January 21, 2016 life

Our New Puppy

Introducing our new Havanese puppy….

Meet Our New Havanese Puppy

 

Meet Cosmo – our new Havanese puppy!

He’s 12 weeks old and has now been a part of our family for almost four days.

The other day, I officially welcomed Cosmo into our home on Instagram – along with a request for any and all new puppy advice.

Even though my husband and I both grew up with dogs, we’re pretty clueless as to how to train a puppy (it’s just now dawning on us that our parents really handled that responsibility).

The response to my plea for help was great.

We received a lot of advice for new puppy parents like us.

New Puppy Tips

Some of the tips were suggested by multiple people- which really made me take notice.

Here’s a few of the ones that stood out – and by all means, please feel free to add your own to the list!

– Be consistent with taking him out for potty training.

– Keep a schedule and crate train him for sleeping.

– Use a potty puppy bell on the door.

   This was the most popular piece of advice- having never heard of this before, I did some research and ended up getting this one.

    If nothing else it looks pretty on the door- but honestly, so many people have raved about training their dogs this way that it makes me think we can do this too!

-It takes about two weeks for dogs to adjust to the new surroundings, be patient.

-Invest in some baby gates.

-Keep a ticking clock and a t-shirt that’s been worn next to the puppy when he sleeps. (we don’t have a ticking clock-but I found an old sound machine from our baby days, and might try this)

While I don’t have more dog content, I do have more posts about what’s going on with our home…

Wish us luck, hoping to be on a better sleep schedule soon, as I’m someone that really needs her sleep

Be sure to check these out by clicking on each title below:

Our Laundry Room Renovation

Blogging From My Back Porch

Blue and White Bathroom Before and Afters

How to Paint Over Cultured Marble Counters

Closet Organizing Ideas

 

January 14, 2016 life

Our Visit To The Wynwood Walls

my oldest child
While we were down in Florida over the holiday school break, we spent a day visiting the Wynwood Walls in Miami. If you’re not familiar with this hip street art destination (and before our trip I was only vaguely aware of it) it’s a Miami neighborhood that was (before 2010) mostly made up of warehouses. In order to revitalize this previously overlooked part of the city, a group of artists and community planners got together and transformed this area with vibrant street art.
The Wynwood Walls project has now brought the world’s greatest street and graffiti artists to the forefront by allowing the public to view their art in this collective and park like atmosphere- “a museum of the streets.” The warehouses seem like giant canvases for some of the most colorful and creative street art I’ve ever seen. You can read more about the whole project here.
My selfie loving daughters had a lot of fun posing in front of the beautiful walls. They weren’t alone, and part of the fun was seeing everyone around us take advantage of the stunning backdrops for their own Instagrams. Even my son and my husband enjoyed the day-although their lack of interest in the social media aspect had them ducking out early into a nearby juice bar (Jugo Fresh-which we all LOVED-please open in CT!). In short, this was a great day-it’s free and a lot of fun!
middle child

Interior Inspiration

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December 29, 2015 life

Looking Back and Looking Forward

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions…at least not any more. But, the end of the year is always a great time to reflect on the past and to think about “what’s next?”

2015 was a great year for The Zhush. Fueled by a new house to decorate, the year started off with an exciting bang when our home was featured over on My Domaine. And then, just recently – in a nice symmetrical book end to the year, featured over on the One Kings Lane blog. These were exciting and flattering moments – to say the least.

I really enjoy sharing the design progress here at our new house each month. Documenting it (with progress peeks) made me really appreciate our home, especially during those first few months when I was questioning the whole move and really missing our old home.

I love when I get an email telling me how our home or this blog has inspired someone, even if it’s in a small way. Now into my seventh year of blogging, I feel like I’m starting to hit my stride. I’ll be carrying over certain series into the new year, like Peeking Into Designer’s Homes and Blogger Home Tours and I’m working on a few fun series, that I hope you’ll love as well.