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!

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!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Prepping for Holly's Second Birthday

I can't believe it's been nearly a year since Holly's First Birthday Bash! Knowing that this year has to be twice as nice (or two times the fun!), I have already been making plans for this year's event. While some details are still in the works, I wanted to share some of the early stage plans sure to make this year a tail wagging good time!

Once again, we decided to go with celebrations.com (formerly Pingg) to craft e-mail save the dates and invites. The website has a handy tracking process where you can see who has opened your e-mail and track RSVPs, and will automatically send a reminder the day before your event--much higher tech than your standard Facebook invite! I also love that the site offers a wide variety of templates that you can insert your own images in. We used ones with a bright, preppy feel for the Save the Date and Invite to create a cohesive theme.

As much as we love you, we can't invite everyone! Dates have been removed.

I used this picture on both the invite & the save the date since it makes me laugh!

An absolute must this year is matching outfits. Since I love the way my professional photos with Holly turned out, I decided to go with Ralph Lauren again, this time with classic polo shirts in black so my mom can get in on the matching fun as well! Holly will be getting a custom Big Pony Monogram Polo shirt from Ralph Lauren Home. Adding her name is complimentary and that way everyone will know who the most pup-ular gal in town is on her special day!

The polo comes in several bright colors, but we're sticking with basic black.

Finally, in the past year I have had several people say they have trouble getting gifts for Holly because a) she already has everything and b) since she is a rescue dog, figuring out sizing for outfits can be tricky. Since I hardly expect everyone I know to carry around a card with Holly's measurements on it for proper outfit buying, I decided to create a gift registry for Holly's party. Of course, the presence of our guests is the real present, but this way should they feel so inclined there is a list of pre selected gifts that Holly doesn't have, and outfits with the size already selected. We used myregistry.com since it can synch the registries from several sites (including Bloomingdale's), and pull items from sites without registries with a button similar to the "Pin It" button from Pinterest. Our registry pulls from some of our favorite places: Henri Bendel, Wag.com, and of course Bloomingdale's. Of course everything we picked is fabulous, but some of our absolute faves are below.

Isaac Mizrahi Leopard Collection Pullover. Buy it here.

Bloomingdale's Little Dog Bowl. Buy it here.

Henri Bendel "Squeak & Chic" dog toy. Buy it here.

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Holly's Adopt-A-Versary!

One year ago today, I brought home my best friend, partner in crime, and confidante from The Humane Society of New York. In order to have a celebration worthy of the occasion, I took the day off from work so Holly and I could spend our anniversary partaking in some of our most favorite Upper East Side activities!

We started the day off with a trip to Central Park, which was cut a little short by the unseasonably cool weather. Holly still managed to make the most of the time we were there, though; she had a blast rolling in the fall foliage and picking up sticks to play with!

Total goofball rolling in the fall leaves!

Next up we donned our matching anniversary outfits for a day out on the town. Holly wore her new Smoochie Pooch sweater with leopard collar, and I had a black sweater and leopard scarf to match. For extra fun, I sported my "I Love My Chihuahua" socks (you can find them here).

She may not be 100% Chihuahua, but she is 100% a fan of the socks!

Matching outfits on Madison Ave.

Our first stop was Ralph Lauren, where we wanted to check out the offerings from the newest "Dog Walk" campaign, which presented the latest accessories and pup line for the brand using rescue pups as models. We were already RL fans, but the super cute video for the campaign sold us even more!

I have my eye on the Striped Reversible Dog Vest for Holly now that it is getting chilly again, and I also fell in love with a Getty Images print featuring Audrey Hepburn holding a little Yorkie on the set of Funny Face, but we had to leave them both in the home department because we had more shopping to do!

Next up was a trip to our favorite store, Henri Bendel. They feature a dog on many of their products that looks exactly like Holly, and their offerings for pups are so glam and frequently come studded in Swarovski crystals. As usual, the store did not disappoint, and we will absolutely be returning come the holidays for the Heart Shaped puppy bowl, Crystal Rivet dog collar, and Scene Stealer 2014 Desk Diary. Somehow I managed to leave with just a notepad featuring the girl and her pup and the phrase "More Is More," but I don't know if my willpower will be so strong on our next visit.

