Can you guys believe it! This is my 33rd post! How does time fly so quickly!? Also, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In the middle of the night before Christmas, Hazel and I woke up about 70 times. It basically went like this: Wake up, watch TV on the ipad for 10 minutes, fall back asleep for 15 minutes, then repeat. Finally, we both fell asleep at around 5:00 in the morning until 7:30 AM. Then we went downstairs to see what was in our stockings. I got two pairs of earrings, cactus enamel pins, Glossier skin care products, a cake making kit in a bucket, a pom pom making kit, VERY fuzzy llama socks, a graphic novel, and the ENTIRE Lord of the Rings DVD collection.

For anyone that isn’t quite sure what Christmas is about, Hazel and I went into a deep explanation about Christmas way back in 2012…

Now, before I continue with the story of my Christmas, I have a great gift recommendation. Even though Christmas is over, it is a great gift for any pet lover. Crown and Paw makes portraits of your pets. But not just any portrait. They use a picture of your pet’s head and add a human body. You can also get the image on a blanket, throw pillow, mug, and more. My explanation sound SUPER morbid so I’m just going to show you some pictures.

And these are the portraits of my dogs, Millie and Scruffy:

This product is FABULOUS and an awesome gift. I know it’s one of my favorite things that I got. After stockings, my dad set up a zoom with my Grandparents and Uncle so we could open gifts “together” like we do every year. I got A BUNCH of awesome stuff including a COLOR PRINTER, bullet journal, some books, a light switch that I can turn off with the sound of my voice, a jewelry making kit, a fuzzy chair for my room, and a few more things that I can’t remember right this second. Doc had a great time asking if he could help open other people’s gifts. (Everyone said he could help because NOBODY could say no to such an adorable face.) After we turned off the zoom, we went for a matching Christmas Pajama Walk. We all wore our christmas pjs and walked to the park so that Millie could run around and Doc could get his wiggles out. We then attempted to watch the Pixar movie, Soul.

Doc wasn’t into the whole “let’s sit down and watch a movie” thing, so we ended up postponing the movie and we played with Doc until dinner time. Speaking of dinner, Mom made lobster for dad and herself, reheated some leftover steak for the kids, made the MOST AMAZING LINED POTATOES IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE UNIVERSE THAT TASTE LIKE HEAVEN WITH A SIDE OF AMAZINGNESS, and some fennel.

These are lined potatoes (I couldn’t get a picture of my Mom’s potatoes because we ate them so fast, so I found this one of someone else’s potatoes off of the internet.)

After dinner, we (successfully) watched Soul and are planning to watch the new Wonder Woman movie soon!

Check out “Wonder Woman 1984” Trailer here:

That pretty much conclues this year’s Christmas. I hope your Christmas was as good as mine!

Finally, onto Actor Of The Week!

DRUMROLL PLEEEEEASE!!!!

Arnold Schwarzenegger! (Wow that was a doozy to type!)

He has been in over 50 films including Terminator, Kindergarten Cop, True Lies, Twins, and more! (Like, A LOT more) Check out the other films Arnold Schwa…You know what? I am just gonna say Arnold because my fingers are going to get tired REALLY quickly. Check out Arnold’s other stuff here!

I hope you like today’s post!

Stay Warm!

Grace

Before I start today’s post, I just want to say that I am sorry. I had this post ready to go last week but my time has been occupied at the ROON kitchen. My mom got a HUGE order for over 600 boxes and asked me to help out. (I am doing the math right now and I realize that my mom and her partner, Sine, had to bake 7,920 roons!! Holy crap! Good Job, Mom!) I have been pretty busy helping her out so I haven’t had time to finish this post until now. But enough about that. On with the post!

(WARNING: Most adults won’t agree with the following two paragraphs.)

People can get super stressed around Thanksgiving, either because they are anxious about family coming over, need more time to cook, or wish the holiday just never existed. I mean, what kind of cruel human would schedule a very stressful holiday right smack dab in the middle of one with free candy and one with a steady supply of presents and joy? Is it a prank or a joke somehow?

Nope. Nada. No Joke. Life just played it out that way. Y’know, if you are really down about Thanksgiving (remember that I wrote this post sometime before the holiday), just think of it as an excuse to celebrate in between two great holidays. (Or an excuse for pumpkin pie eating, if you’re a fan of that.)

