I am aliveeeee

Wow, more than a month has passed. Sorry about that. Here are some random photos to make up for my little disappearing act. All but the adorable dachsunds (French!) are snapshots from life recently. Enjoy!

2011 in Animal Photos

Buzzfeed always posts random/fabulous/fun lists of things, many of them involving animals. So of course I was thrilled to see "The 50 Best Animal Photos of 2011" Here are some of my favorites.

Italian Octopus

Loving this photo from Nat Geo's photo of the day feature.

Love this Photo

A little Sunday snapshot for you all ... I love this photo. I nabbed it from Jezebel and now don't have the link. Sorry about that. I'm still trying to finish up Shantaram (epic story based in India) so this picture is helping me along. I love the lighting and the colors of the woman's dress.

Be back in DC in 11 days ... Cannot wait!

My Friends Know Me Very Well

In the last three days I have received these photos via email from two friends of mine. Let's just say that they know me pretty well (although I don't do a very good job at hiding my obvious interest in DOGS!)

The yoga-posing Frenchie reminds me of Fran's Yoda and the doxie looks like he's about to throw himself out of a plane! Love.

BUNNIES !!!

These photos don't need much introduction. Here are some of my favorite snaps from the 2011 European Rabbit Hopping Championship (Yes, that is a real event).

Portugal Photos

I love reliving our days in Portugal. If only we had taken more photos ...

Snaps of Juancito

  Here he is! Juancito, the most spoiled dog on the planet (and he deserves it). What other dog do you know gets carried around the house on a bed of blankets, pillows and toys? Seriously, that's how he gest around. We do this several times daily because if you leave him in the other room he gets bored and begs for your company. But beware, if you put on the wrong movie (like one with Sean Connery), he'll complain that he doesn't like the actor's voice. Not. A. Joke. We had to put on another movie just to keep this pup happy. I know he looks sad in all of the photos - He had a hard life at the beginning, and I think because he doesn't do any exercise (on account of the not walking), he doesn't pant/"smile" ... But he's getting lots of love here at Basavilbaso.

He got a ribbon after his day in the pool at PT

Forget Halloween for Humans

I have been feeling less than inspired since a) moving to a country where Halloween is not sacred as in the US, and b) graduating from college and leaving my insanely fun/creative roommates. One year we went as Lawn Ornaments (I was the reindeer made of Christmas lights, another girl was a flamingo, and we also had a lawn gnome, a bird bath...) and the next we went as Celebrities Who've Been to Rehab. I love group costumes! They're so much more fun than "slutty policewoman." What? That isn't even a real thing.

Anyway, part of my obsession with dogs also has to deal with dogs in costume. Refinery 29 just posted this slideshow of DOGS IN HALLOWEEN COSTUMES !!!! Enjoy my favorites:

More Snaps

I have a problem/obsession. Well documented by now.

I got this skull for less than US$10! Win.

Turning 25 ...

Mustachio Bashio

José Knows Me

These are the kinds of photos that José emails me when he's out and about getting things done in the city. They're usually sent without any text, maybe just the subject line "DOGS."

Awkward School Portraits

September is an appropriate month to recall those days of elementary and middle school portraits that caused so many of us anguish. Documenting our most unflattering years in all their glory, these photos could then be ordered in any variety of formats: magnets, gigantic headshots, stickers!!! However bad my pictures seemed to be at the time, nothing can top these images ... Thanks to NBC for the slideshow

A Few Snaps from the Birthday Fete

Las mujeres

 Saturday night we rang in my 25th year with friends, guacamole, and lots (& lots) of champagne. It had been ages since we'd had a Basavilbaso Fiesta and it was so much fun! Our closest American, Argie and even some Italians all came over for the night. You could say it was a success: I spent my entire Sunday whining and being semi-dead (when I wasn't eating a leftover bowl of guacamole. Nice move).

Lovely gentlemen

Fighting off squint-eyes

José's cousin Miguel took some pictures and it seems like only a few show us in our best light! So here they are.

lovefest

So. Sad.

Borders closed its doors forever and this photo has been circulating the web ... Just makes me so sad. Like this website says: "No matter what you think about mega-bookstores or Borders management, this is a sad year for everyone who loves books."

There's nothing I love more than getting lost in a bookshop, resisting temptation to buy more tomes than I know what to do with ... I cannot imagine relying on digital e-books! I value José's father's 2,000+ book library much more now. Perhaps one day books will be more valuable than gold, since they might be just as scarce.

Dogs Prepared for Extreme Weather

Thanks to both Katie B and Will for sending along photos that they knew would make me squeal with delight - DOGS IN MINI RAINCOATS! (You both know me so well)

Snaps

I need this turtle. Source

I also need this bag. Source

I need this Golden Doodle to keep me company. (borrowed from a friend's Facebook page)