Gone to the Dreams (again)

What’s up studs and bitches?

your guest bloggers for the day... paris and bowdoin the bulldogs.

We’re baaaaaaaaack!

We took over this blog once before and promised to chime in again when our world was rocked.  And let’s just say, we can’t quite pinpoint why – but OUR WORLD IS GETTNG ROCKED.

Something just seems different ‘round the Dream lately.  For instance, mom’s been hiding this big ball under her shirt for months and refuses to throw it for us!  Rude.  Bowdoin even asked politely twice (here and here).

So, that’s weird.

Also, there’s all sorts of cool new things coming in…

Toys, things that look like toys, things that squeak, and more toys.  However, we’re getting ZERO access to them.  What gives?!  Mom even posted about torturing us with keeping them out of reach – and shared this incredibly unflattering photo of Bowdoin royally pissed off about it…

Hmph.  That’s all really strange – but the kicker is that we haven’t been allowed out of the kitchen area in over a week!  Not since these two, scary men came with big machines that made lots of noise, smelled weird and spent hours erasing all Bulldog scent from the Dream’s carpets and floors.

the way life used to be

Do they have ANY IDEA how much effort we put into making this place smell just right?!  Mom and Dad really love the new grout “paint” – as they call it.  We call it crap.

Anyway, we wish someone would tell us what the CATNIP is going on.  Mom keeps pointing to that big ball under her shirt and asking if we’re ready to meet “BOB”… we think she may have gone crazy.  More snooping is necessary… we’ll keep you posted.

but, for now, we nap…

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A Dream Announcement!

The Dreamers are beyond pleased to announce the impending arrival of a mini-Dreamer!

We are humbled and blessed by this miracle and thank God for trusting us with one of His amazing creations.

11 weeks along and already the size of a pumpkin!

(In other news, I chopped my hair off – “for real” this time!)

The babe will grace us with his/her presence in May (or June?) 2011.  Until then, we’ve got to get to work on this:

And we already have a plan that includes this fun item.  Oh yes. we’re “those” people!

However, the real Bulldogs have no idea what’s coming.  NO. Idea.

Poor kids.  They’re not going to be “top dogs” for much longer.

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Paris Conquers the Dream

(This post contains some pretty darn cute videos of our “babies.”  Make sure you check them out by clicking on the links.  We’re too cheap to pay for the Video Upgrade.  We’d rather spend our cash on The Dream.)

What up blog-readers?  My name is Paris and I’m taking over this blog.

Sometimes, my mom & dad refer to me as “the cripple.”  Pretty sure that’s a term of affection. Right?  Anyway, they’re not that far off.  After all, I do have a pretty dramatic story to tell.  But… my hip has healed nicely, and I’ve recently surprised the whole fam by conquering the stairs.

You see, for the last year – since I was adopted – I haven’t been allowed upstairs.  Darn hip!   Every once in a while I’ll get carried up/down to hang out with the parents and my brother, Bowdoin – who gets an all access pass to the Dream. (Jerk!)

 

can't you just see the "don't you dare come up here" look in his eyes?

 

Meanwhile, I’ve been left all by myself in a gated area downstairs. I still can’t be trusted on the carpet (whatever, I like it when it smells like my pee – but, to each his own).  Both Bowdoin and I are terrified of the gates (baby gates) – not sure why… but mom & dad can just lay them down on the ground near an area we’re not supposed to go and we stay far, far away.

Even Bowdoin is terrified.  Need evidence?  Check out this video – it’s pretty hilarious. When I’m in that “prison” I usually whine really loud – and apparently sound like a cow moo’ing.  It breaks my mom’s heart (which is exactly the point!).

 

I've masted the pitiful look... it's my secret weapon (and the moo-whining)

 

Well, I spent a lot of time upstairs a few weekends ago when mom & dad were painting the Master Dreamroom.  That was so awesome.  I finally figured out what I was missing out on this whole time.  So, when I got left behind again for another fun time working upstairs, I’d had enough.

There was a small gap between the wall and the terrifying gate.  Somehow, I managed to drum up the courage to squeeze through it.  I made it up the stairs all by myself, bounded into the room where everyone was, and greatly enjoyed the shocked look on mom, dad, and Bowdoin’s faces!  Once they got over the shock – I got lots of pets and belly rubs!  However… they did carry me down the stairs… which is never very comfortable, because I’m kind-of a big girl.

But the adventure was totally worth it – and I got a good look at the Master Dreamroom progress – it’s awesome!

My mom was curious to see how I managed to go up the stairs all by myself, so I demonstrated for her and you can watch that here.  Compare that to how fast Bowdoin is here.  Please note the time difference!  It took me 6x as long as Bowdoin. Whatever.  It’s not a race. It’s cool.  Really.  I mean, I did break a HIP – so what do you expect?! Whatever. I did it and I’m proud of myself.

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On Our Way to Sweet Dreamin’…

It has begun!

“The Great Master Dream-room Makeover 2010”

before

The results of our poll were clear.  The first project you thought we should tackle during year two in the Dream was our bedroom.  So, that’s what we’re currently tackling.  We have the sore backs, tired eyes and paint in hair to prove it.

To be completely honest – the true after pic is going to take a while.  After all, we do have real jobs and other commitments that limit our makeover-ing to weekends.  For example, we’ll have to live with the popcorn ceiling and boring carpet for a bit.  However – do we have to live with boring white walls?  Oh, H-E-double-hockey-sticks, NO.

For the overall room color palette, we decided to go with a soothing blue-gray.  The primary color – that Mr. Dreamer is so skillfully applying in the photo above has a quite blog-appropriate name, “Online.”  We love it!  But… we faced a bit of a dilemma when it came to the accent color…

We’re a bit impulsive.  So, we bought our paint without first getting samples and testing it.  No biggie with the “Online” color – we love it!  However, we thought more gray would show through than blue.  Wrong!  Again, no biggie – except that we bought a blue paint for the accent walls (bottom color in above picture).  Helloooo, smurf room!  That would be way too much blue.  So, we stalled the whole project – to actually go and purchase samples (imagine that?!) – and wound up with a lovely charcoal gray (above color in pic above), called Software.  Ha!  Paint names are ridiculous.  (Our paint, as always, is from Sherwin Williams.)

You’ll have to wait to see “Software” in all it’s glory – a few more touches need to be made to the room before we can disclose those pics.

As you can see from the “before” pic, we are the king and queen of bedroom hodge-podge furniture.  Nothing matches.  Everything was brought into our marriage from our single lives – which was also hodge-podge.  Mrs. Dreamer, does not mind the mismatched look.  In fact, she wouldn’t mind having all sorts of mismatched – yet coordinated – pieces.  Mr. Dreamer, however, was passionately against that idea.  So – there were some “discussions” about that in the Dream.  As most happily-married couples. we have fine-tuned the concept of compromise – and that’s what we went with for the furniture.  More photos to come – but here’s a sampling of what we did on Saturday night:

Ah… yes… self-assemble furniture.  Not the fancy-shmancy furniture fare the hubs wanted and not the needs-to-be-refinished kind the wife wanted.  Compromise.  Over a bottle of wine and an all-nighter on a Saturday.  Good times.  The bullies would tell you all about it if they could talk…

They witnessed it all from the front row called the master bathroom.  (Check out that super-cool linoleum – just screaming for a makeover of it’s own!  Someday…)

More from “The Great Master Dream-room Makeover 2010” to come… until then, Sweet Dreams!

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Gone to the Dreams

So, Mr. & Mrs. Dreamer – the two people who feed us SCRUMPTIOUS kibble twice a day – are outside working on something, so the Bulldogs are taking over this blog.

your guest bloggers for the day, Paris and Bowdoin

You can read more about how awesome we are here.

As you can imagine, this whole “Dreamscaping” nonsense totally rocked our world.  We had already spent several months peeing and pooping all over the backyard – making sure every inch was designated Bowdoin/Paris territory.  Then, this crazy “bobcat” invaded…

Dad calls it a "bobcat"...

…but there’s no way in the vet’s office that’s a cat.  I mean, we can totally take down a cat… but this sucker… (was a bit beyond our abilities.)

*sigh*

So, we just had to sit back and let it scoop up all of our favorite pee spots, then dump (rock) on them.

however...

there was one incredible benefit to having this “cat” in the backyard.  It’s big paws churned up the BEST DIRT PIT EVER.  It provided endless good times…

for wrestling...

for playing "where's Paris?"...

what did you say?

I know, I know. I look like a beached whale. Shut UP!

we got our tongues...

and our noses caked in dirt.

In other words, it was AWESOME!

In fact, we’re kind of sad that it’s all cleaned up now – and so are we.  No more dirt pit meant the dreaded trip to the groomer for us.  BOO!  Stinky is so in right now, someone needs to explain that to our owners.  Anywho, we’ve about exhausted our word-base, so we’ll sign off for now, until some other crazy project rocks our world and we feel compelled to bully into the blog again.

'nite 'nite!

 

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Back from the Dreams

Hiya!  Remember us?  Yeah, we’re The Dreamers.  That fun couple (probably friends of yours, lucky dog) who started this blog about renovating their new home (a foreclosure) all by themselves… who then got so lost in that DIY process they stopped blogging for a whole month!  SHAME. ON. US.

But, we’re ba-a-a-a-ack!  And boy oh boy do we have some progress to show you.  Here’s a glimpse…

Yep, we’ve been sweating up a storm transforming our hideous landscaping into something, well, not so hideous.  Actually, we think it looks pretty darn good.  I mean it wouldn’t take much to improve on this:

yikes!

We’ve never done the landscaping thing before.  After getting a couple of estimates from the pro’s, we thought – to heck with their several-thousand-dollar-pitches, we can tackle this puppy ourselves.  And we are SO GLAD we did.

Just to prove to you that we are serious about this blogging thing, we’re saving the good stuff for a few different posts.  Here’s a sample of what’s to come in the coming weeks:

how we handled 45 tons (yes, TONS) of rock

the demo process (mr. dreamer had way too much fun with mr. bobcat)

the bulldog's take on the process

how we transformed this ridiculous eyesore into a beautiful and functional bbq

the awesomeness of helping hands (read: free labor)

which plants we chose, why and the GREAT deal we scored

Worth the wait?  We thought so!

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Rainy Day Dreams

It’s been unusually rainy and dreary here in the “Valley of the Sun.”  In fact, we’ve been drenched with seven months worth of rain in the last 66 days.  Crazy!  So, what’s Dreamer to do when the weather is abysmal?

We do what we do best… Dream!

The Dreamers, along with some dreamy in-laws, trekked over to Glendale’s University of Phoenix Stadium – home of the Cardinals – and joined hundreds of fellow homeowners at the Phoenix Home and Garden Show.

Let’s be real here.  What ACTUALLY happened?  Actually, we willingly handed over cold, hard cash to subject ourselves to timeshare salesmen, satellite TV pitches, nagging posture assessment hagglers (posture assessment?  Really?  At a home show?), and took home a bag full of fliers that look oddly similar to junk mail we toss out on a daily basis.

But, we did have FUN.  Honestly.

We had a very simple reason for attending this event.  Our landscaping is a NIGHTMARE.  Need proof?  Alrighty then…

(BTW – Don’t let the gray day fool you – our front and back yards ARE this dreary.)

a midget-tree with not enough room to grow

awful brick pavers surrounding a half-planted area with a sad shrub

grass that looks like bad hair plugs (thanks, rain!)

eucalyptus trees that are in desperate need of a trim – or they will, apparently, fall on our Dream

random brick wall with railroad ties (?) apparently driven into the ground during a monsoon. (what else can explain that choice?)

