TEDDY TUESDAY: Weekend Recap!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I got a bike on the weekend! That day, we dropped Teddy off at the groomers & went to get our bikes. Since we bought 2 bikes, we took 2 cars so me and my cousin (who got her bike that day) arrived at their place first. My other cousin & her boyfriend had some errands to run and they insisted on picking Teddy up on the way, since they were in the area. This was the photo they sent once they did. It's such a cute photo and I just wanted to share it with you :D

When we were all at her place, we decided to test our bikes out. And of course, we had to take the dogs. How cute are they?! Whenever I rode behind the trailer, Teddy would always watch me, sometimes crying to get out and play with me - it was so cute!! But as I said last time, we went for a loooong bike ride & she was exhausted by the end of it (which I don't understand ;D).

Typical of Australian weather, one day it's sunny, the next day it's not. Since it was quite chilly the next day, I decided to dress Teddy up in her adorable little reversible jacket. I got this at the place we get her groomed - Pet Mansion where they have the most adorable clothes & accessories for your pets. We definitely got a lot of looks while we walked all the way to our cousins' place. And Teddy & Honey were reunited once more! You can tell how much they love playing together and Honey has definitely warmed up to Teddy. They place so well now, it's adorable to watch.

I know Teddy (& Honey!) has sort of taken over my blog posts lately but don't worry, I'm working on a post about how I'm settling into my new Emily Ley Simplified Planner (I'm loving it by the way). Unfortunately, I have decided to give my Filofax a rest for the year to see how I like the spiral-bound planner. But a huge thank you to everyone who is still interested & reads my blog! I don't think I tell you all enough how appreciative I am so thank you thank you thank you! And of course, I'd love advice about what sorts of things you like or don't like about my blog. I'm always open to suggestions & making this blog much more enjoyable for you.

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡

#BLOGMAS: Teddy's First Christmas!

So, I've been shopping... A lot these days. I mean, I know it's Christmas, but I should be on a very strict spending ban because I've been out of hand lately. As you can see, I started Christmas shopping for Teddy's First Christmas! Woo hoo! We're all super excited. Petbarn has become one of my new favourite stores. I'm the type of person who can't wait to use something once I buy it. And I don't know how I'm refraining from giving Teddy her new bone or toys, but I am and have hung her stocking up on our tree. I really wish we had a fireplace to hang Christmas stockings but we don't have one & so we never had this kind of tradition :-( Anyways, I couldn't resist dressing her in her new Santa dress. She kinda looks like Superdog in this picture but still cute, right?

I should tell you that this is a slightly older photo. Big news, she got her first shave! She's sooooo skinny now & I didn't want her fur to be too short so we kept stressing that to the groomers. We were so relieved that she turned out absolutely adorable & for more pics of her, check out her Instagram! That's right, I made her an Instagram! And since she got all her vaccinations & is allowed out, we went on our first walk & play date with my cousins & their dog.There's so much fun going on there so I'd love for you to check it out :-)

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡

PUPPY TRILOGY PART III: Teddy Room Tour

So, a while back, I did a Room Tour post of my own room, but today, it's a room tour of Teddy's room. Yes, Teddy has her own room. She is quite the spoilt little pup. She seems really comfortable in her own room since there's a lot of room for her to roam & play. Plus, her door's open when she's not sleeping so she can play in different rooms & whatnot. I'm happy to report that the toilet training is around 75/25 at the moment. It just makes me so happy when she's playing in my room but then wanders off into her room to do her business.

Anyways, back to the room tour. Here is the little sign I made/painted for her door... Yes, I'm a little obsessed with her (Kalen wonders if I'm like this with a puppy, how I'd be with a real baby xD). I bought the letters at Bunnings Warehouse & just painted them myself. And the picture of her is the one you may have seen in Part I of this trilogy & on my Instagram. It's probably my absolute favourite picture of her & I just printed that out on photo paper :-)

This is her little sleeping & feeding area. I got this playpen hoping it would keep her in but alas, she just slips right through (although, these days, it's not as smooth as it was at first :P - she's growing so fast!). Nevertheless, I liked the way the playpen looked so I kept it there, along with her food & water bowls. The food bowl isn't usually there all day but I forgot to wash it when I took this pic :P Nice & cozy, huh? I also had a whiteboard I wasn't using and just hung it above her bed with her name again since I wasn't sure what to do with it. The location of it makes it hard for me to constantly change the writing or image, etc. so it just stays there :-)

Probably the coolest thing about her room is that it has a balcony which is connected to my room. In other words, if I wanted to spy on her, I could just get out onto the balcony via my room & just peep into her room. My parents suggested just keeping her out there permanently but there's no roof & I'm just a worried mama who wants to keep her baby indoors.

