all you need is chocolate.

Although we look at Valentine’s Day as ‘commercial’ in my house, I still can’t condemn a holiday that boasts love. All you really need in life is love and chocolate, right? So, that’s what Alex and I will be focusing on today – making chocolate cookies smothered in huge globs of frosting. (Let’s face it … cake,cupcakes, and cookies are really just vehicles for however much frosting you can pile on and shove down your throat.)  Needless to say … it’s going to be a good day. 

Still, I wanted to share some things I love. They really shouldn’t come as a surprise since I talk about them often, but I never put  legitimate pictures/videos up of people.

Alex, who shares my love for animals and married me despite all of my craziness. 

Pix – my spoiled kitty who is obsessed with her heated bed

Tora – only 4 months old, but knows how to work a camera

Happy Valentine’s Day, guys. Hope y’all have a great day. Remember – you don’t have to be in a relationship to enjoy today. There are plenty of other important things to love on.

tutus are not okay

Fun Fact: Americans spend more money on pets in a year than Germany spends on its entire defense budget.

Damn right we do! Let’s face it… animals are better than people. There’s no chance Fido is going to hit on your husband and tell your mutual friends that he plans to grab his ass and pretend it was an accident. I doubt Lady Meowington gives a shit if you roll out of bed with Cheeto dust in your hair because you haven’t bothered to shower for a few days. She’d probably like you even more.

People suck. So… go on friends. Go out and buy a heated pet bed. Some specialty food. Spend $200+ dollars on a tree your cat is going to rip to shreds. A pink tutu for your dog. Okay, don’t do that last one. Dogs shouldn’t be in tutus. Seriously… don’t. You copy?

(I have an off topic question – have any of you gone from wordpress.com to .org? Did you have issues? Did you lose your followers? Comments? Do you still have access to the WP Reader? Yes, I’m slow and terrible with computers. Help a girl out!)

anyone up for a break-in?

Fun Fact: There are over 200 feral cats that live in Disneyland. They are fed, fixed, and cared for by Disney staff. The cats come around at night after the crowds are gone, and used to control the mice population. Watch out Mickey, you little shit. There’s a claw coming your way.

Anyone else think Disney at night would be fun as hell? A theme park full of 200 cats. Much better than the typical loud, poop-scented, temper-tantrum-throwing crowd you usually have to put up with. This is my idea of the happiest place on earth. Rock on, Disney. Pussy lovers unite!

 (Tora-kitten is now a die-hard Disney fan)

what a charity case

I couldn’t successfully complete a resolution if my life depended on it. Needless to say – I didn’t bother making any this year. I’ve tried the weight loss ones, but pizza always wins. I’ve tried giving up alcohol but, let’s be honest here… I’d do some pretty embarrassing things just for a glass of wine. So, I decided it would be easiest to just expand on something I already successfully do. (Then I won’t feel like an ass when I don’t completely fail at a new goal.)

With that being said, I added a new page to my blog. I told a few people this would be completed in December, but the holidays had me pretty damn side-tracked so I’m a bit late on that. Sorry, folks. I’ve been in a cheesecake-induced coma. Some of you know I crochet and sell cat toys to help raise money for the SPCA. (If you didn’t know – now you do! Ha) After a bunch of people contacted me about them online, I thought I’d take it to the internet to try and raise money as well. (Why not, right?) On top of doing cat toys for the SPCA, I’m also crocheting baby blankets & stuffed toys to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. A few cat toys and blankets are on my new Etsy site already, but I will definitely be adding more as I complete them. Keep an eye out 🙂

Here are some catnip Valentine’s Day puffy hearts:

I hope everyone’s New Years started off on the right foot. Did you make resolutions? Have you ever actually completed one? Good luck, y’all.

