Five on Friday Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

Five on… Saturday?

November 14, 2015 by Susan 7 Comments

I need to write. It’s an outlet for me. There is so much swirling in my mind and it just needs to get out. So I need to write. About different things. And since I make the rules around here, I figured a “Five on Saturday” would just have to make sense this week. Just to warn you, this isn’t the most uplifting post… feel free to skip down to number four, things begin to lighten up there!

One // On Tuesday my family experienced a tragic, unexpected death. My mom’s cousin, who was more of a brother to her than her real brothers ever were, went to bed fine on Monday and didn’t wake up on Tuesday. As the terrible story continues to develop, we are learning that he died of a brain hemorrhage due to the medications he was taking, prescribed by his doctor. Even more tragic, his wife was a widow before she married him 5-ish years ago. Her first husband passed (due to cancer) this same time of year many moons ago. I cannot even begin to grasp what she is going through. You know, when it comes time to say goodbye to loved ones, I know the how or the when is outside of my control, but I selfishly hope no one else dies suddenly, overnight. I have found myself struggling with the usual questions and thoughts of disbelief: “Why didn’t we call more often? When was the last time we all had a real conversation? What if we had realized… I wish we could’ve said good-bye.” That being said, many thanks to all of my friends, family and readers who have been following me on social media and has been praying along side of my family.

(I grabbed this image from Facebook. It does not belong to 2 cats & chloe. If you know the source, please let me know!)

Two // I am absolutely speechless and feel utterly devastated about the attacks in Paris last night. I could write about it… I could write a lot about it. But it would never be enough. There is just so much unnecessary, evil hatred in this world. We need to all band together, pray for humanity and smear the world with as much love and kindness as we possibly can. We just need more love.

Three // To wrap up this week, my cousin had some major complications last night while giving birth to her second child. Both Mommy and Baby are still in ICU. The baby went way too long without oxygen and was rushed to the children’s hospital after the emergency c-section. I heard my cousin is doing a bit better today but the sweet, little babe still isn’t in the clear. Both of them will be in ICU for quite a while, so again, we all appreciate your prayers of healing and peace.

Four // Now on to something a bit more fun?? Next Sunday is our gender reveal party! I am excitedly surrounding myself with pink and blue everything! I am passionate about parties and entertaining. Just having a party to focus on and a new little life to celebrate gives me so much joy. My poor family puts up with me and overbearing planning mode - probably more now because it keeps me from crying!! Considering I have zero local friends, I am over-the-moon thrilled that we have 25 people coming into town for this party and tons of family and friends who will be joining us virtually via google hangout! #ThanksTechnology! Have you heard what we are doing for the actual reveal? It involves paints, a canvas and a ton of egg shells! Stay tuned!

Five // This past Monday was our two year wedding anniversary! Surprisingly, despite work, the house, being pregnant, and living with my 91-year-old grandmother, Michael and I actually got to spend the day together! Along with about 30 other wedding coordinators from the East Coast, I was invited to the Tides Inn in Irvington, Virginia for 24 hours of wining, dining and oysters! Luckily, our family members were invited too! While I didn’t partake in any wine or any oysters (darn you pregnancy!) Michael and I both received complimentary spa sessions, a delicious dinner and an day at a nice resort with a beautiful view! More snapshots from our time at the Tides Inn later this week!

If you read all the way through this emotional and random post… I want to leave you with one last thought:

Be thankful for memories. Hug your loved ones a little tighter. Make the effort to reach out to someone who has been on your mind. Give flowers and write notes to be shared and appreciated today. Trust that, even when we cannot understand the “why” - God has a plan and a purpose that is bigger than we can even comprehend.

A Not-So-Happy Five.

July 17, 2015 by Susan 8 Comments

More than half way through the month and half way through summer. Where is time going? Seriously.

This weekend I am working to plan out the rest of the month with blogging, in hopes of shaking my writers block, among other things. A week or so ago I had coffee with an acquaintance. She is a godly woman with a fire in her to do good. We met for a marketing consult. Before we got into the marketing talk she looked at me and out of no where, bluntly said “You just have to get over it. Do what you gotta do, but just get over it.”

So in part, how about I write a 5 on Friday post to catch you up, but to also write what’s on my heart. In order for me to “get over it” I need to begin to process. Writing is an outlet for me - so if you don’t mind and sad-ish post… This might just do my heart some good.

