Mr P's goes to Pigskins and Pearls

Fun ladies lunch today at Squire Creek in Choudrant to learn more about football and get excited about Louisiana Tech Football. The event was called Pigskins and Pearls

and was put on to help the Boys and Girls Club. My friend Meg Moore and I talked about this and decided it would be fun to get a group of Tech alumni girls together and attend. So, we got a table of 8. The gang ended up being me, Meg, Allison Ford, Paige Smith, Kelsey Laudenheimer, Paige Smith (yes- there were 2 Paige Smiths!!!), Katie Bonnette and Brittany Albritton. Everyone wore their new Mr P's Bulldawg tees or tanks.

(Meg and Brittany)

(Katie and Allison)

(Kelsey, Paige and Paige...on a side note, the two Paiges were both Alpha Chi's at Tech!!)

We got to hear Coach Skip Holtz (Head Coach) talk as well as a few of the coaches' wives and the informative Coach Manny Diaz (Defensive coordinator). A few of the players spoke and answered questions and posed for pics. They also sat ate with the ladies too. Here is Kenneth Dixon and Mitchell Bell shown at a table. It was touching to hear how the boys talk to their Mamas back home every day. I kept having flashes of the future and wondering if my kids will do the same.

Always enjoy seeing Lane Titus who runs things out there. He and I worked at Chili's together many many moons ago. Squire Creek is lucky to have him.

The Table decorations were cute and they also had a drawing to win a pearl necklace and earrings from Baldwins if you donated school supplies for the Boys and Girls Club......Meg brought A L O T of school supplies :)

Here is a pic of me and Katie.

She owns Rodeo Boutique in Ruston and carries our clothes. Love her and her store!!! We are sold out of our new Bulldawg design but promise to have more in next week.

Meg (who is having a boy!!!!), Allison and I all wore the new Champ the Bulldawg Ringer Tank. Funny how you can have three girls wear the same tank but everyone wears it differently and with their own style.

So cute!!!

And then Katie got interviewed by I think some TV station in Shreveport..

She was a professional!! In the end, we got to pose with the football players who were at the event.

And also got to see cute Amy Scharf who is always been such a great supporter to us. I was pumped to see her in her football tee.

Go Dawgs GO!!

Thanks for reading-
Love
Lissy

To order online, go to  www.mrpstees.bigcartel.com

Pops the Dog- Shirts that Give Back

On a hot Saturday morning in June, PAWS Rescue Coordinator Jennifer Pesnell was walking through the Ouachita Parish Animal Shelter when she came across an old Black Lab who had been surrendered by neglectful owners the day before. After leaving the shelter that day she wrote the following…

“The black Lab definitely looked like he had 3 legs in the grave when I met him this morning. When I looked into his gunked up brown eyes I knew the old dog didn’t have a chance in hell of getting out of the pound alive. He is older than Methuselah with patchy hair loss, protruding hip and back bones and pressure sores. The hair he does have is more gray than black. The eyes and tail of a dog speak volumes to me and this boy used both to his advantage. As I walked past his kennel, he matched a pitiful stare with a slow wag and then did something that brought tears to my eyes. When I greeted him with a ‘hello old man’, he turned and picked up a soggy rawhide and looked up at me like only a Lab can. I told myself that I was only going in the kennel with him to clear his eye boogers. A warm washcloth and 10 treats later we were both in love. I cannot help them all but I can help this one and numerous others thanks to the power and love of rescue. To everyone in my life involved with rescue, you all inspire me and encourage me to keep going. I adopted the old Lab as a personal rescue and we now have another black dog on the farm. He will live out his days here being loved and spoiled. I am going to try my damnedest to give him the life that he should have had all along.”

Jennifer named that old black dog Pops. Her bold act — adopting him as her personal rescue — was an inspiration to many and taught us about sharing one’s home and love with an older dog. He and Jennifer taught us about second chances, and that it’s never too late for a second chance.

