Derby weekend

Will you be watching the Kentucky Derby this weekend? I would love to go sometime. The big hats, the seersucker, the mint juleps... sounds like so much fun! I've been to Keeneland before, which was great fun. But the Derby, now that's the real deal. The horses' names are probably my favorite part. Went The Day Well is my favorite this year. Although I have a rule of never wagering my own money, I do love the excitement around the races.

In fact, when I went to Keeneland with my friend Gina and her brother Mike, we met a horse trainer form California. Mike kept trying to make me ask him which horse to bet on. I was too embarrassed to ask, but when I saw him later that day he said in passing, "Boy, XYZ horse sure looks good today." I told Mike and he immediately put money down on that horse and, sure enough, he won. Pretty nuts.

Anyway, this weekend we will be doing some more celebrating of my wonderful mother-in-law* and her entry into a new decade, strutting our pups around Hessel Park for the CCHS Mutt Strutt, getting ready for a baby shower that I'm co-hosting (stay tuned for all of the fun things that I'm putting together for this "Little Man" event - from sweet treats to fun design items to tasty snacks), watching the Derby with our friends, and trying to squeeze in some more living room renovating.

* My fabulous mother-in-law turned 60 on Wednesday. She is quite a character, that one. She's charming, smart, caring, energetic, zany, young at heart, giving, and most of all, loved.

I hope you have a lovely weekend!
xo

Taz

In our home, pets are family.  We play together.  We go places together.  We eat together.  We sleep together.  We have fun together.  We share lots of love.  It was no different with our friend Taz who joined our family just over a month ago.  Sweet as could be, this little guy brought so much love and happiness into our family.  Each day when I would come home Taz was there to greet me with his "happy dance" and excitement.  Each night we'd snuggle on the couch to our favorite TV shows.  Each morning he'd gratefully lick a little peanut butter from my fingers secretly wishing I'd share all of my peanut butter toast with him.  He really was a wonderful little guy with a seriously cute under bite.
Today we had to say goodbye to Taz.  It breaks my heart to even write this.  After a short, painful battle with lymphoma, Taz (in true Taz form) left us with lots of love and many of his famous puppy kisses.
I will miss him very much.

Happy New Year!

After a long holiday hibernation... I'm back.  I took a little time off of work, blogging, checking email (mostly) and pretty much everything else to disconnect and spend some quality time with my family and friends.  Boy was it worth it.

Bob and I adopted a new dog. Taz is the most recent addition to the Kacich family.

We went for lots of walks.

We had a wonderful Christmas with our families.

My mother-in-law and I took my nieces Lily and Julia ice skating. That was a really fun day!

My dear friend, Heather, sent us a bottle of homemade apple brandy.  Looking forward to trying this!

I wore these fun nails on New Year's.  We had a great night filled with fancy drinks, fancy dinner, fun games and fabulous friends!

It was a great break.  Now, I'm looking forward to focusing some energy on getting our house decorated and in order.  I'm REALLY looking forward to growing my photography business.  I've got a few engagement sessions and family sessions lined up for the beginning of this year already.  I'm looking forward to seeing the Kacich family grow again in about a year - Matt, my-brother-in-law, will be getting hitched to Jackie.  Oh yeah, and Bob and I will be taking a trip to Ireland this spring.  It's going to be a great year!

Mister Misty

Yesterday we had to put Misty, my last childhood pet, to sleep. Misty was a really great cat. When I was in 4th grade, some guys who worked at my mom's office found a litter of three kitties behind the building. The momma cat had abandoned them when they barely had their eyes open and fur on their bodies. My mom, being the angel that she was, brought them home. We bottle fed them (sometimes using a syringe) to health and two of the three of them survived to live long and happy lives with our family. Misty was one of them.
I will always remember the great massages that Misty gave with her paws and just how lovey she was. Now she gets to see all of our wonderful pets again - Shadow, Jenny, Sophia, Domino, Captain and Samantha.
When I was young my mom always told me that Captain and Samantha, our big black German Sheppards, were guarding the gates to heaven. I still find that a very comforting thought.