My anniversary gifts to myself were this Henri Bendel "More Is More" notepad and an adorable "Dog Worries" Guatemalan Worry Doll from local boutique Alex & Lorenzo Home.

Since we were in the area and it was our special day, I decided it was the perfect time to take Holly on her first trip to Tiffany & Co. The sales people were so excited that her name was Holly Golightly, but unfortunately Holly was a bit less than thrilled with that leg of the adventure, likely because breakfast was not actually provided.

Holly is annoyed "Breakfast At Tiffany's" isn't something that really happens.

Finally we swung by Bloomingdale's to check on their latest pet offerings. When we reached the home floor, Holly and I were thrilled to see Christmas has come early! Our friend at Bendel's explained that a lot of the stores are "pushing the season" since Hanukkah begins on Thanksgiving day this year, so people are gift buying a bit earlier. Whatever the reasoning, we loved checking out all the decorations and dancing around to "All I Want For Christmas Is You," while taking in the offerings in the pet section.

These Bloomingdale's themed "Little Dog Treats" (a riff on the "Little Brown Bag") are definitely on Holly's
Christmas wishlist!

Checking out the ornament selection at Bloomingdale's. The conclusion? Fabulous, but not enough dogs.

Finally we came home for treats and gifts. In addition to her adorable leopard trim sweater, Holly got a new Multipet Lamb Chop toy, a Kong Beaver (with removable squeaker for safety), and a Haute Diggity Dog "Arfie Woofhall" Lithograph toy. She also got a special puppy cake pop from our local Petco (because anniversary calories don't count!).

Holly's anniversary gifts!

It was so special getting to spend the day celebrating having Holly in my life for the past year. Even after witnessing it every day for the past 365 days, it is amazing to me how she has the ability to put a smile on the face of every person she meets, be they a good friend or just a stranger passing on the street. She has been the best part of my day every day for the past year, and I can't wait for our many more adventures and antics and fun in the years to come!

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Happy Holly-ween (Part One)!

I will admit, I am one of those people that usually has their Halloween costume picked out months in advance. But this year, knowing I wanted to have an extra special matching costume with Holly (since it would be our first Halloween together), I was stumped.

We considered a lot of options that I may use again in later Halloweens, like "Here Comes Holly Boo Boo (and Mama June)" or "Fur-gina George and The Plastics." That was until I stopped into Petco one day to pick up some necessary supplies and saw a 1950s style pink poodle skirt in Holly's size.

There is a significance to the poodle skirt. When I was growing up, I had a horse named Aida who I was extremely close with. Our first Halloween together, the barn where I kept her had a horse and human costume contest. Since I already had a poodle skirt and my mom had a pattern to make one fairly easily, we decided that Aida and I would go as 1950s girls. Since she was a black horse my mom made her a pink skirt, and I paired my black skirt with a pink sweater. Everybody was shocked when Aida, a green broke Arabian mare, trotted merrily through the obstacle course in full 1950s gear (jaunty chiffon hair sash and all)!

Then and now: Aida and I in our poodle girl costumes, and Holly showing off the modern version.

 So I knew the second I saw the poodle skirt that Holly and I had to be Fabulous 50s Grrls. I had a few issues with the standard skirt and scarf combo, though. Holly wears a harness when I walk her or take her anywhere with me, and the harness would be exposed by the costume as it was sold. My solution? Since I would be wearing my skirt with a fur-collared cardi, I sewed the skirt to a Smoochie Pooch Coral Leopard Dog Sweater and added a Smoochie Pooch Pink Faux Fur Dog Scarf to the neck. The combo elevated the costume from Pink Lady to Marilyn Monroe, made even more appropriate by the fact that Holly and the blonde bombshell share a birthday!

Holly showing off her costume. She clearly felt fabulous!

To glam up my 1950s look, I paired my skirt with a Banana Republic Faux Fur trimmed cardigan (similar style here), and my own glasses, which are gold flecked cat eyed frames by Miu Miu. For once my terrible vision actually came in handy; the glasses really pulled the whole theme together!

