Pardon our Progress

In addition to a wedding in the works, we're in the midst of moving into our new home, located in the beautiful College Hill Corridor section of downtown Macon. We'll have an official new address by February 1, but until then, we've got one of Jamie's infamous list of action items to complete. We'll soon be saying good-bye to the former bachelor pad on Chestnut Street and move on to the home of our dreams, circa 1873, where we look forward to starting our lives as a married couple. We call our new place The Brick Rose, in honor of the many, many bricks and roses found throughout the property. We hope to have folks over during the wedding weekend, so stay tuned as we make the official move.

Here's to Home,

Jessica

Making the Tabloids

By now, you've probably heard the proposal story. We were visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, when Jamie noticed Owen Wilson was also there, doing the same thing. He approached Owen and asked him to be a part of our proposal - all Owen was to do was take the picture of the very moment. Owen agreed. And you can only imagine my shock when Jamie and Owen entered the gallery where I was taking in the French Impressionists and walked me over to the Seurat study of "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." It was there that Jamie said, "Jessica Walden, in front of Owen Wilson and Seurat, will you marry me?" And Owen took out our camera and took the photo you see here on the site.

So imagine our utter shock and awe the next day as we turned on the television in our hotel room and watched Owen Wilson re-tell the entire story on "Live with Regis and Kelly." Not only did Jamie's proposal get props for being "pretty smooth," but there were all kinds of "awwws" from the audience and Kelly, which made it even sweeter.

From there, Owen's audio clip was "skimmed" and circulated on Cumulus radio stations across the country. Many of our friends heard it on their morning commute and let us know. And I guess it was from there, that the Globe tabloid got wind of the story.

That's right, the Globe. Thank goodness for friend Tabitha Walker whose mother has a penchant for supermarket tabloids. She brought us a copy of the issue that we can now add proudly to our scrapbook.

Be careful what you read, folks - the tabloids really don't get all of the story right . . . But they sure do make it a lot of fun.

Gossip on,

Jessica

A Change Has Come to Macon Candy

For almost two years now, I have blogged as a dog, giving little glimmers into the life my family and I share in the wonderful city of Macon. Well, now that we've got a wedding in the works, we're going to shake up and sweeten Candy's Land. In the next few days, Mom and Shuga D are taking over the blog entries as the bride and groom, Jessica Walden & Jamie Weatherford - the J-Dubs for short.

It is here on MaconCandy.com that they will detail their wedding celebration set to take place on April 30, 2011 at the Cox Capitol Theatre in beautiful Downtown Macon. We'll be a temporary source for the family and friends that will be coming nearing and far to celebrate their big day, where the best is yet to come.

Don't worry - there will still be plenty of Candy Lou! I will remain Mom's loyal little correspondent.

So in honor of this soulful time in our lives, here is the late, great Sam Cooke to mark the change that is gonna come to Candy's Land.

And the Results Are . . .

Mom could barely sleep on Christmas Eve because she was so excited about opening the results of me and my brother and sister mutts' DNA Insight test results. Since then, Mom and Shuga D are still coming to terms with the results that took them both by complete surprise.

Starting with biological brother and sister mutts Tybee and Bowen - it turns out the two weren't as biological as we thought! Although they both shared the same litter, from the same mama, they had different daddies! Mama may have been an English Spaniel mix, but for Bowen, daddy was a Chow and Alaskan Malmute Mix - which describes his uncontrollable desire to "mush!" during Macon's recent sleet storm. Tybee, on the other hand, who is significantly smaller (and smarter, just sayin') than her big brother, turns out had a daddy who jumped the fence and was a full-blooded Beagle!

And me . . . Candy Lou. Remember how we've claimed right here in Candy's Land that I was a Papillon / Chihuahua mix? Well, there may be some of that, but most of it wasn't significant enough to show up in my test results. Although I do have a strong full-blooded Chihuahua genealogy that traces back to my great-grandparents, I am also . . . wait for it . . . half Yorkshire Terrier!! Yep, I'm a product of the designer mutt fad of recent years. Someone probably paid top dollar for me as a "Chorkie" before someone else turned me over to the City of Macon Animal Shelter as an inmate. Mom and Shuga were so surprised by my DNA, but it didn't change a thing in the way that they absolutely adore me.

And for the most shocking results -- dear ol' Miss Kitty. Mom saved the best for last. She figured the results would be either chocked full of all breeds imaginable or inconclusive because Kitty is just one of a kind. Neither happened. In fact, Miss Kitty, the oddball, striped mutt who raised a littler of kittens, had the cleanest DNA of us all. She is a 50/50 split between two different purebreds who must have disappointed their pure heritage that goes all the way to great-great grandparents. When they procreated and created the wonder that is Kitty, they proved that a CHIHUAHUA and a JACK RUSSELL can make the most laid-back, brindle antithesis of what they both are.

And there you have it. Now, remember, we're completely convinced that little Boz Waggs is exactly what he says he is as a long-haired Chihuahua, so we didn't test his DNA. But now that we know what breeds make up our beautiful family, the wonders of adopting continue to amaze us. Our crew - consisting of English Spaniels, Alaskan Malmutes, Beagles, Yorkshire Terrier, Jack Russells and lotsa Chihuahuas - has proved how awesome it is to adopt and not shop!

Check out our mixed-bag family at its finest as we learned the news of Mom and Shuga's engagement filmed by our fabulous dog-sitter Auntie Nadia!

Just Because

That's Macon's own Tony "Bone" Dorsey leading Joe Tex's band on trombone!