dear stella, # 2

Have I kept you all waiting for so long? I've finally written the second letter of the series. (What progress.)

Dear Stella,

How does it feel to have Mom finally allow you to touch her camera? Nothing so special? Quite surprising? Amusing? How do you feel about it? Nothing? Oh. 

Well, here's a little something from me. I want you to remember that moment. I want you to remember how your eyes gleamed in delight when you took your first picture - what was your first picture, by the way? I want you to remember how you slowly started to familiarize yourself with how it worked. Everything possible. Just, do, remember. Remember, remember, remember. And why?

That event, dear Stella, is truly a life defining one. The day it all started - this photography madness - will start a whole new interest for you. I want you to write about it. 

It's a simple letter, yes. Not as dramatic as you might've hoped,

but after a year and almost ten months from then, you'll realize why I evidently stress on it.

Always,

Stella

P. S You drop it twice during a school trip. When you wake up on the third day of the trip, please tighten the straps.

oh, october?

I pity myself when I see all of you talk about autumn, and realize how lucky you are to have that beautiful season that I have only ever been able to experience from photos or movies. I think of big piles of leaves, jumping in them and making messes (stereotypical or...?) and how the wind slowly becomes colder as the days grow by....

Anyhow, I can't believe that October starts after tomorrow, it's hysterical! Time has gone by so fast, yesterday felt like summer was just beginning. However, I am looking forward to so many things. (More blog posts, and Christmas being some of them.) I can't believe September is ending!!!

But just like I promised, here's a video I made to honor this fabulous month that's going to end so soon.

  Here's to
the sleepovers the baking dates the concerts the bowling party
& 
the people that made this month
e x t r e m e l y
entertaining.
October? Bring it! 

happy birthday, brother!

Yes, this is kind of late (almost a week to be exact), but I love you little brother! Your age is worth a whole hand now, five more years and we'd fill in two. 

You're the keeeee-youuu-test.

i carry this memory

“We’re going to Falling water."

I hadn’t had the slightest idea on what my mom told me. We had just arrived in Pittsburgh, Ohio from Florida. It was summer. I was tired, tense and uneasy. I didn’t know what to expect. If it was just some other shrine, I promised myself I’d mourn. It was a three-hour drive from the airport. And then we arrived. And then I took back every single bad thing I had said about the place.

Enclosed in a quiet forest was a brilliantly designed house on top of waterfalls. Under, a river bellowed. If you looked up you’d see branches curling against the sunlight. Birds chirped and the forest intrigued me with various paths.

It was, by all means, beautiful.

The house itself was undoubtedly radiant. But if it were placed in some random, big and rich village in the city, I wouldn’t have had the same response. Then what was it about the house that made me glint with awe?

It was definitely the environment. Who wouldn’t love to fall asleep to the music of the flowing river that went on and on? Who wouldn’t love to continuously hear the tapping of water under their floor?

Nature. There’s just something so relaxing about it, that it makes me want to be hugged by my favorite, navy blue sweater, delight myself with some hot chocolate, curl up into my favorite book, take pictures, write, and do everything all over again. And all of this makes me so happy.

So. I carry this misjudged, enriching and amazing memory to remind me how I define true beauty.

It’s the view of the whole city from an airplane window that I catch on a few seconds before I disappear between the clouds. It’s that item on the top shelf of my favorite store that I’ve been saving up for my whole life. It’s when I finally overcome what hurts me most. It’s the quietness of Nature, its genuine beauty and how it makes me swoon. It’s my emotions—and what lets them come out.

It’s both the big things and the little things.

That’s what beautiful is to me.

september

Remember when I first started my blog a year ago? (Please do NOT - by all means - frisk around my old posts, embarrassment at the highest level, I reassure you.) I'm sorry I don't have a blogaversary, or anything of the sort, I just want to say a simple thank you for being here, for reading. I honestly don't know how to thank you guys. I love you all very much. And because I do, and because it's the start of this hopefully brilliant month, (eeeep! new favorite word - brilliant) I made a video about a cozy weekend that I had with my amazing cousins in a beautiful log cabin.

coziness from Stella on Vimeo.
It was kind of a bummer that the sun wasn't out the whole time - but we made the most of the weekend!   P.S, I caught Hannah (my cousin) on video while she was asleep! ha ha ha ha, take that. 
And here are some photos of the brilliant (eeeeep!) weekend I had! 

01// hanging outside made up about 70% of the trip

02// wood wood wood

03// hot chocolate? perfect.

04// waking up on an early and cold, Sunday morning

05// wood wood wood (again)

06// leaves

07// antique photos framed in the cabin

08// the roof

09// some of my favorite girls