Weekend Wander: BarkBox + Madison Square Park Conservancy's First Annual "BarkFest"

Being a long time attendee of local film festivals and outdoor movie screenings, Holly and I wondered when someone would create a festival program designed specifically for pups. Our prayers were answered this weekend with the first ever BarkBox + Madison Square Park Conservancy "BarkFest," an evening of food, fun, and film under the stars in Madison Square Park.

We chose matching orange for the evening. Holly's polo, Ralph Lauren. My shirt, Threads For Thought. Headband, Jennifer Behr.

We arrived at the park at 6pm, right when the evening was starting, and were greeted by a portion of the park decked out specifically for pups, with a long stretch of astroturf dotted with plush dog beds, and booths along the side passing out treats by Bocce Bakery, BarkBox doggie friendly beer, and programs and crayons to keep the humans entertained. The Madison Square Park Conservancy had a booth with a raffle benefiting the park's beloved dog run (prizes included Shake Shack pup treats!). We claimed a couple pup beds and went to check out the people-friendly food offerings from Calexico and Shake Shack.

The scene was set for the paw-fect night out! Below: the raffle prize (left) and treats courtesy of BarkBox (right). 

While grabbing dinner, we were greeted by several pooches, including Thai the Boston, who looked simply smashing in a bow tie. More pup stars graced the stage of the event, including Hamilton Pug, Marnie the Dog, Pomsky Princesses, and Chloe the Mini Frenchie. After each pooch was introduced, attendees were able to pose for photos with them at a nearby step and repeat. Holly and I were having such a great time with our pals we decided to forego the step and repeat and instead headed back to our puppy beds, where we hammed it up for the professional photogs around for the event and befriended the pooches in our area. 

Holly and Lexie chill with some BarkBox pup-friendly brews. Above: the crowd checking out the celebre-dogs, one such dog, Thai the Boston, looked paw-sitively fabulous in his bowtie!

Henry knows his angles. This is a dog on his way to stardom!

After an introduction from BarkBox co founder Henrik Werdelin, it was time for the pups to silence their humans and settle in for the selection of short films! Holly was so tuckered out from all the playing she took a little cat nap, but our favorite film was the Pixar short Dug's Special Mission, featuring Dug the Dog from "Up."


After the movies wrapped up, we packed up our bags and said our goodbyes to our new pals. We love being a part of the New York City pup community, and the unique events like this one that we are able to attend as a result! We met so many amazing new friends and fellow animal lovers, and can't wait to go back again next year! What do you think of a pup friendly film festival? Will you try to make it out to BarkFest next year?
Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Barkfest At Sniffany's Photo Session

I'm so excited to finally share our fabulous photos from our portrait session with Seriously Sabrina Photography. Sabrina was so wonderful to work with, and really took the concept and ran with it! I told her while we were strolling thorough the Park that seeing engagement photos on Facebook inspired me to photograph the most significant relationship in my life, and I truly feel like she was able to capture that through these images. Enjoy!

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Holly's Second Birthday Party

Holly & I were sad to send her Grandma back home to Colorado this morning, but loved having her in town for the past week! We had so much fun hanging out and enjoying the city, and this past weekend was packed with Holly's Second Birthday Party Saturday and our Barkfest at Sniffany's photo shoot Sunday (more on that later, though you can see a preview of the pics over on our Instagram).

Saturday promised bright skies and warm weather after a few days of rain, which was perfect for our outdoor venue of the West 79th Street Boat Basin. Lucky for us, even if it had rained, the covered portion of the restaurant is also pup friendly, but the sun stayed out and there was a breeze off the water that made the weather positively party-ready! We decided to ditch the matching black polo shirt idea and instead went with a polka dot theme for our ensembles--me in an old Betsey Johnson dress, and Holly in a cute little number from Baxter Boo. Even Grandma got in on the matching fun with a polka dot blouse!

Holly, my mom, and I ready to party in polka dots!

We arrived a little bit before 1:00pm and there was plenty of seating, so we were offered a large table in the back where we could set up shop and display our custom cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake (a custom "logo" or photograph can be added free of charge to large orders, just e-mail the store's catering manager for more info), and home baked pupcakes using Puppy Cake batter. Many more pups came with their parents this year, so Holly was glad we came prepared with treats for them too!!

