I've Missed You!!!

Oh, my darlings, how I have missed you!

I've been traveling far too long...and as you all can guess...it's taken a huge toll on my body.  Naturally, I managed to pick up an ear infection and despite the ZPac my doctor called in, it's gotten worse, and again I sit with an ear, sinus, chest infection.  At this point, it becomes nothing but funny.  If we can't laugh at ourselves, what do we have, my friends?

That said, I first attended a wedding...as Best Woman, naturally...not that any of you are surprised, I'm sure.  I met some very interesting people in the bridal party, on my side, and the bride's...including the drunkest bridesmaid I have ever seen.  It would be rude to tell the story here...but feel free to contact me about it.  The wedding itself was amazing, held in PAFA, the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts.  The ceremony was held on the landing of a beautiful staircase...that's right kids, the groom "forgot" to tell me that we'd enter and exit down a spectacular (read:  terrifying) staircase...me, the girl who has balance included in her physical therapy, in 5' Loubs!!!  I can't say that I was graceful, but I didn't fall...and for that, I am beyond proud of myself!  The guests watched the ceremony from a gallery above and I can only imagine how gorgeous...no, gorgeous doesn't do it justice...breathtaking the ceremony must have looked from the gallery.  The reception was held in a separate, large gallery and was simply spectacular.

From there DH and I were off to Daddy's house to rest (and eat cheesesteaks) until J had to leave the following night.  After a second night of rest, Daddy drove me to one of my besties for a sleepover, giggles.  Let me translate that into grown-up...Father drove me to one of my oldest and dearest friends for a nice long visit.  I FINALLY got to meet her son and husband and am positively in love...with her son.  LOL!  We had nearly 2 weeks to catch up and I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed it.  Sadly, it was somewhere between the wedding and my visit with them that my infection began.  The skyline from her stoop included the Freedom Tower and every time I went outside, I had to catch my breath.  Driving to and from her house, was a beautiful and up-close and personal view of Lady Liberty.  Daddy picked me up and drove me back to his house.  At this point the infection had really taken hold and I missed seeing so many of the friends I had hoped to see.

One day I was feeling a bit better and was able to meet a friend from HS for cocktails.  We had a terrific time catching up and, as he works at the official NFL Films, he invited DH and I for tour when DH returned to NJ.  It was AMAZING!!!  I could have spent a week just taking in the halls!  He also managed to get me a tremendous donation for the fundraiser for which I remained in town.  It was the Queen of Hearts Annual Aloha Fundraiser...but you already know about that as I go on and on about it.  

By the way, I'm looking for donations for our fall fundraiser....Coach Bingo!

It was the QoH 10th Anniversary fundraiser and went sooooo well.  A big thanks to all who donated.  2 days later we were headed home to learn just how much worse the infection had gotten and tho I had fun, grateful to be home.

So now you have the short version...I'm back...and as you can imagine, my next post will be about the Navy SEAL who wrote the book and gave a 60 Minutes interview.

I've missed you darlings!

XOXO
~CAT

Confessions of Monogram Shopaholic: Pink Monogram Edition

Sooooo...I don't remember exactly how it came up...but one day, I looked Husband straight in the eye and told him that I knew the value of a dollar.  When he was done laughing...I'm pretty sure he shared his laugh with the rest of my family...who, judging by their laughter, seem to agree with him. 

When I see something I HAVE to have...I can't be stopped.  I may not know the value of a dollar, but I know the value of an item based on it's importance to me. I also know that the value of any item, for me, increases exponentially once it's been monogrammed.  Then the item becomes like me...one of a kind.  There is nothing I found, so far, that isn't improved by personalization.  You can imagine, then, that whenever I get loose on The Pink Monogram, I fall in love with everything!!!  When DH hears me mention The Pink Monogram I swear little cartoon dollar signs spring out of his eyes and his ears are full of cha-chingy, slot machine sounds.  


Hi.  I'm CAT.  I'm a shopaholic.


Just a few of my The Pink Monogram finds...

