This is the last picture of my dogs for a while...promise...cross my heart. Ok, wait. Just a few more! I just can't help it, they're so cute when they're sleeping!

Notice the gate in the back of the picture, we're still working on establishing limits with Clover. We've got so many of those gates all around the house. If we ever decide to have kids, we'll be set with gates!
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It's been all rainy lately. All I want to do is curl up with a good book or movie.

Speaking of good book, I finished Night Watch the other day and if you're a fan of the movie, you're going to looooove the book. It's actually quite different and much more detailed. I tried to get Day Watch (the second in the Russian series) but it hasn't been translated yet. Put myself on a waiting list so it'll be a nice surprise in January when they call to tell me my book is in.
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Movie Talk:
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - It's so easy to forget how good these movies are.
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Isn't she amazing?!

Clover wishes everyone a wonderfully lucky weekend!

Look at the super cute little fishie pouch Pati gave me! It even has a smaller fish coin pouch that's attached. Does she know me or does she know me?! Thanks Pati!
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Interesting that Flickr is cracking down on people using the site for commercial gain. Mostly I just like to share pictures of other aspects of my life other than my business but I did have to go back and delete the link to my site in a few of them. I feel super bad for some of the members who seriously had a link on every one of their pics.
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Ugh, I'm in a nasty funk right now. I think it's because I haven't been walking the dogs in the morning. Crazy how one little thing can throw your entire day off. It's just so stinkin' hot over here.
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Movie Talk:

Night of the Living Dead: Own it. Love it. If you haven't seen it, give Night of the Living Dead a try. It's way more than just a horror movie.

Brokeback Mountain: We probably were the only people in the world who hadn't seen it. I guess when something is talked up so much and you pretty much know the entire movie, there's just not much incentive to watch it. Very good, of course. Very sad.

I've been working on the design for a while so I'm super excited to announce the return of handbags to Gerbera Designs! Our new and improved iPod-friendly Messenger Bag now has an adjustable strap, strong magnetic snap and most importantly, a vinyl pocket to store your iPod or any other portable music device. There's even an designated opening in the zipper for your headphone cord in case you like to listen to your tunes on the go!

I love making purses.
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Always the sucker for disappointment, I kinda want to see Lady in the Water. Jim and I have already started taking bets on what the surprise ending will be. What a twist!
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And speaking of bags...I love this Owl Bag...it even glows in the dark!

Jim came home the other day with a huge bowl of cherries. I had every intention of making an Almond/Cherry Couscous but some how they've all disappeared. I guess that's what happens when you just pop "a couple" here and there. Since there weren't enough left for the recipe, I decided to really enjoy the last few dozen we had. The dollop on top of Mr. Cherry is a vegan fruit dipping sauce I just sort of whipped up. Mmm, it tasted like yummy cake batter!

EDIT Here's that Couscous recipe, actually it calls for Quinoa but couscous would work in a pinch:

Spinach-Quinoa Sald with Cherries and Almonds
1/4 c Sliced Almonds
1 1/2 c quinoa (rinsed and drained)
2 c spinach leaves
2 c fresh cherries (pitted and halved) or 1 c dried cherries (chopped)
1 cucumber (peeled, seeded and cut into 1/3 in dice)
1 15 oz can chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
1 small red onion (finely chopped)
1/4 c plain low-fat yogurt
3 T olive oil
2 T fresh lime juice
2 garlic cloves (minced)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Toast almonds for 7-10 minutes.
2. Boil 3 c of salted water over Med. heat. Stir in quinoa. Reduce heat to med. low and simmer for 15 min. or until all liquid has been absorbed
3. Remove from heat and cool, covered, in pot.
4. Lay 5-6 spinach leaves on top of one another. Roll and slice into slivers. Repeat with all spinach.
5. Toss together quinoa, almonds, spinach, cherries, cucumber, chickpeas and red onion in large serving bowl.
6. Whisk together yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic into small bowl. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Chill for 30 min.

