Cat Ears & Coffee: Friends

Twenty Sixteen

"Dumpster Fire of a Year" is what 2016 is ever-so-fondly referred to by most people on every social media platform I use, and I can't help but agree for the most part. Yes, a lot of beloved celebrities were lost, and the election was a mess, but on a more personal level watching my loved ones try to survive this year was like trying to pull a piano out of a lake. My friends and family had a far worse year than I had, even though I too experienced some very not fun moments. 2016 became for me a year of self-awareness, and though I am an over-sensitive, anxiety-ridden mess a good chunk of the time, I am also very good at channeling a lot of my negative energy into something positive: work.

I don't think there was one week last year where I didn't either take work home, or work a weekend for Vesco. I redesigned this entire blog at the beginning of the year, and shot a few outfit photos with the help of Mariah all over Detroit. I was hired by my close friends to work for their band Stone Clover to do an assortment of things, their personal photographer at events being one of them, which in turn lead to some other endeavors. I had my very first (and hopefully not last) senior portrait gig, that ended up being a lot more fun than I had originally anticipated. I practiced shooting with my friend's dog at Belle Isle to get used to capturing movement, which lead me to becoming braver when shooting events with the band. i.e. crawling around on the stage to get better shots as opposed to meekly standing at the side for fear of getting in the way.

I bought my camera back in 2010 shortly after starting this blog, and I mostly just tinkered around with it. I quickly learned my strengths and weaknesses: I do alright taking portraits, I am terrible at detail shots. I talked to my photographer friends, I talked to photographers at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, I practiced until I became better at capturing movement. Mariah taught me some Photoshop basics, I bought books to learn how to edit better. I still take 1,000's of photos at events and only end up using less than 100. I spend hours editing and sorting photos, taking note of what can be improved, of what actually works well, and I am floored when my friends actually like my photos enough to share them on social media or use them as their profile pictures. It feels amazing to be proud of myself for something I am still learning about, and I can't wait to start on all of the projects I have in mind for this year.

I didn't make very many resolutions for 2017, mostly because now that I am decently far down a path of self-improvement, I would just like to keep up better habits and work on personal goals. However, I would like to make an effort to blog more. Blogging was my very first healthy creative endeavor, which ultimately lead me to toying around with photography to begin with. I already have quite a few ideas lined up for on my own, but I am also excited to collaborate a bit later in the year with a few people to hopefully push my skills a bit further as well as keep my content interesting. I am more motivated with this blog than I have ever been before, and I can't wait to share everything with you kittens! So stay tuned!

*All photos by myself except for the last one taken by Ed Ballots

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Little Bits: October On Instagram

Fall

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Little Bits: September On Instagram!

Cat Ears & Coffee

Of course I wait until mid-October to post a recap of September, of course! I am a full-fledged Party Cat, but I am also the pokiest of puppies. September was a fantastic month, despite all of the ups and downs. Work has been brutal, trying so hard to stay on top of things, and I am still pretty skint, but I am managing. I have the love of so many wonderful people in my life, and that has kept me going when I have felt so very down. It is hard to believe that the person writing this blog post was such an introverted control freak a year ago, and has transformed into an almost free-spirited outgoing-introvert. People can completely change their mentality, alter their views, learn new strengths, and acquire a new disposition in as little as a few months. Personal growth, and all of that good stuff.

Anywho! Onto some of the highlights of the past month, there were quite a lot of them:

-Comics! When you forget to pick up your comic pull for a few months, you end up with loads of delicious reading material! Go figure.

-A new blog title for the new adventures that will be had and *hopefully* documented on this blog.

-The Michigan Renaissance Festival! I have always loved going up to faire, but this year was vastly different. I not only ended up with a few little jobs helping out with merch, I camped out with some of my closest friends almost every single weekend. I made some incredible new friends as well, and have never met such a welcoming, loving group of people in my life. I value each and every one of the friendships that I made, and cannot wait to see those wonderful faces again.
*Thanks to Sergio Mazzotta for the pics below!

-Weezer! This was my first Weezer concert without Kyle, and I was lucky enough to have one of my best friends (and fellow Party Cat!) Jen with me to make some new Weezer memories. It was also their first time in Michigan in five years! So it was kind of a big deal.

-Enjoying being home. Granted, I am gone almost every weekend, but I have made time to hangout with my brothers, bake cookies, and eat all of the food in the house. Word.

Currently I am working on my costume for Theater Bizarre, and getting ready to hit the gym with Jen, so here is where I leave you lovelies. Happy Wednesday!

Follow me on instagram @CatEarsAndCoffee

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Little Bits: July & August On Instagram

Friends

I have mentally written out this post at least a dozen or so times in the past week, but it doesn't make sitting down and actually doing it any easier. To be blatantly honest, I have been going through some personal issues for the past month or so, and blogging has been too hard. A lot of things have been too hard. Blogging has always been an outlet for me, conversational as it is. However, how does one keep up with a lifestyle blog when her life becomes too difficult to talk about? It is something everyone with a social media account (aka EVERYONE) has to come to terms with time-to-time. When something good happens to us, we are only too excited to share and talk about it. When something bad happens, we tend to get hesitant. I'll always be the first one to poke fun at myself to make light of the situation, but there are occasions when the situation is too tender to begin to know how to deal.

In the past month, I have handled things terribly. I panicked, again, and again. I left work early several times and am now more behind than ever. I cried at my desk, in the bathroom, to my parents, to my friends. I expected too much from the wrong person and drove them away. I found the right people to talk to and am more thankful than I can ever imagine. I am lucky enough to have friends reach out to me, and be there for me, even when I wasn't ready to talk. Because it is too hard to talk about, I will leave off with some fun memories from the past two months:

-A busy, but fun 4th of July weekend was had.
-Two incredible camping trips happened in July, with two amazing groups of people. I don't know how my tiny car will haul one, but this Party Cat would like a kayak!
-Work has been busier than ever. Why is this good? Because keeping busy keeps my mind busy.
-I had a blast on a little trip out to Trout Lake with my amazing friend Dani and a her friends. Caught a nice sunset and had a great time.
-I may have summered the hell out of this summer, but I am a fall-ball to the fullest. Bring on the pumpkin spice lattes! ;)

I have every intention of continuing this blog, but like a lot of things in my life right now, it will have to be a slow process. In the meantime, onto the next adventure!