One // I am so incredibly homesick. I’m really trying to process this move. Less than six months ago we were putting all of our thought and energy into painting, packing and prepping our home to be sold. That in itself was a roller coaster. I am now 31, and while this sounds like a rant, please know that I am incredibly thankful… I’m living in my grandmother’s room over the garage. It’s hard to be someone who works from home when you are currently office-less. I find myself either working from her dining room table with the sound of an old clock chiming every fifteen minutes, my grandfather’s recliner with the sound of Fox News playing all day long, or upstair in a dark room, sitting on my bed. So not ideal - but I’m trying really hard to make it work for the next 6 months.

Two // Maybe I’m just exhausted or maybe this is really a good idea… but I’m thinking about starting a “Thursdays with Nana” series on the blog. Y’all can give me random questions or topics that I can slip into conversation throughout the week. Serious or silly. Let’s just avoid the topic of “The Little Couple” because that conversation can go on for hours and hours. I’m pretty positive she is the leader of their Virginia Chapter of their fan club.

Three // I really miss cooking good, clean food. It is hard to only have a fourth of my kitchen tools and even less cooking space here than I did in my house. I am going to try my hardest to continue with clean recipes for y’all. After a couple years of clean eating and tons of medical testing, I am finally beginning to get some answers. And as someone who wants to avoid drugs when possible, I am realizing what I’ve known all along… food is my medicine. I have never felt better than when I am on a Whole30 and filling my body with clean, nutritious food. In order for me to beat this chronic pain I must crack down on my eating habits. More on this in the coming weeks.

Four // Tomorrow morning, before working a beach wedding, my mom and I will be taking one of the “two cats” to the vet to be put to sleep. It absolutely breaks my heart (and the timing is seriously less than stellar.) Spitty is a sweet but sassy, awkward and independent cat. We will all miss her, but know that this is the right decision.

Five // My husband had to unexpectedly pack his bags last week and leave for military duties. Five more weeks until he comes back to Nana’s. Hopefully, fingers crossed, at that point our new home will officially be under construction!

Thanks for letting me rant. Thank to my friends who have put up with my tears, texts and my long phone calls recently. Come back tomorrow for Caturday Saturday - and don’t forget to leave a topic or question that you want me to ask Nana!

I’m linking up here.

Rainboots, Golden Forks and the Caturday Announcement!

June 5, 2015 by Susan 6 Comments

It’s Friday. And if I’m trying to get back into blog-mode that means I need to be writing about five-ish things today. So how ’bout it?

1 // It has been raining here all week long. And not like a little bit of drizzle. It’s been buckets and buckets of water pouring out of the sky. Forget your umbrella. Yesterday my umbrella wouldn’t have made a difference. While we have been in need of rain lately, as a wedding planner, this is not the time, nor the place for this much precipitation. So start doing an anit-rain dance for me please. I have an outdoor wedding on Sunday and I’m supposed to be taking 3 trips to our storage unit (with an open-air trailer) this weekend.

2 // Yesterday wasn’t a bad day. But it really was not a stellar day either. Do you ever have those days? The mediocre, “eh” kinda days? My iPhone kicked the bucket an hour before a wedding rehearsal. Silver lining? At least it wasn’t a wedding day. That was the low. But when I laid down in bed last night I remember thinking how happy I was, despite the rain, the iPhone and the fact that we are no where near where we should be on our “Moving Timeline.” 25 days left (and basically zero weekends) absolutely stresses me out. I wrapped up my day texting with one of my best friends of TWENTY FIVE YEARS. We may not live near each other, but our almost-daily texting habits really make me happy. I’d say, if you’re having one of those days you need to wrap it up being yourself, sipping wine and talking to someone who won’t think you’re crazy for recommending a Netflix documentary about young girls in the porn industry.

2 cats & chloe: Golden Flatware Threshold Target

3 // This Wednesday my blog-friend-turned-real-life-friend Heather shared these forks on her blog. I’m obsessed. I immediately proclaimed to my husband “LOOK AT THESE BEAUTIFUL FORKS!!” His response? “Did you just say beautiful forks??” Yes, they are quite costly ($25 + free shipping for one place setting) but my birthday is next week… If I have 8 friends give me one place setting each… we would have one heck of a beautiful flatware set. In other news: is it normal to pay homage to gorgeous flatware?

4 // The almost-finalized-version of our house plans arrived last night in my inbox. I’m not even exaggerating by saying was like Christmas morning. If only that email came in a brown paper package, tied up with string, I would’ve been over the moon. We’ve put so much thought into our custom home design, so when I see it drawn out by a professional and not as my sketches on graph paper… all I can say is it’s a really, really cool feeling. I cannot even imagine how it will feel to walk into the finished version of this house for the first time.

