Sort of.

For the past month and a half I’ve been working with Lauren from I Love You Much (aka Mrs Scissors on Weddingbee) to come up with a new blog design. And she outdid herself. The design is pugtastically awesome.

My new home is www.kjpugs.com!

Go visit and make sure you re-subscribe! They’re two different blogs so you have to add it to your reader again!

Thanks for keeping up with me in my new digs, peeps!

Go visit Amy’s blog Little Miss Wedding Planner to see my guest post, which is about the Five Love Languages.

Congrats on your marriage, Amy!!!!

-kjpugs on iPhone

This time, I had a lovely package for her- an Old Navy shirt she was looking for- and a lovely print out for me- the WW points for Buffalo Wild Wings. (Naked Wings! They’re just grilled chicken tenders and are one point each!)

There are no words to describe how much fun it is getting together with Stephanie. We could (and have!) talked for hours. If I hadn’t almost walked into a men’s room (it happens) the night might’ve lasted longer. Hey, a girl gets tired sometimes.

Steph, I love ya girl! Thanks for always making me laugh and being able to hold your own in our debates about bloggers

And of course, as Stephanie much hates, part of our visit is always a photo I force a stranger to take while shouting “It’s TRADITION!!!” (I posted one other one on this blog, remember!)

Thanks for being a wonderful friend, Stephanie!

Sweet Morgan from The Handcrafted Life tagged me (darn! I shoulda called no tag-backs! LOL… middle school, I’m tellin’ ya. Just kidding Morgan!) and I am so excited to answer her questions.

I tagged her in my last tag-happy post and just found that she shares my love for Joey-isms. After laughing out loud for a while, I trekked over here to answer her great questions!

1. Who is on your list of 5 (famous people you can be with), and is your list laminated?

Vince Vaughn. I think he’s hilarious and sexy. And most likely the only normal one on my list. My weirdest celeb crush is Howie Mandel. I think he’s just the bee’s knees. I kind of like Tony Danza too. (And whenever I see him on TV I think of the Tiny Dancer song… “Hold me closer, Tony Dannnnnzzzzzaaaaa!”)

I honestly think that’s it. I’m not super into celebs like that. And while I love the Friends reference in the question, I wouldn’t give up B for any of these guys, even for a night!

2. Sweet or Savory–what is your favorite type of food?

There are only two food groups. Sweets and pizza. NOM. See my last post where I joined Weight Watchers… wahhhh!

My Grandma used to eat Cheez-Its around me a lot and said she had a “salt tooth.” I pictured an actual tooth made of salt that needed Cheez-Its to survive, but no… it meant she liked salt. I enjoy a little bit of both but I CRAVE sweets and carbs like no one’s business.

3. Approx how many pairs of shoes do you have, and describe the last pair you bought.

I just got rid of a TON of shoes, so I have no idea how many I have. Probably six or so pairs of flip flops and 10 other pairs of everyday or dressy shoes. I don’t know if I’ve bought shoes in a while… I bought a pair of barely-heeled Nine West black pointed-toe shoes in April for the big event my work had… sadly I think that was it. I’m going to be buying a red pair soon though due to my pal Cher’s advice.

4. If money is no object, what is your ultimate dream vacation?

A tour of Europe for like, a month or two. B really wants to see England and France, and I really want to go back to Italy (Sicily, specifically) with him. Who wants to fund this?!?!

5. Favorite new TV show this season?

I love The Big C but it makes me depressed. I hate seeing people cheat on their spouse (oh… spoiler alert. Sorry?) But the MAIN ATTRACTION this season is BOARDWALK EMPIRE!!!! Seventeen thumbs up. Seriously. Sopranos on crack. I’m so jazzed.

6. The new leggings fashion trend, are you for it or against it?

I really like them, but they’re not really that functional for me. I don’t have any long tunic-y shirts, which you need for leggings. So I have to buy full outfits to wear this trend, not just pieces. Until I hit the lotto that’s not going to happen. Maybe as a “when I hit the ### mark” reward on WW?

7. What is the sweetest/nicest thing your hubby does for you?

He will leave me HILARIOUS voicemails that are songs with our inside jokes. He also sometimes takes out the pugs at night for me when I’ve been working, which I know is a tiny thing, but means so much when I’m exhausted on the couch.

