where did june go?

As I sit here watching neighborhood fireworks through the front window, I can't believe we're already three days into July.

So what happened in the fleeting month of June? A heck of a lot, actually.

HOW DESIGN CONFERENCE

So, back in January (at least I think it was January) I found out that I was going to be one of three designers from work sent to the annual HOW Design Conference. While that was exciting on its own—the fact that his year's conference was in Denver added to the thrill. It was my first time visiting the city and I do love me some urban exploring.

Denver is an amazing city. It's incredibly easy to get around sans-automobile and outside of conference time—there was a lot to see and do. Taking a cue from my foodie husband, I looked up some places to check out meal-wise before we left. My favorite (which we visited twice during those 4 days) was Steuben's. I almost felt bad eating there without Matt because it's the kind of place he dreams about opening.

A Rockies game, a free pedicab ride, a near-empty Coyote Ugly franchise on a Monday night and an accidental stumbling into a dueling piano bar—Denver nightlife served us well.

The conference? A blast. Like Comic-Con for graphic designers. It was a creative gut-check and kick in the pants to get busy making things. In fact, most of the lessons/inspiration I took home with me related to things to do outside of work to be a happier creative sort overall. I was a bookshop fiend and used my SDCC skills to load up on awesome swag in the resource room.

DOGS

Maggie, Clark and I spent a Saturday morning walking for a good cause—the Rochester Animal Services shelter. It was a fun day in the park near Verona Street followed by an interesting walk around the area about Frontier Field. Maggie, who is still a work in progress when it comes to socializing with strange dogs, did incredibly well.

Clark is an agility superstar. The day after the walk, we went to Amherst for his second agility trial and he placed 1st in all three events and earned his Novice title, moving up to Open in Standard and JWW. His therapy work has been wonderful as well. Because of some scheduling conflicts, we had to skip one of our regular visits and got to go to a new place. He loves it and people respond well to him. Like any good athlete, he has his charity work. Hah.

TRICERABRATION

MAMA's house continued it's excellent party throwing streak, celebrating not just Halloween this year, but the 17th anniversary of Jurassic Park with their Tricerabration picnic.

My favorite dino-themed dishes were Anna's mom's dino egg (a hollowed out melon with lemon and vanilla pudding) and the idea of Eric's dino-nugget and tater tot diorama (only existing as an idea, as putting it together would have involved touching everyone's food).

We brought over the firepit and as the sun went down, MAMA's house broke that out. I love campfires, the building of them and the socializing around them. Especially on those perfect summer nights where it's just chilly enough for the fire to be comfortable.

iPHONE

I usually don't like to facebrag (or since this is a blog and not facebook... I guess it's blogbrag?)... but I've been looking forward to this since the first speculation of a new phone.

My iPhone 4, I loves it.

HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

Ten years? Already. GTFO. But apparently it has been. I originally was dead set against going, mainly because there was apparently some folks butthurt about not having prom on a boat, so they were making up for that by booking the reunion on some river-faring vessel. But Ali and Jen tempted me with the promises of much laughter... and I went.

Since the river booze cruise wasn't everyone's cup of tea, we put together a picnic the afternoon of at my dad's house. What a great time! Saw people I hadn't seen in ages, got to meet significant others and offspring and catch up with old friends.

The boat... surprisingly fun! Former nay-sayers changed their mind at the picnic and our group took over the top deck. Got to see more folks I'd all but lost touch with and drank my $50 in liquor at least. We followed up the boatride with a few drinks at The Steel House and Mariners (oh, camp memories) and then Ali, Tom, Claire, Matt & I retired to Michael's Diner until we called our DD.

TELEVISION

Summer TV, endings and beginnings.

June brought the end of the new season of Doctor Who and it was so bloody brilliant. Matt Smith is my favorite Doctor, hands down. There's a Tennant episode of WXXI right now and while it's a great one (Silence in the Library), he's just not as fun as Smith. Look at him dance!

I can't wait for the Christmas episode. However, there is something to fill the gap. True Blood is back and so are the odd theme nights that go along with them at the Austin house. Matt found a cake weck at Tops that we passed off as an AIDSburger cake. True Blood is fantastic and over the top, never taking itself too seriously. Though, I could have done without the end scene of the third episode. Some things you just can't unsee, I suppose.