For Thanksgiving, my Grandparents drove up to Portland (which is why I haven’t been able to edit and publish my blog posts). Because my Grandparents weren’t actually in town for the exact date of Thanksgiving, we had a “Fakesgiving.” Since we usually spend Thanksgiving at our grandparents house in Napa, we decided to have an early Thanksgiving and call if Fakesgiving. Nobody would want to haul two adults, three kids, and possibly a dog or two in a car to go to Napa for two days.

OH. MY. GOSH! I almost forgot! Doc has been SUPER cute lately! I dressed him up in his bathrobe, mittens, a Santa hat, and a paper beard that I taped to his face (skills)! He is officially… SANTA CLAUS! (Oh, and I gave him a blanket that he bunched up in the corners to make a gift sack, or whatever you want to call the bag that Santa Doc carried around saying “HOHOHO! MERRY CHRISTMAS!”?

Basically…

Isn’t he adorable!?

Next up is Millie. This is a super quick portion of the post but I thought it was really funny. Millie slept in my old bean bag chair a few nights ago, and it was SUPREMELY ADORABLE!!!!!

Another random but adorably cute thing is something my dad sent me. I think I took it about a year ago. So, without further ado, I welcome… THE ALPHABET! Starring Doc!

Lastly, onto Actor Of The Week!

*cue applause*

Mckenna Grace!

She has been in many movies including SCOOB, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Troop Zero, The Bad Seed, Fuller House, Captain Marvel, and one of my all time favorite movies: Gifted. Check out more stuff with Mckenna Grace here

When she was 10, Mckenna Grace starred as 7-year-old Mary Adler, with co-stars Chris Evans, Jenny Slate, and Octavia Spencer. Check out the trailer here:

Now, I had a REALLY hard time choosing the Actor Of The Week this time, so without further ado, I have the second actor of the week to makeup for last week and because I had a really hard time choosing just one for this week…

JENNY SLATE!

Jenny Slate is SUPER funny! she has been is A LOT of stuff including Gifted (the same one as Mckenna Grace), Big Mouth, Parks And Rec, Bob’s Burgers, The Secret Life Of Pets, Zootopia, Venom, and more. check out more of her stuff here. My two favorite characters that she plays are Mona Lisa, from Parks and Rec, and Tammy, from Bob’s Burgers. They are both, snotty, bratty, funny, and spoiled. Each character that she plays comes to life with personality.

I have one more thing to add before I go because this post is going to pile up and get really long if I don’t end it soon. One more amazing thing Doc did a few nights ago… He is an amazing singer and demonstrates his talent here:

Have a great day! Happy National Llama day! (Yes, it is in fact national llama day, I checked.)

-Grace

Hi guys! I am so sorry, that I haven’t written a post in a billion years! Just pretend that today is actually November 6th. Before I get started on today’s topics, I NEED to show you a cute video of Doc. It was around Halloween, and Doc was SUPER ADORABLE (as always)!

Next on the agenda is Christmas. Move over Thanksgiving! Doc has officially declared that it is “Merry Chwis-mas Time.” That means nutcrackers (seven of which he carries around in a basket), Christmas trees, lights, Santa Claus, and more. But enough about Christmas. It’s time to talk about the Topliff house!

Mom has been busy decorating our house. Not just for Christmas. Our dining room has a new table, new chairs, and newly painted PINK walls, courtesy of my Mother. (Thanks, Mom!)

Isn’t it great!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now more on Christmas! (I am aware of how random that topic change was, thanks for asking.) Mom found some adorable (and cheap) Christmas decor for our house. We don’t have stockings out right now because it is still a bit early and most of the other Christmas stuff comes out closer to the actual holiday. Mom found fabulous Christmas decorations that can satisfy our live in Christmas Critic, Doc.

Now you basically know what my whole house looks like!

Next is one of the most important birthdays of the year!

Happiest (very) Belated Birthday to the founder of Roons. Or as I know her, Mom.

To Mom-You are sweet, brave, a go-getter, funny, silly, and more. I love you so much and hope you have a great day! (Again, this is VERY belated. Sorry about that!)

Doc has something SUPER important to say to you!

Now onto the final segment…

Actor Of The Week!

And this week’s actor is…

Jon Favreau!

Jon is a fabulous actor that has been in some great movies!

One of my favorite movies, Chef, starred Jon Favreau! Check out the trailer here:

Jon Favreau has been in, written, and directed so many movies! check out what “many” is right here!

Have a great day!

