Guest Post: greek salad recipe

We're wrapping up the week of guest posts with one of my oldest friends, Aubrey. And she's got a great recipe for one of my favorite foods: greek salad. So I hope you enjoy her post as much as I do. 
HI! I'm Aubrey and you can find me over at The Found Life. I love the Lord, I am married to the best man I've ever known and we have two fur kids - a dog, Hubble, and a cat, Phoebe who make our days more interesting! I am pluviophile, and a lover of weird words like that. I am a wedding and lifestyle photographer in Northern Nevada. I've known Lauren for years and years! We met when we were in middle school when we were both living in Germany! I can remember plenty of sleep overs and days of laughter and fun with this sweet girl! She is kind, so nurturing, and encouraging! She is beautiful inside and out and has such a fun laugh! Thankfully over the years we have kept in touch, and I am so thankful for our friendship, and the fact that we can call each other and just cry and pray together! I recently just got back into blogging (on the personal side), so I want to give a huge thanks to Lauren for letting me take over her blog today!


I love to eat (who doesn't!?) but I am a very picky eater, the flavor and texture has to be just right and sadly for me, a lot of what is healthy has either a weird texture or flavor to me. So because I am so picky, when I find a healthy recipe that I love I get super excited! So I wanted to share a recipe for Greek Salad with y'all that I absolutely love!! I am not a chef by any means, but I enjoy cooking (I'll let you clean up any day though!!) and making things my own so I don't follow the recipe too strictly and you can feel free to modify it to fit your own taste.

Greek Salad with Herbed Pita

serves 4

Ingredients:

• Lemon juice, from 1 lemon
• Garlic, 1 clove, minced
• Freshly ground pepper
• Olive oil, 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons
• Pita bread, 4 rounds
• Italian seasoning, 1/2 teaspoon
• Your favorite salad mixture
• Cucumber, 1 half-whole
• Grape tomatoes, as many as you want
• Olives, black
• Feta cheese
• Green onions, 8, thinly sliced, optional
• Green bell pepper, 1/3, optional
• Red onion, as much as you want, optional

1. Make the vinaigrette:

In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, and a generous amount of pepper. Gradually whisk in the 1/4 cup of oil until smooth.

*I'm not sure if there is a reason for not mixing all the ingredients together or not, so I just throw them all in the bowl and whisk them together, none of that gradually mixing stuff... :)

2. Warm the pita:

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Cut each pita into 4 wedges. Arrange on a baking sheet and brush both sides with the 2 tablespoons oil. Sprinkle with the italian seasoning and place in the oven to warm for about 10 minutes.

*I enjoy the pita just a little bit crunchier so I tend to leave it in for a few extra minutes, or if you are running short on time, you can up the temp to 325°F (165°C).

3. Assemble the salad:

Meanwhile, add the lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, green bell pepper to the vinaigrette and toss to coat evenly. Arrange on plates and top with the olives, and feta. Place the warm pita wedges alongside the salads and serve.

*I always cut the wrong amount of the vegetables to add in, so I usually cut them all right before I add them in and like I said up above, feel free to add as many as you want of everything. Cut everything how you like to cut them. I like the cucumbers cut smaller and I usually cut them into 4 pieces and for the tomatoes I prefer cutting them into multiple slices because the pop of the grape tomato when you bite into it (even when cut in half)  is too much for this picky eater.

Guest Post: no knead bread

Hi guys. Today I have one of my best friends, Tera, guest posting again for us. She's got an amazing recipe up her sleeve that I'm 100% going to try sometime soon. I'm a sucker for bread and if it's as easy as she says my house is soon to become a bakery.

Hello Bound By Love readers! My name is Tera... You may remember me from my guest post last month on meal planning. I'm stoked to be guest posting again for Lauren while she and Dave are enjoying a well deserved vacation.

Today I'm going to share one of the best bread recipes around. It's a take on the famous no knead method championed by Jim Lahey that my friend taught me to bake earlier this year. It's ridiculously easy to make and all it takes is a little forethought and a Dutch oven. Both key components! So let's get to it.

