intellectual.

(sorry I cannot get this image to flip!)

After we posted about Havi's destructive behavior in her crate when he left her there for 8 hours, many people suggested we get more puzzle games. We bought the IQ Ball on Amazon.

Although it is made of hard plastic, and therefore needs supervision when played with. Havi like it right away!

Unfortunately, while we switch Havi over to the Evo new diet, she can't have any snacks. We use her kibble as a snack, but I wonder how long such a low-value treat reward will last. She saw me going for the kibble and putting it in the ball.

First she sniffed and licked...

Then she saw the food

She started kicking it around.

Then food came out!

Pros: Kept her busy for a full half hour. Has different "genius" settings. I can basically make the hole in the ball smaller or larger to change the difficulty level.

Cons: On our hardwood floor, this was a VERY loud sound. Also, I was supposed to be looking for a crate toy, so I guess we have another toy coming.

so behind...

Well, its bound to happen once in a while...I miss a weekday blog post. I'm not perfect! But as a result I forgot our Monday Rescue Pup & Wordless Wednesday.

Monday Rescue Pup: We know we're really partial to Second Chance Rescue in Queens, NY...but we can't help it! They gave us Havi! So PLEASE check out Brutus on this Facebook page. A three year old rescued from a high-kill shelter that loves dogs and kids...we love him already!

Wordless Wednesday:

(okay, we'll admit it - we weren't so wordless today)

quick round up

Today is going to be one of those absolutely crazy days. Even Havi is exahusted thinking about it...

So I thought I would give you a quick round-up of some "Things I Know:"

-A sublet from April 15 - September 1 in Soho (comment below for pictures)

-A girl looking for a roommate in the LES in her 2BR apartment

-An ASU graduate looking for a paid/non-paid internship in photography/fashion/public relations (comment below for portfolio)

-An Executive Director position at a non-profit organization (comment below for full job description)

-I also write for two other blogs, that I have been busy adding to this weekend, check em out:

*AdNauseum

*CaseClothesed

Have a great Monday!

Mushey D'Brickashaw

On Friday night Law Student gathered her things and left this cute face...

...for this one!

I went to visit my parents on Long Island to visit my hair colorist and stylist (you never leave a hair colorist, no matter how far you must travel). I get my hair done every three months (it isn't easy being this pretty) and Dental Student and I run a trip to CostCo at the same time. Due to our time constraints, we are really big fans of Fresh Direct. Not only do they deliver on time for a $2.50 delivery charge per week, we find their food is fresher because there is no middle man and therefore lasts longer. The net effect is an overall savings. We run trips to CostCo for large quantities of meat, red sauce, and chips. Not only is it cheaper to buy in bulk from CostCo, the large meat packages stay well in our freezer.

While there, I visited my Mom, Dad and brothers' dog, Mushey D'Brickashaw. He is a purebred Havanese who was just neutered two days ago. He showed me all the new tricks he learned with his awesome trainer (my mom).

This is "place." He goes here when he is in the way, needs to calm down, or there is a new friend at the door. This is VERY impressive!

Here is "come" (I had treats)!

And here is "down" we're so proud!

We follow the blog My Favorite Pup Jasmine. Do you know any other Havanese blogs?

finishing up with friday

Well, this wraps up our Favorite Things Week. Unfortunately, we're not like Oprah and cannot give any of it away! We hope we gave you a sneak peak into how to decorate on a budget and how to make your small space multi-functional. Most importantly, today we wanted to show you how to make the most out of your space with Havi's favorite things!

You have already seen what has become Havi's bathmat (made of microdry and tempurpedic), where she sits waiting for us to finish up and the detachable shower head to help us wash her.

You have also seen where we keep all her goodies in the entryway.

But, we sometimes find Havi just laying on this tiny rug in a really tight ball. You can barely see her!

A big dog in a small apartment eats a lot of food and it needs to go somewhere! This container is on wheels and fits nicely in our closet as well as keeps the food fresh!