-Grace

P.S. Kim (Doc’s nanny) sent me a HYSTERICAL photo of Doc when he fell asleep. Doc was taking the last bite of his ham and cheese sandwich when he dozed off. Observe…

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! I am going to DIE of laughter! Anyway, have a wonderful day! byeee!

I am so excited to talk about Halloween! (Sorry, this post is a bit late.) Before talk about our Halloween experience, I am going to hand it over to Jack…

Why thank you, Jack. Now, I am going to get into costumes! This year, Doc (who won costume of the year) decided to be a Sea Witch! He looked fabulous and very Sea Witchy!

And Hazel was a robot! (After realizing that her leg paneling/aluminum foil was falling off, she conveniently converted to a rusty old robot costume.)

And I was, as promised, a Professional Costco Sampler!

We also carved pumpkins!

Doc loved the pumpkin that I carved for him. I tried to incorporate as many things as I could that he requested… two mean eyes, a scary mouth, a nose, a scary face, a happy face, a ghost, a vampire, a silly face, and googly eyes.

And here you can check out some ADORABLE videos starring Doc as he explores the boundaries and activities of Quarantine Halloween!

Since I have already done the Actor Of The Week this week, you’ll just have to wait until the next post. I hope you like this belated Halloween post!

Try not to feel too stressed about the election!

-Grace

P.S. Check out Millie with her Strega Nona headpiece! Bring on the snazz!

I wish you farewell good fellows!

First, I want to show you some photos of me that my dad found. Most of them are from when I lived in California! When I see these I get so many flashbacks! I hope you like them!

I thought these (billions of) photos might be a good addition to the blog!

I also want to get to the beach topic of this post. Two Saturday ago, my whole family went to the beach. We went to the candy store, ocean, and walked around the town.

I got a super cute little unicorn keychain at an adorable store. I took Scruffy in with me and even though he shed a bit all over me, everyone in the store loved him!

We also got a bunch of candy (Doc really enjoyed the lollipop and 5 M&Ms that Mom bought for him! Millie, Scruffy, and Doc had A BLAST! We went with our family friends: Felicia, Todd, Shawn, And Britt!

Check out these great photos!

Onto Rice Krispies!

I made adorable Rice Krispie Treats with Kim (if you forgot, Kim is Doc’s nanny)! We dipped them in chocolate and added eyes, a few mouths, and other accessories!

And this one got murdered:

Doc REALLY enjoyed eating them!

Speaking of Doc, He got a Mr. Potato Head Pirate from Auntie Julie! Thank you so much Auntie Julie! Doc loves it and takes it everywhere!

And Now…

Get ready for…

Actor of the Week!

druuuuuuuumroll pleeeeeease!

Scarlett Johansson

She is a wonderful actor and has kicked butt in the Marvel Movies as The Black Widow and as Jojo Rabbit’s mother Rosie. She is an amazing actor and has been in so many great films! Check out what else she is in right here!

And you can check out the trailer to Jojo Rabbit right here!

I hope you like Today’s post! Happy Late Halloween!

-Grace

P.S. Check out this HYSTERICAL video of Doc dancing and prancing on Halloween Morning while we all made breakfast!

Go Doc! See ya soon, everyone!

Bye for real!

All of those names are just things we sometimes call Millie. You might be wondering why this is the second post of the week. I am so glad you asked, because I have an announcement. To Millie. A dog that can in no way, shape, or form, understand this at all. Because she can’t read. At all. and she can’t access a device containing the website to my blog. At all. So on with the announcement!

Dearest Millie, You will never be as young as you are today. It is your first birthday. 365 days ago, you entered this world. The End. That is as sappy as I am going to get.

Happy Birthday Millie! We all love you, you big fluffball!

I hope you like these photos! I made Millie’s birthday cake hat out of a cracker box, felt, hot glue, tape, and ribbon.

I know that this post is short, but it is really just a mini post to honor Millie on her special day.

I love you so much Millie! Happiest wishes for the year to come!

-Grace

Don’t hate me. Starting off with a pun that makes you groan and say, “Come on, Grace, I am really not in the mood for an extremely cheesy pun that Dads laugh about because it falls into the category of Terrible Dad Joke Material. I came to your blog because I heard about your amazing posts and my Halloween costume this year is going to be you and you let me down because of a simple pun.”

To all of those people out there, I am sincerely sorry. (And if you are choosing me as a Halloween costume, I usually wear an old t-shirt and jeans.)