The first thing you is to possess a magical 6th sense that can predict your homemade artisan bread cravings about 24 hours before they hit. Ok, kidding but this bread does use a slow rise method so you need to let it rise for about 20 hour before baking. I usually prep the dough sometime in the evening the day before I want some bread say Saturday night for a loaf on Sunday afternoon. In a pinch you could probably get away with preparing the dough in the morning and baking that night!

In a bowl place the following ingredients and mix just until they come together:

3 cups of flour (I prefer 2 cups of bread flour and 1 cup of whole wheat but you can use any mix you want)
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups cold water

 After the ingredients are combined cover the bowl tightly. I use plastic wrap secured with a rubber band but use whichever method works for you. Over the next 18-20 hours you'll see your dough transform into a bubbly uniform mixture that is ready to turn into delicious bread. Punch down the dough and turn it out into a floured surface. Fold the dough on itself a few times and shape it into a  ball with a distinct seam on the under side. (this will produce an opening in the bread when it bakes!) Cover the dough with the bowl you mixed it in or a floured tea towel and let it rise for another 2 hours. About an hour and a half in put your Dutch oven (you can use regular cast iron or enameled) into your oven and preheat to 450 degrees. You want the Dutch oven to heat up with the oven. When you hit the 2 hour mark and your oven and Dutch oven are piping hot pull out the Dutch oven and toss your dough seam side up into the pot. Place covered in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the lid and cook for another 15 minutes. Enjoy some seriously delicious smells in your house while all this is happening.

 After 45 minutes total cooking time take your Dutch oven and delicious bread out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. If you listen carefully you'll hear your bread crackling and singing to you! After 10 minutes you are free to dig in. I'd recommend eating the whole loaf immediately with a little butter because it's so tasty steaming hot out of the oven but it also will last a few days stored in a bag on the counter. It is best fresh because the crust is wonderfully crisp and a great contrast to the soft interior. After a few hours of storage the bread loses it's crisp exterior and becomes more chewy. Still delicious just not quite as perfect as when it is fresh. Now... Feel free to enjoy your yummy homemade bread as an accompaniment to a pot of homemade soup, as toast or a sandwich, anything really. You can also separate the dough into four balls before cooking to make rolls or form it into a baguette loaf if you have an oblong Dutch oven.

Lately I've been really digging it as a side to my take on the Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana or topped with mashed avocado and a little salt. How are you going to eat yours??

Copy Cat Zuppa Toscana:

Brown two or three mild Italian sausages in a pot with the casings removed. Add one diced onion and sauté until soft. Next add two diced potatoes and 2 quarts of stock of your choice along with some crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning. Let the soup simmer away until the potatoes are tender and add one bunch of kale chopped or torn into bite size pieces and a cup of milk just before serving.

boy best friend is getting MARRIED!

It's true, I have a lot of best friends. I think it's because I don't have just good friends. You're either in the inner circle or you're an acquaintance. I do have good friends but most of the time I'd just say they're one of my best friends. Is there a rule? Does best friend have be to singular?
 

Anyway....

My male best friend is getting married this weekend and I couldn't be more excited. I'm so thankful for this relationship because it's different and special from any of my others. Guys are so much more real with you at times. No bullshit, just facts with maybe a little softening in the delivery because they're afraid you'll cry. I love Aaron because he's the brother I never had-so much so he protected me and warned me about stupid idiot guys using me (for my car people-not this awesome bod. haha). We met in high school in Germany when we were both the new kids and developed a friendship and have remained close since then. He gets along with my husband and I get along with his fiancé. There's an understanding there too with our spouses that this is a thing, and you have to embrace it. Nothing romantic ever happened between us and I think that's what makes it easy for our spouses to embrace this friendship. We've helped each other through a million things: college, lack of faith in God, heartbreaks, deployments, coming back to God, etc. It's a special friendship and I'm a lucky girl to have so many great men in my life.

I'm so happy that he found the love of his life in an amazing and adventurous woman. I can't wait for their big day on Saturday.

Wedding Speech Tips

I've been the Matron of Honor in two weddings (my sister's and my best friend Megan's) and have  given speeches at both receptions. As someone that hates to speak in public and as wedding season is in full swing I thought I'd give some helpful tips for those of you preparing a speech of your own.

 

Write your speech beforehand. Take the time for your loved one to do this. This is a special day and they asked you to be a part of it. Respect that and prepare for your speech. If you're nervous, go a head and read from your note cards. They'll appreciate the time you took to prepare and I can guarantee your speech will be better than blabbering off the cuff.
 

