I am a mean, mean mommy...

My week last week was a bit of a disaster. When I went on vacation, my boyfriend decided he was going to as well. We usually leave our pup with his father at his house in Simi Valley. I am saying usually now, because of what happened this time. On Wednesday, 2 days after picking him up, I noticed something on him... a GIANT TICK! I don't mind bugs, but I do mine bugs that can kill you. After removing it and finding 1 other, I took him to the vet. Long story short, I spent 2 days disinfecting my whole house. I am talking 20 dollars worth of laundry to wash EVERYTHING. Countless sweeping, swiffer pads, clorox wipes, and puppy baths. My cat, thank god, keeps herself freakishly clean. And since she also doesn't play with the dog, was unharmed. My home is safe now, but unfortunately Brody lost all his blankies, toys, beds, towels, etc. Everything he snuggles with and has loved since we got him. He was particularly upset about his raccoon toy. Poor little guy.

There is a point to this story...

Lots of discount stores are just that... discount. Discount not only in price, but quality. However, I love Ross Dress for Less. Not so much for the clothes, although... they have an amazing coat section. But for everything else. Scrapbooking. Frames. Decorations. And pet supplies. Brody now has 2 new fluffy beds and a bunch of toys.... lucky devil....

Ross also had some amazing new Halloween items...including dog costumes. Brody does a pretty convincing T Rex impression. And then we came across this Lizard costume at Ross for $6.99. PERFECT! For some reason though, his Dachshund body is too long to be able to fit the tail and head portion of the costume on him... so we went with the tail as it was cuter...

Brody's T Rex impression

The Lizard Costume

But wait! What about a costume for Missy?! Let me tell you something. Last year, when I tried to put a Christmas sweater on her for kicks, she stood frozen still, and then teetered over and wouldn't move. It was a form of hilarious animal cruelty that I swore to never partake in again... but.... the lizard costume... I mean... she can just try it on... right??

And that she did! Let's just say she wasn't too excited.

Happy Monday!!! :)

Side note.... can we talk about my new fabulous decorations for my house. The trunk was 6.99 and the large pot was 7.99. Amazing

 Double Side Note: I have been told by a number of friends of mine that I have to write reviews on Yelp after I go out to eat. Honestly, I was turned off by the concept of having one more thing flood my inbox. But then I had dinner last night.... at the Mulholland Grill. And it was TERRIBLE as an overall experience. It was so bad, that I made a yelp account today JUST to write a review. And here it is.

• Here is my problem with this place. It looks adorable and it has so much potential... but the people that work there are just creepy and do not know what they are doing.
  
  I bought a Groupon NOW for dinner last night, and decided to go to the Mulholland Grill. I used to grow up in the area, and the supermarket at the other end of the circle of shops makes amazing sandwiches. But that's another review.
  
  Let's start off with this. The tall, bald headed waiter is a creep. He blatantly hit on me 3 times, and called my boyfriend ugly twice. He even rubbed my back twice. I don't know if he thought this was going to bring him more tips, but it turned me off badly. I was honestly creeped out. Oh, and he thought he could sit next to me, touching my leg, to answer a question of mine... This also happened twice, and included the "back rub".
  
  Our food came out... and they brought me the completely wrong dish. No, they didn't just switch plates with another table. They ordered me some pasta dish with peas and shell shaped noodles... and maybe it was meat? I ordered lasagna.... so I don't get how that got mixed up. Their solution to the meal was for my boyfriend to either send his fish dish back, so they could remake it and bring it out in time with mine, or eat it. I told him to just eat because I do not want to waste food. He was about done with his plate 15 minutes later when my food finally came out. It looked less appetizing than anticipated, probably because they rushed putting it together. I doubt there was even any ricotta in it.
  
  My waiter made a lame attempt to make it better by offering me wine or desert really fast and then running off before I could answer. When the bill came, the desert we ordered was on it. I called him back to the table and cheekily said "I thought you promised me desert?". This is when he snatched the bill back, and brought it back "corrected"... forgetting that I was also sitting 10 feet away and could hear him complain to his waiter friend about me and my desert request. Because really... How dare I!!? I mean, you only completely fucked up my order, which in turn ruined me and my boyfriends meal, and sexually assaulted me 3 times. But really... no really... how dare I remind you of the desert YOU promised me.
  
  Back to the Groupon deal... I tried to use it. I bought it that day, 2.5 hours before the meal, and they said I couldn't use it. I asked why. They said it pertained to the truffle menu only. Now, their normal Groupon did... but I bought the Groupon Now which had NO word of a rule applying to the truffle menu. I showed them my Groupon, showed them the fine print, and told them I wasn't leaving till this was resolved. A different waiter, the manager too, came over and told me that he could take my pasta dish off and we pay the rest... which was 30 bucks. I said no, as I already paid 20 for a 40 dollar coupon. He then proceeded to tell me that "Things always change around here... every day is a new day and I never know what is going on." Comforting right? Makes me want to come back... never. He looked at me like this would make me sympathize with him, and I asked him to call his owner. After 20 minutes of waiting, and another back rub by the bald waiter, the manager came out with the 40 dollars off.
  
  They get 2 stars for this: They EVENTUALLY honored my coupon. They had a wine from a vineyard I love on the menu (Duckhorn) for a by the glass purchase, and my boyfriends seafood pasta was very good. Oh, and the pear tart I had was decent... although I wouldn't call their homemade Gellato, gellato at all. It tasted like ice cream (and people, there is a difference!)
  
  The problem is, I have been to other Italian places that were as good, if not better... and I never had to worry about being felt up.

The Pear Tart

Hmmmm no fine print restrictions???

I have a feeling now that I have an account... it will be a slippery slope. Oy Vey... another thing to waste my time :)