Ok, so maybe I'm not the MOST frugal person...perhaps I have a SLIGHT shopping addiction...there are worse things in life, right?  I mean, some people go out of the house with no makeup on!  Some people chew with their mouths open! Some people even where white after Labor Day!!!  But the WORST???  Some people don't volunteer their time or give to charity!!!


I know!  You're all shocked...but sadly, it's true.  

I am always more likely to shop from a merchant that I know gives back.  I approached my fantastic sponsor, The Pink Monogram, for a donation for the Queen of Hearts Aloha Fundraiser, I was barely able to ask before she was saying yes!  I don't know about you, but for my money...that I value in my own way (how many new monogrammed things I can buy with it)...The Pink Monogram is a merchant from whom I will ALWAYS shop.  Not only is everything I buy there adorable...at the end of the day, I know the more I shop, the more The Pink Monogram will able to donate when asked...all the while knowing, that no matter what I buy...it's just for me...one of a kind.
Like Moi.
Like The Pink Monogram.
THAT's VALUE.

Great!  Now I want to shop again...

XOXO,
CAT

I WANT to be Aware...

As most of you know, most of my adult life has been dedicated to non-profits and charity work.  As you likely also know, I rather enjoy, rare though it is, a bit of shopping...and on those occasions, alright, on ALL occasions...I prefer to buy things that are wholly mine.  Custom, if you will...or won't, it's of no consequence to me.  I simply abhor the thought of wearing the same shirt that is on an Old Navy commercial every 5 minutes and is sold in bulk so that you are nearly assured that if for some strange reason you were to get lost and find yourself in a Walmart, it's quite likely you would see 5 other people in the same shirt.  That said, on these really, sort of pathetically, infrequent boosts to the economy, when at all possible, I opt for "Awareness" items and/or things that can in any way be customized.  If it can be embroidered, monogrammed, engraved...Husband will try to hide it...but I will find it and customized it shall be!!! 

*Princess Tip:  For those who find their sweet, wonderful, otherwise lovely, DHs a bit resistant to the amount of monogramming you would choose to have in your home...Williams-Sonoma custom makes monogrammed branding irons for the grill!  Take my word for it, he will become a LOT more agreeable about monograms around the house when they match his "ManMakeFireCookMeatMarkTerritory" treat!

Moving on... I was doing a bit of shopping at my dear friend's, The Preppy Poppy, to pick up a few things...I won't go into too many details...the holiday's are coming, after all...but on a few of the things I asked her to make, I asked her for...gasp...monograms AND awareness ribbons.  As these items are for different people, I decided to double check on the colors of the awareness ribbons for a few things.

Oh my...

In a million years, I couldn't have imagined the amount of causes to which awareness ribbons would be assigned...nor could I have imagined that distinctions would be made between "graphite," "silver," and "gray" or "indigo" and "blue" or that even with that distinction, there are at LEAST 50 causes/illnesses/etc. of which one should be aware upon seeing a blue ribbon!!!  Blue, people...not indigo...or light blue, periwinkle, teal or turquoise...and I'm not even going to mention the ribbons that are 2 colors.  We've got green, light green, lime green, mint green, and olive green.  There's a full circle starting at purple...to violet, lavender, orchid (I'm all for Testicular Cancer having an Awareness Ribbon, but come on, who's idea was ORCHID?!), pink, hot pink, red, cranberry, then burgundy on back to purple!  This is by no means all of them...no, really...you can't make this up!!!  Even I can't make this stuff up!!  Many of them, not just blue, have 50+ causes associated with them.  I care.  I volunteer.  I donate.  I TRY to be aware...but I feel like at this point, I can say with absolute, unwavering, surety, that I will NEVER be THAT aware!


As you can imagine, part of the reason this awareness rainbow would drive entire colonies of Leprechauns to abandon their pots of gold and drink, is that, well...some of these "causes" seem just the tiniest bit questionable to me.  As my darling Poodle said to me today when I was outlining this post for her, "Peach, no.  Blue means only two things - First Place and Pabst Blue Ribbon."

