June Recap / Summer Happenings

Obviously, my blog is not where I want it right now. But let's catch up! 

June has come and gone... which is crazy. We are halfway into 2017, you guys.

It's been crazy! Photography, marketing photography, animal photography, and volunteering at a couple animal rescues... Hmm studying for Summer classes, wow. I thought I did more this June.

o n e // Cathleen Slagle Photography

CSP has been slowly hopping into business. I've been doing my best to meet up with each of my Cathleen Slagle Photography senior reps to do their Summer photo session. It's been awesome so far! I've met with 2 this past month, and I've got three on my calendar for next month! I know I'm lagging behind a little bit, but remember, I live in South Carolina and Summer kind of lasts until September. Here's some of my favorite shots from the past month:

 It's been a good month... I can't wait for what I'm going to shoot next month! Oh yeah, and side plug? Seniors in the Columbia, South Carolina area: It's never too early for your senior portrait session.

t w o // Vacation Bible School

 I had the absolute pleasure of photographing my church's Vacation Bible School with the amazing Courtney Dox of Courtney Dox Photography. The kids were beautiful, their spirits and kind hearts were beautiful, and my heart was so overwhelmed with joy! Also, my sweet friend Finley's (precious little girl next to me in the picture below) mom took this picture of me with some of the second graders! So much love for all the amazing volunteers and my awesome church!

t h r e e // studying at the new library

A new library recently opened up in my area. The Richland County Public Library - Ballentine branch is beautiful! I've been there almost every day since it opened earlier this month. It's the perfect place to sit and study... oh yeah! And check out books! Among the books that I have checked out right now - Wildflower by Drew Barrymore, Kevin Hart's latest (which is HILARIOUS so far), Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg, The Elephants in My Backyard by Rajiv Surendra, and Why Not Me by Mindy Kaling. I've actually been reading y'all!! And like I mentioned earlier, I've been studying a lot too. I'm taking two Summer classes: Government and Economics so that my senior year I can take Yearbook (fun fact: I'm the editor of my school's yearbook next year!) and AP photo as well as a study hall. Although I may grumble on my instagram story, I'm actually really proud of my decision to take these classes.

f o u r // animal rescues + animal photography

If you've stuck around since last year, you may remember my photos from SQ Rescue! I'm still working with them, but I also started working with a bigger rescue in my area. Pawmetto Lifeline is an animal shelter in Columbia that brings in an insane number of animals each week from the local county pounds and then find them new homes. The work they do is absolutely amazing. This past week I was able to volunteer to help with a "camp" for kids aged 8-12 at Pawmetto. Fur Friends was such a fun time and kids enjoyed meeting and petting a bunch of dogs and cats, puppies and kittens, playing games, and learning more about how to be a good pet owner and what Pawmetto Lifeline does. Here's a couple quick pictures: Pictured below is the precious puppy, Carrie who I fell in love with on Thursday, and the amazing Miss Alexa who organized and led Fur Friends! Oh and the best part is that I'm helping with another round of Fur Friends next month! Woohoo for more puppies! 

  

 Another thing that I now do with both rescues, is photograph adoptable animals. It's really remarkable the difference a high quality pictures of a dog or cat can make in getting them adopted from a rescue. Instead of including EVEN MORE pictures in this post... you can check out this one on my photography blog for pictures of cute animals!  I also learned this month that I have a mild allergy to cats... Figures because my dad has a pretty severe allergy. Ah well, you learn something new every day!

So writing this post helped me realize how little I actually did this past month... oh well. June left me full of happiness and joy and I'm so excited for July (my birthday month)! I'm looking forward to a nice and quiet 17th birthday at home with my sweet family. Thanks for reading, friends! It was good to prove to myself that I actually can still blog and form sort of complete sentences... 

Happy July! 

Brookgreen Evening

School starts on Wednesday, August 17th. I'm completely ignoring reality by enjoying a week at Myrtle Beach. I am currently sitting at an ocean facing picnic table editing photos, watching birds, writing this post, and listening to the waves crash. I'm in paradise (minus the mosquitos). Last night, we revisited my favorite place, Brookgreen Gardens. If you've been reading for awhile, you may remember this post. Brookgreen is the most beautiful garden I have ever visited. It's filled with statues and sculptures, fountains and ponds, as well as bunches of flowers and other plants. Here's a few shots from my evening stroll and head to my instagram story and snapchat story to see more inside the gardens (both usernames are cathslagle).

Southern Socialite + Seatbelts

My instagram pals know about Christmas in July, #CarlyCathCmas, that I've been co-hosting with the incredible Carly (Cinci Prep). In short, we partnered with some great companies to show our appreciation for our followers' support in a series of giveaways throughout the entire month of July. Charlie Southern was just one of the many companies we were privileged enough to collaborate with. My "Southern Socialite" tee is incredibly comfortable and I've worn it some ridiculous number of times after receiving it in the mail. To celebrate another Friday and another Weekend, I thought I might share this uber casual look with y'all! It's been FOREVER and 5 years since I've shared an outfit post here on Classy Cathleen... Shout out to the little sis for her camera skills... she may have learned a little something from her older sister...

Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today! (volunteering in your community)

I know the Summer, for students anyways, is all about making money, going on incredible trips, or relaxing on your own. I know I take it as a break from my classmates - too much of a good thing y’know? But it’s easy to forget that there are other people out there either in need of some help or who are trying to make a difference in the world that need help accomplishing their goals. (the way I think of it... we can either get out and volunteer for the good of humanity, or take the Phineas and Ferb approach and build crazy cool inventions - also for the good of humanity, or relax by doing things like watching Phineas and Ferb, losing countless brain cells and senselessly snacking.

As students, we have to turn in a certain number of hours before the end of each school year in order to receive certain privileges or benefits. Most just sign up for your basic volunteer type activities that first come to mind when thinking about community service. Local food kitchens and shelters, picking up trash, YMCA or other Summer program with children, or various activities at their parents' work places. I'm not saying these things are bad. They're great actually! However, you can use volunteering to your advantage for applications and building your resume and have even more of a fun and lasting experience at the same time. And even if it's not required of you to volunteer in your community, you definitely should. It can be a humbling experience that could possibly change your life as well as look amazing on your resume.

Best of The East Coast: The South Carolina Coast

I have so much love for my state... I've spent the last five years spending almost every weekend exploring South Carolina - the state parks in particular. My momma even wrote a book about our adventures that my family and I went on at all 47 of the state parks. Savannah of The Always Blog is hosting a collaboration to showcase the best of the East Coast, and I am so incredibly excited to share my favorite parts of coastal South Carolina. I couldn't have simply chosen just one location to focus on for this post like Edisto Island, the city of Beaufort, Charleston, or Myrtle Beach because I love them all and there are so many unique elements in each of these locations that make the coast of South Carolina worth visiting out of the entire East coast of America. 

Let's start at the top of the coast line and work our way down the coast...

Birks & Denim Shorts

Oh heavens.. It's been an embarrassingly long time since I've done an outfit post here on Classy Cathleen. Here's a little Outfit of the day.. another thing I haven't done in a while. It takes a while for me to get the photos I want. My siblings are younger.. and sometimes it's tough for them to understand what exactly I want taken. This time, I took them myself. Tripod and timer. Let me know how you think they came out in a comment below! Also-- I totally don't think there's anything wrong with wearing a sunhat like this just around town instead of like at the beach where you would typically see them.. The shorts are actually hand me downs from my brother's speech therapist, and if you read my other post from earlier today.. You may recognize the Birks. I'm in love with this pair, and I would wear them all day every day if I could. Also while I was shooting this.. three bees flew in my hat/hair and a black cat was crawling around in the woods all while my neighbors were walking around and awkwardly staring at me running back and forth to the tripod and back under the trees... I mean I don't know, I guess it was pretty funny to watch! 

When you hear a bee in your hair and you don't want to move for fear it will sting you.

bee part two

When you hear a cat in the woods... Guess what it was black. A black cat came out when I was shooting. 

Summer Blogging Goals

Last Summer, my blog was filled with a bunch of little posts where all I did was share recent Polyvore sets #oops. The reason behind that? I was way more focused last Summer on finishing all seasons of Dance Moms #doubleoops. It's difficult to watch Dance Moms on my laptop and blog at the same time.. because I of course had to know every single time Chloe's mom got in a fight, or Nia's mom reacted to Abby's latest routine idea. I was pretty busy last summer hahaha. BUT THIS SUMMER, I am so ready just to work my butt off on this little blog of mine and make it the absolute best that I possibly can. My blog is so important to me, and I have my goals of things I need/want/will accomplish before the end of Summer. Jamie (The Fashion Newcomer) asked me and quite a few other bloggers what our major goal or focus is for the Summer. If you check out her post today, you'll see my quote and all the other bloggers', but here's mine:

One of my biggest blogging goals for the Summer is to keep quality over quantity. It's easy for bloggers to just do easy little posts, add a few links, and hit publish. My blog and I fell into that last Summer, and let me just say.. once you start with those smaller, faster posts, it's hard to get off of them, and into actual high quality content. I'm just hoping and praying that this year I don't fall into that slump again, and that I put time, thought, and a whole bunch of effort into all of my posts. 

Since the majority of people that read blogs.. are bloggers, I'm so excited to share with you girls the rest of my goals. Maybe they'll give you some ideas for your own blogs! 

Better quality writing (let me further discuss kinda what I talked about above): I've been told all my life that I have a great voice when I write and a true talent for writing. I know I can tap into that part of myself, but it's so easy to just slip into writing the same old basic crap you see everywhere else on the internet. Jamie is part of my inspiration and motivation for this goal. I love her voice in her posts, and that's more of how I want to come across on my own blog. 

