cats · fitness · food · yoga

Cat Yoga

Christmas is the season which turns all cats into furry ornament assassins. My cats have been especially devious, lately.

Yesterday, I accidentally left the medicine cabinet open, and Boba climbed in. I realized it when I saw him crouching in my bedroom, hovering protectively over a furry object. Upon closer inspection, I saw he had my makeup brush clutched in his mouth, and was hissing when I got anywhere near it.

I had to pick him up, while trying to not get jabbed by his flailing, armed claws, until he dropped it out of his mouth, and we both made a mad scramble for it. I won, or so I thought, until I saw the carnage he had already created by walking his fluffy butt inside the cabinet.

The kitties have been amused by my indoor workouts, lately. They especially love when I do yoga and they can sniff my face while I’m in some kind of crouching panda warrior pose.

I started the 30 day yoga challenge with Erin Motz, which I am about halfway through. They are awesome and each one has been interesting so far. None of them are incredibly hard – some are easier than others.

The hardest one for me was crow pose – has anyone mastered it? Any tips? I have small arms and have only been able to stay up for a second or two.

My other favorite is the Blogilates channel. The videos are short, and there’s a calendar on her site that you can use as a workout plan.
I’ve been mixing and matching them, and the yoga is a relaxing end.
I’d also like to expand my food palate and learn a little more about lentils, grains, & veggies. I usually stick with broccoli and sweet potatoes for veggies, since they are easy to cook. I’d like to eat more green things, but I just don’t know what to do with them. I haven’t hopped on board with kale, because I don’t know how you make it taste good. I’ve eaten the Trader Joe’s vegan nacho kale chips a couple times, and those aren’t bad.

What kind of veggies do you make?
Any favorite Youtube fitness channels?

cats · christmas · food

The Weekend I Ate All the Foods

Is it really halfway through December? And Christmas is already a week closer?

I love Christmas – it’s just happening so fast. It makes me want to drink some frozen hot chocolate (maybe this recipe?). Greg and I will be hanging out here this Christmas, since we went down to see my family at Thanksgiving. We usually spend Christmas here, and relaxing and staying in is sounding awesome.

We have a tree up, but I have a few more things to do. What are we gonna eat? I still need to get stocking stuffers! And send presents. I’m just gonna be singing to myself, eating cookies, in the corner.

The cats have been loving the tree They haven’t learned how to climb it, yet, but all the ornaments from the lower 1/4 of the tree have been murdered. So, the top half of our tree looks glorious with its extra stock of ornaments.

Greg and I went for a run this weekend. There’s a state park by our house that’s free during the winter, so when it’s not too cold, it’s fantastic.

The best part was that we saw wildlife. So much wildlife! There were equestrians out riding in the horse field, and we saw deer in the field that didn’t even move when we stopped to watch them.

And then there was the food this weekend. SO MUCH DELICIOUS FOOD.

First of all, we had to navigate through a sea of Santas, because apparently it was the weekend of the Running of the Santas in Philadelphia.

I was hungry, dehydrated, and I am already navigationally challenged, so I was not completely opposed to running over some Santas.

It turned out to be totally worth it, though, because we went to Dos Segundos and I had a vegan philly cheesesteak burrito. All of those words are the best combination.

Inhaled that shit. It had seitan and fried plantains, yummm. Highly recommend this place if you go to Philly!

The next day, we made simple vegan pizza for dinner with some broccoli. It’s my favorite vegan pizza recipe, and it actually is really easy to make.

Finished the night off with some sugar cookies.

The recipe uses pumpkin instead of egg, but doesn’t taste like pumpkin. Magic! And really good with a cup of milk.

Linking up with Biana. What are your favorite Christmas recipes?

cats · food

Weekend Adventures + Cable Got Broke

Did December really just start? Is it just me or does the end of the year fly by?

Greg and I got back from visiting family in SC. The drive was so much better than we were anticipating. I also fell asleep for a while on both trips, oops. I’m not fully awake until 10 AM.

– Met my grandma’s new dog. You can’t tell from the picture, but she is the highest energy dog I’ve ever met. Like a toddler high on Pixy Stix and Nerds.

– Ate at HuHot Mongolian Grill 2x. It’s a restaurant where you create your own bowl at a buffet style bar, and then they cook it on a huge round grill in front of you. They have a ton of different sauce combinations, and you can add whatever veggies and noodles you want.

– Went for a run across the dam. It was so windy, and I started off freezing, but it was a beautiful day. I missed blue skies – it’s been grey here, lately.

