Photo Dump! Archives - 2 Cats and Chloe

CELEBRATE SOUTHERN: 2014 via Instagram… and BIG NEWS!

December 29, 2014 by Susan 20 Comments

You know, looking back, 2014 was just an “okay” year. There really wasn’t anything in particular that jumps out at me that made this year an extraordinary year. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad year. It just wasn’t an incredible year. So I decided to spend a little time skimming back through my instagram life and do a bit of reminiscing on all of the fun that was had in 2014. Shall we take this journey together? Stick around {or at least scroll to the bottom of this post} because I have a huge announcement to make… hint: 2015 will be delivering good, new loveliness.

Okay, buckle up - because here we go!

We welcomed the new year with open arms. #partyanimals

I successfully finished a whole30! #whole30forlife

I started selling loose leaf tea. While it didn’t last long on the blog - I am still selling it if anyone wants some! #teaanyone?

I ate lots and lots of veggies in 2014. #lovemesomebrussels

Do you see the difference clean eating will make? #youarewhatyoueat

I worked tons of weddings, including several beach house weddings! #itsnotalwaysthisglam

My sister and I decided to play in the mud… and run a 5k at the same time. #fools #muddyclumsyfools

I made my clients happy. #thisiswhyidowhatido

I spent some time at the Perquimans River. #drinkupyall

My sweet, sweet chloe. #luckycharm

We did lots and lots of testing to figure out what is wrong with me… #webarelyhaveanswers #2015willbedifferent

My husband and mother put their heads together to throw me a surprise 30th birthday party. #itwaspiratethemed

I discovered zoodles. #lifewillneverbethesame

We spent the Fourth of July with great friends, back at the river. #onthepontoon

I surprised a wonderful friend in Vegas for her 30th birthday! #vegasbaby

I realized that I have the same bangs as my favorite childhood doll. #kirstenbangsforlife

I got a fake tattoo and continued to argue with my parents about why I cannot get a real one. #im30forcryingoutloud

We took a spontaneous mother/daughters camping trip to Charleston, SC. #morrisislandismyfave

I discovered my obsession with holding a hummingbird. #herebirdiebirdiebirdie

I roadtripped to Florida with my first grade bestfriend. She stayed there. I went back to Virginia. #imisscaitlin

Chloe found love in blogland. #mailorderborder

Our vacation of the year turned out to be a very chilly, but awesome camping trip. #greysonhighlandsvirginia

In one day I adopted an amish dog and got hit by a giant deer. #inmybrandnewcar #meetoliviabenson

I decided to fully embrace my role as a furmom. #donthate

And let’s not forget that 2014 was when we started the Celebrate Southern Linkup!

Not too shabby of a year right? Yes it was mediocre but it was a pretty good mediocre.

So how about that big news I promised… Nope - I’m not pregnant. {I’m pretty sure once you get married, every time you say you have “big news” an angel loses its wings in disappointment when you reveal that you’re not pregnant.}

So the big news: J from Bless Her Heart Y’all {And A Hot Southern Mess} and I have decided to continue to grow Celebrate Southern, with a PODCAST! That’s right, we may be a wee bit cray, but at least we have gone off the deep end together! We will continue to host the weekly Celebrate Southern Linkup, but twice a month we are going to have a link to our podcast for you to enjoy!

Celebrate Southern: The Bloggers’ Podcast will be a podcast by bloggers, for bloggers. Our goal with this fun new podcast is simple: we want to talk about blogging, away from the computer. Most of us are constantly stuck at our computers learning, blogging and growing - The Bloggers’ Podcast will be something that you can stream or download {via itunes as of January! Eek!} and take with you to work, hang out with us during your commute, or even sprint it out on the treadmill while listening it to other bloggers chat about what we love - blogging.

Join the conversation by following our new instagram account, joining our facebook blogging community group or simply reaching out to either of us on our blogs. We love to talk blog and we would love for you to join us.

On Episode One we are discussing 2015 and blogging goals - Here’s what we gab about:

A quick intro so you can get to know us via audio {isn’t it weird hearing the voice of people “visit” every day in blogland??} (0:00)
Topics Overview: Blogging goals, How to break down big goals into smaller goals to make them more manageable (6:16)
Are you a New Years resolution person? (7:15)
Breaking down your Blogging Goals (8:16)
Suz’s Goals (9:00)
J’s Goals - Canon T3i camera (10:05)
How to Bread Down Goals (10:59)
Blogging Pageviews and Followers - Breaking Down Numeric Goals (15:41)
Blogging is Work. How much time does it take to keep a blog running? (16:50)
Editorial Calendars (19:38)
Yearly Blogging Goals Picture Frame / Vision Boards (21:42)
#2catsWhole30 (24:14) : https://www.facebook.com/groups/1409679692623565/
Youtube Channel (25:16) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCByHosCd8ngxwPxRrB_PBhQ
Wrap up and contacts

Please excuse the stupid little man in the picture below… we are still trying to work out the technical kinks! Our official graphic should be there by our next podcast!

Now you know the drill - grab a favorite southern inspired post and linkup below! I’d love to hear what y’all think about the podcast idea! Also, since I’m such a junkie for yearly recaps - if you are doing one, please leave me a link in the comment section! I would LOVE to see your year in a blog post!

Cheers and Love,

Suz

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Listen to Episode 001 of Celebrate Southern: The Bloggers Podcast here:

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Valentine’s Photoshoot in the G-House

February 14, 2014 by Susan 4 Comments

Now that I am working from home, almost every day of the week, my human interaction is quite limited to business emails and social media. Today I needed a break from my computer.