Pops thrived under Jennifer’s care and love. He seemed to grow younger before our eyes. Pops developed a whole fan club of followers on Facebook who delighted in his updates and antics and rooted for him. Even with all his physical challenges, he had a spirit and a zest for life; all he wanted to do was love and be loved, and be a dog. He loved fetching big sticks, rolling around in the grass, jumping in the nearest lake for a swim and snoozing on soft dog beds.

Unfortunately, despite all his progress Pops started getting sick. He crossed the rainbow bridge 3 months after Jennifer rescued him. In the end, Jennifer said of her Poppers, “He is so very missed. I am truly blessed that our paths crossed that Saturday morning at the pound and am thankful to have shared several months with him and to have been able to share him with all of you. I hope his story bring inspiration to those who loved him from afar. Honor him by doing something good for someone or something less fortunate.”

The Pops Fund is just for that. It was generously established by Barbara McIntosh with the help of Jane Dinh, both wonderful friends of PAWS. Its purpose is to help rescue the older dogs who end up at the OPAS; the ones who may not have had the best life, who probably aren’t going to be adopted, who may not have much time left…but who still have a lot of love to share!----this was taken from the PAWS website.

Pops before he came into Jennifer's life

Another Pic of poor Pops when he was first surrendered to the shelter

   And there you have it- The Story of Pops. I remember crying when he died. My heart just broke for Jennifer, but I was so thankful that he got to spend the last few months of his life with someone who loved him unconditionally.  On a side note- Jennifer and I have ridden horses together since we were young and also lived together for a year at Tech. My sister Holly has been on the PAWS Board before and has helped them to get grants and funding. This is a very legit group of people who are passionate about helping animals. They were also nominated as one of the top 5 non profits by DeltaStyle Magazine. Check them out at www.pawsnela.com.
   "Pops the Dog" shirt is our third shirt we have created as a "Shirt that Gives Back".

Sketching the Design- yes, we hand draw all of our designs!!!

The Final Pen and Ink Drawing

Our goal is to try and do this twice a year to help something that speaks to our heart and helps in some way locally. When one of these tees is purchased, we give 15% of the sale to PAWS- and specifically for the Pops Fund. 

The design we created features Pop as the older and stylish gentleman he is-in a mustard colored fedora and black suit. We printed the design on the very best American Apparel tri blend athletic gray tees. They are 50% Polyester, 25%cotton and 25% Rayon

(the Adult shirt)

(the youth shirt)

They are super soft and have that faded vintage look that we are known for.

 Adult sizes S-XXL ($28) and youth shirts 2t,4t,6t,8,10 and 12 ($24). The kid tees run on the small side, so when in doubt, order the next size up. Shipping for one shirt is $3 to anywhere in the USA.

Here are a couple of pics of beautiful Lexie who is shown wearing an adult small. 

And here is Mr P himself wearing a 2t. Love this tee with the camouflage pants and Chuck Taylors.

To order yours, go to www.mrpstees.bigcartel.com

Thanks so much!!

Lissy

This is our two black rescue dogs LeRoy and Penny!! Wouldn't trade them for anything!!!

(Penny- half lab/ half boxer)

LeRoy (half lab/half pit)

Orange Beach! Work-ation

Like a lot of people I know, the beach is one of my favorite places to be at. Total relaxation! I didn't think it was in the cards for us to go this year. I had already mentally hung that idea back up and figured next summer would be our time to go.... But Brent surprised me and had been secretly planning a 5 day get away for just the two of us!! The 2 Little P's would be staying back home in good ole West Monroe. I couldn't believe it!!! So excited!!! (BIG thank you to our families for helping this happen)
  You see, I just got a brand new job with Ouachita Parish as an Itinerate Talented Art Teacher. Yes- you read that correctly- I am going to be an Art Teacher. I still do not know what all schools I will be traveling to or if the kids will be in elem, middle or high school or All of the three. All I know is that I'm signed up to go to some new teacher orientation classes and school starts Aug 11th. I'm nervous, excited, and really want to be a great teacher to my kids. Paula Furlow (she is a friend, fellow artist, and my high school art teacher), has been encouraging me to apply for her job for the last 2-3 years. Now that I have children, I realize how wonderful a teaching job will be with them. I have been truly self employed since 2005 and I'm now really looking forward to working for someone else.
  That being said- the hubs realized that I needed some time to get away and work on all of our tshirt designs for Fall. Yes- we will still have Mr P's Tees. This means that our #1 employee will have to do more and if we end up having to hire her some help, we will.
   So off we went- Alabama here we come. First stop Cuco's in Hattiesburg. I miss this place so much back home.

