Today's Installment; In Which Strudel Continues To Win Hearts The World Over

Today I forgot to talk about makeup and products and fashion, because I was only thinking about my lovely kitty Strudel.  She was included on the new dreamcats site today!  Even though I am super over the moon about it, Strudel just yawned and continued eating her homemade organic kibble.  It's all in a day's work for Strudes!  However, between sips of sparkling spring water from her cut crystal Tiffany bowl, she did mention that I should include links to her other work on this post.  Your wish is my command!

Watch for Strudes around 1:11 in The Gossip video "Listen Up".

She's not in the trailer (sad face), but she will appear in the soon to be released movie "Rid Of Me".

You can follow all of Strudel's adventures on Twitter!

Before/After

Look at that sad, colorless, ugly cat bowl.  I can't believe that I (and Strudel for that matter) have put up with this unflattering scenario for OVER 3 YEARS!!!

This dual bowl was part of Strudel's dowry when I adopted her but ever since I saw this post from Anabella over at Fieldguided, I have been wanting something cuter and classier for my own pet.

I wasn't able to find the same milk glass bowls that Anabella did, but while perusing the thrifts yesterday I spotted these bright yellow bowls that seemed like the perfect size. 

I love yellow with a passion so I was excited about the pop of color they would add to the kitchen.  Also, I was pretty stoked to find ANYTHING at a thrift store again after striking out all over town for the past week!  I didn't have the energy to run around LA trying to find some vinyl for a mat (where would I even begin?) but I substituted one of my old Target trays to hold the bowls and I think it looks pretty cute.  Thank you internets for the great idea!  I think Strudel will love it too.

30 day photo challenge:day9:love

My little bunny Strudel.

Some may say "she's not a bunny" and they would be right.  But I also call her a monkey all the time, and she's not a monkey either.  This was taken while we were playing one of Strudel's favorite games- Sheet Monster.  Every time I make my bed she jumps under the sheets and then I attack her from above/over the sheet.  When I finally let her out she always looks so scared!  I feel kinda bad but she always wants to play again and again so she must enjoy it.  I love my Strudes.

*photo taken with iphone camera bag app, italian filter.  text applied with phonto app.

Strudatude

It's been a long time since I've posted a picture of my Strudel here and I know she has her followers, so this one is for all the fans.

Strudel doesn't understand the concept of windows, so whenever she sees me through one she gets all freaked out, hence the wide eyed stare above.  Aren't pets the best?

Have a wonderful Monday!



Thrift Score

For some reason, this weekend was all about the apples.  I found the two wire apple baskets at one thrift store and when I saw the silver apple shaped box at another, I was all- IT'S A THEME!  Other than that, I found nothing!  NOTHING!
So far my thrifting theory isn't really holding up so well.  But it's only mid-January so I will persevere.

Also:

Strudel would not stay out of the photos!  Baby cat model.

Tra La La

You guys.  I swore I wasn't going to do one of these end of year photo recaps.
 But I crumbled!  After seeing a million on other blogs, the temptation was too strong. 
I really love all my iPhone camera apps, particularly the Hipstamatic app, and I really wanted to share some of the photos I have taken with them.  I am generously putting a break in the page so you won't have to be assaulted by yet ANOTHER recap unless you so choose!  Here we go-

Day 2 Drawing Challenge- Favorite Animal

Today was favorite animal day.  The best animals are cats but I drew my very own dear Strudel because there is no cuter cat in the whole wide world!  She looks kind of angry in this but she is a little unfriendly so maybe she always looks that way and I just never noticed before?  Crazy cats.  Stay tuned for tomorrow- it's favorite food day!

Reunited and it feels so good....

I was so happy to get home last night and be reunited with my Strudel (after my flight getting delayed and having a claustrophobic freak out inside my head on the plane).  She "talked" to me for about two hours and I gave her lots of kisses and belly rubs.  Shout out to Whitney for taking such good care of her while I was living it up in P-town!  The best text I got on vacation was when Whitney told me that her boyfriend Chris was obsessed with Strudes and taking tons of pictures of her, photoshoot style.  Loves it!

Some Things Never Change

Anyone who has met me obviously knows that I adore cats above all other animals, and especially tend to dote on my own dear kitty Strudel (pic below) and talk about her all the time. 

This adoration of cats has always seemed to creep into my own wardrobe without even trying.  I wish I could show you my second grade class photo in which I rocked a puffy sleeved dress featuring blue polka dots and gray kittens playing with balls of yarn.

Then there was this sweet dress (do cats and polka dots always go together?)  I bought at Bebe back in 2003, blurry sample of fabric below:

Most recently I was seduced by this cat print at Mui Mui Spring 2010:

But who can afford that?

Then I finally found the perfect cat outfit.  It's cool, arty, feels a shade more mature without the polka dots and will go with everything.  You can get it at Zara and it's only $40!  I plan on wearing it everywhere this summer and accesorizing with bright yellow shoes, hip blazers and peach lipstick.  So cute.

*Note the bow ties*

Fancy cats!

***Since I don't want to drive you crazy with all the cat talk for months of posts, I shall get it all out of the way right now:

The Catorialist

Make your own Mui Mui cat collar tutorial

Cat Party Blog

(images from google images, Zara, and fieldguided)

But This Is How I Really Feel.

