Pantless and Hobbles take on New York! Part 2

May 15, 2012
Tuesday morning we decided we would head off to the Metropolitan Museum and try to see if we could catch a Broadway show.  We had breakfast at the diner in our hotel.  I had the yummiest lemon ricotta pancakes!

We first thought we would try to see if the hotel concierge could get us a deal on a show.  We wanted to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert as Lisa isn't really into musicals, but figured that one would be fun enough with all the disco/dance music in it.   Well don't waste your time with the hotel concierge.  Apparently they work with brokers and trying to sell us tickets for more money then the brokers paid for.  WTF is the point?  So we ended down to Times Square to see if the theater or half price ticket booth would have something for us.  The line at the half price booth was so long and we realized the theater was literally right across the street, we just went directly to the source.  We ended up getting balcony seats (not at half price, but still pretty cheap).  http://www.broadway.com/shows/priscilla-queen-desert/ So we ended off to the Met for some different art.

The weather was overcast with a chance of rain so we figured this would be a good day to hang indoors of the museum.  Well apparently so did everyone else! I also found out since returning Tuesday was Museum day!   Luckily the Met has only a suggested price of $25, but you can pay whatever amount you want or nothing at all.  Since it was already afternoon we figured we would only pay $10 each.  They do have a good system for tickets.  Its a little foil button you put on your clothes, so the guards can see you paid.  But with the crowds we had that day it would have been easy to get around without paying.  

The first thing you should do when visiting the Met is decide what you want to see.  The museum is HUGE!   I would really suggest visiting the site online first, as I think they have one of the best sites that have an interactive map and thumbnails all of art on display.  http://www.metmuseum.org/   We did not do this and quickly got lost.   I would say their map and layout in person isn't the easiest to navigate.  We found the Greek sculptures quickly and started having fun as usual.  We behaved a little better here than we did at the Louvre (but not much).  We then take a few wrong turns to the European Paintings where we finally found Renoir, Monet, VanGogh, and Degas.   I then wanted to see the Egyptian Temple of Dendur they rebuilt.  I wish we had more time and wasn't as crowded to see all the artwork properly, but we had a show to get home and get ready for.

 Apparently everyone thought is was a good day to stay inside the museum 

Lisa admiring the Greek sculptures

 Renoir

 VanGogh

 Degas

 I just loved the casual pose of this guy

Temple of Dendur

We decided we would try to catch a cab home instead as it will be faster than walking 8 blocks to the subway.  Unfortunately cabs didn't want our business.  Lisa flagged two down and both asked where we wanted to go and they said no.  I didn't know that was possible.  Apparently, they aren't suppose to do that.  We asked our hotel people when we returned (after taking the subway home) why this happened.  He said next time don't tell them and just get in the cab and then tell them.  They are required by law to take you anywhere you request.  But this wasn't the end of our cab problems.  We also asked the hotel information if we have a show to be at by 6:30 what time should we come down and try to catch one in front of the hotel. His helpful answer was "well it's 6 o clock".  WTF does that mean, we'll have trouble or not.  He really couldn't give us a good answer and just kept saying well you should take the subway.  We were going to be dressed up and wearing heels (at least Lisa was).  So we figured if we caught a cab at 6pm we would be fine.  Well we showed up and asked the doorman to catch us a cab.  It took him 25 minutes to finally get one to pick us up, as they all already had fares from Penn Station a block away.  Either way we got to the Theater in ten minutes and it only costs $6 + tip.

 Finally in a cab

Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Luckily we knew exactly where the theater was and got there in plenty of time to get a drink (along with souvenir glasses).  We were pretty high up and noticed the theater wasn't completely full, so by intermission we ended down to the front row in the balcony (mostly because I couldn't see due to the high hair in front of me).  The show was silly, campy, fun, great costumes and good looking actors!  After the show while we were all dancing and clapping, the actor who portrayed Felicia said last time he was the lucky one to announce the legalization of same sex marriage on stage and tonight he was happy to announce they would be performing a marriage on stage of a couple who have been attending Broadway shows.  It was a touching, beautiful moment to be part of. Lisa and I both cried like little babies.  It was truly something special to be a part of.
Afterwards we were one of the last people leaving and having a great conversation with the guy selling all the merchandise and he told us to go check out the High Line on our way to Chelsea the next day and where to get the best NY bagels (Zabars, more on that later).