It was a ghost town there (although we were arrived in the middle of the afternoon). We chatted with the owner and he said he always had folks from Monroe stop in on their way to the beach. Food was pretty good. Brent was horrified I was making him eat there. Not on the top of his list. I won't be surprised if the next time we come through, it is closed. I think part of the reason I love that place is all the fun memories I had eating there with friends in high school. It was our go-to birthday spot!
  We got to the beach later than we had wanted, but that was ok. I immediately got to work on some drawings. I had made a whole big list of custom orders people wanted and designs we wanted for Fall. I've never drawn so much in 5 days!! One single design can literally take at least 2 hours of true drawing.

It was rainy and overcast a good part of our trip. One morning, we laid around and watched Anaconda.

It was soooo bad, it was good-you know what Im talking about??!?. Poor JLo CAN-NOT ACT and the special effects on the snake were hideous but I couldn't stop watching it. Lol. We would never have time to watch a movie at home like this. So nice!!
  I got to do some jogging while I was there.

A group of us our training to run the Dirty South Half Marathon in WM in Oct. Our group is called The Jackalopes. Sweet group of encouraging women helping women. (Men are invited to, but we just don't have any). Nice not to have any drama out of these girls. Feel free to come run with us. It's free and we have all different levels. No Olympic Athletes here. ;). I worked on a cute design for the group.

Drawing it out...

Brent got to play a bunch of disc golf too.

He loves that sport so much.

It is tough to do!!

I worked on a funny "monkey basket" design for him.

I had to get him to pose on the balcony holding a disc....

(Notice the similarity between he and the monkey??! hahahah-just kidding hubs)

Another sketch of a monkey 

And then Brent in position

All for the sake of art-right??  Hehehe. monkey see, monkey do. ;)
  We picked up To go from Larigues (www.lartiguesseafood.com) one night.

Wow!! Best shrimp and crab claws I've ever eaten.

FRESH FRESH FRESH

This place was recommended to us from a couple (Gigi and Tommy Mosley) we met on the beach. Thank u!! Can't believe I've never heard of this place before. We also ate at The Steamer

one night at the recommendation of our umbrella guy. It did not compare to Lartigues. Not as fresh. We left feeling disappointed and still hungry. Got the kids some basics like jeans and pants from the Outlet mall in Foley. That is always good.
Overall, 18 designs were created. I sketched on the beach, I sketched on the balcony, I sketched wherever I could...

We got a bunch of little things ordered for Mr P's (like cloth camo logo hats) and some sweatshirt samples for fall/winter to see what we liked.
 My fav design created was "Duck Taylor".

You may of already saw his pic on our Instagram.

It Brent's idea! So funny!

Well, back to reality....we plan on having some type of online special for our 2 year anniversary in Aug.  We are also planning a little trunk show at Rodeo Boutique in Ruston on Friday Sept 12 (evening) and Sat Sept 13th (all day). More info to come on this. Also- you may want to check our their new blog ( www.therodeoblog.com). We also signed up for two booths at Cedartown at the Ruston Civic Center in November. Can't wait to visit with all of our Ruston Fans!!!

Thanks for reading and a big Happy Early birthday to Brent
Love
Lissy

On a random note, I had never used a toaster until this past week... (I know, Crazy!), and let me tell you, I am hooked!! Toasted ham sandwiches are better than not toasted. hahaha

Rivermarket~ Friends, Family & Fans

What I first thought was going to be a terrible day, turned into a fun one!

