Back home! Had a great time at Uncle Bradley’s. I’m exhausted, the day was not what I expected. Usually I come home, they unpack and I sleep, fun dog camps are great but tiring.

I thought the “Bamboo shock” was a one off. No, no, no, this time I was in for more than one surprise!

They talked at length about their trip, family, dinners, shopping bla bla, Yeah Yeah I had not been there,  it was not about me…(I might have felt a little left out, they having fun without me). Good news though , ML is coming to visit next year, can’t wait to see her, so cool!

One story I had to focus on, the dog Timber. (I can’t let them hang out with other dogs without checking who they are) Veronica showed me a picture.

She told me Timber lives up in the country with KR, she can run wherever she wants, she’s with him all the time. They go on mountain hikes, AND in the summer, he has a special outdoor bed and they sleep under the stars… wow, that sounds so cool! She’s lucky!!

Apparently she’s very nice, very friendly, very obedient etc etc… ok that part became  annoying, I hate it when they tell me about all these “perfect dogs”.  I admit Timber does look very friendly and nice and alert and concentrated… I know… I’m trying…doing my best.

See how focused and concentrated and interested I look when it comes to…

…the  gifts.

They put on this whole show  “Come here Felicia, we have surprises for you” “You’ve been such a good girl”

What??? I’m ALWAYS a good girl at Uncle Bradley’s, (He even told Veronica) and I NEVER get gifts… what’s going on??

I smell a bad conscience…  do they feel guilty?? Yes, leaving me behind  for two whole weeks, that’s it!  Hmmm… Interesting.

There were the “Dennis gifts” and the “Veronica gifts”, can you guess who gave what?

Let’s start with the “Veronica gifts”:

There were several leashes and collars, I had to try them all on and model. Now I love receiving new outfits, I really do, but model them all at once…  really? pffff

I know, I’m being spoilt and I did get loads of treats while posing.

First this very beautiful collar, with squirrels, Veronica thought the colouring would “look lovely on you Felicia”. Yes, I admit, I look great! And I love squirrels, they’re fun. Can’t wait to show off at Corinne’s.

(Hope this isn’s one of those “Party Collars” only to be worn on special occasions because “You get all messy at Corinne’s”)

A green leash to go with my Birthday collar. Veronica told me I needed the complete outfit! I agree but  in that case: WHERE IS THE SQUIRREL LEASH??? Yeah!!! Ta ta ta…

The star set is beautiful, for sure only to be used on special days, forget the “showing off at Corinne’s”. I only get to wear old stuff there… irritating!

I think I look amazing!

Now what?? She’s got to be kidding?? I’m NOT wearing that on Halloween, no way!! And certainly not out on a walk… what if I meet somebody, how embarrassing…

Thank god no Corinne on Halloween, for sure she would ignore the “Not to be worn at Corinne’s” rule, and MAKE me wear it. I would die if Inook saw me  in that silly “costume”

She’s got this thing with “we all have to be festive”, decorating the house on all occasions and apparently this includes me… I have to wear all sorts of ridiculous collars… (thank god she hasn’t bought any clothes…yet).

This is the BEST GIFT EVER!!! Doughnuts!!!! Yep, special for dogs and they smell yummy. She did this whole exercise making me sit still, I was very very good at first..and then…

…lets just say that a dog can only sit staring at smelly goodies for a certain amount of time. Everyone knows that!!

Now listen to this: She did NOT get angry, NOT AT ALL… boy must she feel guilty leaving me… hmm I need to take advantage  of this momentary weakness.

Dennis’s gifts were of a whole other kind. First of course, this was expected, SF Giants apparel. I am just a little worried this might upset NC. (for whole story read “Am I a Yankees fan?”)

And what am I going to wear if ever we have a base ball evening again? Which one? I’ll just wear both!

I can  love both teams!  I can do that. Like there’s a rule?

I did not understand this one?? What’s Stanford?? And honestly no fun drawing, no little squirrel or fun animal.  Dennis explained that I should be honoured to wear a collar and leash from a very prestigious University close to where he used to live.

