Best Dressed

Who can resist a furkid dressed in a costume? I can't. Which is why every year one of my favorite fall traditions is picking out cute costumes for my furbabies and taking loads of pics!

My almost twelve-year-old Pekingese Punkin Pie says they are not costumes, rather "torture devices",and that dressing them all up in these costumes is animal cruelty. Then I tell her she has no idea what animal cruelty is. Further, that if she wants to see what actual animal cruelty is to go on Facebook for about five seconds and she will see it with her own eyeballs on the pages of one of the countless rescue groups that work so hard to pick up the pieces for so many innocent creatures. Which is why I always give to as many as I can because without the rescues these animals would never get the second chance they so desperately need and deserve. Of course I talk to my dog... doesn't everyone? 

Anyhow back to a happy topic, pets in costumes. Now I would love to dress my two spoiled black cats up in costumes, but like Punkin says "they don't need a Halloween Costume because they come with a built-in one, they are black cats." Besides putting a costume on Jaxson and Bella would probably go about the same way putting their leash and harness on when they have to travel or go to the vet, which isn't a very pleasant experience.

So it's up to the dogs to fill the cute bucket year after year. So without further ado... I present the 2018 Aston Dogs Howl-O-Ween Costume Parade.

I give you Pepe. My little rescue monkey who is a sixteen plus year old Tibetan Spaniel new hope only euthanasia list survivor from the NYC ACC. He had a lot of issues when he first came to us, but after six years he is a very happy old man enjoying the life he should have had for his entire life.


Next is Punkin Pie. A beautiful Pekingese girl who is going to be twelve in November. We have had her almost her entire life and she is spoiled as it gets and we love her to pieces!




Next is little Lulukins. She is a Shitzu who is also a rescue from the NYC ACC the same shelter that Pepe came from. The vet says she is somewhere under five, we are not exactly sure. She was very young when we rescued her three years ago. Lulu is the without a doubt the happiest little dog I have ever met in my life, she literally bounces when she walks.



 









 And all together.... for the group humiliation shot (as Punkin would say) I present to you below... the Aston Furkids Halloween 2018 photo!

Shortly after we already assembled the group for the humiliation, we rescued a Japanese Chin who we have named Yuki. Since he is still settling in and learning what life is like around our house, new smells, new things, new people, new stuff... we did not want to stress him out by dressing him up in a torture device too ;o) So his humiliation pic will have to wait until next year when he can join the bunch for the Halloween Costume Parade. So for now, this normal un costume pic will have to do. I give you the newest member to the Aston pack... Yuki.

Happy Howl-O-Ween!

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Cute Overload

Halloween... the holiday where pet owners everywhere dress our pets in silly costumes. Attend pet parades and swap pics of our furkids going gaga over the cuteness. Isn't that what the holiday is all about? Well for some of us it is. So like always, I dressed my furbabies up in silly costumes again this year.

I swear if my almost eleven year old Pekingese "Punkin" could talk she would be cursing at me. Every time we put a costume on her she makes herself heavy and stiff like a little corpse. Maybe she thinks it'll keep her from having to don the costume, who knows, but the faces she makes the entire time just kill me.

Not just on Halloween, but Christmas and all throughout the year my fur babies have an entire wardrobe of outfits to keep them cute and in style. So without further ado, here is Aston furbabies "Howl-o-ween" Costume parade for 2017.

Punkin "I'm too old for this crap!"

Pepe is an NYC ACC "Urgent List" Survivor.

Lulu is also an NYC ACC Survivor.

Pookie "Is it almost over?"

For the grand finale... the group!

The cats just sit around looking at the dogs and probably thanking their lucky stars that their momma has not decided to add them to the costume parade. Although... you never know, I can think of two little black bomaby cats I know who just might start wearing silly costumes one day too.

Hope everyone has a fun time and stays safe. Happy Halloween!


Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo

www.avaaston.com

Costume Party

Halloween (Howl-O-Ween for those of us who have pets) is right around the corner. I mean who can resist dressing up their furbabies in costumes anytime there is a holiday? Not this Greek Girl! Like everyone else life is busy and it can be hard to make time for just having fun. Even though I'm working on new music, making muckery and starting my own skincare line, it's important for me to spend time with my furry-babies!

Recently I indulged in the yearly fall ritual of laughing my head off as I picked out the costumes for my furkids, so I thought it would be fun to post a virtual Halloween parade. So sit back relax and get ready... Time to bring on the cute!

1. The furkids circa 2010: Left to right: Pookie dressed as an Angel, Bobo as a punk,  Punkin as a bug, Itty Bitty was supposed to be a pirate but he looked more like a little old lady (he is now at Rainbow Bridge).

The humanity...

2. Furkids 2011: Left to right: Itty Bitty (now at Rainbow Bridge) dressed as a punk rocker, Bobo top row dressed as a bumble bee, Pookie dressed as a bat, and Punkin again as a bug. (She was just too cute as it not to do it again).  

Just hurry up and take the pic so you can get these costumes off of us!

3.  Furkids 2012: A few days after Hurricane Sandy hit NY. We had no power, but in the midst of cleaning up we needed a good laugh, I mean there was so much sadness. We also had just taken in Pepe as a foster and wanted to get in into the swing of the costume routine. So... out with the phone. Top to bottom: Pepe dressed as a jailbird (fitting since we had just busted him out of doggie jail aka NYC ACC,) Punkin dressed as a skunk, Bobo dressed as a shark, Itty bitty (now at rainbow bridge) dressed as a pumpkin, and Pookie dressed as an alligator.

Um, hello mom in case you didn't realize a hurricane just happened here in NY we have no power... Why are you taking our pics in costumes?

4. Furkids 2013: Itty Bitty had just passed unexpectedly so we superimposed him into the pic. Left to right Itty Bitty, Bobo dressed as Elvis, Punkin as a Ladybug, Pepe as a dinosaur, and Pookie as a girl.

First Halloween without Itty Bitty he had just passed, so we super imposed him from last year.

5. Collage of some of my favorite costumes... Bobo as a bumble bee, Pepe as a lobster, Pepe as a jailbird, Bobo as a solider, and Punkin Pie as a witch. Which is what she says she feels like now that our latest addition Gracie has come into the house...

Collage of some of the furkids too cute!

6. Howl-O-Ween 2014: Their faces kill me in this one. First year with Gracie the King Charles we were fostering at the time and have since adopted. They are still not too keen on her, she's younger than they are. Hopefully time will change that. Left to right Gracie dressed as a devil (Punkin picked that costume for her), Pookie as a princess, Bobo as a soldier, Pepe as a dragon, and Punkin as a witch.

Bad enough we're dressed in costumes... now we have a new dog in our pack... Ov vey!

So there you have it, the Halloween parade until this year 2015 photo is taken. We will soon be dressing them up again and I personally can't wait to see my little monkeys dressed in costumes. Halloween isn't really a holiday we celebrate except for dressing the dogs, but if you ask me this is the most fun! Be safe and happy howling.

Blessings, Love & Music!

Ava xo
www.avaaston.com
www.glowosity.com

Hijacked

Punkin Aston here to ask you to help me

This is "Punkin" and I am about to flip my little lid.

If you don't know what I am talking about then it's time you were brought up to speed.  Here is what happened last year:

See what I mean?  Every single stinkin' year my mommy, Miss Ava-Aston, the so-called-self-proclaimed-doggie whisperer thinks it's a good idea to dress me up in a torture device.

What am I talking about?  It's simple really.  She thinks it's a good idea, no she thinks its a fabulous idea to ruin my dignity and embarrass me and all my doggie-siblings by putting us in ridiculous Halloween Costumes.  The worst part is, this year she is taking it one step further.

Now hear me out, I am all for a bit of fun now and again but this is just beyond torture.  Instead of just dressing us up one time for our routine march of shame, she decided to "try out" the costumes on us first.  What I don't understand is why she always thinks of me as a bug.  I am always getting dressed up to look like a stinkin' bug.  I am not a Bug or a Pug, I'm a Pekingese Dang'it!

