Weekend Playdate.

Lately it seems that all our friends either have babies or are single. There is a serious lack of couples with no kids left in our circle of friends. And while babies are adorable - they do change ones ability to do anything impromptu and seem to take a lot of my friend's time and attention. Conversations that used to be about delightfully superficial things such as celebrity gossip and the new perfect gray shade for nails (for us girls) and which superhero is most likely to turn evil (for the boys) are often interrupted by a baby doing something breathtakingly cute or really upsetting. Single friends are fantastic but hard to bring Adam along on our outings given that he has nobody to talk to about superheros and he has very little interest in  nail polish.

In an effort to expand our circle of friends - we reached out to another set of D.I.L.D.O.s (double-income-little-dog-only) and scheduled a playdate for their furry child Hammee and our sweet Biscuit. Here are the visual results of our day at the beach.

Enjoy.

Lucky for us - this was the last even semi-sunny day in quite awhile. Rain is forecasted for the next eight (yes eight as in one more than a full week) days. Sigh.

Cheers and happy Valentine's Day to y'all.
B.L.E.

THREAD - Biscuit's new leash on life.

As you may know - Biscuit had a little "work" done recently. Some would say that he is now less of a man but I like to think that his surgery was more of a transition into the non-puppy stage of his life. Sort of like getting confirmed or having a Bar Mitzvah eh?
To celebrate his move into adulthood - I decided he needed a new leash and collar. I wanted him to have something more grown-up and less puppyish. He needed something to represent his new maturity and perhaps looking less like it belonged on a cat (he already sleeps in a cat bed but shhh don't tell him).

As usual - I gained my leash inspiration in a purlbee posting. In Molly's Sketchbook there was a great tutorial for a cotton leash with alphabet ribbon. It was perfection - from the color (red is Biscuit's signature color) to the preppy monogram. Luckily - it was very easy to do. The hardest part was finding the right hook for the end - I did find an okay one on amazon.com but it's still not perfect.

A few things to note -
1. Since the dog in the tutorial is a giant and Biscuit currently weighs 11 pounds (he'll probably top out at 18-20 lbs) - I reduced the leash length by a few feet.
2. It is really really important to take the time to pin the ribbon onto the cotton webbing every few inches  - otherwise it wont stay centered and the whole look will be off - more sloppy than preppy.

3. The pattern calls for invisible thread but this is harder to find than one would think - neither purlsoho.com or joannes.com had it in stock. I used white thread with a red bobbin and it turned out great. The only places you can see the stitches is at the loops for the handle and hook where the stitching is reinforced for strength.
4. I didn't make a matching collar for a few reasons - the hardware would have been difficult to find and attach, cotton webbing doesn't lend itself to being very adjustable and it would have been a really thick collar for our silly little dog. We did pick him up a nice new red collar from Target for around $7.00. It is thicker than his last one so there will be no more confusion with cat collars!

I hope this inspires y'all to do a little spring upgrade of your own.

B.L.E.

cone of shame.

Poor sweet Biscuit. He was drugged, had his manhood removed and forced to wear the dreaded cone of shame.

The newest - cutest - member of the Elasticsandwich household. Meet Biscuit.

One of the 10,000 reasons why we moved (eventually I will write a post about the new house - be patient) is because we were desperate to expand our family. Unfortunately for my mom and my in-laws by "expand our family" I mean purchase a dog not produce a grandchild.

After months and years of waiting and weeks of researching breeders we took a looooong drive out to Manteca to bring home our new love. We spent 2 hours playing with all the puppies but Biscuit was a shoo-in the minute he got all kissy with Adam. Little puppy knew how to turn on the charm.

In the car ride home Biscuit went right to sleep in my arms with his little snoot cuddled up in my elbow. It was heart melting. Then he let out the kind of silent farts you expect from a 21 year old frat boy - this 5 pound beast had paint peeling GAS. It was with those little toots that we knew he would fit right into our lives perfectly.

In case you couldn't tell Biscuit is a french bulldog. All ears - no tail. We knew we wanted a dog that fit our lives and once we were honest about our true lifestyle it was french bulldog or bust. Let's call a spade a spade - the husband and I are not wild adventurers - we don't need a feisty black lab that wants to go camping and hiking and take endless walks on the beach. We wanted a dog that was cool with a casual trot around the neighborhood, a furry child to take to work and someone to talk with while making dinner.

Frenchies don't really need to be exercised. If it's raining - that's cool - he'll get his business done quick - he doesn't want to be outside either. This is the dog that wants to be with you - whatever you are doing - he's game. Close all the time. Honestly - watch your feet when you back up because most likely he is sitting right there. And Biscuit is way more up for a movie marathon on Saturday than a hike through the Marin Headlands. Thank goodness!

Biscuit is great for cuddling (not on the bed - he is crate trained) and good for blaming things on. Rip a fart? It was the dog. Forget to take out the trash or put away the laundry? Oh oh Biscuit really needed to go out. Don't really feel like staying late? Gotta go home and feed the dog. Snore a little too loud? Yup - it was Biscuit all along.

One more plus - he is also super cool with being dressed up in clothes. In fact - he needs them to stay warm. There is nothing I love more than an animal dressed up in people clothes.

He was 8 weeks old and weighed 5 pounds when we got him and is currently 4 months old and 8 pounds. When he is full grown he will be 20-25 pounds. Oh and yes - Martha Stewart does have two french bulldogs - and they have a blog. That tens of thousands of people read. Biscuit is not at all jealous. He does not need a life of fame and wealth to be happy.


B.L.E.

ps - All these photos were taken with my iphone - not bad eh? They were also taken in or around our new house - just to give you a little glimpse of where we are living now.