Still Life

Little letters. {a la Naomi}

2010-06-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Dear Simon and Garfunkel pandora radio station, Thank you for providing me with beautiful, uplifting music any time i'm in my room. i'm loving you.

Dear Accutane, thank you for not drying my face and lips out yet. although i am excited for you to start working.

Dear concealer, thank you for making my face look better until my Accutane starts to work.

Dear mommy, you always have the best advice about boys. even though i know that not every man in the world thinks im as amazing as you do, its nice to hear positive encouragement.

Daddy, thanks for always talking to me about random things while i'm walking to school everyday. i enjoy the company.

Magdalena, i'm very jealous that you get to go to new york for so long. but you are turning into a beautiful dancer and you totally deserve it.

Elissa, thanks for being an awesome acting teacher. I'm so stoked on our triple threat camp!

Allisandra, thanks for putting up with my whining this week. I know i haven't been the funnest to be around sometimes, but you always listen, so thank you.

Dear duval house, I am excited to move into you in August.

sorry guys...

2010-04-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

I know its been a long time.

But I've been really crazy with school.

Here's one of the reasons why:

{p.s. if you're coming to my show on Saturday, don't watch this,

it will ruin the fun. This means you. I mean it.}

...well, i was going to post the video, but i can't figure out how.
can anyone help? sometimes i am technologically illiterate.

Spring.

2010-03-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

I randomly found this on my camera yesterday.

What a nice little surprise.

it was from last spring, when i bought new tulips almost every week.

fresh flowers were the best way to spruce up a dorm room.

I also thought I'd leave you with one of my favorite lyrics:

"And Morgan says, 'Maybe love won't let you down.

all of your failures are training grounds.'

and just as your backs turned

'you'll be surprised'

she says, as your solitude subsides."

-Rilo Kiley

I'm hopeful that her words are true.

Little Hopes.

2010-03-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes during my day, I pause

and daydream about the future.

Little things that will happen,

unexpected people that will come into my life,

events that will make me smile.

Today, I got a pair of springtime wedges, for adventures in springtime.

I found myself looking forward to all these adventures.

although I'm not quite sure what they may be.

I have a feeling they may be fabulous.

Also...

I think I may have found my wedding dress for the future,

or at least the store where I will purchase it.

{I know, a little crazy, but they're just so pretty}

This one's my fave. I just can't get over how beautiful it is!

to look at the others, (which i highly suggest you do) go to this site:

JCrew Website.

Soy fuerte.

2010-03-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Class. Beauty. Elegance.

This is why I watch the Oscars.

Some fine actresses that exuded these qualities were:

1. Kate Winslet

2. Sandra Bullock

3. Meryl Streep

4. Barbra (as usual)

5. Cameron Diaz

I'm also quite taken by a few actors.

1. Tom Hanks, although you weren't in an Oscar winning film this

year, I adore you.

2. Robert Downey Jr., to me, you are the perfect man. This

may have to do with the fact that I've never met you.

Nevertheless, kisses.

3. Stanley Tucci, I would like to spend a day with you.

In other news, I have had a song on repeat lately:

And Then You Love Someone, By Ben Rector.

It. is. so. good. no words.

I want to wash my face, my feet and hands with snow.

2010-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

It snowed yesterday. In Austin.

I don't think this smile left my face the whole day.

There's just something about it that makes

life a little bit more magical.

Photos.

2010-02-21T18:07:00.000-08:00

I am probably going to get my first roll of

Holga film developed

tomorrow.

Just thought I'd let everyone know.

You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart.

2010-02-18T23:26:00.000-08:00

While having a much needed belting session with my dear friend Elissa,

I came across yet another song that captures my feelings in a little bottle.

I've always loved it, but never has it been so personal to me.

Listen to it Here.

{By the way Elissa, I'm always here if you need to belt it out.}

I have confidence in sunshine.

2010-02-16T06:18:00.000-08:00

Remember in my happy list where I said I loved when

songs explain my feelings?

This is one of those songs.

{The mommy fight isn't entirely accurate, but most of it hits the nail on the head.}

Click to watch it here.

"But you'll fight and you'll make it through
You'll fake it if you have to
And you'll show up for work with a smile
You'll be better
And You'll be smarter
And More grown up and a better daughter or son
And a real good friend
And you'll be awake
You'll be alert
You'll be positive though it hurts
And you'll laugh and embrace all your friends
And you'll be a real good listener
You'll be honest
You'll be brave
You'll be handsome and you'll be beautiful
You'll be happy"

Books.

