Happy Easter!

 I've been on a self-examining hiatus for the past couple of weeks, submersing myself in my own life and forgetting to share anything with anyone. Sometimes it's really great to be introverted and know that I'm able to have a steady, healthy conversation with myself.

  But now it's Easter, which I've decided will be my wake-up call to re-energize my voice and dust off my camera. I've been working on my resume, portfolio, and personal blog (with an attempt at *eek!* personal branding) for summer job plans. Oh- that's related to a great piece of news! 

  I've been nagging my parents for the past five years or so to move away from the small town I went to high school in. After several of our closest family friends moved away, my parents have finally started considered relocating as well. I'm so very proud to say that, after months of planning and searching and waiting, they finally signed some papers for a beautiful little cottage in North Carolina!!

   I'm completely ecstatic about this, as is my little sister because of the swing set in the back yard. I was expecting to spend this summer digging through all my childhood stuff for a super large yard sale, but now I get to spend it helping my family settle in to their new life and discover the quirks of their new town. Oh- and another great part? After just a few days of looking over classifieds and websites, I've found several great design, marketing, and writings internships in the area- for bakeries, local magazines, and design firms. So- the resume stuff has been super on my mind lately.

   I'm hoping to share some of my design work with you guys soon- I've been taking pictures of my work more and more.

   Have a great Easter, everyone! I hope those of you who got to go home and play with egg painting, baby animals, and giant baked ham meals soak it up for the rest of us.

love, rudi

The Before

See these here red locks? Well, next Wednesday is my appointment to donate most of my hair to Pantene's program Beautiful Lengths, which makes wigs for women who have lost their hair to cancer treatments. 

I haven't had long hair for very long. All through high school I had various styles of pixie cuts, but last fall I decided that I wanted to have a braid again and started growing my hair out. 

I'd sort of planned to keep a longer hairstyle for a long time, but last spring (actually, a year from the day I'll be donating my hair) I lost my grandmother to breast cancer. When I saw that Stephens was hosting a hair donation event, it was like the universe was telling me something.

Tune in next week with the "After"!!

love, rudi

Mint Tea, Mint Mug

Whenever life gets crazy and my life fills up with too much running around, I replace relaxing naps with tea. Specifically peppermint and chamomile.

Last year, like every other college freshman, I resorted to gross amounts of coffee, but after realizing that it's really just the 'hot liquid' part I relied on I started buying tea instead. I'm probably healthier for it, but the real reason it's so great is because now I smell really good all the time. 

Do you have a daily treat?

love, rudi