he not the cutest thing ever in the whole world? My goodness. This is my new favorite photo of him, and I just happened to snap it the other night Normally when I take pictures of him being cute, I'm either too slow or the cuteness isn't fully conveyed. But not this time! I honestly want to print and frame it, I don't even care that it's grainy.
I made a new color card since I added a few more options (numbers 1, 7, 14, 16, 19, and 21). I made the big "SB" image to use, and I slapped a huge one in the background. The watermark is at 50% opacity. I'm pretty confident in this one, I don't feel like I need to edit it anymore. My main concern is that perhaps some of the colors are too hard to see with the thicker parts of the letters on top of them. 
I did a few sets of photos like the example above, but then I started to feel like the watermark was way too huge. I put this image on Instagram asking for feedback, and a lot of people loved it. A lot of other people said that it was too big and too opaque. I'm definitely in agreement now.
I think this looks better that the example above, but I'm still not 100% sold. 
I realize this one wouldn't be too hard to crop out, but I would much rather use this than paste a white one over my face or the product.
