Life

Cat’s Back!

Catherine, are you still blogging anymore?
A question I hear frequently, and am FINALLY getting around to answering!

It’s been quite obvious that I haven’t posted on my blog for the past few months, but I’ve definitely kept up with my social social media platforms. When I started my blog, it started out as a passion project. I loved creating healthy recipes and sharing them with the world. I didn’t expect my blog to become a full blown career, but it did and I absolutely loved it… for the most part.

Jackson-Hole-Wyoming

My blog became more about just the recipes, it was then the ups and downs of my weight loss, weight gain, and even struggles with depression and body image issues. I’ve never held anything back and always tried to be transparent and real because I felt as if the blogosphere needed someone who didn’t just share all of the rainbows and gumdrops. Sometimes life isn’t perfect and we go through really crappy times and I wanted my blog to be an outlet for anyone going through something similar to be like “yassss, me tooooo! I’m not alone!”

I loved being able to write a post and say “yesterday, I went bridesmaid dress shopping and I had a complete meltdown. Why are the sizes so off? Are they trying to make us feel extra s#%*!y?” and just have someone else relate and understand. But fast forward 4 years and it’s not really like that anymore. There’s actual commenters who come here to write negative things about how I look, tell me that I’m fat, tell me that I’m ugly, tell me that I’m always looking for sympathy, and that no one should trust my recipes because I’m not a representation of what healthy is. It’s a bummer. I get so many amazing comments from readers who have been here since the very beginning who are so positive and uplifting, but wow… It’s amazing how negative comments outweigh the nice ones. Honestly, I got tired of waking up every morning to check comments only to read paragraphs about how I’ve gained weight and how awful I look. As if I didn’t already know I’ve gained weight or talk about it on my blog? I’ve talked about this very candidly. Some of my readers have also wondered why I have stopped posting on YouTube. Well, YouTube is a whole different animal. Every time I get an email from YouTube that I have a new comment on one of my videos, my heart races and Iactually start to panic and wonder what type of mean comment is going to be posted this time. It’s kind of disgusting the things that people say about my appearance. I’ve never been someone who deletes comments. If you’ve ever commented on my blog and said that you hated my recipe, I definitely approved your comment and responded asking what I could do to change it and make it better, but I’m at the point where I cannot handle the comments about me and my physical appearance. I’m a person on the other end of this computer screen. I’m not a team with a Manager, PR person, Community Manager, etc. It’s just me over here making recipes being a human being! Hi!

I’m not talking writing about this asking for anyone’s sympathy. I’m simply telling you why I have been absent on my blog. I just needed some time away from my blog to realize that I really do love blogging. I miss you guys so much! I miss my readers and your comments, I miss hearing about your progress on your own particular journeys, and I’m so excited to be back! Thank you for all of your patience, support, and kind words while I have been patiently away for a little bit! I just can’t get enough of you guys!

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So a little update from while I was away:

  • Unfortunately my beloved Corgi, Teddy passed away two weeks ago on November 7th. He was 14 years old and had terrible arthritis in back and hips. His back legs were completely paralyzed, so he dragged his back legs around to walk. We tried getting him wheels (literally the cutest thing you’ve ever seen) but he didn’t fully understand how to use them. After being on arthritis and pain medicine for over a year, we had to put my beautiful boy down. It was the absolute worst day, and so much harder than I had ever imagined.
  • I did however get a new fur baby in August! An English Bulldog named, Potato. I knew that Teddy wasn’t doing well, so I thought it would be the right time to introduce a new fur family member to the household. He LOVED playing with Teddy, stealing all of his toys, and his fluffy bed! What a little pipsqueak! Having Potato has helped with the healing process of losing Teddy, and I feel very lucky to have him. Matt and I got Potato together, so he spends time at both houses depending on our schedule and if Matt is on tour or if I am at work.
  • Matt and I celebrated our 1 year together.
  • I turned 26 in August.
  • I became the editor of Vans Girls. Instagram // Twitter // Blog
  • I visited Tecate, Mexico, Chicago, IL, Jackson Hole, WY, Yuma, AZ, and Charlotte, NC.
  • Matt and I won two costume contests on Halloween.
  • I visited Matt on Warped Tour.

