Truthful Tuesday

 

This was a good one… so I was driving myself to the airport for vacation, a bit ahead of time fortunately. And I get about twenty minutes into my drive when I have a realization. And thank goodness I did! 

Guys. I didn’t pack my passport. Not only did I not pack it, but I never even gave it a thought. Thank goodness I remembered when I did. Turned around to retrieve it, still arrived on time even! Then we were delayed two hours because our destination airport was so busy. But that’s okay because I wasn’t the late one! Phew. That could have been a real vacation foul. Anyone ever forget their passport?

Thursday's Threads: Christmas Edition

 

We planned ahead this week so even though today was a travel day I DO have a riding outfit to share. We have a repeat model because Al is often the only one who wears the full outfit when we have something fun. Eros doesn't usually wear the fun boots because I prefer him in polos (though occasionally we make an exception). And most often Shiny doesn't use the fun pad since she prefers her Mattes pads. Since we wore Chanukah last week, this week we went with a more Christmassy look. Here's what Al had on:

It was pretty chilly so butt cape was a must.

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Brow Band: homemade

It's hard to see, but that's our Ugly Sweater brow band. I made them from a dog leash, and they're pretty perfect. 

Saddle: Butet

Saddle Pad: Equine Star

Half Pad: Mattes

Quarter Sheet: Equine Wears

The butt cape kinda buried the saddle pad, but it's our ugly sweater one. Let's talk about the quarter sheet though, shall we? Once I knew I wasn't returning to the old barn, I decided to replace the navy wool quarter sheets with green ones. (I still have them available for sale if anyone is looking though!) So I ordered these from Equine Wears on Etsy. I've ordered from her before, and her work is beautiful. These are similar to a melton wool which is fairly thin, so I paid extra for the double weight. They were made pretty quickly and sent off to me, but then Canada post when on strike. My quarter sheets had made it all the way to the border before getting held up due to the strike. Like if she had been able to ship one day earlier they'd have come right away. But alas, they were in quarter sheet purgatory for just over a month. They finally arrived a couple days before Christmas. Just in time for the really cold weather! Anyway, the delay was no fault of the maker, and I'm thrilled with them. Definitely recommend. I especially like the shape at the bottom so it doesn't interfere with your leg/spur. I was using the Kentucky fleece ones I have in the interim and the horses really can't feel my leg or spur through those. Or at least, they used it as a good excuse to ignore them... One of those. Haha!

Boots: Equine Star

These are the same ugly sweater print as the saddle pads. The Equine Star boots aren't the highest quality, but they sure are adorable! 

Here's what I was wearing:

Time for the yearly wearing of the red breeches!

Helmet: One K Avance CCS MIPS

I didn't get the best angle here, but it has the green top piece in there to keep with the Christmas look. I should have put the red front shield and rails in but I didn't think to until now. Maybe next year!

Vest and sweatshirt: Artscow

I used the same ugly sweater print to make this vest and hoody as Al has on his saddle pad and boots. I love this one because I took some ugly sweater images that were in the public domain to compile this. I made sure to include a leg lamp sweater and a Chanukah sweater so I'm staying true to my roots while also being Christmas appropriate. It was really cold though, so I wound up having to wear a jacket over top. Kinda took away from the look I was going for, but I'd rather be warm.

Belt: Zazzle

I went with the Chanukah belt for a few reasons. Firstly because I was lazy and it was already out from last week's outfit. And secondly, I figured it worked because it's ugly sweaters, and also the print on my shirt does include a Chanukah sweater. 

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

I spent a bunch of money trying to find the perfect red breeches awhile back, but never really was fully satisfied with what I had. Then one day these popped up second hand, and I figured I might as well just get then since I knew they'd be what I really wanted. And they are! I'm not really a red person, so pretty much only wear them on Christmas and maybe Fourth July. At that rate, they should last me a good long time.

Paddock Boots and Half Chaps: Celeris UK

I almost wore the full chaps due to the cold (I don't think we got out of the low 20's this day) but decided to wear these since I think they are green. The color is called Petrol which some consider in the blue family, but this particular shade leans green. At least to me. They're nice and warm with their sheepskin lining. 

