I'm very lucky to have a job that works with animals. This past Monday, Sweet Heart Pin Up Photography and my shop, Cats Like Us joined the SPCA Serving Erie County in a photoshoot. It helps promote my products, Sweet Heart Pin Up's photography, and hopefully gets the kitties adopted.

These three are a set of senior bonded cats all named after characters 

in the movie It's a Wonderful Life. 

Georgie, Zuzu, & Bailey. If I didn't already have two, these are the guys I would take home.

White Cat Eye Sunglasses

Hawleywood's Layrite Super Hold Pomade

Red Dahlia Hair Flower

This is Jarppi & Jarno. They are curious brothers.

Santa Claws Socks

Silver Diamond Dangle Earrings

Booked For Meow Knee Socks

Here are some kittens.

Vase Tabby Kitten Wallet

Cats Like Us Swizzle Sticks

Poodle Pink Cat Eye Sunglasses

 Calypso is a little peanut. She was in everyone's business and was jumping around.

Blossom Kitty Handbag

The other two things are Halloween Hair ties that are not on our website yet!

I usually don't attend conventions because they are on the weekend and I don't always have off, but this year I decided to take a Sunday and go to the ParaHorror Convention. It combines paranormal and horror together, so you get the best of both worlds. As a bonus, it's located at the Buffalo Central Terminal, a gorgeous old art deco rail road station. I knew a lot of customers and friends would be in attendance because we are like-minded, but I didn't realize how much I would be among "my people". Fans of horror and weird unite!

There was a vendor quest, oh yes! I was mainly on the hunt for Halloween potholders because every fall I inevitably start mine on fire baking cookies. It seems you can always find Halloween towels, but the potholders are a little harder. I found cute witch hat, full glove style potholders and vintage Halloween! Whoot! They are handmade and the company is called MadDormouse Designs. They have superhero ones, Doctor Who, and nerdy fan stuff!

The other thing I was looking for was a big fun pillow from Deconstructed Designs. If you've watched any of my unboxing videos you can see a small green and black striped monster pillow sitting on my couch. It's from Deconstructed Designs. This time I opted for a large one. I just love this guy's underbite, and of course it has her signature heart on the butt design. Does this mean I have the start of a collection? Possibly! Look for him on my couch in the next video!

 (Please ignore my cat hair.)

Andrew, the hubs, took part in the fun too, and purchased a little bat decal for his new car from Desire Tedesco. If you like skulls and bats ~ and I know you do ~ check out her etsy page! It's been a challenging year, with friends and family having surgeries, Ginger being sick, and many deaths...including his car. So he treated himself.

Next, we unexpectedly came across this lovely vendor, Angela's Wicked Creations. Yes, I bought these earrings, but don't worry I picked up some horror related Christmas presents too. (I won't share those and ruin the surprise.)

We also came across Mike Alvarez Art. He specializes in pop culture characters and makes them all very funny, but gives them a real personality. We picked up two little books from him.

Then I saw Kat, a friend and customer promoting her Living Dead Girls podcast, AND she was wearing a skirt from my shop Cats Like Us! We took a picture and I picked up this little cat pumpkin from her. I HAD TO HAVE IT.

I also met David Howard Thornton, the actor that plays Art the Clown in the Terrifier.  If you like horror and haven't seen this movie yet you are missing out! It's truly one of my favorite new horror movies. It will be available on Netflix Sept 1, 2018 and they are currently working on a sequel. Oh and Mr. Thornton is super nice too. (Side note: I'm so happy he wasn't in Art makeup. I would have been really freaked out. #notafanofclowns)

Overall the event was small, but filled with amazing talent. There was also a haunted house within the terminal, games, lectures, psychics, zombie make overs and more!

We ended with a walking tour of Buffalo's Central Terminal with a guide from Beyond Ghosts. Built in 1929 for 14 million dollars, the place is gigantic. It was designed by the same architect as the Grand Central Station. The goal was to have businesses and people grow around it, but unfortunately with the stock market crash it was doomed from the beginning.

 Outside picture of the Buffalo Central Terminal taken from: http://buffalocentralterminal.org/

World War II gave it new life with 200 trains a day traveling through with men going off to war it became a popular hub. Then in 1956 they tried to sell it for 1 million, eventually Amtrak took it over, but in 1979 left it for a smaller station.

A man bought the building for $75,000!!!! He was in love with it, made an apartment inside and registered the Buffalo Central Terminal as a Historical Building. It will never be torn down for this reason.

The tour started several floors up in the space his old apartment was located, over looking the concourse.

This is across from the windows, where his living room was located.

The the tour worked it's way down. On October 28, 1986 the building was sold again for $100,000. This new owner ended up stripping everything out and selling it off making a ton of money and moving to Florida. In the meantime, it was vandalized and squatters started living inside. Finally it was bought by the Restoration Corporation, that is slowly cleaning and fixing it.

The last time I was in this building was probably five-ish years ago and they only had port-a-potties. I impressed that they now have nice clean bathrooms, and the space itself is much cleaner than it has been in a long time.

