My week

 

 According to instagram..

1// the cutest muffin in the world cuddled up for a morning nap 2// the contents of my so called sewing drawer

3// new sparkly shoes 4// part of my #placesAmberlikestosleep project

 5// mocha lattes make me all warm and fuzzy 6// "hey ma"

 7// snow day 8// my newest mantra

  9// fresh snow; view from my bedroom 10// the first snowman I've made since I don't know when

See ya!

 

>> Amber's newest cuddling spot <<

In just a couple hours, I'll be headed to Boston for three days. Our dance company is performing in the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, so if you're in the area you should come! I'm so excited to be performing alongside some amazing artists and even catching up with some long lost friends!

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be back sometime next week to tell you all about it!

9:00 am

cat naps

Let's face it//they are the best thing (next to freeze pops and bare feet, of course). I learned back in high school that a key component of productive napping is time. I'm sure we'd all love to sleep for an hour or two, but the groggy, grumpy feeling that we I experience is just not pleasant. So what's the secret? Twenty-minutes. That's it! It is the perfect amount of time for our bodies to reset and wake up feeling refreshed. Did you know that? It might not sound appealing but trust me, you'll wake up feeling like a million bucks. Unless your a cat of course. Then twenty-minute rule does not apply. Happy napping.

 

love & dots

{click photo for link}

What do you think about polka dots? I've never really had to many items of clothing or accessories that had them. But boy am I getting on the dot bandwagon. Those high heels might be my favorite.

I've actually made a skirt out of a red and white fabric. And if I don't turn out looking like Minnie Mouse, you might be blessed enough to get a very first outfit post from me.

Ha.

This pretty lady sure knows how to wear her polka dots, doesn't she?!

It's a tough life

Happy Monday all! I don't know about you, but this weekend seemed to go by way too fast for my liking. And here we are again, another Monday. The good news is, the weather here in the Northeast is looking to be sunny and in the 70's this week! Spring weather makes the work week a little more tolerable. Except for when I see this lazy bum cuddled up in the warm sunlight. It's a tough life I guess, but someone's gotta do it.

there's a kitty in my closet

"Oh! Hello Mama."

Happy Holidays!

From a cat who thinks she's a present:

And she's right..

she is one of the best gift I've ever received!

May your weekend be joyful and full of wonderful things.

Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas friends!

Amber! On the computer!

Our cat is such a smarty pants. I think maybe she wanted to help her Dad with his homework.

We walked into the office this morning and couldn't believe what we were seeing. Amber! Using the laptop! Like seriously?! I had no clue she knew how to use one! Anyway. I quickly grabbed the camera cause I knew you all wouldn't believe me if I told you.

So here's the evidence. Little Amber kitty, using the laptop..

..as a BED!

Haha. Fooled ya!

 Get it?! ON the computer?!

Here's part of our conversation, once we found her there. By the way, I sound like a fool at the end trying to get her to "say goodbye" annnd I'm sorry that the lighting is awful :(

Weekly Gratitude

{click above to join!}

Thank you summer breezes for bringing fresh air into my house.

Thank you, thank you, thank you friends & family for coming to my Pampered Chef party yesterday! So many laughs - and so many great (free) products! And a big thanks to my cousin/P.C. consultant for putting on such a great show! 

(If you live in the Western MA area and want to have a Pampered Chef party.. I'll put you in touch with her! There are so many great benefits to being a host! Like getting $200 worth of free products!!)

Thank you sister for having a Birthday to celebrate. I just love getting together with my family and goofing around!

Thank you Amber for being our cute little munchkin.

And for beating up the DVD player with your ferocious paws.

And for giving the squirrels that hang upside down from our bird feeder, the look of death.

Thank you best friends. For being best friends.

Thank you mom.. for being awesome. Always!

Thank you PYO Fruit Farm up the street, for growing the most delicious peaches ever.. 

Even if they are kind of ridiculously expensive.

Thank you weeeeeekends for allowing boyfriend and I to spend some sort of meaningful time together.

pinterest

Happy Weekend everyone!

Be sure to link up with Love, Life, Lace for your Weekly Gratitude Posts!

My favorite spot {by Amber}

Is in the sun of course.

I love the warmth. Just like my momma.

But since she won't let me outside, I just sit here in the bay window, and occasionally climb the screen to catch the flies.

Happy Thursday!

Happiness for your Tuesday

"Don't make money your goal.

Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you."

- Maya Angelou

via

Happy Tuesday friends! This is another quote featured in Bethenny Frankel's "A Place of Yes". If you haven't gotten it and read it yet, then what the H-E-double hockey sticks are you waiting for?! Huh?!

In other news: I haven't seen my cat since about eleven this morning. It is very unlike her. Normally she's all up in my face. Today I frantically ran around to every room calling her name. Usually she either comes running to me, or answers with a meow. I've checked all her normal hiding and napping spots, and haven't found her. I easily freak out, and probably shouldn't be so worried because I'm sure she's around here somewhere. She's strictly an indoor cat, so I'm nervous that she somehow got out.

Oye.
I fret too easily.

The exciting things going on over here

- Amber's mice-catching marathon. Seriously. Three since Sunday evening.. and counting. At first I was grossed out, a little annoyed, and, yeah really grossed out. But now I'm kinda glad we have our own personal mouse exterminator.

- My full-time commitment to Handmade by Nicole. In case you are just joining me, or if you just haven't been paying attention (tisk, tisk), I have left my part-time job (the office one, not the dance teacher one) so that I can make jewelry and other random accessories all day everyday. It's been a long time coming and took a lot of hard work and finagling, but I'm so thankful and overwhelmed with excitement to see what the future of this tiny little business holds.

