A Saturday At Assembly Row: #Assembled & #PetPalooza

How much do you love shopping? Aren't puppies just the cutest things you've ever seen?

Do you love spending a Saturday in Somerville with your family and friends?

Well, next Saturday you have free you should head to #Assembled at Assembly Row (11am-4pm)!

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If you are a Boston area resident and HAVEN'T checked out Assembled then you are missing out.

The Handmade Arts Market at Assembly Row showcases arts and crafts by local Somerville artists, Etsy artists, and some of New England’s top creative talents! Visit the market every Saturday, now through September 13 for an ever changing selection of local art ranging from soaps and candles to gifts and prints.

Totally cool, right? Well it is.

I'm pretty lucky that Assembled is a mere 5-7 minute walk from my house. Hollah!

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So we tend to frequent the local arts market with our pups and Dunkin' Donuts coffee in hand.

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This weekend's Assembled featured some pretty amazing jewelers.

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Yes I walked away with these 3 gorgeous bracelets for $10 total from Chappy Girls Jewelry.

I tried to get the wife to buy a bow, but she wouldn't bite.

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But they are wicked cute! ;)

Then I came across the Swiss Bakers tent with mouth-watering homemade pretzels. Ohhh it took all my will to resist. So instead I decided to treat the pups...

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... we picked up a little variety pack for them ($10 value) from Brownie's Barkery out of Maine. Let me just tell you the pups appreciated my sacrifice! ;)

After walking and checking out the 10 or so tents that made up Assembled, it was lunch time for the wife. Tough choices for her as always. With three food trucks to pick from, she went with...

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BON ME!

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She dined on the rice bowl with coconut-braised chicken (extra meat) which came to $8.50 and smelled amazing!! I had my grapes in my backpack so I made sure to have something, while drooling over the choices at the trucks. ;)

After grabbing her food and our purchases, we headed over to an Assembly Row special for the weekend - Pet Palooza. Pet Palooza was a two-day family-friendly event with pet-centric events including demos, training seminars, pet adoptions, and DockDog’s Northeast Regional Championship Competition.

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Despite the rain, there was a great crowd on hand to watch the Dock Dogs competition.

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We made it JUST in time to see a round of Extreme Vertical.

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This was INSANE. Dogs were jumping off the dock to knock off the bumper toy hanging from magnets off of the adjustable arm. While we were there the arm rose from 4'7" from 5'10"!! Can you freakin' believe that? These dogs were jumping off the dog to knock a toy down that was higher than me. It was awesome to watch.

After taking in part of the competition (which had different types of jumping all day long), we walked through the Pet Palooza, which featured local dog trainers, dog snack companies, a dog masseuse, a portable dog groomer and of course rescues. Oh was it tough to leave without adopting another dog, but our wallets were happy. :)

It was a great afternoon despite the weather. Folks that attend the Pet Palooza on Sunday (August 4) were met with much better weather.

But as we headed out we had to stop by the Slumbrew booth as they were handing out frisbees and other swag to attendees. Boy I can't wait until American Fresh opens up at Assembly Row and I can have a nice draft Slumbrew Porter Square Porter after a nice 5k run with the Nike Run Club (Wednesdays at 6:30pm).

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So if you are ever in the Somerville hood on a Saturday between 11-4 before September 13, come check out Assembled. You never know which local artist will be there... :)