{I know just how Strudel feels.}

I've been feeling so jealous of other bloggers lately -ever since I got an incredibly busy and draining job- it's hard for me to see all these fun and creative things everyone gets to do while I stare at a wall and make copies for 4 hours.  I used to work 3 days a week and spend my time doing whatever I wanted and taking fun pictures of it all.

It all came to a head this week when I cut my finger bad enough to have to go to the ER (luckily no stitches!), a flat tire after a 12 hour day at work, and enough computer and money problems to make me cry more than a couple of times.  These are the things I can't handle and get super stressed about. 

I really wanted to post something here this weekend, and I honestly didn't know what to write about.  Do I post pretty pictures and make a theme out of it?  Or do I tell people what's really going on?  I decided to do both (see below post for a sunnier outlook!).

Kittehs

{Click on photo above for product information}

Have you guys seen some of the lovely pet products that are available out there?  I'm so glad that modern designers are turning their attentions to the animals of the world.  What's the point of having a well designed home if you just have ugly cat beds and toys hanging around?  My favorites include that beautiful wooden half circle bed and the severed leg catnip toy, available on Etsy.

Strudel approves!

Pr/instagram

Have you guys checked out Printstagram?  This company takes your Instagram photos and turns them into a variety of different products- photo albums, posters, t-shirts, stickers, etc. 
After my fun trip to the Madonna Inn a couple of months ago I decided to get some unique mementos made (surprise ruined for my tripmates!) and put in an order for some adorable tiny-ish picture books featuring all my Instagram photos from our fun weekend. 
They turned out great, I totally recommend them and plan on getting more made in the future- next up, Strudel picture books! 

P.S.- In other news, I had the best "Friendiversary" last weekend with my friend Lauren, we went shopping, stalked celebrities, ate way too much and had a beach picnic!  Check out the details on her blog- This is La La Land!

30 day photo challenge:day5:from a high angle

Strudel- the ghost cat?

*photo taken with iphone cross process app

Day 1 Drawing Challenge- A Picture Of Myself

Day one is already freaking me out!

Being a perfectionist Virgo I was upset that I couldn't draw the portrait exactly how I wanted it.

Being a lazy human with a lot of errands to run I stopped caring after a while. 

I haven't drawn in such a long time so I am hoping that my skills will improve day after day in this challenge.  Tomorrow is "favorite animal" so that will be fun, my kitty Strudel will be posing for me!

Have a great one y'all! 

Aquisitions

I wanted to show you the new wood and brass rings I just got- I've been wearing them every day. 

They both have a kind of lovely organic curve to them and go together very well.

{Sometimes Strudel won't stay out of the shot so you just have to go with it!}

 

Stuff & Nonsense

Not much going on around here lately.

Spent the last couple of days in extreme relaxation mode chilling on the couch and doing a whole lot of nothing.  I pretty much overdid it on the work front last week and when I finally got some time off (three days in a row?  squee!) all I could do was vegetate.  I did manage to get out of the house and go to Home Depot to look at plants.  This has been one of my favorite things to do lately and looking at the greenery seems to calm me down and give me hope for the future or something.  Especially after watching all the sad Japan footage it was nice and soothing.  Giving money doesn't seem to be enough this time and I am very frustrated that I can't do more right now. 

I got Strudel a nice catnip plant but she won't let me catch her sniffing at it with my camera, she has to act like she doesn't care about anything on film, all part of the image!

I also started working on a new stitching project (sneak peek above) since it's really easy to do while sitting around and watching tv.  I watched Alien for the first time and even though it was kind of slow, it was still good and really amazing that it was filmed in 1979, pretty ahead of it's time!  Hopefully things will get more exciting around here soon and I hope all of you out there in blogland are well!  XOXO, Gossip Girl (sorry, watched 4 episodes yesterday!)

Crazy Cat Lady

The Strudel.

You have to admit, she's the cutest.

It's Strudel Time!

 

 

 

 

Cutest. cat. ever!

Dry Skin, Part 2: Lip balm, all purpose

I feel like I have been hearing a lot lately about how lip balm is addictive and actually evil (read more here). While this may be true, I don't really care and staunchly refuse to go through the withdrawal and see what lies on the other side. On another note, I did realize a couple of years ago that any balm with mint in it actually annoyed my lips and dried them out more. Because of that, I started turning more to ointments or vaseline type balms to solve my dry lip problems, and that's when I discovered Aquaphor.
I heart Aquaphor! I mostly use it as a lip balm, but it really works on any dry skin problem, and I love it for elbows. Aquaphor recently decided to package their product in tiny little convenient lip balm sized tubes, and even though they are a huge rip-off compared to the price of the larger size, I buy them and stash them all over my life, in the purse, on the nightstand, on my desk, in the car. Even Strudel loves it!


Oh Strudes. I love how she puts up with my craziness, but refuses to wipe the "Mother, puh-leez" look off her face.

The Week In Pictures

1.  Obsession with tassels continues.

2.  Strudel jumped into the bath & can't figure out how to get out!

3.  Lots of cross stitchery.

4,5,6,7.  Fossils, gems, dinos, & polar bears at the Natural History Museum.