Matt-and-Potato-Running Matt-and-Potato

So nowwww I feel like it’s time to poll my readers. I’m literally back where I started on the weight loss journey. Sad to say, back at my heaviest weight. Although I don’t feel that I look it… I’m there. I’m thinking of getting back on the wagon 100% and going full force with this whole weight loss thing once again. But in a new way that I haven’t yet done on the blog. See, when I started my blog, I had already lost 80 pounds, and I basically used my blog to show everyone how I did it. I was posting meals that I would eat when I lost weight, and healthy meals that I was currently eating for maintenance as well. But now, I feel like I actually need the support of my bunnies to do this again! So what do you guys think? Do I take a starting point photo, post it, and then post my full day of Rabbit Food meals every day? It sounds scary, but maybe this is what I need to hold myself accountable, and maybe this is what some of you guys need to get back on track too? So many QUESTION MARKS!!!??? In the back of my mind I just know that this will open my blog up to even more criticism from mean people, but at the same time I just need to get over it because this is the internet and there’s just no way around it. And honestly, I really want to get back on track and feel better. And that’s what really matters!

Love you little bunnies and miss you so much!
xo-Catherine

Disneyland

Last week I went to Disneyland with Matt and family so I wanted to share some fun photos from the day with you guys on my blog! Matt’s sister Olivia and her two boys Nixon and Maddox were visiting from Seattle so we took the boys to Disneyland for the first time on Olivia’s birthday. So many celebrations that day!
RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-0Of course I had to wear my Minnie ears!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-1Matt’s family: Carlos, Matt, Olivia, Linda, Maddox & Nixon.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-2Maddox and uncle Matthew!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-3Olivia and the stroller baby haha.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-4 RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-5Matt and I in front of Sleeping Beauty’s castle.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-6I decided to do a fun little giveaway while I was at Disneyland! I took a photo in front of the castle holding an “eat more rabbit food shirt,” posted it on Instagram (and all of my social media platforms) and said the first person to spot me in the park got the shirt! It was way too fun! It’s crazy how many bunnies were at Disneyland the same day as me! I am going to be doing this all the time, so keep your eyes peeled on Instagram!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-7Olivia and I were really pumped that we had matching ears, so when we were in line for Autopia I said, “we need a cute car to match our ears! Maybe a pink car!!! Anything but that poop brown one.” Guess what car we got? POOP BROWN. So disappointing! We were laughing so hard when it pulled up around the corner. Of course we Snapchatted the entire Autopia experience haha.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-8 RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-9 RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-10Matt and I on Splash Mountain, PRE splash… Probably the most soaked I’ve ever gotten on that ride!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-11Matt, me, and Olivia. Bless her heart for taking the front of the log on her birthday. She was DRENCHED afterwards!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-12Olivia, me, Matt, and Carlos on Indiana Jones!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-13“Tropical Imports” (next to the Jungle Cruise) is one of my favorite snack spots in Adventureland. You can fuel up with healthy provisions at this snack stand and find fruit in all forms: whole, cut, fresh and dried. Everything from tropical pineapple or mango, pickle spears, trail mix, and veggie snacks.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-14Since we first got in line for Splash Mountain (an hour or so prior), all Matt wanted was Dole Whip. That’s right, he was craving rabbit food (insert clapping emoji here)! After riding Indiana Jones, we made our way over to the Enchanted Tiki Room for some Dole Whip and Dole Floats!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-15Dole Whip is one of my FAVORITE sweet treats to eat at Disneyland. It’s also a great option for anyone looking for something vegan and/or gluten free! Dole Whip hasn’t always been vegan, but in 2013 the recipe was reformulated and sodium caseinate was removed from the recipe. Soooooo yes, Dole Whip is vegan. Enjoy!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-16Maddox (wearing his brother’s Mickey ears) and Matt walking to It’s A Small World.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-17Maddox and Olivia waiting in line for It’s A Small World.

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-18While the rest of Matt’s family went on Alice In Wonderland, the two of us went on the teacups! Always a favorite place for me to photograph! It’s such a classic! His dimples kill me!!!! S’cute!

RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-19 RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-20 RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-21 RFFMBT-Goes-To-Disneyland-22Bye bye Disneyland!

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I get asked all the time to recommend healthy places to eat at Disneyland. I’ve previously done a post with some of my favorite places to eat and included some of my favorite healthy meals to order at Disneyland which you can find here! I’m also thinking about doing another healthy Disney dining post and a video soon if you guys are interested!

Health & Happinessxo-Catherine

Broke My Laptop!

Hi Bunnies!

