the last day of september.

Fall in North Carolina - it's something I've really grown to love over the past few years. Since we're bidding September adieu today, I thought I would share a couple of photos that I took this past Saturday, just around the house. I love the colors in these photos - pink, green, black, red-orange, purple. They feel like Fall; they feel like September 2015. Like rain and falling leaves and maybe being a little bit over-emotional, especially right here at the end. If you couldn't tell, the sentimentalist in me is currently out in full force.

Things aren't always going to be perfect, but the important thing is to just live the best way we know how and make memories along the way. And the excitement of all of the year-end festivities always feels so fresh and new and sparkly. Isn't it funny how the year can re-invent itself right before we transition over into a new one? If that isn't inspiration to turn over a new leaf - even before the season of resolutions and changes and novelty - well, then I don't know what is. 

--
siddathornton through the years:
2012 | 2011

a companion and a friend.

on her bed in the living room of the ontario house

I lost a friend in July. I haven't written anything about it yet, because I just didn't have the words. To be completely honest, I still don't think I do, but I knew I wanted to write about her, and to remember her.

Her name was Mollie Jean, but that wasn't what we always called her. She had nicknames upon nicknames, but a few of my favorites were MaiJean, Ween, MahJee, Bibi, Johnny Bear, Jonathan Ellington Bear, and MoWee, just to name a few. When she was a puppy, she often clacked her teeth and would "stamp" anything you put in front of her (especially paper). Dad would say, stamp this for me, and she would.

She came to live with us when I was fifteen. She had a home before ours, but that one didn't work out, so then she became a part of our family. Right after we got her, I was lying on the floor on a rug in the living room, and she jumped up on my back, curled up into a ball, and stayed there until I deigned to wake her and get up. 

She had an attitude. You could always tell what she was thinking by looking at her extremely-expressive face. She sometimes bullied our bigger dog, Riley. She wanted everyone to know that the was the pack leader. We sometimes joked that she knew English, and that we were lucky she couldn't speak her mind. We joked, but sometimes I think it was real.

She ate ceiling tile once. We were doing some remodeling work in the Ontario House, and somehow she got ahold of some of the debris. We found her hunched over in her kennel (which she would never enter willingly) one night and knew she had to go to the vet. Luckily, she came out of that event unscathed, but probably a little bit embarrassed. 

Her favorite show was Gilmore Girls. She would lay in bed all day with me while I was on break from college, and watch it. 

She was always there.

When I traveled home to Shreveport in August, before the fall semester of my second year of grad school started, it felt so weird when she wasn't waiting for me to come home. Mom would always tell her when I was coming home, and she would always sit and wait on her perch on the first few steps of the staircase. It felt weird when she didn't stand guard on the edge of the front porch while we sat outside. It felt weird to not hear her crowing bark throughout the day, as mailmen or neighbors or strangers walked by on the sidewalk. It just felt weird that she wasn't there.

I'll always miss her. She was a companion and a friend, and that kind of unconditional love only comes around once in a while. Here's to Mollie Jean.

--
siddathornton through the years:
2014 | 2012 

the sunday currently, volume 108.

fall leaves on a gloomy saturday in greenville

Good morning! Today, we are hoping for the accomplishment of a few things: grocery shopping, finishing up some chores around the house, and running a 5k! Though it's been raining all weekend, we are excited to get out and participate. 

On this race-day Sunday, I am currently...

reading for school later on today. I'm determined to get caught up and stay caught up this week. All it's going to take is a little motivation, a lot of discipline, and virtually no procrastination. I can do this.

writing lots of blog posts lately. Did you notice? I wrote one on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday of this last week. As I tweeted last week, blogging makes me feel like myself again. I can't tell you how good it feels to be back. I think last year I was so consumed with starting school and getting my bearings, I found it hard to make time for writing and blogging. Luckily, I feel a little more settled in this fall, so I am able to take a little more time for the normal, everyday things that I love.