This is Havi's bed. Im hoping we can wean her off the bed soon because (1) it does not match and (2) she has plenty of other comfy places to sit. However, Havi loves the location of her bed because she can sit here and watch the boats go by...

Right next to the bed is Havi's toy box. We found this pretty box at The Container Store (another weakness of ours). It's grey color matches perfectly and its just deep enough to give her a challenge to get things out of the box! We tend to not give Havi a lot of stuffed animals because they don't last more than 10 minutes. But, her next toy with def be the Tuffie brand toys!

It only looks empty because she was emptying it out as I was trying to take pictures!

Havi is not allowed on our brand new favorite couch, but we're suckers and she is allowed on the recliner. (Makes ya wonder about our hierarchy, huh?)

I almost forgot our Fabulous Follow Friday. Please check out Rescued Insanity - they're great!

thoughtful thursday...

Its rainy here in NYC. Hey, where are our NYC pet bloggers anyway!? We feel like we're always reading about the windy city. Havi hates the rain (such a princess) but LOVES staring out at the window on days like this.

Today, we wanted to show the ways we made our place "our place." We were working on a really low budget over here (thanks so much grad school loans) and have a small space to work with (thanks NYC housing market). So far, we have tried to show you all the ways we made things functional and stylish at the same time. Today we thought we'd show you how we made all things "us."

We're Dave Matthews Band Fans. Okay, its bordering on an obsession. Instead of framing meaningless prints we find online or the same old pictures that everyone else has in their apartments, we bought the DMB posters from the shows we have attended together. These are limited prints that change with each show and cost around $50. Although expensive, they are a special memory and are limited editions (they can be resold for twice that amount). And, when framed with our tickets they not only look stylish (thanks DMB for knowing we were decorating contemporary) but the Room Essentials frames are from Target and the lowest price we found. We plan on filling up the wall across from this one in our bedroom when we go to his Three-Day festival in Atlantic City this summer. Special thanks to Law Student's parents who expertly designed and set these up!

Since we met, everywhere we go we started collecting magnets (Freedom of the Seas, Museum of Natural History, Jersey Shore, etc). Easy enough in a small kitchen to make the fridge the center of attention, and decorate with our magnets. Now everyday we get to see a collection of our memories together while giving a little pop of color to the room!

Lastly, we're working on this wall. We hope to have a collage of different photos above the couch (we're also painting this wall grey Memorial Day Weekend when were FREE). These are the ones we've collected so far...

In other news...Havi is Dog of the Day on CuteDogDaily! Go vote for her...it sucks that her black fur does not photograph well. Also, Dental Student got an A on his last exam and passed his competency!

Havi Tummy Issues Update: With the help of our many blog followers and our NYC Pitbull MeetUp group we decided not to go to a new vet who will probably run all the same tests. We are going to try a new food without wheat or chicken (many dogs are allergic to these two items). Artemis from Service Dogs and Me recommended Evo. We will also give Havi a fiber supplement. We'll keep you updated and please keep the ideas rolling!

wash well wednesday

Today Havi was sure to help me show you her Favorite Room the bathroom.

I like bathrooms as clean and neat as possible, but still another fun and decorative room! We made the room black and white like the rest of the house...

Here is Havi sitting at the entrance to welcome you to our bathroom...

We chose this black, white, and grey shower curtain from Bed Bath & Beyond (where else?!) when we realized that our good friends Heather & Neil had the same one in blue tones! Great minds think alike! We also got these simple hooks to hang the curtain with.

This decal is from Project3Design's Etsy shop! It was only $9.00 and it decorated the wall without having to pay for a picture and frame. The best part - we poke fun at Dental Student!

At Heather and Dental Student Mom's urging we bought this amazing bath mat! It is made of microdry fiber which dries fast and is made of a material that feels like tempurpedic, turning our bathroom a little spa-like. Havi obviously loves it best!