May 16, 2012
The High Line http://www.thehighline.org/ is an old frieght train railway. No trains have run on the High Line since 1980. Mayor Bloomberg preserved it as a public park and the first section opened in 2009. It runs from W 30th St to W 12th St.  It's an easy, quiet, pretty way to walk 18 blocks in New York.  No stop lights or traffic to wait for.  We took it down to the Chelsea Market off 16th St. 

 View from the High Line

 Artwork on the High Line

 The High Line

 New and old graffiti on the High Line

Before heading into the Chelsea Market, Lisa needed her daily Starbucks fix, it was at this time sitting down and relaxing that Lisa thought it would be helpful to figure out where we need to take the subway to the 9/11 memorial.  Good thing she did this as she realized I did NOT print out the actual tickets.  I didn't read the whole confirmation (which they make very clear is NOT your ticket and won't be accepted).  So I started to panic a little as this is the only thing I really pre-planned and setup a reserved time for.  I called my mom who luckily was at my house watching Charlie, forgetting its probably 7 or 8am with the time difference and having to walk her through forwarding the tickets to mine and Lisa's email and then having to find a place to print them out at.   There isn't a FedEx or Kinkos near by, so luckily with all the traveling I do, I thought of asking a hotel to use their business center.  Starbucks directs us to the Dream Hotel around the corner.  This is a really, really nice hotel.  I ask the front desk is they have a business center and the nicest man says no but if I sent it to the hotel email, they will print it out for us.  If you are looking for a swanky modern hotel, contact Ayo Akinsete at the Dream Hotel. They were truly so helpful and nice to us, even after realizing we were not staying at their hotel.  They printed our tickets and we were on our way to lunch.

 

Dream Hotel Lobby, you can see the bottom of the pool in the ceiling http://www.dreamdowntown.com/

The Chelsea Market is a great foodie place to go.  The Food Network studio and filming is on the upper floors of the building (unfortunately they don't give tours).   We had lunch from Friedman's Lunch followed with a trip to the Fat Witch Bakery for some yummy brownies.

 Lunch at Chelsea Market

After lunch we figured we would head down to the Staten Island Ferry before our meeting time for the 9/11 memorial.  We took the subway to the end and got there right in time for the next departing ferry.  A large crowd just pushes their way onto the boat.  The boat though is HUGE, you would think by looking at the crowd you won't get on.  But once on and people rush to the front for the best vantage point of sightseeing, you'll notice plenty of empty space.  The boat literally takes a half hour to go from Manhattan to Staten Island, passing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  Once docked at Staten Island you have to disembark and then just turn around and get on the next ferry going back to Manhattan.   I'm sure there is stuff to see in Staten Island too, but we just went for the free ferry ride and photo ops of the Statue and Skyline of Manhattan.  I would think its very pretty at sunset or night.  But we just headed back to the mainland.

 Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry

 The Staten Island Ferry

Brooklyn Bridge from Staten Island Ferry

 Battery Park/Staten Island Subway station

We decided to walk up to the memorial as the people at the Dream Hotel said it's only about 10 minute walk.  That is for people whose feet aren't feeling like one big throbbing mess.  Lisa and I were both dragging a bit by now and had plenty of time to walk to the memorial at a slow pace.  We hit a flea market where we both bought some pretties (mine was leather, hers was made from some hard seed/nut).  We wandered up pass the Bull sculpture off Wall Street.  Lisa found some political people to argue with as I wandered across the street to the Trinity Church.  For someone who isn't religious I always love to seek out churches on trips as it seems they are architecturally interesting to me.  And it seems all the money the church collects goes into the gold and stain glass of these churches, so for a photographer I will continue to wander inside of them. 