You may be able to see the mirror on the far left side. That's a large built-in wardrobe where we normally store things we don't use but it also has some shelves & drawers. I cleared one shelf to keep her food and another for the stack of newspapers & tape we have, thanks to Monica :-) The funny thing about the mirror is that you can see the lick marks where Teddy's always intrigued by her reflection.

I've cleared up the bottom row of my bookshelves so that Teddy wouldn't chew up all of my books or anything like that so here's what they look like now. I have one on each side of her playpen. You have no idea how much effort I put into planning all of this...it's embarrassing.

I also get a lot of compliments on the drawer inserts I got at IKEA. I just bought 2 of ones with the drawers & 2 of the ones with the door and Kalen helped me assemble them. It was really quite easy. This is what is in them, from left to right.

First insert: all the grooming essentials. I try to brush her everyday to prevent her fur from matting. Her toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, cologne, and all the other stuff is in here.

Second Insert, Top Drawer: Towels for after her bath and any miscellaneous things like her other collar & little bow that I didn't want to throw away.

Second Insert, Bottom Drawer: Heat Pillow. I actually made this a while back when I had a few digestive issues and the doctor suggested heat packs. It's really simple; 2 pieces of fabric, rice & lavender oil. I also added some decorations to cute it up a little. A few minutes in the microwave & you've got yourself a heat pack :-) Maybe something to use on the warmer nights.

Third Insert, Top Drawer: Worming pills, coupons, the puppy pack we got from the breeder & the poop bags that came with it. Since we don't take her out on walks, I haven't used the poop bags yet but is it weird that I can't wait to?

Third Insert, Bottom Drawer: Blanket. This is the one we use occasionally such as when we take her somewhere in the car or for the warmer nights, etc. It was one of my favourite blankets but now, it's hers :D

Fourth Insert: Treats! I've gotta say, the Schmacko's Twirlz are not winners. Teddy wouldn't go near them. Let me just say, the image on the front is very misleading. And she liked the Milky Sticks at first but she got a little sick from them so they're both gone now. She absolutely loves the Puppy Rewards though and it was because of them that she is confident with our whole staircase! Although, it does worry me a little sometimes...

It's that time of the year when 2015 Calendars are on sale everywhere and I just couldn't resist a mini one with King Charles Cavalier Spaniel puppies. Teddy probably won't be able to see it but it is of her mommy & just so cute. Also, a good way to keep track of worming, vaccinations, vet checks, etc.

One of my favourite products is the little doggy butt hanger thing I also got at IKEA. Honestly, the majority of both our rooms is from IKEA. I got this idea from Pinterest and since I had the Scrabble stickers laying around from last year, I thought I'd do it as well. So that's where I hang her leash & her collar when she's not wearing it.

And that concludes our tour! I know, it's a little extreme. But really, there were 2 spare rooms not being used so this one would not be missed. And it's right next to my room. Does anyone else go as crazy as I do? Or is this not even that bad?

Anyways, I hope you're all excited about #Blogmas & I'll see you in 2 days! :-)

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡

PUPPY TRILOGY PART II: Major Collective Puppy Haul!

Soooo.... I did a lot of shopping... And I thought I'd show you what I got :P As you would expect from me, this will be a super long post.

The biggest splurge was Teddy's bed. It's from an amazing site called Charley Chau. It's great quality & has such cute designs. It's a little pricey but so worth it! And they added a little hand-written note, which I love and think is such amazing service. I think they originally started their company by designing beds for their Italian Greyhounds so the size is a little big, especially for Teddy. But she still has a little growing to do & it's great to have some of her 'friends' in there as well :D

As you can see, she absolutely loves it! :D Next are a lot of grooming, toys & accessories. One of my favourites is the Mattie & Margot collar and leash. It was such a thoughtful & amazing gift from her Aunty Mon Mon & Uncle Jerbil (a.k.a. Monica & Jeremy :P) And again, another hand-written thank you note + a discount code for next time. Oh, and another great thing about this brand is that when you get sick of the collar or want something new, you can return it to them. Then they'll turn it into a key fob & return it to you! So a cute & environmentally friendly brand :D



There's a cool store that sells a lot of pet things called Petbarn. I guess it would be similar to your Pets At Home or Petcetera or Pet Smart, and those kind of stores. I took a visit to this place even before I got Teddy, just so we could be fully prepared. Here was my first ever puppy haul. Some treats, training pads, toys & an ear cleaner. I read that dogs with floppy ears like Teddy need their ears cleaned more often so I made sure to get that. She absolutely loves the JerHigh Milky Sticks but the Old Mother Hubbard treats were a little stale & she didn't like them too much.