And that's it for holiday outfits this year! But fear not, we still have Valentine's day to look forward to. And St Patty's. And Easter! I can't wait for the peeps outfit to make another appearance. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Phew! It was like a holiday marathon over here this past week. Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas to all of you. It's nice when they happen at the same time. Kind of... The only downside is I'll be traveling for the majority of Chanukah so I won't have my daily sweater post this year. It'll be back better than ever next year though. Anyway, let's talk about horses. 

If you look carefully, they're all in this photo

We had a lot of easy days this week for various reasons and didn't do any jumping. We'll get back to that after vacation! This time of year is so busy and the horses will have time off while I'm away anyway, so I don't see anything wrong with stepping back and just having some light, fun rides. 

I had an interesting revelation on Friday and Saturday with Al. I mentioned last week how something has switched recently and he's been a lot more rideable and relaxed. It had continued this week until Friday. I was in a little bit of a rush Friday because we were having our barn holiday party that evening and I needed to go back home after riding to make what I was bringing for food and to feed the dog. So I was trying to get the horses done somewhat more quickly than normal. I had lunged Al  bit  before I got on because he let me know the day before that he was needing that. But what I didn't do was hand walk him around the ring prior to lunging. That's really not required outdoors but he is not a fan of indoor rings as we've learned and that does seem to help make him more comfortable. I had thought I could skip that step because he's been so good of late, and I figured the lunge should accomplish the same thing. It did not. He didn't want to lunge near the ends, which normally after we walk around together first he will get pretty close to the ends while on the line. On top of my skipping a step that day, we also had more external distractions than his threshold can handle. It was a VERY windy day. And that ring makes some crazy sounds on windy days. The doors rattle and bang a little and there's a weird kind of whistle that happens at one of the ends. Even Eros isn't a fan on windy days. Of late, Al can handle those sounds if that's all he hears. But there was more. The barn runs along the long side of the ring here. And at the end of the barn, at the same end as the whistle-y wind, the farrier was working on a horse in the barn. You could hear him talking to someone pretty loudly, you could hear the forge, and you could hear the hammering. But that's not all either! At the other end, right outside the entrance to the arena, one of the workers was dragging floor mats around to clean under them. She wasn't particularly noisy, but you could hear the dragging and slapping when they were slid around and then put back down. And that my friends, is way too many factors for Al. He tried really hard to pay attention to me, but it was just a little too much. He didn't do anything bad, but he was really shut down. So I just decided to end the ride that day, He'd moved around plenty on the lunge, so he'd gotten enough exercise. And I just didn't see things improving. You might say I gave up. But I'd disagree. I decided to let him be finished before it turned into an argument. Before his little marbles fell out of his ears. 

So the next day I was really wondering what I'd have to work with. I still had to rush some as we were having our family Chanukah party that night, but I made sure to have enough time to do all the steps for Al. And you know what? He was wonderful. We had one other horse in the ring with us who is a pretty steady eddy kind of dude, so that was certainly helpful. But Al was the same horse he'd been the last couple of weeks. No evidence that Friday had happened at all. So I really think on days like that where there's just too much going on that he can't see, I shouldn't ride. I should lunge him those days so he gets out and does something. But I don't see any point in opening that can of worms. I'm not concerned that this will cause a problem showing where it's total chaos because I don't plan to show him inside. He's an outdoor kinda guy. And outside he can see everything that's making all the noise. Plus, there's usually horses everywhere which really puts him at ease. 

It's hard for me to accept that it's okay to allow for days like that. Days where we don't ride. I was always taught that horses work six days a week and they should fulfill a certain set of expectations each ride. But honestly, I just don't think that works for Al. Some days are too much for him. Maybe it will get better as he ages, maybe it won't. Maybe I'm way off here and this isn't really the answer to getting him to be the horse I think he can be. But I won't know if I don't give it a few tries. He's been pretty good otherwise the past week. They all had Sunday and Monday off because the weather went nuts and it was single digits. But still, when I did get on Tuesday, he was a good boy. Today too. He was angsty today, and I had even less time than the other days last weekend, so instead of pushing too many buttons, I just did a walk trot day with him. And he tried super heard. He had more good moments than bad ones. He was a little spooky and jumpy (not spinny at least!), but he would go right back to work with a soft poll and moving off my aids. I call that a win. Especially because it's still ridiculously cold here and he'd have every excuse to be terrible. It was a nice last ride before vacation, even if we didn't canter. 

