Dr's of Love

My friend and graduate student colleague, Jessica, and I have started a youtube channel called Dr.'s of Love. The premise: we both are getting our PhD's, have been in the dating world for >10 years, are smart, beautiful, but still have no f*&%ing clue what we are doing. We decided to share our insights with the world (mostly everything we do wrong) with others who are in the same boat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6xss9SfX5Q&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL


We started this around the same time that we heard that the Oprah Network was doing casting in Carrboro for a show called Lovetown USA (a dating documentary). We sent them our video and a link to our secret dating blog and I got a phone call from an LA area code within 5 minutes! The casting people and their producers were on the phone, said they loved us and want us on the show (IF Carrboro is picked as the small town, others are still in the running). We are meeting with them on Tuesday for interviews,. I don't know if this will turn into anything, but it is a crazy and exciting idea. I'll keep you updated on what happens!

Enjoy the video. There will be more to come.

Oh, finals are today, this was a great distraction.

Cutter has enough with the family portrait

This sucks
I don't have time for this
I'm getting out of here

Family portrait!!

Treated like a King

Looks like Blade is living it up in style at the Shack! He has his own place at the table, his own chair, and his own silverware.
Just hanging with the guys.
And enjoys only the finest vintage

Hunt report: Day 6

This is the Shack!

This is Blade in front of the Shack:
This is the worn out pup:
This is my dad's friend Ernie hanging out with the Blade (check out that cool futon..)

Hunt report: Day 2

After a long, hard day of running around in the woods "hunting", Blade curled up by the woodstove, the only source of heat in the hunting shack.
Notice I did not put quotations around shack. I have been to this shack before and can tell you that it is really a shack.

It is one room with 2 bunkbeds (sleeps 4), a kitchen area, living area with futon (courtesy of me moving away from Madison and not wanting to take that terrible and uncomfortable $99 futon with me), and a dining room table (which is basically a giant tree trunk).

There is no running water and no electricity. There is an outhouse outback. My dad and his friends (who are all doctors and architects) built a really cool shower house that heats water in a turkey fryer. They also set up 'running water' in the kitchen by filling a gigantic 20 gallon jug of water and hanging it from the rafters in the ceiling. From this jug protrudes a plastic pipe that runs from the ceiling down the wall and into the sink. The water comes from a natural spring outside, and really is the best water I've ever tasted.

They built made a cool skylight.

Now what everyone cares about: Dad's Blade update!!!

Blade is really tired today. He flushed a bird this morning without realizing it, wasn't fazed by gunfire, ran away for a little while but I kept track of him with the gps (it is attached to his collar because he likes to run away), and he ended up coming back. He seems to swim through ponds rather than running around them, and certainly isn't afraid of water.

Hunt report: Day 1

My sweet little puppy is off hunting with my dad in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin for the next two weeks. I don't know how I'll survive without him (my dog not my dad), but getting photo updates doesn't hurt.

Dad's Blade updates that I make him send me:

"He had nothing to do with grouse although did chew on downed birds. Now very very tired dog."

"Blade stayed close by and occasionally barked to keep wolves, bears, and cougars away. Appears he has been successful so far."

This last one is probably sarcasm. Blade likes to fall down in submission immediately whenever ANY dog approaches him, so who knows what would happen if he came into contact with a wolf.

Best. Gift. Ever.

This past weekend my mom and I went to Orlando Florida to explore The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios! It was fantastic! I am a huge fan of Harry Potter and they did an incredible job of recreating Hogwarts (the Wizarding school Harry goes to), Hogsmeade (the Wizarding town ) and all the shops.

To get to the attraction you first walk through Dr. Seuss Land which is cool but pretty hokey. But when you first walk through the gate of Hogsmeade, the whole atmosphere changes. There is fantastic music and the whole world of Harry Potter comes alive.
The first thing you see is the Hogwart's Express at the Station. It was RAINING ALL DAY so we got soaked, but that didn't stop me from donning my brand new Griffyndor scarf, poncho, and umbrella!
To get out of the rain we went to the Three Broomsticks for lunch. I had a turkey leg and butterbeer!

In the movie, butterbeer is an alcoholic beverage that the students seem to be able to drink despite being underage. At Harry Potter world it is basically liquid caramel combined of with 11 other sources of sugar. It is tasty but way too intense to finish a whole mug!The castle was my favorite part. It looked so realistic! Once inside you walk through long corridors and enter rooms full of talking and moving paintings, the defense against the dark arts classroom, Duumbledore's office, the main hall with thousands of floating candles.
50 points to Gryiffendor!

From there you step on a ride that takes you flying with Harry and Ron in a Quidditch match, over the castle, away from an angry dragon, through the haunted forest, past the whomping willow, and through a whole host of demenotors trying to give you the kiss of death. It was SO well done and realistic.


Hagrid's House
So much candy at Honeydukes!

More to come!

I'm 27!!

I'm aware that this is turning into a blog about my dog...but what can I say? My life is school, full time job, studying, improv, yoga (NOT hot yoga), friends/roommates, and my pup! Okay so maybe I do have more to talk about but for now....

I got flowers for my birthday from the other man in my life, but Blade thought they were for him....to eat. He likes dandelions.

Weekend pup!

Baby Blade has already had a very exciting morning!

9am: He woke up
9:10 am: He looked out the window!
9:12am: He caught me taking creepy pictures of him!
9:15am: I gave him a new toy: the Kong Wubba
9:16:05am: Too much excitement so it is back to sleep

Meant to be....

