Dog Party!

Hi everyone. I want to report on something exceptionally important before I get to the dog party, so please be patient.

This morning, I overslept and was not interested in getting out of bed. When I finally did, I put on my flip flops and braced myself as I turned the door knob to go into the hallway. Our bedroom has AC, so it's usually about 20-25 degrees colder than any other space in the house, and with the humidity we've been having ALL SUMMER LONG it also has a much better air quality about it. So when I brace myself to leave the bedroom, I REALLY brace myself.

But this morning was different. I opened the door, walked into the hallway and felt... a breeze. At least, I think it was a breeze, it's been so long that I've forgotten. The air was cool and dry, the house didn't smell damp, I didn't feel suffocated, and I didn't break into an immediate sweat. A sign.

GOOD THINGS ARE COMING PEOPLE! And that good thing is fall... and winter! Sweet, icy cold winter.

Ok, back to the dog party.

fun times outdoors before the humidity went away

Adorable dog-dish and cute planter turned utensil holder

I tried to make cupcakes that looked like our dogs: these are the Aero cupcakes - cookies and cream with vanilla frosting and chocolate sprinkles

Bruno Cupcakes, marbled vanilla and fudge with fudge and vanilla frosting complete with chocolate and white sprinkles

 

We had two take-home treat, one for dogs and one for people. The human treats were sugar cookies in the shape of dog bones. The Dog treats were homemade pumpkin and peanut butter bones

Some dog-style decorations

A few dog photos on our board

Oddly enough, Bruno's middle name is Bruski - more for the football player than the beer, but it stills works!

For drinks we had my favorite margarita and some strawberry sangria. 

We hung a ton of photos of the dogs - I couldn't narrow it down because the dogs just looked too damn cute in every single pic!

There were also non-alcoholic drinks available for the crazy amount of pregnant women in my life.

This was the cutest thing ever. I made chocolate fondue and asked my Aunt Dawn to bring fruit. She brought the fruit and marshmallows in dog bowls and added this mug and the dog toys, HOW CUTE?!

We did some hanging on our newly refinished non-redneck back porch

and sat around chatting. It was a nice group of people, not too many to make it crazy

I strung up some lanterns just for whimsy. Would have been nice if they were lighted, as it got awfully dark late in the night.

Fortunately I did have the foresight to hang the globe lights from my wedding on the porch. I love the way they look so much that I'm going to leave them up!

Here are the babies, already resting. The party really tired them out!

As for food, we had a "burger bar" complete with a bunch of different condiments and accents like jalapenos and french onions, BBQ sauce, etc. There were also a variety of cheeses available. I made sliders so that people could try a bunch of different combinations if they wanted. My Dad did the grilling, thank god! As for other options, well you heard about the fondue and cupcakes, but we also had a tortellini salad, spinach salad, some salsa, a lovely goat cheese roll surrounded in cranberries and pistachios, caprese kebabs, pickles that my parents made with cukes from their own garden, pirates booty, on and on the list goes!

It was a fun time but as usual, I couldn't enjoy the company as much as I would have liked. I suppose that is the downfall of hosting. But other than that, it was a nice casual summer BBQ, and I think everyone had a wonderful time.

Especially the dogs...