2010-02-15T17:40:00.000-08:00

Meet my favorite book.

The author, Tom Robbins, has such a whimsical way of

telling his stories.

Here is a little tidbit.

"'When two people meet and fall in love, there's a sudden rush of magic. Magic is just naturally present then. We tend to feed on that gratuitous magic without striving to make any more. One day we wake up and find that the magic is gone. We've used it up. What we have to do is work like hell at making additional magic right from the start. It's hard work, especially when it seems superfluous or redundant, but if we can remember to do it, we greatly improve our chances of making love stay.'

She was unsure if that idea was profound or trite. She was only sure that it mattered."

I highly recommend it.

Current projects.

2010-02-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

I am currently in the midst of production lab.

A 3 week process that completely devours my life.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment,

but there are a few things that are keeping me sane.

They are as follows:

1. My sweetie pie.

{who's beard was very long in this picture, taken last summer}

2. The painting I've been working on for the past couple of weeks.

heres a little tidbit of it.

3. Jourdan's new puppy. His name is Hugh.

He is the new addition to our little home.

You can't even try to say he's not precious.

My Happy List (A La Naomi).

2010-02-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been posting very often.

I am blaming it on the lack of batteries in my camera.

{Don't worry, more pictures will be coming soon}

In the meantime, here are some things that make me terribly happy.

{a painting i did last semester of my sister, its finished now}

1. the laughter of little girls.

2. finishing a painting i worked really hard on.
3. little kisses.
4. being able to smell flowers in the air.
5. that feeling you get just before you step on stage.
6. waking up to find someone rubbing my back or playing with my hair.
7. the feeling after a great run.
8. lyrics from musicians that seem to know exactly the way you feel.
9. landing at the airport in a place you couldn't wait to get to.
10. the smell in the air on the first cold day of winter.
11. pretending to have a british accent.
12. menus.
13. watching your choreography when it is danced perfectly by your favorite people.
14. thinking about the future.
15. realizing how amazing the present is.
16. spending days with myself.
17. dancing.
18. everything that Brian Andreas has to say and draw.
19. sunshine in the morning time.
20. intelligent people.
21. Watching my little sister dance.

painting.

2010-01-24T21:54:00.000-08:00

My life for the past week has been full of:

1. sickness

2. dance/exhaustion

3. my sweet lovebug

4. my sweet roommates.

5. first days of school

6. and painting, lots of painting.

Today I painted for entirely too long.

From about 2:30 to 11:30.

Thats too long.

and the sad thing is that i feel like i didnt get that much done, even though i sort of did.

I did manage to watch an entire marathon of CSI while doing so.

solid.

Also, this past friday was my best friend, Devin's, birthday.

Happy birthday my dear!

We share flowers.

and we like to go on safaris in my kitchen.

School.

2010-01-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

I am so very ready for school to start.

we've been on break since December 10th, and i'm starting to feel a little stagnant.

{this is a feeling i do not particularly like}

This upcoming semester I am starting to take predominantly classes that are in my focus and major.

I cant wait to start learning.

I feel its one of the things I do best.

On the street where you live.

2010-01-03T21:24:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen My Fair Lady?

If not, you should add it to your list of "movies to see"

simply because it is fabulous.

There is a song in this movie

(which was originally on broadway, starring the wonderful Julie Andrews)

that is sung by a man in love with the heroine.

he sings:

"I have often walked down this street before,

But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.

All at once am I Several stories high.

Knowing I'm on the street where you live."

Such a true statement.

how a person can feel immensely better by just being in the vicinity of the one they love.

i have witnessed this to be true.

there just so happens to be a house at the end of my street that has a magical feeling to it.

the beauty it gives off always reminds me of this song, and of the feeling it describes.

and having it illuminated makes it just a little more magical.

It's officially the end of the holidays.

2010-01-02T07:48:00.000-08:00

I'm going to miss them

because no matter what is going on in my life,

I always feel a little happier when there's a Christmas tree in my house and lights down my street.

This is what our tree looked like this year.

{I know, we go overboard on the presents}

I'm not sure what we were looking up at here,

but I love this photo because of it.

Texas Hill Country.

2009-12-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

I have grown a large liking for my drives

back and forth between Austin and Houston.

Especially in the past couple of weeks,

with the leaves on the trees framing the roads in orange and red.

Here are some photos from my most recent drive back to Houston for the holidays.

pretty, no?

