Kat's Almost Purrfect World

Pink Halloween 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 23:14:00 +0000

In our area we can't Trick or Treat. I love Halloween especially since it's the day after my birthday. I used to have Halloween Parties for my birthday. I miss those days. The first image is of me when I was 12.Here are some images that I got from Google search, plus pictures of my daughter when she was younger. She's almost 23 now.

I'm back...

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 04:32:00 +0000

I haven't blogged in a long time because I've had health issues. The last 9 months have been scary with many issues with my Kidney. I can't say Kidneys because my left Kidney is dead. It's so scary. I was in the hospital two times with 3-4 days at a time. Then I had a surgery to remove a golf ball sized Kidney stone. I recently did a pee test where they have me pee for 24 hours and they check to see why I was creating Kidney stones. I had them 8 times over a 30 year period. Anyways, I recently saw my Urologist and he told me that I'm not getting enough Citric Acid, so I have to take pills for that. What's horrible is that I can't eat Potasium or very little of it. Everyone knows that bananas have Potasium, but it also counts potatoes, oranges, tomatoes and avocadoes. I recently had a bunch of guacamole and was sick for a week. So sad! Before I knew about my recent Kidney stones I was having severe back pain and was barely able to walk. I gained tons of weight. In the last 9 months I've lost 25 pounds and still need to loose another 20 plus pounds.

Peacock Images

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Wed, 30 May 2018 23:19:00 +0000

Here are some Peacock images that I've collected from The Graphic Fairy and other places.

Healthier Version of Stouffer's Rigatoni with Chicken and Pesto

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 02:21:00 +0000

Sometimes it's great to just pop something in the oven or microwave for dinner. If it's a frozen dinner the costs are long term. I love Stouffer's Rigatoni with Chicken and Pesto and we had this with zucchini with spices and cheese. Both were made in the microwave and it was easy. The hardest part was slicing the zucchini, which I had to do sitting down.

I thought, this is an easy dinner so why don't I make it from"scratch". I looked at the ingredients to see what the basics are. Yikes! It's amazing how much extra salt, msg and other crap that is put into frozen food.

I had some frozen chicken that I put in the Slow Cooker. Mixed paprika, pepper, and with a half a cup of chicken broth (I didn't bother measuring it, just threw it in the Slow Cooker), then I threw the mixture with some crushed garlic over the chicken.

After I cooked the chicken I shredded it and put it aside. Added pesto, more garlic, milk, orange peel. I squeezed a section of orange. I used jar crushed garlic and a jar of pesto. I sauted mushrooms and pine nuts and mixed it in. Yes, I could make pesto from scratch and yes I could crush the garlic, but when you have Fibromyalgia or any other illness, there are some concessions that need to be made.

I mixed the pesto mixture with the chicken and put in the pasta. It came out watery because I used too much chicken broth (plus the chicken creates it's own broth). I'd rather it be a bit runny because it insures the chicken doesn't burn. I put the cheese in a bowl and a bowl of orange quarters as a side dish.

Now that was easy: chicken, spices, crushed garlic ,chicken broth, pesto and cheese.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. I'll do that next time. The recipe came out great! I would skip the squeeze of oranges and just keep the orange rind in there. I'd also put in less milk and broth.

Back to the Stouffer's Rigatoni-

Online, I found a website that breaks down ingredients to ready made food. Here is the link to this product. http://www.fooducate.com/app#!page=product&id=5E5FE8FA-593F-11E2-AD7C-1231381A4CEA

There are 5 servings in a box.

INGREDIENTS

blanched rigatoni (water, semolina, wheat gluten), cooked chicken white meat (chicken white mear, water, seasoning [salt, maltodextrin, garlic, sugar, spices, dextrose, yeast extract, carrageenan, orange peel, onion, soybean oil, chicken fat, paprika, chicken broth, dried celery, natural flavor], isolated soy protein, modified food starch, caramel coloring, maltodextrin, sodium phosphate, canola oil) skim milk, parmesan and asiago cheese blend with flavor (parmesan cheese [cultured milk, salt, enzymes], asiago cheese [cultured milk, salt, enzymes], enzyme modified parmesan cheese [cultured milk, water, salt, enzymes], whey, salt), basil, water, soybean oil, extra virgin olive oil, 2% or less of cream, romano cheese ([made from cow'smilk], pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), garlic puree, modified cornstarch, pine nuts, parsley, sea salt, sugar, datem, spice, citric acid.

