The Amazing Adventures of Josie and Seb

a girl, a boy, a cat, a dog.

In which my cat steals my boyfriend.

Posted by Cate on November 24, 2009

Me, to Joe, on LoveSac: Hey, precious…why don’t you move over a bit and let’s snuggle?

Joe: Let’s do!

(he moves over, we cuddle for .02 seconds)

(enter Josie, leaping with a MRAAAAAAAA onto Joe’s chest)

Joe: Well hi there, girly.

(he is a good human; he pets Josie)

Josie: Purrrrrrrrrrr

(I am forced to adjust so Joe’s arms are free to pet the kitty)

Me: Um…this is kind of…um…uncomfortable.

Josie: Purrrrrrrrrrr, purrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr

(I teeter on the edge of the LoveSac; Josie is sprawling)

Me: Um…honey…babe…do you think you could…

Josie: PURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Joe: Huh? What? Did you say something?

Me: I said, do you thi….

Josie: PUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Joe, to Josie: Oh, what a good sweet little kitten…such a good, pwetty widdle kitty…

(kissy noises)

Me: Ah…well. I guess I’ll…I’m going to…go sit on the couch?

Josie: Purrrrrrrr. heh-heh. Purrrr.

And scene.

True story.

Posted in conversations, human training, pictures, sadface | Leave a Comment »

CAUGHT ON FILM

Posted by Cate on November 22, 2009

Digital film, I think. But, nevertheless, CAUGHT!!!

I present to you, dear readers, Josie and Seb snuggling:

Josie approaches Seb, who sleeps unsuspecting

...she nuzzles, begins to roll...

SHE ROLLS! We have full-on KITTY JOY!

AND CONTINUES TO ROLL

...a short break, for some canoodling...

Seb finally wakes up, wonders what's going on...

Now, to the untrained eye, it may appear as though Josie has approached a sleeping Seb, rubbed herself all over his face and then used his attempt to evade her as an excuse to swat him in the eye. NOT SO!

Ladies and gentlemen: our animals like each other.

Posted in apartment, pictures, triumph! | 1 Comment »

I have a serious, SERIOUS crush on this man.

Posted by Cate on November 18, 2009

Joe: michael buble is coming to pittsburgh on march 17
me: NO WAY
me: can we go joe? can we can we can we can we???
Joe: hell yeah we can!
me: yaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Joe: !!!!!

Posted in conversations, googly eyes | 2 Comments »

Whirlwinds and tumbleweeds

Posted by Cate on November 18, 2009

Been on the busy side lately, finishing up my MASTER’S THESIS. No big deal. But now it’s in my readers’ hands and off my mind (sort of) until December 1, when I have to defend my baby against the ravaging hoardes. Totally no big deal. Walk in the park. Not a bit stressed. No sir. Not this gal.

Anyway.

On Saturday Joe and I did a whirlwind tour of the Robinson shopping complex, hitting up the stores for necessaries. It sucked. I hate doing it like that. The problem with not having a car is when you finally get your hands on a car for any length of time you have to do everything RIGHT AWAY. So we exhausted ourselves and spent a bunch of money, but also had a decent enough time.

The other problem, of course, is having to drive in Pittsburgh. It makes me crazy how slow everyone drives through the tunnels. Suck it up, people! Not that scary!

21 MPH?! On the highway?! Because of a TUNNEL?! You morons.

Then my dear Joe made shepherd’s pie for dinner, which everyone knows cures every ill and restores even the most tired of spirits. I’m still (very happily) eating the leftovers at least once a day. Mmmm, shepherd’s pie…

Now, barring any more errand days, we’re in kind of a slow patch. No complaints from me. I like it quiet. Josie does, too. Of course she makes as much noise than any of the restof us, so I can only assume that she prefers the quiet because it allows her to be better showcased.

Don't get smart. I've got my claws in your man.

Well, joke’s on her – next week three of us are going to New Jersey for Thanksgiving and one is staying home. Guess who?

Sorry, Joe. Looks like you have to tough it out here in Pittsburgh.