Ok, I still don’t get it? Is it because I have a Harvard outfit? Does he feel he needs to show off the West Coast’s top notch  school? I wonder?

Then we have THE TOY, this was Dennis’s special “treat”, he was all happy as he gave it to me. “Have fun now Felicia, go at it”… I don’t understand? Why such an excitement?

Dennis mentioned a name that sounded like “Tr..” something. Who’s he? This must be a very famous person, I mean he has his own dog toy… wonder who he is? A fun guy?    An actor?   A stand up comedian?  Perhaps a rock star?   I kind of got the feeling he’s not one of Dennis’s favourite people .

Anyhow he played a long time with me, encouraging me to run, to play tugger war,  we had so much fun.  This “Tr…” person, whoever he is, makes Dennis play with me, that’s cool!

Now let’s get to the “garden surprise”…the new bushes! (replacing the Bamboo:  “Back home: The bamboo shock”) There were four of them. Did Dennis know? Probably Veronica organised the plantations while they were away, I cannot imagine he agreed… Or did he?

There’s a lot of weird stuff going on, gifts, new bushes…hmmmm Dennis sure made some changes in our lives… for the better I have to say.

These bushes a great for our “chasing all around” game with Indya. Can’t wait to show her!

(Just hope Veronica wont set stupid “no running” rules)

Last surprise of the day, and that was a big one: Veronica is travelling AGAIN!! Very soon she’s leaving us. What’s her problem? Isn’t she happy here? Apparently she’s  got to go to Stockholm, yeah, yeah whatever.

You know what : We don’t care, we’ll be fine without her. Bet you Dennis will give me tons of treats, play with me and we’re going to have so much fun. She can leave, we don’t need her. We’re happy together!

ok….perhaps we’ll miss her a little just a little…or sometimes… once or twice… oh who are we kidding: We’ll miss her big time!!

She might bring us gifts….

The Yankees and Bamboo posts:

https://boxerfeliciasworld.com/2016/09/13/back-home-the-bamboo-shock/

https://boxerfeliciasworld.com/2016/08/11/am-i-a-yankees-fan/

Who is “Corinne”?:https://boxerfeliciasworld.com/2016/09/06/corinne/

Veronica loves shopping, well you already know that, (see “shopping on Mars” post). She loves fashion, she reads magazines, follow designers, love to spend time in beautiful stores, and amazingly not only for shopping. No, just to admire the clothes, the bags, the shoes, touch all the magnificent dresses, coats, leathers,  all different materials.

She  enjoys the scents  of perfume, leather and new fabric. (You’d think she’d be more understanding with my love for smelly fields and holes, MUCH more understanding. But NO then it’s “Felicia, what are you doing ?” “Let’s go” etc  always!)

Today is a special day, we are going Eye shopping in a beautiful high end store. I am wearing my special collar. Ok so technically it’s not mine…it’s Indya’s, I borrowed it for the occasion.

Time  to meet…

… JMF, he’s Veronica’s fashion go to guy, her fashion guru, and  last but not least her friend. They go way back, he used to work in a great store, (now closed) where she bought most of her clothes. He always knew exactly what would suit her, knew her style. Never pushing her to shop, always honest when he felt the item was not right.

He even came home to help her declutter her closet. ( I think he should come back, there’s work to be done)

Even though he’s a cat person he LOVES dogs, and, thinks I’m very cute (goes without saying).

JMF now works in this gorgeous high end store, Veronica has bought a few bags there, advised and sold by him, naturally. She always makes sure he’s in before visiting.

JMF is very sweet, when Veronica and Dennis went on their honeymoon, he and SO (the manager) had organised, with the complicity of MC and the LV local team, flowers and champagne waiting for them in their hotel room.

I was of course not there, I was at Uncle Bradley’s, but she told the story over and over again. I think she’s still in shock.

