House Hunt: MaryMary

Our favorite thing about MaryMary’s house (other than the username… which she has in common with one of our favorite Cool Cats Magazine moderators, Miss Mary!) is how she rocks the bright pink Ice Princess wallpaper.

In some houses we’ve seen, it has been overwhelming. Here, though, MaryMary is using some nice pink details but not letting the pink rule the room. She plays down the pink with a nice gray floor. We happen to think that pink and gray go really, really well together. Try it out on your house. Until next time, we’ll be House Hunting.

How to Stick to Your Resolutions

With a whole new year stretching out before you, you’re probably like most cats… you make New Year’s Resolutions. But now that you’ve made them and the ball has dropped ringing in the new year… what do you do?

It’s a very familiar situation… as soon as school starts again, New Year’s Resolutions are forgotten by January 10th.

Here’s how to keep it from happening to you… and how to achieve all of your goals in 2009!

• Take one step at a time. Imagine your goal was to lose 10 pounds. Pretty intimidating, right? Well, break down your goals into smaller chunks. A pound a month doesn’t sound nearly as hard. Or you want to get an A in a class you haven’t done well in. Going from C to A sounds really hard. Why not make it your goal to go from C to C+… then to B-… work hard to get yourself to B+ by the middle of spring. Then rocket yourself up to an A from there!
• Don’t beat yourself up. The biggest cause for quitting your resolutions is getting one set-back, then quitting! If you make a mistake or do the opposite of what you wanted, don’t take that as a sign to quit altogether. Mistakes happen… life goes on. Keep your goals in sight and the small bumps along the way won’t matter.
• Make it a goal to love yourself this year. You are awesome, fun, smart and creative! Your friends and family loves you and you’re out to do great things. The more you love yourself and believe in yourself, the easier all of your other goals will seem.

Happy New Year, and stick to those resolutions. You can do it!

Captain Ironhook Drops Anchor

While some people don’t like their high seas spiked with a little danger, I say “Bring it on!” That’s why I was so sad a few weeks ago when word went up around town that Captain Ironhook, dreamy Zane’s totally crazy uncle, would be pulling up his anchor and sailing the Plundarr right out of HandiLand Harbor.

Imagine… life would be so boring without an awesome pirate parading around the Beach.

Well, now it doesn’t have to be. I spoke to Captain Ironhook this very morning and he told me some interesting things. The first? Tuna are very tricky creatures. The second? He was staying on in HandiLand in the near future. Or, should I say, fut-arrr?

“Yarr, the sea be too rough for sailin’ out right now anyways,” he said, squinting his one good eye toward the horizon.

“But, surely you’re used to rough sailing? I’ve heard the tales they tell about you and your adventures.”

“But that’s when I was a scurvy seadog, young and built like a canon. That’s not quite the case any-marrr. I’m an old man now.”

“You’re not old. Besides, pirates are like a nice, fine treasure. They only get more valuable as they age.”

“You may be right but, arr, these sea legs do ache some nights. And sometimes, when it is darrrrk and quiet ashore, it feels nice not to be pitchin’ and tossin’ below decks.”

“So you think you’ll continue with the Pancake Skipparrr, your restaurant?”

“Yarr, openin’ that place was the best thing I’d evarrr done. Runnin’ a restarrrrant ain’t too diffarrrant from runnin’ a boat, ya know.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Or at least I can’t tell the difference, since I’m the one in charrrrrrrge!” he said with a loud laugh.

So there… or should I say… tharrrrr you have it. HandiLand can now boast a resident pirate, a resident beauty queen, chefs, artists, beekeepers, rock stars and more. Not to mention a whole crowd of totally awesome Cool Cats! That’s all for meow!

XOXO

Gossip Queen

Feed Me the News

For all the Cool Cats who like to be plugged in to what their friends are doing, we’ve introduced something new to the Score Cards page you see every time you log in.

Read more

HandiLand Rocks the House!