 We got to the Rivermarket this morning bright and early. Ready to set up and be together for the public by 10am. But when we arrived, there were quite a few wooden carts individually locked and chained inside our booth space.

WTH??!? When asked to get them moved, we were told no one was sure where the key was to unlock them..WTH??! Come on City of Monroe!!! Get It TOGETHER!!! Uggggg. Thankfully, a nice policeman (Thanks Officer Rodgers) went and got bolt cutters and cut each cart free.

(Here he is cutting and talking to Robby) Why were these carts even there to begin with~ knowing you are hosting a big Rivermarket with vendors paying for those spaces??? But---moving on....We were able to get set up in the allotted time. Mainly, bc we had a GREAT team who has done this before.  Our Dream Team of helpers consisted of Robby (the brother extraordinaire)

, Jordan (#1 employee), Allan (The boyfriend)

(Allan and Jordan looking cute in their Nutria Rat and War hawk Football tee)

, Brent (whose back was hurting) and me.

(Brent in the new Bullfrog tee, me in our Champ the Bulldawg tank and Robby in the new Cowskull tee)

  The space ended up looking fantastic if I do say so myself). Thankful we rented 2 spaces to spread out more. Here are a few more pics of set up.

We added a little patriotic fun to our signature white deer

One of our painted signs and mannequins 

We had a bunch of items hung up on clothes pins 

We saw tons of friends and fans! Loved it when people came by wearing their Mr P's Tees

Here is Erin and Randal. She had on our Honey Bee Racerback tank

And above is sweet Stella aka Luna in her Shirley the Elephant Tee.

Then we saw Anna Kate. She is one of the Hawkline Dancers at ULM and had on the new tank we created for them for camp!! And here is Annie Mae and Dave Reeves. We LOVE Annie Mae's salsa and Dave is quite the musician.

Annie Mae got our new Cowskull Tank and put it on right then. Looked fantastic on her. That is my new fav tank of ours.

And here are two of our fav girls, Kristi & Amber. Kristi had on our White Perch Tee and Amber had on the Bald Cypress Tee.

This is the cute little Megan who put her cypress tank on as soon as she got it!! Awesome :)

And then, Phoebe's Fav babysitter Megan her and Fav Dog Gidget came to visit!!

 LOL!! And then we were visited by these two patriot people!! Love your spirit!!!

Brent and Robby made sure they got a few Prom Poses in...

And here is a shot of the Adorable Parker in his Warhawk tee!! And one more little cutie named Keller. He was sporting our original tri blend bulldawg tee.

These precious little girls just enjoyed wearing our stickers!!!

And we even had a little group that just hung out and ate their snow cones in the shade :)

Our sweet niece Katie and her BFF Marley came by and ended up staying for awhile so we put them to work!! They straightened shirts and put them back in order. 

Both of these Girls are wearing our brand new Rebel Man Tanks. 

Got to see fellow artists Joni Dollar and Clint Downing too. Hey Guys!!

And here is our buddy Chris Zagone and his beautiful daughter Lillie Beth. Thanks so much for helping up tear down the booth!!

One of the things I always look forward to when we work a Rivermarket is the Famous King Egg Rolls that my friend Leigh Rodgers makes. She and I used to work together many many moons ago at Outback Steakhouse. If you guys go to The Rivermarket in the Fall, stop by and try one of her hand made egg rolls and special sauce to dip them in. Or if you want to order some before then, give her a shout at 318-805-1688.YUM YUM YUM

Talk about service....she even delivered to our booth!! Another cool thing about today, was getting to be "Almost" neighbors with Taylor and Libby.

They are two of the
most talented people around.  They have created a website called www.itsmethodology.com. Its a neat site that helps people with "make it Yourself" projects and also offers creative workshops. Taylor was making Mason Jar Terrariums with succulents and air plants. Libby had handmade goods from Rwanda.

So cool!! Taylor made me one of the Terrariums and I love it.

It was a good long day. We will def be back in Fall. 

Thanks for reading, now off to bed. 

Love 

Lissy

To order online, go to www.mrpstees.bigcartel.com