Tabs

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 634

November 22nd, 2020 by Karen 11 Comments

Tabs was quite the professional athlete, but as much as he tried, he just could not get into yoga. He would go, lay down on the mat, get ready to stretch, and promptly fall asleep every single time.

I think the studio he went to eventually just told him to stop coming because his napping was so distracting to all the other students. He was just too sexy, even asleep.

I took him to Bikram yoga once and dropped him off at class, went back to the car and settled in with a good book thinking he’d be in there at least 45 minutes. Less than 5 minutes later he comes sauntering out saying, “Nope, nope, not gonna do it. Too sweaty.” Then he made me drive him to In ‘N Out to get a vanilla milkshake. It was the weirdest thing.

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Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 633

November 15th, 2020 by Karen 1 Comment

Rosie got no chill.

For such a tiny torbie, she’s surprisingly high strung when it comes to the gangs of turkeys roaming about the estate. Yes, she refers to our neighborhood as her “estate,” and the turkeys are trespassing upon her land.

They’re only doing what the turkeys do every year. They strut about, fluffing their feathers to let everyone know that they’re the kings of the neighborhood, but Rosie isn’t having any of that.

Rosie is convinced that they’re plotting to overthrow the neighborhood. “Nefarious plots,” she calls them.

She’s taken it upon herself to lead the torbie army to protect the land.

It’s a side of her I haven’t seen before. She’s quite the warrior kitty.

Tabs had a completely different cattitude. He saw the turkeys as his next meal, not as a force to be obliterated.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 632

November 8th, 2020 by Karen 5 Comments

I did not want to get out of bed this morning! It was cold!

Well…cold for us. It was about 50 outside this morning, but Rosie still wanted to go for her walk, just like Tabs would have. He was like the Post Office when it came to the weather. Neither rain nor sleet nor snow could stop him from going on Sunday patrol. Yup, he took cat corporate security of Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC very seriously.

The chill is here! Fall has officially arrived, which also means falling leaves to chase and windy weather fun. Some of Tabs’ favorite days were windy days in fall.

It fired up his cat senses and boosted his energy to almost kitten levels.

On windy days like today, Tabs was like his best cat self. He climbed trees, chased birds and regularly struck award-winning poses.

And now I also know that Rosie loves fall as much as Tabs did.

Rosie

It totally caught me off guard, but she leapt almost 10 feet up the trunk of a big oak tree today…while on her leash! She jumped up, stretched her claws and hopped down, then hopped through a big pile of leaves, then darted around behind me and tied my legs up in the leash. She was fired up!

I think it was a combination of the breeze, which was causing leaves to swirl and generating lots of movement, and the crisp air, but it really got her excited. It was fun to see her have so much fun.

It made her a handful though. I had to watch her like a hawk. She was so excited that I couldn’t take my eyes off her. In fact, I needed one of the company interns to help…

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 631

November 1st, 2020 by Karen 3 Comments

Of all the things Tabs was, he was definitely not a minimalist. He’d go big on every occasion, but especially Halloween, and the day after his epic Halloween blowouts I would spend the day drinking green juices and detoxing while he would indulge in even more excess. I’m talking smoked fish flown in from Nova Scotia and caviar, and even though I would insist on eating a salad, I would find boxes upon boxes of Snickers all over the house.

If there were such a thing as an anti-“less is more,” it would have been him.

Yesterday I briefly wondered if he was doing it up at the Rainbow Bridge. I wonder what his costume was this year… I don’t know, I can see him being a golden mermaid.

I offered to throw Rosie a Halloween party multiple times, but she straight-up refused. She just wanted to stay home and quietly study chess. She just finished watching Queen’s Gambit, and now she wants to be a Grandmaster of cat chess.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 630

October 25th, 2020 by Karen 5 Comments

Crab cakes, tuna tacos and sweet turkey crisps, cat intrigue and politicking, tons of tail twitching and furtive glances — I tell ya, there’s nothing quite like a Tabs the Cat Halloween Masquerade Ball. 🙂

They were always one of the hottest parties of the year. As you might recall, one year’s gala was the scene of a foiled plot to push Vladimir Puss ‘N’ Mau off the banister directly on top of Tabs, and the culprit cat was never caught. He fled the scene wearing a teddy bear mask and disappeared into the night…

But that wasn’t the only shocking development. We also found some vandalism in Tabs’ study, the words “CL was here” scratched into an antique desk.

After that, we really beefed up security to prevent anything nefarious from happening. It would have been such a shame to have anything overshadow the costumes.