5 // Tomorrow is Caturday Saturday! It’s a new series and linkup that Heather and I will be hosting each and every Saturday. Or at least until we get tired of it. The plan is to keep things short, sweet and all about the felines. The funnier or more creative picture of your cat(s), the better. For all you crazy cat ladies out there, this is your Super Bowl! Don’t have a cat? No problem! Snap a pic of your neighbor’s cat or share a funny feline meme from the intertubes! Let’s have fun with this! Grab the button below and join us tomorrow for our first official Caturday Saturday Linkup!

<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>

That’s it for me today. I better get back to working, packing and then prepping for this weekend’s wedding! Happy Friday, and I’ll see you tomorrow for the Caturday Saturday Linkup!

I’m linking up here today!

Five on Friday: Working from home and cute specs!

May 1, 2015 by Susan 4 Comments

I’ve kept it no secret that I work from home. Some days I love it. Some days I dread it. The division of home life and work life is really tough with your home life is your work life. A lot of days I am totally jealous of my friends who clock out at the office to head home, relax and sip some wine without having work stare you in the face the rest of the evening. Then there are times when I’m in the middle of a conference call with top business executives and I’m painting my nails, in my yoga pants with unbrushed hair and I think - that working from the office concept is totally nutso!

So to all my friends who are pondering a life change - from the office to the home office - I wanted to share five things that help me survive working from home:

1 // You need yoga pants. Because let’s be real - even if you have to skype or facetime with people who are far, far away - unless your meeting includes a dance sesh, they probably won’t be seeing your pants. Ergo, anything with buttons, zippers, pleats, belt loops or even denim should not be worn. Staying comfy is key. Opt for the yoga pants.

2 // While having a desk is great, having a lap is even better. Especially when you work from home because you are not bound to your desk… My lap and office can be anywhere I want. Yes, the option is always there to sit at my desk. But so it my option to sit at the kitchen table, on the couch or even in my camper.

3 // Now that you are comfortable with your yoga pants, and you’re productively lounging with the laptop… you better be rocking your cute glasses. My eyes get so dry when I stare at my computer screen while wearing contacts all day. Firmoo.com reached out to me again, asking if I would share another cute pair of specs with y’all! I ended up with this super fun pair of pink and black glasses. Just because I’m working from home in comfy clothes doesn’t mean I can’t have fashionable and fun accessories!

4 // Co-Workers are a must for anyone who works from home. Yes, the can be remote. But you need to chat with people daily. Sometimes I feel like I am stuck on my own little island. After years of working from home, it hit me that I was going days without talking. Because who was I supposed to talk to?! And then I realized that my co-workers aren’t traditional co-workers. Instead of checking in on the guy in the cubicle next to me, I will pop in on my neighbor for a quick hello and a 5-minute work-break. You may think I’m crazy, but I also see my furbabes as co-workers some days! You know… those crazy co-workers who expect you to share your lunch break with them, every.single.day.

5 // Lastly, I’m slowly realizing that moving-breaks are crucial to surviving my work days. I recently got a fitness tracker watch, only to realize that I barely walk anywhere! (Apparently walking from my bed to my desk and then back to bed at the end of the day isn’t super healthy!) I have the perk of wearing yoga pants and making my own schedule - why in the world don’t I walk around the house a bit more! So in my very near future - walking, push-ups and lunges will be done every 30-ish minutes or so. I mean, my “co-workers” would love a quick jog around the block, I’m sure!

Many thanks to Firmoo.com for sending me my new awesome specs! If you haven’t had time to check out Firmoo yet, you really should! I will never buy glasses from a traditional store ever again. This is my second pair from Firmoo.com and I’m absolutely hooked. Their glasses are all very reasonably priced and the quality has been great. I love that my new specs are inexpensive enough that I can buy several pairs and use them as daily accessories, even if I am working from home!

2 cats & chloe: firmoo.com glasses review

Do you work from home? Is there anything that you recommend when it comes to surviving? Am I a crazy person for considering my pets to be my co-workers?

Today I’m linking up here!

Thanks again to Firmoo.com for giving me these new glasses. While they did give me new specs, the review of their company and this product was all my own.

5-ish on Friday: Snow day in HRVA!

February 27, 2015 by Susan 7 Comments

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!