And Then Came the Last Days of Cafe...

Part of the reason I've been so selfish (hehe) and kept Lippe for so long is that I wanted him here to help with the huge task of cooking our last dinner document our last day at the cafe.

Before I go any further, I want to clarify: we had a blast at our cafe. And by the end were a rip roaring success. I've had many people express condolences and give advice when they hear of our closing, but we didn't close because we failed...we closed because we did SO well that we outgrew our tiny tiny kitchen! BOL! In all honesty, the "cafe" is actually a coffee shop and was never meant for cooking and serving food. But it was a grand experiment and who knows...maybe we'll be inviting Lippe back someday for the Grand Opening of our restaurant at a new location. ;)

Now, to the pics!

As part of our final day, we opted to put on a big invitation-only customer appreciation dinner for our favorite, most loyal customers. We chose a big Chinese dinner!

Lippe got to work folding (and tasting) fortune cookies:

After that hard work, he took a break to eat some sesame chicken:

Then it got intense! Time to fill & fold approximately one squillion crab wontons:

But the reward is worth it! Check out that spread!

Lippe having a hard time deciding what to put on his plate first:

Then, after everyone's gone home, it's time to pack up and clean, clean, CLEAN. Goodbye, tiny kitchen:

Goodbye, tiny coffee shop! Thanks for the memories!

Giveaway Extravaganza!

Girl has some Dogswell Mellow Mutt and Dogswell Happy Heart chicken jerky dog treats in her store that are about to expire! So I thought, hey, how about I give them to my friends?

If you would like a bag, leave a comment letting me know which you'd like and I'll send a bag to you!

For my cat pals out there, I do have some Catswell Vitakitty chicken treats that are ToPu & Kenshin approved...they are slightly out of date but if anyone would like them, let me know!

Thanks!

Odds & Ends

So after reading about Mario's teeth, I was wondering: do any of you out there have dental chews you'd recommend?

And totally unrelated to my stinky breath:
I know times are hard for everyone right now and it seems like the pleas for charity and donations increase every day. That said, I'd like to give you links to a friend of mine who's having a bit of a hard time. He has a children's book and some corresponding merchandise. The book is about the responsibility of owning a pet, which is why I'm pitching it sharing it with my anipal furriends. :)

OMD, I Know A CELEBRITY!

Have you all seen @MarioDaCat's blog?
Or maybe his ARTICLE IN THE WASHINGTON POST?!

Our very own Mario, a bona fide celeb!

Teddy-tastic

I have some of the best teddy friends a dog could ask for. As you know from my posts, I also have teddies that live with me. Well, this morning I was reading the latest issue of Fauxgue and in the Literature>Poetry section there were some of the sweetest quotes about teddy bears and I was reminded of all my teddy friends (well, all my friends of the plush variety, really). I would copy & paste them all but you really need to just check out Fauxgue and please share it with all your friends!

Lippe Goes Camping

This is a long adventure so settle in!

Lippe was very excited to go camping after such a hard day at the cafe. It was quite a drive up to the cabin though...

And was bedtime as soon as we got there! Maya & Artie came along too. Bianca and J. Bear got to come last year, so they opted to stay behind with T. Nuki-chan and supervise at the cafe for the weekend.

Saturday morning started with a quest for the elusive rock chuck. If you biggify the picture, can you see the marmot on the rock behind Lippe?

Here's another rock chuck, if you look right above the shadow line in the rocks.

Lippe takes a moment to enjoy the scenery. The camo hoodie is on loan from J. Bear to give him a good "Wyoming look."

Posing in front of the view.

Maya, Artie, and Lippe want to take the Rhino out. Artie says he'll operate the pedals if Lippe steers...

The little guest cabin is under construction.

Then things really get exciting as Lippe decides to go rafting!

There I am, cheering on Lippe in the background, doing my best to look adventurous! What a brave pioneering spirit that Lippe has!