Explanations:

Contains DATEM

DATEM is an acronym for Diacetyl Tartaric Acid Esters of Monoglycerides. This is a dough conditioner used to improve volume and uniformity in breads.

DATEM is considered safe by the FDA, but a study on rats showed “heart muscle fibrosis and adrenal overgrowth”.

---
Source: Meyer, O. (1992) Combined chronic toxicity/carcinogenicity study with DATEM in rats. Unpublished report No. IT 890451 from the Institute of Toxicology, National Food Agency of Denmark

For dieters: FoodPoints value is 7 ( Weight Watchers Food Point System)

* FoodPoints are calculated by Fooducate based on fats, carbs, fiber, and protein. They are not an endorsement or approval of the product or its manufacturer.
The fewer points - the better.

Puffed up with protein?

Protein is important, but some of the protein you find in this product isn't exactly natural. The protein comes from one of the following sources:

- milk protein concentrate
- whey protein isolate
- soy protein isolate

While it's fine to get some of your protein from supplemented items, keep in mind that they are not "natural" sources and that it's not ideal to get protein only from processed goods.

Highly Processed!

This product is highly processed. If you'll take a look at its ingredient list, you'll discover new words to add to your vocabulary. Many of theses ingredients are required to increase the shelf life of the product and improve the flavor that disappears when food is not fresh.

Contains MSG-like ingredients

People sensitive to MSG may also be sensitive to MSG-like substances. These are glutamates or chemically similar items added to improve a product's taste.

Here is a short list of common MSG-like substances (see our blog for more):

- Yeast extract
- Autolyzed yeast
- Hydrolyzed proteins

NUTRITION

Serving Size: 1 cup (140g)
Amount per ServingMy Daily Value
Calories270Kcal16%
Calories from Fat110Kcal17%
Total Fat12g19%
Saturated Fat3.5g21%
Trans Fat0g0%
Cholesterol25mg8%
Sodium470mg20%
Total Carbohydrate25g11%
Dietary Fiber2g8%
Added Sugars1g4%
Sugars2g5%
Protein15g31%
Vitamin A400IU8%
Vitamin C0mg0%
Calcium100mg10%
Iron0.72mg4%

My version: Cooked White meat chicken, spices, cream, milk, orange peel, parsley, pasta, pine nuts and Parmesan, Asiago and Romano Cheese (not Ray Romano, lol).

Let me remind you of what their version has:

INGREDIENTS

blanched rigatoni (water, semolina, wheat gluten), cooked chicken white meat (chicken white mear, water, seasoning [salt, maltodextrin, garlic, sugar, spices, dextrose, yeast extract, carrageenan, orange peel, onion, soybean oil, chicken fat, paprika, chicken broth, dried celery, natural flavor], isolated soy protein, modified food starch, caramel coloring, maltodextrin, sodium phosphate, canola oil) skim milk, parmesan and asiago cheese blend with flavor (parmesan cheese [cultured milk, salt, enzymes], asiago cheese [cultured milk, salt, enzymes], enzyme modified parmesan cheese [cultured milk, water, salt, enzymes], whey, salt), basil, water, soybean oil, extra virgin olive oil, 2% or less of cream, romano cheese (I used Lucerne's Italian Blend), pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), garlic puree, modified cornstarch, pine nuts, parsley (I used basil instead), sea salt, sugar, datem, spice, citric acid.

The highlighted items are the items that I cooked with.

What would you rather serve, your family, your friends or yourself? Mind you my version is more expensive because I'm dealing with Real Food. The costs are diminished when you think of the cost of Health Care.

