i wanna talk about gracie for a second.

oh, this girl. i promise that after meeting her, you'll have to search the crooks and crevices of the earth to find something more beautiful. i'm sure you've known this, but back at the end of august, she, bleah and i met up at a shopping outlet in my city. as in they drove two hours just so we could see each other. i've known bleah for two years, but meeting gracie was a first, so needless to say i was really excited when  saw them standing in anthropologie, scrounging the crowds for my face.

i guess what happened at the domain specifically is another story for another time. right now, i just wanna talk about gracie for a second. she gives really long hugs and [obviously] takes pictures and has this really cute nose that i sort-of-kind-of-maybe-totally want to pinch and i can tell that she cares about the close friends she has so so much. she's a quiet thing, more of a listener than of a talker, and she giggles at most of the things i say. she's a wallflower, actually. she sees things, and she interprets them through her photography, and she understands. she looks at subway menus and will yet ask the person behind the counter what they serve. she has the most adorable taste in clothing and takes pride in linking arms with bleah and i and skipping down the domain's sidewalk. she just really cool, and i love her. and it's nice to have someone to miss, because then, you'll know it will all have been worth it when you see them again. 

so here's to you, you loki-loving-chai-tea-drinking-doll. i just wanted you and everyone else to know that you're a must-friend. 

-kiss kiss kiss, this is my legacy-
{pea ess: it's my friend audrey's birthday! wish this other-loki-loving-girl a great day.}

baby steps.

around the time when the rest of the world is experiencing autumn, texas decides to retain summer for as long as it possibly can. today, though, when i was outside taking pictures for a project, the first few bunches of auburn leaves were scattered among the boughs of branches. i guess it's taking baby steps. even though autumn is just now nigh, i'm putting up the Christmas tree next weekend. bazinga. 

-kiss kiss kiss, wisely and slow-

{pea ess: guess who's going to see a fine frenzy in concert next week? this girl. #touchdown #andidontevenlikefootball}

forget propriety.

if you don't remember me talking about it, i posted a long time ago on how i want to be a composer. film composer, specifically. i don't want to bore you with all the details, but i do want to tell you a little story, so bear with me. 

in january, two months after finishing my first orchestral composition, i got an idea for my second composition. it wasn't much, really, just 16 bars of a melody that i couldn't seem to get out of my head. at the concert for my first piece, when the crew was clearing off the stage, i sat down at the [gorgeous] steinway piano and played the piece i had in my head. and the best part is? that's the piece i entered into this year's competition.

so after an all-nighter or two, or at least not getting to bed until after midnight, at 11am precisely, i sent in my second score to the 3rd annual texas young composer's competition. i'm really excited. i hugged my mother, which isn't something i wholeheartedly do very often. 

so forget propriety and fancy photography, the above picture is what i looked like after i sent it in. because you know what? [and i'm breaking my own rule by doing this, but whatever] I HAVE COMPLETED MY SECOND ORCHESTRAL SCORE. and i'm actually kinda proud of myself.

and now, to write a string quartet for mendelssohn's "venetian boat song."

-kiss kiss kiss, the eagle has landed-

this is jasmine (who done be cute) // portraits.

after looking at all these photos, i couldn't really find much to say, because i was laughing so hard at all the memories that were made on the day that i shot her (pun not intended, but still kept). that was the day when she tried to break the slate off of a rock and almost fell into the creek. that was the day when it was so cool outside, that our hamburgers froze. that was the day we had a surprise party for her seventeenth birthday, which was about two mondays ago. that was the day when i almost "died", on the steep hill (and the bridge, but it's not like i did die or anything) that we walked down to get to the creek. basically, jasmine is a beautiful girl who laughs a lot and is actually a model {!!!}, and she's also working on getting her license so we can go shopping and watch romantic comedies. i don't know why i told you all that, but the gist of it is, this is jasmine, and she done be cute. 

-kiss kiss kiss, awesomesaucely-

this is what life lately looks like for me.

{reading} a tree grows in brooklyn by betty smith. 
{listening} the fountain trickle below the school statue, and if i didn't know better.
{loving} this in-between weather and my great granddad's old suspenders [wait'll you see who i'm dressing up as next week].
{feeling} this poignant post by dearest-abigail-claire. 
{living} my life.

this is something a little different from the structure of my regular lately posts, and the credit goes to katie for giving me the idea. i realised that when i read, i don't just read, i absorb. it's so hard only borrowing books from the library because i so long to underline the passages that i enjoy and fold down the corners of the pages i want to remember. i do indulge myself in the latter, and that's why, when i'm done with a book, it's thickness is twice the size of when i first started it. guess what? i'm almost done with my second orchestral score. next week, i'll be in the articulation stage, which is where i put in dynamics and bowings and things to let the musicians know exactly how they're supposed to play my piece. i've been going to bed later than 11pm since last weekend and i've cried more times than i can count and it's only wednesday, but that's because the new ironman trailer came out and i can't seem to sort out my feelings after seeing that. i wish i had a close circle of friends that i could miss even though i haven't met them and it seems like everyone else does and i want that. i just want... i want a cupcake. that's what i want. i also want sleep.

but anyways. what's life lately looking like for you?

-kiss kiss kiss, you know i like to hear-

{pea ess: seriously, i am just a pile of blah and i apologise for the blah post. something with structure will be coming on friday. i can almost promise you that.}

the day i dressed up as the american flag and made kissy faces at the camera.

one day, i was looking for variety in my wardrobe and i came across this beyond gorgeous red pleated skirt in my mom's closet. after stealing it [#ehehe #youmad #idowhatiwant #anditwascute], i had a small spurt of creativity and decided to dress up as the british flag for school. striped sweater, blue belt, red-starred-and-pleated skirt and all, i managed to look very patriotic. so until i buy a beatles tee or some more striped articles of clothing, i will continue to look like the american flag. but to move on.

a few weeks later, while at a conference that some good friends were hosting [that was the day i met dude perfect], i ran into one of my old buddies from teen court: christina. she is the sweetest, most encouraging girl, and always has something good to say. she also endorses smiling. seriously, though, she's the bee's knees. and after the conference, she treated me to a mini-photoshoot. and i decided to be a walking american flag that day. so this is what happened:

glasses: 3D (avengers) // cardigan: forever21 // tank top: target // belt: macy's // skirt: stolen from mommy's closet (more like tardis) // shoes {not shown}: DSW. 

christina, we're going to have to do this again. like, now. go to christina's blog to check out her post! 

-kiss kiss kiss, oh you beauty-

jasmine // preview

i don't know if photography is going to become a real business or anything for me, but for now, i'm pretty content. this is a preview of jasmine's portraits from last week's picnic that you probably know nothing about. we were in a small grove of trees near a creek, and this is part of what happened. 

-kiss kiss kiss, crazy for you-

{pea ess: i put queso in a cup. thoughts?}
{pea pea ess: i gots me some vsco. isn't it gorgeous?}