listening to my Fall 2015 playlist, as well as Houndmouth's new album, Little Neon Limelight. My playlist has lots of old familiar favorites on it, with an infusion of a few new things, which I've found is my usual playlist-making style. The Houndmouth album is that kind of haunting southern-ish rock that I have really been drawn to during this season. By the way, I'm not a music writer, and I've never claimed to be. Take my descriptions with a touch of forgiveness. 

thinking about everything that needs to get done this week. There's a lot, but it's all do-able. So do it I will. I've spent a lot of this semester worrying that I'm not getting enough done from day to day, which has resulted in the return of stress dreams. It's time to take a step back, be productive, and remind myself that I'm doing the best I can.

smelling the pumpkin candle I've been burning lately has been such a treat. It feels good to be deep in the throes of the fall season, doesn't it? The weather this weekend has been a bit gloomy, yes, but it has afforded that perfect fall backdrop to all of the goings-on. 

wishing for an effortlessly productive nature. 

hoping to watch more episodes of Gotham this week.

wearing gray nail polish, tons of scarves, relaxed fit jeans, and t-shirts. And hoping to add my first-ever pair of converse to this equation soon. Should I get black or navy? Or gray? Help me out.

loving crossing things off of my to-do list lately. And loving my Filofax to house all of those lists. I do think I will be going with the Erin Condren Life Planner for 2016, but I'll be enjoying my day-per-page planning until then.

wanting endless cups of hot coffee and lattes lately, with the rainy, windy weather. There's no better combination. Also, coffee cake. cinnamon swirl coffee cake, to be exact.

needing a trip home. I can't even express the extent of my homesickness lately. Watching LSU football yesterday struck a particular nerve, leaving me yearning for my hometown, for Baton Rouge, for New Orleans, for Dallas, and for all the people contained within those places.

feeling, well, homesick, as I just described to you in needing. But also feeling a little under the weather, a little worse for wear, a little disillusioned, burned-out, and heavy with emotion. I know that this will get better. Especially if I stick to positivity and productivity for the week to come. 

clicking my DSLR lately. With the rebirth of blogging, naturally the rebirth of taking photos was to follow. I feel such joy over these recent developments. I am giddy with comfort and joy.

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope that you are having a great weekend.

--
siddathornton through the years:
2012 | 2011

What are you doing? Link up and share below.

warm & cozy.

warm & cozy by siddathornton

It's been quite a long time since I shared an outfit post on siddathornton. To be exact, it was on July 4, 2014. Back then, I was attempting to use affiliate links on my blog, but rest assured that I have since decided that this blog isn't something that I plan to monetize. This is just me, sharing things that I love, with you. Let's keep it that way.

All of that aside, I shouldn't be blogging right now. I came up to school in the hopes of working on both a project and statistics homework. But, I find myself in a kind of melancholy I haven't felt in a long time. And, as I look out of my study room window, I see grey skies, incessant drizzle, and hear the whir and sputter of various pipes and smoke stacks. To say the least, it's more the type of day that you may like to sit and read, or perhaps think about life, or perhaps write a blog post containing some cozy fall things [instead of doing school work]. Obviously, I have chosen the latter. 

Lately, I have been loving relaxed fit jeans. I got some on our summer vacation to Charlotte/Wyoming/Shreveport, from Forever21, and I haven't looked back since. I love them. They are so comfortable, so cozy, that I knew I wanted them represented in this outfit board. Since the gel nails that I wore for over two weeks recently came off, I've been obsessed with what nail polish color I would paint next. I think this Essie shade perfectly straddles the border between September and October. I haven't owned boots like the ones pictured above since I was a child, but I think that is territory I'd be happy to trod on. The shirt above looks like a shirt that I have in three colors. I don't think I'll ever have enough of them. Leaf earrings felt like a good idea, and really, you cannot go wrong with a big, cozy, plaid scarf in the fall, can you? And finally, all fall outfit boards feel just a little bit more complete with a coordinating mug. What else would I drink my pumpkin spice latte out of? A good question indeed. 

I couldn't do an outfit post like this without thinking of Friday's Fancies, which I miss!