Since I have Fibromyalgia I know that I'm suppose to stay away from MSG and other additives. Think of all the problems with ADD/ADHD that children and adults have. By the way, I have ADD/ADHD.

What have you done lately to improve your health?

I will make this recipe again. :)

Saying Good Bye to our Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 03:20:00 +0000

With all the rain we've gotten, this past Winter, our tree started to lean toward the house. The other tree to the left of it was half dead. We had a tree company come out and remove our two trees and then we had them remove the stump from the tree that fell in our parkway a few years ago.

As you can see we still have trees in the back of the property. One of them is a huge Ash tree and the rest are Pepper Trees that keep on creating seedlings. If we didn't dig out the seedlings I'd have a forest of them. Right now we have grass because we have a very wet Winter, but by Summer it will be brown again. Our trees helped keep our house cool so I'm not looking forward to the heat this Summer. We'll have to find ways to keep the house cool. I'm thinking a retractable awning would help. In the meantime, we're going to put the film that helps keep heat out in the Summer and cold out in the Winter. We have AC units in our bedrooms and one noisy one in the living room. I'd like to replace the living room one with one like this one:

Now our yard is ready for a pool. Only one big problem, it would cost over $50,000 to get one. I'm constantly looking at the Swim Spas that would have a mini-pool with a Jacuzzi. One can dream right?

St. Patrick's Day Background by Hotdigidy Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 08:30:00 +0000

Hot Bligity Blog is the first place I went to for Backgrounds. I was so excited to find a place that would share images and information for free. This month's background is from Hot Bligity Blog.

Here are some of their other backgrounds. They do custom work too.

Here is a link to my St. Patrick Day Images that I've created and saved.

$2500 Scrapbook.com Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sat, 11 Feb 2017 01:52:00 +0000

Right now scrapbook.com is having a giveaway for a Craft Room Makeover. I don't know about you but I can always use organizing stuff and buy a few scrapbooking craft stuff too.

Say hello to a new year and a newly, redesigned craft room! Scrapbook.com's $2,500 Craft Room Makeover Giveaway is the chance for one (1) Grand Prize Winner to receive an organizational prize bundle valued at $1000! Four (4) lucky Runners Up will receive a $375 shopping spree to the Scrapbook.com Store. What would you spend your winnings on? Dream big and read more to enter this giveaway now!

Here are some pictures of ideas that I want to do:

First of all I'm moving the big TV armoire into my bedroom since we got a Flat Screen TV for Christmas. I've been pining ideas on what I want to put into my cabinet. I have some shelves for organizing stuff, in my closet, that turns into a mess all the time.

Make a Board like the one they sell at Pottery Barn.

Storage and More.

Valentines Images for 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 19:32:00 +0000

On February 14th, in Sweden, they Celebrate Valentine's Day "Alla Hjartans Dag". I got this background and Header Image from "Vintage Made for You", my favorite Swedish Digital Blogger. Most of you remember that my parents are from Sweden and when I found her blog I was excited because I love her stuff and love to give a Swede some cheer.

My blog images from January were also from "Vintage Made for You".

Here is the Header for this month and another cute header found at this site.

You can find more fun and cute Valentine images like this one here.

Freebie January and February Pages

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 02:04:00 +0000

Here are a few Calendar Pages that you can save and Print on your Computer. Just Click on the images and right click to save. I got these when I was student teaching in Kindergarten.

]

If you want the pages for the rest of the year you can find them HERE.

Remember to save plain copies and then print a new one each year.

Happy New Years 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 22:47:00 +0000

If you want to create a Facebook Image for your profile it's easy. You find a background and size it to 828px x 315px. This means you resize the picture to this size. I use either Picmonkey or Ribbit (formerly called Picnik). Ribbit has a lot of really fun free frames. They used to have more free and I used to have tons of fun (not to be redundant) with them. Now a lot of my favorites you have to pay for. It's ths same with the Picmonkey frames. Right now I can't justify paying for their fees because I'm not selling anything, like I used to sell Barbies, or making any money on my blog. I'm doing it just for fun (ok need to think of a better word) for my enjoyment.

