Friday Things

1. My Chief Culinary Consultant and I are officially in our new home! We closed and started moving last Wednesday, so it’s been 9 days now in our new digs. To say it’s been hectic and exhausting is an understatement. We still have quite a bit to move and get organized, as well as some larger house projects, but it’s definitely beginning to feel more like home!
2. I took the above photo of my boxes of sprinkles and chocolate as I was organizing my new pantry. I was doing this before I had even a fraction of my clothes moved. Priorities, right?!
3. Also, if you happen to own stock in Target, Lowes or Bed, Bath & Beyond… you’re welcome.
4. I haven’t done much in the way of breaking in my new kitchen yet since we’ve been living off of leftover pizza, hoagies, food our parents brought us, etc. So far, I’ve boiled water and cooked eggs and sausage. It’s a start! I think my oven needs to churn out a batch of chocolate chip cookies (or a pizza) soon!
5. My sister sent us an Edible Arrangements basket full of fresh fruit (including some chocolate-covered strawberries, pineapple and banana) the first day we were at the house. It was such an awesome idea; if you know someone moving into a new house, I highly recommend it! We didn’t have any groceries yet, pots and pans weren’t unpacked, so it was perfect to just open the fridge and be able to grab some fresh fruit.
Save This Recipe
6. Have you seen “The Ultimate Office Blooper Reel“? If you were a fan of The Office, you’ll love it. It’s two hours long! It was one of my favorite shows for many years, and I was bummed to see it come to an end.
7. I’ve been searching around for a good dog bed for Einstein. If you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them! He’s a Golden Retriever, so the bed would need to be available in a large size.
8. Tomorrow is my final beginner golf lesson, where we go out and play nine holes of par 3 golf. I’m excited to play and see how I do… Fingers crossed that I don’t lose all of my golf balls in the woods!
9. And then there were four… I’m ready for the Stanley Cup conference finals to finally start! Pittsburgh is taking on Boston… it’s a good thing that Tracey and I like each other so much, or it could get ugly!
10. TGIF! Have a snuggly weekend!