8. Have you ever had a bad haircut? What did you do to get over it?

I had a bad haircut once (I swore it was uneven) and skipped my Aunt’s wedding because of it. I’m not joking. So maybe I’m not the one to ask about this. (I did go back and get it fixed, even though they thought I was crazy!)

Thanks for the tag Morgan!!!!

Oh and here’s a gratuitous pug picture!

Dixie Bugg takes the spotlight today because she’s A) gorgeous and B) super happy that her badass Boston Terrier boyfriend Murphy Dogg from Punk Rock Dogg is blogging again after a hiatus!

Thanks again for EVERYTHING, everyone. I’ll keep you updated on B’s blog too!

I had a really hard 2009. And as much as I wanted to lose weight for the wedding, we went through too much. I lost my job, I held down two horrible part time jobs, I took a pay cut to take a crap job that had no benefits… then we had issues with wedding money we were promised, had to practically cancel it… things just were bad and worse each month in 2009. The wedding weight loss never happened.

I was talking to one of my coworkers about something from college and showed her this picture:

That would be me and my college friend Rob, at graduation. (I finished in December but had to walk in May. I had met Big Daddy about a month before.) Yes, I drink Sparks. AND LOVE IT.

Anyway, my coworker looks at the picture and is like… who is that? And I was like, oh, my friend Rob. And she was like no, THAT GIRL. WHO IS THAT? THAT’S NOT YOU.

Andddd cue me wanting to cry.

Ok clearly I’m making an intense Sparks-induced face, like some sort of sick advertisement, but yea. I was 60 pounds lighter and felt so much better. And LOOKED so much better. That was only three and a half years ago.

So today, I joined Weight Watchers online. It previously worked for me (I was on it in this picture!) and I lost 32 pounds. I now have to lose double what I lost before. But I know I can do it. I won’t admit my weight on here (sorry guys, I’m just not that secure) but I will tell you my totals. Laura at Happy Hour with a Housewife inspired me too. I hope if any of you are planning to join, that you will and you’ll join not just Weight Watchers but join US! Having girlfriends makes it so much easier.

I chose to do online this time because A) I have no friends to go to meetings with and B) my schedule is way too crazy for meetings. Plus, I can use the app on my iPhone to track my points, look up recipes, etc!

Oh and because I feel like being really mean to myself, here’s my photo from today, the day I joined:

You can thank Big Daddy for the horrendous angle of this photo. Also plus 2 for anyone who saw the pug in this pic! (Hello Harles!)

• Week 1: -0
• Total: -0

I’m going to try to make my blog more health-friendly and include motivators, recipes, and such. I am really picky and hope you all will give suggestions- but also not be offended if I am far too picky for some of your healthy ideas. It’s going to be my biggest challenge. Perhaps I’ll try a new food every week?! Who knows!

Also- Big Daddy is getting healthy too. He doesn’t do well with Weight Watchers but he’s got his own way that works for him. He was thinking about starting a blog but was worried about it- I think he’s still on the fence. Could you all post comments motivating him!?! Perhaps you were scared to start a blog, or hesitant? I think your comments might help motivate him to start a blog, or at least to have a post here and there on mine.

Thanks for your ideas and motivation as I start this journey! I know you’ll all be a really important part of this process for me.

This is the crew we went with – Chris and Lexie, Lydia and Aaron, and of course, me and B.

Lyd is one of my bestest friends here so it was great to spend time with her. We even matched in our grey sweaters (until it hit 11:30 and was way too hot for them!)

B and I got a picture… check out the sign behind us for height, we’re both pretty freakin’ tall.

It was apparently one of the more lame pumpkin patches, but it was closer to home. I still thought it was fun! There were food vendors and other small attractions. Of course there were a few Face-in-Holes around…

There was also this giant dinosaur that would “eat” the pumpkins like once an hour. This lady would feed him:

And then he’d move around (with crazy dinosaur noises playing…)

And then SMASH IT a bunch before it would fall out.

We got on a trailer that took us to the pumpkin patch.

Aaron and B were “bumpin’ pumpkins” and showing off the big ones they chose.

We really only need one so I picked a small pug-pumpkin for myself.

