Happy Winter Solstice!

My family has been in a year-long journey of finding a new house and hopping around the Durham, NC area, so in the meantime most of our stuff has been hidden away in storage. Christmastime, then, (or 'Kissmas' as Sadie calls it) hasn't been full of the usual traditions and vintage decorations, but I'm loving the makeshift celebrations we've been exploring to compensate.

Today, for instance, we decorated our first real tree! Having a real tree, and not our usual re-usable one, has always been a dream of mine. We decided to celebrate the winter solstice like Little Bear does and decorated our tree outside with edible snacks for birds and squirrels. My fingers are a little red from getting poked by pinecones, but I'd say it's definitely been worth it! Hopefully soon I'll have photos of our woodland neighbors enjoying their Christmas dinners. :)

Enjoy your traditions this year, and maybe try adding a new one to your list! 

love, rudi

No Good Day.

One of those days, ladies and gentlemen. One of those days...

where you just want to cry and curl up, you're losing your kitties, the weather is too much to handle, an all you want to do is put on your favorite crazy patterned jammies, block out the world with your Dora hat, and munch on some candy. 

Of course, looking through all of the pictures you have of your baby sister throwing baby fits is sure to cheer you up, even a little bit.

Even if just a little bit.

love, rudi

Snow

We finally got hit with winter! 

And please note: while snow would normally make me sad, t

he only reason I'm slightly glad about it is because 

my first class got canceled this morning! And I really wanted that to happen!

Sometimes good things are disguised by bad things.

love, rudi

More Festivities!

Every year my family makes a point to drive up to Lexington and see the Southern Lights. The Horse Park sets up this giant light show all around their grounds, and at the end they have Santa, a horse museum, train sets, kettle corn, and an exotic petting zoo! 

This is the "Three French Hens" segment of the Twelve Days of Christmas! So clever!

And the "Four Calling Birds"...

None of my photos came out from the petting zoo- I didn't want to use my flash and startle the zebras or mini-cows. They were super precious, though, I promise you that. Imagine a place where, for a dollar, you can feed a two foot tall kangaroo an ice cream cone filled with oats and pet their furry little ears at the same time. The true beauty of Christmas, folks. 

And today, Sadie and I took up another holiday tradition. Ever since I was a little girl, I would make up a special Christmas list of family members who I wanted to buy presents for. There was always a special "Rudi's List Time" segment of Christmas, and due to my young age and nickle-and-dime piggy bank budget, the gifts were always silly and from dollar stores. I remember one year in particular giving an aunt fake eyelashes, and an uncle an ugly figurine.

When Sadie was born we decided to keep the tradition alive, and I'm pleased to say that she's done a great job of keeping the gifts spontanious and hilarious. I can't tell you who was lucky enough to be on the list this year, or what silly things Sadie decided they "needed" for Christmas because I don't want to spoil any surprises, but I will do my best to show off her finds after we open presents. 

And another tradition? Sadie's got to pay for it all herself- she's gotta learn responsibility somehow!

Do you all have any unique Christmas traditions? We're always on the lookout for new ideas! 

love, rudi

Christmas Time!

Every day since coming home for Christmas break has been filled with some sort of Christmas activity. I've been baking cookies, wrapping presents, buying presents, decorating, making ornaments for the tree-- you name it! This year feels especially full of holiday spirit, but that might be because I've been given more responsibility for helping out this year. My mom just started working at the hospital with Labor & Delivery again (I'm so proud of her!) so I've been handed the hot-chocolate, present wrapping torch. Needless to say, this year's presents aren't going to be nearly as attractive as last year's. 

This is Sadie's special little tree- she gets to decorate it all by herself!

Hope you all are having a great time prepping for the holidays, too!!!

love, rudi

Coffe, Carolyn, Pie.

Meet Carolyn.

The first time I had a legitimate conversation with Carolyn, she told me that my blog was the reason she came to Stephens.

That blew my mind!!!! 

Besides my mom and friend George from home (miss you, George!), I didn't think anyone read my blog regularly, but now I have proof that at least one smiling girl benefited from me documenting my usually boring and somewhat goofy life. And now that girl has become a part of it. 

So I had to play paparazzi with her a little, and give her her very own blog post. Dedicated just to her.

Carolyn. This one's for you.

Two nights ago Courtney (that blondie you see everywhere) and I took Carolyn out for coffee and pie at our favorite diner, the Broadway Diner downtown. Unfortunately, because we were there an hour before the diner opened, we were forced to get lost on Mizzou's campus and cat call at boys. 

But eventually eleven arrived, and we un-lost ourselves with watering mouths to the diner. Not only does it have the most amazing coffee in town, but they also happen to have the cheapest. The same formula works with their pie. I highly recommend the banana cream pie, and the chocolate peanut butter. Or any of their cobblers...or their cheeseburgers or biscuits and gravy...

You get the picture.

Thanks for the fun night, girls. 

love, rudi

Design Holiday Open House

Friday was a special day for the design, art, and fashion departments here on campus. We had a holiday party where students displayed their work and delicious little meatballs and yummy punch were served. It was a healthy little party, and it was great to see how we've all been working so hard.


Two of my pieces were displayed. In the main room, the Davis Art Gallery, we hung my inspiration chandellier. I made it for my final project in my Principles of Design class. My original project looked quite different, but I got a big dose of drama when I realized that my plan wasn't working two days before it was due. Special thanks goes out to my Momma, who not only talked me down from a panicky ledge, but also gave me the idea to use a hula hoop instead of a paper mache spiral (long story). After making a few last minute edits (barely in time, by the way) I finally hung the piece up, and minutes later the crowd arrived.

( The Regina Spektor poster at the top is mine)

It was really satisfying to see everyone's great pieces and to see mine nestled in with them. 

Just when I thought I was getting tired of working every day, I got another burst of energy that's gotten me excited all over again.

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

Christmas Time!!

I have indulged, I'm afraid, in the reckless abandon of my blog. It's been wonderful to sit in my living room sniggering to myself, "You know, I should really be blogging right now, or doing some work for school..." and making no effort to even begin the tasks.

I have been taking a few photos here and there, by the way. Enjoy this little sneak peak of my Christmas!

These photos are excerpts from my beautiful mother's Christmas decorations. This is the mantle of our fireplace.

Last Sunday my parents went to a party, and so my boyfriend and I babysat my little sister for a few hours. We spent the entire time sitting in the cushy leather couches of one of my favorite coffeehouses in Lexington, playing board games and enjoying each other's company to outrageously sappy degrees. Sadie slept for most of the evening, which explains why she looks so groggy and sad in this photo.

Plus Truchi shaved his beard. I am upset about this.

And I've got great news! For the first time since I've lived in this town (about 8 years or so), we had a snowy Christmas!!! My little sister was THRILLED!

I'm off for yet another cup of tea. Happy Holidays, everyone. My best wishes to all of you.

love, rudi

P.S. For all of you who are holding your breath for my pre-mentioned "Special Post", I have bad news. It just didn't happen. I was planning on making a video interview with my fellow freshman friend Allison Frisch, who stage managed Meet Me in St. Louis, but finals attacked both of us with their schedule-wrecking claws and we spent our time together rehearsing monologues.

At least I aced that final, eh? Also, this confession, as well as this post, were a direct result of George nagging me. Thank you George. You made me feel bad for abandoning my blog. I totally love you George.