Meet Pearl.

It's been pretty quiet on my blog for the last week or so, and for very good reason.  S and I welcomed this lovely little lady into our home last Thursday and we've been getting to know and love her ever since.

Pearl is a miniature poodle, which means she won't be a huge dog when she's fully grown.  This is perfect for us, since we live in an apartment and will most likely continue with apartment living once we leave this place.  She's wonderfully fluffy, has the sweetest nature and she's a bundle of energy.  She loves to give kisses, adores a good belly rub and is the cuddliest pup I've ever met.

Sleepy puppy

I've never had a dog before and I've always been more of a cat person.  Pearl has been a revelation to me; I knew that a pooch would be a wonderful companion but that they required much more attention than a cat and I wasn't entirely sure I'd be able to lavish such attention.  I'm so pleased to discover that Pearl is amazingly easy to be with, to interact with and to entertain.  It's also lovely to not spend time on my own any more, when S is off at work I've got the most wonderful company I could hope for.

Tiny teeth

I can't get over how cute she is.  The way she bounces along when she's chasing her toys, the stretch that says 'Now rub my tummy please, Mumma', the waking up to a little nose pressing against my cheek.  She's lovely in every way and I feel very lucky to be able to call her ours.

I'm excited for this adventure with her.  I know it's going to be just amazing and we're only getting started.  So be prepared for many puppy posts in the future!  And for lots of other posts, too!

I hope you're having a wonderful week so far and that you're looking forward to your weekend ahead!

Love, K.

A View From The Week.

It's been a week of adventures and fun.  S was lucky enough to get four days off from work and we'd decided to take a short trip to Philadelphia (oh how I wanted to run up the Rocky steps!) but unfortunately the snow scuppered our plans.  We spent our days snuggled up on the couch, making trips to the grocery store and spoiling ourselves with delicious food.  We stayed warm when it was cold, braved the weather to make a trip to New York and took our friends out for a night of dinner and drinks.

Super spicy noodles that kept us warm while watching Thor on a freezing cold day.

A pipe burst downstairs so we had to turn the water off and I needed to wash my hair.  Solution?  Melting snow in a saucepan!

Crossing the bridge to the big city.

Ordering sushi and dumplings for dinner.  The maraschino cherry really made my day!  There are days I get such a craving for cucumber and avocado sushi and it must be sated.  Yum!

All in all, I'd say it's been a busy but awesome week.  S is back at work now and it feels weird not having him the house already.  I'm glad we made the most of every minute of his short vacation, and I can't wait for the next time he has a few days off so that we can go on an even bigger adventure.

Did you have a wonderful week?  How did you spend your weekend?

Love, K.

The Little Things.

My day-to-day life, like most people, is kind of humdrum.  That's not a complaint, far from it; I love how easy things are for me, how I get to do as I please in my own time and apart from doing some housework, I can relax and indulge myself with my favourite things.

Sometimes I forget to appreciate how good things are for me right now.  I'm on my own a lot, since S is out working hard for us, and I can find myself feeling bored and a bit sorry for myself.  Sounds silly, but I can get into this mopey mood where I wander around the apartment, looking for things to do and when I realise that actually, there's nothing to do right now, I veg out in front of the T.V. and spend endless hours watching The Food Network.  Poor me, right?

I feel like I need to remind myself how lucky I am.  I've had the most amazing opportunity to live in another country, with someone who is so special to me I can't even begin to put it into words.  I need to remember to really appreciate the little things, to treasure the moments I have right now because who knows what will happen tomorrow?  To pull myself out of my weird little funk and think 'Things are so brilliant right now.  This is a great moment.'  Moments like these -

- settling in for an afternoon of reading a great book and munching on extra strong mints (they are really minty and so, so good).

- getting the hugest box of chocolates I have ever seen at a giveaway. Holy moly.

- hanging out with this cutie for the afternoon.

