Rockhound Pets - new product!

Hi all,
I gotta make a little business announcement.   Rockhound Pets has some new product!  Check out www.rockhoundpets.com and see what I'm talking about.

The biggest/coolest/most unique new item are my stone ID tags.  They are made in both brass and copper, and include different jaspers, agates, and even Petoskey stones!  This makes your dogs essentials into something more fashionable- kind of like jewelry for your dog (but it doesn't annoy them)!   The blank tag will be stamped with your pet's name and your phone number.

I also have some new leashes and collars coming soon!
Thanks for checking out Rockhound Pets.
-Lauren, Mango, and Milly

Mango's Cutepic for PeoplePets.com

Mango often crossers her paws when lying down- so ladylike!

Milly's Robotic Vacuum Friend

Tired of pet hair, I finally broke down and spent $400 on a Neato robotic vacuum cleaner, which has been a huge help.

Of course, Mango is terrified of it, but Milly couldn't care less.   She was only slightly annoyed when our robotic vacuum encroached on her space:

I'm a Lady!

Mango is the most ladylike dog I've ever known.  She hates getting her butt sniffed, even though she loves other dogs and happily sniffs their butts. 

But the way she most exhibits her ladylike tendencies is to cross her paws when she lies down.

Our friends' male puggle is the most UN-ladylike dog, so our friends sent us this picture when they caught him copying Mango:

Anyone else's dog do this?

A Portrait of Milly in the Tub

Milly loves the bath tub after a shower.  You might think it would have a negative connotation, since this is where I bathe her, but no.  After I shower, she always jumps in and then just sits there.


I took this photo of her after she had been in there for 30 minutes this morning.

Milly's Dead Reindeer

Last Christmas was Milly's first Christmas with us.   Given her appetite for destruction, I was wary of how she would do with the Christmas tree, but I was determined to have one anyway.  At some point, she stole a cute stuffed reindeer ornament from Crate and Barrel off the tree.   I never saw her with it, until after we came back from visiting family over the holidays.  She had been playing with it while we were gone, and it was in bad shape.

A few days ago, she decided to kill the reindeer for good.

Hooray for Nordstrom!!!

Today is the first day of summer.  And it feels like it!   I woke up in San Francisco today, where it was already 75 degrees (no fog today), and then I came to Menlo Park for the day.  The temperature on the car thermometer (NOT when parked in a parking lot) read the following temperatures at various points:  85, 93, 95, 98, 97, 100, 78, 76.

Well our little Menlo Park apartment is like a greenhouse, and it has been sweltering inside all day.  Wondering how to escape the heat, I figured I'd go to the mall for a little while. 
Anyway, mall.... what can I do there? Four weddings coming up this summer means an excuse to shop for a dress, so I figured I'd start at Nordstrom. I knew I would at least be able to entertain myself looking at shoes if nothing else.
But I felt bad leaving Mango all day!  What about Milly, you ask?  She didn't seem to mind.  She spent most of the day like this:

Mango, on the other hand, was so hot she didn't know what to do except hide.  She spent the first half of the day like this:

I realized in the past I'd seen dogs at Nordstrom, so I called them and asked if they allow dogs in the store.  They do!  How awesome is that??  So Mango got to come escape the heat with me for a while.  I took her on the elevator- she's never done an escalator before, and knowing her, it would be a scary experience.  She came in the dressing room, but she did not want to wait patiently for me to try on 12 dresses.   She kept trying to sneak out the front by pushing the curtain to the side.  When I kept telling her to stay, she discreetly tried to duck under the wall and into the next dressing room.  How rude, Mango. 

I did find a very cute dress, and while I wanted to shoe shop, we needed to get back.  I think Mango and I will do some shoe shopping next week.   See you soon, Nordstrom!

Cat Bed Follow Up

A couple posts ago, I wrote how I was happy that Milly had stopped sleeping on OUR bed and had instead returned to her bed.
Well, Mango apparently got jealous, because I woke up one morning and found this:

Never mind the fact that Mango has her own bed that she really likes on the other side of the room.  Cat's bed MUST be better, even though it takes about 12 circles for Mango to get in it.

Brady likes food

Our friends' dog Brady is food obsessed.  This is usually a problem, as he comes in the house and swallows all of Mango's and Milly's food instantly.  But when you spill an entire cup of Raisin Bran on your hotel room floor, Brady's services come in very handy.  (Don't worry, I picked up the raisins, he just ate the bran part.)

Cat bed

When we first got Milly, she was so crazy during the night that we had to shut her in the bathroom so she wouldn't jump on our faces all night long.  Unfortunately she figured out how to open the door.  Finally we gave in and tried letting her sleep on our bed part of the night, and when she started going crazy we'd put her in the bathroom, which got later and later....  3am...4am...5am.... until finally she could mostly sleep through the night.
So she had been sleeping on our bed until I went to see an ENT last week.  He didn't tell me NOT to let the cat on the bed, but it was easy to infer.  Cat dander is bad stuff that sticks to everything and stays airborn much longer than dog dander.
I thought I would be in for a battle with Milly. But I put her cat bed (which she had all but stopped using) on top of the dresser, and she loves it! She even goes in there to sleep during the day.

But she has also reverted to jumping on our faces at 6am.  This morning I woke to her jumping over me like a sheep.   Tradeoffs.

Bazaar Bizarre show tomorrow- first one!

Hi everyone, 
Well, I'm finally ready to launch the collars and leashes I've been working on!  Rockhound Pets finally exists as a business.   Come see me tomorrow at San Mateo Bazaar Bizarre.  I'm psyched to get started.  Mango and Milly are equally thrilled.

I don't want to offend anyone, but....

Who does this? 

Pouty Mango

Mango is such a drama queen.  I'm on the floor, working on my computer, and she was nuzzling me- managed to give me a big kiss square on my chin, then another one right into my armpit.  Alex wanted her to calm down, so he gave her a "Mango, go on!"  Mango looked up forlornly, then moped out of the room, looking back over her shoulder.  But she wasn't able to keep it up; as soon as we started laughing at her, she came trotting right back to us. 
By the way, I entered Mango in 7x7 Magazine's Cutest Dog contest.

Do you think she has a shot?

Where did January go?

I looked at my blog and realized my last post was December!  How are we already almost to March 2011? 
Well, I suppose it went fast because I was working (like real, paying jobs for a change).  During January I contracted for a month at my old job at Gap, covering for someone on a long vacation.  Then in February, I went to work with my family at the Tucson Gem Show, followed by 4 days of shopping.  Boy was that fun/trouble.  But I did find some cool stuff to make cool stuff with.  SO!  Now I must get to work. 

Check http://www.rockhoundpets.com/ in the next few days- I will be adding ID tags and collar charms, so you can finally adorn your pet, not just hang your purse.   Though I have more bag hangers to add also.

Happy February!