A close up on the gorgeous and scrumptious cupcakes created by Georgetown!

Lexie is Holly's bestie from our block--they wanted to play so badly they wouldn't even hold still for a picture!

Holly with new friends Zoe and Guiness (and their humans)

Our registry at myregistry.com proved to be a huge success--but there were some great gifts from off the registry as well! Michelle's beau picked out a couple great toys including Holly's new favorite rope chew (she has since brought it with her everywhere she walks in the apartment), and Mariel brought some hilarious (and great smelling) Juicy Crittoure by Juicy Couture Pawfum Puppy Perfume that I know will come in handy between baths when Holly still needs to smell her best at the park!

Holly checking out the Juicy Crittoure Pawfum. Sniff approved!

Posing with the Bloomingdale's "Little Dog Bowl" from the registry! Thanks Michelle!!

It was great seeing all of Holly's human and pup friends, and we can't wait until next year's celebration!

The whole crew--thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate!

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Bark-fest at Sniffany's!

Ever since I had my professional photos taken with Holly last year, I have been dying to do another shoot, this one inspired by Holly's namesake, Holly Golightly, and the iconic New York City scenes of Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was lucky enough to snag the only NYC portrait session with Seriously Sabrina Photography, a super-talented Kentucky photog who luckily loved the idea as much as I do! We are currently planning out the session, which will take place just after Holly's second birthday party, but I thought I would share some of my ideas in advance!

In case you aren't familiar with it, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a 1961 film based on the Truman Capote novella of the same name. In one of her most iconic roles, Audrey Hepburn plays Holly Golightly, a girl who came from a small farm town to the big city and reinvented herself as an Upper East Side socialite (sound like a little dog you know?). I plan on styling our shoot based off of the opening scene, which was shot in front of the Tiffany's Flagship on 5th Ave at 5am, and to this day is a dorm-room poster fixture for just about every female college student:

To get the look, I plan on wearing a similarly shaped black sleeveless dress I have from Banana Republic, my string of large freshwater pears (my mother refers to them as "jawbreakers"), and vintage Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses in white and gold. Etsy has some great vintage black glove options that I am excited to try out (I have my eye on a pair from the 1930s covered in rhinestones!). I will still have a fresh blowout from Holly's birthday party, so I may stray from the image a bit and go with my hair either down or half up rather than trying to execute a complicated updo!

Of course, the most important styling will be for Holly Golightly (pup version) herself! I plan on having her wear her fancy birthday dress (we won't reveal that until the post on her party), dressed up with some Audrey-inspired accessories. I found a pearl collar and leash I love on Etsy, which I think will add the perfect touch of glam and make her look the part of a fashion icon and movie star!

Pearl collar via Etsy. Buy it here.

Faux Pearl Leash for Toy Breeds. Buy it here.

And of course, the photoshoot would not be complete without a certain Little Blue Box...a Little Blue Squeaky Box, that is!

Sniffany & Co. Toy; Haute Diggity Dog via Amazon.com.

Would you do a movie-inspired photoshoot with your pup? Which movie would you choose and how would you style it?

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Bark Box + Tuna Melts My Heart "Tuna Tour" Event!

As over 781,000 Instagram followers can attest, Tuna (@tunameltsmyheart), the tiny Chiweenie once found abandoned at the side of the road, is quite the special pup. So when Holly and I learned that BarkBox was hosting a meet & greet with Tuna at their New York offices, we knew we had to go say hello to her biggest celeb crush!

The event was running from 12-2pm, and we arrived around 1:15 to discover a line that wrapped around the block full of pup and people fans eager to meet Tuna! Luckily, the forecasted rain decided to stay away, and meeting fellow fans in line made the time pass quickly. Plus, our hosts at BarkBox were very accommodating--they came by with bowls of water for the pups (and bottles of water for the people), plus were on hand with treats and snuggles (exclusively for the pups), which made Holly one happy camper! Since she and I have braved the Shakespeare in the Park line together before, this wait felt like nothing, and before we knew it we were entering the building and taking the elevator up to BarkBox headquarters.