Eros has been his perfect self for the most part. He hasn't been a big fan of the one end of the ring with the weird noises, but that's not really abnormal for him. He doesn't do anything wrong, he just lets me know that he hates it and it's probably unsafe and I'm the worst for making him go there. He's feeling pretty good lately though so I'm happy about that. 

He's broken out in hives again. It started a few weeks ago, and I had reached out to the vet to see what I should do. I'm pretty sure it's shavings related. And he's still on daily Benadryl. Doc suggested switching him to Zyrtec. So I went and bought it, but the next day when I returned with the new meds, the hives were gone. So I didn't switch. And then of course, two days before I'm supposed to leave he's broken out again. I don't want to switch his meds while I'm not there, and while the hives look unsightly, they don't seem to be itchy. So I guess he'll be lumpy while I'm away. If he's still like that when I get home, I'll switch the meds.

Also funny... I got them all new blankets from Big Dee's because Shiny ripped her (brand new) heavy already and Big D had some nice faux Baker looking blankets super cheap. I got her one and it was lovely. Fits great, has nice features, seemed amazing. But when I put the blankets on the boys... They did not fit at all. Al's isn't as bad as Eros' is, but man! I'm not sure if I should try sizing up or just write them off as being the wrong shape... The sides are really short, which they kind of are on their green ones too, but not as bad as the new Big Dee ones. 

The neck seems to sit too high and his belly hangs out the bottom. They also don't have a tail cord, but that's an easy fix. (They have leg straps, but they did request blankets without them here.) What do you guys think? Should I try sizing up? They both normally wear an 80, but I almost feel like I'd need to go to 84 in these. It's so odd because Shiny's fits perfectly, and she's usually the toughest fit. I dunno. I'm still on the hunt for 300 gram stables in green that have long enough sides and don't cost $400 a piece. I really can't figure out why Premier Equine doesn't have a 300 gram green blanket. I have the 200 gram from them that I love. But the 300 gram version of the same blanket only comes in navy. And I know it's stupid, but I don't want navy. I want green. I should write to them and maybe I can convince them to make green next year. 

Shiny is living her best life over here lately. We've had several bareback ride days which she loves because I encourage the Shiny shuffle and the "work" part of those rides is usually only about 15-20 minutes. I'm old. That's a long time to not have stirrups! The most interesting thing going on with her these days is that she seems to be making friends with the other horses. Which is very unlike her! There's a mare that she loves. I caught them hanging out next to each other in their paddocks. She has individual turnout, but most of the paddocks share a fence line with another paddock so they can get pretty close. And she was just hanging out with this mare not making faces. Not kicking. It was so nice to see! I feel badly though because that mare is just here for a few weeks while her owner is home from college. Then they head back. 

But she was also caught flirting with a TB gelding today. Well today she was flirting. A couple days ago he had convinced her to go running around her paddock. Not ideal, but Shiny's smart. She only ran enough to get her point across, not so much as to get hot in her blanket. Or you know, exert herself. The TB is a little bit of an instigator. He had Al galloping the fence line with him another day. They were definitely racing (the TB always won) but Al's lazy enough that he wasn't really RUNNING around the paddock. Just the one long side. Then they went back to playing bitey face. Which he also loses every time, but very much enjoys.

I head south to the Bahamas tomorrow, so they are off for the next week. Hopefully it doesn't rain too much while I'm gone. But at least I know they'll get a hand walk if they can't go out, so that's nice. It's aways hard for me to leave them though. I'm definitely a helicopter parent. 

In other news, do I have a story for you guys! I mentioned earlier we had our family Chanukah party on Saturday. We did it early because of vacation. Vacation is with my dad, so we needed to celebrate with my mom beforehand. Plus it's nice to have it a little separate from Christmas since my nieces celebrate both. Anyway, back to my story. I wore this fabulous outfit for the celebration:

Yeah... I took it a little too far this time. But the important part for the story is that headband. You can see it better here:

My niece wanted to try it on so I let her. Because why wouldn't I? That was earlier in the evening. So fast forward to after dinner. We're opening presents, having a great time. When my other niece asks if she can try on her sister's hat. Well my sister in law is looking inside the hat and goes "oh no. No, no, no, no!" And we're all what? And she goes "Head lice". LICE IN THE HAT! So that put a real damper on our party. EPIC party foul. Thankfully sister in law pretty much immediately went to Walgreens and bought all the NIX they had (lice shampoo). She got me a bottle since we'd shared the headband. I'm happy to report that I did not get any lice shared with me, but I did use the shampoo just in case. Did the comb. The whole thing. Lice free. THANK GOODNESS! How gross. When I was a kid, they used to check us all regularly so if anyone had it, they'd get sent home and couldn't come back until it was gone. but they don't do that anymore and apparently it's just always going around the school. How disgusting. I don't get why they'd stop that. Thankfully they caught it really quickly and even the infested child didn't have very many. Still. Ew. 

