bull

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There Is A Saying For A Reason

“Stupid is as stupid does.”

Yep.

Why do I always does?

The other night I went to a farm to watch my daughter ride horses. I have always considered myself a farm girl. I grew up on a property that had once been a ranch. I believe it had cattle. Granted all of the cows had been sold long before I was ever born. But, still, I grew up on an apiary. Bees are a bit tricky to ride but once you get the hang of it… Farm girl was a label I stubbornly claimed in my head.

I. Was. Wrong.

I am not now, nor will I ever be a farm girl.

I saw a cow on the farm. Nevermind that it was the biggest darn cow anyone had ever seen. The horses in the pen with it looked like dogs. It looked like Paul Bunyan’s Ox. For some reason I thought it was cute. I think I played much too much Oregon Trail growing up.

In my head cows are were harmless no matter what size they are.

Again. Wrong.

And harmless no matter if they had horns the size of my arm.

Again. Wrong. And… Duh!

Well, I decided to pose with the cow.

The cow did not want to pose with me. He must have smelt the hamburger I had eaten earlier on my breath. Maybe I deserved what came next.

The cow, bull, giant demon decided to ram its horn up against my hand on the bar, crushing my finger between its horn and the metal.

I almost passed out.

It felt like my finger was gone. I seriously thought I had no more finger. It must have gone to wherever my brain had decided to wander (please let me know if you find it).

Thankfully, my finger was just very bruised.

It was all my fault.

Who puts their hand in the vicinity of a 3000 pound animal with horns?

Who knew I would raise my now-much-larger hand to that question?

Who would think that this would be a good idea?

I does. I does. I does.

And you better believe it…this cmock and bull story is real. I, unfortunately have the picture to prove it:

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Be smarter than me, my friends. Be smarter than me.

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And don’t go grab the bull by the horns today.

You can, however, laugh in hysterics over these pictures. I know I am. Even if I am wiping the tears of mirth away with only one hand.

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Ollie and Me: On The Prairie

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Ollie loves car rides.

No. I mean really, really loves them.

He doesn’t care where you take him. He just likes to get into the car and go.

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The sad part is that he is so short he cannot really see out of the window. This does not bother him. Ollie is a glass half full kind of dog.

On this day my husband decided to take him a little bit past the house. I asked my husband if I could join him and perhaps get some pictures of the outfit I wore that day.

He agreed.

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Ollie did not.

When we got to the location I decided to see if Ollie wanted to pose with me.

You would think based on the photo above that he was not so happy about this (seriously though, how funny is that face? His is pretty hilarious, too).

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I decided to show him how much fun taking pictures can be.

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He decided he really, really liked getting his picture taken.

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I think it is because he got a lot of love.

Who am I kidding?

He always gets a lot of love.

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Dare I say it? It looks as though he enjoyed it more than a car ride.

Blasphemy!

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I think he might be happier than I am with this outfit, too. I paired my grey dress from this post (which has become a layering piece ’cause I shrunk it) with a flannel skirt (similar here) and fringe vest (similar super fabulous vest here) that I scooped up for $10 each at a consignment store last winter. The belt was from Anthropologie.

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If you have a dog do they like car rides or walks better? What is your best score at a consignment shop?

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Ollie did so well taking pictures with me that I might do it again soon. It was much more fun than taking pictures by myself.

And the best part was… He got to get a ride back home.

His modeling fees are odd. But cheap. I pay him in car rides.

No need to tell him we were going back that way anyway.

P.S. * I shared this on The Pleated Poppy and Because Shanna Said So!

*two more photos that did not make it to the blog post can be seen on my Instagram Account (thegnomelover).

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On The Hunt For Rain

It’s Raining

It’s Pouring

The Old Dog is

Snorting?

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For Christmas, my husband went to the Nordstrom Rack and purchased me a pair of Hunter Boots in this teal color. He said he wanted me to have the “real” thing after I did that post about buying my rain boots at Costco, but really wanting the Hunter Boots sold online there. Which is so sweet. But they sat in my closet until the last day in February, because California decided to repel rain this year.

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When I finally saw rain clouds, I pranced around in my boots for three days.

First, I paired the boots with my other surprise Christmas present from my husband. He bought me this Free People flannel shirt from Nordstrom Rack, as well. I guess I can trust him to shop for me. Because I love all three items he picked out for me.

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Then, the next day, I paired the boots with two new popback scores. My Iremel Brocade Skirt ($30 down from $138) and my Ravenna Cardigan ($10 down from $118). And then my husband came home and he saw me in this outfit.

“Heeeeelllllooooo kindergartner!” He said. And it was not good. But, oh, well, I still like this outfit. It is fun and it made me happy.

I probably will wear this skirt with an untucked shirt next time. It will look better, I think. Or a belt. Hmmmm. I am unsure on this one.

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Then I met some girlfriends at a little bar. And you know what the perfect thing to wear to a bar is? That’s right! Hunter Boots! No? Well, I can’t always get the answer right. I was not going to miss an opportunity to wear them even if they probably weren’t the right choice for a night on the town.

The top is actually two slips layered together. The cardigan is the Ravenna Cardigan from above. The mint slip is the Trapeze Slip from Free People.

And look at my sweet baby. He had to photobomb the picture. He loves Hunter Boots, too.

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And Ollie is irresistible.

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Plus, he makes the best photo faces.

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I could not resist trying to give him a kiss. But he hates kisses. So, all I usually get is a snort in the face. This is actually sexier than it sounds.

Okay.

It’s not sexier than it sounds. It is actually grosser than kissing your dog on the lips.

But I swear it makes my make up stay on longer.

Okay.

That’s a lie, too.

Let’s end this post before I get in any more trouble. And go off on any more crazy tangents.

Have you worn rain boots lately? How do you wear them?