Santa Paws

Mandy and I dressed Lola and Max up in their Christmas sweaters and took them to PetSmart to meet Santa. Mandy and Lola went for a color explosion in their attire, in a look that Mandy described as "Skittles." Max and I went for a look called "shoot...doggy mommy slept too late and didn't have time to get ready." I slapped on a bright scarf and off we went. We posed for multiple shots and smiled and felt like good dog owners and called it a day.

It wasn't until we got home that we discussed how cheesy the whole racket was. We were expecting a Christmas wonderland, like they have at Marshall Fields. We would have even settled for a North Pole setup with glittery cotton snow like they have at the mall. Instead we got a cardboard background with a blurry tree scene, a grumpy photographer who couldn't work the digital camera, and a LADY Santa Claus that was losing her pleather boot covers. Despite the setbacks, the only thing that mattered that day was the happiness on Max and Lola's little doggy faces as they met Santa...and then discovered the cat food aisle.