Living with pets.

Oh, animals and their terrible taste in home decor. I'm constantly torn between wanting to provide these damn spoiled animals a truly comfortable home, while having their stuff fit in with the clean design we try to maintain throughout the rest of the house. The truth is, they're over the moon with the basics: comfy old blankets and quilts. A crate for the puppy when we're not home. The one fancy thing they own is that floating cat perch topped with a patchwork coverlet, a Christmas gift from my mother.

Any time I've contemplated getting the pets some classy beds, I've stopped short of punching myself in the face. At the end of the day, these animals need food and shelter and love -- and little more. I know for a fact they would take their old worn bedding any day over little monogrammed ticking stripe beds. Even though they would look so much better with the sofa.

Christmas slippers.

Chuck gave me these slippers for Christmas. They will forever remind me of the first Christmas we celebrated with Maple.

Rainy cozy Sunday morning.

Rainy cozy Saturday morning.

Rainy cozy Saturday mornings are the best. I live for them. Coffee brewing, worn-out puppy-chewed moccasins on my feet, sleepy cats sleeping. Chatting with Chuck about a hundred different things in the breakfast nook. The two of us taking Maple for an early walk. Chatting with the neighbors. Picking up a pastry at the local bakery. Getting inspired to bake my own scones on Sunday morning. Please please please let it be rainy and cozy tomorrow, too.

Multiples.

I've been hearing chatter for a long time now that Tieks are the most comfortable ballet flats ever. I was really skeptical. I mean, look at them. They curl up when feet are not occupying them. But they are amazing. So amazing I bought six pairs. They arrived in teeny little packages topped with glitter-shedding flowers (probably in anticipation of some loser taking a photo and blogging about it).

There must be something in the water I'm drinking lately. I ordinarily don't buy things in multiples. They say when you find the perfect pair of jeans or whatever, that you should stock up. But I am not a stocker. I don't like owning lots of things that don't get used. I only owned eight pairs of shoes total before I bought all these Tieks.

So now I own thirty-two baskets and six pairs of ballet flats. I feel: sheepish. Also, jocund. Yes that's right JOCUND.

UPDATED TWO DAYS LATER: Nobody needs six pairs of ballet flats. I'll be returning five pairs shortly. Once I figure out which color to keep. The thirty-two baskets are staying though. Someone always needs a basket.

Oak compartments.

Check out these built-in oak shelves in our dining room. They used to have doors, which we have since ripped out so that we can display our china and favorite servers out in the open. The silver and aluminum things are my favorites. The letters spell "C & E" for Chuck and Erica, by the way. I know it looks like an "F" from this angle, but there is no Frank or Frida in this household that I know of.

Wreath substitute.

I had a tough time finding a decent wreath, of all things. I envisioned getting a big, fragrant Balsam wreath which I would festoon with few, but appropriately flamboyant decorations. I looked at tons of wreaths, and they all disgusted me. This giant bow solved that dilemma this year. Giant bows solve everything.

Maple year.

This week, we marked the first birthday of our chocolate lab, Maple. Maple is an instrumental part of our household. Thanks to her, animals now hold majority rule over humans under our roof. Why, just last week the three of them approved the direct deposit of my paycheck into a cat condo fund. I mean, it's ridiculous.

"Why did you vote for the cat condo?" I asked Maple. "You're not going to get anything out of that. You need to stop allowing yourself to get bamboozled by the cats."

She is still so young. When she wags her tail, her whole body sways back and forth. When she sees us at the end of a workday, she is so overwhelmed with happiness that Chuck and I have for now given up trying to train her to greet us gracefully. We just fall to the floor with her and let her joy wash over us. Even if that means that a flailing paw inadvertently smashes my nose and Chuck falls backwards as Maple flings the weight of her whole self on his lap, an echo of her early puppy days that has never left her -- and one I hope will never leave her.

We used to fret over so many stupid, stupid things when we first adopted Maple. Will she ever learn not to piss on our floors? Will she ever stop pulling on her leash and getting distracted by FLOWERS! and SQUIRRELS! and SKY! and walk like the other dignified dogs in our neighborhood? Will she ever understand us when we tell her to stay, and sit, and come home?

She has learned all of these things and so much more. She floors us every day with the depth of her maturity. She teaches us much-needed lessons about gratitude, joy and simplicity.

Our dog and cats make us feel like we lucked out in the most profound way. We've had a handful of grown-ass adult meltdowns between the two of us this year, and each time our animals made everything better.

We love these three with our whole hearts. But they are not getting a cat condo. Those things are fug.

Go make some chicken mole.

Festive ingredients in my favorite mole recipe: chicken thighs, onions, diced tomatoes, a bottle of your beer of choice (I like Fat Tire), chicken stock, Mexican chocolate, green bell peppers, poblano peppers, raisins, peanut butter, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, salt, sugar, cinnamon, cumin and chili powder. Sauté chicken and set aside. Simmer all other ingredients for an hour. Immersion blend that thang, mix in the chicken. Serve over rice. Results = chicken mole for days.

P.S. I adapted the original recipe some. Look at me, all chef-like.

Please take a basket.

World Market offered 50% off all their baskets from 1 to 4pm today. How does a reasonable person react to this situation? I bought 32 baskets that I currently have no immediate need for, and I thought that was pretty reasonable.