2 1/2 weeks ago (wow! really? already?) I was lucky enough to spend my day with the awesome and incredibly talented Karin Newstrom taking photos of rescue animals that are available for adoption from Ruff Start Rescue as well as Second Hand Hounds. We went up to Sit Means Sit in Spring Lake Park and set up camp for the afternoon. During the course of the day we photographed nearly 40 dogs and cats that are currently looking for their forever home through the rescues.

While Karin worked inside with the studio set up, I had free reign of a box of kittens and a few pups outside it was pretty spectacular and very, very hard to not take these little pumpkins home! Considering our weather that day I was extra glad that Karin had her set up. I got to be a lovely assistant for a change, learned a lot and only had my treat hand nibbled a dozen or so times. Thank you to everyone involved including, of course, the American Animal Rescue for organizing all of this. And I really hope this helps get more pups and kitties adopted!!

ps … these kittens were so small that those things that look like big grains of rice coming out of their paws?? those are baby kitten claws. yep. they were itty.bitty!!!

oh man … NOTHING cuter than a puppy in a basket  … unless it’s a kitten in a basket. Yes, that would be cuter

Please visit Ruff Start Rescue to see more information on each of these animals and many, many others that Karin photographed as well. And I would encourage you to check out her post about these little at her blog here.

Besos!

What a snowy gem! 

This is Sawyer and he is available for adoption at the MN Pit Bull Rescue. He is a complete sweetie and anyone with a yard for him to run will LOVE him!!! Check out his bio and then tell me you don’t want to take him home…

Hi! My name is Sawyer and I’m an incredibly handsome all white pit bull mix with sky blue eyes.
I just celebrated my first birthday on March 30th and would LOVE to find my forever home as a belated birthday gift. I have a lot of energy but also am a HUGE cuddle bug!! I love EVERYONE I meet and get along well with other dogs (especially my foster sister!)

So if you or anyone you know just has to take this guy home please contact the org (or shoot me an email – jessica{at}chocolatemooseimages{dot}com – and I can forward it along).

As a side note to this handsome dude, I am SO excited to be working so closely with this rescue to try to help these amazing dogs out!! It’s sad but pits often get overlooked at shelters and rescues but really, they are some of the sweetest dogs I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time with!!! I hope that these photos can help the pups find their forever homes!!!  And if not, I might start begging my landlord to let me have pups Oh man, the girls would hate me forever.

More than before I’m amazed at how quickly time can pass. Yes, a long day can feel like a long day, but when you look back on life it goes by in a blink of an eye. And since I really don’t understand how my life has moved beyond September 1st, these photos were pretty crazy to weed through. Pretty crazy and pretty amazing…

You may remember this peanut from her baby photos last November. Well, she’s gotten bigger!! And somehow, even cuter.

… and she has the sweetest expressions!!!

AND I was ecstatic to learn that the little onesie I made her before she was born still fit her in April!! y.e.s.!

While I can’t claim the idea as my own (you could {and probably should!!} buy one here) I did painstakingly make this one over the course of a few late nights in front of the fire with the girls and some wine … You may remember these photos from this post:

…and here is my little assistant!!!! Doesn’t she look like she is ready to tote a camera with a dog treat in hand??

amazing, right?? her excitement in the next few says it all … she can’t wait!

love ya, Char Mu!

question: how can we have a spring without some chicks??

answer: we cant!

From my vantage on the couch I can see both my girls snoozing in their favorite spots; Tarra has taken over the pillow on the floor (not too surprising) and Digi is crashed in the sunshine that covers the obnoxiously orange chair in the corner.

Ah what a life.

While they are snoozing after a long walk in the yard (we went from the front to the back twice) I am working hard at piecing together witty words and lovely images of the 7 dogs I took photos of over the last week.

So far, it’s not so pretty. I’m tired. I feel slightly sun burnt. I am craving a delicious quesadilla. And the general unkempt manner of my apartment is constantly tugging at the back of my head. “clean me. cleeeeeeeeaaaaaaan me” it says.

Because of all of this I’m going to start with just a sampling of images from my recent shoot with Badger and Wyatt, 2 AMAZING coonhound mixes (including Badger’s part pug!!). They belong to the lovely, lovely Shane and Kira of Badger Creek Rustic Furniture. LOTS more to come about their business, products and pups!!

THANK YOU Quimby family!!! You guys are amazing!!!

Welcome to one of the CUTEST shops around!!!

Paper Hat is a magical shop featuring hand made goods from artists across the country. Think Etsy with physical walls. And the owner, Greta, loves to find things locally so you better believe that a lot of what is in there is made in the glorious Twin Cities area. I stumbled upon this shop last fall and was thrilled when Greta was interested in selling some of my greeting cards there – hooray!!! You’re able to find my ‘classic’ designs and those that are hot off of the press in her shop

Paper Hat is located in South Minneapolis not only incredibly close to my place but nestled amongst other great stores and restaurants on a main drag, 50th St. Ever been to Broders? Yes? Then you know right where the store is (next door)!! and if not, you should swing by the shop and then head there for food. It’s fantastic!

