SquishFace: Our little french bulldog

Say "Hello" to our little addition! SquishFace is a 9-week old french bulldog girl.

For the past year Taylor and I have talked about, researched and looked for a dog. We've done a ton of research on breeds and, despite my tendency to stay away from trending topics, we found that the best breed for us right now is a frenchie. French bulldogs are so hot right now.

A couple months ago our good friend, Kasey, told us about a puppy store in the local mall so we started stopping by just to ooh and aaah at the different breeds of dogs. The owner is a tall, friendly dog-fanatic who put us on the French Bulldog call list, meaning he'd call us whenever he got a frenchie puppy in. He called once, but the little thing looked too much like a pug to be cute. I know, that doesn't really make sense but I firmly believe little squishy bulldog/boxer faces are adorable and pug faces are just weird.

We fell off the call list.

On Saturday we were out doing errands. (Side note: When a foot injury puts your husband housebound for a week, going out to the grocery store together feels like an adventure.) We were on our way home when I thought about the puppy store. We didn't have anything else planned so we headed down and immediately got absorbed by the Chow puppy that looked like a teddy bear. I was trying to wake up a Boston Terrier when Taylor called my name:

"It's a little Frenchie."

When the shopgirl pulled her out of the crate and put her in the play area for us, Squish was still trying to wake up but immediately pushed her chest out and struck a regal pose before tossing the rope toy around. Watching her play was entertaining but as soon as we pulled her up on our laps she cuddled down and started snoring.

We decided to call her SquishFace, a variation on ScarFace, which means we can call her by any derivative of "Squish." She really is a perfect little puppy. She's small, affectionate, lively and she's exactly the type of french bulldog we pictured owning. It's definitely a sacrifice to take care of her and train her, but she already has a little place in our lives and hearts.

Let me know if you have any advice on puppies!

Miami and Southbeach Adventures

Last week Taylor and I met up with my family in southern Florida for a vacation. We met in South beach, which was insane because it was Memorial day weekend and the streets were packed with mostly nude party-ers. We saw all kinds of undress, the most memorable of which was when we stopped to watch a tranny do a Beyonce performance at one of the outdoor bars and we saw a guy and girl bond over the fact they were both only wearing thongs. Yup.

The best part (As much as I enjoyed the insanity of late-night partying, it wasn't my favorite part.) was the hotels. The entire main drag of south beach is lined with hotels built between the 1930s and 1950s and they are gorgeous.

 

 

Art deco is one of my favorite styles and the insides of the hotels are modern. One of them especially had a fascinating artistic styling, so much so I snuck some pictures.

The first morning we were in Miami we went walking around and I found a pink Monster Rehab, and though I don't think it tasted very different from the regular Rehab, I loved the pink can. (Weird how girly I've become.)

There's been a conscientious effort to beautify the south beach area so there is an outdoor art installment called something like the Iron Trees where the metal frames have created vine-trees. I did some looking around online and I haven't been able to find anything about them. They're actually really impressive and I recommend visitors go visit them.

There was actually an impressive amount of street art in Miami. Austin, Philip and Taylor spent all week finding and collecting pieces from different locations and artists.

Finding "It" in Jacksonville

I'm trying really hard to get to know Jacksonville. It's a conscious effort because it doesn't really offer a whole bunch of stuff right off the bat. I'm convinced that there are cool things in the city that are waiting to be found, so I have to go find it. Whatever it is.

So, I have officially started a food blog, just in an effort to keep my personal blog a little cleaner. The first post is about The Burrito Gallery, in downtown Jacksonville.

I think my favorite part was the building right next door; an art deco styled building that is in the middle of renovations. The arched entry way was lined with glass tiles, some of which were missing. The entry way had some random blue mosaics left over from whatever original set-up was there. I really wish I knew what was going on with that building, it really felt like it has something to tell.

 

Isn't that a fascinating mix of quaint, European and crumbling Americana?