Nothing is worse than a speech of all inside jokes, or when you don't introduce yourself. Their entire family may know you but be sure there are people out there that have no idea what your name is or how you know the bride. Take a moment to introduce yourself and explain how you know one another.

One of them may be your friend, but this it THEIR big day. Include him in your speech. Tell him how lucky he is or how much he makes your friend happy. Just don't forget him-it's rude.

My favorite speeches are the ones that have me laughing AND tearing up. Try to be emotional and funny, if possible.
 

Be tasteful, don't use any curse words or words that people would find offensive. Also, watch out for large words that people may need a dictionary for. We know you're smart but you don't need to confuse people in the process. Keep it simple, people have been drinking!

Keep the speech short so that you don't lose people's interest. Also, they want to get back to dancing their butts off. About two minutes is perfect. You should practice your speech (ya know that whole be prepared thing) so you should know how long it runs.

The perfect wedding speech set up:

introduction

how you know the bride

personal/funny story of you two

how you're happy for the couple (including the groom) or why they're a perfect match

well wishes or prayers for the newlyweds

cheers!

Check out this article for more tips.

7 friends every girl needs

{my faux bachelorette party since I was already married}

The other day I was reading the Every Girl and I came across this article about the 7 friends every girl needs. I copied the one I think I am to others (most of the time) below:

The No BS-er This is the ‘hurts so good’ friend. This one is always hard for me because I have the ego of a peach (bruises easily.) But, after I stop crying, I’m always appreciative of friends like these because hot damn sometimes you really need to hear the truth. This is the friend who asks the tough question, or helps point out that your boyfriend/boss/roommate actually has a good point. They’re not rude or malicious (of course, people like that don’t quite deserve the title of ‘friend,’ now do they?) but they are not there to blow smoke up your bum. This friend is great because they keep you humble, help you to see a different perspective, and encourage you to keep growing and changing (which ultimately helps you as a human. Promise.)

They also said there was:

The Hustler
The Nurturer
The Bad Influence
The Opposite Life Stage-r
The Social Butterfly
The Historian

I think friendship with woman is a very important thing. When you have deep friendships you protect them, you're slow to let new people in, and you'd do anything for them. I don't think all friendships can be categorized into those seven types but I do think they cover a good chunk of them. And some friends can be multiple of these. For example one of my best friends is a bad influence (that's cute BUY it) and a nurturer, but at times can be a no BS-er. But we're women and we're complicated so what else would you expect?

Where I am now in my life I am still maintaining these friendships while they live far away but putting time and effort into new friendships down here. I'm at the point where I want to invest in good people that can evolve into great friendships. I don't want those pointless friends anymore, the ones that leave you feeling bad or judged after coffee. I used to think it was about quantity of friends, but truly it's about QUALITY. I have such quality friends, I know if I called any one of them and said it's an emergency, fly down here, their plane tickets would be bought within the hour. These are the women I want to surround myself by. And if I need to bite my tongue and play nurturer when they need it and no bs-er another time, I'm happy to do it. They know me, and I know them and we can discern what each other needs at the time.

Do you have friends from that list?
Who do you think you are as a friend?

4th with family and friends

This weekend was so.much.fun. It's just what I needed. There's something to be said about being around old friends and family. It's natural, you don't have to try. They can nap on the couch while you do laundry and watch an episode of a show they think is boring. My friend Nicole and her boyfriend flew down last week and stayed with us. It was tons of fun. We ate well, bowled, played tennis, the men folk golfed, and had a lot of pool time at my parents.

For the 4th of July, my parents hosted a pool party/cookout. Everything was delicious and it was a blast to be together. Everyone pitched in with making things and we were all super full by the end of the day.

{me and my momma}

{my sister put this as my iphone wallpaper....it's staying like that}

A lot of us spent most of our time in the pool. We played our own version of horse with the pool basketball hoop. We played USA because it's more patriotic and shorter. Everyone got really creative on how to make their shots. It makes it more difficult that the basketball hoop floats and can go anywhere in the pool.

