The Ultimate Cat Lady Post: Newborn Kittens

Isn't this kitten just the most precious? I took these photos last weekend when I went back home to visit my family. A stray cat gave birth in my mom's backyard and I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of them. I will never stop being amazed by tiny animals (look at its little claws!!). Only now that I'm an educated adult I know all about the importance of spaying and neutering animals. I'm thankful that most of the babies have a forever home lined up— I just hope we are able to do our part and get the momma cat fixed.

(Ps. Absolutely no animals were harmed in the making of this post. The kitties were moved from under a shed to a warm, dry, and safe home.) 

You Spice Up My Life

Happy Friday, everyone! How adorable is this little ball of fur? I was wrapping a little gift and I turned my back for two seconds and Olive swooped in out of nowhere to get her paws on that string. I guess all the feather toys, cat nip, and stuffed mouses in the world could never replace the thrill of a single bit of string! She was just too cute to not snap a few pictures of.

And speaking of the lovely Olive herself, she's thankfully feeling much better these days! I just wanted to take a minute to thank each of you that left sweet comments when I mentioned she was sick a few weeks ago. I've found such an unexpected community since blogging and the friends I've made here are truly wonderful. I'm continually overwhelmed by how kind and genuine my readers are! I just wanted to say thanks so much for following along— it really means the world to me! 

Mondayzed & Confused

I'm having one of those Alice in Wonderland weeks where everything is backwards and I can't figure out how I got to where I am! I don't wanna say "things aren't going as planned" because lots of amazing things are happening lately— it's just that there has been no schedule or rhyme or reason to my life lately!
My poor Olive was having the most terrible sneezing fits. We went to the vet and luckily we think it's just a little respiratory cold. After some poking and prodding and a prescription I think she is finally starting to feel better now. It's terrifying though— seeing your animal in such discomfort and being completely helpless. I wished so many times to trade places with her, or for the ability to just teach her how to blow her nose!
I think October must be wedding central— I've already been to two weddings this month! Last week we watched as Mike and Kaelah exchanged vows. And this weekend. . . Woof! Where to begin? I started off by baking for 5 weddings at work. And that was in addition to the daily cupcakes I make. So then I came home and baked for my friend's wedding that I mentioned here. It was beautiful and lovely and I can't even describe how it feels to watch a newly wed couple celebrate their love with something you made! It was such a happy and proud moment for me!
With all the excitement in my life I managed to wipe myself out completely. Standing in front of a hot oven for 8 hours a day on 4 hours of sleep really takes it out of you! I spent Sunday recuperating and since there has been strange going-ons at work— I also have today off! Not only do I never have two days off in a row but I have especially never had a Monday free. It's nice to have a little break, but I swear I couldn't even tell you what day it is!
So needless to say, I am a little out of sorts today! I looked at the calendar and I can't even believe we are halfway through October. But I'm glad to say that time is flying because I have so many great things happening in my life! I woke up this morning after the mister kissed me goodbye and I just laid in bed creating a list of all the things I am thankful for. So even though my days have been getting curiouser and curiouser— there is still much to celebrate. It's been a strange week for sure. I'm going to open up the windows and spend my day getting my head on straight! I have some cleaning up to do, letters to write, pictures to edit, and a new friend to meet for coffee. Is anyone else experiencing a whirlwind of a month?!

The View from My Lap

I tend to be a rather positive person but I think we can all agree that somedays are harder than others. During those particularly rough ones, I tend to flop over on the couch after work and bury myself under my great-grandmother's handmade quilt. If I'm lucky, Olive joins me and I let her purrs melt my troubles away. If you could somehow snuggle into my lap like she does then these are a few of the things you might see from there.

Edited to add:  the song lyric art is by my best friend danny

the robert lyons illustrations are thrifted 

A Lazy Little Sunday

This kitten decided to be adorable and lazy today while I went for a run, made a huge salad, did a little online shopping, and enjoyed the weather outside with my partner. We both realized it's the first relaxing Sunday we've had since moving to Nashville four months ago. It feels so nice to have the windows open and to have absolutely no plans besides having breakfast for dinner tonight. I hope everyone is having a Sunday this wonderful! 

Test Post / / / Gratuitous Kitty Picture

If you can read this then I passed the test— this is my first post using blogger! I've been busy behind the scenes of blogland doing a little tech work: post planning, design tweaks, switching content over from my old blog. .  But here we are at my new home! Some things got a little misaligned in the switch so please excuse me if you see some some wonky formatting or broken/old links— I'm working on getting things fixed!

A little update: Nashville life has been as crazy as the weather lately. One minute it is 100+ out and the next I'm biking through a downpour. Olive wasn't too fond of the intense lightening storm the other night so she took refuge in her favorite rocking chair. Such a classy lady!

How's your summer so far? Mine is flying by!

Caturday At Last!

Please enjoy these phenomenal images of my cat lounging about! I don't usually  call attention to a lack of updates on the blog buuuut in all honesty: the boy and I have become hopelessly addicted to Breaking Bad! It's kind of embarrassing to admit but we get really into a tv show after it has already been around for a few seasons (Ex: Dexter, Twin Peaks, Walking Dead) and then we just end up dropping everything to watch the entire series in a short time. So my tv addiction coupled with the fact that I lost my camera for about two weeks kind of just threw everything out of whack.

Anyway, I'm back now AND I HAVE CAT PICTURES. It's almost impossible to even decide which one is my favorite— her tongue is cracking me up! What have you been up to this month?! I have some really fun things coming up the next few weeks (including two different baking gigs— eep!) and I can't wait to share it all with you guys!

Home Is Where Your Cat Is

I am pretty sure everything that has happened in the last week doesn't even mathematically fit into 7 days! Besides not having internet, I changed jobs, stayed on a friend's couch for three days while rental house hunting, watched my partner graduate and start a big boy job (so proud!), moved into a new house in a new city, made 1400 cupcakes in one day, lost my cat for 30 hours, and got so so sick and wiped out from it all.

I'm still a little out of sorts— my head is pretty stuffy, I'm queasy a lot, and I feel like I could literally sleep for days! But the good thing is that I am adjusting to it all and Nashville is finally starting to feel real instead of like a huge dreamy blur.

As I settle in a little more, the best part of every morning has been getting to see my cat, Olive again. Since I graduated a year ago, I have been pretty nomadic which means my cat was living with a friend for a long time. Now that I have a house again, I finally feel like things are getting back to normal. Olive is here, I have a real kitchen, I can bike to work in just ten minutes, I will have a studio to create in again soon— things are finally starting to calm down some and feel promising once more. It's all so exciting and I've said it before but I will always say it again: home is where your cat is.

Home Is Where Your Cat Is

The third workshop I took this summer was called Embroidery: An Exploration of the Stitch, and was definitely one of my favorites. I love to incorporate stitching into my books, but I never knew what I was doing. I would just freehand everything since I didn't have any technical experience.

This class focused on stitching into surfaces other than fabric, such as wood / paper / plastic / whatever you can imagine. This is one of the pieces I made, I guess you could say I was getting a little homesick by the time July rolled around:



This is an example of an  8.5" x 11" embroidered photograph (this beautiful portrait was taken by my friend Ryan, who has the biggest sweet tooth the world has ever seen). I used a split stitch to embroider "Home is where your cat is" on it. This is something I discovered last summer while away from home for about a month and is possibly the truest thing I have ever said.

I didn't actually make a lot in this class (embroidery takes a looooong time) but I did learn a lot (which is what counts, right?). Nick DeFord is not only a great instructor & person, but also a fantastic artist. I definitely recommend checking out his website and even catching a gallery show if possible.