- Scary, scary thunderstorms that shake the house and almost make me pee myself. I spent the afternoon in the bedroom under the covers since I was all alone and without power. (To give you an idea of how "out there" we live, we didn't have power for at least 12 hours and all of our neighbors have generators. Apparently this happens often, and it's not unlikely to be without electricity for days. Hm.) On a side note: My heart goes out to everyone out here who was left with nothing after the tornadoes. I pray that things start getting better for you real soon.

- Sewing machine-ing! I'm currently making cases for the pillows on the couch. So far I've also made; curtains for the kitchen/dining room, cushions for the dining room chairs and tie-backs for our sliding glass door curtains. I love, love, love it.

- Dance recitals galore! This past weekend was consumed with backstage whispers, lipstick, flowers, tears, smiles, and the joy and love we have for dance. It was a pretty spectacular feeling to see my students who have worked so hard all year long, up on that stage doing exactly what I taught them to do. Some very fabulous stuff people. Also difficult to express with words. Photos coming soon!

 Some of the flowers from my students

My dad calls me squeaker. Mom prefers daredevil.

Taaa daaa!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I don't know what she's so worried about. We always land on our feet.

Except for when.. we don't.

I'm off to cuddle with my human. Later friends!

xoxo - Amber Kitty
(aka the real "person" that runs this place)

My first kitty-video diary!

Hello friends. I'm taking time out of my busy kitty-day to share my first diary entry with you.

Here's what I've been up to lately: licking myself, chasing the ants, scratching the furniture, sleeping, getting into everything and carrying my new toy all over the house.. (I think Mommy calls it a bouncy ball). Yup. I carry it in my mouth.

But today!! I discovered something incredible. I just wanted to go out and play.. but no one seems to understand me around here.

See ya later friends.. I'm off to nap, or find my bouncy ball.

How we spend our afternoons.

Thank you laptop cursor for keeping my little kitty entertained long enough to get this photo.

Because as soon as she saw a bird through the bay window, she was gone.

Happy Thursday

It's cold out. I'm cold. I have a cold. Let's cuddle.

In celebration of a productive week, I'm taking the last smidge of time before the weekend starts to relax.

I know! I know! Isn't that what weekends are for? 

Ha ha. Silly followers. 

Let me tell you, that in "Dance 101" weekend is loosely translated to more time for rehearsals and teaching.
Didn't you know that? It's okay if you didn't. I forgive you.

You were probably out that day.

So since this weekend will be 95% dancing, 15% sleeping and 5% social life - I'm desperate for time to regain some strength, both mental and physical, and some serious patience. I have a class of 2 - 4 year olds on Saturday mornings. Their Mommas and Daddies jump for joy with their one free hour of life. You would need patience too!

On top of just being completely exhausted, boyfriend and I are fighting this nasty cold thing. Lemme tell ya. Not attractive. If we can survive the brutal mucus and coughing, Sunday we are taking a trip to IKEA (Never been? You. Must. Go. NOW!) because we still don't have dining room chairs and we are deciding to sacrifice our Sunday "hang out on the couch time" for the trip. It will only be worth it if we come back with something, anything necessary and useful. Otherwise, queue grumpy Nicole. And the world will end because "we gave up precious weekend lounge time for nothing!" 

Okay. That might have been a little dramatic for me. But it could happen.

Just sayin'.

 kitty cuddle time = best thing ever

[Except, the banana peanut butter woopie pies that Gram made. They're pretty awesome too!]

Happy Friday Friends!

Usually I'm a jealous kind-of-angry when he sleeps in and I have to get up..

On a typical weekday morning, NO. Scratch that. Every morning, I am the first to get out of bed.

My snooze button and my thumb are so well acquainted that I don't even have to be conscience for it anymore. Snooze number one.. two.. three.. cringe (For reasons I don't understand, I would rather set my alarm a half hour earlier than I have to, rather than five or ten minutes before.. weird. I know. Because it doesn't make getting out of bed any easier.)

So the morning routine goes as follows: eyelids struggle to open, no matter how much sleep I've gotten. I reach for the blur which I think are my glasses (I'm blind btw.. no not literally, but close enough). Shuffle around for my slippers, cause there's no way I'm walking on the freezing floor barefoot. And stumble around the bed, which takes up most of the room, to the bathroom (and let me assure you that it's most definitely a stumble, which several times has been the cause of swearing and bruised legs).

Usually, Amber kitty is cuddled somewhere at the bottom of the bed. Either between my legs (makes it so hard to maneuver around.. cause how dare you disturb her!), or under the covers curled up in a ball close to your belly.

For the past two days, my kitty child and kitty daddy have been the cutest little pair. This morning I was smart enough to grab the camera before she moved, and before he realized I had the camera out!

Until now, I've always hated being the first to wake up..

Happy Hump day lovely bloggers!

Goodbye 2010

Wishing all of you the happiest and most wonderful New Year!

Thanks for following ; )

[and Amber Kitty]

"As long as we know in our hearts what Christmas ought to be, Christmas is."

 A weekend of Christmas celebrations, food, music, dance, family & quality time with the kitty.

No complaints here.

 

Last night was Northampton School of Dance's Holiday Party. It was so wonderful to see all the little munchkins running around in their red and green garland. Even though some of my kiddos didn't dance and just stood on stage looking completely miserable.. I'd say it went pretty well. The food was yummy and everyone was on a sugar high by 8pm which I'm sure the parents we're thrilled about. I made cake balls [recipe and photos coming soon - great for Holidays].

Happy 7th Day till Christmas!

Help us Western Mass folks and pray for some snow.. would ya?!