Right now I'll walk you through a mini tutorial on how to resize a photo.

I'll do this in Picmonkey:

There are tons of fun free images online. You can find free Facebook Images free too. Right now I'll create a new one by looking up New Years Images. Google: New Years Images...

This is what the page will look like. You will click on Open and find your image that you saved on your computer. I put mine in New Years folder. I have a folder for EVERYTHING. Your screen will then look like this:

Once we are done I will go to my Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/katmeowrine

Right now my page looks like this:

If you move your mouse to the upper left hand corner it will hover over "update your facebook cover". I will do that and add our new image by clicking upload image. I'll find my image in my New Years folder (do you see why keeping things in folders is important?). Then I'll click save. Go to my Facebook Page to see the end result.

Here are two other Facebook Covers I've created in the past plus more New Years images I've saved over the years. Again, go to my Favorite Digital Images Page to see where I get my stuff (see top of blog).

Facebook Cover

Another Facebook Cover

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. Let me know what you think.

Holiday Images

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 02:52:00 +0000

I've updating my Holiday Images that I've been saving. Here is what I have so far.

The images are from Karen, the Graphic Fairy, Pretty Things for You and other places. Some I framed and altered.

Feel free to copy these images for your collection. To save click on picture to make the image larger, then right click on your mouse and then add it to your files.

What Kind of Barbie Doll are You?

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 09:41:00 +0000

How can I resist a quiz like this? I mean I'm the ultimate Barbie Girl! I love Buzz Feed Quizzes and just found a link to Barbie Buzz Feed Articles. I'm in heaven and know what I'm going to do when need some good Internet Reading Material.

So Let's start with the quiz, What Kind of Barbie Doll are You? Click HERE to take the Quiz too.

You got: Ballerina Barbie

Graceful. Precise. Dedicated. You find comfort in the spotlight, but there’s also a side of you that enjoys some quiet time to yourself. There are many sides to being an artist, and you’re #unapologetic about owning them all.

2016 Pink Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 21:11:00 +0000

I like to collect Pink Christmas Images. Here are a few I already had and a few new ones.

I'm using this image for my Facebook Cover.

This is my daughter Natalie from 2012. So pretty in pink!

When I finally have a Barbie House, I'm going to create a Pink Christmas in there. :)

I'm linking this to:

Click Here

There is nothing sacred in Retail anymore..

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sat, 19 Nov 2016 21:42:00 +0000

When I worked in retail, for 8 years, I knew that I could count on Christmas Day, New Years Day, Thanksgiving and Easter off of work. Before and after Thanksgiving and Christmas was always insane but at least I'd get the holiday off. I went back to college to become a Teacher and either I was a student or a teacher and had all of these holidays off. Boy was I spoiled!!! and I loved it!!!

I grew up with a mom, that was a waitress and a sister and stepmom that worked in hospitals. My mom asked for Christmas Eve because that is when my family celebrates Christmas. Then we had a quiet day on Christmas Day. Maybe we went to see our neighbors or my Grandma that day but we had already opened our gifts the night before. As a married woman this tradition has still continued. We celebrate with my family on Christmas Even and with Kurt's family on Christmas Day. Last year we stayed home on Christmas Day and had his family over the Saturday after Christmas. This year we're back to the regular schedule. Just driving around Southern California is enough to drive someone insane. Most of us still live here, in Southern California, so we're lucky that we don't have to travel by plane. I keep on joking that we should all take a cruise and not worry about Christmas Eve dinners but everyone looks at me like I'm nuts.

One year, in my early 20's I went clubbing on New Years Eve. Most of my friends were under 21 and so we went to an 18 and older club in Hollywood, CA. Then almost all of us had to work New Years Day. We were all exhausted, working, that day. I thought are they crazy? At the time, I had no idea that the retail schedules would continue to get more and more insane.