Photo Source: Fun Elf



So happy for you and your CCC!!!! CONGRATS!!!!
as for dog beds, I purchased the Animal Planet Memory Foam one from Groupon for $25 (they still have them). They are 40inches long and my dog looooooooves it. Also, I purchased a $10 long couch cushion from Ikea’s As-Is section this past weekend (like 5 inches of heavy duty foam and 4 inches of “soft” pillow top kinda stuffing and put it under his memory foam one….total $35 for like a bed fit for a king.
We bought a memory foam dog bed from Costco for our Great Dane:) He LOVES it (as do the other dogs, much to his dismay!). It was under $50 and it’s HUGE! It has bolsters on two side so it fits perfectly in the corner of our living room.
Congratulations on the move!
1. I need two hours set aside to watch blooper reel.
2. Our dogs aren’t too big (2 corgis and 1 Australian cattle dog) so they either get old pillows of ours or a pet bed from Costco. They smell good in the beginning but our dogs must have a glandular problem and sweat stinky. So for the cost sometimes regular cheap pillows from Target are the way to go.
3. Hope golf went well. My son’s been playing about 7 years now- he’s 13. His average on the 9 hole par 3 is about 45. He needs to shave some off before high school.
4. I’m sorry- Let’s Go Hawks! ;) Chicagoland fan here living in NW Indiana
It’s so exciting to move into a new house. It’s a lot of work but before long, you’ll be all settled and making lots of memories … and delicious food!
Congratulations on your new home! It is such a big undertaking – exciting and exhausting. Enjoy every moment.
My dog Eli loves his bed from http://www.one4pets.com/
I loved that we were able to match his bed to our bedroom’s colour scheme. Their products are very well made and are good looking too. Good luck!
My golden loves this one! http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/66388?feat=134-GN1&page=premium-dog-couch
We got it in extra large and it is HUGE! Sometimes I lay in it with her just for kicks! I would highly recommend it! Very durable and easily comes apart to clean, my other dog decided to pee on it one day! Fortunately it was easy to clean up!
Hope that helps!
We have four spoiled pups, ranging from 35-70 pounds. They all love their LLBean dog beds! We have them double-stacked for extra comfort. We originally only double-stacked one bed for our old man dog, but then ALL the dogs wanted that bed. So, each time we visited LLBean at Ross Park, we’d buy another one or two!
One of our dogs has separation anxiety when we aren’t home (read: eats leather sofas and LLBean dog beds), so he stays downstairs with another dog as company. We keep two Kuranda beds (aluminum frames, ballistic material) with blankets on them down there. It keeps our boys comfy and off the hard concrete floor. The Kuranda beds are great because they are good for dogs’ joints, they are cool and comfy for hanging out with you on the patio, there are no ends to grab and chew, and they clean well.
Hope Einstein finds a bed he loves!
Congrats! Our husky mix loves her LL bean canvas bed. It’s very durable, comfortable, and easy to vacuum and wash!
I keep saving your emails in anticipation of cooking again because we too are right in the middle or actually nearing the end of our moving process! Its been exhausting and I haven’t been reading your postings until now the last night in our home and I can’t sleep!! So thanks for the great recipes! We have two labs and years ago I found their beds on an inflight magazine. They are coolaroo and you can find them on Amazon. They are cots and we have size large for our labs. I like to be able to vacuum under them and our dogs always ate the zippers off our stuffed beds and pulled the stuffing out!! I wasted so much money on stuffed beds. And you can buy the replacement mesh tops on amazon too when they start to stretch out. I’m a big fan! Good luck unpacking…
We have two goldens – a 7 year old and a 5 month old and we have tried so many different beds. The extra large LL Bean beds are by far the most durable and loved by our dogs. We have both the regular bed (it’s 5 years old and we’ve only had to replace the stuffing once) and for our bedroom for the older dog we got this one – http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/51665?feat=507408-GN2&page=therapeutic-dog-bed-rectangular. She loves it. The large works well for her. She is 63lbs now, but at her biggest she was 75lbs and the large was perfect.
Deluxe orthopedic bed from Drs Foster & Smith, definitely. My old lab loved it, and my new one loves it, too. I’ve had the same one for about seven years, still going strong. Einstein will love it!
Highly recommend the LL Bean Dog Couch! I have a 60lb pitbull and he LOVES his bed. It was a little annoying to assemble but it super comfy for him (and me when I lay & cuddle with him). Enjoy the new digs!
Don’t spend too much $$ on your dog bed. I have a 90 lb sheepdog, got his bed at Costco for around $20.00. He loves it, and I can take off the cover and wash it when it gets too grubby.
I love the Costco dog beds! My golden retriever loved them, and my current lab loves them too. The most important thing is keeping them clean, and not having to worry about having the bed/material damaged from too many washings.
I also recommend the beds from Costco. We’ve had ours for probably 6 years now and it’s held up well. And it was only $20! We got a fancy pants one when we first got our dog and she hated it. Of course.
The sprinkles shelf looks great! Our dog loves her bumper bed from West Paw.
I bought the same Orthopedic bed that Amy recommended (from Amazon) but it’s so thick that my arthritic girl has trouble walking around on it to get settled. We keep it out just in case but she never uses it. Instead, BOTH of my dogs are constantly competing for this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KF6BFI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
When it starts to flatten out I just buy a bag of polyfill from the craft store and add mores stuffing :)
Congrats on the new house! And I’m really loving how you organized your pantry. Definitely need to do that for myself – my kitchen is a mess!
Congrats on the new house…coming all the way from South Africa!! We’ve just moved house as well and I know exactly how you feel…exciting, but extremely exhausting at the same time! All the best in your new adventure :-).
Congrats on the move. New homes are so exciting and making it your own is so much fun. LL Bean has some awesome dog beds in various sizes, shapes, colours and finishes, and you can even get special memory foam inserts for them. There is even one that is like a little sofa so they have something to lie against. Best of luck with the organizing. Can’t wait for the next recipe!
Orvis makes fantastic dog beds. I have a flat coated retriever and she absolutely loves them! They last a long time too.
Congrats on the new home! Hope golf turns out good :-)
Orvis has the best pet beds. I have a smaller dog (30 pounds) but they come in all sizes and the wear really well. A bed isn’t cheap, but lasts! The best part is they are washable and the inside can be removed before laundering, and laundered separately or not at all. I have the Fleecelock futon rectangular bed with zippers on both ends. They are also guaranteed.
Oh my god, that Office Blooper reel! I had missed that, can’t wait to watch! I am so ready to get this series started tomorrow, and we’ll definitely still be friends regardless of what goes down :)
Congrats! Glad to know your sprinkles are in order. :)
Have a great weekend!
Yay new home! Exhausting but fun…and forces you to purge :)
I got our std poodles a memory foam bed at Costco. It is quite large and has bolsters on 2 sides…they like to rest their heads on it…cute! It’s big so I only got one…and it is fun to watch them jockeying for it! (what a mean mommy i am!) Cost: just under $50.
Congrats on the house! Our dog eats every bed so we just get him a nice, fluffy bath rug on clearance. It works.
Congrats again on your new house!! I love Edible arrangements…they really are such a great gift!
Congrats again on the move!! I’d love to see a pic of your new kitchen once you are all settled in :)
I have an 80lb white lab and got his bed from LL Bean. It’s big and I love it. I have a canvas cover for it that you can take off and wash and the filling is stitched (kind of quilted) so all of the filling doesn’t get stuck in one spot. My dad had a big ridgeback and got him a posteurpedic/memory foam bed that he loved…. if you wanted to go all out ;) and might actually help if he’s older (can’t remember how old Einstein is).
Good luck and have a great weekend!
Glad you are getting settled in your new home! Aren’t sisters the best? We have a dog bed from LLBean that our terrior loves, almost as much as the couch!