We were home early enough to shower and relax and take care of Finley. Nicole bought some bottle rockets and sparklers and we had fun setting them off. We saw some fireworks that were set off around our neighborhood but not a massive show of them. It was a great weekend and I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have in our country because of the brave men and women that serve to protect them.

Flag Cake

My best friend Megan and I have a tradition on the 4th of July to always make a flag cake together. Usually it's a regular rectangular cake, iced, with strawberries and blueberries on the top to make the flag. But this year I decided to take it up a notch (or two).

As someone that hates to bake I was unusually excited about this long baking process. Maybe it was the fact that I had so many loved ones in town that made me willing to put in the work. I found a Betty Crocker Recipe online and was excited to start. However, after reading the instructions I was confused on how to put everything together. So in case you're more of a visual person, like I am, I found this Video for you to watch that will really help.
Nicole and I spent Friday afternoon baking, cooling, cutting, and placing the cake together. It was really fun and people were totally surprised when we cut into it.

How was your 4th?

7.4.14

Dear DAD, yay for you being in town!!!! Dear Nicole, I'm so glad you're here! Dear Spaz and Nate, So excited you guys are in town too. Can't wait to hug on ya! Dear Momma, thanks for sitting at our house multiple times this week. You're the best. Dear Best Friend Megan, I'm sad we won't be spending the fourth together this year but I hope you're ready for our tradition of a flag cake. I really brought it this year! Dear Aubrey, I'm so proud of you for starting your personal blog back up. You're amazing and funny and I can't wait to read every day. Dear Friends, you should check out my friend Aubrey's blog The Found Life. She's crazy funny, a talented photographer, and has such a big heart. You'll love her, I swear.Dear friends, I'm doing ok. I still really struggle with our miscarriage and sometimes it hurts so much I don't know what to do. But Dave and I are so strong and so good that I know I can get through this. Just an update that I'm doing much better and the sadness is kept at bay most of the time. I just don't like thinking that people think we're fine and healed, because it's far from the truth, but we're ok. Dear Nicole, I loved sitting in my closet among all my pretty clothes and talking till midnight the other night.

hey you

It's so strange-a nickname. It feels oddly personal, so I refrain from going by it to the outside world. It's homey to be called it-to be known so well by friends that they kind of fall into the family category and with that, pick up on what your family calls you and end up calling you that too. I love when I have my family and close friends around. Lauren isn't really said-it's not my name.
I'm excited to be around such loved ones this weekend where I can slide back into my nickname like a comfy and well worn sweater. It makes me feel loved and known.

With one of my best friends getting in last night and my sister flying in today, and our pool party cook out tomorrow with my family I'm just really excited to be surrounded by loved ones that know me, really know me.

Funnily enough Nicole doesn't call me by my nickname as we met at work in a professional setting. More than 3 years later she still hasn't gotten comfortable with calling me anything but Lauren. I still love her lots though.

{my VERY first instagram pic!}

6.27.14

 

Dear Dave, I love when you're home and we're back in our routine together. Although absence does make the heart grow fonder. And I'm more appreciative of all you do when you come back home, so that's the silver lining I guess. Dear work, thanks for being understanding about me taking my name out of consideration for the full-time job. I'm really excited to travel with Dave for his work and figure out this whole "what I want to do with my life" thing when we're done. Dear hair, I like my new cut. Perfect for summer and for a girl that hates spending any time on doing my hair.

Dear Nicole, we will be back together in just a few days! I'm really looking forward to your visit!!!! Dear Sister Friend, I can't wait for you to be back in the states, I miss you so much. Dear Dave, you work so hard and I'm so proud of you. Congrats on your promotion at work. You're an amazing provider and I feel so safe with you. Yesterday morning as I was pulling out of our driveway and you were getting settled in your car, I just looked at you and went, "God, I love that man, I'm so lucky." Dear Tera, thanks for your guest post. Can't wait for a follow up. I need to start meal prepping, so this is helpful advice. Dear Youtube, I'm ashamed to say I've been sucked down the rabbit hole a time or two. It stars with one funny video and before you know it it's midnight and I've watched hours of videos. But thanks for keeping me entertained when Dave was gone. Dear Finley, thanks for getting so much better about going into the crate. It's making life so much easier. Dear Friday, I woke up thinking you were Saturday. Fail. Thank Goodness Dave knows his days and made me get up for work. He's a keeper. Dear Friends, enjoy your weekend! See ya back here on Monday!

grill out-cali pizza recipe



{cali pizza}

By no means are Dave and I grill masters (especially me as I get lost after turning on the propane) but we're definitely getting better. The thing I love about Florida is that it's pretty much grilling weather all.year.long. We haven't taken advantage of that as much as we should but going in to summer we're starting off with a bang. We've used our grill for chicken, steak, onions, green peppers, and corn on the cob.