I am very excited about Thanksgiving. It’s my very favorite holiday. Plus I haven’t seen my family in a long time. And I don’t think I’ve been home since…last Christmas?! Not that I miss NJ, but…you know. Tis the season to be homesick.

I wish I could sit on Joe's shoulder. Dumb cat.

Posted in adventuring, pittsburghing | Leave a Comment »

In which I take to bed for days.

Posted by Cate on November 9, 2009

Thursday I left work early because I wasn’t feeling so hot. Luckily I came home to two considerate critters who just wanted to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of. (Joe wasn’t home, but when he did get home he had THREE LITERS of soup. Caretaker of the year, right there.) I didn’t do much of anything all weekend, except sleep and lay in the SickSac and watch movies. I didn’t have the energy for more than that. (That’s not true, I guess…I did put in a few hours on my thesis.)

josie-window

La da da de daaaa...

josie-window2

Oh. Human. You're home. What gives?

seb-toy

DO YOU FEEL BETTER NOW?

josie-head

Shove off, pooch. Hey, Human, how about a nice deep-organ massage?

josie-seb

What an ungrateful so-and-so...

seb-tummy

DO YOU FEEL BETTER NOW?

josie-joe

I've chosen Joe as my human. Being sick makes you a lazy slave.

seb-chair

...do you feel better now?

joe-animals2

Actually...we both choose Joe.

josie-window3

Whatever. You all bore me.

 

And thus I was magically healed by love and pet dander.

The End.

Posted in apartment, conversations, human training, pictures, sadface | Leave a Comment »

The joy of having a common name…

Posted by Cate on November 9, 2009

…or, “I love my job and my job loves me.”

Me (on the phone): Hi Sally*, it’s Cate.
Sally (coworker): Uh…hi…Cate? Help me out. Who are you?

*Names have been changed. Except mine.

Posted in conversations, work | 1 Comment »

What’s grey and brown and sleeps all over?

Posted by Cate on November 1, 2009

What birthday weekend would be complete without a game of “where’s my cat?”

Cate: Has anyone seen Josie? HELLO HELLO? Josie? Anyone?

Joe: Eh. No.

Seb: Don’t look at me.

seb floor

I'm old and I want to sleep.

Cate: Wait. Wait, wait. What is that?

josie sac1

Hark, what doth slumber in my LoveSac?

Cate: I should have known.

josie sac2

I'm young and I sleep 23/7.

Josie: Great detecting, Sherlock. Now scram!

Posted in apartment, conversations, human training | Leave a Comment »

Happy birthday, Joe!

Posted by Cate on October 31, 2009

So Mr. Joe is officially a year older (and wiser…ish). We had a pretty chilled out day to celebrate, just watched movies and laid in the Sac and relax.

I tried my hand at making him an authentic Southern red velvet cake. Not only have I never baked one, I’ve never even tasted one, so I was flying totally blind. The cake came out mostly OK (Joe ate it and professed to like it, which is the important thing) but it was a trial and a half.

I couldn’t get the batter smooth (hand mixing SUCKS), I forgot to sift the sugar for the icing so it was all lumpy, the cake was red but not RED! like I wanted, the edges and part of the bottom of one cake burned while the middle was raw-looking and sunken, I used canned vanilla frosting in the middle because I thought I wouldn’t have enough cream cheese frosting but I did have enough after all, I forgot to buy candles, I didn’t have a plate big enough for the cake (had to use a cutting board…so trashy), on and on and on.

Look how sunken the middle is! WHYYYYYY?!

Look how sunken the middle is! WHYYYYYY?!

Stupid cake.

It says, YAY JoE iS 27. I'm a corn ball.

It says, YAY JoE iS 27. I'm a corn ball.

Luckily, it ended up being pretty damn edible.

The animals didn’t let Joe’s birthday go unnoticed. Sebastian got him a back yard full of shedded-out hair (so sweet)…

Mmm...less edible.

Mmm...less edible.

…and Miss Josie didn’t claw his face off.

"You're welcome. Mrrarr."

"You're welcome. Mrrarr."

