Holiday Gift Guide for Dog People!

I love making these themed gift guides each year. And there are so many wonderful things out there for the dog people in your life! Everything from books to boots to mugs and jewlery.

Here's our pick: 

01 // Custom Pottery Mug -- Square Dog Pottery

02 // Cute Dog Wall Print -- Wallfry

03 // Paw Print Bracelet -- House of Metal Works

04 // Domesticated Trinket Dish -- Anthropologie

05 // Dog Humor Canvas Tote Bag -- Mandy Lindeke Designs 

06 // Illustrated Cat & Dog Pillows -- Uncommon Goods 

07 // Beloved Dog -- Anthropologie 

08 // The True Love Dolman Tee -- Peace.Love.Paws.

09 // Dog Print Rain Boots by Joules -- Ruche

10 // Dog Lady for Life Travel Mug -- Creative Index Society 6 Shop 

11 // Custom Pet Portrait -- Hither Rabbit

Some custom made items may be too late to order in time for Christmas, but they would make perfect gifts any time of the year. Also, Society6 is having a Cyber Monday sale with free shipping world wide! That "Dog Lady for Life" is also available as an art print, tote bag, mug and throw pillow. 

Happy Holidays! 

**Stay tuned for more gift guides coming soon! 

The day after

How was your Thanksgiving? 

Ours was so low key that we almost passed up on making that galbijjim and just eating a dish that our friends dropped off. We weren't expecting it and it was such a nice surprise. 

Thanksgiving was kind of a peculiar day for us.

I found out first thing in the morning that I wasn't pregnant. I kind of had an inkling but it was confirmed.. and the moment when things get confirmed, my heart and shoulders get slightly heavy and I think, how the hell are we going to do this again. It kind of gets tiring, this whole "trying to get pregnant" business. 

But I moved on - this month {thankfully} wasn't about getting angry or being sad and crying... although there were actually two moments during the day when I did just want to cry and cry and cry some more. But no tears came out. Dry as a desert. Which is kind of funny because the day before when I was watching Ratatouille on TV I ended up bawling. I don't even remember which scene it was. 

And so by the time we woke up, took all the dogs out so they can do their morning business, wipe and clean their paws, feed them, give them their water and place them in their favorite spots on soft, warm blankets, it was time for the Macy's Day Parade on TV. 9 am. Which we watched all but 15 minutes of. 

Yangkyu ended up doing some yard work - raking and mowing the lawn for the last time of the year. We then became couch potatoes and caught up on our favorite Korean shows. And then it was time to get our dinner started -- Yangkyu offered to cook while I took the dogs out again, wiped and cleaned their paws and fed them. I helped with doing the dishes, too. Then it was time to edit photos and email updates on all four dogs who are staying with us currently. 

We had dinner late. At 8 pm. And then afterwards we turned on the Sound of Music. But we both were so tired that we called it a night at 11 pm just after when Maria and Captain Von Trapp danced The Landler. No puzzle pieces. No board games. Just a long process of letting the dogs out one last time, wiping and cleaning their paws and getting them all situated upstairs and then finally lights out. 11:40 pm.

And that was our Thanksgiving. It felt a little tiring. It felt a little off. Perhaps we should've done what we have always been doing in terms of cooking -- Yangkyu kept saying how much he wanted mashed potatoes. 

But today is certainly a new day. And not to sound cheesy, but the day just looks brighter. The sights and sounds -- they don't seem blurry or muffled. 

We are continuing on with being rebels and breaking tradition yet again by not putting up our tree until next week when all the guest dogs have gone. Our tree usually goes up right away, the day after Thanksgiving. But I want to pick out the tree together, with Piri of course. 

Thanksgiving hasn't really been a favorite holiday of mine. Sometimes the gathering of families makes me terribly sad that I can't be with my own. And it sometimes reminds me of the rough past we had when we all didn't really know how to deal with my mother's mental illness. And Thanksgiving hasn't been big in my family - it wasn't a holiday that we incorporated as an immigrant family - but Christmas has always been special, especially during my childhood. And so I always have kind of looked at Thanksgiving as this one hump we have to get over to start embracing all that Christmas charm.

