reasons to love your snow-cation

I know that a lot of you are getting stir-crazy, cabin-fevered, and downright cooped up. Your car is stuck behind a four-foot wall of snow that is currently growing by about an inch an hour. Your job is making you take vacation days because you can't get there. Your street hasn't been plowed, so digging out your car was a huge waste of time. Your dog still has to be taken out, even though you'd rather nest up in a blanket.

You're sick of it.

I hear you. I really do. There are a lot of things about 3 feet of snow that put a damper on your daily rituals, that interrupt your life and throw you off kilter. But just pause and re-frame this situation - your car is stuck, so you've been walking places instead; your job is making you take vacation days, so you've been mandated to make the most of it and go have fun; you dug out your car and worked some different muscles than your regular workout; your dog frolicking in the snow is a total hoot.



I'm not saying you can't gripe and moan a little, but make the most of your lil' snow-cation! Here are a few things I've been doing that have made my snow days a blast:
* spontaneous girls' breakfast at my house, complete with fried eggs, hash browns, and sauteed peppers
* sledding in the little park by Ellwood
* trying to build an igloo, failing, and making it a snow fort with twig flag with my lovely ladies * lots of long dog walks around the park
* group dinners
* watching The Corner
* neighborhood superbowl get together
* wine and good company
* snow cookies (white chocolate chips instead of regular!)
* walking to work and running in to friends and neighbors
* working together, laughing a lot, making a load of amazing memories.



What are your favorite, positive things about all this snow snow snow?


love k

return to home

dogs on parade

BARCS annual fund raising festival, BARCStoberfest,  was rescheduled for Sunday after being rained out two weeks ago, and boy did they luck out this time! Abundant sunshine, changing leaves, and warm weather made this a really fantastic day to "Strut Your Mutt." With vendors galore, doggy contests, and pets ready for adoption, it was a day all about dogs (and some cats!).


A coworker and I had a booth for our company and had the fortune of being right in the middle of things with a great vantage point for watching the contests and all the passing pooches. Here are a few photos from the day:

Our table had a bounty of furry-friend goodies!

Ravens' Cheer-dog - gotta love it :)

Remember that dog I found in the Park and returned? We had a reunion at the fest'!

The Mayor gave a great speech!

I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage people to consider adopting from BARCS or a similar local organization - our city is overwhelmed by homeless dogs brought to the shelter by those who find them or those who can no longer keep them. With today's housing crisis still a bleak reality for many, animals are being forfeited to shelters at alarming rates as owners lose their homes or are no longer able to care for their pets. Please take a moment to see if your heart and home have room for one more. Adopting an animal is rewarding and heart warming... just look at this face - how could I say no??

love k

the doggy bloggy (aka puppy meets his twin)

Oooooh what a day! As many of you probably saw on facebook and the yahoo group, I found a dog while stopping by home to take my dog (and yes, Puppy is his name) out for a quick walk, as I wouldn't be home from work til closer to 7. Long story short, I found a dog running wildly across the street and in to Patterson Park. But not just any dog - it was Puppy's TWIN in every way except being white instead of black...and painted teal toenails. They were instant friends, but I refused to even entertain the thought of keeping him - Puppy came to me in exactly the same way, so the odds were against me on that one.

So after checking with local vets, having him scanned for a chip, and following up a few local leads, I began the good ol' fashioned task of fliering the neighborhood and asking everyone I passed whether or not the dog was familiar. All to no avail. Somewhere along the way I passed a police officer waiting at a traffic light and gave him one as well, despite my friend's scoffing that it was a waste of a flier - what does a Baltimore City patrol officer care about an 11 pound lost poodle?

Within an hour I had a phone call from another officer inquiring about the dog and confirming that it was the same dog lost by the individual with whom he was currently meeting! Within half an hour the dog and I were in a cruiser heading 12 blocks NE to the owner (side note: by this time I'd named the dog Falcor after the flying dog-beast in The Never Ending Story - clearly my attachment level was reaching dangerous levels already!).

Nothing warms your heart like dog and owner literally writhing with happiness as they reunite - truly. After hugs and cheers all around, the owner and I agreed to reunite our pooches at this weekend's BARCStoberfest (blog to follow about this one soon).

A HUGE shout out to Officer Gabriel at the South East Police District - many would have thrown away the flier and forgotten it forever, but this officer took the time to call it in and have the information posted to the district. It is only because of his diligence that this had a happy ending.

Here are a couple of photos (taken by my laptop so not too great) of lil' Falcor and Puppy.

love k

walking and talking my way home

Four years ago, I was a first time buyer. With prices so high in my hometown of DC, and my sister and brother-in-law newly settled in Baltimore and giving me the hard sell, I turned my attentions North. I toured houses all over Fells Point, Canton, Brewer's Hill, and Patterson Park. After visiting dozens of houses, having run-ins with junkies, and a few heartbreaks juuust out of my financial reach, I found a 3 bedroom, 2 and a half bathroom parkfront house right in my price range. Oh, but was it ever ugly inside. The first time I viewed it, I left after 3 minutes. The second time I took along my brother in law, who has an unbelievable ability to see the potential in a space, who started (verbally) tearing down walls, removing Corinthian pillars (oh yeah), redesigning the layout. And so that's what I did, lots and lots of ripping and tearing that I'll talk about another day with photos and all, but my story travels onward. Well, I'll give you one photo to tide you over [pulled from the original listing. Note the random ceiling heights, wall to wall carpet, tiny kitchen, weird dead space, and, oh yeah! The pillars...]:

Having moved in, bought furniture, found roommates, and settling in to working, I realized I really didn't know anyone in Baltimore - we're talking totally friendless! Turns out, making friends in a new city after college is pretty darn hard. And so I hated it here. I hated that I was always lost. I hated that in the blink of an eye I'd find myself in a scary neighborhood with nary a kind soul to help me. I hated that my car was broken in to three times in as many months. But most of all, I hated not knowing anyone or anything fun to do.

Trying to be a good lil' Patterson Parker, I helped out at the Spring Clean-Up and realized that there was an entire crew of young, fun residents all of whom seemed to know each other. Where had they been hiding?! Where did they live?! It became a sort of mission to find them...

I found my dog on the street while showing houses in Cedarcroft,
and soon after heard about the Citizens On Patrol (COP) walks. So, timidly, Puppy and I headed across to the entrance to the park just across the street at Linwood and Baltimore. It was evident immediately that almost everyone knew each other and each others' dogs... But it wasn't the kind of knowing that leaves newcomers on the outside. Quite the opposite! People reached out to me and lil' P, and by the end of the walk, the urge to put my house on the market and move back to DC was already diminishing. Within a few weeks I found myself really looking forward to the COP walks and the news and camaraderie they offered new and old residents alike. So many of the people I now think of as among my favorite people in the world are those I met through the walks. All that walking and talking made me take owernship of my house, neighborhood and city. Each week as the walk would end and we'd go our separate ways, increasingly I found myself returning not to a house where I lived, but rather to a home that I loved.

love k