 A sculptor used fallen tree roots from 9/11as a sculpture next to the church

 Interior of Trinity Church

Interior of Trinity Church

We found our way to the memorial pretty easy, but by this time my feet were starting to really hurt.  I didn't wear the new walking sandals enough at home to get my feet used to them. I wasn't getting blisters, more like my arches and calves were so sore and aching and not wanting to move anymore.  We had some time to rest on these concrete blocks they had around the park, so I decided to take full advantage of it.  As Lisa went to use the restroom at the hotel behind us a large group of elderly woman, a few with canes, apparently thought I looked like I should be part of their group and took up all the empty space around me to rest.  I just remember thinking great Lisa is going to love this.  I thought she was going to pee her pants from laughing (even though she did just use the restroom).  She took a few photos of me surrounded by these women.  All you can to is laugh!

My group of elderly women

We headed into the memorial a little early than our time.  Not really knowing what to expect, but it is like a huge park with 2 fountain/pools that sit in the original spots of the Twin Towers.  I really wish I took some video footage here as there is no way to convey the size of these pools and the feeling of being there.  I couldn't even imagine the chaos and horror of being around this area during the attacks as it's literally downtown in the middle of everything.   But I believe they did a wonderful job creating something meaningful and beautiful out of something so awful.  You really couldn't rebuild on top of the spots without remembering what once stood there, so I think the fountains were very appropriate tribute.  They are building two new Freedom Towers and the museum isn't open yet.  I would have loved to see it from above and at night, but it's definitely a sight to behold and remember those who were lost in such a tragic senseless manner. 

