"Belles Amies, 素敵な友達〜"

Just as the title says, "Lovely Friends".
Me gustan mis amigas.
How many other ways can I say it?

We all slept at Erin's house 

and whipped out GarageBand 

to do some goofy, impromptu recordings.

This one is a conversation between 

a girl named "Kanna" 

and her very-Korean mother.

Oh, how kindred our spirits are.
Oh, how I love these ladies.

{♪ "Comme des Enfants" © Coeur de Pirate}

{♪ "Capoeira (Paranaue)" © Only The Strong}

"Colors of the Krishna"

"A single thread in a tapestry, though it's color brightly shines, can never see it's purpose in the cotton of the grand design." -The Prince of Egypt

There is a temple in Spanish Fork 

that celebrates Indian culture and faith.

2 of my roomies and I

parked a ten-minute walk away,

and our white shirts & skin got freckled with colors

all along the pathway.

Early for the next chalk throwing,

we explored the temple grounds.

{Kami's shirt is actually tie-dyed.}

We were an hour away from

changing our ethnicities,

an hour away from becoming 

one rainbow race of humans.

We sought warmth within the temple walls

{our T-shirts didn't stand a chance against the wind chill}.

Though I wasn't praying to Krishna as I chanted,

I felt tranquil and closer to my friends, beside me.

And then

the air exploded with color.

Our complexions constantly changed.

We couldn't seem to stop drowning

each other in chalky clouds.

The temptation was just too great

to stop splattering ourselves.

Complete strangers joined in the goal we had

to paint ourselves from head to sneakers.

{Thanks, strangers. We should be friends.}

A wonderfully unifying day,

under the same showers of rainbow chalk.

I love discovering new ways of thinking,
and finding ways to implement them in my life.
Even if it's a tiny change,
it's a step towards something bigger.

{♪ "Mauja Hi Mauja" remixed by DJ Bhagatriks}

"Evening Gowns n' Teacups"

"I can't explain myself, I'm afraid, Sir, because I'm not myself, you see." -Alice

We had ourselves a little trip into the RABBIT HOLE,

and danced the entire fall down.

We went together,
8 people,
4 dates,
1 big smile,
at BYU's Alice in Wonderland Preference Ball.

Oh yes, our feet hurt,
but dancing away our stresses
was so very worth it
{even when our abdomens were being squeezed by unrelenting fabric}.

Our tea was hot cider,
devilishly sugared.

And yet,
the drinks were definitely not
the sweetest things there.

Never, a frown was found.

And what would an Alice in Wonderland ball be
without a heated croquet match?

The Queen was in agreement.

A lovely appearance by
the Hatter and Alice
delighted us all.

why am I so ridiculously short

The gowns, the teacups, the dancing,
'twas all so brillig.

{♪ "Touch" via Natasha Bedingfield, remix by The Dirty Tees}
{♪ "Hoedown Throwdown" via Miley Cyrus}
{Some photos and videos courtesy of Kevin Cangelosi}

"Pie Shakes"

"Why do you think I keep hangin' out with you guys? I can be myself around you; I can be a dork." -Kevin C.

A friend can reach their hands into the
ocean you've sunk down in,
and pull you out for a night of shakes.

And even though you quietly slip back into the waves

when your night is just another diary page,

there will come a time when you won't feel so lost for air.

✿

But, until then, here's a bitty secret...
You can still fly
when the water's over your head.

{♪ "Jar of Hearts" © Christina Perri}

{Image © Pixdaus}

"Muddy Buddy Pizza Buddies"

"A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart." 
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It started with a pizza-making party 
and rapidly escalated into a
Muddy Buddy party,
Girl Talk party,
Quelf party,
and even a Reader's Theater party.

The magical game of Quelf
where you win by being ridiculous.

Gals and guys alike
gathered to play in our humble little Stratford apartment.

Kevin and I as conjoined twins
{the game made us do it}.

...The game also made me stuff its box
up my shirt, calling me, "Square Blouse".
The game called me that, yes.

Reader's Theater:
Kate as a southern boy with a lisp,
me as her younger sister,
and Kami as the throaty voice from the closet.

Oh, friends,
what would the weekends be like without you?

