Rosie

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 775

August 27th, 2023 by Karen 1 Comment

Tabs…

One year on a very special Labor Day, Tabs gave the employees of Tabs the Cat Industries LLC the day off…

I know! This came as a shock to everyone because Labor Day was normally one of the holidays the company did not observe, because Tabs liked to interpret “Labor Day” as meaning “a day to labor,” instead of as a day to celebrate labor by taking a day off. 🤔

Even though I basically ran the office on a day-to-day basis, it was hard to question him. He was, after all, the most successful plus-size kitty supermodel in Novato, California, history, so he obviously knew what he was doing.

Even though Tabs didn’t encourage time off from work (he was a total workaholic), there was one thing he did encourage…

Fashion!

He always dressed to the nines, and he liked to see his employees do it too.

Whether it was clothes, jewels or crowns, there were always people and cats playing dress-up at the office.

Yup, it was a fun place to work.

Rosie…

Nowadays, the office isn’t as “spicy” as it once was, but Rosie has been getting gussied up more often lately. Like today, she had four wardrobe changes!

That cat is definitely improving her style. 😄

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Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 774

August 20th, 2023 by Karen 1 Comment

Hi, friend. Today’s installment is a reprint because I’m feeling a little under the weather today. And because I saw this old post in the archives from 2017 and was like OMGEEEE! SQUEE!!! So adorbs! 😍

Ever wonder what it’s like to spend a Sunday morning with Tabs? For most people, Sundays are for relaxing, kickin’ back and chillin’ out, but not our Tabs. He gets more done before 10 every morning than most people do all day, and always he’s doing things to take care of his human family. He’s very thoughtful.

First thing this morning, he woke me up with a couple of nudges, purrs and some gentle biscuits on my shoulder, just to make sure that I got my day started at a decent hour.

I think he remembered what I told him last night before bed. I mentioned that I absolutely *had* to work out this morning, so after he woke me up, I found him lounging on the treadmill next to my running shoes, as if to say, “Hey, girl, let’s hop to it, already.”

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Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 773

August 13th, 2023 by Karen 1 Comment

Tabs

Rosie wants to start a new neighborhood cat band, and believe it or not, I’m finding myself experiencing Déjà vu.

You see, once upon a time, Tabs asked me to audition neighborhood cats for a new cat band called “Meow.”

It was supposed to be a fusion of classic rock, house music and ’70s disco divas.

(You know Tabs.)

I could never see the vision quite as clearly as he could, but he was a marketing genius, so I didn’t question him.

Anyway, we had barely started the auditions when the whole plan fell apart. It fell apart because Tabs realized that he wasn’t willing to share the stage with any other cats. Our kitty neighbor, Harris, was extremely disappointed because he was really interested in playing drums in the band. 🙁

Harris

Speaking of Harris, I’ve been spending a lot of time with him lately, because I’ve been cat sitting for him while his human assistant is out of town.

I assured Rosie that I would not conspire with the enemy (she and Harris don’t get along), but after she saw these pics, she has her suspicions…

Harris and I talked about his musical endeavors today. Turns out he’s an accomplished cat musician, and he’s in between gigs at the moment.

I brought this up with Rosie because she’s, coincidentally, been thinking about starting — wait for it — a neighborhood cat band herself!

Is this a phase all cats go through?? I don’t know.

Rosie

Rosie actually plays keyboard. In fact, she recently listened to a Ted Talk about how to be more academically successful, and it suggested pursuing artistic hobbies, specifically music.

Even though she and Harris haven’t seen eye to eye in the past, she’s decided to make peace with him in the pursuit of academic excellence.

I can’t wait to go to one of their shows, although something tells me I’ll be in charge of the merch. 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 772

August 6th, 2023 by Karen Leave a Comment

Hi, friend. Today’s installment is a reprint because we went camping this weekend! And, dude…I’m tired. Camping is hard work! Tons of fun, but lots of work before and after. I mean, you gotta clean everything from the cast-iron skillet to the long metal forks for the campfire s’mores, and then you have to pack everything away so it’s good to go for next time, but yeah, I wish Rosie was my assistant instead of the other way around. 🥱

Hello, my loves. Aloha!

Even though I was born and raised here in Marin County, California, I consider myself a local boy because of my strong ties to Hawaii. One of my assistants is from there, and I try to visit the islands often. I love the welcoming aloha spirit, the diversity, the climate and the fresh seafood.

This tutorial is a celebration of color inspired by a favorite local treat called shave ice. Not “shaved ice,” but “shave ice.” Something to wear next time you’re feeling tropical and sweet.

Mahalo nui loa,
Tabs

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 771

July 30th, 2023 by Karen 4 Comments

So, while those of us of the bipedal, humanoid variety were in the islands last week, Rosie kept herself busy here at the home office, of course. Not only did she keep the business running smoothly, she also found time to invent a DIY irrigation system to keep our potted plants properly hydrated.

Sure, she could have used the watering hose, but that would have been too easy! 🙂

Here’s the gist of it: Everything’s available from Amazon, and the components are pretty affordable. Everything here can be purchased for about $75 dollars and be reused for many years. It combines a mini submersible water pump like the kind used to circulate water in a small aquarium, with a simple WiFi smart plug. You place the small pump into a bucket or other container of water, run some irrigation tubing from it to each of your potted plants, poke some holes into the tubing where you want the water to spritz your plants, and control everything from your phone with a smart plug app! You can even set an automatic schedule. Like, Rosie set hers to run for 30 minutes every morning.

