Fall in Missouri

Sunday morning I spent some time wondering around the woods with my incredibly creative friend Dani Kelley. She's got the best mind for original ideas for stories for the campus newspaper, photoshoot, and design- plus she doesn't let ambitious goals stop her from trying. She's the kind of girl that would seriously rock a collaborative project.

So you get it- she's awesome. Well it turns out she's also gorgeous to photograph! We talked about her centaur spirit. I'm really glad we took some time out of our busy schedules to play in the woods.

love, rudi

Exploring the North Village Arts District

It's been a busy weekend so far, ya'll! My friends Kelly and Allia asked me to help out at their fashion show on Friday night. They design crazy clothes for The House of Vansickle, and the show was a part of Columbia's Artrageous Friday. I'm in the 'burlesque cowgirl' outfit.

Then today I helped out my friend Michelle (in the hat below) make masks for a Where the Wild Things Are themed mini-fest at the Orr Street artist studios downtown. I can't believe it's taken me three years before getting involved with this part of the community!

This is a peacock mask that I helped work on for a long time. It turned out so well!

Lesson learned? In the future I want to realize where I live and where it keeps it's treasures.

love, rudi

Into the Wild!

For the past two months or so, my friends and I have been getting more and more excited about fall because to us, the word 'fall' actually just means 'camping'. As soon as we felt the first chilly breeze we started planning, and this past weekend we finally went! 

Morgan graduated over the summer after the Okoboji Summer Theatre, and I can't tell you how nice it was to see her again, be able to talk with her, and get my fill of hugs. She's one of the most comforting people that I know. I just feel happy around her.

Unfortunately we got to the campsite too late to take any good pictures, but the next morning we were all smiles. The hood of my car took this picture- he's so talented!!  Our trip was double fun because we took my friend Grace's dog Gillian with us. He's such a sweetie! Plus he totally won the hot dog eating contest.

Here's an update: Morgan and Joel are still the most adorable couple ever. Just like they were last year. And the year before. 

The morning after Handsome Joel took us into town to the most adorable little cafe any of us had ever seen, where we got delicious homemade sandwiches and bowls of fancy homemade soup and cups of warm tea and cinnamon. I really love me some nature, but I can't express enough how much I love good friends and good food. It was such a love fest.

And I know people are probably so over seeing pictures of other peoples food, but this soup tasted exactly like soup my grandmother used to make. It almost brought me to tears.

I for one feel so energized and refueled. Friends, if you're reading this, I really appreciated being with you guys. I can't tell you enough.

love, rudi

Thanksgiving Break!

As finals are starting gear up, it's been a great coping mechanism to reflect on what a great relaxing week I had during Thanksgiving break. 

I rode with a friend to Louisville, Kentucky, where my mom was supposed to meet me and take me further south to my hometown. But who showed up to pick me up? My mom, and my baby sister, and my boyfriend who surprised me by hiding in the trunk, and a new kitty!!

It was just like Christmas! It was the perfect start to what ended up being a really great week. I'll have a picture of our new kitty up later. For some ridiculous reason, I shirked my nerdy responsibilities and didn't totally geek out by taking 1,000,000,000 pictures of an adorable new cat. That's so unlike me...

I spent a lot of time playing around and snuggling with Sadie, who's gotten even cuter by the way, and snuggling with Penny the cat, and doing the usual lounging-about-home activities. And, for those of you who have seen my poor computer's cracked screen, got my computer repaired!! It's so nice to type and browse the web without looking past big scary broken glass pieces.

Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, was especially quirky and full of fun. My boyfriend's family had invited my family to celebrate with them this year, which was super scary because our families have barely met each other before. It was one of those situations that could have ended up like a sitcom with turkey flying through the air, slap-stick arguments, and at least one giant trip up involving spilling something or ruining something else, but it didn't! We all had a great time and enjoyed delicious food, and everything went off without a hitch! I can't tell you how anxious I was- that whole "meeting the parents" thing was easy, but parents meeting parents? It was a big step.

It probably helped that I baked a bunch of carrot cake cupcakes, brought a Derby pie, and some of my dad's homemade apple wine to dinner. 

Below is me playing around with some coloring books, and below that is my boyfriend and his fancy beard. Unfortunately that beautiful beard has been trimmed way down since that picture was taken last week. Also, thanks to his brother Mario who flew in, he has a mohawk now. He's such a trendsetter!

So that just about sums up my Thanksgiving holiday!

Oh, wait. One more thing. 

...I bought some dishes. Sort of a lot of dishes. See, I have this quirk where I'm sort of a middle aged woman, and I have a fascination for dishes and quilts and linens. This past summer I spent a good portion of my savings on Fiestaware (there's an outlet on the way to Pittsburg!) and once again I spent some of my hard-earned and earnestly saved money on beautiful yet currently useless dishes.

It's like I'm making my own dowry or something. Judge all you like, but my dinner parties are going to be way fancier than yours.

love, rudi

Collected Stories

Hey everybody!

I can't remember if I told you, but for the past few weeks I've been assistant stage managing a show in the Warehouse Theater called Collected Stories.

We open tonight! Everyone should come! The show starts at 7:30 and we run through Saturday night. If you're a Stephens girl, tickets are $6, and if you're not one of those lucky few they cost $8.

I'm super proud of this show! No promises on pictures of the set until after the show- you'll just have to come and see it yourself!

Here's the set of our last show, All My Sons, just to feed your theater hungry eyes!

Gorgeous, ain't she? One of our apprentices, Brandon P.T. Davis, did the set design and Emily Swanson designed the lights. I think they both did a marvelous job!

I hope you all get a chance to come see Collected Stories! I'm very proud of the cast and crew- I can honestly say I'm a big fan of the show.

See you there!

love, rudi

God it's such a beautiful day today.

I'm wearing one of my favorite vintage sundresses with a sweater, and I like the way my hair looks.
The breeze is cool and the sun is warm, and hot tea is on the menu.
My classes were severely thought provoking and left me with a head full of poetry and a notebook full of knowledge, and I'm in the mood for taking pictures of the trees.
I can literally hear children laughing from my open window, and my room is clean.

I'm starting to think of myself as nothing but a common hippie, guys. It's a glorious feeling.

Check out the trees around campus these days.

love, rudi