August 31, 2012

What's In a Name?

Today's post was inspired by Dakota's Den's post on How Did You Name Your Dog.

Dakota's Mom shared this very fun graphic produced by Matt Beswick for Pet365. {Click here to view Matt's full post.}

Dog Names

Who knew that George Washington had so many dogs? (I assume not all at one time...) And both G.W. and Queen Elizabeth had dogs named Vulcan?? What's up with that? (And doesn't that seem like sort of an imposing name for a cute little corgi?)

Anyway, I thought I'd share the story of how our pups got their names:

Bailey was named after Bailey's Bay, which was near where we lived in Bermuda. We thought we were being so unique and original! But suddenly there were Baileys everywhere, because there was a popular character on... I forget... a show we didn't watch so we had no idea. Maybe 90210? Something like that...

Abby's full name was Abby Louise, because that used all the letters in Bailey's name. Awww. Miss that girl!

Rita was named after Rosarita Beach, the beach in Baja Mexico where the rescue group found her. When she came to us, her name was Peaches. (Which was a funny coincidence, because there is a minor dog character in What the Dog Ate named Peaches.) Anyway, Mike makes a mean peach margarita, so in addition to being named after the beach, she’s also named after peach margaritas.

A pearl in the poppies
After reading Dakota's mom's post about how she found that Dakota means “trusted friend,” I decided to look up what Rita means: “Pearl.” This is another funny coincidence, because I joked with Mike when we were trying to come up with Abby's name that I wanted to name her Pearl so that I could be “Mother of Pearl.” (I know - I'm a dork.)

I guess we picked the right name for Rita, as she is definitely our special gem!

How did your pup get his/her name?


Very Brief Book/Writing News
In book news, I got another nice review on Chick Lit Central. Also, I had another idea for a book that I like and think could be a lot of fun to write - so I'm now working on three, yes three, different books at one time. And making myself crazy(er). Going to try to focus and finish one!!

August 29, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: I Gotta Wear Shades

That's right - Rita's future is so bright, she's gotta wear shades. (Okay, really it's just cuz she likes to hang her head out the window...)

Remember last Wednesday when I posted pics of Rita sporting her Doggles? Well, Sunday was the first time we actually remembered to try them in the car:
"I know it's cute, but must I wear them?"

August 27, 2012

Monday Mischief: Scavenging!

This Monday Mischief is actually mostly about me and some mischief Mike's admin asked me to join in - but Rita benefited from the mischief as well!

Last week I participated in a scavenger hunt that was a team-building event for my hub's Finance department at work. The hub's admin was the one who invited me to be one of the "things" they scavenged for, so he didn't know I'd be there.

The hunt took place in downtown La Jolla, full of nice restaurants and shops and always bustling on a Friday afternoon - especially in the summer. I was told to hang out reading What the Dog Ate on the bench outside Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. There were 6 teams, and even though the hunt was to last all afternoon, they were told that my particular clue was only good from 2 to 3 (so I didn't have to sit there forever).

The clue was something like: "The dog ate my homework" is one of the most common excuses in America. Stop by this 3000 mile mountain range for a sweet treat, where you'll find a La Jolla author who can tell you what else the dog ate.

When I got there, the bench I was supposed to sit on was otherwise ocupied by a homeless guy. Luckily there was a tiny little wall about 6 inches off the ground in front of the shop, so I sat on that and pulled out my book and tried to make the cover obvious.

August 24, 2012

What's Better Than a Good Book?...

...A FREE good book!

It's time to announce the winner of my giveaway of Peggy Frezon's Dieting With My Dog, and the winner is... Danielle Murgia! (Yep, that's right... If you checked Peggy's blog this morning to see who won What the Dog Ate, the same lucky lady won both books! What are the odds? But Rafflecopter is totally random, so, it's just Danielle's lucky day. Maybe she should pick up a lottery ticket today!) 

I'll email you shortly, Daneille, to get your address. Congrats on the double win!

Speaking of being lucky... I won two books myself this week! 

August 22, 2012

Wordless Wednesday: Lovely Rita

For this week's (mostly) Wordless Wednesday, I figured we'd focus on the cuteness of Rita. (And, okay, I admit... there's some book-related wordiness at the end.) But mostly, there are a LOT of cute pics - and even a painting! - of Rita:

"This is cute enough, right? We can stop now, right?"

August 20, 2012

Monday Mischief: UnbreakOBall & Monkeybutts

It's Monday Mischief time again, so this week we've got a video of Rita being mischievous with another little something that we won. Yes, we won something again! We've been so lucky lately! Remember a while back I posted about the UnbreakOBall contest and encouraged folks to enter? And remember I included the link to my entry for Abby versus Barney, which Liz from the Indestructible Dog Gear blog turned into: "The Tale of Abby & Barney: A Love Story"? Well, Abby was named the "Indestructible Dog of the Month" for July (whoohoo!) so Rita received an UnbreakOBall in Abby's memory.

"More mail for me??"

August 17, 2012

Dieting With My Dog - Giveaway!

One of the really great things about publishing my book has been meeting other writers - like Peggy Frezon, author and dog columnist. So, today I wanted to introduce you to Peggy and her book, Dieting with my Dog: One Busy Life, Two Full Figures…and Unconditional Love.

My copy is on its way, so I haven't read it yet, but the book tells "the honest and heartfelt story of one overweight woman and her chubby spaniel, struggling to lose weight together. Their wonderful results will inspire anyone who wants to get fit and healthy…with their furry best friend."

“Peggy Frezon has written a charming and delightful tale. Dieting With My Dog is sweet, funny, inspiring and adorable, just like Peggy and Kelly!”
–Julie Klam, bestselling author You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness