We used to call Javier “mouse”, until, of course, our house in Calgary was invaded by mice and we were forced to move overnight – the nickname didn’t seem so cute anymore after that.

The nickname that stuck the most after that was “Mr. Javier” and that eventually became “Mr. Mister”, which is what we call him the most of the time now, apart from his actual name, Javier. (No, our dogs aren’t confused… I know.)

Anyways, here’s a photo of Javier, the cutest dog in the world and the only dog I know who actually gets cuter the older he gets. For real…

Javier’s cute puppy looks get us stopped on the street all the time as people ooh and ahh at him. (He’s actually a full grown adult of two years now, but he still looks like a puppy.) And unlike most humans with good looks, Javier actually has a killer personality too. He’s the most easy going of our three dogs and gets along with all people and all dogs alike.

He knows he’s cute though, and really knows how to milk it for all it’s worth (especially at the pet food store, which we call the “cookie store”). He knows just how to sit to look super cute, he winks at people and flutters his eyes and then he even sticks out his tongue to look like a toy – and all in increments to maximize the number of treats he gets! (He also loves posing in front of cameras…)

Cute looks + loveable personality = two cutes!

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

Check out CuteDogs.ca and/or the “dogs” tag on DM Blog for more photos and videos of our three dogs. You can also follow them on Twitter.

Last weekend, Michelle and I took Lorenzo, Daisy & Javier for a walk along the beaches and Michelle took some photos of Woodbine beach from the park at Ashbridges Bay (also with her iPhone 4). Here they are:

We’ve decided that next summer we’re going to rent a small boat and go have some fun on Lake Ontario! I can’t wait…

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

P.S. – Here’s an interesting article in the Toronto Star about how clean the water at Woodbine beach really is: TheStar.com

This year, for Michelle‘s birthday, I decided to bake her cake and make it myself instead of buying it. Sure, I could have just ran out and bought her a cake, but I figured she’d appreciate the time and effort I spent in baking her one at home.

I’m definitely not a baker by any means, and while I enjoy cooking, baking is not my idea of “fun” like it might be for some people. Nevertheless, I decided to make Michelle a black forest cake for her birthday, since she likes chocolate. (I even added chocolate chips to the cake for her!)

I was originally going to bake Michelle a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, but the idea to make a black forest cake occurred to me at the store when I was picking up the ingredients.

On a very tight deadline and with no time for mistakes, I had to cross my fingers and hope that everything turned out well the first time. I had to leave to meet Michelle and our friends in Chinatown for Michelle’s birthday dinner (steamed pickerel – YUM!).

I couldn’t find shaved chocolate, so I bought some bakers chocolate and a cheese grater and decided to shave my own chocolate at home. When I first started shaving the chocolate, it quickly became obvious that a regular vegetable peeler works much better than a cheese grater, but the chocolate started to melt in my hands a bit, so I decided it freeze it to make it easier to work with. Later on, I discovered that in order to get bigger shavings, room-temperature chocolate is actually best. The chilled chocolate didn’t shave very well and just crumbled… But I didn’t have time to wait for it to thaw, so I had no choice but to just do it that way.

Before I left, I took the finished cake out of the freezer and moved it into the fridge, and noticed that the store-bought whipped cream (from a can) started melting. It looked terrible. The whipped cream I made from scratch was fine and holding very well, but the canned stuff (used on top for decoration, since I don’t have a piping bag) was crap. It destroyed my otherwise noble attempt at baking a cake… :-( Ah well, I had to run…

When we came back, I asked my friend Mel (who is an exceptional professional baker) if she could write “Happy Birthday Michelle” on the cake for me. It turns out, icing on top of shaved white chocolate is never a good idea since the chocolate “CakeMate” icing had nothing to stick to – oops! It was a big struggle for Mel to write anything (or even squeeze the stuff out of the tube) and with the limited resources at our house, it was better to quit while we were ahead, so Michelle’s cake only had “Happy Bday” on it… no name :-(

The final verdict was that the cake tasted good, but it had too much whipped cream topping for my taste. (I knew it did, but I needed a way to level out my crooked cake! LOL) And Michelle genuinely appreciated my efforts, so that made it worth it…

I think that with more time and not feeling so rushed, I should be able to produce much better results next time, but to be honest, I’d rather leave the baking to Michelle (and/or Mel) from now on.

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

(Click on the images above for a larger version.)

It’s hilarious, no?

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

In the past, we’ve confined ourselves to housing options on the west-end of Toronto, but now we’re looking east and hoping to find housing around the beaches… It’s a very dog-friendly area!

Here are some quick photos I took of Woodbine beach with my new iPhone 4 this past Saturday:

We weren’t able to stay long (less than five minutes) since we had to hurry along to our next appointment, but it seems like a fun place to be. Michelle is really looking forward to walking the dogs along the beach, so hopefully we find something closeby…

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

Here are some photos from Michelle‘s parents’ backyard in Woodbridge: (Click on the images for a larger version.)

Orange Lily

Pear Tree

Happy Lorenzo

Javier Outside

Daisy on the Couch

White Butterfly

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

(Click the images to see a larger version.)

The day we went with the dogs, we were shocked to see such a huge line up for the ferries, (it was seriously long), but it turned out there was also an Indian Cultural Festival going on at Centre Island that weekend too, so that explained the extraordinarily long lineups. Nevertheless, it wasn’t at all crowded and it turned out to be a great afternoon. The festival took place around Centre Island, but we stayed west of that, closer to Hanlan’s Point…

The dogs did amazingly well on the ferry and by the time we came back, they were so tired from walking all day that they just slept right through the boat ride back. They’re such troopers!

Fun times. We hope to go again this summer…

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

For additional photos, check DMpix.com

Lorenzo's Face

Javier Sitting

Daisy & Javier in their Carriers

(Click on the photos for a larger version.)

For more pictures of our dogs, visit CuteDogs.ca. You can also see what they’re up to on Twitter: Twitter.com/the3dogs

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

My mom took care of him for a couple years while I was out in Toronto and when I returned to Calgary, I was surprised that Googie was still alive! But he’s back in my custody now, and he likes to sit on top of my Azola Baby Bass flight case to guard it with his life…

Evidently, Googie has seen better days. I still remember the day when he lost his eyesight, the day he lost his nose, his mouth… I remember it like it was just yesterday. I also remember the late 80′s when I decided Googie needed a tapered haircut and I shaved his back – I was sure that it would grow back, and if it didn’t, it looked cool anyways! LOL

When I was seeing a psychiatrist as a suicidal eight-year-old, Googie was the only one who stood by me the whole time. And when a counsellor convinced my siblings to gang up on me and tell me that they didn’t like playing with me (and “pick favourites” amongst themselves), Googie was the one I picked as my “best friend”. Screw them! (Note to shrink: terrible idea – seriously, how was that supposed to help!?)

Anyways, I obviously have a ton of memories with Googie – I carried that bear around for a long time, and once I grew too old, I still slept with him for many more years after that. He’s getting very old now and he can’t dance like he used to, but I’m glad to still have him around to remind me of much “simpler times” as a kid… He really took good care of me as a kid, and now it’s my turn to take care of him in his old age…

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.

Crazy Street Sale – $1/lb for Cherries

Six T-Shirts for $10

CN Tower from Chinatown

Sugar Cane Extract in Chinatown

Post a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Subscribe to the RSS/XML feed and the comments feed to stay up-to-date.