If you’ve been anywhere near your House this morning, you will have noticed something different. It may not be the door you see here… but you could have a door in your house… a door that leads to a whole new room… in three minutes flat! Find out how…

Read more

New Year’s Parade Rocks HandiLand

Can you Cool Cats believe it? Another year is upon us and 2009 promises to be the best ever. I mean, c’mon… HandiLand is getting cooler every day and we’re just getting started. Well, this past weekend we had a parade through HandiLand to commemorate the brand new year.

And, of course, this parade featured one of our favorite HandiLand citizens: Mitzy Meowerson… the Top Model of HandiLand! And she looked so pretty in her pageant dress and fancy up-do hair. Who better to lead us into 2009 than this elegant Cool Cat? I can’t think of a soul.

When I caught up with her after the parade she was excited to be there. “What a rush,” she said with a laugh. “I mean, all those people were cheering me on. This was nothing like the pageant when I placed second.”

“But is it true,” I asked, because it’d been on my mind for quite a while, “that you don’t like the spotlight?”

I could tell I’d hit a nerve. “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just that it gets overwhelming sometimes. When people look up to you or see you in a parade, they expect something from you. They expect you to perform.”

I felt bad in that minute because I knew I’d treated Mitzy like that before. “Are you mad at me for posting about you?”

She frowned. “A little bit. Sometimes I think you go too far to get a story.”

This hurt to hear but, of course, I didn’t want to do anything to ruin a good friendship with a cat as awesome as Mitzy. “Well, I’m sorry about that.”

And, just to show her I meant it, I turned off my recorder, put down my camera and gave her a hug. “Next time we hang out, I won’t put an article in the Magazine. How about it?”

Finally, Mitzy smiled. “I’d like that. Yeah, thanks.”

Even the Gossip Queen makes mistakes sometimes. I’m just glad that Mitzy is in HandiLand, and you should be, too. But remember, she’s just another Cool Cat, just like any of us. And every Cool Cat deserves a little breathing room. That’s all for meow!

XOXO

Gossip Queen

Duck-Billed Cat-a-pus

This very unusual holiday outfit comes to us from conniey, who has jazzed up the Anastasia dress with… what else?… the Ugly Duckling duck bill. With a little help from her good friend Tink, of course!

And, in a very fun way, this actually makes sense. Because when we think of Christmas, we always think of swans, because of Swan Lake. This, of course, comes together in our minds to make the perfect holiday amalgamation! Keep on tickling our imaginations, conniey!

Frosty Feline Queen

Sunshine1189 is making another appearance here at the Catwalk. What can we say? She knows how to put together an outfit with some flair. Since we’ve got the Winter catalog in full swing here in HandiLand, we love to feature the cool seasonal creations all of our Cool Cats have been coming up with.

This one is a nice outfit because of the rich blue and green colors and how well they work together. This makes us want to curl up in a sled and watch our favorite snowstorm swirling around us. We’re looking for creative cats who are using our Winter catalog… so put on your winter best and we’ll see you in HandiLand.

Travelin’ to Tahoe

Most people head out for sunnier locales during the freezing holiday months of December and January. That’s what I’ve been doing for a few years. Lazing on the beach, no need for scarves, playing a game of beach volleyball… sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well, this year I decided to do something else… I decided to hit up a real winter wonderland.

Read more

How to Eat Well After the Holidays

The holidays involve a lot of good, hearty eatin’… from the Thanksgiving turkey to the mashed potatoes to the Christmas ham to all those candy canes. Don’t worry… it happens to everyone. When family is together, there is nothing more fun to do than sit down at the table and share stories and jokes with relatives you don’t see during the rest of the year.

Well, while it’s good for your heart, it isn’t the best for your health. Here are some things you can do — now that the holidays are over — to take charge of your health after the holidays:

• Wean yourself from soda for the month of January… it’ll help cut out some sugar and calories
• Skip the starch. Most holiday meals feature a lot of starch, like potatoes. To balance out your carb intake, try eating less starch in January
• Cut out sweets. You had plenty of pumpkin pie and fudge during the Holidays… maybe lay off your sweet tooth to ease out of the holiday sugar craze.

Here’s to a Happy, Healthy and Smart 2009!

« Previous Page — Next Page »