We took our looks to the Halloween Howl, aka the "Healthy Hound Festival" at Carl Schurz Park, an annual Halloween celebration that features booths with activities and samples from local businesses and brands. Holly and I took advantage of every booth that offered photography, of course!

Care.com was one of many vendors who offered complimentary pet photos at the Festival.

 The Festival culminated in a puppy costume contest, which was divided into several categories (kids & dogs, group costume, small dog, New York themed, and big dog). Holly and I competed in the small dog competition, which was the largest group of the day.

Our fab ensembles, just before competition.

Even though we didn't win, Holly and I got a lot of love and laughs for going all out with our costumes.

Until Next Time, Darlings!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Holly's First Birthday Party

Since Holly's adoption day is coming up (November 4th!), I decided it was a good time to talk about the other major milestone from this year: her first birthday party.

When I adopted Holly, they estimated that her birthday was June 1st. I knew immediately I wanted to make it a huge event--and when I saw the date fell on a Saturday, I started planning.

Something as important as a pup's first birthday called for much more than a standard Facebook event, where people tend to RSVP early on and then forget the event is taking place, or simply not show up. Since I knew I would need to find a venue with enough outdoor space to accommodate the whole party, an exact head count was key. My friend's older sister had recently used Pingg, a website that has free online invitations that come in super cute e-envelopes, to create the evites for her bridal shower. I used the site to create both a Save The Date that went out in early May as well as the official invite.

Once RSVPs started to come in, I had a clearer idea of how many human and puppy guests we should be planning for. I wasn't the only one excited to celebrate Holly's big birthday--the final headcount was close to 20 people and 2 pups! After researching dog friendly venues in Manhattan, I settled on The West 79th Street Boat Basin, which has a large covered patio area that is pooch friendly and shaded from the sticky Summer sun.

With venue and guest list in place, it was time to get to work on the stuff that really mattered: outfits and sweets! I managed to score a Lilly Pulitzer "meadow" skirt on sale at the Madison Avenue store, which I paired with a Threads For Thought scoop neck tee for the party and later with my Ralph Lauren button down for our photo shoot. Holly wore her Sam & Tasha sundress, with the blue floral pattern facing out.

Holly was having so much fun she didn't even want to pose for a picture! The ribbon says "Birthday Girl."

We had special treats for puppies and people. For the four-legged guests, I turned to You Lucky Dog in Hoboken, New Jersey, which sells super cute dog-friendly cakes and "pupcakes" that can be personalized for any occasion. For Holly's party we ordered pupcakes with pink frosting and white "H" decorations. They were a big hit, but Holly didn't like that she had to share.

Wolfing down the pupcake before any of her human friends steal it!

For people treats, I used my favorite trendy Manhattan cupcake bakery, Georgetown Cupcake (of TLC's "DC Cupcake" fame). Georgetown allows you to make orders online for delivery (perfect for me since their downtown location is a bit out of my way), and if you are ordering over a certain amount, you can add a personalized "logo" for free! My very talented friend had made a pillow featuring Holly in the famous "Holly Golightly" pose for me for Christmas, and after sending over the image in an e-mail, Georgetown was able to use that image to create custom fondant for the cupcakes for Holly's party. As always, they tasted as great as they looked. We even shared some with our waiters, who were super accommodating with everything from finding us a table on a very busy afternoon to letting us sit and hang out long after our food was gone.

The custom cupcake motif was so cute! We got 2 dozen of Georgetown's delicious flavors--the biggest hit was peanut butter!

Holly posing with her cupcake twin! She was mad Mommy wouldn't let her eat this one too :)

Holly was spoiled rotten with so many sweet and thoughtful presents! I went a little overboard (it was her first birthday, after all), and got her several toys from the Haute Diggity Dog line of toys. In addition to the "Birthday Girl" cake, she got a "Muttsoni" purse. She also loved her Fab Dog MetroCard toy, and her PetProjekt Squeeki Shellz Conch (though she chewed it to smithereens).

I may have been as excited about the presents as Holly was.

The day ended with a tired puppy and an even more tired Mommy & Grandma, but I would call it a resounding success.

Sleepy birthday pup!

Now what to do for her SECOND birthday...

Until Next Time, Darlings!