Sharing more of my personal style: I discussed this on Polyvore with some girls earlier in the week actually.. basically, bloggers tend to share style related items that your readers would react to the most regardless if you, yourself likes the item or not. With things like Shopstyle Collective and Rewardstyle and Hootsuite.. It's easy just to send out a bajillion tweets or incorporate a ton of links to items in your blog posts. My goal for the Summer is to focus on what things I personally love and obsess over, and not what I think my readers are going to love and obsess over. Because at the end of the day, you read/follow Classy Cathleen to read about ME. 

Develop my media kit: I had created a super basic media kit back in January, but I definitely need to update it and improve the design. Lost on what a media kit is? Here, let me help.  I have so many ideas for improving it, and I can't wait to start. 

Changing the location of the photos on Instagram: The majority of my photos tend to be taken and posted at my house. I feel like Instagram is a creative space, and somewhere I lost that back when all the aesthetic crap was buzzing in my brain. Aesthetic limits creativity, if you ask me. I want to challenge myself to be all-in with my Instagram and seriously focus on it. { Follow along here } 

Actually schedule some blog posts: I always tell myself before I go somewhere that I'll have a post scheduled for every day I'm not able to post.. does that ever work out? No. Probably because I'm concerned with packing and watching all the latest episodes from my favorite shows before we leave. I really just want to have one week where I actually am prepared with some good content. 

Blogging more about things I'm truly interested in: Example- photography. How often am I talking about photography on the blog? I RARELY share my true interests on my own personal website. How messed up is that? Don't worry, Cathleen is coming out for real and y'all will know practically everything about me, and everything I love and am interested in on my blog. I can't wait for more cooking posts, photography, personal style, hiking, ect.

Consistency: Y'all remember those "Tuesday Talks" I used to do all the time? I loved those! My stupid self isn't very good at consistency so any series idea I come up with, won't turn out the way I have it in my head. I need to challenge myself to be more consistent and keep up with my series'. Look out for more Cooking With Cathleen's coming soon.. or at some point at least!

Write the post NOW: I seriously need to quit pushing things off. Me, Myself, and I all know that "oh it'll happen eventually" "I'll blog that at some point" means it will never happen. For once, heck maybe even more than once, I would love to actually write I post when I say I'm going to.

Take advantage of free templates and printables: If someone is willing to create a template and share it on the internet.. why the heck am I not using it? I totally need to do some exploring and find some good templates that I personally can use.

The Classy Cathleen Newsletter: Yes, I have started a newsletter for my blog. I know newsletters are kind of coming slightly obsolete.. but I love them, and hope that y'all will follow along with me in your inbox! I really want to develop it so it can be the best it can be, and stay consistent in my mailing, and have an email going out once a week. 

Bored yet? Lucky You because the post is over! I hope that any of you fellow bloggers reading this post got inspired for some Summer goals for your own blogs! Be on the look out for an update on all these goals at the end of Summer. 

Oconee Recap

For those of you following along with me on Instagram, you know that last Thursday - Sunday I had a pretty awesome Instagram takeover by some of my bestest blogging friends! It was everything I asked for and more, and I seriously was blown away. Thanks ladies so so much:) But anyways, while they were taking over I was riding around on a big red canoe around the lake at Oconee State Park. We always end up staying in one of the CCC original cabins at the State Park, and I love it so much. So... Here's some more photos, and here's what happened!

The folks in the cabin next door, cabin 6, had rented the only red canoe that Oconee has. I was jealous. I saw it pulled up on the bank, and I just wanted it soooo bad. At the time, we had rented a Jon boat just for fishing and to go on little ride-a-rounds. On Saturday, the folks in 6 checked out. Jonathan and I paddled as fast as we could over to the office to go switch out the boats, and bring this beautiful, red canoe home. 

As an early birthday present, I got a hammock that I can use when we go out camping or at a cabin or anything. I absolutely love it. It's purple and blue and has plenty of extra space to move around in. It was actually a groupon find!

Briefly recapping: On Friday night we went to Oconee's square dance. I'm not much of a dancer except for you know, when I'm by myself.. but it was super fun to watch! Earlier on Friday we surprised my mom by throwing a little anniversary party for her and my dad in the back room with some rangers and park staff. She absolutely loved it! Saturday we went to visit some friends. Faith, who has some profound special needs going on. We had some super yummy chicken, zucchini, and corn on the cob followed by s'mores and frozen yogurt. If you follow along with me on snapchat, then you know about Cupcake the poodle. Also, their house has the most perfect decorations. Like it's all beach-y themed and I love it.. check out their bathroom in the photo below!

 My dad caught a few small fish..

And the flowers blooming up there right now are INCREDIBLE! The tiger lilies, the silver bells, the mountain laurel (I think that's what it's called). They're just way too beautiful.

So I always end up in the back of the canoe which kinda sucks. I have to steer while my brother rows, but for photo opportunity sakes.. I wish I could sit in the front haha

I hope you enjoyed these snapshots of Oconee. I had a great time, and look forward to more posts about the SC State Parks from me as I travel around this Summer!