Link Up Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

It’s Caturday!

June 6, 2015 by Susan 3 Comments

You don’t have to be a hipster to love Caturday. Which is exactly why Heather (Bake.Create.Love.) and I decided to start hosting a Caturday Saturday Linkup!

There were tons of reasons why I thought this would be fun… but rather than boring you with the story of how my mind went from “Bubbly Water” to “Let’s have a Caturday Linkup!” — how about I just share the deets of the #CaturdaySaturdayLinkup right meow!

Every single Saturday until the day comes that we tire of posting cat pictures, you’re invited to share a fun photo of your feline! If you have a blog, consider joining us with a Saturday post and linking up below. If you are blog-less, don’t fret. You can join the fun by sharing a picture of your cat (or any cat for that matter) on a social media platform (like instagram, facebook or twitter) and then using the hashtag #CaturdaySaturdayLinkup! (So Mother, that means you can join too!)

I’m going to be keeping things short and sweet from this point forth. You can expect a picture of Rockie and maybe a couple of sentences on his behalf each Saturday. I mean, the blog was partially named after him… this only seems right!

While he may not look entirely over-the-moon about this… I know that deep down Rockie is feeling the love and cannot wait to “meet” some blog-felines!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.2catsandchloe.com" title="2 cats & chloe"><img src="http://www.2catsandchloe.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Caturday-Button.jpg" alt="2 cats & chloe" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

So grab a button and linkup below (or use the hashtag #CaturdaySaturdayLinkup to join via social media) and maybe your cat will be featured here with Rockie next week!

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Lovely Letters February: I was spoiled!

March 5, 2015 by Susan 10 Comments

Last month I went out on a limb and decided it would be so fun to join one of my favorite bloggers, Esther, and her Lovely Letters blog swap! The way this blog swap works is simple: you are partnered up a fellow blogger, you email each other, ask each other funny questions to get to know them, stalk your partner’s blog and then send them a lovely letter with a little gift! There is a $7 limit on the goodies, so you have to get a little creative.

I was paired up with Natalie from Natalie Made It. I was under the impression that in this blog swap we would be paired with people in far off lands… I was quite surprised to learn that Natalie lives a little over two hours from me, also in Virginia! Small world!

It actually worked out really well though that we lived so close… because we were both facing the same horrible winter weather! Both of us ended up delayed in emails, shipping and all that jazz due to the winter storms. Quite frankly, this post was supposed to go live last night but again, I was delayed by another snow storm, forcing me to drive to Northern VA a day early, hopefully still catch our flight to Europe!

Anyway - Natalie spoiled me! Apparently she wasn’t aware of the $7 limit, which made me feel a little bad. But she totally nailed it with my goodies! Mini Lara Bars, almond butter, cute stationary with matching erasers and even hair ties! Love love love!

Many thanks to my new blog friend Natalie for such a wonderful care package and for her patience as we both fought the post office in snow storms! And thank you to the lovely Esther for hosting this fun blog swap and linkup!

I’m currently snowed in and tweeting with @DeltaAssist to reroute my flight to Europe if at all possible… so stay tuned! The next time you hear from me, hopefully, will be from Switzerland… or Northern VA depending on this Winter Storm Thor.

PS. Why would you name a winter storm “Thor?” How many times do I need to say this?! It’s all about marketing folks! Name the damn storm Daisy or Dandelion, then maybe it wouldn’t pack such a wallop! This girl just needs her vacation!

Celebrate Southern: My New Mantel Project(s)

October 14, 2014 by Susan 15 Comments

So, big news. We are breaking ground in 2015! I haven’t really said much about the fact that my hubby and I are going to be custom building our dream home next year — simply because I do not want to jinx it. We still have a long way to go before we get to the “shovel in the dirt” phase, so I have kept my home-dreams and pinterest boards to a minimum.

I highly recommend that if you want to grow your marriage leaps and bounds, build and design a house together within the first 12 months of tying the knot. I quickly learned that both of us want very different things. Wait, I take that back. We both want the same things, but we prioritize them very differently.

While he is dreaming of the owning the most efficient house in the neighborhood, I am dreaming of a home that looks like it could fall out of a Southern Living Magazine. I want that southern charm and elegance, but I also want the home to be functional and “us.” We have finally settled and tweaked our house plan, now we have to start finding little details we both like.

Last week my mother and I went up to the Eastern Shore of Virginia {through three tunnels and a few bridges} to look for my dream mantel. I have severe mantel envy. My mom has the prettiest mantel you will ever see. I will have to do a blog post on that guy one of these days. My dad said his guys could build us a mantel but I knew I wanted something with a history as well as some details. So we went straight to the Eastern Shore where estate homes are being abandoned and “picked” weekly.

