Little of This, Little of That

Hello and happy new week. Much thanks for your comments, DMs and emails on my last post. It’s so nice when blogging feels more like a conversation and I get to interact with and know you guys a little more! I’ll try to write more than one “Currently” style of post per year. 😉

It’s a gorgeous day in Charlotte and I am sitting in my office with the widows open wide. I’ve got quite a bit of work to get through but I’m panning to get the dogs out for a walk before I teach yoga this evening.

It seems like my last few posts have been “a little of this, a little of that” and we’re going to keep rolling with that today. The posts I have planned for the rest of the week are more structured and topic-focused.

PUPDATE

Let’s start with “pupdate” that is an extension of an idea I mentioned in my Currently post. Benji and Zoey are overdue a groom. My mobile groomer is expecting and her doctor advised her not to handle dogs over 30 pounds. Obviously I am thrilled for her and completely understand but it took me a minute to find a new groomer and get on the books. We are schedule for next week!

I have been considering teaching myself how to groom the dogs. I was at Home Depot with my mom a few weeks ago and we crossed paths with a woman who had a beautiful doodle with a great coat. I asked her who she used for grooming (was on the hunt at that point) and she told me she does it on her own. She shared that she invested in some very high-quality sheep sheers and watched a bunch of YouTube videos.

While I’m sure there would be a steep learning curve, it would be a huge cost savings given that Benji’s doodle coat needs to be groomed every six weeks to the tune of around $120 and I typically just have Zoey groomed at the same time so it’s a significant bill. In the past when I only had golden retrievers, I bathed them on my own every 4-6 weeks and kept them brushed out. I would do 3-4 professional grooms per year for a haircut and that felt pretty manageable.

I am totally not complaining about any of this because it is part of taking care of my dogs and I adore my dogs but I didn’t know how intense doodle grooming was until I got one! Benji’s coat is also more poodle-like than golden and the curls are pretty tightly wound so he mats easily.

Would love to hear success stories if any of you groom doodles at home and how you taught yourself to do it!

MOTHER’S DAY

I had a very low-key Mother’s Day weekend. I stayed in Friday and Saturday nights. I went to the gym and got a good workout in on Saturday morning and then taught a Mother’s Day Master Class at Charlotte Yoga that afternoon. It was a two-hour class that included mantra chanting, power flow, deep stretch and yoga nidra. A great, sweaty time was had by all!

I got my yoga in on Sunday morning and took an 8:30a yoga class at Khali. I remind you guys of this regularly but remember that I don’t practice with my students when I teach studio classes so when I say I teach yoga, I am not working out beyond some demos and offering adjustments. The class at Khali was with my friend Ian and it was just the most lovely start to my Mother’s Day.

I picked Finn up around 10:30a and somehow this is the only Mother’s Day photo we have together. Oh well! We hung around the house most of the day (Finn’s request) but did get out mid afternoon to meet a friend for a walk.

I treated myself to a fresh pair of platform Van’s for Mother’s Day and was gifted some lovely lilies.

GREEN THINGS

A couple of months ago I shared that my bamboo palm had mealybugs. Well, my poor plant went through the wringer. I ended up having to prune off over half of the plant and just got it into a new, bigger planter with fresh soil and fertilizer. It seems to be doing better and is starting to show promising signs of new growth.

I planted a baby fiddle leaf fig in the old planter. I read that they can grow 12-18 inches per year if fed properly and in the right light so keeping my fingers crossed. It will be fun to watch this one grow!

Never did I ever think I’d get excited about being a plant mama but here I am at age 38 with seven houseplants and I desire for more. I’m not especially great at doing all the things I should to keep up with them but they’re alive and I’m trying to learn more!

Send all of your best fiddle leaf fig tips my way. I have it in a super sunny spot.

INJECTION DAY! 

I called Carolina Facial Plastics last Friday to try and get on the books for Botox and was excited when they told me they’d had a cancellation for Monday. I saw Courtney yesterday and we decided to refresh my filler in addition to doing my Dysport (similar to Botox). I hadn’t had any Dysport since mid-December 2021 and no filler since January 2021. I typically do Dysport every 3-4 months and filler once every 12-16 months. You can read extensive details about the injections that I get in this post.

EVENING WALKS

I love to walk any time of the day but there’s something about evening strolls that are just so grounding and relaxing. Evening walks with Finn and the pups are one of my favorite routines that we all do together. Yesterday we were playing in the yard and Finn said, “mom, is it time to go for a walk?” I always let him choose whether he wants to ride or walk (or on this day it was dance around the neighborhood) and we keep it fun and relaxed. I hope Finn stays keen on these walks because it’s a sweet time for all of us!

That’s all for me!

QUESTIONS 

Tips for dog grooming at home? Is it worth it? Best tools for it? Best resources to learn? 

Do you enjoy having houseplants? Any good fiddle leaf fig tips? 

Favorite time of day to walk?

How was your Mother’s Day?