Fall frenzy continued...

Still got the fall fever, I do believe...er. 

And I'm pretty darn sure that it's contagious.  First it was me, but now my roommate is being all fall-tastic. Today, she brought home some adorable pottery pumpkins that have already found their new home right at our entrance way.  Totally diggin' the fall vibe they let off. 

So, since I'm on a roll (I call it my fall frenzy), I decided to celebrate my fall feeeee-vah by sharing 
some of my favorite fall goodies that I have stumbled across while exploring one of my personal favorite sites, Etsy.  

  

-Feather Screenprinted Dishtowel-

Tell me whatcha think, friends.

-Black Yellow Lab Early Fall-

-Fall Garden Flower Necklace-

-Yarn Wreath Felt Handmade Door Decoration-

-Fall Pillow-

-Fall Banner-

-Framed Fall Leaves-

-Fall Candlesticks-

-Gentle Pug and Glossy Postcards-

-Owl-

Thanks to all of the wonderful artists and crafters for their work! 

XOXO.

Fall Fever

I'm feelin' mighty Fall-ish.

After my class ended at 2 today, I checked my handy-dandy assignment pad to see just how much work I had to do today.

Yes!, didn't have too much to do.  So, what to do with my "free" time?  

Okay, lets get real.  Is the even a question---

Shop.

Oh, that beautiful four-letter word.  
Gets me in trouble every time.

I'll be on a mission to purchase a particular item, and I'll come home with something totally different and unexpected.

I might not have gotten what I was looking for, but I can't say it wasn't worth the trip.
If I happen to find any sort of special treasure while shoppin', then I feel like I had some luck and it was all worthwhile.

Today, I decided to check out Hobby Lobby, a crafter's heaven.  
Advice:  Go if you haven't.  
I figured it was about darn time that I needed to cover the boring, white walls in my living room with some fun wall decor.  

Instead of following my initial plan and head towards the wall decorations, where did I actually end up going?

Down the Halloween/Fall holiday aisle, of course.

I guess it's that time, y'all.

Grab me a thermometer because...

I think I've got Fall fever. 
The scorching summer temperature is cooling off, the sandals are being boxed away 'til next summer, 
and I'm getting paler by the second (Bye bye, tan bod). 

As much as I hate looking more and more like Casper, the friendly ghost, I must say, I'm ready to finally see some fall foliage.  
And pick some Red Delicious and Pink Lady apples.  
And slurp on some cider with my sweet Ollie in my lap.  
I get excited thinking about it.  

Oh, the anticipation!  
Can't wait 'til Fall is in full swing!
What are YOU most excited to do this fall?


XOXO.  

God Bless America.

God Bless America.

 

Those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, 
will never, ever, ever be forgotten.

 XOXO.  

 

Meow, meow.

I've never been without cats.  

When I was born, I was brought into a home with three cats.  Who knows what the heck my parents were thinking.  

3 cats + 1 baby= Insanity.

Ever since, I have never been cat-less.

As I matured, and my cats grew old and passed away from old age; my mother, father, sister and I would eventually decide to head to a local breeder in order to try to fill the empty space in our family.  It was hard filling the precious place of a passed away cat.  But if we did end up feeling a special connection with a particular kitten, we would bring the little kitty home.   

When I left home to start my freshman year of college at Ole Miss, I hated when I had to say goodbye to my animals (and my mom and sister, of course).  I knew I would greatly miss my fuzzy family members.

Now, in my fourth year of college, I decided to move into an apartment.  With that being said, I knew, before even stepping foot into my brand-spankin'-new apartment, that I had to live in an apartment that allowed cats. Sure enough, when the day came to look for an apartment, I stumbled upon one that I head-over-heels fell in love with.  And why yes, it was cat-friendly.  

In a short time, I signed the lease and started moving in my stuff.  

During the move-in period, I practically lived on Petfinder.  I decided, after a few of my very good friends adopted cats at the local pet shelter, that I wanted to do the same.  I felt like it was the right thing to do. 

Allow me to introduce you to this sweet 2-year-old Persian.  This is Ollie.  Yep, he's all mine.  I discovered this lil' guy on Petfinder.  He was located at a nearby animal shelter. Before being placed with his foster mom, Ollie was raised in a cattery and was not a well-socialized cat.  His owner had approximately 25 cats, and she did not expose them to many humans.  After his owner became ill, Henrico Animal League brought in many of her cats.  Linda, his foster mother who took him, got him very comfortable around humans.  Linda might be the sweetest lady I have met in my entire life.  And, she is definitely a miracle-worker because he is well-socialized now.  And photogenic.



How can you not love him?  He's the sweetest, most affectionate guy ever.  I adore him.

Since Ollie was so used to having other cats around when he lived in the cattery, it was very obvious from the get-go that he was lonely and needed a buddy.
  
My awesome roommate decided to call up Linda to see if she had any kittens available.  Sure enough, Linda hooked my roommate up.  Sweet Linda came to our apartment (she insisted on driving a total of 45 minutes in order to bring the kitten instead of us meeting her.  She is just that sweet.).  May I add that Linda drove through Hurricane Irene to bring the kitten to us?  Yes, she may be sweet, but it's true---they don't call 'em crazy cat ladies for nothin'! 

 Meet Cricket.  AKA Ollie's BFF. 

