I'm doing this for me

Have you ever looked at a picture of your self and thought, "that can't be me..." ? I have. This is one of those pictures. It was taken at the beach this past summer. The year I graduated high school I suffered from crippling depression.  I vowed to never let myself get to that point again. When the doctor diagnosed me, he did not want to give me medication, I didn't want that for myself either, he said a healthy active life paired with a healthy social life would help me out of my slump. My best and closest friend being in college a thousand miles away did not inspire social outings. And I had no will power to force my self to exercise at home, where my family was. So I wasted away. In August I saw a picture of a friend I hadn't seen since my Sophomore year of high school. When I knew her she was a big girl, but this picture of her showed that she had lost a lot of weight. I asked her how she did it. She said she changed her life. We talked and I joked about her becoming my personal trainer, she told me she would love to train me. About two weeks before we talked I decided I wanted to turn my life around, I got a hold of my friend Davis and asked him to turn my hair blond. Step one: change outer appearance. Step two: work on spiritual wealth. Step three: work on inner appearance. Step four: exercise to work on physical appearance. Final step: emerge as a newly formed human being.

I decided to keep my plan to myself, only telling my sister and my trainer about the changes I wished to make. I wanted to do this for myself and by myself. 

After a few months I told my family and friends about my new life decision, I was- as I expected- completely supported.

They say it takes four weeks for you to see changes in your body, Six weeks for friends and family to notice, and twelve weeks for the rest of the world to notice. I's say that's about right.

I was looking through my pictures on my phone, and looked at a few where I was wearing the same outfit, only I looked different in them. That was when I noticed I was changing.

Then more in comparison with my gym pictures 

the top was about six weeks in to the three days a week gym movement, the bottom was about a month and a half after that. Small difference, but a huge accomplishment.

I'm still seeing changes everyday, I am proud of every pound lost, though I did not change my life for the glory of a few pounds lost. I changed because I wanted to be healthy, and because my habits were slowly killing me. Now, when I miss a day at the gym it feels as if I have missed a whole month. JP (My trainer) and I hate not seeing each other we feel so thrown off, and being there for one another and keeping each other held accountable keeps us on track, and it's a lot of fun. Now I practically live at the gym, I'm so much stronger than before. In every meaning of the word.

"The falling leaves drift by my window, the Autumn leaves of red and gold. I see your face, the summer kisses, the sun-burned hands I used to hold. But I miss you most of all my darling, when Autumn leaves start to fall." -Nat King Cole

Outfit of the day, inspiration of the week.

 well it's that time, fall, the leaves start to change, women dye their hair darker, the stores finally carry pumpkin and apple cinnamon scented candles again. But what I love most, is the earthy tones we get to wear. When I was brunette I would wear a lot of brown, but now that I'm blond I like experimenting with lighter colors. I bought this ruffled half sleeve top at Forever 21 a few weeks ago and I am in love with it! It's simple but it can also be dressed up! Then this navy blue polka-dot knee length skirt (also from forever). Too many skirts and dresser are too short these days so when I find one I find appropriate I have to buy it right away. I paired my black ankle boots from Charlotte Russe. Some people think navy blue and black don't go together, but in this case I disagree, just because you can't really tell the difference. Brown braided belt to separate the skirt and shirt. And to top it all off a big floppy hat. By far my favorite outfit of the season.

" 'Cuz I Need Freedom Now, And I Need To Know How To Live My Life As It's Meant To Be" - Mumford And Sons

Yesterday I voted for the first time, really it should have been my second time but I was a slacker in turning in my registration, all in all the experience was pretty amazing, I finally felt plugged in to the political on goings on the news. But most importantly, I finally felt like a true American. My "I voted" sticker was my favorite accessory of the day.

This is Halloween

This year I was so in the mood to dress up but there were no parties to go to, I guess what they say is true, as you get older the holidays just aren't as interesting. That really is too bad, because I do love to dress up. On the day of Halloween I decided "You know what? I'm going to dress up any way." So I decided to Disneybound as a chimney sweep from Marry Poppins. If you want to dress as a chimney sweep in the future, it is very simple and can be made using things you already have around the house. Here is what you will need:

• Jacket
• Vest
• Poor boy hat
• Jeans
• Boots
• Scarf
• A pair finger-less gloves or a pair of socks that you don't mind ruining 
• Scrap fabric
• Pvc pipe or a broomstick 
• Pipe cleaners
• Black eye shadow

I used some fabric and fashioned them in to patches, and stuck them all over my hat, jacket, vest, and pants. I didn't have any finger-less gloves so I cut up a pair of (new) socks. Then I took some pipe cleaners and wrapped them around the twist in end of a broomstick (to make the actual chimney sweep). Added some black "ash" to my face for soot to look like I've been cleaning chimneys all day. Then, to make my hair look ratty, I crimped some areas, waved other areas, (my hair was already curled that day), straightened some parts, hid a few braids in there and a few twists, and presto...

the final look.

