Liberty Bell - July 4th Fashion, Friendship, and Fun

by Heather

When I retired about a month ago now, I knew my life would change, but I wasn't sure in what way. My plan was to spend some time ruminating on the direction my life would take when it wasn't being scripted by outside forces (i.e., a job). I'm a believer in fate -- good or bad -- and I believe fate had a hand in what was coming next.

Chico's denim jacket (old), TeamDiva hat, WHBM earrings

I was exploring getting a pet to keep me company now that I'm home more than I'm gone. We've had cats up until the last couple of years and have always considered ourselves cat people. I love the independence of a cat and never worried about working long hours when they were home alone. Hubby is allergic to them, however, and we decided when the last one died from old age, that we would not longer have cats as pets. I tried pet rats and honestly, they were much smarter, more personable, and cleaner than I would have guessed but their life span is short, so for the last year, we've had no animals in our house. In the back of my mind, I've thought about getting a dog. I've always loved the Wheaten breed and they're considered hypo allergenic. I did some Internet research on getting one (either through rescue or breeder), but it seemed way too complicated and lengthy a process.

Anyway...when a thought is put out into the universe, fate has a way of making things happen.

Enter my sister-in-law, Marianne, a devoted dog lover. She's always had dogs and currently has a Bernese Mountain dog and a Jack Russell terrier. The Jack Russell was enrolled in agility training and the training was being handled by some of the people who run the local Giant Schnauzer Rescue Group. When the Giant Schnauzer Rescue Group was given a neglected Wheaten a couple of weeks ago, one of their people sent out an email blast to see if there was any interest before turning the dog over to the Wheaten Rescue group. Marianne forwarded the email to me and the rest is history. After filling out the application and a home visit from a GSRG representative, we were the lucky recipients of the most beautiful, sweetest, 18 month old female Wheaten I've ever met. Her name was Bella but we've changed it to Liberty Bell (Libby for short), a name that my brother Scott (M's husband) came up with. How perfect a name for a little dog who was liberated from a neglectful home the week before our country's Independence Day!

The new love of our lives: Liberty Bell

Since her arrival, our lives have changed. My day starts before five (must get Libby out for a walk before the sidewalks heat up -- we're enduring a heat wave of 117-119 degrees F here) and includes playing games of fetch and tug-of-war with her two favorite toys (a long faux fur rabbit squeaky toy and knotted rope toy), combing and brushing her long hair, and getting her signed up for baths and grooming sessions, training classes (more for us than her, I think), and play dates with children or other dogs. I've put my trip to Oregon on hold (it's too hard to leave Libby when she's been here such a short time) and haven't spent any time doing any of the organizing projects that are on my to-do list.  Hubby gets greeted by a very enthusiastic, tail-wagging, face-kissing female dog (you know the word I wanted to use here, but didn't) every time he comes home from work -- not that I wasn't enthusiastic about greeting him, too, but with Libby, it's pure untethered, unbounded, unconditional love.

The perfect jacket for patriotic events

Swarovski crystals make up the United States flag

Free People flag tank; navy Target cami  (have to admit I've worn the tank without a cami underneath, but didn't want that image captured for eternity on the Internet!

Target wedges; Michael Kors purse; WHBM bracelet; Chico's bracelet

Hard to catch her standing still...

A few minutes of rest and then off to see the granddaughter

Of course, even Liberty Bell is accessorized for the  July 4th holiday!

Wishing you a wonderful week and a glorious 4th of July!

Love,
Heather