Ahoy, Matey!

It’s the day you’ve been preparing for since you were a kid. Grab your pirate hat and cutlass, and join your friends and family in talking like a pirate this September 19!

How Did Talk Like a Pirate Day Get Started?

Like most great things, this holiday started as an inside joke between friends. John Baur and Mark Summers’ were playing racquetball when one of them screamed “Aaarrr” in an outburst of pain. After that, it became a yearly tradition for them to talk like a pirate for a day. It became an official holiday in 2002 when they shared their practice with columnist, Dave Barry.

Tips For Celebrating Talk Like a Pirate Day

One great way to get you and your friends in the pirate spirit is with some tropical beverages! You’ll be talking like a seadog in no time after a couple of piña coladas, which you can make at home with our Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker.

Once you’ve mastered talking like a pirate by using terms like shiver me timbers, blimey, scallywag, and landlubber, it’s time to watch a film about your fellow pirates. Luckily, there’s a lot of great options!

Valentine’s day has always been my favorite holiday. I love the store displays in my favorite colors and the heart shaped boxes of candy, but as I’ve grown up the part I love most is finding creative ways to have fun with my loved ones.

As a homebody, I prefer a romantic night in over a night on the town. Here’s some of my ideas on how to have the perfect date night at home!

A quick and easy way to create a romantic snack is with this Rachel Ray Fondue Set. It’s even in red to set the mood.  Whether you and your love prefer chocolate or cheese, there are a plethora of options to match up with either flavor. I prefer sweet, so traditionally I pair chocolate with fruit, but angel cake can be a delicious addition as well. If you prefer savory, cheese fondue goes well with bread, pretzels, or even veggies. As a child I was given a small fondue kit for Valentine’s day, so I’m very excited to try this grown up version and make fondue night a new tradition.

Since rescuing a kitten five months ago, every day has felt like cat day. It didn’t take long for me to understand how people can become obsessed with their fur babies and opt to stay home cuddling them over going out.

Today, October 29, is National Cat Day in the Unites States. While it’s a great excuse to celebrate your furry friends, it’s also a day to consider opening your heart and home to a cat in need. For me, when I met my cat Baymax( who's pictured above) it was like finding an instant best friend who gets to live with me.

Whether you already have a cat(s) to love, or are thinking of adding one to the family, we offer a lot of great products to make the process easier.

If you’re anything like me, you have a hard time being away from your cat while you’re at work and want to know what they’re up to when you’re away. Our PetCube WiFi Pet Camera allows you to watch your cat(s) on your smart phone when you can’t be there. While the adventures you see might be different from the movie The Secret Life of Pets, it will still be quite entertaining.

October has a lot to love between the trees changing colors, crisp fall air, trick or treating, and all things pumpkin. But did you know that October also has a day just to celebrate your love of all things chocolate? October 28 is National Chocolate Day, and I am extremely excited to spend the day celebrating by eating some of my favorite foods.

Lefthanders Day, which is on August 13, started twenty-nine years ago as a way to bring attention to the difficulties lefties face living in a world that was not designed for us. Although being left-handed comes with its own struggles such as smearing everything you write, awkward handshakes, having everything you cut look like a three year old got ahold of scissors, and bumping elbows with anyone who is bold enough to sit next to you, being left-handed should be something to rejoice.  

Here’s some things to celebrate about being left handed:

• We are better at 3D perceptions and thought processing. (Is this really a surprise given years of outside the box thinking to make right handed products work for us?)
• Lefties are more likely to go in to a creative field, such as the arts or music.
• It is believed that all polar bears are southpaws, as well as 50% of cats so we’re in excellent and very cute company.
• We make up just 10% of the world’s population and it’s been that way for thousands of years.
• Despite the struggles we have faced, like having left being associated with evil or wrong in multiple languages and cultures (it’s gone so far that there is a phobia of left-handed people and things being to the left called sinistrophobia), leaders throughout history are more likely to be lefties.

Photos have become an important part of our everyday lives. They can help close the gap for loved ones that are far away, help us remember fun places we’ve been, and capture the big and little moments that make up our lives. We see photographs daily, but have you ever wondered how it all started?

 The first photographic process was developed in 1837 by Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicephore Niepce. Their process was called the Daguerrotype, which the French government purchased the patent for on August 19, 1839 so that they could share it as a free gift to the world. The French were on to something, and on August 19, 2010, World Photo Day hosted a global gallery online to honor the day the patent was purchased. They asked photographers around the globe to upload a single image that would capture their life to share with the world. Almost 270 photographers joined in on the fun, with the gallery being viewed in over 100 countries. This marked the first official Photography Day, which has been celebrated since.

Holidays are no exception. One of my favorite projects is a yearly Halloween graveyard lightshow I put together for my home display. Check out this video I created explaining the basics behind on the spooktacular show!