– Had some pizza at Mellow Mushroom. Lots of veggies + tofu, just needed a little more sauce.

– Got my fix of cuddling dogs. My mom’s dog is a dachshund with the tiniest little legs and fattest belly ever. He also snores like a person. He slept next to us every night, and I was too overwhelmed by his cuteness to mind the snores.

– Came back to my cuddly kitties. I think they missed us. We’ve tried taking them with us before, but they’d rather stay home. They freak out when we put them in the car, so it’s easier for them and us to fill up the automatic feeder and let them run around the house.

Today, I had an encounter with the cable company that made me want to quit cable all together. If only I could, I would, but I need internet, and our internet by itself costs more than the cable + internet together. Makes sooo much sense!

We got a new upstairs neighbor, and he was trying to get his cable installed. Well, he should have known better than to go with Comcast. They are seriously the worst.

I don’t even have Comcast anymore, and they still somehow managed to break my internet.

While they were trying to install his, they disconnected my Verizon cables in order to hook up his, instead of taking the time to set up a new connection.

So my poor internet wires were just hanging there, dangling in the wind.

I didn’t know what was going on, so my landlord comes over and calls Comcast back and they tell him, no, they can’t send back the guy who was JUST here. They tell us to call Verizon, and they will have to fix it.

So, your guy breaks it and you won’t send someone out to fix it? Verizon says they can’t even come out for two days and would have to charge us for the visit. NOOOPE..

Greg called Comcast back and spoke to a supervisor in our area, and they ended up sending someone else out to put everything back to how it was before. Our new neighbor still has no cable/internet because apparently they didn’t bring all the equipment they needed and he is so pissed that he’s going to call Verizon tomorrow to have them set it up.

Have you had any cable woes?

cats · fashion · favorites · fitness

Friday Favorites: Cat Swagger

Despite finding a spider in my shower this morning (HELLLOOO not the best surprise first thing in the morning), it has been a decent week and I can’t wait for the weekend to begin. I had to work all last weekend, so it will be the first day off in a while.

Favorite Purchase:

Top: Urban Outfitters (old) (similar) // Cardigan: Converse One Star (old) (similar) // Jeggings: Hue // Booties: Target (similar) // Scarf: Old Navy // Bracelet: Target

I finally bought the Hue jeggings I had been looking at for a couple weeks, after my Old Navy ones starting wearing out (why does Old Navy stretch denim always stretch out after a few wears?).

Then Kathy posted about these and they seemed a million times better. So far, so good, after one wear. They are definitely more legging than the Old Navy brand, so I’m crossing my fingers for them. They fit really well.

You can see the texture a little better here. I promise they are blue.

Favorite Workout:
I did yoga today, and it felt great. When it first started, I thought it might be a little slow, but it flew by and I was burning during most of it.

Some of you may be more experienced, but my legs were shaking like a leaf when I tried some of the moves. It felt soo good, which is weird.

Favorite App:
I just downloaded Run Sackboy, Run a couple days ago and want to play it all day. The graphics are adorable.

I actually have Little Big Planet, but my Playstation collects dust. I’m much more likely to play a game on my phone than use any type of console, because I can play this anytime.

He’s so cute, and you can earn points for even cuter costumes, like a unicorn.

Cat Pose:
Boba in his swagger pose. He hangs out like this all the time, and he’s just asking for me to grab his toes.

Favorite TV Show:
Gilmore Girls, because there is nothing like rewatching their mother/daughterness. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.

Linking up with Amanda at Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites. Have a great weekend!!

cats · fashion · favorites · food

Friday Favorites – Fashion & Food

It’s time again for my favorites this week. I’m working all weekend, so I’m going to fuel myself up aka stuff my face with Chipotle tomorrow to hopefully get me through.

Favorite Fashion:

Jean Jacket: AE Outfitters (~3 years old – current version) // Top: Lucy and Lyla via Groopdealz // Jeggings: Uniqlo // Booties: Target (similar) // Belt: Target (similar)

I got this colorful top in from my Groopdealz order and it’s awesome. Not that soft on the inside, because it has an extra layer/liner, but the material didn’t bother me all day. I don’t think the top is on Groopdealz anymore, but you can still get it at Lucy and Lyla.

Favorite Bag:

I’m not usually a fan of Betsey Johnson or over the top accessories, but the bow + leopard print is adorable.

