Holiday in the Big City

Florian and I went up to New York to celebrate Thanksgiving with my parents, and because traveling with the pups is less stressful than leaving them for any length of time, we loaded them both up and took 'em with us to the big city. 

Lamar's been to stay in my parents' apartment many times, but Fozzie's never been to New York. I used to stay with my parents with my old girl Tashi and Lamar all the time, and they were no trouble--but I wondered if I was just a wee bit mad to bring my two big males, one young and energetic and one old and grumpy, to stay in an apartment with my parents' unneutered big male.

I resolved to just walk everyone really well so that they could relax and be good when in the apartment.  

They sure did enjoy having more people around to interact with.

And had no trouble at all feeling at home in a strange environment. 
 

The real test was whether everything would be OK when Florian and I went out, leaving them alone with my parents and their great big boy Dizzy. 

Uncle Johnny felt it was very important to bring my niece Ursula to the Thanksgiving Day parade. So as not to disappoint the hopes and dreams of an innocent young child--not to mention those of a grumpy old man--my sister, Florian and I agreed to go along with the scheme of getting up at 6:15, taking the dogs for a vigorous walk, and meeting Johnny at 8:00 Thanksgiving morning at 72nd and Central Park West. 

The parade was way more crowded than I remembered it from when I was a kid and Johnny used to take me, but the floats were so big and so high up that you could see them even from way back in the crowd. Ursula enjoyed watching from her perch on Johnny's shoulders. 





 
I thought the floats looked kind of weird, and sinister in a way.

After the parade, we went by Uncle Johnny's apartment on 71st street to check out some of his amazing watercolors. Then we decided to walk all the way home to 116th street.

Inspired by the parade, Florian made a float of his own.

When we got home, Mom reported that the dogs had been good the whole time! They did nothing but snooze, perhaps in preparation for the frenzy of eating that was to come.

My mom makes such amazing hors d'oeuvres. 
 


Cherry tomatoes and celery stuffed with bleu cheese, baked cheese olives, and those vegan nutty meat balls that are my mom's own invention.







There's just no way to save an appetite for the main meal, 
 

so you just have to space out the engorgement with lots of good conversation 










 
and try not to get too spaced out yourself.

Somehow we survived to eat even more for dinner, 

Mom's spinach phyllo pastries and mashed potatoes and portobello mushrooms stuffed with tomatoes and feta fromage and my dad's vegan stuffing.










Lamar was in heaven with the D-lux orthopedic dog bed I gave Dizzy about a year ago, which my parents gave back to me as Dizzy prefers the cool floor.

See Lamar, Dizzy is the source of all good things!


Lamar's never been crazy about his large, hairy cousin Dizzy, maybe because he's such a big guy and maybe because Dizzy has certain...you know...organs  that sometimes make other male dogs uneasy, or maybe jealous. 

Maybe because of those same organs, or for some other reason that no one can begin to fathom, Dizzy adores Fozzie and can't get enough of following him around and sniffing his butt.

Despite these complicated interpersonal dynamics, the three boys did just fine, even the next day when Florian and I went walking around all over lower Manhattan and checked out our favorite little shops in the Village. 

Must have been all the good food, good walks, and good company. Hope everyone else had a great holiday too!