And it's finally here! It's the day after. 

As soon as I press the "publish" button on this blog post, I'm turning on Christmas music and doing silly dance moves that I can only do in front of dogs because they won't tell anybody how terrible I am. Because they're kinda loyal that way {not because they can't talk - heh}. 

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us

Love, 

Charlie, FayLynn, Bambi, Britannia, Piri, Yangkyu and Jane. 

Piri's Place gang :)

November Project Color: White

This month is all about white. Ok. So I snuck in a cream colored sweater. We'll let it slide?

I think I have an abundance of white in the house. I love how clean and simple it looks and how it can match with any pop of color - a yellow blanket, blue doors or bright red decorations. I love that patterns and details also don't look so busy and hectic when it comes in white. Maybe it's just me. 

Thank you Fee and Jessica for joining in on this month's project color. Both sort of festive - a vintage wedding dress and decorations galore. I love both celebrations.

  // burntfeather // 

 // creativeindex // 

December will be all about the color gold.

If you'd like to join in, email me one photo at windingridgelane [at] gmail [dot] com that depicts the color gold by Friday, December 11. Please send the picture as a cropped square image, otherwise I will crop at my own discretion. Photos should not be smaller than 900x900 px. Along with your picture, please include your name and blog name and url {if applicable}. If you are on Instagram, post your picture using #WRLprojectcolor and I will try and include it in the blog round ups.

 // January Project Color: Red

 // February Project Color: Orange
 // March Project Color: Yellow

 // April Project Color: Green

 // May Project Color: Blue

 // June Project Color: Purple

 // July Project Color: Pink

 // August Project Color: Gray
 // September Project Color: Black

 // October Project Color: Brown

Yummy turkey meatball doggy treats

Hello! We're cooking up some turkey meatball doggy treats over at the DogVacay blog today! Hop on over and make some for your pup and friends on Thanksgiving day! It's fresh, healthy and oh so tasty. 

Holidog

The other day I picked up a ridiculous hat for Piri at Target and then proceeded to have a little photo session with him. We don't do Christmas photo cards, but this year I was tempted to see if maybe we can get few photos that can possibly work well as a card. With some itty bitty pieces of chicken and a dash of patience on Piri's part, we got those few photos. 

Yesterday we ordered our cards - half photo and half non-photo - and we can't wait until they arrive. 

I am still feeling a little in over my head with all the handmade decorations I'm making to send to friends and family but I am hoping that by early December I'll be ahead of schedule. 

After our November DogVacay guests leave I have taken a few days off the first week of December so we can do some outings together - just me, Yangkyu and Piri. We missed out on going to see the National Tree last year and so we were thinking to head out during the day time so it won't be too cold for Piri. I think I also have to get me some of those mini donuts in Eastern Market. I hope they are still there.

As for Thanksgiving, we're doing something a little different. We're going to make it into a little Korean Thanksgiving and cook galbijjim instead of doing the whole turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and pie deal. It'll the perfect helping for just the two of us. Of course we'll be spending the evening doing what we always do on Thanksgiving - watch The Sound of Music, work on that darn 1000 puzzle piece we never finish and play some Pandemic as well (guys! it's such a great board game!) 

How are you getting ready for the holidays? 

Happy Weekend + WATG Knit Kit Giveaway Reminder

Happy happy Friday! 

What do you all have planned for the weekend? 

We are a full house at Piri's Place with four guest dogs and Piri to give us doggy love and doggy shenanigans all weekend long.

Yangkyu also ordered a new board game a few days ago and it finally arrived yesterday. We actually both saw Mariko's June Favorites Video {she also blogs at Gamerwife} and she featured a board gamed called Dead of Winter. Yangkyu wanted to play it so badly and went to look up board games straight afterwards. After perusing through different ones he actually ended up buying a different game called Pandemic.  We'll be playing that for sure {and Dead of Winter is on his next buy list - him and his board games - he made me play Castle Panic with him for hours when all I wanted to do was play Clue all night long}. 