Lately I’ve been toying with the idea of giving Chloe her own instagram account… because let’s be real… all the cool pets are doing it. Beyond that - she’s a unique dog. Blonde Border Collies are few and far between. They are as hard to find as those collector edition, teddy bear beanie babies were back in the 90s. So if some silly cat from South Africa can have thousands of followers, I have hope for C-lo’s page. And yeah… I follow that silly cat from South Africa. He’s just so stinkin cute!

But where does one start with the idea of having an instagram page for your pet? I’m pretty positive you have to be able to master a solid photo sesh with said pet.

Which is what I attempted to do on my 30 minute get-away-from-your-desk-break today.

Pretty sure we failed. Miserably.

I spent more time saying “NO! No, sit still!” “Do you want a cookie?” and “Rockie stop pulling the backdrop down!!” than having a good time.

Turns out Chloe is a much better model when she is in her natural habitat (i.e. playing in the snow) than she is posing for biscuits.

With that being said, we decided to pick one to turn into a Valentine’s e-picture just for you!

Cute, right?!

After uploading the pictures to my computer, I was shocked to see that one of the “pictures” was actually a video. I know I’m not the first to accidentally record when you mean to snap. But this totally wasn’t the case! Apparently my camera decided to make a video all on it’s own. And as it turns out, I love this video more than the pictures! You will see me bribe my dog with cookies, my horrible photography skills in action, and Rockie crash the shoot.

And now, just a few others that you may love on this lovely loving holiday.

After pulling down the left side, Rockie decided to go to the right side and poke chloe in the butt… until Chloe went all diva-licious on us. Which unfortunately isn’t on the video.

Then the cat stole the ribbon and left.

So with all that being said, I am pretty darn positive that chloe will not be getting her own instagram account. At least, not if Rockie has anything to do with it.

Happy Valentine’s Day Loves! While I’m counting down the days until my husband returns from military obligations on the other side of the country… I hope you’re holiday is a bit more exciting than mine! Spend it with some actual humans okay?

Oh - and if someone can explain why my camera gave me the video, I’d really appreciate it. Muah!

He’s Back! And so am I!

August 23, 2013 by Susan Leave a Comment

NEWSFLASH! My fiance is home from his deployment in Japan! Which is why I haven’t been here writing. After several months of only seeing someone via Skype, you really want to spend as much time with that person before he has to go back to work.

Which, yes, after 3 weeks, he has gone back to work. Which means I can go back to working, and cleaning, and blogging, and wedding work, and basically just going back to overall productiveness.

I apologize for my absence, but I am sure many of you can understand!

So how about a quick photo recap of the past month!

First, Michael came home! Can you tell how excited he was to see me?!

He was very concerned about my BPA- intake so he bought me a new Nalgene bottle that just happens to be beautifully colored. (By the way, should I be concerned about my BPA intake?!)

I finally finished up the forever-week BOLD class I took at my mom’s Keller Williams office. Yes, I did roll in money. Yes, I did graduate. Oh, and the piece of paper you see below was a great exercise we did on the last day… everyone went around the room writing something they loved about each other on their backs. At the end we got to read what people thought of us. I was shocked to see that numerous people perceived me to be “classy.”

(They must not read this blog…)

We went to the beach with the G-Fam! It was just for an afternoon but I enjoyed a little fun in the sun while Michael tried to teach his nephew how to build sandcastles… when that didn’t work out, Michael just decided to bury Anthony! No big deal.

Then we hid little children in jets, rockets and airplanes. Because when it says “do not touch” we read “hide children here.”

Speaking of beach time… The perks of being a wedding planner in this area? You plan all over the place and occasionally have a great excuse to head to the Outer Banks of North Carolina! I took my sweet friend (and secondary coordinator) Sarah May with me! She got to have her first BREW THRU experience! Yes, it’s exactly as it sounds… you drive through and they load you up with booze, snacks, and awesome t-shirts.

Did I mention we were topless? Well… Jeep Topless. Gotta keep it classy right?

Some wedding to-do’s were finally checked off the to-do list! Like tux shopping! What do you think of this look?

Oh and we had a lunch date in Colonial Williamsburg! Michael took me to lunch at The Trellis! A well known, delicious place right in the heart of the colonial area. We were lucky enough to sit right at the window too!

I finally made great use of my garden tools that Jessica sent me for my birthday! I never did blog about my first blog present did I?! Oh and I grew tomatoes! (For some crazy reason, tomatoes are the only thing that worked in my garden this year!)

Of course I drank some wine once or twice in the past month also. I even had a bridal shower at a winery! More to come on that very soon!

We got our new KING SIZE BED!! Thank you Jesus! And thank you to my future mom and dad in law! (And thanks to my mom for the ikea headboard!) I can sleep again at night! No more ninja kicks or kung fu chops from the future hubs-to-be at night.

And now I can finally start decorating the master bedroom! Yay!

Did I mention we checked a bunch of wedding to-do’s off our list? This was at the Chamberlin, where we will celebrate on November 9th! Can’t wait!

In other news, things around the house are coming along. I am still unpacking, sorting and cleaning.

There is a bit of sadness right now… one of the “two cats” has had to leave for a little while. It turns out that Spitty is just not adapting very well to living here. She has had many stress related “accidents” of all types (you name it, she’s done it… even on my pink couch…) So for the time being she is living with my parents an hour away. She seems to be adjusting, but I’m hopeful that she can come home soon. Poor little Rockie just goes around the house crying all the time… Considering they are such independent animals, I was SHOCKED to see how much he misses his sister.

Time to get some work and organizing done! I’m cooking my first pork roast tonight too! Wish me luck!