Remember how pretty our front walk looked before our Open Dream Party?

this is what it looks like now… those mums didn’t last a week

Think that’s bad?… that’s just what our neighbors have to look at every day.  The Dream residents (including our Bulldog-babies) also have to deal with the BACK yard…

no plugs here... this grass is downright balding!

more random railroad ties (seriously?!)

random collection of small trees and an overgrown aloe plant (thanks, rain!)

dirt patches (which are now mud – say it with me, “Thanks, rain!”)

a glimmer of hope (rosemary plant) next to a shadow of despair (wall in desperate need of paint - can't exactly blame that on the rain)

See?  We need help.

even Miss Paris doesn't stay out a minute longer than she needs to

So… we braved the solar panel pushy sales team and clean water system pitches to scope out some ideas on what we could do with our little spot of land (which is actually not so “little” – we’re on a fifth of an acre on a corner lot!  Sweet!).  We were not disappointed…

we checked out desert landscaping… (easier to maintain than hair-plug-style-grass)

we even tested out Astroturf… (a step up from hair plugs… more like a toupee!)

we priced some plants. this pretty lady goes for $300. yikes!

we signed up for about 487 giveaways… including this one.

we admired a nice alternative to the brick wall/railroad tie monstrosity we inherited

we drooled over pretty iron doors that our HOA would surely frown upon

we considered the pros/cons of a raised flower bed

we found a perfect solution to our sorry little front walkway

We scored discounts and coupons for several area nurseries.  We also made appointments for free estimates with several landscape professionals.  We’re excited to see what they’ll suggest about making our nightmare nicer for our Dream.

So, there it is – our next project: DIY landscaping!  Anybody willing to buckle up their overalls and come on over?!  Anybody?  Anybody… ?

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Paris in the Dream (literally, this time)

(We’ve had a lot of “personal” posts lately, not necessarily home-improvement-related.  We’ll get back to those next with some fun before/afters and even a Mr. Dreamer post about an incredibly manly project he recently completed.  For now, grant us a post to boast about our new addition…)

You may recall, we already had a “Paris in the Dream” post – but this time we’re being literal.

No, we’re not talking about a socialite.  We’re talking about a dog.

Meet Paris:

We adopted Paris into the Dream family in November 2009.  She came to us from Love-a-Bull rescue.  The awesome volunteers there took care of her for months – providing thousands of dollars in veterinary care and countless hours of attention and nursing to get her back to health.  You see, she had a long road to recovery…

In early August 2009, Paris was the victim of a hit and run.  The impact broke her hip and sent her flying across the road.  She laid in agony for some time.

she had several open wounds...

and her belly burned because she was unable to lift it off the hot Arizona asphalt

She caused another accident as a car swerved to avoid her helpless little body.  Finally, a good Samaritan scooped her up and took her to an emergency vet.  She was then taken to the Arizona Humane Society.  She had no collar or microchip – so they gave her pain meds and kept her for a mandatory 72 hours.  Her owners never came forward.

Love-a-Bull to the rescue!

Love-a-Bull volunteers then swooped in and saved the day!  She was immediately taken to a great bully-vet for surgery.  Organizations lined up with grants to pay for her care and foster families fought over who would care for this sweet little girl.

paris then had major surgery on her hip, which required eight weeks of crate rest

Once that ordeal was over, she was up for adoption – and the Dreamers (along with Bowdoin) gladly took her in.

Today, Paris is sassy, sweet, and a solidified Dreamette.  Looking at these pictures of her journey, we can’t imagine her that way now.  She is an older gal and moves a bit slow – but that barely holds her back.

sibling rivalry!

So, that’s the story of how the newest Dreamer came to be a member of the fam.  If her story touches you in any way – we ask that you, as we do, donate to Love-a-Bull rescue so more bullies can have a happy ending to their stories.

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