Favorite Food:

We made these cookies last weekend, but you are just going to have to believe us, because we ate them all before I could take any pictures. Don’t be scared away by the vegan part – my husband is not vegan and still devoured them.

Crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle…perfect!!

Favorite Moment:

Probably when my cat got his head stuck in the handle of the brown paper recycle bag and ran around like an idiot until the handle ripped off. And he also sat contentedly on the package from my new top.

Favorite Funnies:
Hahahaha..Love whoever this Nevada person is.

Winter is coming.

Me when I’m doing something not quite right, but can’t figure out what it is:

Have a great weekend! Link up with Amanda at Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites.

cats · fashion

Top 5 Fall Essentials

It’s finally cooling down after our mini heat wave last week. Temperatures are in the 70’s and 80’s here in Delaware, it’s fantastic.

I had to work all weekend, and it was fairly stressful, so I’d like to relax this week.

Greg’s been busy tormenting one of our cats, Luna, by layering her with Tough Mudder headbands:

Now that it’s September, I’m getting closer to being able to wear fall clothes again. I found out about Raise, which is a cool idea, if you are planning on doing some shopping. Basically, it allows you to buy gift cards for places you already shop at a discounted price and sell unwanted gift cards for cash. They also have restaurant and food gift cards – I need a Red Robin one! It was my favorite pre-vegan days place & I still love it.

Top 5 Fall Essentials
1. I can’t wait to try these out. I bought them when they were on sale at Nordstrom’s, but it’s been too warm to wear them this summer. You can bet I’m going to be trying to pass these off as pants all fall and winter.

Does anyone know why these are reversible if they are the same color inside??

2. I’d like a nice deep color to wear on my nails, like this dark blue red.

3. Bows and bows. Put a bow on the back and I’m in.

4. I like to pretend I’m wearing pants, while I’m cheating and actually wearing leggings. It was my first time wearing jeggings today. I feel like I could fight crime.

5. Booties, booties, booties everywhere. I love how booties give me a little heel without making me think I’m going to lose control of my feet like an unbalanced panda.

What are your fall essentials?
Do you make your pets wear clothes/objects??

cats · fashion · food · house · weekend

Weekend Recap

How is the weekend over and it is back to reality already? Do we really have to go back? Maybe I feel even more surprised, because I didn’t do anything crazy this weekend and yet I’m totally exhausted.

Tunic top: Nordstrom // Kimono: Nordstrom (similar) // Shorts: Gap (old: similar) // Purse: Francesca’s (similar) // Bracelet: J. Crew Factory (similar)

I can’t show you my shoes, because I grew tentacle legs. Not really, but I have to admit that there were no good full length photos. BUT, I ordered an inexpensive tripod from Amazon to practice with since it will give Greg a break from always taking pictures. Bonus, they gave me another free trial of Amazon Prime!

We did a little house upgrading this weekend. I moved in with Greg over 3 years ago, so a lot of our stuff hasn’t been changed since, like towels, bath mat, etc. We went to Ikea and bought some new kitchen bits, like a dish strainer, because our old wood one was growing mold.

We also bought a few new towels from Target, and they were out of the normal size in the pale pink I wanted, so we got a BATH SHEET.

It’s not a towel. It’s like a freaking towel blanket. I’m just gonna go wrap myself in it and not come out for a while. It’s clearly made for a 6’8″ football player who enjoys pastels, but I can accept that.

Tonight, we made some vegan BBG chickpea burger wraps and fries, with vegan ranch. It may look weird, but I promise it’s all delicious!

Lastly, I bought the Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade from Sephora today. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve heard Anastasia is great for brows.

Does anyone use this brand? I bought it in ‘soft brown.’. I’ve been using the E.L.F. brow set, but the powder crumbled all over into the gel part and is almost gone. I’ll try this and update with how it works.

This girl was snuggling us all night. She looooves to be cuddled underneath a blanket like a cat burrito.

How was your weekend?
How often do you replace your bath towels, bath mats, etc?
Do you ever get excited over buying house stuff??

cats · fashion · favorites

Favorites: It Says Pie

I am SO excited it’s Friday!!!! I have had multiple days this week where I laid in bed wishing I could nap all day.

I also just removed two bugs from our house after the cats chased them around without actually planning on eating them. They are like having a bug alarm system in the house. “BUG! THERE’S A BUG! HUMAN, WE HAVE NOTICED A CREATURE!” Today, Boba got a spider stuck to his paw by the thread, so when I picked Boba up, the spider came swinging at me. Summer is bug nightmares for me.

