the owlet

Whooooo are yooooou?

Hello dear ones, I'm Jackie, and I'm the one sitting on the nest around here! I'm a 29 year old gal living my life in New York City. My hero of a husband, B, and I have a little family of two dogs and two cats in the Brooklyn condo that we recently bought (YAY! We own!!) that is our very own urban nest. 


This is me!

I am holding my most handsome dog, Conrad. More on him in a little bit.

If you're here in the 'about me' section, you clearly want to know more about me... so let's see if I can deliver.

I'm super shy. Hard to believe, I know. I think social anxiety is a really hidden dragon in a lot of people... it definitely is in me. I have a hard time opening myself up without glossing over my personal truth, so that's what this blog started out as for me - a place to put myself out there, to tell my personal truth with no fear of being judged, and it was, at first, why I was so afraid to really talk about my life. But, one of my goals in this blogging experience is to suck it up and stop being afraid of being accepted. You like me, or you don't... I'm going to be real either way.

I'm a feeler, that's one of my most distinctive qualities. I feel everything deeply, and empathize with people almost to a fault. I'm extremely intuitive - not in a future telling way, duh, but in the 'I can tell there's something wrong' way. To that fact, if you're sad or angry or having any extreme negative emotion, and we're hanging out, I'm going to internalize it and think that you're having that negative emotion because of me. I'm sorry in advance. It actually makes life a little difficult, but I'm not complaining. I wouldn't trade who I am or how my emotions work for the world... except maybe if you ask me after I've been hurt in any way - which I am fairly often.

I struggle with living in the present. I'm the girl that's always worrying about some thing or another. I remember every single negative thing that anyone has ever said to me, but the positive doesn't usually stick. Shocking, I know.

Music is like water for me. I need 8 full servings daily.
I am currently obsessed with Jason Mraz and Sara Bareilles.
I am always obsessed with Counting Crows and Billy Joel.

I am a total bookworm. 100%. Please tell me what you're currently reading, and if you're enjoying it. I would love to read it and have a chat about it.

I have a full-time "day job" that I will almost always refer to as The Lifesuck. But it pays the bills, and it's a prison with other inmates that I like a lot - I may mention KC or SW every now and then... I don't really talk about it a lot, because I don't want to get fired.
I babysit (though the kiddos prefer "nanny") a little on the side... and my kids are charming, hilarious, and make me smile. I don't talk about them a lot either for the same reason.

I'm also run my very own Scentsy business! I love being an Independant Scentsy Consultant. The product is so awesome and so very safe - for apartments and animals alike. I adore the freedom it gives me and the fun that I get to have sharing Scentsy with old and new friends. If you haven't tried it, you should. Seriously. It will change the way your home smells, but also the way your home feels. Trust me. Check it out by clicking on the button below!

Enough about me... I'd rather talk about my cute family.

This is my handsome husband...

B is a ridiculously handsome, smart, and singularly kind guy. We've been together so long (since November of 2002) that he anticipates my every whim. It's actually kind of scary, but I like it a lot. 

He teaches kindergarten at an all girls charter school in urban Brooklyn, although in the above picture he kinda looks like a hipster mechanic. Let's see if I can't get you another one where he looks more like himself...

Ahhh, there we go. Just a regular Brooklyn-ite in his hoodie and hipster glasses, complete with pretentious tiny dog at our ridiculously expensive vet office.

B is amazing. He works from 7am to 7pm every day, and works hard - not like those of us who update our blog and text our friends during our workday. He's engaged and busy teaching the wee ones how to read and what not all day long, and still has time to come home, cook dinner with me (or cook dinner for me when I'm laying on the couch whining). He's a superhero. And he's my guy. And I'm really lucky.

You can read our love story here.

and our small, furry children...

Conrad is an amazing little dog, a Miniature Pinscher... a breed that I never pictured myself with but can't picture myself without now. He was our first foster animal when we first dipped our toes into rescue, and  we totally foster failed. He wormed his way into our hearts and under our covers in the summer of 2009, and he's been there ever since. He's my baby, my child. Seriously. Stop giggling. I can't imagine my life without his nose kisses and neediness. Conrad is the most perfect dog on the planet, and he's mine... all 10 pounds of him!

Lexi is a very silly, and very sweet hound-lab-who knows what else mix. B adopted her in 2007, I think... I'll have to confirm with him. She's such a bold and strange dog, but sweet and sometimes affectionate. My favorite time with her is right when I wake up in the morning. That's when she's the most cuddly and truly delicious. 

We recently found out that our girl Lexi has Lyme Disease. We're not sure when she contracted it, but we're trying to kick it's butt with major antibiotics. If anyone has any experience with large dogs and Lyme... please let us know. We are, of course, worried for the health of our biggest little one.

The Cheshire Cat (who we call Cessie) is the strangest animal I've ever encountered - and I'm so glad that she's mine! She has been known to appear completely out of no where - literally, one moment your lap is empty and the next she's there, staring at you, yelling in your face for attention. But don't try to pick her up, she'll disappear.

My sweet, perfect Sookie. Don't tell the others, but she's is a super special cat. I found her when she was 11 months old, at the kill shelter here in NYC. I was there scouting out cats to pull for our rescue group. She was pregnant, rolling around in her cage and reaching through the bars, yowling. I walked passed her, looking in the other bays at the more reserved cats to see what they were about before I made my list. She reached through the cage bars and grabbed two paws full of my hair, and pulled - hard! - me back to her. I turned and looked in her big green eyes, and I was hooked. I pulled her that day, and we never looked back. She's my buddy. She comes when I call her, loves to snuggle, scare the life out of me, and bite my fingers when she's feeling playful. She has also, somehow, mastered the ability to turn my alarm clock on and off. This has made me oversleep for work more than once. Sookie was very pleased with herself.

I think that's enough for now... Welcome to the Owlery! I hope you enjoy your stay!