Thursday Bits and Bobs

Some things about my day so far. And don't get too excited, they aren't that great.

1. After wearing my hair straight and/or back for the last 5+ days, I am wearing it curly today and I think the curls decided to revolt. They are all over the place, like they're trying to tell me "you can't keep us down. See what happens when we're let free? Never forget, we own you."

2. I am LOVING my new nail polish. I bought it yesterday and used it today. Yes, it is similar to another color I own, but really they are intrinsically different corals. This one is Rimmel's "Instyle Coral." I have no idea if it is related to the magazine InStyle or just uses the same name (lazy color namers perhaps?). The other one is called "Coralicious," and is much, much darker. You know, like the difference between blush and bashful. Here's a peek at Instyle Coral:

eh, not the best picture, sorry.

3. I learned more about my dog today, in particular the hierarchy of "Things Riley Loves." I gave her a chicken strip (a treat) this morning and after she plopped on the carpet to eat it her dog walker came to pick her up. Riley had the treat in her mouth, heard her walker, dropped the treat and ran to the door. Mind you, chicken strips are one of her FAVES. She never denies a chicken strip. But, Marta trumps chicken strips! So here's how Riley's mind works in terms of classifying her favorite things:

#1 Marta/walks. The primo spot, numero uno, nothing comes close to this

followed by #2 Treats

and a distant #3 Us

#4, which may be interchangeable with #3, is giving us attitude. As I type she is sitting behind me, staring at me, whining, obviously unhappy with some aspect of her life (she either needs more or better food, has to go outside, or is generally irritated.)

And that's it. It's time for a nap after all the thinking I did today.

Dave and I Always Try to Follow the Trends

Not every one would go to the lengths we go to be with the in crowd. Going to the hippest club? OK. Buying the latest fashions? Easy. Traveling to the hot spots? Been there, done that. Being robbed? Oh yeah, try and beat us now.

Recession crimewave: Rise in muggings and burglaries linked to economic downturn

She's Back...

And not much has changed. At least concerning Riley. Let's see - she's still lazy.

She still thinks she owns our place.

She still has a huge attitude.

See the toy right in back of her? See her toy basket, way off in the distance, on the left? She threw the toy from the basket to its resting place, all in the name of protest. I don't even remember what she was protesting. Probably something to do with how terrible her dinner was.

What else? They removed that huge fence surrounding the poor sign post (see last entry...), we had a visitor (my Dad!), we had another visitor (my brother-in-law!), we went to Bordeaux and...oh yeah! WE WERE ROBBED. So that happened.

I admit the robbery not only cost me my jewelry but also my creativity. I was plum out of ideas, inspiration and desire to write about anything. I spent a lot of time and lot of what creativity I had left researching various ways to fortify our home. The more obscure and potentially lethal the better. An anvil that drops down when the front door is opened? Cartoon-y yes, but effective. A rake embedded in the floor that hits the person in the head when stepped upon? Three Stooges-like but it would do some harm. I'll take it. A guard dog that attacks the nether regions? I have one. Oh wait, no I don't. If there's one thing I can be sure of I know that if Riley encountered a robber she would either lick them for five minutes straight or roll over and expect a tummy rub. So I cannot rely on her. Oh well. Nor can I rely on the 7,409,261 CCTV cameras stationed all over this city. They manage to catch a drunk guy stumbling around London late at night but they can't seem to spot the person who walked out of our house carrying my rather large jewelry box, a purse, two watches, my rings, and a wallet. Impressive.

OK, enough about that. So what else has Riley been up to? She got a bath, she gets tired if it's hot out (she really is a prissy dog), she has been called a puppy about five times in the last 10 days (how she manages to keep up her youthful appearance I do not know, she won't divulge her secret), I think she broke up with her boyfriend as I don't hear about Alfie anymore (from her dog walker, I know Riley would not tell me about him). I could go on, but that seems like enough exciting news for now. I don't want to overstimulate you, since it has been a while since I have written.

If I get my act together I'll start regular updates again. Tomorrow we're off to Wimbledon so hopefully I can take some pictures and share some stories about Pimm's and strawberries. Oh, and tennis too?

See you soon!