Feral Cats.  I am assuming this is an orange ribbon so that I can take aim more easily when they are outside my bedroom window at night?


Self-Injury.  I can't even lie, I googled.  I thought it meant someone like me who bumps into/trips over everything.  Nope!  Cutters.  As to whether this is to identify them to others like a pledge pin, encourage them to keep up the good work (though I think it's of note that these are worn vertically...a subtle suggestion that people have had enough with the "cries for help" and just slash 'em vertically already), or inspire them to quit, I do not know.

Targeted Individuals?  Turns out these are essentially adult bullying victims.  Good plan.  Grow up, get bullied, whine about enough on message boards to have someone come up with a catchy name that sounds less victim-y than victim, so the catchy name can earn an awareness ribbon, that you can then proudly wear wherever you go...to identify yourself to all who see you...as...wait for it...a whiny victim!!!  Why not wear a "Kick Me" sign, people?  You are not doing yourselves any favors!

Free Speech?  Like I always say, I didn't vote for it.  Sometimes, stupid shouldn't speak.

Responsible Use of Public Lands?  So much for that meth lab! 

Trauma?  Not in relation to anything specific...and believe me, every conceivable trauma has it's own trauma specific ribbon, to include PTSD.  Trauma is but one on the list of redundant and/or random.  Kindness, Harmony, Hope and Support, Innocence, Transitions, Freedom, and Growth and Rebuilding were a few of my other favorites...good luck trying to find specifics on these "Awareness" ribbons.  If Google doesn't know, how am I, a lifelong member of the Look-It-Up Club, ever to become aware?  This may keep me awake nights!!! 


For today, I'll just focus on 2.  Green and Lime Green...yes, seriously, Lime Green.  Surely you'll recall one of my favorite non-profits, The Queen of Hearts, dedicated to helping those with Leukemia (Green...alternate color Orange (Did I mention some have more than one color?)), Lymphoma (Lime Green), and those awaiting organ transplants (Green).  QoH is still in it's infancy online, though we were founded in 2003.  We hold an Aloha themed, Casino Night fundraiser every year over Labor Day Weekend, and I am thrilled to announce that our friends at Marley Lilly and The Pink Monogram were the first online to jump in and support the Queen of Hearts by donating to the Aloha's Chinese Auction!  They were a huge hit!  That was but the beginning of the generosity and support!!! For anyone that "Likes" Marley Lilly and Queen of Hearts on Facebook, Marley Lilly is offering free shipping on orders over $85 with offer code QoH...AND...there will be a Marley Lilly review and giveaway coming your way very soon!  The Pink Monogram not only donated a pair of the Original Monogrammed Clogs to the Aloha...we have a great review and giveaway in the Queen of Hearts honor soon!  In addition to these terrific ladies and their companies, two more fab women and their stores have come on board to join in helping with the online campaign to raise awareness and donating for next year's Aloha.  The Monogrammed Martini, whose delightful owner was thrilled get involved, has a great Queen of Hearts awareness review and giveaway coming up...I can't wait to see what it will be...and what she comes up with for the Aloha!  And last, but certainly not least, as she is to blame for this post, my sweet friend, The Preppy Poppy, has a review/giveaway in the works and I happen to know has something tres fun for the Aloha!


With all that can seem wrong with world on any given day...natural disasters, disease, neglect and abuse and murder of people's own family members...people parking in handicapped spots and being rude to waitresses...it can sometimes be hard to remember all the truly good in the world.  And then I am reminded of ladies like these...willing to help others...just because...


As I often say, when things seem bleak, take a deep breath and count your blessings. Someone has it much worse. Donate. Volunteer. Help them, it will help you both.