Have a wonderful weekend and don't forget about our Wool and The Gang Beanie Knit Kit giveaway! 

zzzzz

I found Piri like this the other day. It was the day before our November DogVacay guests were to arrive. I like to have a good steady cleaning routine going before, during and after dogs stay with us - that is vacuuming, wiping, dusting and washing, including dog bed covers, blankets and toys. 

All of Piri's stuff was in the washer at the moment and so he decided to hop inside our laundry basket and nap on top of our sheets. I have never seen him do this before. I feel like the older he gets, the more he acts like a little baby. I love my senior. He had a good long nap and woke up all sleepy eyed. Really, a baby I tell ya. 

For the past few weeks, Yangkyu has had more opportunities to work from home. We don't interact a lot throughout the day when he is working from home but just the thought of him being in the other room is comforting. It also gives me some time to go running while he looks after our dog guests. Yes. I've picked it back up again earlier this month. I've been running about 3 miles several times a week and it feels great. The weather also has been generous the past few days which makes for running so much more enjoyable. I've even conquered the hilly parts of my route which actually deterred me from running outdoors for a long time. But now I'm able able to jog steadily without walking it out. It's these little feats that make me realize that my endurance is improving. Lots of high fives to that. 

I've started Piri on a new supplement. A friend of mine put her dog on Dr. Harvey's multi-vitamin mineral herbal support and suggested we also give it a try. We currently have Piri on Solid Gold Seameal, which was actually also suggested by the same friend, and so instead I bought a bottle of Dr. Harvey's Coenzyme Q10 for dogs and cats. It's for Piri's heart and I also read that it can also be helpful for the kidneys. He's been taking it well with his pill pockets. Ah the things that are available to our pets is so vast and wide now, no? 

I am way in over my head with regards to holiday gift making this year, but I am still hopeful that I can pull it off. Last night, we all {and I mean all including Piri and Britannia, our current guest} headed over to Michaels and I bought felt and embroidery floss and yarn and the works. I am hoping to order my Christmas cards today but we will see. I always avoided photo cards but I may order just a handful of Piri to share with my dog loving friends. Maybe Piri is acting more like a baby as he gets older and I am acting more like a crazy dog lady as each day passes. 

What are some things happening in your neck of the woods?

PS -- Wool and The Gang Beanie Knit Kit giveaway is happening now. 

Beanie knit kit giveaway with Wool and The Gang!

Ever wanted to try out one of Wool and The Gang's knit kits?

I have knitted one of their hats, scarves and snoods and they are very easy to follow and their yarn so very soft to the touch. If I didn't know how to do a specific stitch, I referred to their helpful video tutorials, which got me along my way to finishing a kit. Their entry level patterns are great for beginners and people who want to start out knitting, but also fun for experienced makers alike. I'm preparing to buy a few more of their yarn, patterns and some kits and am happy to be able to share the joy that is Wool and the Gang with my friends and readers on the blog.

Today Wool and The Gang is generously offering one beanie knit kit of your choice {see picture above} to try out {I really love "For the Gamer" and "For the Cool"}. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Joining their mailing list is a mandatory entry and will unlock more opportunities to enter the giveaway. This giveaway is open to US residents only and will run from Monday, November 16 to Monday, November 23.

Thank you for participating and thank you Wool and the Gang for this opportunity! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Life lately, according to my iphone

“Sometimes the people around you won't understand your journey. They don't need to, it's not for them.” -- Joubert Botha

PS -- Thanking our veterans and service dogs on this Veterans Day.

Thank you selfie stick! (and Yoel!)

For this picture! 

It's one of my favorites from the weekend. 

I love how Hiro, Mini and Piri are all looking away.

And Olivia, too. She joined in on their protest.

Heh.

Hey guys! Let's take a picture!

Okay! Maybe next time! 

A weekend at Kinsale, VA

Oops.

I mentioned on Friday that we rented a house in Maryland with our friends, Yoel, Rara, Suzanne and Min, for the weekend. It was actually in Virginia, some 2.5 hours from where we live, in a neighborhood called Kinsale.

