Something Wicked This Way Comes

"Look into my eyes....deeper....deeper...."

"When I say 'Woof' you will put all of your Halloween treats into my little pumpkin...."

Happy Halloween my dear reader! xo xo -CS

America's Next Top Model?

Wow! One of our Reinwood Corgis is a model in this month's Oprah Magazine! Mary Elizabeth and I are just thrilled to see our "Kaizey" (they spelled her name wrong) in print!

We heard she was a very good girl during the photo shoot.

Doesn't she look smashing in her jacket with faux fur trim? She knows she does.

Here's the cover of the November 2009 Oprah Magazine where you can spot Kaizey.

Oh...and the human model's boots aren't too shabby either :)

Happy Thursday, my lovelies! xo xo -CS ^..^

The Watching

Would you like to help Corgis AND get a lovely Christmas book?

Then please read on, my dear Corgettes! Read on!

The Watching, A Corgi Christmas Tale

By Millie J. Williams

With original art by

Evie Anderson, Kay Folk, Robert Holst, Kim Hundley,

Chris Landers, Ginnie Mickelson, Diane Puntenney, Cindy Read,

Cathy Santarsiero, John Scarinici, Christian Slade, and Barbie Sonnett

The annual version of “The Watching,” usually released for Christmas Eve, has become a tradition in corgidom. Millie Williams wrote the original story in 2002 for the Corgese list on Yahoo Groups, and since then it has been enjoyed each year by thousands of readers on Corgese, Corgi-L, WheelCorgis, and other e-mail lists. Each year, people have looked forward to the new story, and in 2008, “The Watching: Misty” was published, with photos, on the Web. Now the 2009 story―The Watching: A Corgi Christmas Tale―is being immortalized in a more permanent form, published as a beautiful full color paperback book with dazzling artwork.

All net proceeds for these books (after printing and shipping) benefit CorgiAid. The books will be shipped beginning December 1, so pre-order now to guarantee you’ll have your copy before Christmas. Books ordered by November 15 will include a special bookplate, signed by the author herself. The books are only $20 each, which includes shipping, so order extras as gifts for all your animal-loving friends, young and old. International orders are $27 each.

Click HERE to order online or by mail.

Coming December 1st: A special two-week only eBay auction of the original artwork, created for The Watching: A Corgi Christmas Tale, by Evie Anderson, Kay Folk, Robert Holst, Kim Hundley, Chris Landers, Ginnie Mickelson, Diane Puntenney, Cindy Read, Cathy Santarsiero, John Scarinici, Christian Slade, and Barbie Sonnett.

Coming Soon: A limited edition series of holiday ornaments featuring original art created for The Watching: A Corgi Christmas Tale.

My Little House On The Prairie Birthday Surprise Weekend

A very excited phone call came on my birthday over the Summer from my friend Tracy who lives on the Jersey shore. She said not to make any plans over a certain weekend in September because I was 'hers.' By chance, she had just seen a postcard advertisement for the upcoming musical and that she and Kathy were taking me there for my birthday. Knowing how much I have always loved Little House on the Prairie, and that Melissa Gilbert would be playing "Ma" in the show, she knew I would love it. If you are a regular reader of this blog you may recall this post about my Little House envy. So John and Laura held down the fort (a.k.a. took care of the dogs and the house) so I could drive down on that Friday.

Kathy and Tracy

Tracy is the best cook I know.

One of my favorite things she makes is her blackened tuna with her

fresh pesto. Doesn't the breaded asparagus look just fantastic? They were.

She always makes everything look as good as it tastes. She

made the most of the last of the basil in the garden. Fresh mozzarella

salad with a touch more pesto. Mmmm.....

We also had some very delicious 20 year old port after dinner.

Our tickets were for the Saturday matinee. Kathy's friend, Dana, also came with us. She met us at the theater. She is really nice. It was so exciting to see Melissa Gilbert take the stage. The audience cheered. In our hearts she will always be Laura Ingalls, but after a few moments in character on the stage, she transformed into 'Ma.' At the curtain call when the young girl who played Laura came out with Melissa Gilbert side by side, we all got a little teary eyed.

We are such a sappy bunch. No, really, we are.

I adore little buttons so I had to buy these tiny pins after the show. And a hooded LHOP sweatshirt for my daughter. She loves it.

After the show we went to a really good Martini bar restaurant near the Paper Mill Playhouse.

These were our Martinis. Mine was a Flirtini (yum) and I had to taste Kathy's just because it was blue (I liked mine better) but I don't recall what the others were. But they must have been good because we had a few. The Martini menu was huge.