In my huge discomfort about the whole lice thing, before I went to work with the magic shampoo, I also threw everything I'd been wearing and Rita's dress in the wash. Know what else went in there? My car key. Oops. Thankfully it made it out unscathed and is still functioning. Not usually my luck, but I'm very grateful. Because my truck has decided to throw an engine light at me... I'm not even addressing that until after the new year. I hate that truck so much. 

So I think that's it for this week. It was a lot! Two holiday parties, single digit temps, lice, and an engine light. Quite a week! Vacation can't come soon enough! We're leaving pretty early, so I won't see the horses until I get back. Rita's at my mom's for the week. I find it so hard to leave them all. But I'm sure they'll all be just fine. 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Happy Merry Chrismukkah!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Happy Chanukah Eve and Merry Christmas Eve! We celebrated our annual Festivus dinner last night with Chinese food of course. My confession is that for the last week or two anytime I've been at home, I've been watching Hallmark movies. That's it. All Hallmark movies all of the time. Some of them were filmed near me, and one was actually filmed in my little town so it's fun to see places I know in a movie! It's also nice to take a break from all the chaos that is the world news and what not. After vacation I'll get back to real life and following along with important current events. But for now, I'm just watching mindless holiday movies, eating cookies, and enjoying some peace. 

Anything you need to confess this week? I feel like the holidays bring out the weird in most of us, so feel free to unload in the comments!

Thursday's Threads: Early Chanukah Edition

 

Chanukah starts really late this year. The first night is on Christmas. I'll be traveling, so I decided to do our Chanukah outfit early so I don't miss it! That would be terrible! It was Al's turn to model, and he did a great job. Here's what we had on:

I really need to remember to prop my phone up on the other side of the ring so it's not trying to focus through the sunlight. This is why I'm not a photographer! From this angle, I don't look AS short next to him as I am in real life. Haha! I didn't detail that vest I'm wearing below, but if you're wondering it's a million years old (roughly) from Calvin Klein.

Here's what Al wore this week:

He did his photo shoot yesterday when it was nice and we could be outside. Today was crazy windy and we got a ton of rain last night so the ring was too wet for riding in today. Back indoors we went!

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: Homemade

These wooden bead brow bands are my favorites. I kind of hate making them because I do not have the attention span really required for sewing, but they come out so ridiculous and cute! Totally worth my boredom and stabbed fingers.

Saddle: Butet

Saddle Pad: Equine Star

Half Pad: Ippico

I'm so glad I decided to have these fun saddle pads made when I was still gainfully employed. They are ridiculous in all the best ways. 

Boots: Equine Star

I have the same feelings for the boots. I just love things that are silly. And these are definitely that.

That's what Al was wearing this week, and here's what I had on:

You know... if it was warmer it might be fun to go all out with some chanukah leggings instead of breeches... But it's not warmer so I didn't do that. Maybe next year!

Helmet: One K Avance CCS with MIPS

Been awhile since I've worn the navy helmet! Well, kind of. It HAD been awhile, but then I wore it Saturday for our card photos. I have the gold front shield and rails in, but I'm thinking maybe I need to get some silver at some point to match these boots.

Sweater: Tipsy Elves

When Tipsy Elves first launched I was SO excited that they had so much Chanukah stuff. Over the years they have expanded their product line to include various holidays all year long, and consistently create new Christmas sweaters. But you know what they don't do? New Chanukah stuff. It's really disappointing. Nothing new in several years, and there's a lot less Chanukah options for accessories and what not too. It's really unfortunate. It's great for my bank account, but it's pretty lame otherwise. Don't you want my money Tipsy Elves? No? Okay then....