The next floor had the ghosts of two children inhabiting it.

Some toys to tempt the ghost children to play.

When the Restoration Corp. started cleaning this floor is was knee deep in papers and dirt. I'd say they made a lot of progress.

 On the lowest level of the tour. 

I took a bunch of pictures, hoping to capture some orbs or something, but no luck. Not only did I have a horror filled Sunday, it was educational too. I can't wait for next year.

Have you ever noticed that some cats just love plastic bags? They chew them, lick them, and rub against them, but their love can be dangerous! Even if your cat isn't interested in plastic, be sure not to leave any bags laying around. When unattended, a cat can eat enough plastic that it gets stuck in their stomach which creates an intestinal blockage and requires surgery. If that's not the worst, they can suffocate and get strangled by the handles too.

So what's the attraction to plastic bags? Do you remember my blog about Kitty Noses? A cat's sense of smell is VERY strong. They can smell things even dogs can't smell! That's the first problem.

Just look at that little nose.

-The plastic used in bags is porous and can retain the smell of whatever was in it last i.e. tasty groceries, cat food, chicken etc. Cats will eat the plastic thinking it's food. (Yeah I know, not so smart.)

-Some plastics are treated with lubricants so they don't stick together. Plastic can have lanolin, stearic acid derived from tallow aka animal fat, or fish oils in them. Of course this is attractive to a carnivore!

-With all the chemicals in plastic, some plastics may give off a scent that mimics pheromones. If your cat sniffs the plastic and makes an open mouth face or if you find your kitty peeing on your plastic bags, they probably smell a scent similar to another cat.

- A few of the new biodegradable bags are being made with corn starch which smells and tastes good to some cats.

Another problem is if you have an OCD or bored cat. (Some ways to put your indoor cat at ease are described in my Stop Jack Frost & Cabin Fever Cat blog.)

Bored kitty.

-One of the things a bored, nervous, or OCD cat will do is eat things they shouldn't. Sometimes they crave things they shouldn't. This is linked to pica. Pica is when cats will eat or chew inedible objects. They may chew on wool sweaters or eat litter, but can opt for plastic shower curtains and shoe laces. If you know your cat is a plastic licker try to curb their exposuree to the plastics they like or plant kitty safe plant grass.

Cats are playful and enjoy toys with texture and sound.

Crunchy toy and kitty. (I don't know if the ball is really crunchy, but it looks crunchy.

-Bags crunch and make the same sound as their favorite cat toys. Plastic bags feel like a toy, so they must be a toy right? Nope. Not a toy. Just say no, even if they want to wear that plastic bag like a Count Dracula cape!

This should have a warning for cats and dogs too. Better safe than sorry.

I never thought this day would come, but I'm caught up with Supernatural!!!! This blog is about season 13.  You can read my thoughts on 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, 9&10 and 11& 12.

The last episode of Season 12 threw us for a loop. A LOT HAPPENED. Crowley sacrificed himself, Kelly died, Castiel (Cas) died and Mary Winchester is in another dimension with Lucifer and Bobby. Kelly's "baby" er son that's a young man ~ Jack ~ is still figuring out his powers. (Duh, of course Kelly dies if she gives birth to a baby the size of a young man!) Reminds me of when Dawn was added to Buffy. At one point early on Jack calls to Cas in the "empty" and he gets sent back to earth. Cas plays other personalities VERY WELL. (Season 13 E4 & E22). He was sent back to earth because he annoyed an ancient cosmic being too much.

Lucifer is back on earth, has no powers and saves Cas to tell him that Michael the Archangel is coming. Michael and Kevin Tran (remember him?) are in the alternate reality.

Ketch survived because of a spell to keep him alive. He's killing witches and starts working with Asmodeus who captures Lucifer and Cas, but they eventually get away. Lucifer takes over heaven, but doesn't know what to do with it. Meanwhile the angels are struggling to keep heaven open since there's only nine angels left. They thought Lucifer could make more but he can't, so they don't want him. Nothing came of this story arch. Hopefully heaven can be saved in Season 14.

Jack and Mary at one point are in the alternate reality with Bobby, and Michael wants Jack to open a gate to earth so he can start a war, meanwhile Sam and Dean want Donatello to read from the demon tablet to open a rift to the other dimension. Cas turns Donatello into a vegetable, so he's in a coma now? to get into his mind and find out the ingredients to open the hole to the other dimension and stop the war.

Dean and Ketch enter the alternate world together to save Mary and Jack. In addition to Mary and Bobby there, the other Charlie is there too! Ketch ends up staying there and working with Charlie while Dean goes back to our earth hatch a plan.

Gabriel (Gabe) the Archangel (remember him too?) aka trickster or class clown is captured by Asmodeus for his grace, but Gabe eventually kills him, then Gabe is killed by Michael in the alternate world. But is he really dead? Gabe is such a likeable character! I hope he comes back.

How can you not like Gabriel? Just look at his shirt.