I was watching the Packers win their 3rd game on Sunday (3-0!) when my mom and I started talking about Aaron Rodgers (he is the quarterback for those of you who do not know or do not live in Wisconsin)

Isn't he so cute?

My mom asked if he had a girlfriend and after furious googling I could not find a credible source that said so one way or another. SO this leads me to assume he is single. One of the places I checked to see his relationship status was facebook (obviously). He did not have a his status posted (and seemed to have recently joined facebook within the past couple weeks....which is weird) but he did have his birthday information.

And guess what?

I HAVE THE SAME BIRTHDAY AS
AARON RODGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is a year older, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, obviously my mom and I think I am meant to be with him (and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend wouldn't mind. In fact, I think he would encourage it..) so I have decided I will invite Aaron to my birthday party , maybe even suggest a joint birthday party? He would probably be into that....

the last drop

Working at home in the morning

The sleeping pup

I didn't end up getting a new pup, I got my parent's one year old english setter, Blade! I love having him around my new house, and my roommates claim to like him too. We especially love him after I take him on a run or to the dogpark. We just got back from a run today and he immediatly started scratching up the carpet (see below), making himself a little 'nest'. He thinks he's a cat.

He also has a LOT of new toys and doesn't want anyone stealing them, I had to tell Jess, Nadia, and Julia (my three roommates) to stop borrowing them and get their own orange chewy bones.
After a week he has gotten used to being in a new place and around new people. He has learned to like project runway, food from the grill, and the packers (GO PACKERS!) And he really loves that orange chewy bone.
(He moves too much when he is awake so it is easier to take pictures when he is sleeping, I'll try to get more variety in the future)

Pup hunting

No, not hunting puppies! Just looking at them. When I move to my new house in August I can finally have a dog! I can't have a brand new puppy because the landlord is worried about total destruction, which I understand, but when I went to look at older dogs with Lexie, I couldn't help but be drawn to the little ones!

We went to the same foster home where Ben found Maggie over a year ago. The woman who takes care of the dogs has a huge farm with 10 acres of land, complete with horses, dogs, cats, and grandkids. She says she never gives up on a dog and keeps them until they are adopted. I don't think she will have any trouble finding homes for these little munchkins:

Harry:

Pippi and Dumbledore! (I love the Harry Potter names of this litter, except Pippi?, the other dog who is not pictured was named Wizard)
Then I met the cutest 6 week old litter ever. I instantly fell in love with this little piglet:
The Piglet!
She was way too adorable and small. I eventually tore myself away but I'm sure she and her litter mates will find a good home soon.

The Dresser Dilemma...

Seriously, this wasn't supposed to be this hard! I thought I was so awesome because I transformed my ugly brown dresser into a sleek white antique that could be sold on Ebay for tens of dollars (if I wanted).

I assumed painting would be the hardest part, but no, it is the HANDLES are driving me crazy!

This is the handle I picked out. It is silver, sleek, and came with the two screws you see in the middle that are in the bag. But they were WAY too long to work. The handle would just pull right out of the drawer and was no where near secure.

Today I stopped by Ace hardware and picked up the screws that are on the far right thinking they would work perfectly! My reasoning: they are longer than the original screws, on the left, which were too short for the new handles (I tried in vain) but shorter than the long screws, yay!

When I got home I realized they too were too short, but just maayyyyybeeee I tried them anyway. The first 3 handles actually were screwed in perfectly. I thought, yessssss, I am a master.

But when I got to the forth it didn't work anymore. The fact that I had bought 21 screws (one for good luck, obviously a gimmick to get me to spend another six cents) that were too short finally sunk in.

I have to go back to Ace Hardware and spend another $1.35. But not today. Today I will look at my mismatched dresser and think about what lessons I have learned.

(PS this is my second post of the day. So gramma, if you are reading this, scroll down to see the post below)

Louisville

A couple weeks ago I headed up to Louisville for the 4th of July and stayed with Ben and his family. Look at who greeted me!
and....Meadow! (look at the little 'unicorn' on top of her head)

On Saturday Ben and I went to Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, because I've always wanted to see it in action. There were 13 races going on that day so we made the most conservative, all odds in your favor bets: out of 7 horses we guessed who the top 4 winners would be, in no particular order. Easy right? Just eliminate the 3 weakest horses/riders?
NOPE! We lost EVERY SINGLE TIME. And it was always because we were off by just one horse. It was incredibly frustrating because I thought I would at least get beginners luck, but we still had fun and only bet ~$30 for the whole day.

Ben in our box seats:
This one didn't turn out well but as you can see, I am wearing a hat:
Maggie didn't even go but she was EXHAUSTED after the races:
She always complains that there isn't enough room for her to sleep:
That's because she thinks she is a human and those around her never tell her otherwise. She has the most cushy life of all the pups I know. Look at the 'M' on her chest!

Being picked up in style

When I arrived at the Rhinelander airport on June 2nd for Mali's wedding weekend I awaited Mali to pick me up. I don't know what I was expecting. Since I was maid of honor I knew Mali would pull out all the stops so probably cross-country ski's, a motorcycle or boat (this was the northwoods after all)

What I got was SOOOO much better:

Sam (Mali's brother/her Best Man) and Mali arrived by Cessna. Sam's an awesome pilot, however, he saw my inherent skill immediately and let me drive!

Sam said "My hands weren't on the wheel while Kyla's were". Translation: "Kyla is flying the s%*t out of this plane!"
We flew directly over Minoqua where Mali's parents live (it is the island)
I decided to give back Sam the controls when it was time to land since of course I didn't want to show off too much.