A spontaneous idea and a patch of pumpkins

My mom and I had a mother daughter date that was sort-of spontaneous, we went to Oak Glen and ate at Apple Annie's and had a nice talk and a delicious lunch and shared a cinnamon bun for dessert that was so good it could have killed me stone dead if I ate it on my own. After coming down the hill we realized we did not take one single photo of us, so I said "Lets go to the pumpkin patch!" and my mom was down of course because she likes to follow the sun sometimes, that's just who she is.

we had a really nice time just walking around and talking about the fun times we had when I was a kid, around the holidays. But my mother has a photographers heart and we had to make up for the pictures we missed out on, an I was in a goofy mood.

I wanted to be Sasquatch in the corn, I like to call this one Ash-squatch 

(I apologise for my hair, this was a last minute outing lol)

What I Wore

Clinging on to the last bit of summer I wore my blue floral skirt and shirt from Jason wu's Target collection, people always confuse it for Lauren Conrad but it's not, I like her clothes too though. But I am excited for the earthy tones that we get to wear in this season, I saw lots of fall inspired fashion at the pumpkin patch and I was in love.

XOXO AshLEIGH

DIY Decoupage Notebook

Wow, it has been a while since I last wrote hasn't it? Well to make up for it, I come bearing gifts... that you can make for yourself yay!!! I promised to put up some of my DIY projects so I'll start off with an easy one. This is a good trick for poor college students like me, in out lives we buy lots of notebooks but do any of them express who we truly are? No. That would be impossible, but we can take it upon ourselves to create a notebook that says here I am. So here we go, this is so simple I don't know why I  didn't think of this years ago.

Alright, three simple steps and a few simple supplies:

Here is what you will need:

• Magazines {or what ever you want your notebook to feature, I had some old Life magazines from the 60's that I've been wanting to use for some time (because I am a huge nerd for old ads)}
• Notebook
• Scissors 
• Mod Podge
• Paint brush

How to:

• First gather your supplies
• Cut out what you wish your notebook to feature
• (Tip: I like to lay out my cut outs on the notebook arrange and rearrange until I'm sure that is the pattern I want before I do the next step)
• Spread mod podge evenly on surface of notebook (avoid getting mod podge in three hole punch your pages will stick together)
• Take your cut out and spread flatly over wet mod podge (gently smooth over air bubbles with your finger)
• Let sit until first layer of mod podge is dry
• Gently spread mod podge over the surface of your cut outs make sure all of the cut outs that over lap are glued down, you wouldn't want to accidentally rip all the hard work you just did while you're using it at school  (mod podge may smear ink)
• Let dry 
• Show it off

I use mine at school and I get compliments on it all the time, they wont believe you made it yourself!

Enjoy your notebooks everyone keep checking in every so often for more DIY projects!

XOXO AshLEIGH

Gidget is the one for me

I was thinking about things that make me happy, and you know what came to my mind? My Gramma, so I thought, "hey, my Gramma lives just a little ways away from my school, and she rarely sleeps so why don't I just pop in after my Tuesday night class?" so I popped in. And I nearly scared her half to death. Once she caught her breath I came inside and I asked, "Gramma? do you know what I love?"

 "What?" she asked. "Musicals. but you know what's funny? My Mom does not like them. But you and your  sister love them, and my sister and I love them." Then Gramma said, "I guess it skips a generation..." So I told my Gramma how I loved spending time at her house as a child because we would always watch old movies, which at the time I don't think I appreciated, but looking back those really were great movies, that I still remember. My Gramma would have my sister and I watch old movies, My Great Aunt would have us watch musicals. And I just love them. So, my Gramma lent me some old movies, and I've been watching some of my own on Netflix, trying to see which Merlin Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn movies I like the best. And taking in the speech and the clothing and the mannerisms, and realizing just how different "my generation" is makes me so heartbroken, I wish the girls of today still behaved as they did back then. After watching a lot of these films I decided to review them. I'm going to start with the one I watched most recently, because it's fresh in my mind. 

Gidget (1959)

Gidget is one of my all time favorite movies, I used to watch it at my Aunt Gidget's house when I was younger, and I remember watching it on a loop when I got my tonsils removed when I was twelve.

 Encase you have never seen this movie here is the plot: Sandra Dee plays a young 16 year old girl named Francie who docent quite fit in anywhere, until she stumbles upon a group of boys who love nothing more than to "surf the curl", so she too takes up the sport, and although the boys giver a heard time she continues to prove to them she's more than "just a little girl", she can do what ever the boys can do better. She grows concerned that she is different because she docent like dates the way her friends do, will she ever feel that knock in the head with a sledge hammer love feeling her mom makes sound so attractive? well that's just how she feels when ever Moondoggie is around her, but she runs in to trouble when she sets up a fake date to make him jealous, and ends up on the date with Moondoggie himself! what will become of her ruse? 

There could have been more chemistry between the two main characters, you still root for the two to get together, still, the audience never fully realized how Moondoggie feels in return until the last few scenes of the film. Sandra Dee is marvelous in this, she comes off as so young, and so awkward, just like a young 16 year old girl would have if she were trying to impress a large group of men. Regardless of how I feel about the connection between Gidget and Moondoggie, if you have not seen this movie you really should, it is and always will be one of my favorites. 

I give it ******* out of ten. 

until next time when i will be reviewing another of my favorites Tammy And The Bachelor (1957) staring Debbie Reynolds and Leslie Neilson

XOXO, ashLEIGH