We found this big pile of HUGE pumpkins later… What do you guys think, Christmas Card material?

They guys took an awkward photo together (what’s with the squatting!?)

And then the girls took one too!

It was my first official (aka, I’m old enough to remember) trip to a pumpkin patch and I am happy to report that it was AWESOME. Where do you guys get your pumpkins for carving? Up next… I will be making pumpkin seeds! (Whenever we all get together to carve them, that is!) Anyone have a great recipe to share?

Phew, I hope you followed that. I can’t explain things. My ADD just wants to move on to the questions.

Anyway if you want to read sweet fun awesome Lindsey’s “tag” answers, you can right here! Thanks for tagging me Linds (can I awkwardly nickname you? I sure hope so…) and here goes nothin’!

1. What is a gross food that you really like? (Like pigs feet, or pickled eggs, sardines, liver, etc.)

I’m actually on the other end of the spectrum, where I’m super picky and think simple things like mushrooms and cucumbers count as “gross.” B thinks it’s gross that I ketchup my eggs. My twinner thinks the fact that I love CHEESE is gross. (Note to Twinner- you’re WEIRD.) I guess my peanut butter and popcorn is “gross?”

2. If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would be your dream job?

Ideally, being a stay at home wife or mom would be um, THE BEST. But if I had to work, like, make-an-income work, it would probably be either a pug farm of sorts (aka doggy daycare) or a brewery. I’d love to have a brewing company with B and name our beers after the pugs’ nicknames, like Bigwit Brown Ale, Sir Harles Hefeweizen, or maybe Sophie-Sophie Stout. I mean come on, I love pugs and I LOVE beer.

3. What is the lamest thing you’ve ever been for Halloween? Nurse A was a chick magnet last year, which teeters on the fine line between lame and extremely awesome.

I was a box of tissues once. I also made an appearance as a piece of cake. And a lobster. All of which I wish I had photos of. I’m sure my mom does somewhere, and I assure you, if she remembers to look and finds them, and then actually remembers to scan them and send them… I will POST THEM. Here are a variety of others to show you all:

High school’s fave: Jan Brady!

And a similar yet different take the next year in college… 80’s girl!

Then in college my junior year I was a Queen Bee. I turned a wand into a stinger and stung people with it. Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol.

And B and I even were a “couples” costume once, sort of. I was a girl on the walk of shame and he was the guy that passed out at a party early.

So, there ya go.

4. Do you have any signed books? What are they, and what’s the story behind them? (If you have lots, just pick one of the most interesting. David Sedaris signed a book for me once and drew a pug in it.)

I have a few books from Bobbi Brown (the makeup artist) signed. We knew her and her family growing up- she wrote in one to “keep smiling!” My mom has them somewhere – they moved when I was in college to a smaller house so I have tons of stuff that’s “mine” that I don’t know where it is.

I also am OBSESSED with Jodi Picoult. And met her. And nearly had sixteen aneurysms.

5. What are three random things in your purse right now?

Tums Smoothies (yummy and necessary!), Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets (ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!), and a mint tin full of coins (since I don’t have a real wallet, or money for the most part.)

6. What is one thing that never fails to make you feel better after a long or hard day?

PUGS! Pugs on my lap will always make my day better.

7. What is a weird subcategory on your Netflix movie suggestions? I’m talking about the weird movie categories they merge together like “Emotional Military Dramas” or “Quirky Television Dramas with a Strong Female Lead.”

I don’t handle our Netflix so I really have no idea what this even means? I think we’re cancelling it since we have HBO anyway. I like old corny movies like 3 Ninjas and Clue though.

8. And, because I’m the Amateur Wife, what is the one household chore that you either hate to do or are really bad at doing? Like I suck at ironing.

I hate having to vacuum but like how great it looks when it’s finally done. I also hate doing dishes but feel really satisfied when it’s done. I mostly despise LAUNDRY and making the bed though. I hate most housework!!!

—–

Alrighty, since that’s done, time to tag eight of you guys and give you your questions!