Now that Natalie, my 19 year old daughter, works in retail, I have to worry about when the stores are open. Well some crazy person started having stores open on Thanksgiving. What? I won't shop on that day but now I have to worry about my daughter working that day. We finally got her new schedule for next week. She works 6pm to 2am On Thanksgiving, then returns at 10am on Friday to work another long shift. First of all, it's bad enough that we can't visit family on Thanksgiving but she doesn't even get enough time to sleep, so after Friday she'll be wiped out and probably still working the whole weekend. Just thinking about it makes me tired. Poor Natalie has been anxious about Black Friday Sales already.

I don't know about you, but I don't need to shop in Thanksgiving and I'm perfectly happy to wait till Friday morning to shop. Sure super sales are grand, but sales people need to have lives too.

I wish more people, were like me, and boycotted the stores that had insane hours. You won't find me Shopping on Thanksgivng and you won't find me shopping on New Years Day.

How do you feel about the crazy retail hours?

Time for Halloween Again

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Thu, 13 Oct 2016 05:51:00 +0000

Can't believe it's almost Halloween. The evenings are finally starting to cool off and make it feel like it's Fall. We always have such a long Summer and the cool weather is always welcomed when it gets here.

I found a cute background and header at Itkupilli's website again. Here are the links to this background and header. My current Halloween background Here and my new Halloween Header is Here. This is actually from this bloggers old background site but I just love all her backgrounds. She also has some really creepy, if that is your thing, too.

Last year I had surgery a few days before Halloween and couldn't go to my friend's yearly party. I hope that she has a party this year too. I love Halloween and the day before is my birthday. I have so much to celebrate since it's a year since I had my adenoma removed. My health hasn't been the greatest, with a flu/sinus infection, but at least I'm healthier than I was a year ago.

My latest adventure is that I've signed up with Rover.com. I just finished watching a Shaffordshire Terrier/Labrador tonight. I'm going to miss Jordan. He is such a sweetheart! I may get to take care of him at the end of the month. I hope so!!! On Friday I'm getting a new dog for the weekend. We don't have dogs because Kurt doesn't want one, so this is my way of getting to spend time with wonderful dogs and get paid doing it. :)

Get The Best Homemade Cleaners Kindle eBook Free Through Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 12:42:00 +0000

Get The Best Homemade Cleaners Kindle eBook Free Through Friday!

Tawra, from Living on A Dime, is saying that you can get the Best Homemade Cleaners Kindle e-book for FREE now through this Friday!  She and her mom spend less than $10 on cleaning supplies.


The Best Homemade Cleaners e-book explains how to use cleaning supplies effectively to clean and save. You'll learn which cleaners work best for various jobs so you don't have to keep a closet full of different cleaners that you never use.

Go get it for FREE through Friday, September 30th at Amazon HERE!


http://amzn.to/2cX7a6s




Here is a few of the cleaners, from this e-book, mentioned on their blog, Living on a Dime:







Homemade Soft Scrub Recipe



1 tsp. liquid soap
several drops of an antibacterial essential oil (such as tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, or peppermint)
1 cup baking soda

Add just enough water to form a paste, and use it with a sponge or brush to scour bathtub surfaces.








Homemade Clorox Wipes 















FOAMING HAND SOAP REFILL RECIPE







This is another easy recipe by reusing a foaming hand dispenser.  I do the same thing with my Dawn Foam Dispenser.  I buy Dawn at the Dollar Tree, then refill the Foaming Dispenser a few inches and filling the rest with water.  I have had the same dispenser for a few years and finally it has stopped pumping.  By doing this I'm saving tons of money but still getting the same product.




The e-book has these recipes and more.  Get it HERE  for FREE through September 30th.

Summer Goes too Fast

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Tue, 02 Aug 2016 03:47:00 +0000

After all the hoopla this past June, from my daughter's graduation from High School, this has been a very sleepy Summer. We're very proud of Natalie because she was Valedictorian of her Senior Class. My husband is finally taking a week off of work and we're going to the mountains for 3 nights, just the two of us. I feel bad about leaving Natalie home alone, but she'll be busy with her boyfriend and friends. Kurt and I need some much needed time alone together. I told him as long as there is a pool I'm happy.

