the ‘CMICBMFP’ contest :: minneapolis pet photographer
update: to summarize what is below …
step 1: like Chocolate Moose Images’ Facebook page here
step 2: leave a comment on THIS blog post stating who your vote for the CMICBMFP goes to
And if you share this post on your Facebook or Twitter page, you should leave a second (or third!) comment on HERE stating who your second (and third!!) vote is for!!
Woooo!!! Keep the votes coming!!!
Why hello there! Do you know what day today is? It’s my birthday! That’s right – today I turn 26. I’ve had one heck of a year of amazing ups and incredible downs and have decided I want to do something special today…
I decided the best plan for the day was to do something really fun, exciting and new for Chocolate Moose and the cutest animals I’ve gotten to play with to date. My plan? Give goodies away to some lovely, lovely people! Today begins the ‘Chocolate Moose Images Cutest, Bestest and Most Fantastic Pet of 2011’ contest… which explains the title of ‘CMICBMFP’. I am hearing a collective “ohhhh!” right about now.
A bit of back story … For the New Year, I whipped up some cards thanking my clients for their support in 2011 and displaying, once again, their amazing little fur balls. The cards were a HUGE hit. I’m so thrilled!!! I designed it with some of my favorite images from my different sessions and even included one of my own girls. Really, how could they not grace my very first Choco Moose New Years card?! So … Because I loved working with all these animals so much, I wanted to give away a few more gifts to their parents in honor of my birthday! Again – can I get a ‘Hooray for Birthdays!’ Here is where all of you come in… to decide who gets these gifts I need viewer input! What I’m looking for you to do is comment on this post to help decide on ‘Chocolate Moose Images Cutest, Bestest and Most Fantastic Pet of 2011’
Sounds fun and exciting right?? Here are the details for how you can enter:
Below all of this I have posted the images from my card (hooray!!). Please go through all the images carefully and try to decide whom out of all of these fantastic, cute and cuddly pups and kittens is the one who should win the grand prize. Without my Digi, who is quite bummed to have been excluded, there are 22 choices. It will be very hard, so be prepared. Then, if you aren’t a fan of my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mychocolatemooseimages) make sure to do that before you leave a comment on this post. That is the key. Once you are a fan please comment! Please make sure to notate the name of the animal (which is on the photo within the post) and that you are a FAN of Chocolate Moose Images. Only one comment per person unless of course you Facebook or tweet this post … those allow you one additional vote each which should be left as a separate comments on here. And as much as I appreciate comments and votes on Facebook and Twitter, only votes on THIS blog post will count towards the contest. You have 14 days to leave your comment and to get others to vote to help your friends, family or favorite animals win GREAT things …
But wait – what are the prizes?
* The first prize is a gift session + a set of 2 mini brag books! It can be redeemed by the winner for updated photos or it can be gifted to anyone they think might need some pictures of their furry friends. This is over a $150 value! The only fine print is that this is for just the photo session and mini books (not prints, wrapped canvases or albums) and it has to be booked by the end of 2012
…it doesn’t stop there!
* The second place winner will receive 2 mini brag books customized with images from their previous session
* The third place will receive 10 note cards, also customized with an image from their previous session
AND even if your animal wasn’t featured on the card, you are eligible to win a lovely prize JUST for commenting!!! Because I appreciate everyone for taking the time to Like my page AND pick out ‘Chocolate Moose Images Cutest, Bestest and Most Fantastic Pet of 2011,’ every commenter will be thrown into a pool to win a set of fancy greeting cards.
Enticed? I sure hope so!! Please send this to anyone you know that loves cute, fluffy, drooly and adorable animals and ask them to vote. Remember, I love all comments but only those left on this post will count towards the contest. Also, if you post on Facebook or twitter, you get an extra vote, which can be left in the comments here. This contest goes through Valentine’s day which seemed very fitting for a contest about LOVING animals! Please make sure to get your votes in by then!!
Tallies will be made, names will be drawn and the winner will be announced on Facebook and my blog on February 15th.
Hooooray for birthdays and cute animals!!!