Inside the store you will find all sorts of cute and amazing hand crafted goods that you won’t be able to live without. Trust me.

but I think Greta would do a better job at explaining what is so special and amazing about the store…

Have you ever made a paper hat? Every new fold says something about the maker: a tuck here, a twist there, designed for simplicity or topped off with flourish—absolutely anything goes. The best part is there’s no wrong answer along the way, and the end result usually comes with a matching smile.

That’s what Paper Hat is all about. Original. Unexpected. A little whimsical, too. We believe that things made by hand are an extension of the maker. The flaws are part of the perfection. The individuality shines through. It’s how you know that the artist, the art itself and the person who takes it home are all completely one-of-a-kind.

 

To bring that unique perspective to life, we’ve created a fresh place to experience the world of artists and handcrafters. It’s an environment that’s laid back and fun, somewhere that creativity and possibility live. It is a unique shopping experience for those who value quality and originality. With ever-changing merchandise and festive gallery openings, the store is an approachable venue, designed to fill one’s life with meaningful pieces and a broader appreciation for art. Because great art should be attainable—how else will we get close enough to touch it and take a little piece for ourselves?

bah … so cute!!

I hope this gives you oodles of ideas for upcoming gifts as well as shopping/eating expeditions! South Minneapolis is a great place to go for adventures and I would definitely recommend Paper Hat be included in your itinerary

Need more reasons to go? The shop has a Happy Hour on Thursdays where they make amazing crafts + drink wine. There are also parties for featured artists each month. Check out their Facebook page or website for more information!

And tell Greta I sent ya!

Besos!

On my recent trip to Mexico I was pretty focused on trying to find 3 animals to photograph … a beach cat, a donkey on the side of the road and a dog. I was successful thanks in large part to my traveling companions who stopped the car whenever I wanted to get out and were patient with my quest

Now I’m sure it’s no surprise that in Mexico there are a lot of dogs wandering the streets. As a serious animal lover that was hard to see. I wanted to take them all home, clean them, feed them and love them. While I was walking along the mountain roads of San Jose del Pacifico I saw this pup. One thing that made me feel a bit better about his situation is that he looked pretty well fed and mostly just dirty and scruffy. And boy, was he friendly! He found me, my camera and my belly scratching expertise to be magnificent.

Until next time, lovely street dog!

Besos!

we’ve been over this. I love mail. All kinds of it. The e kind and the physical ‘old school’ in the box kind. And I like to make others happy by getting it because I know I’m not alone in this sentiment.

so yesterday when I got home from a busy, busy day at work I was THRILLED to see these in the mail …

The girls and I have been waiting for these. Well, ok, not so much them … more just me These are from my favorite collar lady, restowe. I’ve talked about these before because I have a leash for each of the girls because yes, I’m THAT lady that walks her cats around the yard on a leash. My neighbors can attest to the fact that it can take, oh, a few hours to get from the backyard to the front and back again. Ha! Well now I can replace their rather boring collars with something more fancy … I can’t wait to get them on and see what they think

… because clearly my cats need MORE fancy. A diet of meat just wasn’t enough

since we didn’t really have much of a winter I’ve been hesitant to say “hooray! it’s spring!” buuuuuuuuut I think we might be there. It’s been rather warm, the buds are budding, the girls have taken to wining at the door to the square whenever I’m home, I have most plastic off of my windows and I’m sneezing like crazy!!

So because I love this change to warmer weather and it’s sunny out right now, I wanted to share a few photos of my rather happy girls…

lots more puppies and people to come before too long. but for now, get outside and enjoy this sunshine! that’s where I’m going!

besos!

as I posted on here almost too many times to tag, I went to Mexico at the end of February (the very end! my passport is actually stamped February 29th!!!) and came back some time in March. It was lovely!! I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t as ‘magical’ as last year, but who could have expected that? But it was fantastic for it’s own reasons – I spent 10days with Perdues+ and feel like I went home without them being completely annoyed of me, so I consider that a success!!

below are a selection of photos from the trip …

let’s start with some good old fashioned beach frolicking … who can go wrong there!

This was a random photo shoot that we decided upon because Mur’s mom gave me some dresses to take to Mexico to fight over with Margee … Pretty sure we had a pretty huge audience for this!!! They all loved drinking their beer and watching the blond girls run around the beach

ha!

but the trip wasn’t all frolicking on the beach…

there was food…

there was beautiful rug weaving (more on that later) …

there were succulents …

and mules.

It was a really lovely trip! A lot of bitter with my sweet, but I made it and made it home

Probably more to come from this trip in coming weeks… but for now, I’ll leave you craving a beach

Besos!