I’m writing this tale in hopes of preventing others of making the same mistake, though I will likely seem pretty damn foolish as I do so.

You see, I know that raisins are bad, very bad, for dogs. And I know the safest place for puppies when you can’t watch them is in a crate. Yet, I somehow seemed to carelessly forget both of these things and our insanely loveable, six month old labradoodle Cupcake managed to devour a snack box full of raisins Saturday afternoon. Thank heavens he’s fine now, but let me tell you of our scare.

We went upstate to spend the night in our little cottage. We only have one crate for Cupcake and though it collapses, we stopped bringing it on overnight trips with us a month ago. Cupcake sleeps solidly through the night at the foot of our bed, and we never leave him alone long enough to get into trouble during the day. That was until Saturday, when the three of us headed out to a restaurant leaving our dear little pooch alone for a couple of hours. Coming home with our bellies full, we open the door to find Cupcake, happy and excited to see us as always, standing over a shredded box of empty raisins on the rug. I had left them in a bag on a chair, and now that too was on the floor.

My heart instantly leaped into my throat. Raisins are on the list of things that are toxic to dogs (along with grapes, chocolate, onions, garlic, macadamia nuts). How toxic? I didn’t know and instantly started Googling “My dog ate raisins” to find out. The results terrified me. Eating raisins causes sudden kidney failure in some dogs. But the specifics were unclear: How many raisins? How quickly? Some dogs? This Snopes page offered some useful, albeit scary, background.

Apparently, animal doctors made the link to kidney failure in dogs with grapes and raisins in late ’80s. They found that after eating a few ounces of them, some dogs would stop eating, have diarrhea, and grow lethargic. After a few days, they would not be able to pass urine, causing intense abdominal pain — and sometimes resulting in death.

Everything I saw advised to call a vet immediately, so I dialed the number of the nearest 24 animal hospital (about 40 miles away). They told me to give him a teaspoon on hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting. After a quick run to CVS, we managed to do this — and it worked! Up came a rather impressive pile of all the things Cupcake had eaten recently including a whole lot of raisins. I thought that would be it, but the vet told us we needed to come in none-the-less.

We got to the clinic and immediately felt out of place. Obviously the other pet owners were there with really sick animals (who were howling and whimpering sadly from behind closed doors), while our dog was scampering around, as cute and energetic as ever. How could anything be wrong with him?

The doctor called the Animal Poison Control Center, to get the prognosis. She came into the exam room grim faced and told us this is very serious, and Cupcake would have to spend two nights at the hospital, and be treated with intravenious fluids and charcoal to flush the toxins out of his system. After this — and a $1500 bill — she promised he would be 100% well.

Reluctantly, we left our dear dog at the clinic and headed home to a much emptier house. I called every twelve hours to check on him, and got nothing but positive news. He came home today with a funny cone around his neck, a shaved leg, brimming with wags and kisses. It’s possible that he would have been fine if we hadn’t taken him to the hospital, but who could take a chance like that? We’re so happy to have him back.

And for the record, we now live in a raisin free house.

More posts from the Puppy Files:

Choosing the perfect breed

We blame John Derian for many of our design obsessions: antlers, vintage wooden mirrors, butterflies under class, and of course, decoupage. So you can imagine our excitement when we learned that our favorite natural nature collector was bringing his signature look to our go-to online invitation source, paperlesspost.com. Sprouting with sea shells, butterflies, whales, toads and other delightful creatures, Derian’s digital cards are just the excuse we need to cook up some summer soirees. Check them out here.

Another Wednesday, another vacation fantasy creeping into my head. Last week it was tree houses, this week, it’s campers. Just look at these beauties! They are from Cricket Trailer and they are made to order starting at around $15,000. They are made from lightweight, eco friendly materials (go Earth Week!) and are just the right size for a small family of three, like ours (sorta). Each camper is about 6 and half feet by 15 — or the size of my first NYC apartment. True, that’s tiny, but when the whole wide world is at your doorstop, who cares! You can customize it to suit your needs — adding kitchen, bathroom, storage and bunking comforts. Because Crickets are made to order, you need to “get in line” for yours. Roadtrip spring 2013, anyone? What a fun caravan we would make.

BTW, I spotted Crickets on Pinterest, via our friends at Charles & Hudson. Their other awesome and insanely inspiring site, Built by Kids was just nominated for a well-deserved Webby. Please vote for them here!

There’s a youthful exuberance hitting the high-end decor market: Designers are putting slides in rooms. And not just for kids: This luxury NY real estate ad featured a swanky apartment with a twisty slide that is more bachelor pad than play room. The Novogratz, always an inspiration when it comes to whimsical home decor for families, created this vibrant rainbow staircase with slide. Our favorite though, comes from set designer Samuel P Murray who made this lively space (above, bottom image). Still, as much was we love the idea of adding a little “wheeeeeee” into our daily lives, this seems like a frivolous undertaking. What’s the shelf life a slide? Five years, tops?

