While I'm not exactly a "cat person," I do pretty much love all warm and fuzzy animals. Rob's sister-in-law has a cat named Naomi who just absolutely stole my heart while we were visiting over Christmas. Used to the Arizona heat, she would paw at the chest of anyone who was wearing a sweater; especially Rob. She would climb into his zip-front hoodie and fall asleep on his chest. I've never met a more cuddle-friendly cat.

She actually used to be a show cat but the next person who wound up with her thought she was ugly, so Beth got her for free. They've been together for years.

I took these photos of her as she lounged in her sunny little cat tower one afternoon, and I've just sort of been saving them for a rainy (or perhaps snowy) day. Her coloring is just gorgeous and I got a fabulous shot of her looking crazy in the middle of a yawn. Hope you enjoy. I miss you, Naomi Cat!

I'm so excited to be working with Datevitation, an online store that allows you to create custom coupon books full of fun date ideas for people you love. There are a number of reasons I'm loving Datevitation: the gender-neutral/custom images that allow you to make a coupon book for a friend or for your partner if you're in a same-sex relationship; the $10 off you'll get when you use the code ITALIAN; the amazing range and variety of date ideas in their library; and the fact that they let me make a book of my own and that now I have a sweet little gift to give to Rob on Valentine's Day.

A springtime segway tour of Rob's new city, Thai food delivery and a movie at home (a Friday night favorite), a musical (we've seen Wicked about six times collectively--it's probably time to branch out), the promise to at least try to play some of his favorite video games one night, and plans to come up with a new tradition. What will you put in yours?

Want to give them a try? Enter below to win your own!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Maybe this seems silly, or maybe it seems like it's not actually a thing, but it's totally a thing, at least in my house. We have tea in the afternoons. I absolutely love having a fancy little tea party at home with my mom or one of my girlfriends.

Giving up milk was really hard for me at first, because I was both an avid latte and tea-with-sugar-and-cream drinker. Black tea and black coffee just didn't do it for me at first, but after a little bit of training and a whole lot of time and commitment and espresso shots, I was fine with it.

The trick to changing a habit is to make the new habit really special. I do that with my mom's beautiful bone china tea set and really good local honey. And then one day I discovered So Delicious' Coconut Milk Creamer, and it was like the part of me that used to love milk had died and finally made it to dairy-free heaven.

YOU WILL NEED

+ tea

(lately I've been loving this vanilla rooibos)

+ coconut milk

(get the kind that comes in a little carton like half & half)

+ local honey

(we get ours at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op)

+ a Paleo treat or two (try these cookies)

  

It's pretty simple. But it can totally make your day better.

Who wants to come over for a cup?