The Chicken or the Egg

It is hard to remember if I became passionate before they became popular or vice versa. What's the they you ask?  Shoes, wine, French Bulldogs and pigs (in no particular order). As I Christmas shop I have seen:

• wine glasses with inscriptions about shoes - "Shoes speak louder than words." "Shoe love is true love." (Both very true statements.)
• French bulldog cashmere sweaters, totes, statues, notebooks, pajamas, sweatshirts, shoes, ornaments - the list goes on and on. (All good things.)
• signs for the home with slogans about wine and shoes, pictures of shoes and wine, high-heel shaped wine bottle holders and wine bottle stoppers, etc. (Again, all good things.)
• pig statues and ornaments and stuffed animals and... the piece de resistance...

Christmas Hoggie.  Just what every home needs.  Well, this one anyway. (What would Sophie do if she saw this?  Stella wouldn't even notice but Sophie may attack!)

So chicken or the egg?  Trend or passion - which came first? I tend to believe I am a trendsetter and so retailers have just finally caught up.  

What are you passionate about?  (Besides family, friends, work, faith, etc. These passions are extras! And I refuse to call them obsessions despite what others around me say.)

Meet Stella

Until 2004, I never had a pet in my life. Actually, my grandfather had a beagle named Spot when I was little and I was scared to death of him. I used to sit in the middle of the kitchen table when they brought him up from the basement so he wouldn't "get me". As depressing as it sounds, my only "pets" were the caterpillars my childhood BFF and I would catch and keep in tupperware under my bed. (Sorry, Mom, you should have gotten me a hamster).

I've always been fascinated with pigs. At some point I'll tell you about my short life as a "pig mom" but not today. After pigs I became obsessed with bulldogs, so when Paul and I met I shared my dream of Stanley. My male English bulldog pup who would love me forever. (Before Stanley I wanted 2 female English bulldogs named Petunia and Gerber). Paul started doing some research and because we lived in a townhouse thought a French Bulldog would be better suited for our home. Enter Stella...

On a gorgeous Good Friday, we drive an hour and a half to Boonsboro, MD where we meet a 7 pound, 14 week old French Bulldog. She had Paul at hello. I was scared of her (yes, I'm a big wimp. So what?). We brought her home in a cardboard box (yes, that is the picture above). But when Paul went to the store later that evening, I sat on the floor and Stella curled up in my lap to go to sleep. Paul came home to find me in the same position while Stella slept on. A few days later, he called me on the way home from work and I answered the phone crying. "I think she loves me!" Stella had, once again, curled up in my lap to sleep. And I didn't pick her up to make it happen. She just found her new favorite spot and started to snore away.

Because of Stella, I am a crazy dog mom. Yep, complete with Halloween costumes, worry, love and sometimes over the top behavior. You will learn more about this, and meet Sophie, in later posts. Stella has brought more to my life than I ever thought possible. I just love that little girl!