Happy Howl-o-ween!!

We're ready for the trick or treaters (even though I secretly think G wants to nose dive into the Reese's herself and P.Kitty could care less!).

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

We Survived!

...but our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their lives, homes or sustained massive damage due to the storm.

G and I ventured out to Riverside this afternoon, and walked along the promenade (not in the park, they're technically still closed!). It was sad to see several historic, large trees did not survive the storm. You can see on the right in the below picture the street lamp that was essentially beheaded.

So scary, but I'm so glad everything is okay - though the destruction can see daunting, the loss of life could have been much, much worse.

When Backup and Restore Literally Saves Your Sanity - an essay by Goosie Mama

All of my photos of my G and my life in general are taken on my iPhone. I think I own a digital camera, but I haven't touched it in years, and frankly, I'm not sure I could find it if you asked me to!

Now, for those techies out there, you'll know that the new iPhone comes with a 29MP camera. This is pretty impressive, especially considering the first digital camera my family owned was a 25 lb. Kodak number with a whopping 1.2MP that cost more than a monthly mortgage payment.

Naturally, since my AT&T contract was up for renewal in September, the same month (conveniently) that the iPhone 5 came out, I ordered my new phone 4 weeks ago and happily (and impatiently) awaited its arrival.

This Tuesday (gahhhh, 21 business days later), my gorgeous new white iPhone5 arrived at my apartment; and after some chasing down and choice words with the UPS man, I couldn't wait to start using it.

To ensure everything was easy, peasy during the transfer from one device to the other, I decided I should update my old iPhone4 to the new iOS6 operating system prior to transferring my number. No problem, right?

Wrong. iOS6 caused my iPhone 4 to crash and I was getting an error that the phone was unable to restore. I spent almost 3 hours on Tuesday night trying to fix this with no luck and I had no phone service to boot. That being said, I wasn't in full panic mode yet, because I could clearly see that the last iCloud back-up and restore had occurred on Oct. 22nd. All was (still) good.

So in order to continue troubleshooting, I got to work super early on Wednesday morning with my Mac, iPhone4 and iPhone5 in tow (and my Kindle for good measure - thank goodness I didn't get mugged!). After another 3 hours of troubleshooting (with zero help from Apple, might I add, uninstalling every antivirus program I have), I finally successfully restored my phone. The bad news? The backed-up version of my phone from October 22nd was nowhere to be found. Thus, none of my pictures transferred over.

Well, even I had to admit that a working device is better than a dead one, so, I grudgingly decided that I would just have to transfer over to my iPhone5 and be really sad that I'd lost a year and half of G pictures (things were getting really emotional at my desk).

I started the process of moving to the iPhone5 and - GASP - a back-up and restore message asked me if I wanted to restore from 9am 10/24 or from 8pm 10/22 - OCTOBER 22nd?! That's the one I needed!!

I pressed the button and voila! Everything, down to the exact way I had my apps, music, pictures, screensavers, emails and alarms was back in action on my new phone!!

I can safely say back-up and restore saved my sanity and my photo library :)

Proof that my phone has all of its' photos back - here's G passed out 2 years ago!

Positive Pittie Press: Pittie Puppies!

Thought I'd share this link with our friends in the blogosphere - warning: get ready to squee!!

In honor of Pit Bull Awareness month, Jezebel.com posted a homage to the top 20 pittie puppy pictures (although, let's get real - G's baby pictures aren't on here, so the top 20 isn't really complete).

Enjoy!

And a G baby pic for good measure (gosh, she was one mushy puppy!!):

Fallish Strolls

G and I frolicked through Riverside Park (again) this weekend and enjoyed the gorgeous, perfect fall weather.

G had slightly over-exerted herself at daycare on Friday (granted, she was there for close to 10 hours, so what are you going to do?!) and her limp was back in action. That being said, she was in a mood to meander a little and then collapse on the pavement to simply watch the action around her.

I snapped this cool shot of G relaxing between my feet and checking out all the fall sights and sounds. Pretty cool shot, huh?

Fallish Saturdays: Dress-up and Your Dog

G and I had a great weekend frolicking around SoCo (South of Columbia University - apparently this is the nickname of our neighborhood), showing off our matching fall style. G kicked it in her knit letterman sweater supporting our most favorite college team and I couldn't help myself by wearing a matching sweatshirt. We were truly a site to behold (I'm sure)!

What I find refreshing about dressing G up is that people find her much more approachable when she's decked out. In Riverside Park, a man and his young son asked if he could take a quick snapshot to send to his friend (apparently an SU alum) and G received many more smiles than normal from strangers we passed on the street.

What's more, on our way into our building, we passed our Super and Board President and her fan-gear even elicited a little giggle from them (which, if you know our history in the building, is a big win!).

Two Pitties in the City often talk about how dressing up your pooch can make them more approachable and help to break stereotypes when you're out walking your pups. 

What types of outfits have you dressed your pooches in that have received a good response?

Wordless Wednesday

Suggestions for Giving your Pup Eyedrops??

Well, the verdict is in ($150 later ...), and it looks like G scratched her eyeball at daycare.

When I arrived home to pick her up to go to the vet, she looked better in the sense that she was able to keep her right eye open, but it definitely continued to drain excessively, so a trip to the doctor was necessary.

The vet did some quick stain tests (shocker, apparently G did not appreciate it) and determined it was likely a scratch and not a viral issue. They sent us on our way with some eye drops (that I will struggle) to give G twice daily and we should be all set!

That being said, any suggestions from the blogosphere on giving pups eye drops?

G needed the vet, the vet tech and myself to keep her still to give her the drops in the office and I've already failed epically this morning trying to get them in her eye (I was not going to chase her around the apartment!).

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

P.Kitty's thoughts on all of this eyeball drama? "This dog is too high maintenance for me, I'm outta here!"

Wordless Wednesday (not really): No, I'm not winking ...

My poor little pup is having mega-eye issues.

I noticed on Monday when she was coming home from daycare, her right eye was draining excessively. When we woke up Tuesday morning, she was squinting, her interior eyelid was closing up and the draining hadn't ceased, so to the vet we go this evening to figure out what's going on.

I vaguely recall accidentally poking her in the eye on Monday as we got into a cab to go to daycare (yes, I feel awful), but I'm hoping that was just coincidental.

We'll update everyone tomorrow!

The Walk Heard Round the World

...or around our apartment at the very least.

G has been a notoriously lazy walker for the past year. She's not going to be rushed for any one/mutt and she's going to take her time smelling the roses. As her dogwalker (I'm sure) lovingly described it: "She really likes to ...meander."

Well, it must be something in the fall air, because G was rip-roaring and ready to go yesterday at 8:30am and we managed a solid 2.5 mile walk all over Riverside and Hudson River Parks. It was a gorgeous day and this only increased the pep in G's step and she actually walked at a normal dog pace. Miraculous!

It was days like yesterday that remind us just how lucky we are to live in a city that values and maintains its extensive park system. Every time I think of leaving the city, I know it's things like the wonderful convenience of the parks that we will truly miss!

"I love water (except for rain)." - G

 "Are you seriously still taking pictures, Lady?" - G

Oddly reminiscent of our favorite G picture of all time!