XOXO
~CAT

 

A New Low

I am a pretty self aware person.  I know my flaws...I own them...who am I kidding, I flaunt them!  I have shared with you in the past that Walt Disney kind of distorted my perception of reality...let's not rehash my traumatic Chinatown visit.  There are a fair amount of Hidden Mickeys throughout my home...and quite a few that are not so hidden.  I drag Husband to Disney every chance I get...again, no need to rehash...World=Happiest Place On Earth...Land=Ghetto/Wrong Side of the Happiest Place On Earth tracks.  My Royal status?  As to whether that is a Disney issue or an entitlement one, remains to be seen.  A proper Princess always gives back and as I may have mentioned, I have spent my adult life dedicated to service to my Country and my community...the America Red Cross, the Queen of Hearts, and the Peace Corps (Domestic Branch)...for example.  I spent 2 years as a full-time intern during college at the Sheriff's Dept. and pulled overnights once on a week as a first responder, studying when I wasn't on the ambulance.  I may regret including this, but the guys on my crew did NOT call me Princess.  They had their own little pet name for me...Axe...as in Battle.  I may have been a little bit of a hard ass at the time...you try running overnights on an ambulance when you're the only female on the crew!  You have to, for example, take the 80+ year old woman who decided she was to old to wear panties to bed to the ladies because she can't be left alone...and she's chatty!  Some things, my friends, cannot be unseen.

Why am I telling you all of this?  I have been afforded the opportunity to see people at their very best and their very worst.  I have shared those moments with them.  I have had my heart broken seeing someone hurt by a loved one and had my heart overfilled seeing an entire community become a family after a wildfire destroyed a over a quarter of the homes in the town.  I've taught EMS and Lifeguards how to administer oxygen in the morning, helped a family whose house burned down with lodging, food, and clothing in the afternoon, only to race home to wait by the phone for a call from deployed Husband.  I've also had to, with a police escort, do searches of disaster shelters' sleeping areas and bathrooms because residents were coming to me with reports of weapons and drugs.  I've watched as some of those same people abandoned their children at the shelters and took their Red Cross and/or FEMA money to the mall.  Just when you think you can't handle seeing one more thing?  One of the little girls whose mother constantly abandoned her at the shelter assuming she'd be cared for...which, of course, she was, and in my opinion, better than when her mother was there saying charming things like, "Don't go near that man, baby, we don't like people look that man."  She was referring to a cop.  We had more than a few residents who shared her sentiment.  Back to her daughter...one afternoon, I still don't know where the child got a bottle of nail polish, she walked over, grabbed the cop's hand, and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he needed a manicure!  The next thing you know, I look over, and there's this huge cop in a child sized chair at a child sized table getting a hot pink manicure!!!  Some things, my friends, cannot be unseen.

No matter how much you see, no matter how many highs, no matter how many lows, people can still surprise you.  Sometimes, when confronted with a new low, even promising yourself that there are even greater heights to which the human spirit can soar...well...sometimes that's just not enough.

I've given you Disney...I've thrown down a little Dickensian best of times/worst of times...now I guess it's time to tell you why I spent 10 minutes crying in my car in a store parking lot today.  I was running into the store to grab some fishing line (to secure holiday decor) and a candle.  That's it.  But it's me and it's shopping so I grab a cart just in case.  There is a man with a coffee can and a picture of his 3yr old daughter standing next to the cart asking for donations for her, as she was in the hospital after being hit by a car and he had no insurance to cover her stay.  Naturally, I was heartbroken for him and his poor daughter and though I asked what had happened and if she was ok, a drunk driver, he said, she was having 4 pins put in her leg, I offered my prayers and a truly heartfelt apology that I simply don't carry cash.  I do, however, carry plastic!  So into my cart went a big, pink, princess, gift bag...and into that, a pink princess costume, tiara, mirror, dress-up princess jewelery, a princess wand...everyone knows princesses don't carry wands, fairy godmothers do, but I wasn't going to split hairs...I found some gross looking pink princess candy, and animal crackers, of course.  I put all the presents in the gift bag and walk out to where he was standing with the gift bag, my bag, and a bottle of water for him because it was about 95 and rising at the time.  He wasn't there.  I must have looked like an idiot.  I just sort of stood there holding this stuff in front of the store for a minute or two.  That was when the store employee stationed at the front door noticed me and my sad little princess gift bag.  
"That bag isn't for the man that was out here earlier begging for money, is it?"
"Yes, yes it is.  I don't see him though."
"Ummmm...he left ma'am."
"Oh no!  Do you know where he went?  I just bought this for him to take to his daughter."
"I don't know where he went, but I know he won't be back."  I can only assume that at that point my face distorted into something akin to my pug's when he hears a strange a noise, because he continued, "He was lying, a scam, you know..."
I really don't know if he kept talking...I was already walking away.  As I was almost to my car a woman walked by pushing a cart with her daughter in it.  She looked 3.  Ish.  To me.  What do I know?  I asked them if she liked princesses and told them it was her lucky day!  When the mother opened her mouth to ask the crazy lady giving away big bags of prezzies in parking lot if she was off her meds, I pointed to the employee still standing in the doorway and told her to ask him.

