Dear friends,
2015 has seen many ups and downs for NCsquared, but all’s well that ends well! I graduated from my Master’s program and, after 6 long months and several part-time jobs, found full-time work in the nonprofit sector as a grant writer. Nick landed an exciting new role at a leading e-commerce firm, and Chico & Mia continue to be the pampered little pooches that they’ve always been. We wish you all a very happy holiday season for whatever you celebrate and an exciting new year.

With Best Wishes,
Nick, Nikki, Chico & Mia

This is Mia and Chico. They’re our furbabies and the apples of our eyes. I obsess over taking pictures of them like parents obsess over taking pictures of their newborn babies. I get lots of videos of them, too, because they’re super funny and entertaining, but we’ll save those for another time. In all honesty, I haven’t gotten any good photos of my outfits lately so I thought I would leave you with these adorable little creatures.

Chico is my oldest at 8 years, but he’s my baby because I got him when he was 6 weeks old. He is my whole world. He isn’t usually very photogenetic but every now and then I can get some pretty good ones. I believe this one was taken while I was still in school and I was home after a long week of classes. He missed me.

Mia is my youngest baby at 4, and she’s a big goofball! Nick took this of her one morning while he was getting ready for work. She really sleeps like this or in some other contorted way that doesn’t look like it could be at all comfortable but she doesn’t seem to mind it.

Chico is pretty much the king of the castle and has claimed the corner of the couch as his thrown.

But he’s a big cuddlebug, which is one of my most favorite things about him.

Ahh, the kitchen/dining room, Mia’s favorite rooms in the house.

The little prince sleeping in his thrown/corner.

We set up an extra bed in the office while my family was in town and Mia thought it was put up for her. The bed is still up and if we can’t find her anywhere else, we know to check in the office. Since she’s usually in there, we’ve started calling it “Mia’s room.”

Sometimes they sleep together (Mia is in that silly position again, see!) and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I love it.

My furbabies!

Photos by 2 & 3 Photography

It’s that time of year again! We had the most adorable photos ever taken for our holiday photos. You can’t tell it from the photos – which speaks to the talent of Thad and Sarah as photographers – but the weather was cold, windy, and rainy the day we took them. I wasn’t sure how they would turn out because of the weather, but as you can see, I had nothing to worry about.

Also, you’ll recognize this outfit from my newest obsession post.

Mia Sophia – she’s always so inquisitive.

Chico Antonio – he didn’t love the chill in the air, but he was a trooper and we got this gem.

Of course there were several more good ones, but we’re saving those for our holiday cards this year.

Happy Fall, everyone!

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! Nick and I dressed up as a Pawnee Goddess and Pawnee Ranger from my favorite TV show of all time, Parks and Recreation, starring Amy Poehler. I think we did a really good job with this one, but I apologize that we didn’t get better quality photos.

The Goddess Pledge: “I am a Goddess, a glorious female warrior. Queen of all that I survey. Enemies of fairness and equality, hear my womanly roar. YEAH!”

Amy Poehler in NBC’s Parks and Recreation. Inspiration for my halloween costume. Image source: NBC

The Ranger Pledge: “1. Be a man.”

Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson and Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation
Image source: NBC

This year, the furbabies got in on the action while helping pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters! Chico is a pumpkin and Mia is a princess.

And to keep the Halloween spirit alive, I wanted to share a few photos from the beautiful cemetery across the street from the apartment I stay in half of the week. I love walking through here with the dogs. It’s stunning and peaceful.

The photo above is just kind of eerily pretty.

Now, when’s Thanksgiving? 😀

On Saturday, Nick and I hosted a last-minute surprise birthday party for our neighbor, Stephen, as orchestrated by his wife, Hannah. We like our neighbors very much so we were excited to be a part of the celebration and were more than happy to provide a space (our backyard) and our event-planning ‘expertise’.

I threw together a few decorations that I use for my own birthday parties each year and Hannah invited a few of Stephen’s friends, who parked down the street and then hid in the corner of our porch so they could jump out and yell ‘Surprise!’  Hannah ordered some BBQ, bought lots of booze, and Nick made homemade brownies, and a great time was had by all.

Drink up! There were about 10 attendees to our surprise party extravaganza and we weren’t sure if we could drink all of this beer, but we happily accepted the challenge.

Nick made homemade brownies and then kicked it up a notch by making his own stencils and decorating them with powered sugar. It was adorable – and we got a lot of compliments.

Challenge accepted and successfully completed!

The best part of the night was that the furbabies had so much fun that they were tuckered out by the end of the night! And they were just as cute as a button.

I didn’t get a chance to take any outfit photos over the weekend, but the next time you see me, it’ll probably be in my new location. More on that to come!