New dogs + new shoes = total exhaustion

I've been out and about all day long and I'm so pooped I could fall out of my chair. I went from being a total geek who was in bed and out cold by 9:00 every night to suddenly becoming a total night owl and staying up way into the wee hours of the morning. I think it's starting to catch up with me. The past few days have been insanely busy and for the first time in a while I'm ready for bed on the earlier side of the evening.

We had a small party to celebrate Ben's birthday on Saturday night. Lots of fun. We had the family over after dinner for cake and then our friends showed up shortly after that. Great company, great food (Ben asked that no one bring a gift, but instead bring a dish to share for a pot-luck gathering), and great conversation. For the first time we met the two bridesmaids for Dave and Kate's upcoming nuptials. Both girls are fantastic and I look forward to hanging out with them again next month. Seems like we all had a great time, and that's good because Sunday was a total wash. I did absolutely nothing (zero. point. zero. for all you Stern fans out there).

I attended another Blake Brothers event this afternoon with my mom and picked up some really amazing pendants and silver chains. Blake Brothers sales are generally hit or miss. This trip was more on the miss side of things, but I did score some pretty amazing finds and I remembered to pick up a ring sizer thingy (please pardon my ignorance here) for the shop. We had some lunch and then visited the local animal shelter after that because I apparently don't have enough torture in my life as it is. We've been toying around with the idea of another dog for a while now. Mostly because we're huge dog people, but also because I think Olive would benefit from it tremendously. I keep an eye on the local rescues and shelters because a rescue dog is the only dog we'll ever introduce to this house. It's just the right thing to do. I've been looking at Scrappy for about a week now and wanted to see him in person. Such a little sweetie, but I don't think he's the right dog for our family. I have my heart set on a Boston Terrier, especially after Elis raved about how wonderful they are. So, back to the drawing board. My desire for dog #2 will only intensify, I'm assuming, after my mom brings home her fourth dog, Polly, this weekend. Polly is a chihuahua/pug mix and while I haven't seen the dog personally, I'm sure it will be too cute for words.

Anyway, aside from the other random madness, I've been slowly working on a new look for our house and have made it through three rooms already (kitchen, hallway, bathroom). Nothing huge, really, but a new coat of paint, new furniture in the kitchen and some new artwork for the walls really changes things. We can't afford anything more than that yet. Next up is the demolition of a wall in our living room. I'm giving up my studio for a bigger living space. Now that I'm at the shop and have set up a sewing room there, I'm never in my studio anymore. And when we're here, we're always in the living room. It just makes sense. I'll miss my room...a lot, I think. But it'll be worth it. Pictures to come soon.

And one other thing before I end this total rant of a post, I wanted to share with you the Etsy shop I haven't been able to stop thinking about. They made it to the front page tonight and I'm so glad about that. I want these shoes in a huge way, and they're so incredibly affordable I can't believe it!

I'll take these in olive green:

And these in brown:

Do you have their shoes yet? Are they as comfy as they look? Please tell me they are. Call it autumn madness, but whenever the trees start changing (are they changing where you are???) as quickly as they are now, I feel the need to get myself some new kicks. Out with the flip flops and in with the laces! Eeeeeeee!