happy (super belated) valentine's day

I'm a week overdue, but here is what I wore for Valentine's Day last week! My family and I went to see Aunt Annie (my 101 year old aunt!!) and brought her lots of chocolates and donuts. I swear her whole life she has lived off of junk food (and she actually used to drink vinegar, if you can believe it!) It makes me think twice about my own diet that consists mostly of fruits and veggies...

After seeing Aunt Annie, we went out for dinner near the beach. Earlier this month we went down the shore for the first time since Hurricane Sandy and it's just so incredibly sad to see all of our favorite places so ravaged. Ocean Grove (my favorite beach town in NJ) seems to have weathered the storm better than most places, but it's still heartbreaking to see the boardwalk ripped up and the setting of so many fond family memories completely destroyed.

dress - h&m | sweater - c/o romwe | shoes - asos | brooch - vintage

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two very special anniversaries!

Today is a very special day in our household, because two of my kitties are celebrating their adoption anniversaries! First up is Chloe, who's been a member of my family for 10 years now. 10 years! It's surreal!! I feel like it was just yesterday that we brought her home, but at the same time I literally can't remember what life was like without her. I feel like she's always been sitting in the front window observing our neighbors or running down the hallway chasing imaginary mice.

When we met Chloe she was a tiny 1 year old kitten, and had just had surgery for frostbite. She had been found outside in the cold, curled up in a ball... she hadn't eaten in a while and had apparently given up on life. She still has neurological damage and part of her tail is missing. We spoil her like crazy to make up for all the suffering she must have endured during her first year.

She is a real tough broad now, though! She lets us pet her when she's in the right mood, and as soon as she's had enough she gives us a swift punch in the jaw. She's even knocked my brother's glasses right off of his face! But Chloe is also a sweetie pie and one of the cutest creatures on the planet. She is the reason that I became a cat person.





Today is also one year since I brought home Hubble! He is SUCH a character (I think you can really tell from his photos!) and a little ball of energy. Seriously, this cat moves so fast sometimes that my eyes can't detect his movement.. he is just in one place one moment and across the room the next. He's a complete sweetheart, and loves to cuddle. And he has the cutest little throaty meow!

I met Mr. Hubble after Hypatia had received a very bleak prognosis from the vet. (She ended up pulling through, miraculously! She's a little fighter!) My mom thought it would cheer me up to look at the cats that they had up for adoption, and this little guy was hiding UNDER his cat bed! How cute is that? He seemed so meek and scared, we just had to bring him home! We were actually supposed to pick him up on the 13th, since I didn't want him stealing Chloe's birthday thunder (yeah, I put the crazy in crazy cat lady) but the vet's office rescheduled and we ended up picking him up on Valentine's Day after all!

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last minute valentines

If you waited until the last minute and need some quick and easy printable valentine ideas, I have plenty for you in this post! First up are some printable business-card sized valentine freebies! They fit on Avery business card paper or you can print them on regular card-stock and cut them out the old fashioned way ;) They're available (I repeat, FOR FREE!) at kitschy digitals here.

ps. I'm including free printed versions of these with all sweet and lovely orders this week!



I also have some Flapper Doodle valentines, too! These have cute little 1920's sayings on them ("Gee, You're Keen!" is my favorite) and my flapper illustrations. They're available in my etsy shop here. By the by, all of the printables in my shop now have instant downloads! I'm using crafthub, a service that automatically e-mails the files within 2-10 minutes. It's pretty nifty!



My sweethearts art print is now available as a printable download, too! At checkout just let me know what names you'd like and within an hour (provided I'm not asleep, which is usually between 4am-11am EST) you'll receive a custom PDF that you can print out and give to your sweetie pie! It's available in my etsy shop here.



If you want to listen to some lovey dovey tunes while you snuggle up with your loved one (or cat) this sampling of 1920's songs is perfect! They're all super sweet and lovely ;) This download is available in my etsy shop here.



Last year I scanned my dad's collection of vintage valentines from when he was a kid! They're all available (for free!) here. You can print them out for some unique cute cards or use them for blog posts, digital scrapbooking, etc. They're available here.



Finally, if you have some extra time on your hands tonight you can whip up this easy little embroidery pattern! It would be perfect to give to that special someone that you don't get to see often enough in person. You keep one embroidery and they can keep the other! It's available in my etsy shop here.

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a purrfect valentine

I've been wearing valentine-themed outfits all week (surprise! ha!) but so far I only had a chance to take pictures of this one. I got these kitty heart collar clips from i love crafty, and they are just purrfect for valentine's day! For me especially, since I adopted two of my cats on February 14th! Tomorrow we're celebrating Chloe's 10th anniversary (!!) and Hubble's 1st! I got Hubble some new toys and then went all-out spoiling Chloe with her favorite foods and treats. I mean, 10 years is pretty big so she deserves to be spoiled.

Off subject, but I just have to mention this cardigan. I'm on a constant quest to find the perfect cropped cardigan and oh golly this one is BEYOND perfect. It fits well, has just the right neckline (sometimes they're too low, too high or weirdly shaped) and it's warm enough for winter but light enough for spring and fall.  I wish so badly that it came in more colors!

dress and shoes - asos | cardigan - c/o modcloth | collar clips - c/o i love crafty

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