The Yours Droolly Training Pads were great. They were big, had adhesives so they'd stick on the floor and were super absorbent so that they didn't leave paw prints all over the place. The only bad thing was what I mentioned earlier. They only have 4 little adhesive spots so Teddy was able to tear it all off. Even after I stuck it down, she started biting at the actual pad area in the middle so they had to go. Not to mention they're pretty pricey.





On my second trip to Petbarn, I bought some more treats, the classic Kong, a little tennis ball & tear stain remover. I would definitely recommend everything except the tear stain remover. I should have waited a little before buying it since my vet recommended water instead of products, even though this is all 'natural'. Teddy's stains are also quite dark & seemingly permanent until we got them trimmed.

Another online store I checked out was Peticular. They have some pretty stylish dog beds, bowls & that was where we were introduced to the Mattie & Margot collars. I bought 2 Felli Pet dog bowls. They had a range of colours including Fuscia, Lime, Aqua & Tangerine. The shipping was super fast with a cute little receipt slip & a little treat for me as well :-)





The breeder we bought Teddy from gave us a bag of Royal Canin Mini Junior kibbles. I was researching a few dog food brands and was leaning heavily towards this one but was a little hesitant because of the price. But after much consideration, I thought better safe than sorry so I decided to stick with this. Nutrition-wise, it's perfect for growing puppies. But it does have a strong smell which I think affects the smell of her pee as well (too much info?). On the other hand, it makes her poop nice & solid so that's great :D (way too much info).

I went a little crazy on the whole grooming & smelling nice thing. Since Cavoodles don't shed, it was recommended that we brush her every day to prevent matting & whatnot. The Rufus & Coco Self Cleaning Slicker Brush is great because if you press the button thingy, it cleans itself (as the name suggests :D). Teddy didn't like it at first but now that I've brushed her everyday, she doesn't mind too much.

Rufus & Coco also released these Pee Here & Wee Away products that does what the name suggests. I put a few drops of the Pee Here on her training pad and she peed a little off the pad the first time but on it the second, so I guess it's somewhat effective. The Wee Away is great when she pees on the rug. It's supposed to get rid of stains & prevent re-soiling (not entirely convinced on that but smells good).

I'm not one to leave negative reviews for things, but the FuzzYard Breath Gel is terrible. Teddy hates the smell of it and wriggles her way out all the time. If not, her teeth are completely clamped. I also bought the Petosan Toothbrush & Toothpaste. I'm happy to report that she absolutely loves it! Maybe a little too much... But it leave her teeth clean & breath fresh.

Another less than positive review is for the Essential Dog Shampoo & Deodorising Cologne in Chamomile, Sweet Orange & Rosewood. There were so many positive reviews about this so I thought I'd try it out. The shampoo does what a shampoo should, I guess. But the cologne barely lasts 2 minutes. It smells okay but doesn't last. After I spritz Teddy, she goes a little crazy as well so I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. She does the same thing after I spray the Molly Mutt Dog Bed Freshener on her bed. But it smells great & lasts longer, is supposedly all natural & repels fleas as well.

And finally, the Frontline Spray. I got a little freaked out when the groomer said she had fleas. One of them said there was a lot, but the other said there were only a few. We all constantly check her but can never find any. But to be safe, we bought the Frontline Spray for fleas & ticks on our way out (Totally scammed by the way! It was so expensive at the vet/groomer). I know I could have bought the spot treatment or whatnot, but I already bought a pack of Sentinel (forgot to photograph!) that covers all worms & fleas. I'll be starting her on that in December but I'll keep spraying her monthly since it gets rid of ticks as well. BTW, I sprayed her and there were barely any fleas so either the product's a dud or the groomers got me :-(

And finally, I popped into Petbarn again yesterday but I had a good reason! 1. We were running out of kibbles, and 2. I had a 20% off voucher that expired on the 1st of December so I had to use it ASAP :P And as usual, I can't walk into any store without getting just what I needed. So I picked up a little Rawhide Chew that will clean her teeth as well as keep her from chewing my toes & fingers, a flea comb & an early Christmas present. She sure loves slippers so why not get her a squeaky one?

Now, that was a whole lot of rambling. I would love to hear your thoughts on all these products & as always, I'd love any and all advice. And since I'm a little bit of a shopaholic, I'm open to any suggestions of online stores that sell cute dog accessories, etc.

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡

PUPPY TRILOGY PART I: Meet Teddy!

Meet Teddy! She was born on the 4th of September 2014 and is a Toy Cavoodle - King Charles Cavalier Spaniel x Toy Poodle. At the moment, she's 2 months old so she sleeps a lot (as you will see from the photos), but is also very, very playful!

I've learnt so much in the past 2 weeks I've had her. Main thing being, it's hard being a mother. She was a little sick a few days ago & I'll admit, I teared up a little when she got her shot... Thankfully she's all better now.