Me, Ein, and The Dad supervise Lippe as he comes over the rapids...

OMD! Extreme hard core whitewater rafting video!

Lippe, the brave adventurer!

After all that excitement, Lippe and Artie explore an old old cabin.

After that little rest, Lippe spots a cliff face and decides to do some climbing:

And higher he goes...

And HIGHER...

Stops for a little rest before the last big push...

KING OF THE WORLD!

A wave to everyone from the top of the world! Or at least the top of the rock.

Whew! Loaded up and ready to go back to camp.

Sunday morning it's time for some construction work. Checking the level in the little cabin:

OMD! Close call on the roof! Good thing for that safety rope.

Taking a rest with Wickie, who is named Wicket after the Ewok. Considering Lippe is a Wookie, we figured they should be great pals, right?

Lippe and Artie buckled up in the Jeep. Time to head down the mountain to home.

Lippe and Artie get the fence on the trip out.

Good bye, cabin! Good bye, mountain! Good bye, camping!

Lippe's Here!

Finally! Lippe has arrived!

We didn't waste time putting him to work. Had to do some emergency shopping for the cafe...

And then it was time to make the buns for the day! Lippe set to work kneading the dough...

...and then stamped out the buns. Nice buns, Lippe! BOL! ;)

After the hard work, Lippe needed a coffee break. Of course he opted for the fashionable Shibbering Cheetos mug!

Lippe didn't get paid wages but he did get paid in red velvet cake.

He finished the day by helping run the register.

Lippe was rewarded with a massage at the end of a hard day's work!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Lippe's visit: Lippe Goes Camping!

A Request

One of my favorite things to do to wind down my day is go through my Google Reader and catch up on all the anipal blogs. I'm blessed to know so many wonderful pals and it's great to get a peek at their lives and share lessons. I love them all.

@MattieDog's http://mattiedadog.blogspot.com/ is one of my favorites. If you haven't read/don't follow his blog, I highly recommend it. Every post is worth reading. Mattie fills his blog with gentle lessons, light humor, and poignant thought.

Now, I'm not just writing this to toot Mattie's horn (though we all know dogs love tooting!) but because I have nominated and would like your help nominating http://mattiedadog.blogspot.com/ for a Petties award for Best Dog Blog. It's very easy, just click on the Petties link, fill out a few fields, click Best Dog Blog, and that's it. We need nominations submitted by June 29th, please. After that, if Mattie is a finalist, we'll begin campaigning for votes ;)

Please spread the word and encourage others to nominate Mattie's blog too. All your help is very, very appreciated.

Teddy Fashion Show!

The other day I received an unexpected but quite pleasant package from my bear friend @i_am_fuzzy! It appears his person got a bit bored and to keep herself busy starting sewing up clothes that perfectly fit small girl bears. However, Fuzzy is a BOY bear and didn't want frilly things so he thought maybe Maya, who lives with me, might appreciate them.

Maya was so excited to get some new clothes (all the bears have been asking for something new to wear) she wanted to put on a fashion show. She invited Bianca to be her assistant model and of course, Bianca jumped at the chance to try on some new outfits. Artie wasn't really invited, as he doesn't even wear clothes, but no one seemed to mind him tagging along.

Here you can see Bianca is wearing the top that Maya is wearing in the picture above while Maya is wearing just the cute dress. Works for clothing one bear or two!

This outfit is really cute and multipurpose...here Maya is modeling the matching top & skirt...

But here Bianca is wearing the top with a matching pair of shorts! You can see Maya is modeling a lovely whimsical apron, which I'm sure will come in quite handy!

 

Thanks, Fuzzy, for this unexpected gift! As you can see, the girls had a lot of fun showing off the new clothes. 

For pals who want more information about my bears (or would maybe like to start their own bear family, hehe):

Bianca came from @SnuffyNorton  http://shop.bearmani.com/

Maya came from @i_am_fuzzy

Artie came from @elineof who has a wonderful etsy store