Dog Days of Winter

Today was gorgeous, but it really hadn't been so lovely the days before. Friday started what the news here called a "wicked wind storm," with freezing winds that topped 50 miles per hour and of course there was snow! We even had "thunder snow." It's really rare, but the snow is accompanied with thunder and lightning - very strange. Saturday was much of the same weather.

I'm a true believer in the saying that ignorance is bliss - we have no idea what to expect from the weather here and so we just assume that all of this is normal for Pittsburgh. We've been told by every person we've met here that this is such a mild winter. We are so thankful that Mother Nature has been so kind to ease us into a northern winter. (Knock on wood it will continue to stay this way!)

With all of this cold weather, I started looking for other ways to get the dogs out for some exercise. Finley is all puppy and can really drive you nuts if she's cooped up in the house for too long. Lola prefers the couch, but I know she really needs to be moving in order to keep her girlish figure. 

When the sun is out, it definitely warms up our apartment and the girls layout - dreaming they're in the tropics! Finley also copies anything that Lola does!

So, I found a group that has a small doggie play group at the local animal shelter - Animal Friends. What a smart idea for a non-profit animal shelter - have an indoor play area run by volunteers and charge people (a small fee) to bring their pets to play! All of the proceeds go to helping this great organization! I couldn't sign us up fast enough! 

This is Animal Friends

The shelter was really great, very clean, and all of the animals looked so well taken care of. They even had a big rabbit area - not sure what was up with the rabbit influx, but they were so cute! 

The kid in me really wanted to take this little guy home!

The pups had a great time! Even Lola eventually ventured out to meet new friends, but Finley definitely stole the show with all of her puppy shenanigans! Here are a few pics from their play date! Enjoy! 

Sorry it's blurry! They all move so fast, it's hard to catch them! Finley's the little black doggie on the left. 

Fin trying out the agility course

Lola - thinking she doesn't belong here because she's not a dog. The white blur in the right hand corner was one of her friends! 

This was in the beginning of session. I think there were probably 20 dogs by the end. Can you spot Finley!?

Our Roots Are Showing!

We've been craving southern style food more than ever since our move to the Burgh! Luckily for us, there is a Cracker Barrel just down the road! We've been here for almost three weeks and have eaten there four times already. I guess our southern roots are showing through and our bellies will too if we keep this up!

You know what they say, "you can take the girl out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the girl." It's true. We even went to CB on Valentine's Day! Hahahaa - yes we did! I guess there's nothing wrong with a little comfort food when you're feeling slightly displaced from home.

(Home away from home! This is just a stock photo. If we had really been there that early, I would say we need a CB intervention!)

My grandma was a true southern cook (seriously - Paula Deen really has nothing on her!) Any meal she made was unbutton your pants type of delicious! Unfortunately, her talent did not rub off on me. I do regret not asking more questions while "helping" her in the kitchen. So, in honor of her and our renewed love of southern food - I'm going to try my hand at making a homemade southern fried chicken dinner this weekend! The recipe looks easy, but no cooking talent often leads to disasters! Pray that I don't set the apartment on fire!

A Different Experience

Who ever thought that grocery shopping would be any different in the North vs. the South? Au contraire, mon ami! It was a totally different experience and a little overwhelming at that! The Giant Eagle is the only grocery store in the area (other than an Aldi or Save-More) and they've created a high end store called "The Marketplace." It's 150,000 square feet of pure heaven! They've got a children's learning center, pharmacy, dry cleaning, onsite nutritionist, restaurant, cooking classes, supreme bakery, oil & vinegar bar, they even grow their own lettuce - in. the. store. There's just too much to list! But my personal favorite is the sweets shop (including some amazing homemade gelato - the tiramisu gelato is to die for and the real reason I've recently joined the gym!!) The store is insane and awesome....until you realize you forgot the bread once you're at the other end of the store!

(Photo from FoodBurgh.com: Check out their blog when the store first opened to get the full scoop and to see more pics of this GIANT grocery store! http://www.foodburgh.com/2009/11/settlers-ridge-reception/)

New Blog!

Hello Loves! Welcome to the new blog, Untraditionally Southern! Our Little Blue Bungalow is still up, but is now a tool to help sell our sweet house. That was our real estate agent's idea - I would have never thought of that or have been brave enough to actually put it out there - I only blog to keep family and friends in the loop of what's going on with our little family, especially now that we're so far away!

The last post on the old blog left us off with the announcement of a new job for Josh in Pittsburgh and we are officially here! We are in the middle of unpacking boxes, but I will definitely post pictures (as requested) of the new (hopefully temporary) apartment as soon as we're all settled!

We did add a new addition to the family! Finley - she's a six months old mini dachshund/min pin mix - they're called doxiepins. We got her two weeks before we left for the Burgh. And YES, I did question my sanity on this decision. She's fitting in nicely though and we are already so in love with her! Here are a few pictures of the little lady (and friends):

The first day we got her - precious! 

The girls snuggling! 

Miss Fin

And of course Lola wanted you to see a picture of her!

Josh took a picture of all the kids! (Tank is the hairy one in the middle) It's a little nutty with all three of these guys!