I got in my car, took a deep breath, pulled out my phone, typed the name of the town and "car accident" into google news...and started to cry...

XOXO
~CAT

Queen of Hearts

Kicking off a big month at the Preppy Pink Palace!  I'm dedicating this month, with the help of some fab friends, to my darling friend Margie, the Queen of Hearts.
 

"Since 2003 Marjorie Sprague, founder of The Queen of Hearts Foundation, has been raising money and awareness in support of the cancer and organ donor communities. Marjorie’s passion comes from very personal experience. She received the precious gift of life twice; beating non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 1997 and then receiving a new heart in 2005. She started The Queen of Hearts Foundation to provide financial assistance to individuals coping with the day to day challenges of surviving cancer; or waiting for or recovering from transplantation. The Foundation hopes to make a difference by removing some of the financial stress.

Since its humble beginnings, the Foundation has grown, taking advantage of the opportunities that have been given to Marjorie to help others fighting for that second chance at life. The Queen of Hearts Foundation is a totally volunteer organization that thrives on getting people involved. What cause appeals to you? Doing good for others will give you inspiration in other areas of your life. One person can make a difference. Please support the Queen of Hearts Foundation and help make that difference."


Margie was on the transplant list, still waiting for her heart, when she decided to start Queen of Hearts, wanting to help others even while waiting for life saving help herself!  She is a true inspiration to all who know her and that is the reason that QoH is entirely volunteer and has nearly quadrupled what we raise since our inception!
The QoH started the month with our 9th annual Aloha Fundraiser.  It is a fantastic Aloha themed casino night with a chinese auction that is always a good time!  But it's time for us to grow again and we have our sights set on the internet!  We have a website and an underutilized Facebook cause and non-profit fan page...but those days are over.  Internet, here we come!
To get us started, the lovely ladies at The Pink Monogram and Marley Lilly gave us wonderful donations for the chinese auction...our FIRST from online retailers!!!

Now it's your turn to join it the fun!  Your first Queen of Hearts treat is brought to you by Marley Lilly.  Just pop over to Facebook and "like" the Queen of Hearts and when you spend $85 at Marley Lilly, use coupon code QOH for FREE SHIPPING!!!  There more generosity to come this month from some truly amazing people...make sure you keep checking back!!!


Donations to Queen of Hearts can be made:
Queen of Hearts


XOXO,
~CAT

15 POUNDS?!?!?

Sorry I have been behind in my blogging...I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must be for you, dear readers.  I am in the process of changing some medications and sadly, RA and Migraines have kept me from you.  The doctor has just called and increased my dose on the new medication with a friendly reminder that I should expect to gain at least 15lbs.  WHAT?!?!?  In case you hadn't guessed, said doctor is a man!  This was before he doubled my dose...


So at any rate...that is why I haven't blogged in the last week.  I do apologize...I have missed you.  I will be sure to offer you at least a short post from now on...even when I can't write a full post.


With that behind us, I am looking for people and companies interested in doing a giveaway in connection with a non-profit...Queen of Hearts...that is simply amazing!  If you or anyone you know are or might be interested, please let me know!


XOXO
~CAT