Happy Thursday, loves. I hope everyone is having a great week thus far. Today is a special day for me because it's the third anniversary of the day I brought Obi home! You guys may think I'm a little crazy for writing a whole post about this... But, there's a whole story behind Obi that I finally feel ready to share. I don't normally get super personal on public platforms because I don't always feel like I need to share every little thing. But this story is really close to my heart and you guys have been just wonderful, so I thought it was time to share it with you.

If you follow me on Instagram (HERE) you've probably figured out by now that this little pup and I are two peas in a pod. (I thought I should mention... I'm writing this in bed and Obi is laying next to me just watching me type... such a good little assistant). A part of me feels like I got really lucky with this dog but another part of me feels like it wasn't so much luck, (here comes the cheesy part) it's that we were meant to be together. Let me explain....

Let's rewind about 7 years. When I left for college I couldn't wait to have my own dog. It was something I talked about all the time. I had done thorough research on breeds and had decided that a Frenchie was exactly the dog for me. I decided it probably wasn't the best idea until I was out of school, so I decided to wait until then. My Bubby (grandma in Yiddish), who you've heard me mention here a lot in the past because she's a huge part of where my love of fashion comes from. She taught me countless things, one of them being how to put an outfit together. We were super close. She was one of my best friends and favorite people to spend time with. She was a lot of amazing things, a teacher, a baker, a friend, a great mahjong player, the best shopping partner (and you too, mom!) and the best Bubby... but one thing she wasn't really, was a dog person. She definitely knew my love for dogs though.

She spent her Winters in Florida and one Winter break (I think it was my Sophomore year of college) my Mom and I were down there visiting her. We stumbled upon a puppy store where they had a litter of bulldog puppies. We went in and needless to say, I was in heaven. My Bubby saw how happy these adorable chubby, wrinkly pups made me and she said right then, when you graduate college, I'd like to buy you your first dog. From that day forward, we talked about it all the time, we never forgot.

Senior year of college, I started researching breeders, sending tons of emails, talking to breeders on the phone etc... Finding a Frenchie from a reputable breeder was much more difficult than I thought it would be. But, I was excited and so was my Bubby. Over Winter break of my senior year of College, I was overseas visiting my boyfriend at the time who was studying abroad. I got the second worst call of my life, my Bubby was in an accident and they weren't sure she was going to make it... The next day came the worst call of my life, that she had passed away. My last semester of college was the hardest time in my life. Going back to school after this was really tough for me. I had to push through and one huge thing I had to look forward to was the day I could finally bring my (at this point- non existent) pup home.

In February of 2014 I FINALLY got the name of a great breeder. I called her right away and got the best surprise, her female Frenchie had JUST given birth the day before, she had four beautiful baby Frenchies and none of them had been claimed yet. I immediately put down a deposit, chose from a picture of four 1 day old Frenchies (they look like rodents when they're born, by the way hehe) hung up the phone and started bawling my eyes out. They were happy tears about finally calling a dog my own but also sad tears wishing I could call my Bubby to tell her the news.

My sweet, wonderful breeder, Mary was in Portage, Wisconsin, 45 minutes out of my hometown, Madison. So, my parents drove up two days later to meet all the pups and I drove home the next week to do so too. Mary had told me that she still hadn't sold any of the other puppies (her bread and butter is Goldens, but she breeds Frenchies just because she loves them. So, she wasn't advertising to get them sold) so If I came to visit and bonded better with one of the other puppies, that I could change my mind on which I would take home. It was a story like you dream of when you go to meet your dog. 3 of the pups hung back in the corner, a little nervous and skiddish but the one I had chosen from the photo (nameless at the time) came right to me. He was playful, silly and cuddly and once again I was in puppy heaven. He was Obi.

I don't remember exactly how this conversation went... But, we left there and I must have brought up paying for Obi... My mom looked at me and struggled a little bit to get her words out... She told me that when Bubby was home in November for Thanksgiving, one month before her accident she had written my mom a check for my dog (at the time, non existent). My mom told me she asked her why then, and said I wasn't graduating for 6 months. She said something along the lines of, I don't really know, I was just thinking about it and wanted to give it to you, now's the right time. To this day I don't really know what to say to that.

I have my Bubby and fate to thank for bringing this little angel pup into my life. It's still crazy to me how everything fell into place. Obi makes my life so much better and he reminds me of Bubby every day, I think he's pretty special. So, here's to Bubby and here's to Obi for making my life so much better in countless ways.

Thank you to everyone who read this post. This was a story I wanted so badly to tell but was also such a hard story for me to share. If you didn't get why I am so obsessed with this pup, maybe now you do ;) hehe. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! p.s. you can find lots of similar affordable dresses to this one HERE.

xx Ali

Photos by: Ashley of Sed Bona

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