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 5 "Advanced Thanatology". Who urban explores at night in an abandoned mental institution without Ghost Facers? The doctor who inhabited the building wore a plague doctor mask~ that's random, BUT those masks are creepy as hell. Dean ends up killing himself to talk to the ghosts inhabiting the house and sees that Billie the Reaper is now Billie Death. She took after Death's job after Dean killed him. She tells Dean that she's sending him back because he and Sam have "work to do".

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 6 "Tombstone" has a lot of Buffy elements. It opens with Dean and a guy in a cowboy hat hunting in a graveyard. There's even a rockabilly styled undertaker! Jack accidentally kills an innocent man and he's so upset he leaves. (See ya later Scrappy Do!)

Just look at those victory rolls and red lipstick. 

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 9 "The Bad Place" Jack is using dreamwalkers to try and get to the other dimension that Mary is in. The dreamwalker Kaia gets Jack to Mary in the other dimension, but Sam and Dean are transported to a Jurassic Park type world where they are food for a giant monster.

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 10 "Wayward Sisters"When Jody can't find Sam and Dean she gathers her girls ~ Claire the hunter (she has amazing hair), Patience the psychic, Alex a reluctant hunter, Kaia the dreamwalker, and Donna an ex police officer and hunter!!! I love Donna, You may remember her from Season 9 as "fat sucker Donna" she's awesome. They find Sam and Dean in the other world and Kaia gets killed there saving Claire. In the meantime, the portal stays open and a Darth Vader like person comes to earth. It's Kaia from the bad dimension. We never see the result of her coming to earth in this season. Maybe they will pick up the storyline later?

Claire & her full and bouncy hair. 

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 11 "Breakdown" is excellent. It's set up like a 1970s slasher film. Donna's niece is abducted for her body parts that get sold to monsters in an online auction. It might be stylized like the 1970s, but the story is very modern.

PLUS-Season 13, Episode 12 "Various & Sundry Villians" Rowena is back and looking for the Black Grimoire, in the end Sam gives her the page she needs to break a binding spell on herself.

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 14 "Good Intentions" Mary and Jack find Bobby! Also Dean says, "If bacon is what kills me, then I win." I'm going to use this line in my everyday life. I'm with you Dean. I'd be a vegetarian if it wasn't for bacon and chicken fingers. True story.

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 15 "A Most Holy Man" Sam and Dean get involved with the mob, but the important thing is the mob boss has a fluffy kitty. This episode is VERY film noir and I feel like it should have been filmed in black and white with all the shadows and dark alleys.

PLUS-Season 13, Episode 19 "Funeralia" We see a softer side of Rowena. She talks to the reaper Billie about getting her son Crowley back. She won't bring him back. Rowena and Gabriel are on board to help in apocalypse world.

PLUS- Season 13, Episode 21 "Beat the Devil". Sam, Dean, Cas, and Gabriel are in the alternate world. Sam dies by the hand of vampires and Lucifer saves him. You know he wasn't going to die, because that's too easy.

PLUS-Season 13, Episode 22 "Exodus". Lucifer and Gabriel are really fun characters and play off each other well. Lucifer gets left behind in apocalypse world to fight Michael, but they end up making a deal instead. Everyone returns to our earth, Bobby, Mary, Charlie, Ketch, Jack, and more.

PLUS-Season 13, Episode 23 "Let the Good Times Roll". Everyone is back, but nothing has ended. Rowena and Charlie become friends, Jack works with Cas, Sam, and Dean hunting, Ketch went off on his own as usual, and Bobby and Mary become good friends. Everything is happy until Michael and Lucifer show up. Michael tried to kill Sam, Dean, and Cas, but Jack swoops in and saves them. In the meantime, Lucifer transports Sam and Jack to a church? and steals Jack's power. Dean decides the only way to save them is to become "Michael's sword" like he was supposed to do many seasons ago, but didn't want to. Michael takes over Dean's body and fights with Lucifer while flying through the air. It look super hokey. Then Michael kills Lucifer and completely takes over Dean's body and leaves everyone. We end on Dean looking like an extra from Peaky Blinders.

PLUS & MINUS- Season 13, Episode 16 "Scoobynatural" Sam, Dean, and Cas enter a Scooby Doo episode. Dean is a creeper in this one, but if he was a cartoon written in the 60s you probably wouldn't notice how offensive it is.

Cas, Sam, & Dean in Scoobynatural.

PLUS & MINUS-Season 13, Episode 17 "The Thing", we get to see other chapter houses of The Men of Letters. Dean references the "key master" and "gate keeper", that Ghostbusters reference wasn't lost on me. They always assume the girl is a damsel in distress. When will they learn that women can take care of themselves (i.e. their mom) and that they can be evil.

I'm no stranger to the Ghostbusters reference. Halloween 2016.

MINUS- I feel like Season 13, episode 2 "The Rising Son" is a filler episode. Sam and Dean are trying to figure out if Jack is really evil. While Lucifer is trapped in another dimension his demon Asmodeus takes over Hell. Donatello the prophet warms Sam and Dean that they can't protect Jack.

I'm caught up!!! Ginger is sad about that. She could watch Sam everyday. Ginger & Sam FURever!