Patiently waiting to meet Tuna

A glimpse of the line from inside BarkBox HQ

By the time we got upstairs Tuna was no longer taking one on one photos (we weren't looking for that anyway, since Holly can be a very...enthusiastic playmate when she meets a new friend!), but there was still a line wrapping around the offices waiting to snap a photo. This gave us time to take in the very cool pup-themed space, complete with inflatable fire hydrants, doggie beds filled with toys, and a large photo of Andy Warhol with his pooch covering one wall. Holly was feeling the excitement of the crowd and was jumping all over our line neighbors and BarkBox employees who came to chat while we waited. Good thing everyone there was a dog lover!

The office space was so cool we had to get a picture. In the far corner are giant upholstered cubbies people and pups can lounge in!

Just before we met Tuna we were introduced to Marnie, a 12 year old Shih Tzu with an impressive Instagram following of her own. Marnie and her mom graciously agreed to a photo op with Holly, but the line waiting + excitement + all the pups in the room made Holly's posing skills fly out the window!

@MarnieTheDog has her posing skills DOWN. Holly refused to wear a hat, but she looks great anyway :)

Finally we arrived at Tuna's area. His mom and her friend were so sweet, first carrying Tuna into the crowd so everyone could get a few photos, then returning him to a little throne people could pose next to for a personal pic. While Tuna was in the crowd, he and Holly had a very long meet & greet/sniffing fest, and I definitely sensed a love connection! Sadly I was too busy playing wing mommy to capture the moment on film, but I promise it was very cute!

We did manage to (try) to pose for a photo with Tuna in his throne, but by that moment Holly had spotted a dachshund she was dying to play with. It seems she and I share the same curse of only taking terrible photos with celebrities, but we will always have the memories of those loving sniffs!

Neither of us can ever get a decent photo with a celeb. Oh well!

Before we left, we couldn't resist buying an official Tuna Melts My Heart mug and sneaking a peek at all the latest Bark Boxes out on display (Holly even worked the sad eyes until a sweet employee offered her a treat! Stinker!!). During the "Tuna Tour," new BarkBox subscriptions are 10% off, and $15 of each will be donated to the "Tuna Fund," which at the end of the tour will be split amongst 8 great rescue charities to help support their cause! We may be tempted to sign up with that in mind, and if you are as well you can check out barkbox.com/tuna for more info.

Obsessed with my official Tuna mug!

If you want to catch Tuna on the "Tuna Tour," be sure to follow @BarkBox and @TunaMeltsMyHeart on Instagram! And while you're over there, be sure you follow us @LittleHollysBigWorld for more wacky NYC adventures :)

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Store Spotlight: Pupculture SoHo

In an attempt to find Laduree in SoHo this afternoon, my friend Michelle and I got a bit lost and ended up on the corner of Thompson & Broome Streets. We started to see a parade of well-heeled pups headed our way, and noticed that we were across the street from Pupculture, a SoHo Doggie Daycare, Groomer, Dog Walking Service, and Boutique.

Pupculture's SoHo store front

Since I can never pass up an opportunity to shop for Little Holly, we decided to stop in and see what Pupculture was all about. We were greeted by a friendly staff and a well curated boutique filled with some of Holly's favorite brands such as Fab Dog and Kong. I was overwhelmed by the fashions and cute leashes--I especially loved one leash, collar, and harness set with the iconic "I Heart NY" print. They also had a large selection of puppy carriers that seemed like they would fit Holly, a rare find since carrier bags tend to be targeted to smaller pups!

A shot of the great leash selection and a small peek at some of the travel bags!

The store carried many of Holly's fave toy & treat brands, pictured here.

Despite the many tempting offerings within the store (and the even more tempting 50% off sale bin!) I managed to leave with only a new collar for Holly. The green floral collar can replace her fairly worn out purple one now that Spring has sprung, and I especially like that the brand, George, manufactures their products in the USA!

The collar I purchased for Holly. Get it here.

Of course, the most fun part of our adventure was getting to see all the happy pups at play while we were shopping! We had a few friends who came and visited us in the doggy daycare window, which looks into the boutique so the pups can get in on all the action (and help with your purchase selections).

Some very helpful pups made shopping even more fun!

Pupculture is located at 529 Broome Street and is open 8am-8pm weekdays and 8am-7pm weekends.