It's A Dog's Life

White Wolf in his Element (Photo by Maddie Dierkes)

I have always loved the idea of a dog beach, because hey why not! As long as people treat it with respect, then why not share one of your favorite places, the beach and the ocean, with your favorite four legged friend.  I bet it is, or will be, one of their favorite places as well.

We got to take our dog, Ozzie, to the Huntington Dog Beach this past weekend, with my parents dog, Sophie.  Boy, did they have a blast!  Jimi and I had no idea how much Ozzie loved the beach, as we just got him, and he belongs to Jimi's sister.  As soon as we got to Pacific Coast Highway, and he could smell the ocean he was ecstatic!  

The beach was much more successful than the dog park, with Ozzie, because there was a lot more for him to do, since even though he gets along with other dogs, he doesn't really like to play with them all the time.  His favorite thing: playing fetch!  He is a Border Collie, so he takes this very seriously.

Sophie and Ozzie both did hot laps upon arrival and then settled into their favorite past times: Ozzie playing fetch, and Sophie playing with the seaweed. Sandy, wet and exhausted by the end.  This made them clean, yet tired dogs for Sunday brunch though!

Sophie and her Seaweed (Photo by Maddie Dierkes)

Sophie and Ozzie have become fast friends...here are some of their adventures together.

Happy Dogs (Photo by Maddie Dierkes)

Adventures of Ozzie and Sophie (Photo by Maddie Dierkes)

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My Jewelry Designs

Original Handmade Jewelry by Maddie Dierkes

I am featuring some of my signature jewelry designs on here today, as I am in the beginning stages of setting up my design business that includes my jewelry design and my graphic design.  I am hoping by the end of the year I will have some jewelry workshop set up, and I will be able to sell my designs on Etsy! This is hard to focus on at times, since I already work full time as an in-house graphic designer for Aspen Medical Products and part time as a design consultant for another local business. All my graphic design, jewelry design and consulting will be under one business created by myself.  I will keep you posted here and eventually my blog will move to my website where you will be able to learn more!

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Cat Life

We are Siamese, If you Please by Maddie Dierkes

What is it to live the life of a cat? 

There has been a diary entry circling around Facebook, I am sure some of you have seen it.  If not, check out the link below.  

The basic cat vs. dog story, and the cat diary starts out with "Day 983 of my captivity..." Enough said.

Excerpts From a Cat and Dog's Diary

Pure classic, goodness right there. 

But I always wonder if they are just being drama queens, because I honestly don't think they have 

it so bad! ;)

Cat Life by Maddie Dierkes

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Conversation Pieces!

Photo Credit: Conversation Pieces

One of my new favorite shops to browse and occasionally buy from, when I can, is Conversation Pieces! Conversation Pieces consists of Audrey and her two pups, Angel and Sugar. This shop is refreshing, simple, clean and all about classic, fun style! Not only is her shop refreshing, but so is her customer service, it is fast and comes with a newsletter that greets you with "Hello Gorgeous!" and fun, girly packaging for your purchases, along with a free shipping promo code!

I first found out about Audrey's LA boutique through some of her amazing garments circling on Pinterest! You can find her "Perfect Shirt" on my My Style board, which is when I fell in love and had to find out more! I now own two of these in different colors, because it is quite the perfect shirt!

Here are some of her amazing pieces to drool over for a minute, and then I think you should go check out her shop @ shopconversationpieces.com!

The Perfect Shirt (A clear favorite!)
Photo Credit: Conversation Pieces

Cents and Sensibility Tote (Love the name for this bag!)
Photo Credit: Conversation Pieces

Iconic Column Dress (Hello Gorgeous is right!)
Photo Credit: Conversation Pieces

Enjoy!

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Lake Arrowhead for the Weekend!

Saturday afternoon, Jimi and I embarked on yet another road trip (one of our favorite things). We set out for Lake Arrowhead to meet up with our friends and roommates for a birthday weekend in the mountains!

The thing I probably love most about Southern California is the fact that in a matter of about 2 hours, you can go from being on the water at the beach to being in the mountains surrounded by snow piles and fog! <3

Jimi and I were down at NAC, working out and paddling Saturday morning and left straight after with a wet, sandy dog and my 4 Runner packed up for the weekend. We made it to the bottom of the mountain and started to climb into the fog as it grew thicker and thicker. We thought at some point we were going to come out of it and be above the clouds, but no such luck! There was a storm brewing and it came late Saturday night, huge rain drops that did not stop till around 7am Sunday morning. Not quite cold enough for snow!

Some of us were more prepared then others, Malia brought her snow boots (good thinking girl!), where as Jimi brought shorts and a single sweatshirt (he thought it was going to be hot). Kelly (the birthday girl) was prepared with bringing space heaters for the house, which we were so thankful for! Bruce managed to find some more layers at the local thrift store, before the storm really set in! We ventured out of the house for an afternoon walk, a birthday dinner for Kel at Woody's, breakfast at the waffle house and another afternoon walk in the woods. Both dinner and breakfast were on the lake at Lake Arrowhead Village and the cabin we stayed in was deep in the woods in Twin Peaks. It was a nice little loop of cabins with lots of trees, a creek and some nice trails to walk.

There was hardly anyone around both at the lake and at the cabin, so a truly quiet weekend away full of staying inside, keeping warm, no TV, eating, celebrating and being surrounded by nature! Such a gorgeous and refreshing time of year to be up there!

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