Speaking of that, here’s a Halloween cat makeup tutorial Tabs was very proud of… Hope you like. 🙂

TOOLS:

Primer — Go with one that suits your fur type; I went with an anti-aging formula for dry or combination fur.
Full-coverage black cream stick foundation — Matte, velvet or shimmer. The finish is entirely up to you, but I prefer a sheen finish, which has a hint of glossy shine.
Black liquid nose and cheek tint — Liquid nose and cheek tints are easy to blend and layer, which is why I like working with them. Like the cream stick foundation, you have a lot of room to play in terms of finish. I ended up sticking with the same sheen finish for the sake of continuity.
Black kohl pencil — Black liner instantly intensifies your look.
Golden yellow contacts — A fun extra touch.
Kabuki brush
Beauty Blender

STEPS:

Pour a dollop of primer into your paw. Blend the primer by going in the direction of your fur, not against it. Wait a few minutes for your primer to completely dry before moving on to the next step.
Gently massage a full-coverage black cream stick foundation into your fur with your paws, swirling and tapping until the foundation covers most of your natural fur color and markings. Buff away any heavy areas with a kabuki brush, and repeat the process until you reach the level of coverage you want. Also take care to smooth out any patchy areas.
Dot a multi-purpose black liquid nose and cheek tint on your nose and whisker pads, then stipple and blend using a Beauty Blender sponge to thoroughly blend the product.
Rim your water lines and lash lines with a black kohl pencil to enhance your illusion of black cat-ness.
Optional: if you want to go the extra mile, apply golden yellow contacts.

(NOTE: No cats received actual makeovers in the preparation of this tutorial…even though I’m sure you already knew that. But still, please don’t put makeup on your kitty cat.)

Have a happy Halloween week from Tabs!

Rosie’s also in the Halloween spirit

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 629

October 18th, 2020 by Karen 3 Comments

Along with exhibiting a growing interest in the kitty modeling arts, Rosie has been going through the company archives of Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC to study the work of the company’s founder and try to ascertain how he achieved kitty modeling greatness.

With Halloween approaching, she paw-selected the following seasonal ad campaigns featuring Tabs as her Halloween favorites, all of which were filed in the company database under “Fabulously Frightening.”

Rosie’s Sunday walk

Connor escorted Rosie on her morning walk today while she inspected the grounds and performed her cat calisthenics.

Tensions weren’t high this time, which was nice, because Harris was nowhere to be found.

Rosie was able to truly relax and recharge once she was confident Harris wasn’t around. It was great that she could do her stretches without having to constantly look over her shoulder.

Oh! — last night Rosie also worked late to help us decorate the company entrance with customary seasonal accoutrements. She’s really becoming a valued member of the Tabs the Cat Industries, LLC team.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 628

October 11th, 2020 by Karen 9 Comments

Tabs loved Halloween, as you know. We would get RSVPs to his annual Halloween party six months out, and I kept all of his Halloween treat and beverage recipes, like the following…

Shrimp Catnip Cocktails

Catnip Jello Parfait

Gravy Shooters

Rosie upping her modeling game

I’m shocked. Rosie’s been really upping her modeling game lately. As an academic, that girl can study, and she’s been watching endless tape of Tabs during the height of his runway career, picking up pointers and the nuances of kitty supermodeling. She told me that she has a PhD in biomechanics, which is probably why her muscle control is out of this world. When you understand the science behind the poses, you can really next level it. Or that’s what she tells me when she slow blinks.

I offered to leave the house free if Rosie wanted to throw a small get together with some of her kitty friends this Halloween, but I’ve yet to get a firm answer. She goes back and forth. She’s not quite the social butterfly like Tabs was, but I think she wants to spread her wings. We’ll see.

I’m stocking up on catnip essence and fresh catnip just in case she pulls a last-minute diva move at the witching hour and says, “Let’s throw a party!”

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Sundays With Tabs the Cat, Makeup and Beauty Blog Mascot, Vol. 627

October 4th, 2020 by Karen 5 Comments

If you ask any celebrity who’s been there, Heidi Klum’s infamous Halloween parties were like a six on a scale of one to Tabs. I mean, going to one was better than staying home, but they couldn’t hold a candle to the annual cat costume galas thrown by Tabs.

Tabs turned Halloween into a week-long celebration. Dressing up was mandatory at the office, but on the plus side, you didn’t have to do your regular work. The week was all about fun, fur and festivities.

Tabs was actually the first corporate cat CFO to pioneer flex time for cat cosplay every October 31st. You didn’t have to do any of your regular work if you spent the time working on your costume instead. It was great!