As we arrive at the store she gives me THE TALK:  “it’s a very chic store, you have to behave”, “NO jumping on people”, “only a very discreet hello” “and no running around”…. she went on and on and on…CHILL!! I KNOW HOW TO BEHAVE! This is NOT my first rodeo!

Going to LV has its ritual, all while lecturing me, we have to admire the shop windows. Ok, I have to admit they’re quite spectacular.

Inside we take this bizarre lift, with glass walls, a bit weird and also quite fun.

Time for greetings, see, NOT climbing up! I know JMF has a fancy suit and needs to see clients all day looking dapper and clean.

He’s very happy to see me, as are all the other sales assistants and the manager. Yes, I saw, he smiled at me, well who wouldn’t, I’m a cutie,  everybody can see that. Even in high end stores.

Then comes the annoying part, the “Long time no see catching up”, I’m used to Veronica talking and talking for ever.  I relax patiently.

After the “catching up” session it is time for: “What’s new in the store”, and the touring begins.

I find these guys a bit freaky, they sure look like real people… I wish I could go closer and smell properly. Veronica will not allow that, of course, she thinks I might “drool” on the fancy clothes. I know, SO frustrating!

We already spent some time by the shoe and clothes section, now the scarves, glasses and belt section.

Every stop they talk and talk, discuss latest trends, then they go on and on about a guy called “Nicolas Ghesquière”. Who’s he? Never heard of him! A friend? A dog owner perhaps? A famous client? Ohhhh I know, a famous dog that visited the store?

I later understood; he’s the head designer of LV. Well, I could NOT know that!

Time for the  “crème de la crème” the handbags. That’s Veronica’s favourite and her “talon d’Achille”!

This is going to take some time, she has to check all the new items, so she shows me  my spot “Felicia you stay here, be nice”. Yeah, yeah I know the rules.

I’m a very patient boxer (truth is I love spending time with her, yes even shopping)

The “looking at bags” starts, JMF brings out all the special pieces, Veronica is thrilled. She takes her time, admiring them, trying them on, walking around, checking herself in the mirror…

Honestly I think she’s ridiculous, she’s not even buying those items.  Why, tell me why, torture yourself trying  on gorgeous bags you’ll never own??? Crazy!!

Or does she have a secret plan?

Very strange…  She’s happy, and after a lot of Wooing and many exclamations like “Oh beautiful”, and “Amazing” and “Great bag” we finally  head downstairs to check…

…the latest LV addition, the perfumes. Boy, did that take a long time. She wanted to smell each perfume, at least 5 times, and then after a pause, 5 more times. Not to mention the eternal discussion with JMF about the various scents.

I tried a discreet approach to see what it was all about, I mean, I need to compare to my kind of smells.

So, that did not go well at all! I’m immediately sent away.

Here I am, behaving great, and one little freedom step, one little innovative move, I’m told off. I did not even drool, or lick, just a tiny, tiny smell.

She needs to look at the big picture, not focus one small detail.

At last, after what seemed like hours and hours it was time to say goodbye.  After all the appropriate  rituals, we left,  no new bag…. not today.

Not sure Dennis believed her this morning, as we departed, and she told him “just eye shopping”, (I can see why, but let’s not get into any  past embarrassing episode, for Veronica’s sake, we do love her after all ).

Once home Veronica praised me telling me I was “a perfect boxer”! You hear that:  A PERFECT BOXER! (Smelling incident apart, but let’s forget about that).

Wish I  could keep the collar, why can’t I have my own? Bet you it’s because Indya is older! Also, she can have a LV bag, but me no collar? Because I’m “just a dog”?   Not ok!  MC is much nicer and understanding.

Perhaps some other family member  will see the injustice and plead in my favour.

Now I need to rest. Eye shopping is fun but quite exhausting!

Thank you JMF for having my fashion back for all those years

Special thanks to my friend CS for all the pictures on this episode

http://fr.louisvuitton.com/fra-fr/homepage

More  Felicia and Veronica shopping:

https://boxerfeliciasworld.com/2016/08/28/shopping-on-mars/