Thursday, October 30, 2014

Help Protect Cats On Halloween

Happy Halloween, everyone! As a cat lover and mom, I just want to remind everyone to please help keep your own cats and others safe from any evil people who might want to do them harm tomorrow night.

While I love the candy and pumpkin decorating that accompanies this holiday, cat cruelty breaks my heart and makes me sick. Please protect your own kitties by keeping them indoors, and also take a stand if you see anyone tormenting innocent cats in your neighborhood. 


Molly and Twix's first Halloween with us back in 2011. They look so tiny!  
As they are every year, our sweet indoor kitties Molly and Twix will be safely burrowed under the covers while we give out candy. Our new community appears to have a large number of families with young kids, so we expect to go through a lot of it this year! 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Grumpy Cat Jack-o’-Lantern

Between packing, moving and spending a small fortune buying things for our new house, I haven’t done much (actually, make that any) Halloween decorating this year. Still, being the huge cat lover that I am, I couldn’t resist sharing a couple pictures of the first ever “grump-o’-lantern,” created by sculptor Ray Villafane.


No, this isn’t a sponsored post. A strategist sent me the info, and I thought it was a cool, cute idea. I’ve already downloaded the free Friskies template to try out next year.


Have you done any pumpkin carving this month? Even though I haven’t had a chance to decorate, I have written a few Halloween-related posts for Brit + Co, including roundups of DIY garlands, three-step decorations and, of course, cat costumes! You can check them out by visiting my profile page

Happy decorating and celebrating! 

Images via Rick Scuteri/AP Images for Friskies/PetSmart Halloween Promotion

Thursday, October 16, 2014

On Being Positive

With the recent purchase of our first home, it's fair to say that the past month has been an especially good one for me. As someone who tries her best to live a positive, healthy life, I'm also the first to admit that attitude matters and that negativity really doesn’t get me anywhere. That said, there are definitely times when I will, without any added guilt, allow myself to feel sad, angry or just generally unhappy.

One of the many reasons I think people suffer in silence when feeling sad or depressed is because there’s a social stigma associated with being unhappy and admitting that we don’t all have the picture perfect lives we believe we’re supposed to. Instead of showing the world our true selves, we portray ideal versions of our careers, homes, relationships and more via social media, succumbing to the pressure to be happy and positive at all times, believing that if we aren’t able to do it all and have it all, we have hopelessly failed.  


(via Live It Up

Honestly, I do this, too, trying not to talk too much about the bad experiences and challenges, even though, really, the past few years have been a mixed bag for me, bringing both some of the best and hardest days of my life. And isn’t that the way life usually is, a series of ups and downs, good times and bad times?

In certain ways, my life today is better than I ever imagined it could be. In others, it isn’t. And that’s OK. I’ll keep finding the answers, being positive when I can, allowing myself to work through negative emotions when I need to, and knowing that in the end, it’s all a part of this crazy, wild adventure we share.


(via Anna Grrrl)

Do you ever feel pressured to be positive no matter what or to portray a "perfect" life? 

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Best Birthday Present Ever (aka Our New Home)

What could possibly be more exciting than buying your first home? Not much, in my opinion, unless you happen to be doing it on or around your birthday!

When my husband and I moved into our current apartment last year, we hoped it would be our last one and that we would be able to purchase our first home by the time the lease expired this fall. To our surprise, things ended up moving even a bit more quickly than expected, with us finding a realtor in late August, launching a search and viewing about 20 homes before finding the one we loved – a three-level townhouse with a small yard and walkout basement. We made an offer that very evening, got a reasonable counteroffer, accepted it and went to settlement just a couple days after I celebrated 31 years.


Our first home! 


Celebrating with champagne.

Having lived in apartments my entire life, owning a home is a huge step for me, one that’s scary and thrilling all at the same time. And while there are definitely a few things we want to have done before moving in later this month, plus some other changes we'd like to make over time, all in all, we know this will be a great first home for us. 

Are you currently house hunting or planning to start looking? We were lucky to work with an excellent realtor, so if you’re in the DC area and need a referral, just let me know. If you've previously been in our shoes as a first-time homeowner, do you have any helpful advice to share?