The property was quiet and there was a dock that led right up to the water from the backyard. When we got there on Saturday morning Yoel and Rara had already gotten the fishing poles and crab cage traps in place with some bait. In the end, they caught two crabs but let them go. #happycrabs

It rained most of the day on Saturday and so we couldn't do much outdoors but we still got to enjoy each other's company - and the company of spiders and bugs which creeped me out to no end. Suzanne also introduced us to the Heads Up game, and we played it like a bunch of 10 year olds. My favorite categories were definitely "Act it out" and "animals." The app also captures a video of your friends giving you the hint and it's the funniest to re-watch. I wish we saved the video of Yoel acting out "cheerleader" for Yangkyu to guess (to give you an idea how funny it was -- Yangkyu guessed  it as kung fu). 

The highlight of the weekend though happened to be these oysters we bought -- 100 of them for $38. Isn't that ridiculous? We spent the night Youtubing how to shuck them properly and slurping them right off the shells. It was endless. And so good. 

The sun decided to pop back up the following day and so Yangkyu got to play with fire, Yoel and Min went canoeing and we all had a nice slow BBQ. 

Aren't you sick of me mentioning how I don't like fall. Well, I had a change of heart this past weekend. It sure is nice to get away with friends and our dogs and enjoy nice weather outdoors without having to worry whether Piri would overheat. Our old man chilled out on the deck, sunbathed and got to smell all the incredible smells (I think mainly his friend Hiro's pee) too. 

I took a ton of pictures. 600 which I cut down to 400 and edited and kept 149. Here are some if you'd like to see. 

 // I loved this dock. My favorite photos from the weekend are the ones taken from this view. // 

 // Mini the Westie. Yoel and Rara belong to her. She's such a cutie. She sometimes makes this crying sound, like when she is standing in front of her treat cabinet signaling to her humans that she'd like some. I think that crying sound is so cute that I imitate it out of the blue when I'm home alone. I joked with them and let them know that I want to record her crying sound and make it into a ringtone. Only I'm not joking. Heh. // 

 // Hiro is a Shiba Inu and Suzanne and Min belong to him. Olivia is his younger sister. He is so good with her. She says in her little baby voice "Hiro~~ Hiro~~" and kisses him, touches his ears, takes him for walks in the house. Sometimes he pretends he's invisible through it all (see left picture) but he sticks around until she's had all her fun. Such a good brother, this one. // 

// 100 oysters. Oh my good golly gosh. // 

 // Youtube lessons on how to shuck oysters. // 

  // Squad goals // 

  // Going to see the crab // 

  // Hello little guy! Hope you got back to your family safely! // 

  // Jurassic zoo keeper // 

  // Kiss kiss. I think Hiro got shy and needed to close his eyes. // 

  // "Hey ma. I like this guy. He's cool." // 

  // Open sesame! // 

  // Human.. I said open sesame..."

  // My boys :) // 

  // I hope you enjoyed your weekend Piri // 

  // Yangkyu was so bummed it rained on Saturday. He was looking forward to building a fire. We didn't think we could do it the following day even though the rain had stopped because the firewood was all wet but Yoel put on his genie cap and made Yangkyu's wish come true. Doesn't he look like a 5 year old on Christmas morning? Oh boy. // 

  // It doesn't get any cuter than this. // 

  // Olivia calls out Piri's name in her little baby voice. But sometimes she just says "Pi" "Pi"~ She also says this thing to her mama when she doesn't want to eat anymore - "ahn muk uh" - that's "I'm not eating" in Korean. I was giving Piri a treat and Piri took it in his mouth but then dropped it because he didn't want to eat it. Olivia was next to me and saw the whole thing and when he dropped his treat, Olivia and I met eyes and she shook her hand "no" and said "ahn muk uh." That cracked me up so much. It was so cute and funny at the same time. // 

  // Just chillin by the fire. Oh this weekend was a good one wasn't it Piri? // 

 // Another two guys whose faces look like it's Christmas morning. Heh // 

 // So long! // 

 // Our getaway to Rolling River Farm

Photos taken with Canon 7D, Canon Zoom Lens EF 24-70mm 2.8 L USM and edited in Photoshop CS5 using VSCO FILM 01