And July? It's going to be the best month yet. I don't have a full week of work until August due to things like 4th of July, my birthday shenanigans and, of course, Comic Con. This year Matt & I and the boys are all flying out together. Matt took me to see Tron at the Dryden tonight to properly prepare me for the awesomeness all over San Diego that is Tron Legacy and Anna and I have agreed to celebrate our birthdays proper in the Gaslamp Quarter (saving our birthday wishes for Comic-Con week).

fall days, dog days.

Matt and I took the fuzz balls down to the park today. Matt fell in love with the idea of getting an Airedale Terrier as our next dog and was even looking up info on the breed on his iPhone while we were there. I think we have "next dogs" lined up for years —since we're not going to be a three dog household. Also on the waiting list, dog names. I still want to call a dog Spiderman and we are definitely having a dog named ASBO at some point. But Matt pointed out that people names for dogs are pretty awesome and I agree. I see an Airedale named Charlie in our future somewhere.

Maggie stayed on-leash, but did better this time than previous ones while being around a lot of other dogs. Maggie's kind of a work in progress. I don't know what her previous owners did to her, but I can tell you that they didn't work on socializing her AT ALL. So it's been a slow and steady process just getting her to the point where she's not flipping out when she sees another dog she doesn't know. The headcollar helps.

I need to remember to bring my camera the next time I go to Ellison (which might just be tomorrow afternoon). Not only are the trees gorgeous in their fall colors, but I'd love to have some photos of my little social butterfly running around with the other dogs down there.

In other canine news, Clark needs to lose a few pounds: so sayeth the vet as well as the agility instructor. He's not morbidly obese, but on a little dog, two or three pounds can make all the difference. So, that means I just finished cooking dinner for the dog. Hah. It's nothing ornate, I'm just cutting his dog food intake by half and replacing that with cooked veggies. Tonight I learned that cooked carrots, peas and spinach are awesome —a sprinkling of uncooked celery... not so much.

With both Matt and I getting on the eating right and exercise wagon, it's kinda funny/weird to have Clark jumping on board. Maggie... well, Maggie has a goddamn hummingbird metabolism.

what i did on my summer vacation.

The good news: I got a job. Starting Monday, I will be joining the team at Dixon Schwabl. I'm excited as my two-day test drive gave me a taste of what it's like to work there and I had a great time.

The bad news: this is my last week of what I've come to call my summer vacation. It's been great, I couldn't have been laid off at a better time of year. I had plenty of time to get things in order for the wedding and I also had some time to just unwind and enjoy my life.

While I still have my week in August with the family, it still feels like that final week before school resumed. So here's the rundown of what I did on my summer vacation.

• Just Married - This one deserves an entry of its own. I promise. One will come.
  

• Shenanigans with Laura - Partners in unemployment, Laura and I spent the first few weeks of vacation enjoying all that was denied to us in the working world. Matinee movies, long lunches and daytime television. In the ultimate shenanigan, we took a roadtrip to Boston when Laura got her new job. I rode shotgun while Laura looked at apartments and had a fun, whirlwind trip in Beantown.

• Puppy Time - One of the best things about being home during the day is spending time with the dogs. I don't know who will be more upset when I rejoin the workforce, me or Clark. Maggie, like always, is relatively indifferent to me being home. Activities like going to Ellison today while everyone else is in neckties and khakis have been some of my favorites. Also over the break, Clark graduated from sleeping in his kennel to earning his bedroom privileges.

• The Grass Is Always Greener - This is mundane, but it was a big deal to me. I repaired the dead spot in the lawn! This is my first house and therefore, my first time dealing with yard work. Leaves covered by snow all winter long had killed a spot in the yard and I nursed it back to life. I've also planted flowers, re-mulched the front garden and planned more green-thumb activities for the summer.

• A Rose By Any Other Name - With looking for work and dealing with a change of name I had to update not only my resume but EVERY PIECE OF PAPER OR PLASTIC with my name on it. Also, my website. It's weird to sign something new after the "Kara" bit, but I'm getting used to it.

• Created Life - NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. I downloaded the Spore creature creator and have been creating critters with Anna.