9/11 Memorial 

 The survivor tree - the last living thing removed from ground zero

South Pool with the museum and Freedom Tower

Pantless and Hobbles Take on New York! Part 1

Ok, obviously I haven't been keeping up with my New Year's resolution of updating my blog at least monthly (or let's be honest, many of the other goals I set).  And it's not from lack of stuff to post.  Just plain laziness on my part.   Blogs take a long to update, especially when you haven't been on it for 6 months....
With that said I have been posting my life on Facebook, but I know not everyone is one it (Fonda, Rhonda and Dad I'm talking to you).  So I figured I would update my blog with all the fun and adventures I had recently vacationing with my best friend Lisa in New York City.
I took over 900+ photos (not even counting some of the crazy fun ones Lisa took too) and finally narrowed them down to my favorites (a manageable 100).  I've posted those on Facebook.  But since a lot of your are busy people and didn't have time to follow along with us on our vacation I will try to highlight the trip in several posts.   I think one long post for a week in New York would just bore you all and even I would lose interest in typing.  So instead I'll try to break it down into sections (combining a few days into one post).  That way you can read at your leisure (or attention span) and I can post more photos overall.  I'll also throw in some helpful hints that we could have benefited from knowing a head of time.
Let's start at the beginning.... Last year maybe around Sept, October or November, Lisa called me up and said she wanted to go to New York and had gotten a credit card that offered her miles and she was going to turn them in for our flights to New York.  Poor Lisa hasn't been on a true vacation since our last trip together to Paris in 2004.  So obviously she was well overdue.  I've always wanted to see New York and even thought I would spend my 40th birthday there, but with knee surgery in Aug and finances not allowing that to happen, I was more than happy to join her on our next crazy adventure (our Paris trip was dubbed the adventures of Crazy Hair and Sexy Body by a cartoonist outside of the Louvre).  We both agreed that we were no longer the same crazy, sexy kids we were then and would have to come up with a new theme to our trip (Pantless and Hobbles quickly became our theme, as Lisa took her pants off whenever we were in the hotel and I of course had nothing but aching feet the whole trip due to not wearing in broken in shoes- no blisters, just sore and aching muscles every time I moved.  Surprising, my knee didn't hurt me, just swelled up around Wed).
May 13, 2012
Our flight left Sacramento on Sunday, May 13th (Mother's Day) at 7am.   Great start to the day for my mom to drop us off at 6am.   Luckily I slept the majority of the flight to Washington Dulles airport (5 1/2 hrs).  We wandered the airport looking for something to eat, as we didn't even get pretzels or nuts on the whole flight (Thank you United for your service).  After a 3hr layover we boarded our flight to New York.  It was one of the smaller planes you have to board on the tarmac.  We landed in New York after 6pm.  Went to baggage claim.  We made note of a sign for an airporter $12 one way to Penn Station which was across from our hotel.  After frantically searching our carry on for the luggage tags as we noticed you have to show them to get out of the baggage claim with your bags.  Luckily we found them as our bags did NOT arrive with us on the plane.  I went into the lost baggage office and was quickly told to fill out the paperwork along with several other people arguing about their lost luggage from our flight.  I gave the woman at the counter the paper and she quickly dismissed me saying I'm done.  Humm, no how about where are our bags and when can we expect them.  Now I'm sure this is the worst job you can have at an airline, but you need to also realize you have just lost people's luggage with valuables instead and not just dismiss them like it's their fault.  Luckily Lisa is pushy enough to get more answers out of her, which really was just call the 1-800 after the 11pm flight from Washington comes in.   (Thank you again United for your service)
We went to the airporter ( http://www.nyairportservice.com/ ) and waited for the woman in front of us bitch and complain that she can't wait for the next bus.  We approached with smiles and a comment about the rude lady and they gave us a deal of $18 roundtrip to/from Penn Station to the airport and told us we'll be on the next bus. Much cheaper than a $60 one way taxi ride.  Being nice pays off.  While on the bus Lisa and I were super excited to see all the buildings come into view from the bus window and I had to turn and tell the guys behind us who obviously could tell we were tourist, that we live near SF, so big cities aren't new to us, We struck up a great conversation with them and they were so nice and helpful we ended up exiting the bus a stop early with them, as we didn't have our luggage to lug around (Thank you again United for your service) and could walk the 12 blocks to our hotel while seeing some sights.  We arrived at our hotel (The New Yorker Hotel http://www.newyorkerhotel.com/) and checked in, telling them our sob story from the airline and to let us know if our luggage shows up.  The front desk lady then decided to find us a room with a balcony (we had already been upgraded to a suite, thanks to Lisa's client who worked his contacts in New York).  When we got to our room on the 22nd floor, the suite reminded me of an Embassy Suites room, with a separate living space from the bedrooms.   But the balcony was, well more like a rooftop terrace with amazing views.  Madison Square Garden was literally a stones throw away, Chrysler Building and Empire State Building were within walking distance.  If you step up on some blocks and looked to your left you could see the Hudson River.  It was AMAZING and perfect location!

 Our hotel with Madison Square Garden right outside our door.  Along with a Starbucks and subway station

 I got the bed next to the window with views of Chrysler Building and Empire State Building

 View from balcony, you can just see a sliver of the Empire State Building on the left upper side

 View from balcony, Madison Square Garden and the Freedom Towers glittering in the far background

View from balcony, can't figure out what buildings these were with the lights towers, but they are near Times Square and would change color throughout the night

After taking pictures and ooohhh and awwwing from our room, we decided to head out and get some dinner.  We didn't really consult a map and just started walking in one direction.  After a few blocks of nothing but chain restaurants we found ourselves close to Times Square.  We decided to grab some food at The Counter, somewhat of a build your own burger chain, but better than Olive Garden. We headed to Times Square afterwards and this is definitely something you stop and see for about five minutes and then move on.  It had a very Vegas-like feel to it and was still super crowded at 11:30pm on a Sunday night.  I'm not sure what the point of the stairs in the middle of Times Square, I guess people watching would be interesting.  But really with the amount of chain stores, restaurants and nothing but advertisements, I don't see the big deal.  But we checked it off our list of sights to see.

 We are officially in New York

 Lisa causing trouble already 

Times Square, pick a Broadway show, any show! We ended up at Priscilla Queen of the Desert whose theater was right there in front of us!

May 14, 2012
Before we left my friend Shelly suggested we take a food tour, as she did it and loved it.  They offer many different neighborhoods, but we decided to do the Greenwich Village one as it seemed best suited for Lisa who is a vegetarian and would require the less amount of substitutions.  http://www.zerve.com/FoodTours The tour was a great start to our vacation as we walked around the neighborhood, sampling the food and learning the history and interesting facts.  Our tour was lead by Barri and started off at Joe's Pizza.  This is suppose to be the best pizza in New York and has a wall of photos from visiting celebrities and was in one of the Superman movies.   The pizza was crisp and thin and just perfect amount of cheese and sauce.  Not too greasy and flavorful.  It was so good Lisa and I came back on Wednesday night back from downtown on the way back to the hotel, along with another stop at Milk and Cookies from the tour.   The tour is 3 hours, but you really wouldn't notice as you are walking around a quaint neighborhood (reminds me of areas in Italy), eating great food and seeing some buildings you recognize in tv and movies.  I planned it to be around lunchtime so we wouldn't have to worry about food before or afterwards which worked perfect.  We went to O & Co. ( http://www.oliviersandco.com/ ) on the tour and Lisa and I came back after the tour ended and stayed about another hour tasting more combos of oil and buying whatever we tasted.  Justin and Laura there were so nice and fun, they didn't even really get mad when we decided to split our order up, even though they had already rang it up together. Again being nice and having a good attitude got us far on this trip.

 Tour group at Joe's Pizza

 Little infamous Beatnik club below a restaurant in Greenwich Village

 Lisa and I enjoying our tapas at Centro on Bleecker and 7th Ave

 The best cookies!!!  So good we came back for more a couple days later

 Smallest apartment (75 1/2 Ave) in New York.  Today show did a segment on this place

 The exterior apartment on Friends

 Greenwich Music School and typical street in the Village

 Murray's Cheese

Rocco Pasticceria, where our tour ended with the best tasting cannoli

After the tour we headed back to the hotel for a rest.  During the tour we asked our guide for a dinner recommendation near us as all we found before was chains.  She had suggested ending out to Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. It's a small area near the Theater District, so you have a lot of up and coming chefs and restaurants in this area.  We first exited the subway at 50th St to try to find the Ed Sullivan Theater as I wanted to get a photo and some merchandise from the David Letterman show.  We found the theater pretty easy off 53rd St, but of course it was closed up for the evening and we wandered the block over and over and could not find Hello Deli where Rupert sells memorabilia, even though there was a map on the front of the theater where to go (we tried again later on in the week and finally realized we wouldn't have found the deli as it was on the wrong side and all closed with no real signage.  The doorman next door said he is only open between 12-4 if we are lucky, he is doing so well he doesn't really need to be open more hours.  

We headed over towards Hell's Kitchen in search of food.  There was a lovely drunken woman in front of us with her friends that kept falling almost every other step and rolling in the gutter.  Whenever her friends tried to help her walk she would push them off and then end up falling again.   I bet she looked pretty the next morning.  We ended up finding a tiny place to eat called Hummus Kitchen. These restaurants are so small we actually put our name in a different restaurant (Thai something) thinking it was all one space.  But no they were two different places, only figuring this out when I noticed people walking into Hummus Kitchen and getting sat, while we were told in the other space 45min.  Luckily Lisa went in and we got sat right away.  The service was friendly and entertaining as we were right at the server station.  The food ended up being really good (we shared hummus of course, Lisa had garden vegetable soup I had chicken kebab).  The waiter told us next door (not the Thai place) was holding drag bingo.  Got to love New York!
We decided since the Empire State Building was only a few blocks from our hotel we should hit it late at night to avoid the lines.  The building is open until 2am, with the last elevator up around 1am.  We headed towards it around 11:30pm.  It was perfect, NO lines, minimal kids, and beautiful night views of the city.   It was very windy on one side of the building, so a lot of my first attempts at photos were blurry.  We didn't buy the map pointing out the sights, so I really didn't have much idea what was what in the dark, but decided to just take photos from each side and see what I get.  We headed home after about an hour and called it a good first full day in New York!