The day was eerily gloomy and cloudy, with a slight drizzle.

But for some reason, the color of the sky worked perfectly with the autumnal leaves.

Jewelry.

2009-12-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

Im pretty sure Jeanine Payer made this

necklace just for me.

It says "Dance when you're broken open...Dance when you're perfectly free."

the other side says "Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding."

Beautiful.

Brian Andreas.

2009-12-15T15:55:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite quotes and pictures

by Brian Andreas.

He's a genius writer of books with witty quotes and adorable pictures.

"I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that."
— Brian Andreas (Story People)

If you think these are as wonderful as I do,

you should check out the books!

To do so, go here, or here.

I highly recommend it.

I could spend hours just reading through them.

Christmas Movies.

2009-12-14T16:06:00.000-08:00

This is what I like: Holiday movies.

Some of my favorites are as follows...

Eloise at Christmas Time.

She is just the sweetest thing.

The Holiday.

I could probably watch this movie once a week

and be very happy indeed.

White Christmas.

Its jolly

and grand.

I also love all of the others that make my heart smile.

They make me feel better in the dreariest of days.

So thank you, Eloise, for putting a smile on my sniffling face.

Christmas list.

2009-12-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am a strong believer that Christmas

is for gathering with family

and enjoying time together.

Because of this, I don't really feel that presents are that necessary.

I am so blessed in my life already.

But...

If we're going to give out presents at Christmas,

we should at least get things that we want

or need.

So, to make this possible, I thought I'd make a little list

of all the things i've had my eye on this year.

- My books for the winter semester.

(School is so expensive!)

These cute little booties from the Gap.

{So that I can stop stealing my sister's warm booties. }

These pretty fleece gloves.

{Also from the Gap.}

My fingers get sooo cold when I walk to and from class.

This lotion from Bath and Body Works.

{It smells really good.}

I also really love cute little somethings from Anthropologie,

Pretty items of clothing from J Crew,

and, especially, handmade goodies that come from the heart.

Finals.

2009-12-08T18:24:00.000-08:00

The reason I haven't been updating as much as I'd like to

is that finals are this week,

and I'm completely Swamped.

{with a capital S}

Wish me luck!

This is about how much I want to be doing

school work right now.

I would much rather be snuggling up

with my sweetie watching The Holiday.

{Even though I've watched it twice in the past week. It's so good!}

Apologies.

2009-12-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys,

I'm a bad blog host.

But I promise I'll update you on my life at a later date.

For now, here's a pretty picture.

{My roommates and I during the snow last year.}

Giving Thanks.

2009-11-30T23:09:00.000-08:00

First of all,

I am sorry I've been such a lame blog updater.

But never you fear, I am here now,

With some photos from thanksgiving break with my fam bam.

Check out how pretty my sister is.

The symphony on Post Oak from our room in the Hilton.

"Cupcakes make you happy."

Thanks cupcake truck.

I visited my pretty girls at their nutcracker vignette in Kemah.

And then, My sister and I found these crazy christmas decorations and decided that they would make nice hats.

And I think that they do.

I also:

- Had a second (and slightly cozier) Thanksgiving at my house on friday.

- Took a class from Luis, and have decided that his classes are fabulous workouts.

- Hung out with my family while doing absolutely nothing.

- Welcomed my dad home on friday after his 2000 mile long excursion to bring home a van for my sister.

- and I did no school work. None. At all.

Over all, I would say that it was a successful break.

I am now ready for the next one.

More Pride.

2009-11-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

Another friend I am extremely proud of is Caitlin Cannon.

She is a beautiful dancer, and choreographer/director extraordinaire.

And also happens to be an amazing photographer.

Why is she so talented?

Here are some photos from the photo shoot we had this morning

with my king, Aaron Wiggins.

Aren't they pretty?

I just Love her.
Check out her photographer website, here.

Proud.

2009-11-24T09:25:00.000-08:00

I am extremely proud of every one of my friends,

they are all amazing.

But for the past month, I have been particularly proud of a few of them.

In particular, miss Cara Shanks.

She choreographed a beautiful dance

that spoke to my (as well as many other people's) emotions

regarding the loss of a dear friend.

Thank you Cara, for helping us grieve.
You are a genius choreographer.

{Photo by miss Caitlin Cannon}

Pride and Prejudice.

2009-11-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

The past couple of weeks

my life has been completely consumed by Pride and Prejudice.

But although its very tiring, its a beautiful show.