This is Tracy on the phone with my Mom at the restaurant, telling her all about the show.

Best friends do that.

Our very nice waiter took this photo of us. Toasting before dessert

with glasses of 30 year old port. I honestly don't recall ever having

port before but after all the port over that weekend,

I can tell you that I like it.

A lot.

Dana, Me, Tracy and Kathy

Everything we ordered was beautifully presented, fresh and delicious.

Like this shrimp with pea risotto....

and this delightful creme brulee....

After the perfect afternoon, we went back home and played Mexican Train Dominos (so fun) until the wee hours of the morning. And we laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

Thank you to my Tracy & Kathy for the most wonderful made-for-me weekend.

I love you both. xo xo xo -CS ^..^

P.S. The Little House On the Prairie Musical has a nice web page with a free downloadable PDF study guide if you click on 'learning center.' Great for homeschoolers, teachers or anyone who just loves pioneer days and Little House. Enjoy!

Special Birthday Girls

Here are a couple of photos from our Bailey's 13th birthday this month.

Can you find the corgi in this photo?

I can't believe she is 13 years old. Where does the time go? Her softly greying fur reminds me of how precious each day is with my sweet angel corgi girl. But when I look into her eyes I still see the same little puppy that stole my heart those many years ago.

Sometimes you just have to help yourself to more birthday cake.

"Betony" belongs to our friends Cindy Read and Nancy Boyd. Betony has a special place in the Santarsiero hearts as she has stayed with us many times. She is a snuggler and never forgets where the toys are. I had to put her in this 'glamour girl' frame because she looks like she is saying, "You KNOW I'm cute...!" Plus, even though she is spayed, for some reason all of the boys always buzz around her and find her irresistible. Betony is an amazing corgi. She has overcome many health challenges this year including losing an eye. (We think she should wear a sparkly eye patch and be a sexy pirate for Halloween.) Her spirit is amazing. Here are a couple of her 11th Barkday photos from this Spring.

Birthday dessert....yum....

Bailey and Betony....we love you with all of our hearts. xo xo -CS ^..^

Billy Ray Cyrus and The Charlie Daniels Band. Woot! Woot!

I just realized that I've got a few pics in my camera from the Summer that I can share with you. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know how much I love Billy Ray Cyrus. Not only is he a wonderful musician and talent, but he is a genuinely nice person who 'gives back' which I love. He has always supported our troops and I was so excited when our kids gave us tickets to the Freedom Concert in Jackson, NJ because he was on that tour along with The Charlie Daniels Band, who we also love. The Mister and I have seen the CDB a few times before and they never disappoint. Always fun. I've never seen Michael W. Smith before and he was wonderful as well. Lots of talented musicians and interesting people at this show. The best part of it is that all of the money raised goes to the Freedom Alliance which provides scholarships for children of our troops who have been killed or seriously wounded in their service to our country. The show we went to at Six Flags had about an hour delay due to some equipment failure or something, so when it was Billy Ray's time to perform, the fireworks in the park had just begun and were incredibly loud and close. Inspired by the 'rockets red glare,' Billy Ray handled the situation with grace and started to sing The Star Spangled Banner which of course had the entire crowd on their feet. It was lovely. John and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza overnight (the upside of earning all those points when going to dog shows...) and we had a really nice time. -CS ^..^

Munchkins

I have a thing for the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. She used to scare the bejeezus out of me when I was a little girl. She, along with the giant glowing wizard head in the Emerald City would cause me to watch with one eye peeping out from under a blanket. Now I have a little Wicked Witch collection. It started out as just the Wicked Witch of the West but now I seem to pick up any Witch here or there that strikes my fancy. My favorite is one that is a porcelain likeness of Margaret Hamilton in full makeup and in the most exquisite black layered dress and pointy hat. I love her. You can see her if you scroll down to my Halloween decorations from this post. I came across this recent interview of 5 of the remaining Munchkins from the Original movie. I love this clip. I love how they love the movie and how they loved Judy Garland. I hope you will enjoy it too. Scroll down on the left to my music playlist to pause it before playing the clip. Do watch it...or (insert wicked laugh) I'll get you my pretty....and your little dog, too! xo xo -CS ^..^

No More Corgis at Buckingham Palace? Say It Isn't So, Your Majesty!

Can it be so? Is it possible that it is the end of the Royal Line for the Queen's Corgis? Here's an article (including photo above) by Jane Dryer from the UK's Daily Mail Online today from a May article. Thanks to my friend Cyndi Rusakovitch for finding it! What do you think? The resident Corgis here are having a discussion as to why they do not get daily scones and their own Royal Footman. I smell mutiny. -CS ^..^