Stella Sundays: Chillin’

Chillin’ like a villian.

Stella Sundays: Queen of the Hill

Stella Sundays: Toilet Paper Surprise

Surprise on my bed when I came home

Stella Sundays: A Different View

A different view.

Stella Sundays: Book Worm

Reading with me.

Stella Sundays: So Begins Crazy Cat Lady

This is probably a little too crazy cat lady of me…

Every Sunday I usually cuddle in bed with Stella for a ridiculous amount of time (still doing it as we speak). While I catch up on my DVR, movies, blogs, reading, etc., she sleeps next to me the entire time. It’s the one day a week where I’m not busy or rushing off to something else, leaving my needy little kitty, waiting at the door for my return. So, I always pet her and say, “It’s our day today my love – Stella Sundays!”

(OMG. I can’t believe I just admitted that on the Interwebs. I’m a crazy cat lady!)

Anyway, I’m starting a blog series, Stella Sundays. Each Sunday I’ll post a pic of her because she really is ridiculously pretty. I take so many photos of her…it’s a shame not to at least share them with a few others.

I’m letting the Crazy Cat Lady out of the bag

I own a quirky little cat – she has tons of personality, she’s a little sassy and a little craaazy at times, but she can also be oh-so-sweet and is absolutely adorable. I think the Cat God gifted me with a mini cat version of myself. Kinda like how your mom says, “Just wait until you have a kid just like you some day!” Well, I had a cat. For those of you who haven’t read since I purchased her in 2006, her name is Stella (middle name Artois). I also refer to her as:

1. Stell-belle (or Bella-Stelle)
2. Bella
3. Stella kitty
4. Pretty girl
5. Squishy face
6. Lover kitty
7. Trouble maker (when she does something bad)
8. Little biatch (when she does something really bad)
9. Needy-little-thing (when she follows me everywhere and meows)
10. Princess kitty
11. Baby-baby
12. Fluffy butt
13. Sweet girl

I think that might be it; do you officially think I’m a crazy cat lady?! If you don’t… read on. Anyway, I don’t know that I’ve ever loved something as much as I love her. I think owning a pet is a really life-altering experience, whether you’re a dog person or cat person, or like ferrets. To me, this is only the tip of the obsession iceberg with how I’ll probably feel some day when I have kids. (Scary). Some of the things she does that are super cute and quirky are:

• She makes Wookie sounds – that’s right; I just made a Star Wars reference. But it’s sooo funny. Every time you scare her, or bump or, or gently push her with your foot, she’ll make a purring Wookie sound.
• She follows me everywhere. If I’m in the kitchen cooking, she’s watching me on the kitchen floor. If I’m watching TV, she’ll plant herself on the couch cushions above me. If I’m in bed, she’s at the foot of it, or on top of the pillows above my head.

• Every time I take a shower, she stands outside and “talks” to me. Like she can’t believe I left her alone for 10 minutes, somewhere that she can’t be right next to me. She does the same thing when I’m out on my patio with the screen door or slider closed.
• She hides her eyes when she sleeps – she’ll press her face against a pillow, or the edge of the coffee table, or a pile of clothes so she can have darkness. It’s like her own personal sleep mask!

• She has an obsession with soft, fluffy things that are the same consistency as her fur. She used to drag white, fluffy mohair gloves out of my former roommate’s room and carry them around in her mouth. She also does this with a white ski hat and a pair of white petal flower hair clips I own. I’ll come home and always find them in the middle of the bathroom floor. She’s also a big fan of feathers…

Crappy cell phone pic

• She has a little spot under the bottom left-hand side of my bed that she goes and sits in the dark when she wants to be alone. If she’s not right next to me – she’s in her little hiding spot.
• She tries to burrow her way underneath a pile of clean clothes on my bed, or underneath the covers and pillows because she likes to be in dark “caves.” This also includes climbing into overnight bags, suitcases or paper bags after grocery shopping.
• She is always at the front door when I come home. (I don’t know how she pulls it off).
• She’s obsessed with the smell of my filed nails, I think? Every time I pull the nail file out – she’s on my lap in lightning fast speed, rubbing her face against the nail file and sniffing it.
• She’ll also run from wherever she is, at breakneck speed, if I’m opening a can of tuna and then meow insensitively at me. In fact, I made a mini video of it for you:

• She attacks my feet, or Mike’s too, whenever they’re sticking out from the end of the bed. It kinda hurts and pisses us off when she snags our bare skin, but it’s also a super funny game she plays, and we usually have to dive under or hide our feet if we hear her coming.
• When I clean her litter box, she likes to go and sprawl out in it. Kinda like, “Ahh…finally. It’s clean and this feels sooo good!”
• She sprawls out on her back, with all feet spread out in different directions, and oftentimes she stretches both paws out to the side in a flying Superman pose.

Another crappy cell phone pic

• When she sits on the edge of the bed or couch and watches me, she folds her little paws, one over the other, like she’s prim and proper.
• She let’s me hold her like a baby, and squish her nose, and nuzzle my face into her fur over and over again, and she doesn’t budge. But sometimes, just sometimes if she’s frisky and doesn’t want to be held, she’ll squeak when I do it, which just makes me laugh. I’m always trying to get her to squeak or make Wookie sounds.

