Date Night

DATES WITH THEMES

Let’s kick off the new year with themed dates for January’s celebrations!

TEA MONTH

In honor of National Tea Month, we recently enjoyed the prix fixe lunch in the tea room at Andre’s. This meal comes with an entree, two sides, a roll, a drink and a mini dessert. The entrees we chose were the ham and cheese croissant and the chicken salad with sides of mixed greens and tomatoes. It was all delicious, but the real stars of the meal were the hot tea and the desserts. I opted for the raspberry tea with the chocolate raspberry pastry, which was layers of chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream with raspberry preserves. My hubby got the green tea with citrus and gingko paired with the vanilla square, which was yellow cake and vanilla bean buttercream topped with fondant. Their tea is from Harney & Sons and is some of the best I have had anywhere—and the desserts were to die for.

POPCORN DAY

National Popcorn Day is Jan. 19, and we can’t think of a better way to pay homage to this “holiday” than to visit Popculture, with locations in Parkville and Overland Park. They serve up some of the best popcorn around, with more than 40 different flavors available for taste testing and purchase. Savory flavors include chili lime, dill pickle and loaded potato, as well as traditional butter and cheese. Cheesecake, cinnamon toast and Dr. Pepper are just some of their sweet flavors, along with traditional caramel and cinnamon. I’ll admit that it’s hard to restrain yourself when doing the taste testing, as they have so many flavors to choose from. But I always gravitate toward the savory, with barbecue and cheese being my favorites. Dean likes a little bit of everything—savory and sweet. In addition to popcorn, Popculture also features about 16 flavors of ice cream from the Ice Cream Club. It, too, is delicious!

HAPPINESS WEEK

Hunt for Happiness Week is the third full week in January, so Dean and I made a list of several things that make us happy and planned mini dates around them. Our list included serving, giving, being outside, sunsets and breakfast food. We started out our week by taking an evening to watch the sunset at a lookout spot close to our house. Next up was helping with an outdoor food distribution at our church on a beautiful, sunny Saturday, followed by an evening around our fire pit. We also handed out $5 Walmart gift cards to random customers at the store, and we gave some extra produce to our next door neighbors. Finally, we enjoyed several of our favorite breakfast foods together at home, including baked oatmeal, oven pancakes, barley breakfast bowls and cinnamon apple quinoa. Each of these things put a smile on our faces, but it’s the things we do for others that make us the happiest.

Hannah Berry is a freelance writer who lives in the Northland with her husband. They love to explore Kansas City and try new restaurants and activities.

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My cat Lady M (adopted from Pet Project 4 years ago) many times forgets to use the litter box for both potty and urine. When anyone comes to my house she runs and hides, she only likes me. She will be ten years’ old in March. Do you have any suggestions? I keep the litter box very clean. - Penelope

Sounds like Lady M might be struggling with anxiety and environmental changes are quite scary for her. I would recommend having a littler box on every fl oor in your home and keeping them clean and trying diff erent types of litter. If you don’t think it’s about the litterbox and its anxiety-related, then I would consult you veterinarian to rule out any health problems and possible discuss behavioral medications. There are some pheromone sprays you can use in your home to help with anxiety in the home as well. - Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA There are several things you can do for your dog to associate the car as a good place. I recommend exercising him for 20-30 minutes before a trip, keeping the car cool, and using toys and treats to create a positive experience. Try going on a bunch of small trips to fun places like the park or drive-thrus. There are pheromone sprays to calm him and in the worst-case scenario, you can consult your veterinarian to get antianxiety medication.

- Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA

My dog is absolutely terrifi ed in the car when we travel. We had to cancel our Thanksgiving plans due to our dog being so scared in the car. He cries a lot and wants to get out. Please help! - Rosie Miller We adopted our dog a year and half ago from Great Plains SPCA. She paws at us when she hears noises that upset her. Thunderstorms, people talking on radio, buzzers/ bells on game shows, etcetera. Currently I use a water bottle to stop her, it helps occasionally. I usually try to fi nd source and mute it. Hard to mute thunderstorms. She is on Prozac from the vet and exercised as much as possible. Behavior still occurs. Any ideas? - Mary

I would recommend you rewarding calm behaviors year around. Dogs are associative learners which means they learn in patterns. If you routinely reward during calmness, she is more apt to repeat those behaviors when she is nervous. You can also talk to your veterinarian about medication for thunderstorms if she is displaying high anxiety. Prozac is a good anti-anxiety medication for dogs, so sounds like you’ve got a good start. You could also try a snug fi tting shirt or wrap which help anxious animals. You can also work on desensitizing the noises by playing them on TV or a phone softly and rewarding her for being calm, then make the noises louder until they stop bothering her. - Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA

Margarita has been in a Foster home for quite a while now and has become the ultimate homebody. She is completely housetrained and will even let you know when she needs to go outside. Plus, she knows what toys are hers and prefers to stick strictly to her chew toys. Her favorite things to do are snooze the day away or take a leisurely walk where she can sniff all the scents the world has to off er. If you love to nap and relax as much as Margarita, reach out to foster@greatplainsspca.org for more information!

Email askashley@greatplainsspca.org for a chance to have your pet question answered in

KC Parent magazine. Animal expert, Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA, is the Senior Director of Animal Behavior and Training at Great Plains SPCA. Ashley has more than 16 years of experience in animal training and behavior.

Great Plains SPCA is an independent 501(c)(3) no kill shelter, with a 98% live release rate, GPSPCA provides lifesaving services for approximately 4,000 animals annually in the greater Kansas City area. As Kansas City’s premium family shelter, we continue to support the seven municipalities with which we are contracted, including Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Prairie Village, Shawnee, Bonner Springs, Lake Quivira and Johnson County Parks Department and the Johnson County Sheriff ’s Department.