… besos! …
Read Moreryder! :: minneapolis pet photographer
While it’s now finally starting to feel like winter up here in Minn-e-sota, we had oodles of sunshine yesterday and today which always makes things a bit more bearable. I am pretty excited because yesterday I got to spend some time with a new addition to the family, Ryder! She is a sweet, old, deaf and partially blind cocker spaniel that thinks she owns the place, rules all other dogs around and is my aunt’s mini shadow.
Such a sweetie! More Ryder photos to come soon. Sounds like she got a haircut today but I sure love the scruff 
And make sure to check back on Tuesday – I’m launching a contest and I’m super excited!!! Prizes + cute animals = a great way to kick off February!
Read Moremmmm meat! :: minneapolis pet photographer
Most posts about my girls start with “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m cat crazy” … this one should be no different.
Sometime last year Murray and I were wandering around our little corner of the world checking out the little shops, most of which are of the antique variety. We stumbled upon an {amazing} non-antique store which also happens to be right at the end of our ally called Woody’s Pet Food Deli. When we went inside we knew immediately it was a place where mega animal lovers go to get their pet food. It is a shop that only sells meat. Raw meat. Of all varieties! At the time I assumed that it was only for dogs so after not seeing any new cat toys I needed, we moved along.
Now Mur was always the ‘strong’ pet parent in our family. I was the softy that would let the girls sleep with me & felt bad if they weren’t allowed to roam to the basement or bask in the sun on the square. Mur was the enforcer and used the word “no!” a lot more than I did. So when I got home in September, this all became far too evident as the cats started to rule the place even more than before. It started to drive me batty!! They were waking me up every morning like clockwork demanding breakfast, they were eating food and trash out of my garbage, they were eating LOAVES of bread along with bags of bagels, pitas and baguettes off of my counter. And I once had to wrestle a chicken breast out of Digi’s mouth. No joke. They were climbing on shelves and counters they knew they shouldn’t be on, up on the mantel, clawing at the plastic on my windows, eating all my plants and in general, becoming all around terrors! … And all of this seemed to revolve around food. They would act out in ways they knew bothered me so that I would give them attention and ultimately, feed them. It was their little game and it was running my life! You may think I am giving them too much credit or am just insane, but before you think that, read this next bit …
In November I was running low on food and found myself with a somewhat free afternoon to just do what I wanted. I had come to the realization that something had to change with the girls and I was going to start my investigation with their diet. I stopped into Woody’s to talk to them about food and met a fantastic woman who was incredibly knowledgeable! After I explained what was going on and the antics my cats were up to, she said “they are hungry. that’s why they keep doing this. they aren’t getting the nutrients they need from their current food…” WOW! It all made so much sense!! I had been buying what I thought was premium dry food but it just wasn’t what they needed. We talked for quite a while and in the end, she sent me home with a large selection of samples to try with the girls. It was amazing!! I was absolutely giddy as I walked home {just ask my dad!} and I had little containers of buffalo, duck, pheasant, Cornish game hen, rabbit and chicken lining a shelf in my freezer. They went through it very fast and even in the week or so it took to use up my samples, I could tell a difference in their mood and habits. It was phenomenal!
Before I knew it, I was buying several pounds of meat to have on hand for breakfast and dinner. For Christmas and New Years I even got them something special to have… Rabbit and Quail. I’m such a good kitty mama!! And while they are still anxious for their meals, they don’t wake me up anymore. They don’t eat my bread. They don’t act quite as crazy. And because of all of that, our lives are all a smidge better. Hooray for good food!!!
Meat is a lot different than dry food so how do I know how much to feed them, you ask? Well, I figured out a system.
And with all of my systems, there usually is a story behind it …
Mur was a huge fan of muffins. He was always so excited when I would get up early to make him chocolate chip muffins to take to work or brought him breakfast in bed. And I am a huge fan of things that are little … so I decided to get mini-muffin pans a few years ago because I knew I would make us more muffins if they were mini. It was really a win win purchase. So when I bought my first large container of meat I used Woody’s recommendations and the girls prior eating habits to figure out about how much to give them. After debating about making them meatballs, I decided I didn’t really want to roll duck around in my palm in order to shape them. I love you girls, but not enough to ‘play’ with meat. So after quite a bit of thought and container testing, I realized that the mini muffins fit the exact amount of meat I need for their meals. Alas, meat muffins were born.