If you are not familiar with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel {and it’s tiny railings} all you need to know is this: in order to get from mainland Virginia to the Eastern Shore you have to go across the Chesapeake Bay. While it isn’t as big as, say, the Atlantic Ocean, it’s still a pretty big body of water to drive across. So big that it requires three bridges and two tunnels, all in one 4ish mile span, making it the world’s largest continuous steel structure. {Thank you wiki!} Oh, and let’s not forget about the one-way toll of $18 {$13 if we hadn’t been towing a trailor.}

The Bay Bridge was half the adventure. The other half was finding the antique store my mom had stopped by months prior. It was the third antique store we drove past, and there sat “my mantel,” broken and sideway, collecting dust and webs, on the front porch. They drove a hard bargain and generously offered us the mantel for a whole $50. It took three of us to load the double decker mantel into our trailer, and then another lady showed up. She proclaimed she had a few more mantels in her barn somewhere off a dirt road about ten minutes further down the road… but there were no mantel returns.

So we followed her. To a barn. In the middle of nowhere.

She took us to THE COOLEST barn. I am beyond obsessed with the grey color and teal door. Pretty positive that will be the exterior color scheme of our new home.

They had a barn full of doors and mantels and amazing odds and ends… I was like a kid in a candy store! So don’t be surprised when you read that I walked out with a second mantel, for a mere $50 more… #whoopsie!

Antique Mantle DIY

My mom basically had to pry a couple antique doors from my fingers before we headed home with TWO mantels for $100. You know what this means right? I just have to adapt my house plan and add another fireplace… somewhere.

Antique Mantles If you were building a house, what is the one {or two} things you MUST HAVE in your plan? Would you have multiple mantels and fireplaces in your home?

Link up with J from Bless Her Heart Y’all and I today for our second Celebrate Southern Linkup! You can use a new post or an old post… it just has to encompass “something” southern! {Think fashion, crafts, home decor, food, or a great southern town!} Join the fun and linkup here:

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CELEBRATE SOUTHERN LINKUP: DIY Grapevine Wreath

October 7, 2014 by Susan 12 Comments

Oh em gee y’all. I am beyond excited that today is the first day of the Celebrate Southern Linkup! Months and months ago J from Bless Her Heart Y’all and I started chatting about how we could team up and collaborate, while networking and appreciating our southern roots all at the same time. At which point, we decided to host this linkup called Celebrate Southern.

We aren’t just celebrating the word “southern.” We are celebrating ALL THINGS SOUTHERN. This is a great chance for all of us to come together and appreciate southern charm! Before I get into my Southern DIY post, I want to tell you a little bit more about this linkup! We are encouraging everyone to join! You don’t even have to use the word “y’all” in your every day vocabulary! You can post and share anything about southern style, southern craft, southern home decor, or southern recipe. Your post could simply be about why you love sweet tea and grits! Or it could even be a post about why you love the Southern city you live in, or a Southern city you have visited! The post you share can be an older post or a current post! We just want to link up and have some fun!

As far as the rules go… we don’t have too many! We want to keep this fun! Here are a few things that we do want to point out though…

1 // You do not have to be a “Southern Blogger” to participate in this linkup! You just have to love Southern Charm!

2 // This is a great networking opportunity for everyone! Please participate in not only adding your link, but by visiting each others’ blogs.

3 // Approved topics to post? Southern anything! You can write about Southern recipes, Southern crafts, Southern style and clothes, Southern home decor, a Southern City you have visited or even the one you live in!

4 // Your posts do not have to be current, meaning you can share an older post! It does not have to be a post your published today!

5 // Just for fun, if you want to use the hashtag #CelebrateSouthern on social platforms, please feel free! This is just another great way to network!

6 // Please put the “Celebrate Southern” button (link below) on your page and/or link to both J and Susan.

Simple as that y’all! Please let either J or myself know if you have any questions! OH! I almost forgot! We have an official Celebrate Southern Pinterest board! We will be pinning off of all the posts who link up with us! Okay, let’s have some fun!

DIY Southern Fall Grapevine Wreath

I am so excited to share this wreath with y’all today. For some reason, fall is my go-to craft and DIY project season. I’m not sure if it is the crisp air or my sugar high from the excessive candy corn intake… either way, this girl definitely gets her craft on during the fall. Last week I decided I wanted to make a new festive, southern, fall wreath for our front door. As a newlywed and a southerner, I feel like monograms are the name of the game lately. I have basically monogramed the crap out of my house and my wardrobe at this point. Why not add a cute wreath to the mix?

I have found that Grapevine Wreaths are one of the easiest wreaths to work with. Between two craft stores, all of these supplies cost me less than $15! You couldn’t buy a wreath like this on Etsy for $15! And to be 100% honest with you, it took me less than 15 minutes to make!

Supplies:

One Grapevine Wreath

Decorations of Choice {I used 2 festive fall stems from A.C. Moore, Burlap Ribbon to tie into a bow, and a G that I spray painted}

Twine to attach decoration and to hang wreath

Directions:

These are going to be the easiest instructions you ever see… basically you just attach all of your decorations!

