Help us choose our Holly-ween costume!

Good morning, Darlings!

I hope you've all entered our giveaway with Jumping and Jellybean! It ends tomorrow, so be sure to get those entries in for your chance to win a sparkle bow in the color of your choice! And be sure to check out Jumping and Jellybean's Etsy page for some paw-sitively fabulous new offerings for Fall.

Speaking of Fall, Holly and I are so excited that our favorite season is here. Crisper weather means we are breaking out our best in matching outfits for pumpkin patches and apple picking, and indulging in cider doughnuts and apple pie while cozying up in our favorite cable knits. And of course, Fall brings the greatest of all holidays for those who love coordinated ensembles: Halloween.

Last year, we celebrated our first Holly-ween as coordinating poodle girls, and though our matching skills were on point, we saw that when it comes to pup costumes in NYC, you have to bring your A game and be extra-creative. We have been brainstorming all year to come up with the best costume that not only will win over the judges, but stay true to the LHBW motto that "life is more fun when you match" (a motto I may or may not have made up just now).

That said, we thought we would turn to YOU, our faithful fans, to help us decide which of the ideas we should run with to really go for gold this Holly-ween. Of course, it's not about winning, it's about having a good time, but......winning is always a nice bonus :)

Below are my top three ideas for this year's costumed ensemble:

Special birthday giveaway with Jumping & Jellybean

Good morning, Darlings!

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen that this past Friday was my birthday. You also almost certainly have seen my affinity for Jumping & Jellybean, Etsy purveyor of sparkling bows, coffee cozies, and collar accents in a rainbow of colors (so basically, my idea of heaven). The shop's owner is my dear friend Molly, a fellow chi-mama whose unfairly adorable fur and human babes serve as the spokesmodels for all her adorable products.

Just some of my Jumping & Jellybean faves, including collar bows, mama & me sparkle, and of course coffee cozies!

Weekend Wander: New York Mets Bark In The Park 2014

We want to start off by saying thank you to SITS for making Little Holly's Big World one of this week's featured blogs! Whether you are an old fan or stopping by for the first time, we are so happy to have you here!

Holly and I were so excited to attend this month's Bark In the Park event, hosted by the New York Mets. The major league baseball team hosts three Bark In the Park games each year, where fans can bring their four legged friends to root, root, root for the home team--and take a stroll on the Amazin's very own Citi Field!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Home Cooking for Newbies with Emma of Queeniechi!

Hello Darlings,

I am so excited to share this post today. As you might know from reading the blog, I have been home cooking for Holly in recent months under the suggestion and supervision of our vet. Since the diet offers more wiggle room than a standard kibble-in-bowl routine, I am always on the lookout for new recipes or foods I might try for Holly. That's why I was so thrilled to meet Emma of Queeniechi through Facebook; as a Chihuahua mama herself, she home cooks for her own animals and also is a professional Canine Chef/Nutritionist who creates bespoke menus for clients based on dietary needs. Knowing that I had a lot of questions when I made the transition to home cooking (and still do), I asked Emma if I could pick her brain for some of her professional expertise. She very kindly agreed, and I hope her answers help those of you thinking about consulting your vet about home cooking consider taking the plunge!

Paw-sitively Fabulous: Liebster Award

I was nominated for a Liebster Award by Victoria Secret Window AND Southern Fried Mouth, two fellow pawsome bloggers, earlier this Summer. It's a super fun way for smaller bloggers to recognize one another, spread some love to fellow bloggers, and pay it forward. Basically it has me all warm and fuzzy inside.

As a condition of accepting this paw-some honor, there are a few rules I have to follow:

• link back to the person who nominated me
• answer all the questions that blogger gives me
• choose 5-11 bloggers with fewer than 200 followers and come up with new questions for them
• let the nominees know they have been nominated

Little Holly's Big Book Club: Book 2 Wrap Up and Book 3

Hello, Darlings!

Can you believe it's September already? The Summer definitely flew by at LHBW headquarters, but was full of pawsome events and paw-sitively fabulous memories! We're sad to see Summer go but ready to get our Pumpkin Spice Lattes and big sweaters on!! And with the beginning of Fall comes the last installment in Little Holly's Big Book Club, but first, of course, a wrap up of last month's book.

Julie Klam's You Had Me At Woof was poignent, heartbreaking, and hilarious. I have to admit, there was a point when I had to step away from it for a bit when she was discussing animal loss, as it is a feeling any animal lover has been through and Julie's depiction of her own loss is quick to bring those memories and fear back. Still, her subsequent chapter on loss felt especially needed as a reminder that all the indescribable pain that one goes through when losing a pet is more than made up for by that animal's time with us, no matter how short. Since Holly had lost a dear friend too soon earlier in the month (a friend's rescue Chihuahua crossed the rainbow bridge unexpectedly), this was a particularly fitting lesson for the month.