 

 

the end of ‘forced family fun’

Crazy Aunt Karen. Everyone has one, right? That one odd-ball relative that every family member has collectively decided is a bit, you know… off. Her hair looks like she stuck a fork into an electrical socket. Her clothes are fresh out of the 90’s. And, even though you’re well into your twenties, her Christmas gifts consist of Winnie the Pooh t-shirts and watermelon Lipsmackers. She means well, though, and damn… she is entertaining to talk to. Bless her heart. I’d rather hang out with my crazy aunt over my judgmental one any day. Don’t those ones blow? They always make the holidays cringe-worthy. (I’m sure y’all have those relatives, too. Family members can be too critical sometimes.)

For someone who is a Christmas fanatic, I’m happy for it to be over. I’ve been drowning in a pool of family members, fattening food, and forced social gatherings for too many days straight. My mind is over stimulated and I’d be lying if I said Christmas being over was anything but a relief. A sweet one. Bring on the fleece pants, hoodies, and fuzzy slippers… I’m overdue and ready to hide out in my house for a few days with no one but Alex and the cats.

How did your Christmas go? Did you get anything exciting? Anything you’ve been patiently (or impatiently) waiting for? My favorite gift on Christmas was running shoes. I know, boring and practical. They are expensive, though, and I never would have paid for them on my own. It’s tough being a cheapskate, guys.

We’ve also decided on a name for our kitten. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Alex and I religiously combed over them, and got excited over every new name that was brought up. We really appreciate y’all for taking the time to leave us ideas. We have gone with the name Tora. Which is Japanese for ‘tiger.’ Under her dark patches, she has orange and cream colored stripes, so we thought it was fitting. The name was suggested by ‘New Bloggy Cat.’ Thanks, NBC!  I owe you a forced awkward hug or something.

Santa Came to See Us!

Here’s the winner of my Cat-Crazy Giveaway! Look at all of these cute furry guys. Say it with me, now… ‘awww’

Why Cats Rule The World

A great big box was delivered to our front door today!  The giveaway package from The Shameful Sheep (Blair) had finally arrived!

My daughter couldn’t wait to open it.  Inside we found a beautiful pet bed, a pretty blue flannel blanket, a package of kitty treats and a bunch of crocheted kitty toys.  We had no more than opened it all when the cats discovered their new goodies!  They love it all!  Of course, I had to take some pictures!  Thank you!!

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welcome, little hellraiser

From the age of four, my Christmas list always had a puppy or kitten as my #1 most wished for gift. Seriously, I wrote it every damn year. Twenty-five years later, Santa has finally made my wish come true. Took him long enough, right? Bastard.

This sweet 3-month-old kitty is actually a Christmas gift from my in-laws. (Sit down, Santa) Alex and I were looking for a kitten with a similar personality of our resident cat, Pix, so they would mesh well together. Well, my mother-in-law found the perfect kitten at the vet school she works at.  She and her litter-mates were found at the high-kill animal shelter and brought in to teach vet students how to spay/neuter. And, well… she is painfully sweet and adorable. We are in love already. We’ve been taking our time with her introduction to Pix, and it’s been going better than we expected. No hissing or growling so far. (We are expecting this to change,though lol) Pix has always been around cats and dogs, so we aren’t too worried.

Do you have any good cat names? We are blanking on a good name for her, and have been referring to her as “Christmas Kitty” for the past two days. We like names that are a bit different. Help a girl out

Merry Christmas, guys. I hope your weekends are filled with an overabundance of family time, great food, desserts so sweet your teeth are contemplating jumping ship, and of course, happiness. I’m truly looking forward to reading everyone’s Christmas recaps and seeing pictures.

because, priorities. (giveaway winner revealed!)

Ever find a channel on YouTube and become completely consumed watching it? Your coffee gets cold, you forget to eat breakfast, and you’re two hours late for your run, but, you don’t even care. In this moment, that crap just doesn’t matter anymore. You’re hooked. All in. Obsessed. You’re queuing up your emails and spam posting to social media. You’d be doing a disservice if you don’t tell everyone you know that they must. watch. this. now. This shit is important.