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. Black bean brownies? How good can that be? Let me tell you: Very good! I spotted these brown beauties on Pinterest via Tracey Tee (who always has the best pins!) from Farmgirl Gourmet and immediately had to give it a go. As some of you know, I’ve been trying to eat a little more healthily this year (I’ve already lost 14 pounds on Weight Watchers since February!) but I love to bake. These brownies are completely vegan — no eggs, butter or milk. There are two secret ingredients that make these brownies super moist: pureed black beans (one can’s worth a bit a water) and a bottle of dark beer. The other, not so secret ingredients — sugar, cocoa, chocolate chips — ensure that they are completely satisfying.

Here’s my take on Farmgirl Gourmet’s recipe:

1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and filled to brim with fresh water
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup cocoa powder
4 tsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup of stout beer, such as Guinness (you can use water here if you like)
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 pan
2. Drain a can of black beans and rinse thoroughly. Return the black beans back to the can and fill to the top with water. Puree the beans and water together. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee power, salt and baking powder. Add the black bean puree, vanilla and beer and stir just until incorporated. Don’t over mix.
4. Fold in a cup or so of chocolate chips.
5. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pan around halfway through. They should be almost firm in the center.
6. Let brownies cool completely before cutting. They will still be a bit gooey in the middle even after they’ve cooled.

In a blink of an eye, spring is suddenly in full bloom! Blossoms are on the trees, the bulbs have all sprouted — even the mosquitoes have come out. Hopefully it’s not too late to get my act together and prepare for the growing season ahead. Last weekend I gave the grasses in our front yard a haircut, and this Saturday it’s time to prune the crepe myrtles. I also want to get some herbs and veggies growing inside the house. I love this idea from Cottage Hill blog: recycled newspaper seed pots. They’re made using a tin can as a mold. Once the pot shape is formed by the folded paper, fill it with soil and compost. When the seedlings are ready to be planted, you can put the whole thing — newspaper pot and all — in the ground. Genius!

What are you doing to get your garden ready? I need tips!

One of my favorite pastimes is planning vacations. Before I was a part of a family, I would corral friends far in advance and plot out adventures in remote places, hunting down unusual hotels and quintessential experiences — like a cave hotel in Andalucia or a tree house in Kauai. Now that we have a little one, the idea of plopping down in a gorgeous spot for a week is what we crave — and one hotel room just doesn’t cut it: The kid falls asleep around 8:30 and then me and the hubs are left watching tv very, very quietly. It’s special kind of torture. Sooooo, for our next trip we’re renting a house in Florida that we found through homeaway.com. I swear their recent sardonic Super Bowl ad had nothing to do with that decision. But suddenly I feel empowered. Where else can we rent houses … Maine? Costa Rica? Italy? I love the idea of digging in, shopping locally and exploring my domestic side in far away lands. Browsing the site shows that many of the houses for rent are, to put it mildly, decorating cliches (think seashells and an rope anchors). Somehow those things are always charming when you’re in the place. The key is to not get seduced and bring any of it home with you!

Btw, the above paradise is in St. Lucia, just $600 a night. Click here to make it yours (and please, write about it here so we can live vicariously through you).

Do you rent houses when you go away? What have your experiences been? Do you know of other sites besides homeaway.com?

I went to the lovely Green Table for lunch the other day, and was immediately struck by a refreshing aroma when I walked in. No, it wasn’t the squash soup or the insanely good chicken pot pies, but something lighter. Sitting down I noticed little bell jars of rosemary on all the tables. It smelled better than any candle or oil you could buy. I replicated the effect last night during our Oscar shin dig, and it did wonders to get rid of the slightly doggy smell our house had.

What do you like to set out on tables to make your place smell good?

Perfectly timed to sweep up my attention now that Downton Abbey is nearing its end, I am pretty smitten about the new show Smash on Monday nights. I love good New York City melodrama, and this one is far more fun than an old lawyer or police detective type of show. You may know that all New Yorkers are required to comment to on the apartments of fictional New Yorkers, usually by saying things like, “A magazine writer could never afford an apartment that size.” In Smash, the onscreen dwellings are pretty accurate, and one detail I couldn’t help but notice is the prominently placed stoves in several scenes. You can totally tell a character’s place in life by the type of stove they own. The single, gay composer’s apartment (top) is pretty sweet. His stove is a stainless steel Viking. But his partner, who is married and lives in a West Village townhouse, has a professional style, double-fuel Wolf stove. The struggling actress, bottom, has a basic white one in her rental. If stardom means owning a dreamy Viking or Wolf, I say, it’s time to practice, practice, practice!

Can you tell that we have spring on the brain? There’s still frost on the ground in the morning, but we are already plotting our gardens for springtime, and herbs are on our the top of our must plant list. We spotted this idea the other day on RecycleChicken.com: gutter gardens! We’re not sure how we’d attach this to the house, but the elevated position would be great to prevent ground critters from nibbling, and new puppies from digging. What do you think? Could you rock these sprouts?