Belt: Zazzle

You all know I love these belts from Zazzle. I really hope they get them back in stock. I'll be super sad if they're gone forever. 

Breeches: Equiline

I believe this model is called Boston. They have knee patches that are the same material as the pants. They're sized differently than all my others though. Normally Equiline breeches are sold using Italian sizing and I wear right in between a 42 and 44. 42s are pretty snug, I'd say equivalent to TS 26 and the 44s are usually a little too loose. When I ordered these though, the drop down had them in US sizes so I chose 28 which is my usual TS size. When they arrived, the label said IT-46. The waist is a little big, but otherwise they fit nicely. So I have no idea what size they really are. But I got them on sale for $75 which is a real steal, so who even cares?

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

I think last year or the year before maybe, Dreamers and Schemers had Chanukah socks and I was so excited I bought both options. I'm not offended they didn't have any this year, because it doesn't look they did a holiday drop of any kind this season. Which is odd... I hope things are going okay over there because I love what they do.

Boots: Celeris UK 

Chanukah is the perfect time to bust out the newish navy boots! I got these this summer and they were a sample pair that happened to be my size exactly. Love when that happens! They're really simplem all navy blue with just that little bit of silver piping on the top. 

And that's it! What do you think? Are you glad I didn't skip the Chanukah outfit? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I'm writing early because I have so many things to do today and I don't want to forget! It was a productive riding week for everyone, and I even managed to stay on schedule and do some little jumps both Wednesday (which we already talked about) AND Friday. Though Shiny didn't get to jump Friday because lessons were starting so I had to put my toys away. (Dressage lessons happen on Friday afternoons so the ring needs to be clear of obstacles.) 

I'm starting with Al this week because he had a really good week and it's rare that I can say that. We don't usually have so many good days in a row and I'm really proud of him. I can't say he's not spooking at all, but he's keeping his attention on our work significantly more than has been the norm for him. He's letting me redirect him when he's get distracted most of the time instead of just some of the time. So that's a big breakthrough for us. I don't know if it will last or what triggered the change, but I am here for it!

I'm trying very hard to really focus on my own body when I'm on him. If I can keep his shoulder and neck supple, it seems I can also keep his attention. To do that on Al, I have to be really conscious about using my whole leg and not just my calf. This isn't a new discovery, but somewhere along the line I had forgotten about it. I'm not sure if it's the fact that Al is more relaxed and thus my leg is wrapping around him better or if I'm doing something differently, but I've been having an easier time of getting my full leg on him so it can do its job. I also went a full week with no draw reins which I think he had gotten claustrophobic about (even though they were never, ever tight enough to restrict his movement up down or out. Just short enough to stop the spinning.)

With his new, more willing attitude this week, he's also moving forward more easily. At the trot. Unfortunately, our canter seems to have fallen completely apart, but I'm here for baby steps forward even if we have to fix something else in the process. We'll get there. I also think the canter problems will improve if we can get outside to a bigger ring. The indoor is on the smaller side and for a big strided, yet lazy type horse, it's easy for them to want to be behind the leg, especially at the canter. He wants to hollow out his back and four beat around the ring rather than lift his back and flow. Obviously, that's more work and harder, so who can blame him really? He's even doing it on the lunge line though, so I do have an appointment scheduled with the vet for next month just to make sure there's not a problem somewhere. I don't think there is. I just think he needs to motivate a little more. 

Yesterday I really tested the waters... but only partially on purpose. I got there a little later than I wanted and he was already dressed to go out. I normally ride him first, but I did him last instead so he could go outside first. By the time it was his turn to ride the sun was coming into the ring in the WORST way. Like literally blinding us down one of the full long sides. I had thought I would try to ride him without a lunge and see how he was. It was a bad plan! Ha! I don't lunge him before every ride, but I do after a day off normally. I had too many variables yesterday. So anyway, I opted to get off and give him a lunge and then see what I had. Often, if he's worked up like he was the lunge won't really fix it. But yesterday it did and I was able to get on after and have a lovely ride. (Canter issues aside. But it wasn't terrible.) We rode in literally every weather condition last week too. It was really cold (highs in the 20's/low 30's) and one day there was crazy wind which sounds terrifying in the indoor. Then it was warm. One day there was rain... All of it. And he still showed up each day. So even if it's temporary, things went pretty well with Al this past week. Fingers crossed it continues! 