All in all, his birthday was, if not a smashing success, at least an interesting experience.

Obligatory birthday boy self-portrait.

Obligatory birthday boy self-portrait.

Posted in adventuring, food, googly eyes, pictures, triumph! | 1 Comment »

Holy Mother of Quail!

Posted by Cate on October 30, 2009

Tomorrow is Joe’s birthday (that’s Halloween, if you’re playing along at home). Last night, as part of the Birthday Week celebrations (really, why limit it to just one day?), I took him out to Bona Terra for dinner. I knew I wanted him to have a Good Meal at a foodie-approved restaurant and I debated for a while over which of Pittsburgh’s many dining establishments to take him to, but Bona Terra won out. All reviews pointed to “awesome,” and they have a local-food mission that aligns with our priorities, so it was just a great fit. Even better, I managed to keep it a secret till we walked in the door.

OK, enough about that. Let’s talk FOOD.

I wish I’d been able to keep the menu because I’m about to reveal how little I know about fine dining. We started off with a teensy bowl of luke-warm green stuff – all I heard the waitress say was, “…blue cheese, heirloom tomato and chili oil.” But it was delicious. We ate it with an itty bitty little spoon. So fun.

For our appetizers, I got a semi-boneless quail with pears and Joe had a tuna thing. Blah blah blah tuna, but my quail was AMAZING. I’ve never eaten quail before and I think I had it confused with pheasent because I was shocked at how tiny and delicate it was. Tender and moist and with this wonderful crispy herbed skin…oh golly. I wanted to take it home with me and learn its secrets. But there was none left.

Then soup and salads. I skipped the soup because they only had clam chowder and tomato, neither of which I really care for, though now of course I wish I’d been less picky because I’m sure it would have been divine (Joe’s chowder was yummy, and I don’t even like clam). Anyhow. I had a baby spinach and greens salad with other things – I don’t remember what they were, but they were good – and gorgonzola crumbles. Joe’s had feta and bacon and other things. Both very tasty.

Then a taste of sorbet before dinner: cantaloupe. I cannot express deeply enough my love of that little dish of heaven. If the waitress hadn’t said it was sorbet, I’d have thought we were just eating a very finely pureed piece of fruit. Holy crap. It was so good. I licked the plate clean, to Joe’s horror. (Not really. But damn did I want to!)

Then dinner, the baby animals course. Oh, yum. YUM. I had a veal rib chop with braised cabbage and the most wonderful risotto I’ve ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth. Joe had lamb with mashed potatoes and beans – his potatoes were divine, his beans so fantastically green. It. Was. So. Good.

For dessert, Joe had a cup of tea (such a civilized young man) and a lemon pound cake with berries. I had an apple tart made with local fujis. It was melt-in-your-mouth good, with a crispy crust and just the right amount of crunch on top. Oh momma.

Even the bottle of wine I picked out because it was pretty ended up being great. Even the music they were playing was great – an eclectic mix of Willie Nelson and Radiohead and others that somehow all worked just right. At the end of our meal, they started playing Sigur Ros, which I always associate with Joe and I. In the very early days of our relationship, when we were first starting to learn each other, he’d put on Sigur Ros. Those were happy times (heck, they’re still happy times!) and it was touching to hear it after we’d just finished that incredible meal and were staring at each other across the table, all full and happy and lovey…

I wish I had pictures, because it was so extraordinary and beautiful and DELICIOUS – did I mention delicious? – but I refrained from whipping out my phone to snap grainy photos while we ate. Barely. I didn’t even remember to get pictures of us all dolled up in our finery. Trust me, though: we looked good. Even despite a lack of photographic evidence, it was a wonderful night. And I certainly couldn’t have asked for better company.

We’re hoping to make a habit out of this kind of luxury, or at least a birthday tradition. Only four months till mine!!!!

Worth every penny.

Worth every penny.

Posted in food, googly eyes, pittsburghing | 1 Comment »

Happiness is…

Posted by Cate on October 26, 2009

A boy.

A dog.

A tree.

A stick.

A season.

Posted in human training, pictures, pittsburghing | Leave a Comment »