Happy Birthday, Sadie!

Nine years ago to the day, I was driving in SE Washington, DC and saw a dog wandering along the side of the residential road, without a collar or fence.
After about an hour of baiting her with expired beef jerky (that's another story altogether!), I had a scared, dirty, malnourished, adorable, bat- eared dingo in my car.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
The vet assumed Sadie was nine months to a year old, thus her finding day is also her birthday.
In her previous "home", she'd been through more than I ever want to know. Signs of fight training. Beatings. Starvation. 
To this day, she is still frightened of people walking with canes or umbrellas. And older women in long skirts. And has a reoccurring limp.
I will never know what the first year of her life was like- though I imagine the worst. And want the person or persons who hurt her to suffer more than anyone ever should.
In the past nine years, she has changed my life. For the better. She makes every single day awesome. 
She is smart; easily counting to 6 when treats or toys are involved.
She snores. Loudly. Every single night. Often while pressed against my lower legs.
In fact, she is lying on the floor of my office and snoring as I type this. 
She steals my yoga hat on a regular basis. While I'm using it.
She's the only dog I know who doesn't like peanut butter. She'll suck it off of apples or carrots and spit it on the floor, choosing to only consume the fresh fruit or veg.
She begs for bell peppers, seedless cucumbers, romaine lettuce hearts.
She loves to be cold, and roll in the snow. It's delicious!
She bosses around my other dog and cat as if they were her wards. And they let her.
She is technically a Labrador, Boarder Collie, Poodle, miniature Schnauzer mix. And that must have been one hell of a party.
Speaking of which, we're off to Five Guys for her yearly, celebratory bacon cheeseburger. Yeah, I'm that person, and I don't care who knows it.

Earthquakes, Hurricanes and Updates, oh my!

Hello everyone!

It's been a whirlwind (no pun intended) couple of weeks since my last blog post.

I live in Maryland, and on 8/23, there was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in nearby Virginia, which was felt as far away as parts of Canada. I'm an east coast gal, so the first (smaller) one had me thinking there were jets overhead. I went outside and saw nothing- about then my brainwaves computed "earthquake". I got back inside and the second, much larger and longer quake hit.

No damage here and very little in the larger metropolitan areas nearby. I must say, it was kind of cool.

Do I want to experience an earthquake everyday? Absolutely not. Do I realize they can cause catastrophic damage. Hell yes.

Mother nature wasn't done yet- Hurricane Irene ripped up the coast and left us drenched throughout most of the weekend. While most of the rain and high winds were gone by Sunday morning, so was the power. Luckily, it was out for about 12 hours total. Not so lucky? Comcast services being down for 5 days. I was without Internet, phone or cable until late Wednesday afternoon (and going slightly crazy not being able to work). Once everything was restored, responding to inquiries and updating the shops was the first item of business.

So what's on the plate for this week? I'm starting to get Fall items online.

Like this incredible 1940s wool suit.

And this amazing 1960s cheetah print trench coat.

For the guys, this MOD geometric belt will update any look (and hold up your pants).

It's not a big secret, this short sleeved wool flannel, circa 1950s, is AWESOME!

I've been a bit neglectful of ObjectRetro of late- but this orange task lamp more than makes up for it.

My birthday is later this week, so there might be more photos of this years' version of my favorite birthday cake. And, for those paying attention on Facebook and Twitter, there might be a special gift for you. Because I'm generous. It won't be any of my cake, though, becasue sharing is not my forte.