HAPPY SURPRISES.

Well hello my friends! While it’s only been a week, it feels like months since I’ve last written.

But I sure hope everyone had a very merry holiday! As mentioned, I traveled to New York for Christmas and while it was a very full and happy household, I’m so happy to be home. I love Christmas, I really do, but there is also this incredible rush of relief when it is over – a post-Christmas glow of normalization.

Although, life at the Carpenter household is anything but normal these days…

Yes, we have a new and furry addition to the family!

We’ve been looking for another dog for a while now – particularly a small, adult-aged companion for Ms. Mattie-Lu – and have made multiple trips to the ASPCA over the last year only to come home empty handed.  Well, our luck changed yesterday afternoon….and we somehow left with exactly the opposite! A four month old coon/collie mix that may grow up to 65 lbs! But oh, those eyes are the very definition of “puppy dog.” They had me at hello:

And he’s the sweetest cuddlebug you will ever meet!

Frankly, I’m thrilled but oh-so nervous to have a puppy in the home. For the next year, I must learn to throw my perfectionism and ideal home décor right out the window! Perhaps this is a good thing…

So, a fair warning: as I fully puppy proof my home and learn how to decorate around it, you’ll probably be hearing a lot about the growing pains and joys of puppyhood.

And if you have any tips and suggestions, feel free to share. I can use all the help I can get!

So on that note: HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE! I know 2013 is going to be full of happy surprises