 
My cat and my roommate's cat are just the sweetest things.  We could not be happier.


Have you ever rescued an animal?

XOXO.

I'm on a roll.

Be proud, people.

Be very, very proud.

I'm already right back here bloggin' once again.  
I sure am making up for lost time, huh?

And, why yes, I do deserve a cookie (or some hard liquor)
for getting right back in the swing of things oh-so-quickly.
Alrighty, so this mornin', just like any other morning in the beautiful 
(very much exaggerated) life of CLeigh, 

I carried on with my usual morning rituals.  Part of my morning "rituals"
involves me checking my e-mail.  You know, I gotta stay connected with the world...

Question:  Does anyone really e-mail anymore?

Anyways, on my e-mail site, the homepage always has some sort of 
current news la-dee-dee-dah-dah stuff.

I'd be lying if I said I actually pay any attention to it.
However, this morning I did, and something caught my eye.

Before I clicked the teeny little mailbox in the corner of the screen, 

I zeroed in on a particular story labeled "Epic T-shirt fail".  
Hm.  What's that all about!?!

After being drawn in by this bold-faced title, I clicked it. 

Then, there I saw the T-shirt it was referring to pop up on the screen.

 

YIKES!

Okay, really?

Obviously, we are running out of ideas as to what we should be putting on t-shirts. 

This t-shirt absolutely blows.

Fortunately, JC Penny decided to pull this nightmare of a shirt off the site after they started getting a lot of negative feedback about the shirt's message.  

Supposedly, it didn't take 'em long to take it down. 

Well, duh?  Didn't they see that coming?

Smart move, JC.  You absolutely blew it. 

I can totally understand why those people were complainin' and pitchin' a fit.

So, here's my question...

How are we getting that message across if

homework is suddenly "not cool"?

All this t-shirt does is misguides children.  

You can't "get by" relying on someone else for everything.

Making your brother do your homework...unbelievable.

Instead of sitting around,

Go out there, and do it yourself.

God gave you brains.

Use 'em.  

Being beautiful on the outside doesn't get you but so far.  

Just because you're "eye candy" doesn't mean you will automatically 

come with a million dollars in your back pocket.  

Instead of blinding or sheltering kids so much that they don't know what the real world is all about, make sure they get it.  

You need to work for what you want.  

Don't just sit back.

GO GET IT. 

So, there is my little rant and lesson of the day.  

The posts will be much more pleasant in the future.

XOXO.

MIA.

It has been too, too long since I've been on here...
Before you might possibly start getting all sassy and angry at me for being MIA, can I please at least explain myself for my leave of absence?
Okay, so my reasoning for not blogging these past few weeks...
I've been away getting myself situated in my brand-spankin'-new apartment!
Yes, moving into a new place is always exciting, 
but can I just say moving into an apartment is so freakin' exhausting.
Yes, I am so drained, but I can finally,
finallyyyyyyyyy say that I am now all moved in!

YIPEE! 

I am happy.
It's been a workout hauling up all the crap up and down the stairs.
But...doesn't matter anymore.  
It's all over, baby.
Dear Sculpted and well-toned upper arm and thigh muscles, 
you will be truly missed.
I guess that is one of the only upsides to moving. 
Haulin' those heavy boxes is rough, 
but you get a real good workout so I guess it is worth it (?).  

So, now that I am FIA (found in action), and no longer MIA,
I figured I would show you a sneak peek of my new home...

New bed set, new pillows, and new cat.  New, new, new.

 
XOXO.

The End of One Chapter and the Beginning of Another

So, here I am.
Eleven o'clock PM and up drinkin' a good ole Bud Light Lime 
and thinking where the heck did the time go.  
Everyone in my house is sound asleep, but me, I'm wide awake.
How can I sleep when glorious memories are flying around in my head?
All I wanna do is grab 'em and go back in time to those special moments. 
Now that this day has finally come.
Change is good.  
It's a fresh, new start with bright beginnings---I am sure. 
  With all of these wonderful memories consuming my mind, I feel it is

Time to reminisce...

I used to laugh when my sweet Nana would say, 

"It feels like just yesterday when I was a little girl."

I thought she was crazy!

Shoot, that was fifty-something years ago.
Wouldn't that feel like forever ago?
That's an awful long time! (No offense to Nana).

Even though I'm only a young 21-years-old-gal,

I can say, I now know exactly what she means by that statement.

Father time, why can't you slow things down?

Tomorrow, I will be heading down the highway in the early mornin' 

to drop off my baby sister at her new home, her dorm. 

It's her freshman year.

This fact blows my mind.

She was just a freshman in high school.
I vividly remember walking down the long, boring, cement hallways of our high school four years ago.
There I'd be, me along with my senior classmates, and I would pass my sweet sister walking with her freshman classmates.  

I'd cross paths with her every morning after first period, 
and we would catch up in that short time. 
Then, we would part our separate ways once we realized 
the bell would be ringing momentarily.
Times like these, I can honestly say, I never took for granted.  
I loved seeing my sister during school.  
If something was on my mind or my morning was just plain rotten, 
my sweet sister could turn it around in an instant.

I must say, I am beyond excited for my sister's new adventure
but am sad that she is no longer close by.

Now, I have to drive down the darn highway to see her.
 INCONVENIENT!
Thanks a lot, sis.
Just kidding!  You're definitely worth the drive. 

 

XOXO.