it's a girl!

this post is sponsored by rachael ray's nutrish. the thoughts and opinions are my own.

after being a happy #boymom to my favorite 6 & 8 year olds on the planet i am happy to say that we have added a girl to our little family! not the human kid, friends. this gal recently brought home a bundle of cute kitten goodness to complete our family.

a couple of weeks ago, genelle and i were able to spend an amazing girlfriends weekend together at catcon (thanks to our favorite people at nutrish). living across the country from each other, genelle and i get giddy with happiness when we have the opportunity to travel together for the blog and be able to spend time together. catcon is a huge convention that takes place in los angeles for all the cat lovers of the world to unite, participate in all sorts of fun activities, peruse cat related merchandise and learn more about the best of the best in all cat products.

we knew we were going to have a fun time at catcon, but even though my boys had been begging for a pet for months, i had *zero* intention of coming home with a kitten. the last few years of my life have been filled with lots of highs and lows that were beyond my control so i find myself not often doing things impulsively. however, upon entering the spca's area with adoptable kitten and cats from local shelters and seeing the cutest kitten ever i was head over heals for miss lola.

after a little disbelief in my own desire to add a kitten to our family, and a little gentle push from genelle....i adopted her. my heart was warm and we left the area with instructions to come back to pick her up at the end out the day. i practically skipped with glee out of there to tell our friends at nutrish. everyone shared in my joy....and then the panic set in. what the heck was i going to do?! we were in la, staying at a hotel, with *nothing* there to be able to bring home my newly adopted fur baby. in a mad dash, we rushed to the closest target in an uber for the essentials (who knew there were so many litter options?!), rushed back to our favorite vendors to grab more goodies and, of course, nutrish cat food for miss lola.

with the hotel set up for my newest addition, we headed back to catcon to pick her up, introduce her to her new nutrish family members and head back to the hotel.

we cozied in for a "say yes to the dress marathon" in our pj's and started taking a ridiculous amount of sleepy kitty photos (like any good cat mom should, correct?!)

after our return to san diego, miss lola settled in nicely and i prepared to surprise my sweet boys when they returned home.....and boy were they surprised!

after deciding that she needed an additional name was needed.....miss lola ohana was officially a member of our little clan (ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten...for my fellow lilo & stitch fans out there).

lola has settled in nicely and the boys are obsessed with learning how to care for her and make her feel welcomed. sweet lola follows them around everywhere they go and has already rounded out our family with love and happiness. moral of this story? maybe i should be impulsive on a more frequent basis and happiness often comes when you least expect it.



about nutrish:

nutrish is the fantastic line of super premium pet food created by the brilliant pet advocate, rachael ray. nutrish is made with simple, wholesome ingredients like real meat or fish, and do not contain poultry by-product meal or fillers.

rachael's personal proceeds go to rachael's rescue which was created to help shelter pets in need. to date, she has donated over $10 million. this money has gone toward food, medical supplies and treatments for those unfortunate animals. all of the rachael ray nutrish products are available where you shop for your family's groceries, making specialty recipes accessible and convenient for every pet parent. if you are considering adding a new member to your family, please consider adoption.

please follow nutrish on social media:
twitter: http://twitter.com/nutrish
facebook: http://facebook.com/nutrish
instagram: http://instagram.com/nutrish

i love rachael ray. she gets me.

this is a sponsored post for nutrish. all opinions are my own.

i don't believe in reincarnation. however, i sometimes wonder what i did wrong in my past lives to have deserved this. my name is mr. darcy. my very name screams dignity and hierarchy. yet, my life so far has been so much less than what i expected when i was born this pretty.

not to bore you with my sad story but i was abandoned by my mother. i had to look after my siblings and we ended up in the most humiliating of places, the humane society. we were wondering if our crate was the best we were going to get until a family came along to take us home. i thought things were looking up when i saw the adult of the group. then i noticed the four smaller people accompanying her. i should have made my protests then but i went along with the new arrangement. how bad could the four little people be? 

well, let me tell you, it has not been an easy road. first of all, they added a fifth little person to the mix. this one was really little, crying all the time, requiring all of my attention. he refuses to this day to use a litter box. this only got worse as he learned to walk. then he started eating my cat food, playing in my water and incessantly chasing me around my house. seriously, doesn't he realize how much beauty sleep i require to maintain my rugged handsomeness? 

i have documented some of my hardships. please take note of what i have endured.

this is what the fifth one does with his blanket each morning. can't a guy just nap on occasion? smothering is what it is. absolutely smothering.

this is how the fourth one carries me from room to room. 

can't i just sit on the couch in peace? does it always have to mean this particular brand of torture?

they started to craft me toys that are homemade. let me just make one thing clear. this is:

i wish i could say the older ones are better. they are not. this is what bedtime for me looks like. these conditions are just horrible.

one of the worst things about my life? i am forced to share it with my sister. she is not only clearly less attractive than i, she is also quite a bother, instigating playtime when i want to rest and stealing all the best places on the sofas.

i have tried to communicate my discontent with those i share this home with. first i started to refuse to drink the horrible water placed in a bowl by my cat food. that was just ridiculous. only fresh water from the faucet will suffice.

still, no one seems to understand me. until now. working with a team of pet nutrition experts, rachael ray created nutrish super premium food and treats for dogs and cats. made with simple, wholesome ingredients like real meat, nutrish foods are inspired by tasty recipes from rachael's kitchen. rutrish contains no by-products, fillers, or junk ingredients. finally, someone who makes products that meet my regal standards. it is about time.

they created naturally dry cat food. real chicken or salmon is always the number one ingredient in every bag of rachael ray rutrish® for cats. there’s no ground corn, wheat or soy. and there’s never any by-products artificial flavors or artificial preservatives. just wholesome whole grains and veggies plus the vitamins, minerals and taurine that i need to be healthy and happy.

i have been given wet cat food less times than i can count. still, rachael has made the wet cat food especially for me as well. inspired by recipes from rachael's kitchen, these delicious recipes are made with simple, natural ingredients like real chicken or fish. there's no grains or anything artificial either — just essential vitamins and minerals for a tasty food i will love (if they ever buy the wet food for me).

the best part for me? rachael ray has created rachael's rescue, an organization created for all the forgotten pets who may not have someone who smothers (i mean loves) them. rachael's proceeds go to help these cats. to date, proceeds from sales of nutrish have gone toward food, medical supplies and treatments for animals in need. many more shelters around the country need help, and through rachael's rescue, together we can make a difference in the lives of many four-legged friends. thus far, rachael’s rescue has donated more than $6 million to pets in need. 

i am making it my mission to spread the word. rachael ray gets me. we are soul mates. i think i'm in love. i'm looking forward to staring at her picture on each bag of nutrish. here is what you can do to help your own cat feel the love. head to http://nutrish.rachaelray.com/where-to-buy-nutrish to find out where to purchase the food we deserve. you can also head to the "switch to nutrish" webpage for a coupon to make your shopping even easier: http://nutrish.rachaelray.com/switchto.  finally, just go buy the food. you can find it where you buy groceries. my owners have claimed target as their second home. shopping should be easy. finally, post your pictures of your cat with the hashtag #nutrishforcats. i will live vicariously through your pampered pets. 

until next time, i will be hiding underneath some piece of furniture in the hopes of avoiding detection...or trying to eat my nutrish cat food before the smallest person beats me to it. wish me luck.