We're going to go to Big Bear, in the San Bernadino Mountains that is a few hours away from us. We live in the San Fernando Valley which is North West of Downtown Los Angles. If you ever saw the movie, "Valley Girl", it took place where we live. Fer Sure!

The last time I was in Big Bear was when I was about 20 and had gone skiing for the first and last time. Even though I only went on the Bunny Slopes, meant it was for the beginners, I was scared going up on the chairs and scared going down. It didn't help that the first chair ride my skis caught caught with my boyfriend's skis. They stopped the chairs from moving and he had to remove his ski, up in the air, then put it back. I'm afraid of heights so this was a harrowing experience for me. The second time I tried to go down the slope someone ran into me and I fell. I had to try to get up and turn myself around. When I was going down the hill I felt like I would never stop in time and run right into the crowds of people at the bottom of the hill, well I stopped but my heart was beating too fast. I decided I skiing was too exciting for me. I was proud that I had tried skiing because I have always been a scared when it came to sports.

Snow Summit Chair Lifts

In 2001 and in 2012 we had gone with my parents and Natalie to the Pine Rose Cabins that is down the mountain from Big Bear. I love this place but we wanted to try something different this year. Big Bear Lake is another 40 minutes farther up the mountain from Lake Arrowhead.

Pine Rose Cabin #14 where we stayed in 2012.

Lake Arrowhead up the road from Pine Rose Cabins.

We're going to stay at the Big Bear Pioneer and are staying in the Queen Studio. This means we will have a kitchenette and a small patio. There is a pool and spa and it's right on the lake with a private beach. When you go to Lake Arrowhead you can't access the beach unless you live or are renting a house on the shore. I found this to be a total drag. Big Bear has many more places for the public to access the shore, plus it's a much bigger lake.

Frontier Cabins at Lake Big Bear

Frontier Cabin's Pool

I'm really looking forward to this time with my husband. I haven't had the chance to swim all Summer and that is one of my favorite things to do. How had your Summer been?

Happy 4th Of July United States of America

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 23:12:00 +0000

Here are some cute Patriotic Images for the 4th!

I'm using this one for Facebook.

Copy and save for your files too. I probably got these from The Graphic Fairy, but I could be wrong.

A Party without a Cake is Just a Meeting-Julia Child

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 07:30:00 +0000

Today I found this great quote on the blog Living on Cloud Nine. She posted this picture after her recipe, Sock it to Me Cake.

A Party Without a Cake is Just a Meeting. -Juliet Child

I've been to birthday parties where they didn't have a birthday cake. I know people are on diets and their are health issues, but I look forward to a good piece of cake. Don't you?

Anyways, seeing this quote inspired me to create a new collage.

Since this week I know of several people with birthdays, I thought...why not make it a birthday image.

Like Marie Antoinette said... Let Them Eat Cake!

Green Watergate Salad for St. Patrick's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 15:58:00 +0000

For St. Patrick's Day this year I plan on making Watergate Salad since it's made with pistachio pudding. Beautiful green pudding! What could be more perfect for our favorite green day. I love any excuse to make this salad. I don't eat it all the time but I just love the taste.

Watergate Salad:

what you need:

Can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

Pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding

Cup Miniature Marshmallows

1/2

Cup chopped Pecans (optional)

1-1/2

Cups Whipped Cream or Whipped Topping, like Cool Whip

Make It

COMBINE first 4 ingredients in large bowl.

STIR in Whipped Cream

REFRIGERATE 1 hour.

Important Info: If you are using Cool Whip, defrost it for at least 4 hours. Do not, I repeat Do not defrost in the microwave.

If you want to learn more about how Watergate Salad got it's name, see this post.

ViVi wants to “Make March Matter” – Supporting Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 18:23:00 +0000

ViVi wants to “Make March Matter” – Supporting Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is near and dear to ViVi owner and CEO Debbie Millar’s heart. Debbie is a pediatric cancer survivor and was treated at Children’s Hospital L.A. until she was pronounced cancer free.

