Homemade Frozen Vanilla Teething Towels for Puppies

Our new puppy is now in the teething stage, and will be for a few months. I massage her gums the best I can, and since we have an older dog, there are more chew toys around the house than shoes. But I feel so bad for her when she's feverish. She is really restless at night, her mouth and gums and paws are hot and her her nose goes dry from the heat, too. I can tell she's just miserable.

I made these with my other dog when she was teething, too. I remember Googling this type of thing with my very first dog, so I'm sure others are too.

What you'll need:

1 - Hand towel or bar towel
Scissors
Bowl
Water (approx. 1-2 cups)
1 - Gallon-size Ziplock Freezer Bag
Vanilla Extract

1) Cut your towel into smaller pieces. I fold mine into thirds, then cut. Then folded each third into thirds, and cut - making 9 small squares. (They don't need to be very big, because otherwise they'll melt before your dog ever gets to chewing most of it. Also, smaller pieces freeze faster.)

2) Fill your bowl with about two cups of cold water. Put a few drops of vanilla extract in the water. Make it so it has a subtle vanilla smell to humans, which will be plenty strong for the pup. This will keep their interest and make it more like a treat.

3) Dip the towel pieces into the water, wring out excess, and throw into the Ziplock bag. Repeat with the other pieces. **Do not lay each towel piece on top of one another like layers. For one, it'll take longer to freeze. And two, once they freeze together, you'll have a heck of a time tearing them apart.)

4) Seal up the bag and toss it in the freezer. Take one out of the bag whenever you want your pup to cool their gums.

Ta da! Instant gum relief.

Rosie the Roomba Comes to the Rescue!

We recently got a new addition to our family! Her name is Lucy, a 7-week-old black lab/border collie. She's a doll! Her sister Elli, a 2-year-old black lab/golden retriever, has grown to love her, too, but it did take a couple of unsuccessful assassination attempts for her to finally accept Lucy's permanency.

So now Elli has a friend to play and get into mischief with. But it also means double the shedding and Lab hair sticks like glue. I'm a busy lady; vacuuming is not a task I like to make time for. I decided to fork out a small investment and hire a maid for the task - she's a robot who we named Rosie.

Now as much as I'd like Rosie to be as talented as Rosie from The Jetson's, I will settle for her vacuuming skills until someone technologically smarter than I am makes that happen. I purchased the iRobot Roomba 770 and set her up on the main floor, where the pups typically wrestle and spend most of their time. Let me tell you: I. LOVE. IT! It isn't a deep thorough clean each time by any means, but it removes the daily layer of dust and doggy hair that builds up throughout the week. There is less hair tracked all over the house, meaning significantly less time cleaning for me when the weekend hits. The pups look at her sort of weird, but fortunately they don't bother Rosie while she's working.

So thank you, technology, for making me lazier another happy customer!

Life's Turmoils: Keeping my Clinique lab coat clean!

I love my part-time job as a Clinique consultant! In fact, esthetics is/was my second career choice; you could say its more like a passionate hobby instead of a job. I've been using Clinique for years. In my poor college days, I ventured out looking to replace my beloved Clinique with inexpensive impostors. The result was spending the same amount, if not more, purchasing several different brands that left me dissatisfied and sent me running back to what I love. I don't sell it for the money, I sell it to make people as happy as I am.

No customer wants someone who LOOKS dingy and dirty from makeup film to give them advice on their appearance. But keeping that gosh-darn lab coat clean sure is a bugger! The biggest issue is that we can't bleach them. So for other consultants out there who are Googling how to keep it clean, I hope you find this useful.

So how does it get so dirty? Allow me to explain: I always get makeup along the collar of my coat, presumably from leaning over to get product out of the drawers and turning my head to talk to the customer above me; it never fails! The black ink from the shipment boxes rubs off onto the arms and belly of the jacket, making it look gray and dingy. The cuffs become multicolored from repeated swatches of lipsticks, eyeliners, and foundations, and along the pocket edges from reaching for pens and what-have-you. The occasional splatter of foundation from a near-empty bottle finds its home on the jacket somewhere. And finally, there is that "surprise" stain that bears no explanation for its existence but is always in plain sight.

My newfound solution: Clinique's Rinse-off Foaming Cleanser. It's been my staple face makeup and sunscreen remover since I began using the brand, and now its made its way into my laundry room.

I take a wet toothbrush and rub this miracle product all along the jacket's collar and the makeup grime literally disappears! I use it on every stain. I recently washed all of my jackets in one load and squeezed some of the cleanser into the Pre-Wash cup, while using normal laundry soap . The jackets came out brighter than ever! I don't know if doing just this pre-wash step alone would remove the stains completely, as it does take some of the stains a fair bit of scrubbing to work them loose, but it would certainly brighten the jacket!

I sure hope this is beneficial to other Clinique consultants looking to keep their appearance sharp and stain-free!

Live : Laugh : and Wear Sunscreen :o)