A large tote like the one Rosie used here holds more than enough water to keep a handful of large potted plants happily hydrated for two to three weeks. When we got back from Hawaii, our tomatoes were going off! The bushes were bursting with bright red deliciousness. 🍅 Thank you, Rosie! 🙂

Note: The wine bottle watering spikes in these pics were from a previous effort to automatically water our plants. Rosie wasn’t too thrilled about how well they worked. They did alright for a couple days, but then they were empty, which is why she developed her WiFi water pump method, which could last a whole lot longer.

Here’s what you need:

The pump Rosie recommends has an automatic shutoff in case the tote or bucket it sits in runs out of water. She said the whole thing is really easy to set up, but give yourself a couple hours to cut the tubing, which you can easily do with a pair of household scissors, and poke the little holes into the tubing with a sewing needle. You can use little pieces of duct tape to cover up any holes in the tubing you decide you don’t want to use.

The Kasa smart plug Rosie used isn’t outdoor rated, so this one works best if it isn’t exposed to rain. Kasa does make a fully outdoor smart plug if you need one.

It’s a good idea to cover the water container you use, especially if it’s going to be left outside, because of, you know, MOSQUITOS. No one wants to come home to a billion hungry bugs.

Small plastic stakes are available that you can use to keep the tubing off the ground, but they really aren’t necessary. You can use a rock or something else to position the tubing and keep it where you want it.

You may, and probably will, also need an extension cord, because the submersible pump only has about a 4 ft. long power cable. Here’s a pretty good one.

At the very end of your tubing, you may want to crimp or fold the last inch or two of tubing and hold it crimped with a rubber band. If you don’t do that, that last plant in the line will probably get a lot more water than everything else — probably a lot more water than it needs. Crimping the end will increase the water pressure and the flow rate to the needle holes you make elsewhere in the tube.

Happy watering! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 770

July 16th, 2023 by Karen 2 Comments

Aloha, kitty-kitty!

This is the greeting I’ll be using a TON over the next few days because we’re headed to Hawaii to visit the fam-bam (Rosie chose to stay behind to boss around her favorite pet sitter).

While we’re there, I’ll be checking on the various Oahu-based businesses under the Tabs the Cat Industries umbrella.

Tabs absolutely LOVED Oahu and visited so often that he was fixture on the first class flights from the Bay Area. Sadly…he never upgraded his assistant’s seat, but I guess a cat’s gotta do what a cat’s gotta do to keep his business profitable.

I’m not bitter, I swear! 😂

Anywho…Tabs started several upscale businesses devoted to serving cat clientele in the islands.

Closest to his heart was the exclusive, invite-only spa located on the North Shore, best known for its luxe shiatsu massages and fur treatments.

Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, visits at least twice a year for the silk wrap mani-pedi claw and paw treatments.

Also, if you know a cat looking to tie the knot, the wedding planning arm/paw of the business offers full-service, high-end destination wedding planning at the most picturesque, feline friendly spots on Oahu.

His shave ice business has been the money maker, though. There are several locations at major tourist hubs all over the island, each serving shave ice for cats made with healthy, local farm-to-table organic ingredients.

The catnip shave ice is the most popular…

But our gravy shave ice is a close second.

Next time you visit Oahu with your kitty, be sure to take him or her. 🙂

Rosie

I offered to take Rosie along on this trip, but she replied, “Science waits for no one.” I guess she’s just too busy.

I hope she and her petsitter don’t turn the house into an impromptu laboratory… That’s what happened the last time, and it took FOREVER to clean the place up.

There were dirty beakers everywhere, and Rosie looked like she’d been sleeping in her lab coat. Sigh!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 769

July 9th, 2023 by Karen 1 Comment

Paris, London, New York, Milan — Tabs walked the runways in all the big fashion cities, so many of his fans associate him with the work he did in major metropolitan areas.

What a lot of people don’t know, though, was that he was equally comfortable in the wilderness due to his extensive background teaching primitive survival skills.

On the rare occasions when he had long breaks from his modeling career, he’d go off grid, sometimes for weeks at a time, to test his skills on epic adventures in far-flung places like Patagonia and Mongolia.

He’d check in with me occasionally from his satellite phone, most of the time for inane things like to remind me to have his favorite gravy ready when he returned, or to just remind me that I better not be slacking on the job during his absence (FYI, I was not). I want to believe it was his way of saying he missed me…but I don’t know.

The longest he was ever gone was eight weeks. He was on an isolated area of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, and get this! — it was because he was a contestant on the survival show “Alone.”

I had no idea until I fired up the TV one day and saw him fishing in a river with a ball of yarn.

Rosie

Rosie has told me repeatedly that she is not built for such extreme adventure.

She says that she would rather stick close because she’s a homebody, but honestly, I think it’s so she can keep track of her science experiments at various labs around the Bay Area.

She’s currently doing research with Stanford, UCSF and UC Berkley, and we couldn’t be more proud! 🙂

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 768

July 2nd, 2023 by Karen 1 Comment

Man, some cats are trouble, you know what I mean?

T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Trouble with a capital “T.”

Around these parts, that cat is named Harris.

And he’s been startin’ shit since 2016.

When Tabs was our CFO, he defended the property and kept Harris at bay…

Most of the time…

I mean, there were occasional Harris incursions…

Like I said, that cat is trouble.

Rosie

Rosie’s taken over security since Tabs crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and she does her best, but I can’t pretend it’s an easy job. Sometimes it seems like Harris is everywhere, and Rosie is terrified that Harris is going to figure out a way to steal the company’s treat stockpile.