Still not sure what I am talking about...?  Well here is the evidence:

Caught RED-HANDED buying the torture devices

See what I mean? She dressed me up to make fun of me.

For the love of God someone please make her stop!

So as you can see, it's time something is done to help me from this kind of ongoing and inhumane torture.  If you have it in your heart you will help me stop my mommy from always doing these terrible acts on us doggies.  Thank goodness my little brother "Itty Bitty" is in Heaven now at the Rainbow Bridge... at least he doesn't have to be humiliated anymore in the torture devices.  However the rest of us remaining four Aston doggies  (me), Punkin, Pookie, Bobo & Pepe we need our mommy to be stopped!

Thank you,
Punkin Aston

Christmas Cards

Can anyone say, "Jingle Bell Monkey Dogs?"

Every year at about this time we all go through the traditional "Christmas card" picking process.  We're given the choices, the pretty Hallmark box of cards, the funny cards in the Dollar General, the special ones just for Mom and Dad then of course you have the photo cards....  Which cards do I go for you may be wondering? Yep, you guessed it the Greek Girl is a photo-card junky when it comes to Christmas Cards.  I don't know what it is, but the chip in my noggin always tells me I have to dress my dogs up in some silly Christmas costume, and take a photo of them.  Some years they are in the picture alone and others it's me with them.  Either way, I am sure you can imagine the dibacle that ensues trying to get four spoiled rotten furbabies to sit still and all look at the camera at the same time.

All I have to say is thank God for VistaPrint.com, because before you could do this online sitting in your PJ's before bed at midnight; it used to be - I was standing in line at CVS kicking some plastic kiosk photo machine when it wouldn't behave at midnight.  The only real downside to using vistaprint is they have about a gazillion designs, and if you're not careful it'll suck you in and before you know it you've burned a few hours picking out just the right Christmas Cards...  ov vey'.

Anyway I hope your Card selection process is going smoothly and that you enjoy this photo of my furkids!  If you happen to be one of the people I regularly send a Christmas card to each year, don't be surprised if you get a little "kickstarter promo card" inside with it!  Of course that doesn't mean you have to sit around waiting to get that card to go pledge & get some good music, you can go to the link below anytime from now until Jan. 5th at 10:30am EST.  (wink wink) Because all I want for Christmas is a successful kickstarter campaign so I can make more music for you!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/avaaston/ava-aston-new-album

Blessings, Love & Music ~

Ava :D xox

www.avaaston.com

Click here to learn about my KickStarter.com Campaign and how you can get involved.

The Halloween Hijack: Punkin's Revenge

Oh, the humanity! I can't believe the atrocity of these forever humiliations in the Aston household!

Hello to all my faithful followers out there!  This is your favorite and most talented Pekingese dog Punkin Aston.  That's right, I have done it again.  I have gone in and hijacked my mommies blog! But this time I am out for some serious Halloween Revenge! You read it right. I am out for "R-E-V-E-N-G-E" Pekignese Style.  (For those who don't know, I am part Ninja because I am a Chinese dog, so therefore I am a ninja.)

Now, to get back to the atrocity and to qoute my favorite movie (mostly because I starred in it, though my scenes ended up on the cutting room floor)  If my mommy dresses me up in another dreadful costume ever again There Will Be Blood!  So instead of me going on and on about the kind of torture that has taken the Ava Aston household by storm I will invite you to watch this 3-part series and learn just what kind of monster my mommy really is.  

HALLOWEEN ATROCITY PART: 1


HALLOWEEN ATROCITY PART: 2


HALLOWEEN ATROCITY PART: 3




Now, if you have made it through all this muckery of which me and my brothers and sister have gone through, please call and report my mommy for puppy abuse.  Thank you and have a happy Halloween!


Blessings, Love & Music ~

Ava xox :D
www.avaaston.com