Happy birthday, Triss!

Today is my kitty's birthday! We don't actually know the specific date, as she's a rescue, but we decided on the Ides of March for her litter-15 years ago. I can't believe it's been that long, but hopefully we still have many more years together :)

For those of you who don't know the story of how I got my sweet Trisscuit: when I was in middle school, I went one day with my mom to the dealership where she got her car worked on and we happened to witness a surprise in the parts trailer. One of the employees had found a brand-new litter of kittens! They had no idea what to do with them, so naturally mom and I offered to take them off their hands. The kittens were too young to survive on their own, so we had to bottle feed them while we searched for momma cat. Thankfully we were able to catch her fairly quickly, so she and the babies lived in my bedroom until they were old enough to adopt out. Lucas (my brother) and I were saddened to lose them, but understood that we already had a cat and a dog. However, Easter was coming up and we had no idea that we were about to get the best surprise. When we looked at our baskets that year we were so excited to find collars with tags for our favorite kittens in them.

Mariel, my kitten, eventually did not come home one day when I was away at college. I like to think she just decided to stay with the family with a fireplace, as she would often come home smelling of smoke. Triss was originally Lucas' cat, but after I finished graduate school and was moving into my own place, I asked if I could take her with me. She had stayed at my mom's house while Lucas was away at college and was not a big fan of the dog. Thankfully everyone agreed and Triss has been with me ever since!

xoxoxo
Emma

Snow Daze

These snow days-resulting in a 4 day weekend-couldn't have come at a better time. I've noticed myself feeling more tired and frustrated (it's concentrated at work, but spilling over everywhere honestly), so was just saying on Tuesday that I really needed to take a day off. I'm not 100% sure of what is causing this, though I've got some ideas of contributing factors. I can't change all of them-I have to keep reminding myself that I can't make people see things my way, and sometimes trying to will just make things worse-but there are some that I'm working on.

The commute is taking its toll, so I'm apartment hunting. I've been missing my friends-it's hard to make new ones when you work till 8pm and commute almost 2 hours each way-so I'm trying to book a trip each month to visit them in their various cities, and encouraging them to come out this way as well. I'm definitely holding stress in my body, so I'm sticking to my Bar Method routine as much as possible and adding in yoga and running where I can. I'm celebrating as many things as I possibly can. I find solace and relief in cooking and baking, so I'm trying out new recipes on myself, my dad, and my coworkers. I might also be doing a little too much shopping...but if that's my worst vice right now I'm not going to beat myself up over it. At least I'm definitely getting some good deals!

when even your sticky socks are trying to pep you up...not pictured: the pom-poms on the back!

Wow, that got more serious than I'd been intending. But you know what? I'm going to leave it. I personally love to read blogs that are real, and not just all sweetness and light...though I think it's time for some of that!

The first snow day I did not leave the house other than to walk Binker-she was loving the snow! I had stocked up on Girl Scout cookies on the way home from work Wednesday in preparation, and may have opened up both boxes...and only changed from pajamas to other pajamas. I got a lot of little tasks done, but definitely still count it as a perfect lazy day.

The second snow day resulted in a trip to PVDonuts...despite our kind neighbor snow-blowing the sidewalk and much of the drive, doing the rest + walking Binker in the snow = feeling like I earned it! This was the first time I was able to walk right in and was able to order after waiting for just one person-though since I'm only one person and these are best when they're fresh, I only got two flavors: churro Nutella and Providence cream (their take on the Boston cream, made with coffee milk cream filling). Holy moly are they delicious. Every month I think I have a new favorite!

Triss and Binker are also pretty happy about our long ladies' weekend...lots of snuggles and play time!

Hope everyone has had a relaxing and rejuvenating weekend!

xoxoxo
Emma