My parents invited us over a couple nights a go for cali pizza on their grill. It's a summer staple with my family and when we all lived in DC, my girlfriends would come over and have so much fun creating our own pizzas and enjoying being together.

 

 

 CALIFORNIA PIZZA RECIPE by Ina Garten

For the dough:

 

1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water

2 packages dry yeast

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons good olive oil

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading

2 teaspoons kosher salt

 

After letting the dough rise, you place it on the grill, flip to the other side, drizzle it with olive oil and add your ingredients until they're melted and yummy. I'd suggest checking out the full recipe on the Food Network site here.

 

My favorite toppings:

 

mozzarella cheese

feta cheese

prosciutto

mushrooms

basil-lots of fresh basil

cherry tomatoes

red onion

 

I hope you'll try out this recipe at some point in the summer. It's an easy way to add a delicious meal to your cooking repertoire. And it's a crowd pleaser because everyone can customize their own. Even picky ol' Dave loves cali pizza nights.

friends

It's been really fun to have one of my closest friends in town visiting this past weekend. I've missed the ease of this sort of friendship. Not to say that we sat around in silence the whole time but it's definitely different with someone that you feel comfortable enough around to change your mind, or tell them you need a nap. I've missed my girls so it's been fun to have Katie here for a few days.

 

It's difficult after college to make friends, especially when you work with older people. I guess what I need to realize is that Dave and I are going to be here for a long time so I need to really put myself out there and invest in new friendships. I think friendships after a certain stage of your life are going to be different in nature but it's another reason I'm so thankful for the ones I do have. The ones where we can talk through difficult times, reveal our hearts, share in each others happiness and pain, and take multiple trips to Target in a day. I do have a friend here where our relationship is growing and I am so thankful for that. I'm also so lucky and blessed to have my mom live here because we're close and I love hanging out with her.

 

To put myself out there I want to:

 

Attend this Florida blogger meet up

Find a church

Attend Yelp! events

 

How do YOU make friends when you move to a new place?

 

Thanks for visiting Katie, it's been wonderful being together. I miss you already!

summer flex

I'm so excited for this weekend. It's the unofficial start of summer and with that it means beach trips, friend visits, and lots of Slurpees after a long day in the sun. My job has an awesome thing for summer-flex schedules. Basically I work 4 longer days and can have a day off, as long as there is coverage in the office. I'm starting my flex schedule today and will have tomorrow off so I can be home for the window repair guys. It give me a nice long 4 day weekend with Dave to play.

Don't you think ALL jobs should do this for summer?

If we were having coffee

I've seen a bunch of bloggers do this lately (or in 2013) and though I may a little late to the game, I'm participating now. So here we go...

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you how lost I feel about what it is I want to do with my life, job wise. How jealous I am of my friends who genuinely like what they do and have found their calling in life.

If we were having coffee... I'd really enjoy being out with a friend, because I miss mine so very much. I'd tell you how difficult it is to build relationships outside of school or work. And since I haven't been in school for 7 years and I work with all older people, it's been really hard.

If we were having coffee... I'd brag on my husband and tell you he's the most amazing man and I'm so very lucky. I'd tell you how much better we are together and then I'd stop because I don't want to make you feel bad because we're awesome and stupid in love still.

If we were having coffee... I'd pull out my phone and show you way too many pictures of Finley. I'd tell you all about our little fur ball and how much I adore him.

If we were having coffee... I might ask your opinion on getting a perm, since I'm so bored with my hair. You'd probably laugh and say no way and I'd defend perms because they've come such a long way from the 9'0's...or so they say.

If we were having coffee... I'd share how I'm participating in this summer reading challenge and started off pretty strong but just can't get through Anne of Green Gables because she is annoying. I'd tell you how I don't get how everyone loves her and I kind of just want her to shut up. I'd ask if that was bad and not really care if it was.