Soooo last Tuesday I was helping Matt move and my laptop fell out of my car straight onto the concrete and did a cartwheel. I literally started ugly crying within seconds thinking about all of the videos I had just shot for YouTube and recipe photos I had just taken that were not yet backed up. I grabbed my computer and opened it up and nothing was happening. It wouldn’t turn on and wouldn’t even make a sound, so Matt drove me to the nearest Apple store where I repeatedly sobbed and ugly cried the entire way. When we walked in, there were no appointments available and there was a walk in wait of 5 hours. But by some miracle as I was talking to the Apple Genius, someone had just cancelled their appointment and I was able to snag it for 40 minutes later! Matt and I grabbed lunch at Urban Plates (highly recommended) and then went back to Apple for my appointment where the Genius magically got my computer to turn on, although the screen still would’t work. After a few minutes he was able to hook it up to an external monitor and run some diagnostic tests on the hardware and two thin digital lines appeared on my screen (THERE WAS HOPE!). He thought that the wiring that connected my screen may have become unattached when it fell and that could’ve possibly been the only problem because the hardware seemed to be passing the tests. Then he moved my laptop screen a little bit and BAM the entire screen turned on like normal and the it was working like 100% again, WHAT?! The Genius that was helping me told me that since it seemed to be working ok there was nothing he could do and that I should take it home and back it up immediately.

Catherines Broken ComputerOf course, the second I took it home and opened it, it stopped working again. UGH! WHY WHY WHY! Plus, two out of three of my USB ports were completely smashed during the drop, but thankfully I was able to use the working one for my backup hard drive. I was able to get my computer to turn back on and stay on long enough (with a flickering screen) to automatically back up to my external hard drive once I plugged it in and then made another Genius Bar appointment (next available was Sunday!). Soooo long story short I went back to Apple and my computer was sent away to the apple gods for $600 (and that was with apple care). So the moral of this story is back up your computer weekly and put it in a soft case when traveling!!!

Sorry I haven’t gotten back to comments recently, I have been using my phone for social media for the past week and was just able to borrow my sister’s spare computer today to write this post! My blogging platform does not cooperate with my phone when I write or edit posts, so I apologize for taking so long!

I’m still planning on creating new recipes this week and as long as I can borrow my sister’s computer, I am good to go!!! Have you ever borrowed someone else’s computer and it’s like you don’t even know how to use a computer anymore? Their trackpad is setup different, they use “tap to click” instead of actually clicking, the mouse moves slower, their scroll settings scroll the opposite way, their homepage isn’t google, images don’t save to their desktop and all of the sudden your downloads are lost in Narnia? Ya that’s how I feel right now as I’m using my sister’s computer. It feel so freaking foreign. Like when you go to someone’s house and you cannot figure out how to turn on or use their shower…

Trying to use someone elses shower

Please send prayers to the Apple Gods hahaha! #savecatherinescomputer
Health & Happiness
xo-Catherine

Galentine’s Day 2015

On Sunday, my friend Natalie hosted a Galentine’s Day party for our little gal group! We chatted and laughed while we sipped on mimosas, ate cucumber & cream cheese tea sandwiches, and some special Valentine’s sweets alongside Natalie’s homemade flat white coffees! It was so fun to have some girl time while some of our guys are away for work!

Galentines-Day-2015-1Natalie made these adorable Crayon Heart Decorations for her house. She has a full instructional DIY on her blog if you click the link!
Galentines-Day-2015-2 Galentines-Day-2015-3 Galentines-Day-2015-4 Galentines-Day-2015-5 Galentines-Day-2015-6 Galentines-Day-2015-7 Galentines-Day-2015-8 Galentines-Day-2015-9Galentines-Day-2015-23We exchanged handmade valentines with each other, just like when we were younger. My friends are seriously so crafty! Brett handmade these stunning fresh flower crowns for each of us, Amanda hand cut the dancing girl emoji’s out of construction paper and turned them into cards, Natalie hand stitched hearts onto her cards, and Celina handmade mini Narwhals that unfolded into hearts (because we are all obsessed)!

Galentines-Day-2015-10 Galentines-Day-2015-11Laila lusted over the flower crowns!

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Galentines-Day-2015-12Of course our mini gals Ruby and Laila got their own special lovey dovey Valentine’s from “Auntie Amanda!” Minnie Mouse plushie purses and heart shaped sunnies!

Galentines-Day-2015-13I loved Nat’s heart tipped nails! She said they were super simple to do, just two crossed brush strokes!