One last thing - our shower head is detachable for when we wash Havi. In the city, it is hard to wash a dog in many other places. Although, PetCo and various dog washing places are available, we realized the cheapest place is our own apartment. This shower head has eight setting for the humans and is hand held for the pups!

lights, camera, ok...just lights.

Today's Favorite Thing is our lighting situation. If anyone has ever lived in an apartment in NYC, then you know - there are no light fixtures. This leads to a delicate balance of just the right amount of light to work by, without being surrounded by lamps. Our kitchen, entryway, hall, and bathroom all happen to have lights. That means we just needed to light the bedroom and living room. Off to Ikea we went...

This is the bedroom nightstand lamp. The little flicks on the lampshade are grey and the shade is beige (these are our two warming colors for the black and white theme). The bulb takes 75 watts so it gives a lot of light to a 10X10 room!

The same lamp that stands on our nighstand also comes in a floor lamp and holds 100 watt bulbs. The bits of grey compliment our new grey couch nicely and give a lot of reading light.

Here it is a little closer.

These lights were the coolest. It was hard to explain them. So I turned one on and one off. Because our dining room table is doubling as a desk, we needed more light than the lamps by the couch would provide. These lights are not only functional but decorate the whole wall!

Do you get whats going on here? They come in different styles as well!

favorite things week!!

Happy all-moved-in Monday! We missed our post yesterday because we were exhausted after a full day of moving. Both our families came (that's ten people) to move us into our new one bedroom apartment (not big enough for ten people). Our first real home together! It was a fun and tiring day!

This week we decided to do a Favorite Things Week! Each day we will feature a new favorite thing in our apartment.

Today's Favorite Thing is our entryway. We decorated it to be warm and welcoming and totally dog-centric.

We got this at HomeGoods, I love canvas prints!

Lindsay, who awesomely babysat Havi while we moved, has this bench in her apartment. It is from Hayneedle, where we were able to get the bench in three days with free shipping. Its great for sitting on and looks very welcoming.

These ottomans came inside the bench and now serve as extra seating in the apartment/a foot rest until our coffee table comes. Now, we keep all of Havi's medicines, foods, paw wipes and the like in the bench.

The tops flip over for a flat surface perfect for entertaining!

This hat rack matches perfectly in our apartment. It's from Ikea (that store is my danger zone), and holds Havi's backpack, leash, and our walking coats perfectly. Shout out to Dental Student's SIL (and my saviour) for putting it together!

Havi won't eat unless we're in the room with her (this isn't due to any anxiety issues, she is just the most curious dog ever and always wants to know what we're up to). Now that her bowls are within eyesight of the kitchen and living room, I can get something done while she eats! The bowls are from PETCO and match our black and white color scheme. The mat is courtesy of Dental Student's mom.

The bookshelf is from Target for only $30! We loved the price and functionality. We thought that bookshelves are so inviting when you walk into a home. Because we opted out of a desk in this apartment for space purpsoes, the bookshelf will hold all our school books, DVDs and videogames nicely. As long as we keep it clutter free, and keep only these items on it, it remains functional and attractive.

These prints are from Law Student's parents. They're by the artist Ebgi, my favorite by far!

Lastly, an update to Havi's Tummy: It has been 2.5 weeks on hypoallergenic food twice a day with no treats. Our skinny hungry girl now has diahrrea again. The doctor said the elimination diet is over and she needs to go back on the Hill's Science w/d and metronidazole/flagyll to steady her stomach again. He said the next step is an intestinal biopsy or another vet. Any advice out there?!?!

Today's Monday Rescue Pup check out Capone on SecondChance Rescue's Facbeook page! He is UTD and gets along with everyone and every pet! Give him a chance at a forever home!

P.S.

We are now giving away the furniture we have left:

1 Wicker Bookshelf

2 Ikea Desks

2 Nightstands

1 Crate & Barrel Black Shag Carpet