I think Mur would be a bit disappointed that I have converted our mini muffin pans from chocolate chip to meat, but he would definitely love how excited I am and support it regardless!
… but we probably would have bought some new pans for only meat muffins.
The meat isn’t quite as expensive as I had imagined, which is nice. It definitely is a more expensive way of feeding the girls but really, it’s totally worth it. They are happier and I am happier so until the day I can’t buy myself food, I’ll be feeding them these tasty muffins. With every container of meat I get from Woody’s, I divvy it up into the pans and freeze them. Then once frozen, I pop them out and store them in a container and thaw as needed. They each get one muffin for breakfast and one for dinner {and as snacks during the day if they are really good or really cute} and it’s topped off with some dry food in part to keep them from inhaling their food like Roux and to help me keep the expense down a bit.
As soon as I was a converted meat-feeder, I knew I wanted to do a ton of photos and write a huge blog post about how amazing this all has been and how much I love the shop! The photo shoot was pretty hilarious because I was not only photographing meat {strange} but I was taking photos of my cat’s new favorite food … and they have great noses. I had to wait for the sun to come up and be shining into my apartment which was well after breakfast. So by the time I was ready to take photos they were ready to eat…
… it was tricky getting photos of just the meat muffins and not my cat’s heads And the photos of the containers went something like this…
So I let them lick the carton afterwards. I felt like I was giving my kids the spoon after we mixed up some brownies. Ha!
In the end, we are all in love with this diet. And the people at the shop are fantastic, super nice and incredibly knowledgeable. The only draw back is that I am now basically feeding my cats like a dog, so it’s hard for me to leave them. Well, their diet is not the only reason it’s hard for me to leave them but it’s a bigger factor now than before. But I won’t go back to just dry food. Nope. These girls will be eating quail, duck and rabbit for years to come. Mmmmm….
So if you can relate to any of the above nightmares, I’d suggest looking into your animal’s diet. That just might be the ticket to a longer night’s sleep and leaves on your plants!
…Besos!…
Read Moresteffen family! :: minneapolis pet photographer
oh man … this day after Christmas was THE best day after Christmas I’ve had in a while. I got to spend time with my good friend Emily Steffen and better yet (sorry Emily) I got to play with her and her lovely husband, Aaron’s kiddos. The fuzzy variety.
ok … let’s be honest, Gweny is an amazing sweetie but this whole family is stinkin adorable. Come on … just look at the style and pug love!!! Emily is so creative she made Ed’s tie and Gwen’s sweater. AND the blanket they are sitting on. So crafty!!
I seriously can’t get enough of this family!!!!!! If you’ve been keeping an eye on my blog you probably saw my Edward post just a few weeks ago… And possibly the post from his 10th birthday and maybe even our first photo shoot last day after Christmas. Clearly, I have a great time with these guys each and every time we meet up for pug photos!!! I love watching pugs or any other canines or felines {and their parents} grow over time. And people who really love their animals are my favorites
cute boots!!!
hooooooray!!!! love you guys!!!!!! and remember, pugs not drugs.
Read Morewylie :: minneapolis pet photographer
My mind has switched over from business to crafty and it’s totally buzzing! In that totally spacy, arty mind I just realized, WYLIE hasn’t made it on here!!!! He showed up on my facebook page here in October but never on the blog. I’m so sorry Wylie – it’s been a hectic fall but that’s really no excuse. So without any more delay, please give some comment love to Wylie + his lovely mom Neve!!!!!
such a sweetie – both of them! Neve was so excited for me to be working with Wylie which made this whole thing that much more enjoyable. She was fantastic at following my instructions and giving treats when necessary. Thanks Neve!!
And the beautiful collar that Wylie is wearing in some of these photos? From the AMAZING R.E.Stowe. I’ve had the fortune to really get to know Heather and she is FAN-TASTIC. Her collars and leashes are handmade and beautiful. Please, check out her site!! I’ll have more photos of her work before too long because she has been kind enough to send me some to have modeled. The girls will only use her leashes – I mean, I guess they don’t really have a choice but that’s not the point… I can tell they are picky and wouldn’t use anything else
… Besos! …
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