- finding these!  In England, these are called Maltesers and I had such a craving for them recently.  I didn't think they existed here.  So chuffed.

- catching this little rainbow on a traffic sign, reflecting the lights from the cars passing by.  Too pretty not to take a picture of.

What great moments did you enjoy this week?  I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Love, K.

Do You Wanna Build A Snowman?

Yes, yes, I know.  I totally bought into the 'Frozen' cliché!  But the truth is, with all the snow we've had in recent weeks (the inches and feet of it!) the one thing I really did want to do was build a snowman!  The feathery fine snow was a nuisance more than anything; it covered the roads in a sheet of powder which turned to ice, it blew around with every gust making it difficult to see and shovelling it was no laughing matter.

When I found out that it was due to snow again, my heart sank.  More snow, really?  Then I found out it was wet snow and something in my brain went Hey...You can make snowmen out of wet snow and, I admit, my inner child did a giddy little dance.  After all, what's the point of snow if you can't build a snowman?

All these inches of wet snow are a pain, don't get me wrong.  Shovelling the driveway was a nightmare earlier, trying to clear a path for S to get to work (he's such a trooper!) and my arms ached once we had finished.  Not that it mattered too much, within an hour all the space we'd cleared was covered once more in a dusting of the white stuff.  Still, out of all the snowfalls we've had, I don't think any of them have been this pretty.

Everything outside looks like a wintery wonderland, as if each scene had been snapped for the front of a greetings card.  And with it covering every available surface, there was more than enough for me to solo it and build my very own little snowman on our deck.

He's smiling, honest!  And yes, that is a beer bottle cap for a nose.  I'm currently out of carrots.

I happily pranced (yes, pranced!) around in the snow for about 20 minutes, building my little snowman (his name is Jeff, I've decided) and having a lovely time.  I'm lucky, I don't have to make a trip to work in this weather, so I'm able to really enjoy this sticky snowfall and make the most of it.  S is off tomorrow, so I'm tempted to get him to build a snowman with me...and maybe have a little snowball battle while we're at it!

Is it (still) snowing where you are?  I hope that you're enjoying it and that above all, you're staying safe while it's treacherous out.  Take care for the week ahead and wrap up warm!

Love, K.

Super Skin Sunday.

Sometimes, you just need a little bit of pampering.  Over the last couple of days, I've been feeling a bit under-the-weather and this meant that I wasn't able to go visit my friends for their Superbowl party today.  I woke up thinking I'd spend my day buried under blankets and feeling sorry for myself, when I thought that a bit of TLC would cheer me up and help me relax.

First stop - no pamper is complete without a shiny lick of nail polish!  I'm not normally a hot pink kind of girl, but every time I look at my nails it makes me smile.

Then, after a lovely hot shower (how I wish we had a tub I could soak in!) I decided I'd give myself a real treat and use a peel-off face mask.

I love the peel-off masks, they're so much less messy than other masks I've used (like the clay ones) and I always have a little giggle when it gets difficult to move my mouth as it dries!  Using a face mask also ties in with my goal to take good care of my skin this year and after I'd peeled it off, my skin felt amazing.  I have real combination skin on my face and sometimes it gets so dry, especially when I've been going from a cold outside to a hot inside.  My skin was silky smooth and felt refreshed and lovely.

And here's my creepy peeled-off face!  I'm pretty sure I get bonus points for pulling the whole thing off in one piece.  The only thing I don't love about these masks is when I accidentally get it on my eyebrows and have an impromptu eyebrow wax, ouch.

Having a little pamper day really did perk me up and I'm hoping I'll be feeling a-okay when I wake up in the morning.  Tonight, I'll be watching the football (I kinda have to, it's my first Superbowl in America!) from the comfort of my sofa, covered in blankets and drinking lots of orange tea.

Are you having a Superbowl party?  Just taking it easy this evening?  I hope whatever you're up to, you've had a wonderful weekend and you're ending it spectacularly!

Love, K.