 Entrance

 Skyline

 Those bright lights are from Times Square and the park is Bryant Park (for your Project Runway fans)

 Macy's is the on the lower right of the photo. Our hotel is in the middle right across from the bright lights of Penn Station

The Met Life (clock) Tower, Flat Iron Building at the center, Freedom Towers glitter in the upper right hand side

2012 New Year's Goals!

Well it's that time again where we start a new year with all good intentions and make resolutions to lose weight, eat better and do more. And then by Feb those resolutions have been broken and you're sitting on the couch eating fast food in your sweats! So instead of making resolutions I'm going to try to set goals. As most of you know the last year and half hasn't been my best. I was full of optimism and thought the worst was behind me last New Year's Day, only to have it start all over again. I'm hoping my 2012 horoscope is right and this year I will reap some of the good karma I've been waiting for. http://shine.yahoo.com/astrology/libra/yearly-overview/20120101/;_ylt=AooXeWwEpeMr5J1ik.ahsBNebqU5

So here is my list of GOALs for the year 2012!

1. Recover completely from knee surgery. I'm right now at 105 degree bend and should be at 130. I was originally hoping to be there already, but it's taking longer than expected. So I will continue to stretch my knee and do my exercise homework and start strength training in the next month. They say it will be a year (August) to make a full recovery, but if I keep on doing the work at home hopefully I can achieve this earlier and be back in the game (Wii games that is)

2. Lose weight! I know this is everyone's and mine goal every year, but after a few recent games on the Just Dance and not being able to get through 2 songs without sweating or tiring, I feel it's just plain time to do something. My diet has been horrible this past year, as I figure I couldn't do much in terms of exercise with my knee. But that shouldn't stop me from eating healthier. So I plan to lose hopefully 10 pounds a month with the help of weight watchers, until I'm back in single size pants! I'm sure I'll have my share of setbacks like everyone else, but I'm at that age where health problems (knee issues, back pain and borderline diabetes) are becoming all too much of my daily life due to weight. Plus did anyone see those photos of me playing Wii, enough said!

3. Travel somewhere, even if it's just a weekend. Last year mostly due to my knee injury and financial problems, I realized I went NOWHERE that wasn't work related. Even my big plans for my 40th birthday fell through and I ended up just hanging with family and friends (not that there is anything wrong with that). I wish I could do a big trip to some exotic locale but I know that just isn't in the budget this year. But I'm hoping to at least go somewhere new (Like NEW YORK CITY with Lisa) and even somewhere old (Disneyland maybe in the fall with my TFDers). With this goal comes the parallel goal of being more financially sound. I'm hoping to pay down the credit cards that got a lot of use with surgery and to switch banks from big bad Wells Fargo to Golden 1 credit union. With an interest rate of 25% on my card, there is no way of paying it down, so I hope the credit union who isn't trying to profit off my debt will help me reach my goal.

4. Take more photos! It's been 2 years since I bought my digital SLR and haven't really used it or figured out how to maximize it's potential. Grant it taking photos usually goes along with goal #3 (Travel), but I did find there are plenty of interesting places to take photos of wihtin a few hours drive (see Preston Castle Blog). I used to go on photo safaris with my friend Rhonda and take some of my favorite photos. I realize I can do that closer to home and find new interesting subjects. And I still want to get into more pet portraiture, as I have lots of friends and family with great test subjects. I'm hoping once my knee allows me to squat or sit on the ground quickly (essential in pet portraits) to start calling up you all for some test runs. All that would be required from you is a clean animal with treats and toys to get their attention, who knows your dog can be my poster child for a new business.

