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“If you ever want photos of your little princess.” She gave Dolly a gentle pat on her head and Mr. Twinkles barked in protest.
“They told me he can be jealous.” She laughed and picked him up. “There, are we all better now?”
“Well, we better get going. Thank you for the card! I will give you a call. And I’m Katie, this is Dolly. Congratulations on Mr. Twinkles.”
“Thank you, Katie.” She sat on her couch, letting us see our way out as I opened the door and left. I was just feet from my apartment steps, and we hurried our way up them, feeling like all the world was chasing after us.
I fed Dolly a little, just in case we didn’t see anything good on the menu at the Doggy Cafe.Blitz & Boneswas just one of multiple dog-friendly diners in the area. Who knew? I let Dolly take her time eating while I changed my outfit.
Choosing a light pink sweater that would go well with my new coat and blackjeans, I slipped on some tan ankle boots. I put my hair half up, twisting some pieces to give it height and texture. And I figured the lights in any cafe were bright, so I accessorized with some sparkling earrings and my rose-gold watch that had little gem accents.
“Dolly, what would you like to wear?”
I emptied out the bag of everything I bought today at the pet store and didn’t find anything that was good to wear to dinner. I returned to the box my mother sent, since I still hadn't put it away, and rummaged through. There was a perfect spring green pastel sweater with coral stripes and two pink and yellow flowers on it. “How about this?” She looked up at me but went back to her food. After she was done eating, we put her into the sweater and left.
“Time for one more adventure today.”
We arrived at Blitz & Bones, and the place looked jam-packed from the outside. I had that twinge of anxiety when you think you're about to be turned away as I stood outside. But it looked like a large group was getting up to leave, so I went for it.
“Hello, ladies!” The exuberant host hollered out to us, causing every head to turn in our direction. “How many?” He already had his nose down in his reservation book.
“Just us.” I wasn’t sure if they counted Dolly as one since it’s not like she’d be sitting in a chair. “Purrfect!” He rolled the ‘r’ and gave us a wink. “Would you like to follow me?”
He led us to a corner seat next to a window that overlooked a beautiful water feature outside. The sun was just beginning to set, but people were out walking their dogs and letting them play in the fountain. This diner was on the ground floor of a new condominium complex, which accounted for much of the hustle and bustle. But for a moment I thought it sounded fun to live above a diner catered to pet owners. Oh, how I’m changing before my eyes!
The diner was dimly lit; not the bright, sterileunflatteringlight I’d been expecting. Once we got situated, Dolly sat on my lap, I looked around in a quicksurvey of the place.
“We should invite Judy next time,” I whispered to Dolly, not wanting anyone to see me having a conversation with my poodle. But upon my inspection, nearlyeveryonewas talking to a dog.
A glitzy woman waltzed over to me, pushing up her black rimmed glasses with a bejeweled finger. It looked like heart crystals adorned each of her nails. “Hi girls. My name is Melanie and I’ll be your server tonight. And what are your names?”
“Katie, and this is Dolly.” I waved my hand under her head like I was Vanna White.
“So nice to meet you ladies. Have you been here before?”
I shook my head. “This is our first time.”
Melanie squealed with delight. “That’s wonderful! Welcome toBlitz & Bones. I do hope you enjoy it. Let me give you the lay of the land on how things work here. Order off the menu something that both you and your pup would like. We serve it to you on a plate and theirs will come in a doggy dish, so no bad habits start here.” She winked.
“Everything is pet safe, even if she does accidentally get a bite of mom’s food. And every Wednesday night we do a Bingo game that benefits animal rescue.”
I panicked, realizingtoday was Wednesday.
“The game starts in about ten minutes, so you're just in time! Here’s the menu and your Bingo card.” She handed me a pink marker to dab the numbers off with. “Would you like a minute to look over the menu? Or can I answer any questions? I’d like to get your order in before the game starts if that’s not going to rush you.”
“What do you recommend?” I asked to buy myself more time.
“My favorite thing on our menu is the bacon egg quiche with the side salad.” She pointed to the menu item. The description said it featured a mini egg crustless quiche for the ‘pup-panion’.
“That sounds great. We will take that, thank you, Melanie.”
“How about something to drink? We have a selection of spritzers, cocktails and mocktails here,” she pointed to the drink section on the elaborate menu, “and we have beer or wine.”
“I’ll take a Moscow Maltese Mocktail, please.”
“Great choice! I love grapefruit. And the ginger in that one is incredible. I’ll be right back with it.”