That said, the book is not for the faint of heart (or those with a shortage of tissues). Julie delves into the more graphic parts of pet ownership with detailed honesty, and some of the scenes can be difficult to bear. Still, those moments were so outweighed by the joyous, laugh out loud funny, and completely relatable tales of her life as a foster and rescue mom, much like those moments in our own pet's lives ultimately outweigh the pain of their loss. I would definitely recommend the book for an adult dog loving friend, particularly one dealing with the recent loss of a beloved pet.

Weekend Wander: The Amazing New York Dog-Friendly Scavenger Hunt

Last weekend, some friends and I got together to participate in The Amazing New York Dog-Friendly Scavenger Hunt, which was put on by Pogo Events. We met with about 50 fellow dog owners at Central Park's bandshell early Sunday afternoon, prepared for a fun (and competitive) afternoon with our pups!

Our team was comprised of myself & Holly, my friend Katie and her rescue pooch Henry, and my friend Matt, his girlfriend Lauren, and their new rescue Penny. Since we were a team of rescue pups, we named our team "Turn Down For Mutt," and the pooches donned matching camo bandanas so the other teams could see we meant business!

Holly and Henry are in it to win it!

The Pogo Events team divided any pups and humans without teams into groups, and then one member from each team was prompted to scan a QR code (we had been instructed via e-mail to download the app ScanQuest prior to our arrival), which unlocked all of the tasks that we needed to complete on our journey. The app was set up checklist style but you could elect to do the tasks in any order you liked. We decided to start with the images (saving a few of the trickier ones for in between other tasks), then the places, and do drawings and trivia questions in between as we walked. The handy thing about having Matt and Lauren there was Lauren could snap our photo since every pup owner and pup needed to be in every picture.

"Running" by the Carousal. Henry didn't commit to this...I think someone had a pretzel in his eye line!

The tasks were silly and some required a lot of improvisation on our part! We were instructed to take photos sniffing trash cans, waltzing in front of the Central Park Children's Zoo, jogging near the Carousal, and with a pretzel vendor, just to name a few. We had to get super creative with the task that required we all go down a slide--Central Park has a rule that prohibits adults from entering playgrounds unless they are accompanying a child, so we got creative on a slope of hill and just pretended to slide instead.

Having a great time on the slide. Penny is not amused. 

Surprisingly, one of the most difficult items to find was someone wearing something that said "Brooklyn." For all the people whose shirts we creepily read as we ran through the park, know it was for the greater good. And for this very kind French tourist, who didn't even KNOW his shirt said "Brooklyn," I hope we sent you back with a great story about wacky New Yorkers!

The Brooklyn shirt was a real find!

As the day wound down, we still had two locations left to find and a bonus point video to complete (contestants have the option of making a video for an additional 25 points, and participating in a "roadblock" activity, which we had successfully completed, for an additional 50). Since we were feeling pretty good about how much we had completed, we initially planned to visit one of the sites and create the video so we wouldn't be docked points for coming back late. However, our last two locations were super close to each other, so we were actually able to complete everything with time to spare for video making! I'm glad we made both stops, because those pictures are some of my favorite from the afternoon (despite our obvious exhaustion!).

Every pup and person (except Penny) is worn out from our adventure!

We were instructed to "jump" in front of this bridge...something Henry took VERY seriously!

For the video challenge, we had to make ONE dog sit, give paw, and play dead. Our only problem was our pooches were not well versed in the play dead category. Lauren came up with a genius improv where she had Matt hold Penny and gave HIM the instructions! The resulting video was hilarious (though he would probably kill me if I posted it on the internet, so I will refrain), and earned us the full 25 point bonus.

Despite completing all the tasks for the day, we came in second place. We were bummed, but still got to walk away with treats and toys for the pooches, as well as some great coupons and gifts from BarkBox, Bitch New York, and the Mayor's Alliance, among other sponsors.

The puppy prize pack--Holly was all about the treats, and the pink tennis ball!

For our second place win, we were also gifted with vouchers for a free Pogo Events scavenger hunt in the future, so you'd better bet team "Turn Down For Mutt" will be back next year with our eye on the prize!

Thanks to my awesome teammates--we'll clinch it next year!

What do you think about a dog scavenger hunt? Is it something you would try with your pup?

Until Next Time, Darlings!