5. Finally just be more creative! I used to be the crafty Martha Stewart of Natomas (Fonda gave me that nickname) but it's actually been years since I picked up a glue gun or anything else crafty. Until a recent shopping errand at lunch with Caitlin, I haven't been in Michaels for more than five years. It was then I realized how much I miss making things. Once in Michaels again I easily got distracted by the shining beads they have hanging there. I quickly borrowed my bead box back from Fonda and found a great site full of ideas (Pinterest - http://pinterest.com/ ) and fell back into making jewelry. I decided to make everyone a bracelet or two for Christmas (hoping to save money and do something unique). Instead I think I spent more than I should have and spent many weekends trying to figure out how to make these bracelets. But finally got into a groove and made some leather cording/chain bracelets that I recently saw selling at the mall. Everyone seems to have loved them and with a few practice ones I had more than enough to give as gifts and keep for myself. So I'm hoping to keep up with the jewelry making (Caitlin wants to go in on a craft booth as she makes awesome scarfs and sells them - Made with Love by Caitlin http://www.facebook.com/pages/Made-With-Love-by-Caitlin/164410740274146 ). We'll see if I can build up an inventory as I either keep them for myself or give them as gifts. But either way I'm glad it resparked my creative side and gave me something to do on the couch instead of just watching tv.

Well those are my goals for 2012. I was going to do a Top 10 list of goals, but I figured I should keep it more manageable and short. I'll keep you all updated on how I'm achieving these goals. And hopefully next year I'll have a new set of goals instead of the same ones over and over. I hope you all have a happy, healthy and wealthy New Year!

And oh yeah goal #6 - Keep up with my blog postings more (at least once a month)

The Adventures of Lulu and Charlie

About a month ago on a quick trip to Petsmart, mom and I came across a sweet little dog sitting on a girls lap with adopt me wrap around her from Happy Tails Adoption. Usually mom will just say "oh how cute" and keeps walking. But this time mom kept talking to the adoption people, saying what a good playmate she might be for Charlie and even started to fill out paperwork. The adoption agency showed up later that week to do the home visit and Lulu (formerly known as Vivian) became the newest Arvin girl.

Lulu waited for her mom to return to take her home

On the offical adoption day, we thought it would be best to introduce her and Charlie on neutral location and met at the park down the street from my house. Mom and Jasmine came down to take care of Lulu. Charlie arrived first and unfortunately there were already 2 dogs off leash that came over to hassle him and got him all upset. Just on cue little Lulu showed up. And it was bark at first sight. Anytime they made eye contact or smelled each other a fight would break out. Jasmine and I tried to disfuse the situation by taking both of them for a walk in the park, but again anytime they were close enough to acknowledge the other one they would break out in a fight. We figured this was just first meeting jitters and figured next introduction they will get along better.

The next weekend mom came down and met Charlie and I at the school down the street. Again thinking neutral territory would lesen the tension. Unfortunately we had the same outcome as before. They weren't trying to kill each other, but anytime they got close enough to notice the other one a fight would break out. We tried walking them to where they could see each other, but not get too close. We tried putting the chainlink fence inbetween them and still had the same reaction; growling, barking, jumping, and pulling. We worried they wouldn't get along in two weeks, when mom and Lulu would be staying with me while I recovered from surgery. Mom emailed the person who was fostering Lulu before as they had six dogs and Lulu got along with them. She agreed to come over the next weekend and help us get these two dogs to get along.

