My Thoughts on Having a Cat // Nautical Outfit Details

My Thoughts on Having a Cat

I have always labeled myself as a “dog person”, for as long as I can remember I have been obsessed with dogs and never really had an opinion on cats. I have always loved the ways dogs responded when you called, would play with you at any moment and really become a part of a family. When I was in high school my brother told me he needed a cat for his college house because they had a mouse problem, I was happy to help so I went to a pet store and found a little cat that was curled up in the back corner of a glass box. I adopted her and took her to my parent’s house, so was so snuggly and super sleepy all the time. I made a vet appointment and my mom and I took her to get checked out, turns out she was pretty sick and needed lots of meds to get better. A few weeks went by and my mom and I decided that we couldn’t hand her over to my brother in the condition she was in, so we told him he had to find another cat. Once we nursed her back to health she went from being a loving and trusting cat to a super standoffish, scared one. From then on she lived at my parent’s house hiding when people were around, family and friends did not believe there was a cat at our house because they never saw her! After that my feeling was that all cats were pretty independent and didn’t need or want the love of their owner and the people that had social cats were just very lucky.

Steve and I ended up getting our late dog Beni after college when we were living in LA and it was everything I ever wanted. I was not allowed to have a dog growing up so my dreams were finally coming true. We spent every free moment we had hiking with him, going to dog parks and taking him wherever we could. He traveled everywhere with us and when we decided to move back to Maryland he of course took the cross-country trip with us. After we lost him to cancer almost a year ago when he was only 5 years old our hearts were broken and we needed a lot of time to really come to terms with the whole thing as it was very sudden. For a long time, we were unable to think about getting another dog let alone another animal, it didn’t feel right to replace him. 

But as the months went on our house was quiet and we felt lonelier than ever, Beni filled our house with so much love and we missed that feeling terribly. We still were unable to think about getting a dog for a few reasons; the trauma was still with us and besides that, as rewarding having a dog is it is a lot of work. I was working on starting a business of my own and Steve was working long hours at his job, it was also winter and just not the time. We were still longing for that companionship so we threw around the idea of getting a cat, Steve has never had one and, well, you know my experience with cats! After talking about it over and over I finally decided to start looking around to see what was out there, and what I found was not much. We were hoping to get a kitten to try to raise it into a happy and well-adjusted cat, but there were none to be found. I searched all over Baltimore and after a while, I stopped and told myself that when we were supposed to get one the universe would bring it to us. 

Some time passed as so did my grandmother, she knew we were looking for a kitten before she left this earth and loved cats so much. When I was younger she took in 3 sister cats and I remember them so well. My whole family was at my parent’s house grieving the loss of Meems, my dad’s mom, and my cousin asked me how the kitten search was going. After hearing we have had no luck she mentioned that a friend of hers rescued 2 kittens from a very bad situation and he was trying to find a home for one, my ears perked up. She texted him asking for a picture and once Steve and I saw her we decided to move forward with trying to adopt her from him, after texting back and forth we set a day for me to go and pick her up. I went and got all the supplies and went to his house, I was so nervous, excited, worried and wondering what she was going to be like. After hearing her story my heart broke for her and I was so happy that her future was going to be with us. I brought her home and she was terrified, once the sun went down she finally left her carrier and hid under the couch. Little by little I coaxed her out of the nooks and crannies of the house and she began to trust us. A week later she was a different cat, still skittish but was happy to be pet and be fed 2x a day. 

Two weeks later you would have never thought she was the same cat, she was on top of us snuggling any moment she could, she meowed, played all the time, explored and totally stole our hearts. She even played fetch with her little toy mouse and I swear she acts a little bit like a dog. Honestly, I never would have thought I would be so lucky to have such an amazing cat but that’s what we got! I never ever thought I would love her as much as I do, I went into it thinking we would give a cat a home and see her here and there but we got so much more than that! We decided to name her Mable Meems Murphy, her middle name is what we called my late grandmother, I truly believe Meems brought Mable to us through my cousin right after she passed. I now know that I am not a “dog person” or a “cat person” but an animal lover, having that companion and love in our house is what we crave and we are so happy we made the decision we did. One day we will add another dog to our family and knowing Mable she will love it so much but until that time comes we will happily continue to love on Mabs and cherish having such a loving and fun kitten running around.

There are so many preconceived notions about cats and I thought all of them were true and never could understand why people would want a cat but now I realized they are just not true. I am so happy that we opened our minds and our hearts to allow a cat to come into our lives. Overal she is independent and very low maintenance, she loves us so much and makes us laugh on a daily basis. She is super goofy and had a big personality!  I have learned (like anything in life) to not listen to opinions but to make my own based off of my experiences alone. Are you a dog lover, a cat lover or just an animal lover, like me?! Comment below and let me know! 

Nautical Outfit Details

I have always been into a good striped top, especially in the Spring and Summer. A body of water is never far from where I am so it is always appropriate to rock a cute nautical look! It is super soft and I love the peplum as well as the floral detail down the middle and the patches on the shoulders and on the back! It is super flattering and could be worn in the Fall as well! It is perfect for those cool nights when sitting outside eating dinner and drinking a glass of wine, those are my favorite! 

I also highly recommend this pair out white denim! They are under $100 and have minimal distress on them which look so good! They fit true to size and I love the raw hem. Overal they are a great addition to my closet and I continue to buy the brand over and over again!

Links to purchase this full look are below!

XO