• Jenell from OMG in Indy
• Laura from The Luckiest in Love
• Emily from A Leap Begins
• Laura from Happy Hour with a Housewife
• Maria from Procrastination Station
• MK from MK in Wonderland
• Hannah from Gator Tales
• Morgan from The Handcrafted Life

And my questions for you girls:

1. If you could pick any one animal to have as a pet, what would you choose?
2. What is the weirdest injury you have ever sustained?
3. What is the worst insult you’ve ever received?
4. Which character from Friends was your favorite? And if you didn’t watch Friends… who the F are you?
5. What is the best “go-to” recipe in your arsenal?
6. If you could go back and change one detail of your life, what would you change and why?
7. Which of the 50 United States would you least like to live in?
8. What was your favorite class in high school or college?

I can’t wait to see all of your answers!

It was October 2003. I had just started college at Elon University in North Carolina. AKA, the preppy capital of the southeast. Even though I retained much of my Jersey goodness (and still do!) I had adopted what I liked to think was Southern confidence and charm. However, I was still a typical college student. Seriously, check out this smug fratty look!

I really don’t know which is worse: the fact that I took a picture after getting home from the frats (while listening to my roommate PUKE, I remember it like it was yesterday) or the fact that I named this file “SEXY REXY” when I saved it to my computer back then.

October was time for our fall break, and my hometown was something like a nine hour drive from Elon. Plus, I didn’t have a car on campus yet. So my parents booked me a flight – my first time flying alone. I’m a genius college student- nothing bad could happen! Whee!

My friend Mike drove me to the airport, but we hit tons of traffic. I rolled in with barely minutes to spare. After getting through security, I ran to my gate in the tiny terminal. When I came upon my gate number I saw they were boarding. I asked someone in line, “is this the Newark New Jersey flight?” They said yes.

Score! Hop on line. Give them my boarding pass, board the plane without problem.

(Note to Continental- that was your FIRST mistake. I still love you though.)

It’s one of those small planes with one seat rows on the left, and two seat rows on the right. I am sitting in a single seat. I get situated, put away my carry-on, and relax. I start talking to the girl across from me – a fellow college student at a different school – and we become fast friends. She offers to let me watch a movie with her on her laptop when we take off. “Flying is easy AND fun! I am so awesome!” I think to myself.

But wait- I am being tapped on the shoulder by an older man, interrupting my convo with my new plane BFF. He says, “You’re in my seat.” I super-smugly pull out my ticket and show him that I am, in fact, supposed to be in 11A. He pulls his out and shows me that…. yep, he is too. Shit. I politely suggest that since his was an e-ticket, maybe he’s wrong. He sighs and storms off the plane. BFF and I get back to picking out movies.

Then, all of a sudden, a voice comes over the loudspeaker. “If there is a Kelly Lastname on this plane, please come to the front of the plane. You are on the wrong flight. Kelly Lastname, you are on the wrong flight.”

Everyone is silent and looking around. Who the HELL could be such a idiot that they got on the wrong plane?

Oh, right. Me.

So I quietly get up, grab my bags, and mutter softly, to no one in particular…

“Well… I better go find her!”

I shit you not. I said that.

And then I run off the plane.

How my boarding pass scanned is still beyond me, and it clearly makes me feel incredibly safe. Turns out, the earlier flight to Newark had been delayed, along with my flight. Which meant the early flight was leaving when my flight was supposed to. Had I looked at the flight numbers, I would have realized. (And had they scanned my ticket, THEY would have as well.)

If only I had seen that I was too awkward to function earlier, I could have avoided situations such as these! I sat down, read a magazine for about two hours, then took the short flight home. I never told a soul about “the incident.” My ego shrunk two sizes that day. Which is probably a good thing.

They’re sexy beasts.

So today, Dixie decided to tell Sophie how she likes it. Yea-uh!

She knows what she wants! That… Bugg… is… POISONNNN!

Then we did some crafting and baking before getting ready for our evening.

We went to Rock Bottom so that Twinner could try some fun beers. We shared the sampler and a pretzel appetizer. I wish I had taken more pictures of our meals! But we weren’t at Rock Bottom long- we had a Big Fat Gay Pug Wedding to go to!