Our last resort happened the next weekend with Rachel (Happy Tails foster person) who suggested we arm ourselves with squirt bottles and leashes. We met at my house this time and brought them both in the backyard on leash. At first we got the usual reaction of barking, lunging and snapping at each other. After a good squirt to both of them, they seemed to realize they were on the same level and started to relax around each other. We kept a slack leash and let them explore the backyard and each other with the squirt bottle close at hand. After an hour of them slowly getting to get to know each other and getting closer to each other, we decided to move them indoors. Lulu immediately jumped up on the couch next to mom and showed her teeth anytime Charlie walked by. We knew we had to break that habit quickly, so mom has learned she has to stop "babying" Lulu around Charlie and Lulu will need to learn her place in the pack, at the back. After a few hours, they seemed to not really care about each other much, able to go in and out of the house without incidents and even watched mom make dinner in the kitchen without a fight or growl. This made us both feel much better about next week, when they would be coming to stay with me for a week.

Charlie and Lulu making friends while waiting for food to drop

The night before my surgery Lulu and mom came down and Charlie quickly ignored Lulu. On the other hand, Lulu has became a little shadow of Charlie, always right on his heels wondering where he is going and what he is doing. At first mom kept Lulu on a leash as she didn't want her getting in any trouble and escaping through some small space as she is very quick and with her willowy hair everything sticks to it. This allowed Charlie to be in the back yard without her following him everywhere. But quickly Lulu begin to learn where she can and can't go and was let off leash and able to run free and shadow Charlie everywhere.

Lulu wondering if Charlie will be her friend

Inside they both have taken up their spots on their respective couches (Charlie on the main couch with me and Lulu on the red couch with mom). They have had a few tussles over food and close quarters of the house. And we have found out that Charlie is a bit of a bully. Lulu has brought with her an array of toys that Charlie quickly takes away from her and hides in the back room. One day right before we were all going to take a nap (norco makes me sleepy) my mom decided to distract Charlie with a squeaky toy (Charlie's favorite thing in the world). As you can imagine this doesn't make for a restful nap for me while Charlie carried the toy between the couch and the office all while squeaky it to death. After about fifteen minutes he finally killed it and I hobbled into the room to find him eating the insides of the toy.

Charlie and the now deceased squeaky toy

Over the week they have tolerated each other very well. Charlie even attempted to play with her in the backyard. Lulu gets VERY excited and will run the backyard at top speed playing fetch which gets Charlie very excited and nervous. He leaped towards her a few times and they just ended up barking at each other while jumping, not really sure what to do next. Whenever Lulu gets running or playing with a toy he comes up and barks at her or charges her until stops and drops what she is playing with and he takes it away and hides it. Or just barks at her, which is his way of yelling at her to stop.

Lulu playing fetch and running the yard

For 7-8 pounds though she isn't a push over either. She loves barking at strangers or friends that come to visit. Whenever Charlie barks at people outside she now jumps up right beside him to warn off strangers. It's pretty funny as at first Charlie wasn't quite sure how to take it and sort of would look back at us like what is she doing. Now it's more like he is now looking back to say yeah we showed them.

She is quite a change from Charlie's lowkey manners. She easily goes from sleeping to full blown playmode. You will be petting her and the next thing she is biting at your hand and leaping at you as try to get away. She is putting all of Charlie's old toys to use, as she has flung all them around the house. Yet her favorite is a knotted up sock. But she can also change her moods quickly. She tried bite my face when I woke her up by kissing on her. She'll give you a swideways look and leap at you to play. Luckily she is so damn little and cute. Being so little those has it's draw back. One day mom almost killed her as she was sleeping behind the pillows on the couch and mom was leaning up against it. Poor thing probably say her life flash in front of her. Then today as I was trying to lift her up I accidentally hit her head on the bottom of the coffee table and she turned to bite me to let her down. But she quickly recoevered and jumped up and gave me kisses as to say she was ok and sorry for biting me. Be warned she is quick with her tongue and for some reason loves the nose!

While they might now be the best of friends they at least seem to be getting along just fine and almost seem to like each other. Lulu follows Charlie eveywhere, as well as mom. Charlie seems like he might want to play with her at times. But I think he'll be more than happy to send them home in a few days. I'm just glad to know whenever they come back to visit we don't have to worry about them getting along and hopefully we will look back on these first few months and think remember when they didn't like each other, as they lay together on the couch.

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