Here are some photos from last week.

These are the little treats we got on opening night for being on the wardrobe crew.
Thanks Allison!

Our very own Mr. Darcy.
In his top hat and jacket no less.

All black: required.

Nostalgia.

2009-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

During this time of year, I always find myself

desperately missing being a part of the Nutcracker.

Even though the rehearsals seem to never end,

your feet become piles of mush,

and you always seem to be getting yelled at for something,

i miss it so badly!

The good times and delirious spouts of laughter make it one of my favorite things.

Here are some photos from my last year performing with BAHBT's Nutcracker.

{All costumes beautifully made by the amazing Mrs. Cannon and Auntie Cheryl}

However, I will still be going to see the Nutcracker,

since my best friend and sweet little sister are still in it.

You should too!

Click here for information about getting tickets.

Everyone involved in this process works extremely hard, and its just a wonderful show to watch.

See you there!

The holidays are here!

2009-11-10T11:44:00.000-08:00

You know the holidays have finally arrived...

When Starbucks brings out their cheery holiday cups.

Thanks Starbucks, for making my days merry and bright.

My life on the wardrobe crew.

2009-11-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

For the next three weeks,

I will be emerged in Pride and Prejudice.

On tuesday, I learned how to sew,

and how to sew on buttons.

Pretty good, no?

Last night I learned about:

1. Early 18th century clothing.

2. How to put all of this clothing on.

3. How to properly conduct a quick change.

4. How to lace a corset.

5. Cravats.

6. Laundry.

7. Ironing.

8. Steaming.

9. and how not to set off the alarm on the building

when I leave in the wee hours of the morning.

I am always so amazed at the quality of our Theatre department here at UT.

I'll sneak some pictures of the set and costumes to show you.

I also think these are so cute.

However, the ones in our costume shop are far cuter.

I'll have pictures of those for you next time.

This is halloween.

2009-11-01T18:39:00.000-08:00

So this year for Halloween I was...

Dorothy!

{And Allison was Glinda, the good witch.}

And these are my ruby red slippers.

I made them myself and am their proud mommy.

And we also made allison's crown out of lace.

I know, we're very crafty.

And then, we ate pumpkin cheesecake.

And a good time was had by all.

A night full of pumpkin.

2009-10-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

Last night, a few friends and I got together to carve pumpkins and make pumpkin pie!

Alas, the pie was made from a can and not from real pumpkins.

Although a completely homemade pumpkin pie would be amazing.

I thought I was going to do something scary and creative.

But then I just ended up doing a butterfly. As usual.

The finished product!

I have also figured out what I'm going to be wearing and doing for halloween night.

More to come.

All Hallows Eve.

2009-10-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

Im having a conundrum.

Last year for halloween, I was the queen of hearts.

Allison and I as Alice and The Queen.

Although the real costume looked like this.

{p.s. thank you mrs. cannon for making such a wonderful costume for me.}

RAFA's Alice in Wonderland 2008

I'm not too sure what I want to be this year,

and I realize that its extremely last minute.

But I don't even have anywhere to go.

or do.

I'm ready to have a cute little house

so I can pass out candy to little kids.

That would be nice.

An homage to Austin in the fall.

2009-10-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

On one of the most beautiful fall days I have ever seen, Blake and I decided that we wanted some of this.

At this place.

But it turned out that the drive there had just as beautiful a view as the coffee shop itself.

Oh, how I love fall...

Further introductions.

2009-10-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

These people mean the most to me.

In no particular order, of course.

My BAHBT family. Miss Lynette is right guys. I don't even dance with them anymore and I still consider them my family.

This pretty girl, Allison.

My little southern girl, Courtney.

My parents. They like to play up-words.

And you've already met Blake.

My sister, Madeline. I like to call her Magdalena, despite her lack of hispanic heritage.

Devin. My girl. She brings sunshine and happiness into my life.

Introductions.

2009-10-22T10:12:00.000-07:00

I thought I might start out by introducing myself.

I'm Amanda.

I like to paint.

(a painting I did my senior year of high school of my lovelies, Abby and Shelby)

and this is Blake, we are in love.

I attend the University of Texas at Austin.

I love living in Austin.

I study Art History and Dance here.

and most of the time, I dance around my daily activities.

(my sister Madeline and I, dancing after dinner)

Nice to meet you.

The beginning.

2009-10-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

I am officially joining the blogging world.

Stay tuned to learn little tidbits about my life and insights into my loves, passions, and daily tribulations.