If we were having coffee... I'd gripe about Dave's work travel schedule and how he went in to work on Monday and found out his flight out of state was at 3 pm THAT day. I'd share that I miss him when he's gone but it's nothing compared to a deployment and I know that, but he's not in the Army anymore so I can whine about it if I want to. After all, he's really my only friend here (other than my mom).

If we were having coffee... I'd probably come on too strong and try to make us besties right out of the gate. It's what I do....let's jump right in!

I win.

Friday evening, Dave and I hosted our first game night. We invited a few couples we know to come and play. This was a good way to meet people's significant others without an awkward and stressful dinner party. No cooking for me to worry over and having games to focus on is a great way to initiate interaction.

We started with some snacks and drinks and small talk to catch up and introduce those that didn't know each other. Then we went straight to Cards Against Humanity. If you haven't played this game, you're really missing out. Although, you should probably play this for the first time with people that love and know you since it's a disturbing and inappropriate game (but so.much.fun!). To end the night, and to cleanse our minds, we played Catchphrase. We teamed up guys against girls and had a lot of fun trying to get our new friends to say the phrase on the machine.

As for food we kept it really simple with homemade guacamole (recipe coming soon), chips and salsa, tater tots, and chicken tenders. They girls also brought dips and cheese and crackers. It was enough to fill us up but not have me worry about a set meal for everyone. The night was a lot of fun and I hope we have more game nights in our future.

*For the record, we will never play monopoly as it's a terrible game that can last several days and bring fits of rage and tears.

Guest Post: public furr-ination

Happy Hump Day friends. I've asked my sweet blog friend Christa from over at Forever Young to guest post today. I'm always so jealous of all her pictures of her sweet golden going everywhere with her and her husband. I constantly text her about what stores we're allowed to go into with Finley so I figured I'd ask her to write about it for me. I think Finley may be a little too rambunctious now to take places but it's good to know for the future; once he gets all the puppiness out of him. I'm so thankful for Christa, she really got me through the phase of not liking Finley when we first got him. She encouraged me and promised that it would be worth it, and it is. I love that little fur ball more than anything. In case I didn't say it back then, thank you Christa, so very much.

 

On that note, take it away Christa (and Thatcher)....

{Thatcher....Christa's beautiful Golden}

Hello new friends! I am Christa and I blog at Forever Young. I am so happy to be taking over Lauren's space for the day. Isn't her little Finley adorable? A few weeks back, she asked me to post about traveling with our dog. He's a huge part of our lives, so of course I was excited to share our experiences.

A little over 3 years ago, my husband (then boyfriend) and I got our little fur-ball, Thatcher. He also answers to Mr. T, Thatch, and Tigger. We travel with Thatcher a lot. We take him on vacations, trips from D.C. to Alabama, weekend beach trips, and shopping excursions. When we got married last August, it was never up for discussion that Thatcher would be a part of our wedding (photo above). It was assumed that he would be there for our big day. Perhaps we are those crazy dog people... Leaving that up for discussion.

We routinely take Thatcher along to (in addition to all pet stores):

Pottery Barn

Apple

Vineyard Vines

Anthropologie

Banana Republic

Gap

Small boutique stores often allow us to bring Thatcher in as well. Just ask if you aren't sure. You'll be surprised how many places will let you bring your dog in. They'll let you know if they don't want the pup in their store. It never hurts to ask!

Side note: Thatcher is a very well-behaved dog. We got extremely lucky. He's very laid-back and lazy—read more about that in this post. I completely understand why some stores are not pet-friendly as it can be dangerous for others in the store as well as their merchandise.

We also do a lot of over-night traveling with Thatcher. I've found that BringFido.com is the best resource when searching for a pet-friendly hotel. The list sometimes needs to be updated, though. Be sure to call to confirm that they're pet-friendly before booking a room. A lot of boutique hotels are often pet-friendly, too.

A lot of our best memories involve Thatcher. He's a well-traveled pup and fashionista (from tagging along on my shopping trips). I wouldn't have it any other way–he's the best companion.

Does your pup tag along with you?

Thanks for having me, Lauren! 

Pop by and say hi sometime. I'd love to hear from you!