{♪ "The Song That Never Was" © Imogen Heap, remixed by Michael Campion}

"Hot Feet"

"The clever huntress always looks her best. 
You never know when big game might cross your path." -The Pink Bible

Danced until my feet screamed.

Twirled with my twittering roommates.

Swayed with a smiling boy.

Whirled the night away, forgetting.

{♪ "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love Again" via Ahmir ft. Chilla Jones, Mr. Meredith, Lil Crazd}

{Image via WeHeartIt}

"Gion Odori: Maple Dance"

"We're fools, whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance."
-Japanese Proverb

The leaves are dancing,
like butterflies in the wind,
showing their reds and golds.

We humans mirror them,
using the wind in our flutes,
dancing in our autumn wardrobes.

Kat & I went to Gion on Wednesday,
and caught the shichi-go-san,
the Seven-Five-Three Ages festival for children.
{Want your heart melted? Watch toddlers run around in kimonos.}

Our real purpose, though,
was to see the geisha and maiko dance.

In all my trips to Kyoto,
I'd never seen a real geisha before.

I don't think I blinked once
the entire performance.

Gion Odori (lit. Gion Dance)
tells the story of a woman
whose life is spared by a demon,
and she must fetch him a gift in return for his "kindness".

There was a live orchestra
of shamisen players
and tayu (chanters).

My favorite character,
the demon Ibaraki
{played by a woman}.

Demon Ibaraki
and his minions,
the stolen maiko children.

A maiko is an apprentice geisha.
You can differentiate between them from
the maiko's long sleeves,
tail-like obi belts,
high geta shoes,
forked nape makeup,
and elaborate hair ornamentation
{not to mention their hair styles & color schemes}.
Maikos are more decorated than their geisha masters,
like adolescents and adults.

I get to visit Kyoto
two more times
before I leave Japan.
If I don't make it back to America this December...
...it's because I'm in training to be a geisha.

{Music via Kat-Tun & Eri}

"I Was Going to Wash the Dishes..."

when a

SUDDEN

uncontrollable

URGE

overcome me,

and I swiveled on the hardwood floor

and danced instead.

Tom Cruise would be proud, I'm sure,

even though I had pants on while I did it.

My mother, however,

would not be so proud.

Better dance and wash next time.

It'd make for more bubbles, at the very least.

"Bunkasai (文化祭)"

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." -Mark Twain

Bunkasai was Friday, and boy did our class rock the room!

{"Bunkasai" is a culture festival our Japanese department holds annually.}

Everybody's skits were hilarious, but I think our section went above and beyond...

{Okay, so I'm just a little bit biased... :D}

Watch, laugh, enjoy. Hope this little video brings a smile to your cheeks. :)

"Two Nights, Two Parties"

Party #1:

A herd of My Little Pony boys.

Favorite costumes of the night. Truly.

They even had little charms taped to their... "flanks"...

Alright, I'm stopping there.

The dance was 10x more fun than I ever thought it could be.

My ward is full of dancin' beasts!

{And an Edward Cullen, apparently!}

Party #2:

Halloween is a favorite; it's one of the best.

{Though my #1 holiday is New Year's!}

The McCabes and I meandered up to Salt Lake for a little ghost hunting.

Jeanie caught some "orbs" in her photos. Pretty wicked. :)

After the ghost hunt, I drove back to the valley and met up with more chums.

And we partied a little bit. :)

Nate totally won the prize for awesome that night.

Ghoul love.

{Minnie loves everybody...}

I wanted to be a pirate this year, so I loved Kevin's costume {almost} the best.

But of course everyone else looked fantastic. ;)

Because I'm a bimbo {means "poor" in Japanese... and something else entirely in American}, I went as a forest fairy thing {not a pirate}.

...Posing isn't my forte. Apologies for the face-making.

But the makeup was loads of fun to do. :)

{I love to experiment.}

After the party, some friends stuck around to watch episodes of Supernatural.

It was so scary, I made Edison sleep in my room afterwards.

{This is why big puppies are my favorites.}

How anyone could go near an old, creepy house where someone was murdered is beyond me.

Real ghost hunters are either the bravest people out there, or complete nutters.

Or maybe I'm just a big baby.

{Music credits: "The Violet Hour" by Sea Wolf; "Jai Ho!" by A. R. Rahman & PCD; "Never Think" by Rob Pattinson}