this is my nightmare

I live about 20 minutes from work if I take the bus or walk. I try to walk most days since it is such a short distance, but I am at the top of Nob Hill and my work is at the bottom of the financial district. For those of you not familiar with San Francisco, this is the hill I have to go up in down to get to work:

image

Yea, try that in heels. Boooo.

So sometimes I take the bus. It's usually not too bad, but every once in a while it's so crowded that we are literally packed in like sardines, which isn't the end of the world either. UNTIL!!! I stand next to someone who is about the same height as me... and our bottoms touch. Shudder....this is my nightmare.

good thing the pups are cute...

I love Reggie and Pig, I really do. However, I do not love that they are both not fully potty trained at 5 months and 2 years respectively. I have never owned a dog before but I am pretty sure this is not acceptable. I'm completely at a loss on how to fix it though. 

Reggie was almost potty trained and he was doing really well when he was alone at my apartment. Pig is good if you take him out, but has been marking since I met my boyfriend a year ago. Together they are awful. When Pig is around Reggie pees all over the house even if I have just taken him out. Pig then smells Reggie's pee and then pees on top of it to mark his territory.

Today when I went home on my lunch break to check on them, the rug in my room (where I keep them during the day) was covered in dog pee and my room smelled horrible. I lost it...I got on my hands and knees (in a suit btw) and scrubbed the rug with cleaner. I took the dogs on a walk and let the rug dry then I went home and sprinkled baking soda on the whole rug, vacuumed it, and then rolled it up and put it in the corner of my room. I mopped all of my wood floors with dog cleaner and then sprinkled them with baking soda and vacuumed that up to get rid of the smell. Right before I left I sprayed half a bottle of Febreeze all over my whole room and then left the window open to air out. 

Now that my room is clean and I'll be able to clean up easier since I got rid of the rugs, how do I stop this? Do you guys have suggestions on training dogs not to pee in the house? I take them out in the morning, come home on my lunch break most days to walk them, and then always go straight home after work to let them out. My boyfriend is going on vacation for the next three weeks so it will just be me and the dogs and I am determined to fix this over the next few weeks!

I would greatly appreciate any tips you guys have, because honestly I would beat these dogs if they weren't so darn cute :)

OOTD - layering

Dress & Sweater? Madewell. Blouse? H&M. Shoes? Brian Atwood.

You guys, I have a confession to make. I am terrible at layering. This outfit literally took me about 30 minutes to figure out. Waaaay too long.

Anyway, hope you all are having an awesome week so far. Happy Thursday!

reggie is not my dog

Reggie is not my dog. He's actually a family dog, or if we are going to be really accurate, he's my moms.

My parents got a divorce this past year. It was unexpected, messy and it completely changed our whole family. I won't get into the details, but all you need to know for the sake of this story is that my mom had an extremely difficult time with the divorce due to the circumstances that surrounded it. My boyfriend and I would stop by her house often to visit and we would always bring Pig to cheer her up. My mom loves Pig.

A few months ago, my boyfriend decided to breed Pig. My brother and I had thrown around the idea of buying my mom a dog to keep her company but my mom would always say she didn't want a dog. We should have listened to her, since you know, she told us she didn't want a dog, but when Pig's lady dog had puppies we of course had to go check them out.

I bought Reggie, the first dog my family has ever had, and kept him at my apartment during the week so we could surprise my mom on the weekend. This was probably a mistake. I have never owned a dog before so I had no idea I would get so attached to him in such a short time. By the end of the week when we were supposed to bring the dog to my mom I cried all day because I wanted to keep him. After a pep-talk from the BF I decided the only option was to give the dog to my mom like we planned.

My mom was shocked and so very excited about Reggie, immediately calling all her friends and family to tell them the good news. I was really happy for her and it made it worth giving up the dog. My mom asked if we could keep him until the next weekend so she could get some puppy supplies and get ready for him to live with her, so we took Reggie back to the city.

The next day I got a call from my mom, and she broke down. She was incredibly grateful for Reggie but totally overwhelmed and felt pressured to have him when she wasn't ready. I felt horrible. This was supposed to be a gift and instead it made my mom uncomfortable. She kept telling me it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for her which is why she felt bad being upset. I understood and offered to take Reggie until she was ready.

Months have passed and I still have Reggie living with me. I visit my mom every few weeks and bring the dog so she can see him, but she never asks to have him back. I don't know if my mom will ever take Reggie but as more time goes on I know it will be harder to give him up. My boyfriend says that I did this on purpose so that I could keep him, but I promise that was never my plan. I just didn't have the heart to force this responsibility on my mom after she came to me so upset. It wouldn't have been right.

So for now Reggie is staying with me, or actually with my boyfriend. My roommate doesn't want Reggie in our apartment so we are both temporarily staying at his place until I figure something out. And I will. But whatever happens, if my mom takes him or I move into a new place, I am glad that I bought the little nugget and that he is now a part of my family.

black and white inspiration

This is probably going to make me look like I am obsessed with Madewell since my last few posts have been about Madewell clothing (and maybe I am a little bit obsessed...) but when I saw this photo on Pinterest I knew that I had to recreate it:

Of course, I changed it up a bit to be more office appropriate, but here is my version:

Scarf & shirt? Madewell. Sweater? Uniqlo. Skirt? AnnTaylor. Belt? F21

new bag

You guys I'm so excited! My new bag from Madewell just arrived in the mail today. I got such a good deal I have to tell you all about it. It was on sale and then Madewell was offering 40% off all sales items and then I had a gift card my brother gave me for Christmas. When all was said and done, I spent less than $30 on a bag that was originally almost $200. Not bad right?

What's the best deal you ever got on something you really wanted?

there's no place like home

There's no place like home, but I don't have a home anymore. I have an apartment in the city and my mom still lives in the house that I grew up in, but I don't have a home. I'm sitting in my boyfriends apartment with one dog on my lap and the other laying next to me, trying to relax, but this place is not my home. There is no familiarity, no comfort, or time to be myself.

It's like I've been living out of a suitcase for the last few years. I can't seem to unpack my things and build a space for myself. I live as though I'm in someone else's home, tiptoeing around, being polite, and staying out of the way. I am waiting for this vacation to be over. I want to go home.

I want all of the things

My favorite picks from the new items at Madewell. Honestly though, I would seriously buy everything from their new line :)

sometimes I just can't get it together

I've been trying to make my own lunch for work to save money and most of the time I do and it's not a problem. It takes about 30 minutes and then I'm good to go for the next day.

Last night was not one of those times. The thought of making even a sandwich was too much so I put some lunch meat in a plastic bag and called it a day.

Needless to say, it was not my favorite meal :)

OOTD - spots!

Sweater? Loft. Shirt? H&M. Belt? Forever 21. Necklace? Ann Taylor

Pants? Banana Republic. Shoes? Brian Atwood. 

A few months ago when I was buying a Kate Spade iPhone case I saw one of the employees wearing this shirt. I fell in love with it and figured it was from Kate Spade but since I have been trying to keep my clothing budget to a minimum (which is hard since I work a few blocks away from Union Square in SF) I didn't ask the employee because I figured it was out of my budget.

On my way home I passed H&M and this shirt was in the window! I walked in to see how much it cost and it was something around $20 so I decided to buy it. I brought it home to show the BF, excited for my find, and he gave me a weird look. "What animal is that supposed to be?"

......good question, is it dalmatian? So I ask you fellow bloggers, what is this print? Is it a little Cruella De Vil or just random spots?