What are you dreaming of donning in the fall? Please share. I'd love to know.

See my other fall-themed posts from years past here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.  

--

siddathornton through the years:

2012

things to remember today.

At the end of all of this schooling, I will be an occupational therapist!

Waking up early feels good eventually.

Productivity feels good eventually.

Procrastination never results in anything good. 

Music is inspiration.

Writing is inspiration.

Coffee is inspiration.

Blogging is inspiration.

We're all in this together.

--
siddathornton through the years:
2011

sidda listens | fall 2015 playlist.

HOME | edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros

40 DAY DREAM | edward sharpe and the magnetic zeros

SKINNY LOVE | bon iver

FOR EMMA | bon iver

FLUME | bon iver

MOUNTAIN SOUND | of monsters and men

TONGUE TIED | grouplove

T-SHIRT WEATHER | circa waves

AUSTRALIA | the shins

TROUBLE | coldplay

THE GREAT SALT LAKE | band of horses

YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE | new radicals

LINGER | the cranberries

I LOVE YOU ALWAYS FOREVER | donna lewis

DON'T YOU (FORGET ABOUT ME) | simple minds

TOES | glass animals 

COFFEE | sylvan esso

DRAG | day wave

MY TYPE | saint motel

COLD COLD MAN | saint motel

SEDONA | houndmouth

GET IT | matt and kim

PEACHES | in the valley below

Another season, another playlist. Listen here on Spotify. 

Also: what are you listening to this fall? I'd love to know.

--

siddathornton through the years:

2012 | 2011

from my library perch.

Hello. Good morning. Greetings. 

I'm coming to you today from my school's library. I am perched at one of the prime tables, right when you walk in, staring out over the already-packed parking lot. I both rose early and got here early today, and that is more than I can say for any of the previous weeks of this semester. I feel like I am finally settling into the groove of fall two-thousand-fifteen, and boy do I hope it stays that way.

There is a list of things, sitting to my left, staring at me, coaxing me to do the right thing and possibly cross some of those tasks off, as I have quite a load of free time ahead before class starts. 

But, instead, here I am, writing this blog post. A few of my classmates have zoomed by my table, headed to work on projects, or perhaps read, or perhaps type out blog posts of their own. They ask me what I'm up to, and when I reply, "blogging," I feel transported back to a time when that was almost everything I really had to do each day, back when I was here. I miss Wilmington, especially recently, but I am happy to be busy and to be working toward something in OT school. That's for sure. 

I've been missing Texas lately, too. And yearning for a visit. And Shreveport. I've been missing a lot of places. 

And with the holidays on the distant horizon, that vague sort of excitement has been hanging in the air around me, infusing my days with small, delightful joys. This is, by far, my favorite time of the year. And autumn will officially be upon us in two days.

And, Justin got back into town, via CLT --> PGV late last night. Tahoe and I greeted him as he hauled his golf bag, suitcase, and laptop bag into the waiting vehicle. Words can't express how glad I am that he is home. Words can't express how grateful I am for friends who know that I hate staying home alone and either let me spend the night with them, or spend the night with me. Words can't express how much I truly love normalcy and routine. And couch time each night with television and movies and dinner together. 

I've been running and working out a lot recently, too. I ran in a 5k this past Saturday, and I ran the entire time, which is something I haven't been able to do lately. It was just as much a mental victory as a physical one, and now I am more inspired than ever. This inspiration is expertly timed, as another half marathon has been signed up for, hurtling toward me via its April 2016 date. To say I'm excited is an understatement. To say I'm in for lots and lots of training is an understatement. But, I'm hell bent on training correctly for my second half, since I did everything but for my first. And then, another 5k is on the docket for this weekend.