The whole point of the weekend was to get together a bunch of pug bloggers from around the continent (yes, we had a Canadian blogger come!) I had a pug blog for a long time, The Misadventures of Pug(s) and Bugg. I couldn’t keep up with all the blogs, so I stopped, but these other bloggers have remained my friends and I love getting together with them. There are tons of pug bloggers in Indy and a bunch of “celebrities” came in from out of town. Two Indy pugs, Salinger and Pugsley, decided to get “married” this weekend in front of all the blogger guests. It was pretty hilarious!

Twinner and I then had a little run-in with some mud. There were some sketchy characters in the hotel hallway (where the event was held) so we tried to exit out a different door after we used the bathroom. Turns out we were stuck in a courtyard and couldn’t get back inside. We tried to walk to the fence side, but found out quickly that it was a field of mud.

After cleaning ourselves up in the bathroom (after a nice older man let us in) we realized that whoever used the bathroom next would NOT know that it was mud.

The night was awesome- there were rainbow favors, a doggie cake, and lots of hilarious people. We head home and crashed after such a long day!

The next day was the monthly pug meetup at the park up the street from us. It was insanity!

Check out this cutie, THE FOO! Isn’t that a cute pug name? I just love little Foo. She came to visit from Illinois with her pug sister Genevieve. Here’s Foo:

Pug celebrity Punchy came from upstate New York. She made my pugs’ wedding outfits! (You can find her on etsy at PugPossessed) She wore her pug meetup pants for the occasion.

B was in charge of Sophie, while I was in charge of Harles (he doesn’t do well around other dogs, he gets nervous and snippy) and Twinner had the Bugg, who, it seems, smoked a few crack pipes before the meetup. Seriously.

Harles’ “girlfriend” is Clover who lives in Ottawa, Canada. Clover didn’t make it out but her mom Jess did! Here I am with Jess and Twinner.

This is Miley, whose tongue is TO DIE FOR!

Twinner giving Bugg some cuddles:

These are the ladies from out of town! Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, and Canada!

And then there’s this cutie patootie…. Josie. I fell in love!

Laura and Twinner hung out, even though Laura’s pug Salinger didn’t seem to want to be in pictures.

After the meetup, we went back to our house and watched the OU game for Twinner. Although I’ve been christened a bandwagon fan. BOOMER SOONER! Bugg was concerned about the game.

When the game was pretty much locked up, we went to Vikki’s (who has 11 pugs!) Her husband had just had knee surgery, but she and joined in some party festivities. Which means food!

This is one of Vikki’s crew, Rosie. She had barely any hair when they rescued her. She’s a pug mix and only has one eye. She stayed right in that spot all night!

This is another mix (with Twinner) he is a puggle named Jeff Saturday! Jeff’s owners have three others, a pug named Reggie Wayne, a pug-shi tzu named Dallas Clark, and a Bugg named Peyton Annie Manning. Do you see a (Colts!) trend here?

Here I am with some of the ladies: Stacy (Harles’ foster mom), Michele (Stubby’s mom from Chicago) and my Twinner!

More people- left to right are Jess, Punchy, Gerry (Michele’s husband), Vikki, and Cindy. With various pugs!

Little Josie got tired and had the whole chair to herself!

I tried to get a good picture of everyone, but it didn’t quite work out.

I did get a few more pics with my Twinner though! She got me this beautiful scarf as a gift! Clearly she knows me too well. (The crafts we were doing? These nametags! You can see mine in this picture.)

We took a picture with our good friend Laura as well…

And then discussed doing duck face. (Know you love this, Laura L!)

And yes, I did get everyone to do the duck face.

Poor Salinger (Laura’s only pug) was pretty much pooped at the end of the night. He’s not very social.

I got a picture with the famous Punchy. We all autographed a picture mat for her! She is so talented and lovely.

Twinner gave my little girls lots of hugs and attention while I was busy getting an autographed book!

We crashed hard last night as well, since it was such a long day. Luckily we got to spend some time together this morning before Twinner’s flight. We got breakfast at Perkin’s (disappointing… don’t ask) and then did a little shopping on Broad Ripple Avenue, a cute street with small shops (and lots of bars at night.) Then it was sadly time to take Twinner back to the airport! We miss her a lot but I’m sure she’s happy to get back to her one-pug household after all this crazyness!

I haven’t laughed this hard or had this much fun in a long time! It was a wonderful weekend! Thanks to all my friends, new and old, for making this great, crazy weekend a success!