I love working with Grapevine Wreaths because you can blend and attach things so easily! Rather than cutting the stems off of my floral decor, I simply bent them, and blended the stick into the wreath. Not only does it make this project so much easier and quicker, but it helps to keep the decor attached.

No-Flower DIY Grapevine Wreath

To attach the “G” I used twine to give it a rustic look. Simply loop the twine around your letter and then through a few branches of the wreath. Then tie it tight! Again, it does not get much easier than this!

You also need to remember to save some twine for the top of the wreath… you need a way to hang it! Pick a couple thicker grapevine branches and tie the twine onto them. Again, super easy and no glue gun is necessary!

Once my other decorations were attached to the wreath, I added a festive, burlap bow. I’m not an expert bow makers, and thankfully I didn’t envision anything super fancy for this wreath. A simple bow, made of wired, burlap ribbon added a nice touch. Roll the ribbon ends around a bit to give it a billowing feel. Easy Peasy right??

Burlap Bow on Wreath

So there you go! A fifteen minute DIY project that will help dress up your home a bit this fall! I promise, even the un-craftiest of the uncrafty can handle this project! Give it a shot and let me know what you think! Or feel free to pin it now, and do it later! Since there was no hot glue involved, this would be a really easy wreath to take apart or simply tweak for the Christmas holiday!

Have you done any southern or fall projects lately? Grab a button and link up and share them with us below!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.2catsandchloe.com" title="Celebrate Southern Linkup: 2 cats & chloe."><img src="http://i58.tinypic.com/2dm615s.jpg" alt="Celebrate Southern Linkup: 2 cats & chloe." style="border:none;" /></a></div>

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Guilty Pleasures - #GuiltyTotalSocial

August 19, 2014 by Susan 13 Comments

Oh guilty pleasures… As I am spending 2014 revamping my life and making healthy decisions {eating, exercising, and well, just trying to let those creative juices flow!} I still find myself sneaking in a couple guilty pleasures when I have a moment to breathe. It’s extremely refreshing to know I’m not alone too! I’m linking up with Helene and Sarah for the #TotalSocial Linkup! This month’s theme is Guilty Pleasures!

1 // Coastal & Home Magazines and Pinterest Boards. Have I told you that we are building a house next year? Yeah, it’s big news that I have yet to share with many people. But maybe you could tell based on my currently overused pinterest board. In between drooling over and tweaking my new custom house plans - I just can’t seem to get enough of these home design and decor magazines! Magazines that I used to think only old people, like my mom, were supposed to read. #imgettingold 2 // Teen Mom 2. Yeah… apparently I simply like watching train wrecks. Train wrecks that make me realize how good of a mom I will be… one day. 3 // All other forms of trash television, which is basically Bravo TV: Below Deck, Ladies of London, Million Dollar Listing, Real Housewives of any city… I’ve never actually seen an entire season of anything. It’s amazing how 15 minutes of other peoples’ problems just make me grin.

4 // Almond Butter with Raisins. I would be losing a heck of a lot more weight, so much easier, if I could just give up my almond butter. I don’t crave chocolate, reeces, wine or anything anymore… as long as I can have a couple spoonfuls of almond butter and a handful of raisins {almost daily?! eek!} I’m good to go! 5 // Purses. I have done a really good job at cutting back and giving away the ones I don’t carry. Only to pine over a few other bags I’d love to own. Like this one, this one or ooooo especially this one.

6 // Obsessively hopping from one hashtag to the next, killing time on Instagram. Due to life choices, I’m currently hooked on any hashtag related to the whole30, paleo, kittens or goats. Speaking of goats… 7 // Not exercising. I’ve said it once, and I will say it a million times: I hate exercising. I will easily give up all sweets, popcorn, wine, chocolate, bread, pasta, pancakes and cuppies… if I’d never have to exercise again. ARG! Why do I hate it so much? Luckily, I have a hilarious 70 year old trainer who is okay with my sarcasm and banter. {Yup, he’s 70. But you’d never, ever guess it. #YouAreWhatYouEat!} But sitting, and partaking in numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 lead to guilty pleasure number 7. I’ve decided I need to try to kick this guilty pleasure /slash/ bad habit in the butt! I’ve signed up for a 30 day PiYo challenge. #SugaryJoyPiYo. I’m on day 2. Y’all will be reminding me next week why I want to get healthy… 8 // Taking too many pictures of my dog. Taking too many pictures of my food. 9 // This picture of my mom. {Just incase The Big Bang Theory is looking for Howard’s Mom…}

10 // Girl Meets World. Is it possible that I am the only 30-something who is beyond pumped to have Cory and Topanga back on television? I will confess… I am DVR-ing it every single friday night. I feel so much better getting these guilty pleasures off my chest! Woo! What are some of your guilty pleasures? Can you relate to any of mine above? Does your mom look like a tv celebrity? Are you secretly spending quality time with Cory and Topanga? Thanks for hosting this great linkup gals! #GuiltyTotalSocial