This happened to me this morning when I found ‘Simon’s Cat’ on YouTube. I’m probably embarrassing myself by saying this, considering it’s been around for years, with millions of views, books, and TV commercials. But, I just found it and I’m in love. (The video is short, I promise! If you like cats or have them, you’ll enjoy it)

Also, today is Sunday. Woo. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway drawing. It was far more than I expected, and y’all are awesome. There can only be one winner, though. And the person’s name who was randomly drawn this time:

catcraftsmo who has an awesome blog here: Why Cats Rule The World Hurray! (I will be emailing you later today)

i want to force hug you guys

Everyone who wished me a happy birthday: thank you. Seriously. You guys kick so. much. ass. A lot of you said amazingly kind things to me, and I was really touched. And I don’t mean the creepy touching that my pervy cousin subjects me to every time we have a reunion hug that lasts a little too long. He’s a lingerer. I enjoyed this touching. It was nice. 

I’ve learned a lot about you guys from your giveaway submissions:
– Some of you are kind enough to open your house to foster cats (and dogs) and are helping them transition to their new homes.
– Some of you have taken in 3,4,5+ strays as the weather takes its turn towards winter. (including two people who are currently housing pregnant cats, and are playing a significant role in the welfare of her kittens)
– A lot of you are animal rescuers and have given your cats an amazing and new chance at life.
– Some of you have recently had pets pass away, and want to donate the prize in their memory.
– I’ve had people ask me, if their name was drawn, to sell the prize and donate the money to the SPCA instead.
– People have asked me how they can purchase the crocheted toys I make because they want to help benefit the SPCA. (I’m actually in the process of setting up an Etsy shop where all profits will be donated to the SPCA. I’ve just been delayed a bit!)

I’m never serious on this blog, but I wanted to point out that there are some really awesome bloggers on here. People who have big hearts, and lots of love to share. Your generosity is a great reminder of what’s good in the world. I’ve read and loved all of your stories, and appreciate everything you guys have done. Thank you. I wish I could share some wine and a piece of my birthday cake with you guys. (Well, maybe a bite. Cake is important to a girl.)

If you haven’t entered yet, and want to do so, go here: Cat-Crazy Giveaway You can still enter through the end of Saturday (11:59 pm EST)

i want to make your kitty purr (enter the giveaway!)

What does any mature and sophisticated newly 29-year-old adult want to do on her birthday? I’m pretty sure the right answer is hide under a comfy blanket with coffee in hand and spend the day with her cat. That’s what I want to do, at least. The only problem is Pix will barely put up with the audacity of me ‘being present’ for so long before she realizes that laying in the sun is a much more tempting offer. I don’t blame her, really.

Today is my birthday. The best thing about birthdays? Gifts. (And getting to do whatever the hell you want all day without anyone telling you you’re a lazy sack. Oh, and cake. Mmm) So, I thought it would be fun to give a present away. It contains the necessary items to attain my ideal ‘perfect day.’ A super soft blanket,  a mug for your coffee, and fun things to make your cat(s) want to spend the day with you.

Included in the giveaway is:
– A plush red and brown new cat bed
– A plaid fleece blanket
– A cat-crazy coffee mug
– Kitty treats
– 3 crocheted balls that rattle
– 3 crocheted catnip-infused mice
– 2 crocheted sling bands (Pix’s favorite!)

All crocheted toys are done by yours truly. Normally, I  sell them to raise money for the SPCA and these are the colors I had on hand. If you want specific colors, just ask! I hoard yarn in every color imaginable.

To enter: Fill out the form below. In the ‘comment’ section of the form, please say what state you live in (US) or what country. You can enter from now through the end of Saturday (11:59pm EST). The winner will be drawn at random and announced here Sunday.

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If you have a cat: enter
If you don’t, but know someone who does: enter (I’ll mail it out before Christmas)
If you don’t have a cat, or know any cat lovers: enter and donate it to your local humane society. I’m sure they would appreciate it.

Next time, I’ll do a more generic giveaway. Like money, or an Amazon gift card. But, it’s my birthday. As Cartman would say:  I do what I want! 

(This giveaway is sponsored by my husband. Who happily supported me spending money in order to do this even though I don’t make money blogging. He’s pretty kickass)