The greatest thing about pets, I think, is that they all have their own little quirky personalities like this… and I just find it so damn endearing. I’m gonna be a red hot mess when this little thing leaves my life.

Currently Feeling: Remorse after my garlic fries, kettle corn and nachos at the Mariners game last night. Grrr stadium food!
Currently Anticipating: Figuring out the Labor Day weekend plans today – I want to go camping for the (last) time this summer.
Currently Loving: The HungryGirl.com daily e-mails that Kristen introduced me to!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

This Christmas I wasn’t necessarily as spoiled as last years gone past – chalk it up to the economy and my parents’ paying for my sister’s college. But it was one of the best Christmases I’ve had. I, myself, personally made a decision to purchase really good gifts for an elite group, and not every extended family member. The extendeds received homemade fudge and caramel corn, placed on metallic plates and tied with sparkly ribbon and an ornament. What transpired with my limited gift giving this year was the first Christmas that I’ve felt really into. Perhaps it’s because I wasn’t stressing out about not having money for millions of presents. I just enjoyed the season, the festivities and the traditions. I gave a few great gifts…

…and I received a few great gifts. Here are some of my favorites this year:

A hot pink Chi flat iron (to match my pink Chi blow dryer). Pink, pink and more pink! I can’t get enough! (And my boyfriend is secretly groaning inside). Seriously though, I’ve wanted one of these babies since my receptionist days at the J.C. Penney’s styling salon, and it came out as the new “IT” flat iron. And even more so when I had my hair straightened at a salon last spring. I felt like such a sexy bitch, I tried to do it myself for the first time with my $14.99 Revlon flat iron. FAIL. I looked like I had stood in the rain, gone to the beach, then baked my hair in the oven. See these two pics: they do not match. You might not be able to tell, but the right one is smooth and silky, the left, not so much. Anywho, I tried out my new flat iron this weekend, and it worked like a dream! Finally, at nearly 27, I might learn how to switch up my style a bit since in the past I’ve stuck to being a Curly Headed Woman.

Billabong “Timeless” Jacket, which the punchline for says “plaid is timeless!” I could probably argue with that one. But, Nordstrom did list a plaid jacket as one of their “must haves” for Fall, and I’ve been eying all the cute plaid jackets in stores since; I just haven’t found it very practical. So, leave it to my BF to gift me with a cute splurge. (He did a great job, didn’t he?) I wore it today with my grey calf-length boots. Not only is it WARM, but I think it’s a great replacement for that red Billabong jacket that has graced every pic I’m in for the last three months. I do love me some fur-lined hoods!

Tarte’s Limited Edition Vanity Palette from my fashionista lil’ sis. I am a make-up feign. I have a three-tiered storage drawer set in my room, labeled respectively “Face,” “Eyes” and “Lips.” You can guess what’s in each drawer. But, my collection is getting a little ridiculous. I already cleaned it out last spring, but it’s still overflowing. (Especially the bottom drawer, how many lip glosses can a girl really have? I’ve talked before about my unhealthy obsession with it.) I think I need to put a kibosh a little on makeup gifts and buying, but I just LOVE everything about expensive makeup – the packaging, the smell, the texture, the pigment. This palette is super wonderful. It’s jam-packed with everything you need, and look at these colors. Tell me those aren’t to. die. for!

Hot Pink Cherry Blossom Lights, which appeal to my love for all things pink, as mentioned above. The BF was ecstatic about his find here, “I got the last pink ones; they were the display set!” he exclaimed when I opened them. They are oh so pretty, and whimsical and match my bedroom perfectly, which is decorated in hot pink and orange. Something about Christmas lights just make everything look better…so now I’ll have pretty pink, flower lights year-round to light up my room.

A lifetime supply of AA batteries. (Okay, not really lifetime supply, but a really, really large pack of them!) Read this post, and you’ll understand why I received these…now all my remotes will have batteries once again. A girl’s gotta have priorities!

Stella’s Gift, came from not me, oh no, my BF. He really does know the path straight to my heart – through my cat. He bought her a hot pink feathered catnip bird, because I had mentioned that I thought she’d love a feathered toy when we were at a pet store. It’s just so dang thoughtful; it melts my heart. The only thing Stella cares about though is that she’s gettin’ her druuugs. Am I the only one who thinks it seems greatly wrong to get your cat stoned against its will and laugh at it?! Either way, she’s been enjoying getting high, and has carried it around in her mouth – taking it with her on the couch and my bed – not letting her stash out of her site. I guess every junkie needs a fix sometime.

And that wraps up the top gifts of 08… what were some of your favorite gifts this Christmas?!

Currently Feeling: Like Monday I’m going to want to kill myself for all this slacking.
Currently Anticipating: Dinner tonight with Bestie Amanda, and the rest of the week off!
Currently Needing: A majah diet and exercise overhaul plan for the new year.

In case you’re wondering…

…this is what we're doing all day.
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Sent from my T-Mobile Sidekick®

It’s a rough Thirsty Thursday in my house tonight

She passed out early after a hard night of partying.

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