You may have noticed I've been a little MIA both on my blog & on Instagram, the reason being Teddy. The first night, she honestly woke up every hour! It was tiring at first but she's sleeping so well these days, which meant I got to sleep well, and so I mustered up the strength to do a blog post :D

Here are a few more pictures. My parents absolutely adore her as well, and don't even get me started on my friends & cousins! We're just slightly obsessed with her :P

As you may be able to see, being a Toy Poodle mix, she gets quite heavy tear staining :-( The vet we went to when she was sick had a groomer there as well so she had a little trim, ear clean & nail clipping. I was surprised how well she handled it! Train 'em young, huh? Oh, and how adorable is this little bow they added?! *squeals & faints*

Toilet training is 50/50 at the moment. She went on the puppy pad most of the time but did leave a few presents elsewhere. However, she started biting at it & so we decided to change to newspapers since they're more economical. Speaking of, it was so funny when Monica showed up on my doorstep with a stack of Korean newspapers & magazines (which are free apparently). We do tape them down but Teddy still manages to rip them up sometimes. But thanks Mon!

I absolutely love how she follows me around everywhere. It's so cute & I just love her more and more every day, as does Kalen. It's even cuter watching him with her because he's not usually the 'kid' type. Teddy loves him so much as well & her tail wags a mile a minute whenever she sees him! :D Although, she does bite us a lot. It's understandable since she's teething, but we're covered in little scratches & bite marks...

Unfortunately she hasn't had all her shots yet so we can't take her out just yet. We just can't wait until she can go on walks & go to the dog park & café and oh, we're just so excited for it all! I put her on a leash for the first time today and she absolutely hates it. I would love for you to give me any & all advice to make her feel better about it.

Also, I know today should technically be a Tip Tuesday post, but as I expected, it's hard thinking up new ideas every week so I might make a Teddy Tuesday as well so I can do one or the other. And again, it may end up being a tad late and become a Teddy Thursday as well. Stay tuned for Part II of this trilogy next week :-)

I hope you enjoy it & loved 'meeting' Teddy!

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡

♡ 21st Birthday Recap

Guess who turned 21?! That's right, this girly :P

I share my birthday with my bestie, Mon & Halloween...although that's not a birthday. Halloween was never really a big thing here in Australia but lately I've seen more trick or treaters & decorations at some houses. Although there weren't any trick or treaters at my place this year. But I hope you all had a fun & exciting Halloween and didn't get too sick from eating so much candy.

I had an amazing day. Starting as soon as I opened my eyes. I must have really been out of it because Kalen managed to get up and attach balloons on my bed and place the most beautiful bouquet of (21) roses beside me. We had a delicious breakfast at one of our favourite cafés and then went shopping at IKEA with Mon & her boyfriend, Jeremy. That's right ladies & gentlemen, an IKEA double date on our birthday. Romantic, huh? But really, we just love strolling through IKEA and I bought a few bookshelf inserts. I may or may not have already started getting the dog's room ready...

Then we just relaxed at home, putting together the drawers & whatnot, and I gotta say, it's coming along pretty great. I'm planning on doing a 'Puppy Trilogy' sort of thing so stay tuned. I'm so excited! I know I got the car for my birthday (for the next 5 years), but since it is my 21st, it seems I really am getting a puppy! I just feel so blessed & lucky to have such amazing family & friends...I honestly don't know what I'd do without them. We're going to see the puppies tomorrow (Sunday) and I'm super, duper excited to see them! Just imagine, this time tomorrow, there will potentially be a little puppy tucked into my lap as I type and exciting new blog post.

If that doesn't work out, we may be going to another place next Sunday. It'd be a little disappointing if that happens since I've been hyping this up the whole time but a puppy will definitely join the Rose household by next month so that's all I can ask for. Plus, I'd prefer all the stuff I ordered online to arrive before the puppy comes so that may even be better. I'm trying to make the best of anything & everything because I'm just so grateful for the amazing gift of a new best friend.





Enough about that now. A birthday wouldn't quite be a birthday without cake now, right? We picked up 2 of these adorable little cakes that were amaaaaaazing! We got them from this cute little Korean bakery/café in Strathfield called Hello Happy. What a cute name! We'll definitely be going there again, soon! And of course, a cake that pretty was just screaming 'Instagram' so naturally, we dressed up the table a little :P

Honestly, my family & friends made this day so special for me. We love having these low-key occasions, even if it is a big birthday like a 21st, and it was made even more special being around all my closest friends and family.

But on top of that, when I posted these pictures on Instagram, all of you wished me a Happy Birthday and that was seriously just the icing on the cake. The cherry on top. The sugar coating. Enough cake puns? ;-) And I can't thank you all enough for making my day even better. You have all become such great friends of mine & I wish there was a better way of me to express my thanks for you, but at the moment, thanks seems to be the only way...

Thank you so, so much.

Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