In the month of March and while supplies last, ViVi will be partnering with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles by offering our “Wind Beneath my Wings” necklace ($32.00 Retail) and our “Butterfly Kisses Cored Bracelet Trio” ($32.00 Retail) and donating $3.00 per sale to C.H.L.A.

Order yours today and stock up while supplies are available. Once these darling pieces are gone, they're gone! Let’s all “Make March Matter”!

Wind Beneath My Wing

$32 Butterfly Kisses

If you buy these from me, I'll donate an additional $10, making it a $13 donation for each item.

The Future Belongs to those Who Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 08:30:00 +0000

When I was in 7th grade I wrote my first term paper. I chose to do it on Eleanor Roosevelt who I found very inspirational. One of my favorite quotes by her is:

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

This quote is so powerful! No one can make you feel bad about yourself. This is easier said than done, especially for someone who's been bullied. I was bullied and laughed at in 7th grade. I was in a new school and didn't fit in. It wasn't just that I was new, but I wasn't "cool" enough. Who knows why, maybe it was my personality. Bullying is very high in Junior High, now called Middle School. It broke my heart when I saw my daughter go through this many years later.

Now my daughter will be graduating in June from High School. I'm so proud of her and so hopeful that she will have a successful future.

Today, on Facebook, I found another great Eleanor Roosevelt quote:

The Future Belongs to those who Believe in the Beauty of their Dreams.

I've taken this quote and placed in on this beautiful digital paper.

Click on the image and click save as. Then you can print this for yourself or a card. I'm going to print and frame it for the gift table at Natalie's Graduation Party.

Free Gorgeous Digital Paper

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 17:40:00 +0000

Kieren, from Free Pretty Things for You, posted about some gorgeous digital paper to download. It lead me to a site that has tons of digital paper. The best part, it's FREE! You could print it out for Scrapbooking and paper projects or use it online to create stuff with.

Here is one of the papers I have downloaded for my files.

You can find more at Lianascrap.com. These files are found at this link.

What do you like to do with digital images or scrap paper? I'm working on a project with some fun scrap paper that I bought at Walmart. I should be sharing that soon.

Painting the Door Red

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 16:21:00 +0000

Here is my house from 2002. The tree, pictured on the right, cracked in half during a bad wind storm. The city had it cut down and all we have is a stump. We've owned our home since 1997 and when we bought it, the paint was just touched up. It had a new roof so that is what was most important. Who knows when it was last painted. We are finally having our house painted. I'm so excited! Our painter has been sanding and patching the house for the past few days.

Here are the Before Pictures:

Tonight Kurt and I finally figured out what colors we want to paint it. It will have similar colors in the walls and trim, but the door will be different. We're going to paint the door red.

Doesn't Everything look better with a hint of red?

The house is going to be painted with Dunn Edwards paint. The walls will be Cottage White DEW318, the trim will be Ocean City DE5879 and the door Roses are Red DET 428. What's funny is that we actually looked at a house that looks like Dunn Edward's version of a Ranch Style House. I wish we had that large of a porch, but we have a large lot in a fabulous location.

Soon I'll be able to post the after pictures.

Free St. Patrick's Day Images

noreply@blogger.com (Kat's Purrfect Boutique) — Sun, 06 Mar 2016 16:42:00 +0000

Almost every year I celebrate St. Patrick's day by decorating, eating corned beef and cabbage and lately eating soda bread.

The other day I shared a tutorial on how to remove backgrounds on a picture to create a ping, so I could create a Facebook Cover.

You can see this live here:

https://www.facebook.com/katmeowrine

Yesterday I took the background off this cat

and then created a button with this paper:

Here is the cat png

Here is the finished button:

I have a special place where I save images that I use on my blog. I have it broken down for different holidays and more. Here is a link to all of the St. Patrick's Day images I've saved and tinkered with.

Here is my St. Patrick Day Posts from

2012

2013

2014

Have fun saving and using my images for your own St. Patrick's Day projects.