(Vegetarian Times, July/August 2006, p. 75)
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We spent all weekend painting our bedroom...white! Can you believe it?! It's the only room in our house that's plain white and I love it. I'm still on the fence on what color scheme I want to go with. Perhaps white with different shades of greens and brown?
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I added a little craft project to Gerbera. I know, I know...who uses cd's anymore? Kickboxing instructors, that's who!
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Movie Talk:

Cars - You may remember the horrible experience we had watching Cars in the theater from a couple weeks ago. A friend of us gave us a copy just so we could watch the last 20 minutes of the movie. I'm really glad he did since the end was so stinkin' cute. Thanks Bosco!

The Devil's Rejects - I was completely prepared to hate this movie but Matt all but said it was his favorite movie so we gave it a try. Ended up liking it a ton more than I thought I would. Sure, it's got a ton of gore but the cinematograpy and music was decent. Surprisingly good.

Ong Bak - Definitely didn't watch it for the story line but Tony Jaa was absolutely amazing.

I bought these great little salt and pepper shakers from Leah over at Uplifting Arts. Aren't they sweet?! I love putting ceramic shakers all around my house. I've got two chubby birds on one of my large picture frames and a little owl (that Leah gave me last year) in my entryway. Most people don't even notice that they're salt and pepper shakers, they just think they're pretty little statues.
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Notice the fabric underneath them? It's one of the three vintage tablecloths I found during my last thrifting excursion! I'm always so excited when I find a round tablecloth at the thrift store. Most of them are oval or rectangular. Woo hoo.
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Zefram accidentally scratched Clover's eye the other day and it got all irritated. She could hardly open it yesterday and there was some nasty gunk crusting all around her lid. The sweet thing is that Zefram seems to understand and has taken to licking all the crust off her eye so that she can see. It sounds nasty but it's really quite considerate of him...considering he's the one that jabbed his paw in her eye.
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We're making homemade sushi and miso soup tonight...wanna come over? :D

Doing my part to rid the world of frat boys everywhere! tee hee
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Out of nowhere, my camera is no longer being recognized by my computer. Huge bummer. I think I either need a new USB cord or the USB connection on the actual camera is broken. It's taking forever to upload my pictures and I have a million things I need to edit and send out. Grr.
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The new puppy is doing just fine. We had a nasty case of runny poo but took her to the vet to get her started on heartworm meds and they gave us something to clear that right up. Zefram absolutely adores her! What sweet puppies we have.
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I think it's time I admit that I have an addiction to tiny little fake food jewelry. I just love to look at their miniature goodness! I've gotten some pretty strange looks and remarks about my Pancake Meow donut necklace but I love it so. Seriously, just looking at the different websites makes me happy!

Faeriesmak - The Pineapple Upside Down Cake Necklace looks as good as the real thing!
Pancake Meow - I'm amazed by the little bananas on her Banana Cream Cake Slice
Pixies Candles - ok, so it's not jewelry but how could you not love a rice crispy candle?!
Tatsuko - mmm, a little sushi never hurt anyone!

Any others you know of that I can obsess over?

I'm happy to introduce the newest addition to the Gerbera family! Meet Clover, she's a 6 month old Shepherd mix. She joined our family last Sunday from Pet Guardian Angel and while there are still a few things that need to be worked out (peeing on our floors) she's adjusted pretty well. At 40 lbs, Cover weighs about half of what Zefram does. She looks so sweet and little standing next to him!

I think Zefram is quite smitten with her!
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On another, less happy, note...I'm still having some issues with my credit card processor. Will be working on it all day and hope to have it up and running by the end of this week. Sorry for any inconvenience it may have caused anyone!
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Movie Talk:
- An Inconvenient Truth: Informative and interesting. The only beef I have is that I wasn't sure if it was a documentary on global warming or a PR piece on what a reformed man Al Gore is. Could just be my cynical nature but once a politician, always a politician. But then again, look at Jimmy Carter...

- 20 Million Miles to Earth: Didn't finish it because the story was just so terribly shallow but as always, it was fun seeing a Harryhausen monster.

- Yankee Doodle Dandy: One of those movies, I can't believe I've never seen before. Cagney's Colhan is often ranked high in many top 10 performances lists and rightfully so. He's a small man with such a large magnetic personality. Best movie of the week.