never. say. never.

when we awoke this morning at 7 a.m. it was a whopping 4 degrees in chicago, but it 'felt like' -15 degrees with the wind chill. yes, friends, this is my new home!

(note to self: it will now take you twice as long to get dressed each day. because now you require twice as many articles of clothing.) today's outfit included a tank top, a long-sleeve shirt, a sweater, pants, two pairs of socks and some winter boots. not to mention, a big woolly hat, gloves, a scarf and a 600 count down coat.

this is not me complaining, mind you! winter is my 2nd favorite season behind fall. i have actually been quite enraptured by the evolution into my first chicago winter. just saturday, i had walked 4 blocks to yoga in the freezing rain without ever questioning my sanity. this is city life. and i love it.

my dogs on the other hand? hate. life. right. now.

i own the only chihuahua in the entire universe that hates to wear sweaters or t-shirts of any kind. this is his usual protest to my trying desperately to keep his little body from freezing in the snow:

before i moved here, i used to see these ridiculous people buying dog 'booties' for their pooches. i scoffed! what's wrong with these people?! dogs are tougher than we imagine! why would your poor dog want you to put Puggs (yes. this is for real) on their paws?!
then reality smacked us right in the face. wham!
10 minutes into a brisk morning walk last week, mr. keen came to a dead halt & tried to lie down on the cold concrete. his three grisly paws were frozen blocks of ice. it took me no less than 2.1 seconds to scoop him up & carry him until they thawed. (i'm a sucker.)
(oh...and don't worry about mr. nook. there are no walks beyond the garden gate for the chihuahua.)

this evening, despite all that seems right & normal in the world, i purchased two sets of PawZ: natural rubber, waterproof dog boots.

OMG.

please be my friend still.

nook began to walk like a duck, swinging his back legs around to the front with each step. keen refused to move. i'll leave you with a tiny snippet of the uncontrollable laughter that ensued when i placed these boots (AKA thick balloons) on the boys' feet:

until tomorrow, friends. stay warm!