The Urban Mom.  Yes, it’s fun living in such a hip city.  But trust me–sometimes it’s difficult getting around.

We live in a very hilly part of the city.  So hilly that when I’m pushing our stroller up the hills I’m at 45 degrees panting all the way up.  Needless to say my runs are quite difficult and pretty short.  After not seriously running for two months I’ve been itching to go out and just run.  I thought the Embarcadero was a flat enough terrain with no lights that I can just run my little heart out.  I’ve been wanting to do this for weeks now, but have been turned off from the thought of the stress of it.  So what do I do when I want to try something new?  I recruit a friend.  Smart move on my part because I don’t think I could have done this on my own.  At least not the first time.

I won’t go into the details of our adventure, but I’m sure glad we did it.  While I only went about half as far as I wanted to (I keep telling myself: “I’m a new mom, I’m a new mom”),  it was so nice to get my lungs working (burning) and legs moving (dragging like a ton of bricks).

Lessons learned:

While the Embarcadero is flat with no stop lights, there are a lot of people; and trying to maneuver with a skittish dog and a running stroller is quite difficult.  Although, my sweet friend took one or the other most of the time.  I was prideful sometimes and wanted to see if I could do it myself.

Pixi is cute when she is either very tamed on my leash or being held.  Otherwise she’s a nuisance when there’s so much going on.

Sometimes there are breakdowns while driving: the baby is screaming and the dog is whining and scratching -trying to get out of her carrying case.  But like my mom says, “If they’re fed and changed, there’s nothing you can do.  Stay calm.”  That’s a lot easier said than done.  It is, however, easier to take your mind off the situation when you have a friend to discuss last night’s Bachelor with.

All in all it was a fun afternoon.  It was a good run, and we even stopped by the farmer’s market to finish our adventure.  There’s nothing like a sweet, fresh peach after a sweaty run.

Pixi is no longer my shadow.  She is now Sam’s.  Most of the time Sam and I are always together, but when I do have to leave him alone she’s there watching him for me.

Yesterday I came home, set Sam on the bed, and emptied the groceries.  I go in to peak on him and this is what I see:

Monday was a really rough day.  Sam was being difficult.  I think Pixi could sense my frustration cause she hops up on my lap and gives me loves.  It’s so nice having an extra set of paws to help.

Our friends watched Pixi while were in the hospital on Sam’s birthday.  Luckily they have an adorable little miniature dachshund that plays really well with Pixi.  I can’t get over this video, and how cute it is!!! Poor Pixi has been a little neglected these past few weeks.  I think she’s due for another play date with her girlfriend Frankie.

The sun was shining, our tummies were full, and Pixi really needed to get out after a week of rain. We spent Sunday afternoon strolling through the iconic Alamo Square Park. We got our fix of people-watching the other park-goers while Pixi explored her options in the “no leash” part of the park. She was pretty social until the bigger dogs wanted to say hi…

This is such a sweet story; the love of these two is like me and Pixi’s love. And my sister made a good note about the Sarah Jane post when I mentioned “our next daughter’s room.” No, we do not have a daughter; nor do we have any kids for that matter. Sometimes I refer to Pixi as our daughter… which, I’m aware, can be a little extreme.

Amy Butler has a great new eco-friendly line of wrapping paper and entertaining items. I love wrapping paper, it can add so much color and pattern to any DIY home project.

I can promise you that our little Pixie will never get this big.

The two fox terriers were handed-over to the animal haven on June 17 by their owners who could no longer care for them.

Is that big dog bed of your taking up too much room? DenHaus has incorporated a dog/cat hide-away in with furniture. My little dog LOVES to go in little caves, and think she’d really enjoy this. The furniture can be used as nightstands or end tables.