But we’re getting off topic. I started with the pun because my family and I have been doing some dog sitting lately. (I have not, I repeat, HAVE NOT been sitting on dogs.) Some of our closest family friends have an adorable dog named Bindi. I talked a bit about her in my vacation posts because my dog Millie stayed with Bindi and her family while we were in Manzanita. Millie had a blast with her and when Bindi stayed with us, Millie and Bindi were running around the house, snuggling, and barking at Scruffy 24/7. (I feel like I am making it seem like Scruffy was an innocent bystander who happened to get barked at a lot. If you think that is the case, you are dead wrong. For one thing, Scruffy barked at them more than they barked at Scruffy, and another thing, Scruffy hates almost everybody. I mean, he takes Millie’s stuff, eats Millie’s stuff, and generally does his best to irritate Millie. But back to the story. Bindi and Millie played all of the time. Before I show you the photos of Millie and BIndi, I want to show you some dog puns I thought you might like…

Now it’s time for some awesome pictures of Millie, Bindi, and Scruffy…

While we were watching a movie, Millie and Bindi decided that it was a great time to run around. I mean, isn’t 9:40 PM a great time to get your wiggles out? They started chasing each other and, well… Just watch the video.

I know that this post is supposed to be only about dogs but before I do Actor Of The Week, I want to recommend an AMAZING book. When I explain it a bit, it will sound really confusing and/or sad, but I really hope you try to read it. Allie Brosh wrote a book called Hyperbole and a Half. It’s about her life. From her funny childhood stories to her FANTASTIC dog tales to her frequent depressions. Allie Brosh explains her depression in a way that makes me feel like I am in her brain. The fun format and awesome drawing style really makes you fall in love with the book.

An interesting thing about this is that after Allie wrote this book she disappeared for seven years. It was as if she died. She wasn’t on social media, she wrote no books, and she made no contact with anyone. She completely disappeared off the face of the earth. Then suddenly she popped back on the radar and wrote a sequel to Hyperbole and a Half, called Solutions and Other Problems.

And now it’s time for…

Actor Of The Week! DRUMROLL PLEEEEEEASE…

John Mulaney!

He played Peter Porker/Spider Ham in Spiderman into the Spiderverse. Check out who Peter Porker is right here. He plays himself in a movie called John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch, and he plays numerous other characters in a bunch of other movies! Check out what else he is in right here! I really love John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch. It is funny, witty, and entertaining. It’s on Netflix and I recommend watching it now. Work and/or school can wait. This movie is worth it. This is one of my most favorite scenes in the Sack Lunch Bunch!

It is a bit weird at first, but trust me. it is SO worth it.

I hope you liked today’s post!

-Grace

Wow, this is the 26th post! That is so awesome! If I had done one post per week from the very beginning (which I didn’t do), then I would have done this for exactly half of a year!

Anyway, let’s start with Pumpkins. On Saturday, Kim, Dad, Mom, Hazel, Doc, and I went to the Pumpkin Patch! It was Doc’s first time and he found and (tried to) lift so many pumpkins! He even got to choose his own!

The next subject is sugar. Not just sugar on its own. This sugar is mixed with a bit of flour, eggs, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. That’s right. If you haven’t guessed already, we’re talking about chocolate cupcakes!

Check out the cupcake recipe here!

Kim baked them and while Doc was asleep, Hazel, Kim, and I decorated them! These are some photos!

Anyway, I just thought they were kind of cute. Onto the next topic! One of my great friends, Margo, has the MOST ADORABLE KITTENS IN THE ENTIRE FREAKING WORLD!! MY BRAIN IS GOING TO EXPLODE WITH KITTEN CUTENESS!!!!!!! These are the pictures of Frankie and Siggy!

Aren’t they just the cutest things!!!!!!!

That was a very short topic but we both know that it was necessary.

Now for the moment you all have been waiting for! Actor Of The Week!!!!

Drumroll please…!

D’arcy Carden! (click this link to learn more about her!)

She is amazing! She is in my favorite show called The Good Place. She co-stars as Janet, a robot/female/informational assistant/this makes so much more sense if you watch the show.

I give The Good Place 10/10 stars. Click this link to check out all of the other stuff she has been in!

She really makes you believe that she is the character she plays and she is funny, silly, and smart. If any of you are curious and want to watch The Good Place (I don’t blame you, that’s a smart idea), then you can find it on Netflix.

Happy Almost Halloween!

Thanks for reading!

