Thursday's Thoughts...

"And they call it Puppy Love....."

NOT The Hamptons

Here’s a little secret I’ll let you in on. Labor Day is the perfect time to stay in the city. I can’t tell you how many people asked if we were going out of town this weekend. WHY? Let everyone else hop on the Jitney (I’m too big for it anyways), fight the traffic, and head to the Hamptons…. that just leaves more of the city for my DueMan and me.

With everyone else out of town – the city is quiet – the sidewalks are roomier – the Park is just ripe for a romp with my guy.

I let him chase me…..

I let him catch me….

And we rest….
Then I found this great little spot….

My own forsythia cave!
It’s cool and quiet….and I can still keep an eye on my people. We’re going to hang out here for the time being. Maybe stroll down Madison Avenue on the way home so the 2 legged ones can window shop. Another perfect lazy day in the city.

Until our next adventure…

Copyright 2009, Central Bark Designs, Inc., All Rights Reserved

My Due!

"No one is perfect, until you fall in love with them" - Unknown

Due is back from his week in the country. His folks headed out for their own adventure today (something about the U.S. being Open...and men in white shorts!) It really doesn't matter where they headed as long as Du spends the afternoon with us.

I'm trying to play it cool. I wouldn't want him to know how much I missed him when he was gone. Quite frankly a week in dog-ville is almost 2 months to you people. Trust me it was agony. But I can be cool...

I'll act like I don't even know he's here....

The best news...I heard the 2-legged ones talking...and it looks like we get to head to Central Park tomorrow...ON A MONDAY! I can't imagine life getting any better than that.

Copyright 2009, Central Bark Designs, All Rights Reserved

Let's Ramble

As promised - Mom and I headed to The Ramble in Central Park.

The Ramble is 38-acres of what appears to be untouched woodlands smack in the middle of Central Park. In reality, like the rest of the park, The Ramble was all part of the Olmsted's grand design. Even the stream, known as The Gill, was created for this area. It can be turned on and off at a water tap.

Our journey started at the Bow Bridge.

Once in the Ramble – you loose site of the surrounding city. You feel transported to a mountain wilderness that seems to be hours away.

Hey – we’re city girls – we do what we can within shouting distance of Tiffany's and Bergdorf's . In fact on our little journey today we discovered a rustic shelter...

Enjoyed the cool shade and gentle breezes... on the pathways....

And the granite steps.....

And the boulders....OK - fine - we (make that I) took a nap or two. A perfectly lazy Saturday in the Park!

As we wound our way through the woods to the Belvedere Castle – we came across the official NYC Weather Monitoring Station.

When broadcasters mention the temperature and precipitation for NYC – they mean right here – in The Ramble of Central Park!

Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend! Until our next adventure…

THURSDAY THOUGHTS

HMMMMMM....ICE CUBES!!!!!

Do What You Love, Love What You Do

Mom loves her job. She's a political news junkie. Her job takes her away from home from time to time. Sometimes (like last week) it’s with just a couple hours notice, and other times we know well in advance.

When Mom headed to Denver for last summer’s Democratic Convention, she was gone the entire month of August - but that worked out for me since Sarah (mom’s honorary niece) came to stay in New York. I had a great time showing Sarah my city. I really had a great time when Sarah's husband Mike came for a visit!

My favorite assignment was the month Mom had to spend in New Hampshire to cover the NH Primary – I got to go with her as the “official worksite dog”. It was exhausting – there were 100+ people, they were all very tense – so I had my work cut out for me.

I helped the lighting crew light the set…

I was interviewed by Greta VanSusteren…

Producer Jamie Nelson piled all my toys on me when it was nap time….(apparently my job was also to make people laugh)

I even got veteran newsman Brit Hume to crack a smile…

It was a lot of fun, but being a morale officer can be exhausting….

While a lot of folks may not be ready for another political cycle - Mom and I can't wait to head back to New Hampshire.

The Residence Inn in Merrimack is a great place to stay if you're a dog assigned to covering the NH Primary! Our room was more like an apartment, we had a kitchen, living room complete with fireplace - which was all nice and cozy when we had 30" of snow!

So until the next debate/primary/debate/super tuesday/convention/debate/election night/inaugural season...we'll continue to enjoy creating our pet placmats, lazy Saturdays in Central Park, and all the other adventures NYC has to offer!

Copyright 2009, Central Bark Designs, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Work in Progress

Due has gone to the country for the week - so it's a little quiet here in my world. The weather is starting to cool and it's a good time for Mom and I to work on some new designs for our fall collection of pet floorcloth / placemats. You can check out our etsy store by clicking here.

Mom likes to comb through pages and pages of design magazines to get ideas. For patterns, for color combinations. The "SoHo Bone" above was inspired by the blanket in the current issue of Martha Stewart Living.

The fun and mod paw print mat - we're going to call it "The Gramercy" was inspired by this vase we found on the pages of the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

This one was also influenced by BH&G's September issue. Mom loved the kitchen back splash and tried to use that color palette in our new "Washington Square Bone". I think Mom really enjoys mixing up the custom colors. It looks to me like she's playing with her paints - but then that's just me!

I hope you enjoy seeing a little of our work in progress. I need to crack the whip and get Mom to finish the detail work on these last two so they can be posted in the etsy store by this weekend.

Saturday is suppose to be beautiful. I'm hoping Mom will take me to The Ramble in Central Park. Although you have to stay on leash at all times in The Ramble - it's a lot of fun. It's heavily wooded and the closest thing us city dogs have to being in the mountains. I am very envious of the photos Sierra-Rose posts on her blog about her adventures out west.

Copyright 2009, Central Bark Designs, Inc., All Rights Reserved