Galentines-Day-2015-14 Galentines-Day-2015-15After mimosas and lunch, Natalie made us all her famous flat whites. She had been hyping them up to me ever since I tried my very first flat white at Starbucks in Seattle last month. Her husband, Jaxin is from New Zealand (home of the flat white) and she assured me that she had been schooled by Jaxin and all of his Kiwi friends on how to make the absolute perfect flat white. She did not disappoint! Girl’s got it going’ on!

Galentines-Day-2015-16Correction, you’re my cup of coffee!

Galentines-Day-2015-17Since I’ve been spending a lot of time on planes and in green rooms, I’ve been learning how to do all sorts of snazzy braids while I have free time to kill! This is a dutch fishtail crown! Maybe when I finally get brave enough I will do a youtube tutorial!

Galentines-Day-2015-18Gals and the little gals! Brett, me, Celia & Laila, Amanda, Ruby & Natalie!

Galentines-Day-2015-19And just the grownup gals! Amanda, Celina, me, Natalie, and Brett!

Galentines-Day-2015-20Laila LOVES dogs, and she was freaking out when Poppy came out to play! She lovessss Poppy!

Galentines-Day-2015-21Puppy love!

Galentines-Day-2015-22Auntie Amanda reading Ruby a story before all of the gals went home, such a sweet moment.

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I am so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing and creative gals. I love these girlies to the moon and back!

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine’s day surrounded by people they love!

Health & Happiness
xo-Catherine

Blog Makeover!

I am sooooo excited, and so exhausted! It’s 5:00am here in California and I still haven’t gone to sleep! I’ve been up late the past few nights working hard on completely redesigning and programing my blog. It’s been almost 3 years since my blog has gotten any sort of update, so I went all out on this one! It has literally been years since I’ve gone this deep into coding. I totally feel like I’m reliving my college days in the studio pulling all-nighters before graphic design final presentations. It makes me miss my old roommates & college friends, and my good friend Ryan! Shout out to my FIDM & Art Center Alum “GD-ers” and anyone else out there who’s still awake working on school work!

Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth New Blog DesignSocks: Urban Outfitters  |  Bedding: Anthropologie

ABOUT THE MAKEOVER //

New Navigation // simple and easy to use
I cannot tell you how much my old nav bar bothered me. It looked so stale. Like an old school Macintosh circa 1995 or something. I’m so happy that it’s pretty and sleek now!

Fancy Schmancy Slideshow // so. much. yes.
I’m obsessed with this element. Once I got it installed I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t even decide what images to feature, so these are probably temporary. I’m so excited to feature new posts and revive some oldies but goodies with this feature!

Cleaned Up Side Bar // so fresh and so clean cleannnnn
My right side bar was kind of a mess to be honest. I’m a very minimalist designer, and that side bar was getting out of control. I’ve customized the sidebar with some fun new features to organize my sponsors and other goodies on the right.

Organized Comment Section // …finallyyyyyyy!
I seriously despised my old comment sections below posts! It was so confusing and hard to read. Even when I would read comments, I would be unsure of whose comment was whose and if I was responding to the correct person. Well, that problem has been solved! The organization is so much better and the replies are much easier to read. Yay!

Black & White Everything // goodbye bunny cookie background
I’ve finally parted ways with my Annie’s Organic Bunny Cookies ombre background that I created in 2012. As much as I loved it, it was time for a new look. It’s still featured on my twitter and shop background for the time being. I just could’t handle more change in one week! I LOVE black and white, and think it brings more attention to my photography (which has been getting so much better over the years, holy guacamole!)!

Undecided Changes // hmmmmm
I removed the “link within” widget (it shows you similar posts below each post), but sometimes I think it looks too busy, so I’m wavering on bringing it back or not. I know it’s definitely useful for new readers. I can’t decide!

There’s still a few little things that I want to chance and switch around, but overall I’m so excited about the new look! I think it fits my design aesthetic a little more and looks so much cleaner. Plus it’s easier to navigate and focus on. I want to start adding some more lifestyle posts to my blog as well as more DIYs! I love food, but sometimes I need to change it up just to remain sane! Definitely expect more healthy recipes, DIYs, and maybe some hair tutorials coming soon!

If you see anything funky or have any suggestions, don’t hesitate to let me know what you think in the comments below!

Health & Happiness
xo-CatherineP.S. If you have ever been to a barre class (especially Pure Barre) this article is the funniest thing I’ve read all week! It’s a barre class review as told by a dude – it’s on point and so hysterical! {WARNING: profanity, and lots of it!}

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