Winter Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

5-ish on Friday: Snow day in HRVA!

We have faced another week of snow here in Virginia. Not as much as they have had in say, Boston! But we’ve had more than our state can handle. One inch and everything shuts down for a few days: stores, schools and even the military bases! So just imagine what happens when one week we get 6 inches and followed by 10 inches the next week! Yup! I’m completely snowed in right now!

The funny thing though, I work from home and rarely leave the house on a normal day. I assumed “cabin fever” would never set in for me. Boy was I wrong! I have been having dreams about someone helicoptering me out of this place, only to whisk me away to the Florida Keys! Apparently, it’s one thing for me to choose not to leave the house… it’s another for me to not have said choice!

Rather than photo dumping all my snowy pics on you - I figured I would take advantage of “5-ish on Friday” and just share a few!

2 cats & chloe: family snow pic // newport news, va // snow day
Yesterday I did a mini “Roll Call” on twitter, asking everyone to tell me about their current weather status! I’d love to do the same in the comment section below! Tell me where you are in the world and what Mother Nature is up to! Here’s to another weekend in the snow, and only three more days left of my Whole60!

Today I’m linking up with these blogs!

Winter Hit Virginia Last Night

by Susan

I sit here staring the blank, white, word press canvas that lights up my screen. My cat is snoring up on his perch, located at the far right end of my desk. My puppy is curled up on my lap, falling in and out of sleep. She must be uncomfortable, because at 15 weeks old, she is getting to be just a wee bit too big for this. While I love my puppy cuddles, here’s hoping she grows out of lap time before she is a full size border collie and 40 pounds heavier.

Winter hit us last night. For the first time all season. Yes, we’ve had a handful of bitter cold days here and there - but today actually looks and feels like it’s winter. The trees, power lines, bushes and even my Christmas swag (that should’ve come down weeks ago) are frozen in place. The trees have a shiny, glass-like look today. It looks like if you threw a rock at them, they would all just simply shatter.

From my view, the ice has thoroughly covered and coated everything. My desk sits directly up against two windows so when I am not staring at up at my computer screen or down at my calendar - I’m staring out at the trees which normally have a dull wintertime look to them this time of year. Today though, today they look shimmery and slightly magical.

This morning I ventured out for a quick sprint around the yard, camera in hand, hair wet, no socks. I’m a crazy person. But I needed to capture a little bit of the beauty in the midst of this grey, ugly day.

Stay warm and stay safe - especially if you’re experiencing the same gross-but-beautiful winter weather that we are here in Virginia.

Snow Day in #hrva

by Susan

Well, it happened. Finally. Here in Hampton Roads, VA (aka #hrva) we were finally served our own little piece of the winter! And the world shut down. All because of 4ish inches of snow.

It started coming down last night and quit early in the morning. Going to bed as flurries fall outside my window always reminds me of Christmas… there’s that child-like excitement of going to bed wondering what adventures and winter magic the next day will hold.

Really. It’s quite cheesy. And yes, everyone in our region freaks out. Schools close before the 5th flurry even hits the ground. People loot the grocery stores 10 days ahead of the “storm” as they pillage for the last loaf of bread and creamy peanut butter.

It happens. And it’s obnoxiously crazy. But local hysterics aside, it’s all still magical. That first glimpse of the snow covered streets and the stillness that surrounds the neighborhoods…. just magic.

Our roads were horribly icy. Schools were canceled today and from what the neighbor told me, Newport News Schools are closed until Tuesday! Oh, and the high school exams, that were supposed to be today, were completely canceled! I’m pretty positive that’s like winning the Super Bowl in 10th grade!

In between working my three jobs I snuck out for a few minutes of snow filled fun with Chloe. The dog absolutely loves the snow. And I am really starting to feel a lot better after my 22 days of the Whole30 Challenge so running around felt great!

Speaking of Whole30… I have had so many people ask me about what and why and how I am doing what I’m doing. And I absolutely cannot wait to share it with anyone and everyone who will listen! So maybe tomorrow, if I’m not too exhausted before bed - maybe I will write about that.

In the meantime I need to get my butt off the couch, away from The Bachelor (on demand) and get the kitchen clean before my husband gets home from work. Oh wifey duties… you drive me crazy.

Catch you tomorrow? Maybe? Same place. Same time. Night chickadees. Stay warm.

I decorated for the holidays!!

by Susan

Well, not exactly. But I decorated the blog for the holidays! Today is the first COLD day of the season… I think we have a high temperature of 45 today! Shiver me timbers!! With Thanksgiving next week and the radio stations already playing Christmas music (yes, I have been listening to it!!) it has gotten me in the mood to decorate. HOWEVER. I have a rule. I cannot start decorating for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. Some of you who are over achievers and already have lights on the outside of your house may disagree with me, but I think we need to give Turkey Day it’s month to shine!

Since I do not break rules (very often!) I decided that I could decorate the blog! Last week my sister sat down with me and gave me a Photoshop 101 training session. Who knew the possibilities! I sat there in complete dismay when she showed me how people “design” things. I have now discovered brushes and patterns, so I am on to most of your tricks now!

I ended up designing my own Christmas card - which I can’t show you because then it won’t be much of a surprise when they show up in your mailbox next month! But I have also designed a few of our “Girl’s Night Out” invites!

I also took the blog header from this:

to this:

TO THIS!

So now I am ready to start getting festive! It’s the Friday before Thanksgiving! Time to start prepping the food and thinking about the holidays! Planning events and plotting a Black Friday bargain shopping escape route! Enjoying the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and a huge meal with the fam! (Pretty sure with relatives coming into town we won’t have our new tradition of ‘family beer pong’ this year…) And now the blog is all dressed up I am ready to share all of my holiday souvenirs with you! 🙂 Have a happy weekend friends!