-Grace

P.S. I know that this post is already pretty long, (scrolling up on this post really drains your energy), but I just thought that all of you should know what I am doing for Halloween! My family and I are going to stay in our house and watch Halloween-themed movies… But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do costumes. As you know, almost every year my family has made his or her own costumes and this year won’t be any different. I am going to be a costco sample person!

I think it is super funny!

Now goodbye for real!

First of all, you NEED to see how adorable Doc is! He and Kim have been taking a bunch of Snapchat photos. I know I’ve shown you some before but these may be even better. And this time there are even a few Halloween-themed ones! Keep in mind that some a a bit creepy…

Wow! That topic was shorter than I expected. Anyway, He has been adorable. He likes playing A LOT with lego. He takes Lego into my room and has conversations with me about how they like to eat “GAH-goos” (crackers). He also talks about the superheroes in PJ Masks, his new favorite TV show.

PJ Masks is all the craze now. Jake and The Neverland Pirates is officially dead to Doc. PJ Masks are basically gods to him.

After getting a bit off topic it is time to show you how amazing googly eyes truly are. I may have gotten a bit stir crazy and distracted so the outcome of all of that is…

I also figured out how awesome the paper eyebrows are…

So after that minorly embarrassing video, I want to talk about Millie. My friend India (you may remember her from a previous birthday post) and I really like going on walks. Last time we went for a walk, I brought Millie. She loved it and India and Millie really hit it off. Millie loved being in the spotlight and India and I agreed that the moment was too cute to pass up…

Millie smiled so much! I just love these photos. Thanks India!!!! But after realizing that there are A LOT of photos in this post I think we need to change it up a bit. And your in luck because Actor Of The Week is on its way!!!

The actor is…

Jim Carrey!!!

He is in fabulous movies like The Truman Show, Ace Ventura, Dumb and Dumber, and The Grinch. You can check out all of the other movies he has been in right here!

My two favorite Jim Carrey movies are… The Truman Show

and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective!

Now before this post ends, I have to show you guys a hysterical video. Saturday Night Live did an amazing song ft. Megan Thee Stallion. I totally recommend it! It is super funny. I give you… Bottom of Your Face!

I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of the week!

-Grace

First up is diapers! Now please don’t judge because I am about to blow your mind. When I was a baby, I was born almost 3 months early. Most babies are about 7 pounds when born, but I was very small (therefore given the nickname “Peanut”) and weighed 2 lbs 15 oz. These are some photos of baby Grace:

I think you’ll be surprised to see that compared to my hand, the diapers I first used were tiny, though surprisingly large on me!

I know that that was kind of an odd topic but I think it is kind of funny how small I was!

Now let’s switch topics to one of my favorite podcasts of all time! Gen-Z Media produces a great podcast called Six Minutes! Shahadi Wright Joseph stars as a 12-year-old girl named Holiday, found in the icy waters of Juneau, Alaska. Unfortunately, she has no memory of her past. It starts out as a kid’s and family podcast and slowly shifts into more of a sci-fi genre, but that doesn’t at all mean that it isn’t a great podcast for the family, or even to follow on your own. Just make sure you start with Season One. Click here to check out the podcast! I give it a total 10/10!

Before we get into the mysterious door I wanted to tell you about, we have to celebrate two very important things…

Happy birthday to my friend India! Her birthday was two days ago but I can’t let this go unnoticed. She is a great friend and I always enjoy hanging out with her. We love riding bikes together and quarantine would feel a lot longer without her!

The next celebration is for my Aunt! My dad’s oldest sister Julie, had a birthday yesterday! Auntie Julie is fun, smart, and kind. She runs a tutoring center in California for kids.

I know for a fact that Doc loves Auntie Julie and although he is still working on pronouncing her name, he didn’t want to give up a chance to say something to her!

Now for the door… It isn’t as spooky as most of you are wondering

It is just the back of the door leading to my room. But it isn’t just any boring back of the door. It is my cartoon door! (I’m still working on a name.) In each of the square sections, I have a large spread of characters from a favorite show or video game that I traced. Starting with…

Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for!

Actor Of The Week… Drumroll pleeeeeease…

Millie Bobby Brown!

She is an amazing actress who played a character named Eleven in a show called Stranger Things. She also played the character Enola Holmes in a movie called Enola Holmes. Some other shows she is in include: multiple Godzilla movies, Modern Family, and more! Check out the rest here.

And you can check out the trailer for Stranger Things (one of my all-time favorites) here:

I hope you liked today’s post!

-Grace