Thus concludes this rambly bit of nonsense I've elected to post on the internet this morning. I hope these words find you well, and that maybe you're sipping a pumpkin iced coffee, just like I am. 

the sunday currently, volume 107.

breakfast post-race at the scullery with rebekah

Good Sunday morning to ya! Today I have quite a lot to check off on my to-do list, and I am feeling ready to get all of that accomplished! Also, later on I get to pick Justin up from the airport! I can't wait! I have had a great weekend full of homemade curry, spending the night with a friend, and running in a 5k. I'm hoping to carry over this joy into the week, working hard on school and checking everything off my future to-do lists. Here we go!

On this Sunday, I am currently...

reading for school this week. I'm really trying to get back on track with everything and get into a better study schedule. 

writing a lot in my planner lately. It's making me feel a lot better. I feel like I go through phases with my planner, and I'm really happy to be in an "on" one right now.

listening to my Fall 2015 playlist, which I talked about in my TSC post from two weeks ago and will be posting here on siddathornton this Wednesday, since it is the Fall Equinox, and we will finally be officially in the Autumn season!

thinking that I am ready for Justin to get home! He has been in Kansas on a golf tournament since this past Wednesday, and I'm tired of holding down the fort over here. I can't wait to see him!

smelling like Brown Sugar and Fig from Bath and Body Works and Burberry Brit lately has made me so very happy. I'm so glad that I discovered that my favorite scent was back on B&BWorks' website, and that my parents got me a wonderful Burberry Brit gift set for my birthday. Yay for signature scents!

wishing I was better at adulting. I hate staying home by myself while Justin is out of town. Luckily, I have some wonderful friends who have let me sleep over at their houses in the past few days. 

hoping I will have a productive school work week ahead. 

wearing the gel manicure that I got two weeks and one day ago... still. That is a pretty amazing fact, if you ask me. I can't believe it has lasted this long. I must be honest - I am getting a little tired of the color. I might remove it sometime this week and paint them a different color. Maybe grey? Maybe red? We'll see.

loving the fact that I changed my social media handles back to siddathornton - they were lrschristy for a while there. I know it's a bit confusing to change things like this, but lately I've realized just how special the siddathornton name is to me. It feels like a comfortable thing to come back to.

wanting to do quite a few things today: work on statistics at Coffee Shack with Danielle, dye my hair, do a little grocery shopping, and look into transferring my blog over to Word Press, as well as look into purchasing a dot com. And then, of course, pick Justin up from the airport! Busy day ahead! And I love it.

needing to run 3 miles a couple of times this week. I ran the Vidant Run, Walk, and Roll yesterday, and I am so happy. I ran the whole time, albeit quite slow, and it was very inspiring to me. I plan to keep the pace up and hopefully beat my time - 37:16 - at the 5k that Justin & I [and some of my classmates] are doing this coming up Saturday. 

feeling great. I've been working out a lot lately, and it has been a really good change for me. Now, I just need to get my eating in order. Healthy habits! Something I always have to work toward.

clicking Blackboard, my ECU email account, and other such things this week. Here's to school work!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! Here's to safe travels for Justin today, as well as anyone else on the road or in the air.

--
siddathornton through the years:
2012

What are you doing? Link up and share below.

so that's what i'll do.

into New Bern

"No One's Gonna Love You" by Band of Horses is playing and we are sitting in Coffee Shack reading and writing and emailing. 

I keep having that out-of-body feeling, even when I'm talking to R or D, like I'm floating above myself, watching us interacting. Sometimes this feeling happens when I start to realize how fleeting these moments really are. It's as if it's my body's way of telling me, this won't last forever, so here's what it will feel like when it's a memory.

I've always known that this wouldn't last forever. We're given two years of classes together, and then we have six months of being in the field, preparing for when we are actually part of our profession. And during those six months, we might be in the same place, but we might not. 

It's hard to imagine what life will be like after we graduate. I've grown so comfortable in my rhythm here, in the patterns of studying and talking-instead-of-studying and running races and doing projects and sitting together in class. It's become home to me, and I know it will be hard when everything shifts, like I know that it will.

All I can do is soak in the moments of the next eight months. All I can do is attend as many gatherings as I can. Participate in as many service opportunities as possible. Meet up for coffee as much as my schedule allows. 