Anyway, I am ready for a break, and during the weekend, hopefully Greg can rescue me from the bugs. Here are a few of my favorites this week.

Favorite Picture:
Trying to get a cute picture with my cat, but all he can do is bite my head.

Favorite Food:
Trader Joe’s thai lime and chili cashews are spicy and like crack. My mouth waters thinking about a salty, spicy, delicious snack. They are also really good for road trips.

Favorite Read:
We rewatched Divergent while we were down South, and it made me want to reread the book. I did, and now I’m finally reading the second book, which I have NOT read before. This series is fascinating and I love the characters. I’m worried about the ending – I’ve heard just a few things and it seems like it’s going to be sad. I don’t know – don’t tell me, but I hope it’s good!

Favorite Purchase:
I almost never drop a lot of money on jeans, but during the Nordstrom anniversary sale, I tried on these J Brand dark plum skinny jeans, and they were like little fluffy kittens wrapped around my legs AND almost half off. Sooo, they came home with me. So far, I love them and they are the softest jeans I’ve ever owned. The woman at the register told me that washing your jeans inside out actually helps them last longer.

Also, while I was trying them on, the little alarm on the pant leg started beeping like crazy, so I figured I’d better buy them so they don’t think I’m a pant thief who is really bad at stealing pants.

Favorite Funny:
I share Dean’s love for pie.

Have a great weekend!! Linking up with Amanda at Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites.

cats · favorites · food

She Took My Blanket – Favorites

Happy Fourth to everyone, and happy Friday if you’re not celebrating! The work day seems to go by even slower when you are waiting for a long weekend to start. I’m finally out and can share some favorites from lately.

Favorite Photo:
Boba enjoying rolling around outside. Since we started taking him out on a leash, he tries to wander outside every time we open the door. All he wants to do is lie on the rocks and chew on leaves. Who can blame him?

Favorite Food:
These are vegan…and I am always looking for ways to avoid cooking anything unless it is baked things going into my mouth. My mouth is watering just looking at them. Need to make!! HEllooo DIA-BEET-US.

Favorite Show:
I know everyone has already binge watched season 2 of Orange Is The New Black, but I’m still catching up. I love how badass Piper is in this season. She isn’t even taking Red’s shit. And who knew Morello was SO crazy??

Favorite Wishlist Item:
It’s around time for a new pair of running shoes. I have this pair right now, but I have no idea how many miles are on them. I’ve heard you are supposed to change them after 400-600. They also survived the Spartan Race and even after a good washing are pretty muddy looking.

I love my Brooks, but I’ve been thinking of trying Nike. I’ve had the Nike Free’s before, but they did not have enough support for me. This pair seems to be more padded and is cute:

Favorite Cuteness:

I could watch this pug puppy riding a dragon pug puppy over and over.

Favorite Funnies:
No context..whatsoever. I love this show.

Me this weekend, after one drink:

How I felt during my run today.. Summer is not meant for the pasty.

Linking up with Amanda at Meet @ the Barre today for Friday Favorites. Have a fabulous holiday weekend!!!!

cats · favorites · food

Boba Fett Is Over It

It’s almost July, and I have no idea how that happened. At least next weekend is a three-day weekend, woooohooo!

I now have a button on my sidebar, so that’s a thing. It took me much finessing to figure out how to do it, but now I can add blogs to my sidebar that are run by the awesomest ladies. Let’s get on with the Friday Favorites…

Favorite Photo:
My cat is so done with me as I try to take Photobooth pics of us.

Favorite Food:
I plan on trying this recipe from The Minimalist Baker this weekend. She has the best vegan recipes!! Obviously, you can still eat them even if you are not vegan. I loooove french toast on chewy sourdough bread.

Favorite Dog:
This little howling Frenchie…he’s adorable.
Source Unknown
Favorite Health/Beauty Item:
I started using pore strips again, and I have a slight addiction. If you want to see something disgusting/fascinating, watch this extreme close-up video of a pore strip removing black heads. Or don’t…don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Favorite Movie:
I got a message in my email today announcing a new Capitol TV Broadcast – President Snow’s Panem Address: Together as One. It makes me so pumped about the new movie. How disturbing does Snow look all in white? The second movie was so good, I immediately reread the whole Hunger Games series in a few days.
I will probably not cry…that much.
Just kidding, there are going to be gross tears everywhere.
We just have to wait till November, guys…
Linking up with Amanda of Meet @ the Barre for Friday Favorites today. Have a fantastic weekend, see you next week!