Cat Selfies

Lloyd has been working on his selfie game...
(i.e. Our apartment from a cat's view!)

Sylvester isn't quite as adept yet, but he's getting there!




Just a quick fun post for your mid-week enjoyment ;)

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Snapshots

I only posted twice in July and both were birthday posts for the boys. WOW. Indicator of an obsessed cat-mom, or of a busy/working/lazy lady? Are you guys dying for a real-life update, or what?! Not much has changed around here. Shawn moved the furniture around, not that you would know... since I haven't shown you many photos of the apartment yet. (Soon though, I promise! I want to get some plants and another rug or two first...) My sister was in town for a week! She was house/dog-sitting for some friends of mine, and we had a ton of fun while she was here! I've got a post with photos from the Magic Gardens coming up. I also went to the beach. And fell asleep. And got really really burnt. But it's all good now - I pretty much just have a skin bikini for the time being. And some lots of extra freckles!

Oh, and I got a new job! I start in a little over a week. An opportunity arose, and I decided that it was time to move on from the brew pub. I'll be baking croissants, danish, and tarts at a local wholesale French bakery. I am overjoyed to finally learn how to make croissants from scratch, and from a French pastry chef! Nothing like learning new skills, amiright? These are seriously the best croissants in Philly, hands down. When I decided to make the switch, Shawn and I both let out a sigh of relief. I'm not going to go into the nitty gritty details, but I finally feel like I'm adulting correctly. Know what I mean?

Favorite things lately...

• Summer sunsets, and summer rainstorms... sudden afternoon summer showers are my favorite!
• We're planning on going to the Renaissance Faire at least a handful of times this summer, so I finally got myself a proper costume. We're going for opening weekend on Sunday - I can't wait!
• I love Philadelphia in the summertime. All the locals go away on vacation and the city is so much more peaceful. There's just something about walking around without all the hustle and bustle... makes it worth the train ride in.
• Yoga teacher training really sunk in for me last month and I've been more mindful of how I'm breathing during stressful situations. It was like a light bulb went off in my head and I realized "Oh! That's how I use these tools off the mat!" Mindfulness, awareness, forgiveness... all very useful stuff right there.
• Speaking of teacher training, I sewed up a quick tote bag to carry all of my books and snacks to and from class. And I remembered to take photos along the way! That means there should be a DIY tote bag tutorial on the blog soon! :)

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Happy Birthday, Lloyd!

As Facebook so kindly reminded Shawn and I this morning, today marks three years since the day we brought Lloyd home with us! I'm pretty sure everyone says this, but it feels like he has been here so much longer than that. He has been with us through three different apartments, so that probably has something to do with it. The little guy is a pro at moving by now, for sure!

I miss the initial days when it was just the three of us, and Lloyd would hear my alarm go off each morning and come barreling through the bedroom door to pounce on our bellies until we got out of bed... but I'm also super grateful that he and Sylvester hit it off as well as they have - we really couldn't have asked for a better pair! He still loves to cuddle with me (he is such a mama's boy!), just not in the mornings anymore. Lately he has been sneakily following me around... I'll be at my desk and turn around and there he is! Or he'll join me on the pillow sometimes for my morning meditation. Right now he's watching me from the doorway as I type this. Laying all ridiculous, of course. (And now as I finish writing this, he has taken residence on my desk, in hopes that I will give him all the love.)

If you want to take a trip down memory lane like we did the other day, this post is a good starting point. Shawn and I can't believe how small he used to be! We didn't believe the vet when he said he was only about 1-2 years old, but looking at him now, it is definitely plausible that Lloyd was only just over a year old when he came home with us. I also can't believe someone would just let such a tiny guy loose in the streets... but hey, if they hadn't, Kaylah never would have found him and he wouldn't be here with us today. Things happen for a reason, I suppose. We are so grateful to have him as part of the family.









Happy birthday, Lloyd!!!

Pssst! I don't think I've shown you guys this before, but two years ago I commissioned a drawing of Lloyd and I by Mel Stringer. It's hanging above my desk and I love it! I think she captured Lloyd perfectly!

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Happy Birthday, Sylvester!

I am a horrible cat mom... this is the second year in a row that I have forgotten Sylvester's adoption birthday! It was all the way back in June... June 16th, 2014 to be exact! So he has been part of the family for over two years now, though it feels like so much longer. The month of June was total madness here, so somehow his birthday slipped our minds. I'll make up for it with plenty of cuddles!

Sly's a big guy with a big personality. It's funny, everyone who comes over always starts off by gushing about how cute Lloyd is, but then Sylvester settles into their lap and eventually when it's time for them to go home, they want to take him with them. He's a lover who wants nothing more than to rest his head on your arm while you pet him with your other hand. He gets so jealous of all the attention Lloyd gets, that he wants all the cuddles all the time. Especially from Shawn - Sly is such a daddy's boy! He follows Shawn around the apartment and lays on him wherever he settles down. When Shawn comes home from work, Sly runs down the hallway to greet him. I don't get that kind of attention! He looks cute and innocent, but don't let that fool you - he loves doing alllll the things he's not supposed to... like using the couch as a scratching post, or jumping up onto the dining table, or getting up in our faces to steal chips when we're snacking on the couch. (He loves chips!)

We wish we knew how old he is, but because he was a stray we can't do much more than guess. Our estimate is that he's anywhere from 5-6 years old. Even though he was adopted after Lloyd and we call him the younger brother, he's probably at least a year older than Lloyd, if not more. Lloyd grew a ton after we adopted him, but Sly has been the same size since we've had him... so he's definitely older.








Happy birthday, Sly-guy! We're so happy you joined the family!

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Cats Cats Cats

It has been a while since I've done a cat post that wasn't harboring on Lloyd's recovery (which, he's 100% better, by the way!), so here are some photos of the boys enjoying the new apartment. They spend most of their time in the living room - Sylvester loves the couch and stretches out to take up half of it, and Lloyd loves the rug in there. (I actually think he misses the carpet from our old spot...) And when we can't find Lloyd, looking for him underneath the steel cart in the kitchen is usually a safe bet.

They also love hanging out in the windowsills, and meowing at us from inside when we're out on the balcony. We have let them out there a handful of times under our supervision, but as soon as they make a move to go towards the edges we plop them right back inside. Those are photos for another post though!

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