So that's what I'll do.

--

siddathornton through the years:

2012 

the sunday currently, volume 106.

from where i sit

Good morning afternoon! Today I am coming to you from one of my favorite places in Greenville/Winterville - The Coffee Shack - because I've been working with a couple of my friends on statistics this morning. Now, I am no longer working on statistics, but eating a piece of cake and writing a blog post. 

On this Coffee Shack Sunday, I am currently... 

reading nothing. This needs to change. I still haven't finished reading Go Set a Watchman. I just need to make time for it this week. I still haven't made a schedule. I need to just do it. 

writing blog post fragments in my phone lately. I've been having some "moments," since this is the second to last classroom-based semester that I'll have with my classmates, who have become like family. I'm not really allowing myself to think to hard on the fact that the rest of our classroom time together is going to go so fast. 

listening to the songs they're playing in here. Sometimes the music selections make me feel overly emotional. And when they play Christmas music, sometimes I cry. Or, it did last year at least.

thinking that a large piece of cake is always a good idea. Especially since Justin and I are going to go on a run when I get home.

smelling the delicious smell of coffee and baked goods. Environments like this are always the best for getting things done. It's such a comforting atmosphere to me.

wishing I had gotten up earlier today. I'm going to be working on that all week. I will get it right!

hoping to get a lot done once I go home today, as well as this week. I may make a list of everything I want to accomplish this week, later today.

wearing my Jackson Hole shirt and missing Wyoming so much. I want to go back.

loving my friends. I never expected to meet such wonderful people in school, but I did.

wanting a good run today, and a clean house to show by the end of the day.

needing to clean up my diet this week. I have a plan formulated to ween myself off of the ridiculous amount of sweets I've been eating. I've been in a good workout routine, so I need to stop sabotaging that with endless sweets and indulgent meals.

feeling content and productive.

clicking the Sunday Secrets. And I just emailed them to Danielle so she can click on them too.

Well, now I'm off to go for a run and clean up the rest of my house. Here's to productivity! And, also, here's to the wonderful, fall-tastic chill in the air this morning!

What are you doing? Link up and share below.

the sunday currently, volume 105.

yesterday: christmas in september at coffee shack

Greetings! I hope you'll excuse my tardiness for this week's edition of The Sunday Currently. This morning, Justin and I were driving around, trying to figure out where to go for breakfast. Long story short, we ended up driving to New Bern so that we could go to Baker's Kitchen. Hands down, best decision of the week. We had the most delicious coffee and breakfast. I am happy.

And also, I am currently...

reading nothing at the moment.

writing nothing at the moment. It feels good to be experiencing a holiday weekend, I'll tell you that.

listening to my Fall 2015 playlist that I made yesterday on Spotify. I'm still finalizing the details of the list, but once it's complete, I think I might share it here.

thinking that a bad night's sleep is pretty debilitating. I woke up feeling worn out, and my legs felt heavy on the walk with Tahoe and Justin this morning. I'm hoping this afternoon's workout will help.

smelling a mixture of coffee, waffle batter, sizzling bacon, and other breakfast fare was a welcome, wonderful thing this morning. What a comfort.

wishing I had gotten a better night's sleep last night.

hoping to have a great workout this afternoon.

wearing my workout clothes already.

loving my manicure! Danielle and I went to have a mani/pedi yesterday, and I got dark, reddish purple shellac. To me, September is such a purply-grey month, and I wanted my nails to reflect that. I am hoping to keep the gel manicures going for a while - they are so nice. And they last for two weeks!

wanting some more couch time after I finish this post. I'm lazy today. You could probably tell from my lackluster responses.

needing a nap.

feeling tired, worn out, and uninspired. Like I said, I'm hoping my workout is a remedy for that. It usually is.

clicking through threads on Reddit, as usual.

It's overcast and muggy here in Greenville today. Maybe that's the reason for my sluggish demeanor? Either way, here's hoping things pick up a bit in the energy/personality department as the day goes on.

What are you doing? Link up and share below.