Shiny's been great this week too. I've had to abandon the quarter sheet for the most part because it inhibits her from feeling the whip. But she's been feeling pretty loose lately. At the end of our rides she's been giving me a really legit stretchy trot which I'm not sure I've ever achieved on her before. 

I was disappointed to not get to jump her last Friday (my own poor timing though, do better self) because she's the one I can do all the fun things with at the moment. I usually set up four or five little "jumps". something on the outsides either singles or maybe a line, and then something on each diagonal, so we can kind of put together a little course. Usually I set things so there are bending line options and maybe even circle of doom type exercises. Al isn't quite ready for all of that with our canter troubles, and I still have Eros focusing on single jumps, so Shiny is kind of my main girl for fun jumping exercises. 

I have a lot to do this week to get holiday stuff wrapped up (literally and figuratively) so I need to do a little better with my time management at the barn. Thus, I'm not sure how much jumping we'll get to this week or next. But that's okay. I'm going away the between Christmas and New Years so they're all going to have some time off anyway. After that though? We'll have the whole winter to really get into a groove. And I'm hoping to start lessons for Al too. Bank account willing... Lol.

Anyway, back to Shiny really quickly. It was almost 60 yesterday but the ring was too wet out there for riding on. But I HAD to get out at least a little with one of them, so I chose Shiny to go out for a little walk after we rode. I tried to sneak out the little hallway from the indoor and just pop out the barn door since they're right next to each other without dismounting and leading her out. But there's a drain outside that one barn door and she wouldn't walk out! I couldn't believe it. Shiny's never like that, but she does hesitate out this door whenever we've used it. (Mostly we go out from the other end as that way leads straight out to the paddocks and the outdoor ring. This other door just leads to the parking lot.) I had to get one of the barn workers to walk out ahead of us and then Shiny followed politely. Horses are so weird.

Eros is honestly the most saintly horse. I mean look how I dressed him for our ride on Saturday. Yes, that's a sidepull bridle. Also yes, those little ear balls just bounced around the entire ride. It was ridiculous. I was zero percent capable of focusing on anything else. I was worried he might be startled by his reflection when he saw himself but I needn't have worried. He just checked himself out, sighed at the humiliation of it all, and went about his business. Perfect angel. 

He's been doing well this week too. We've added counter canter back into our repertoire as that really helps to unlock his go button. And also the rest of his body. It's nice to have a cheat code for such things. The counter canter is TOUGH with the narrow ring, but it's a great tool. 

I've been wrapping him overnight for the last... I dunno, two years? My vet said to just continue with it after his last injury so I have. But I've been weaning him off the wraps this past week because I don't think the staff here at the new place really know how to properly wrap. And I'd rather he stock up then bow a tendon. So he'll be wrap free while I'm gone, and we'll see how that goes. So far, I've been wrapping every other night and his legs look absolutely fine. He feels the same too. I'm hopeful it won't be an issue. He won't be working or stressing his legs during that time, so fingers crossed all goes okay with that. 

In other news, my free boots from La Mundial arrived this week and they fit like a glove! 

They're very pretty, and I plan to break them in at some point but probably just keep them as a spare show pair in the trailer. They fit perfectly, and feel like they'll be comfortable after a few rides (new boots, amiright?!) but the leather is so thin, I just don't see them holding up to everyday use and abuse. But that's also what makes them comfortable, so there's that! 

That's about it from here! I'm off to ride, then get groceries, then wrap a million presents.... 

Truthful Tuesday

 

Well, it happened. I finally let my freak flag FLY at the new barn. I did a soft intro at Thanksgiving. But this weekend it was finally time to take the holiday card photos. And I had a lot of tinsel. A LOT. Like so much. I had hoped to have it all ready to take photos during the week when the barn was less busy, but alas, it took a lot longer to sew on all the tinsel than I had thought. Always the way, isn't it? 

So how was it received by my barn mates? Everyone got a kick out of it. Even the one lady who always seems a little above any nonsense. I'm not sharing my final card just yet since they just went in the mail yesterday, but I will share some photos that I didn't use. Let me know what you think of my ridiculous tinsel look!

Eros absolutely rode in his outfit and I'm happy
to report that nothing came apart!

Rita and I wore matching outfits, but she
managed to escape the tinsel. I should have 
done a tinsel collar for her.