its official.

in my life.... there is no time for blogging.
which is a cryin shame, since i love it so.

when i do get the chance to blog it is either a link or an image or something silly and quick.
i am going the way of convenience and giving you the links to my tumblr and my twitter
(both of which I use consistently for quick updates)

blogspot, you have been lovely. there are so many great things about you. you rock, never change. see ya soon, let's hang out, call me this summer, here's my number [insert other typical yearbook cliche's here], love ya!
hah.

so, as promised, let's hang out here:

http://twitter.com/#!/rachelmc_cord

and here:

http://rachelceleste.tumblr.com/

don't you worry, all of you not on tumblr, you will rest safely on my google reader :)

farewell,
XO.

aa is a champ.

can't seem to get enough of this song this weekend.
aa bondy - black rain




Black rain, black rain
Don't fall on me
Can't you see I'm doin' my best
Black rain, black rain
Don't fall on me
When I lay to take my rest

And love, it don't die
It just goes from girl to girl
Town to town, rose to rose
All around the world
Like a ghost upon a breeze
In a land of elegies

Black rain, black rain
Don't catch me low
And cover the sinner sun
Black rain, black rain
Where can I go
When you leave me nowhere to run

And love, it don't die
It just goes from girl to girl
Town to town, rose to rose
All around the world
Like a ghost upon a breeze
In a land of elegies

flu blues

may or may not have lost like 5 pounds after having the stomach flu yesterday...
forget dieting, im just gonna start getting the flu!
kidding, but really...all my clothes fit better today/ although that could just be since all i was wearing yesterday was my down comforter and pepto bismol, but still.

happy health my friends,
please don't get the flu - its ze worst.

last.

today is the first day of my last semester at biola.
sitting in spring convo chapel this morning when they had all the new students stand up and welcomed them into the community, i had instant flashbacks to when that was me.

17, shorter hair, undeclared, living with 2 new roommates in a crackerbox of a dorm room, completely figured myself out, so elated to be starting college away from home.
and now 4 years later i'm in the same girl just 21, longer hair, art major, living with 3 lovely housemates, still learning new things about myself everyday - no where near figured out, so elated to be in my last semester of college away from home.

so i guess it seems as though not much has changed, although i feel like a completely different person now than i did before i came.
i don't even want to think about how much i'm going to miss this place.
it has been the center of so much of my life and development over these past few years that i may just completely fall apart when i leave it because it has been my home and been so familiar for so long.

but im beyond excited for what God has for me this semester and all the seasons of my life that follow my days at Biola. i can't start getting sentimental yet, its only january.
but still... this place is great.

twentyeleven

happy next year of life my fine friends!

may you be both silly & wise in twentyeleven.

i love being aunt ray ray.

yesterday my heart melted into a puddle on the floor. and i'm pretty sure its still there.

amber (one of my sisters) called me in class and as i picked up i heard this lovely little voice saying: "oh, hi ray ray, i miss you!"

U G H. slayed me, right then and there. insta-tears.
it was Lawson, my favorite freakin 2 year old.

shortly followed by this little voice: "blorajdja hi rayraaay asndlk"

Tanner, my favorite one year old.

my day was made, and i had a silly smile on my face for at least an hour.

after talking to amber for a bit she told me that when my whole family gets together when i'm at school Law always says "where's ray ray?"
my dear sweet little neph notices when im gone.

gosh, so amazing. and breaks my heart even more that i'm not there.

after lawson singing me a song and tanner mumbling adorably i said goodbye - feeling so refreshed and loved and missed. and now i really s e r i o u s l y can't wait to go home and squeeze the living daylights out of these little creatures. only 18 more dayssss. ptl.

watch this, seriously.

most beautiful thing i have laid eyes on in quite some time.
[ i watched it three times in a row, couldn't get enough]

Dark Side of the Lens by Astray Films



breathtakingly gorgeous, right? yep.

happy thursday, friends.

big day.

today i decided what i will create for my senior show.

(!!!)

which is pretty much the most important thing i will ever do in my undergraduate career and will be my first professional body of work which i will use as a portfolio builder to launch myself into the world.

and today i decided what im going to do & how i'm going to do it.

it felt surreal to finally be at the place i've been daydreaming of since sophomore year.
but i'm beyond excited to get started and make work that i'm passionate about for no other reason than my desire to make something beautiful & meaningful for others to look at.

just hope my thoughts translate well into physical form. i suppose we shall see at my show come spring! so excited.

p.s... please come see it, okay? okay.

as if i don't talk enough already...

... i have a n o t h e r blog. haha.
this one is more directive, though.
for my advanced integrated photography class i have to keep a blog of my inspirations, ideas, fave artists, responses to readings, progress on projects etc.
and since i wanted to keep my life-brain and school-brain somewhat separated, i just started a whole new space in which to think. so what i'm saying is, feel free to follow me here and there because i will still be posting on both.

>> THIS << will be my art blog, but i am def not abandoning this blog so, bounce around, feel it out, see which you like better. ha, not really. you are of course required by friendship to like them both, duh. 


happy wednesdaying.

obsessed with.

these songs. some new, some old faves. nonetheless, they are my delights.
please love them, they won't let you down.

to build a home - patrick watson
heart full of pentagons - film school
i would die for you - matt walters
twenty-two - wakey! wakey!
all the beautiful things - the eels
the concubine - beirut
little blue mailbox - fink
bloodbuzz ohio - the national
i was broken - rob pattinson
go or go ahead - rufus wainwright
part one - band of horses
rococo - the arcade fire
liar - mumford and sons
these arms - the swell season

_____________________________________
 in other news...

i am b a c k in la, back at biola, and back into college baby mode.
i will mumble about that later, right now im still a zombie from all the drivage and movage, ha.

just makin headlines, nbd.

check it outttt here. and join the local dish site (it's pretty legit)

i am published

Check out my first article here at The Local Dish! And make sure to check out more of my stuff soon, and just enjoy TLD in general :) I have another article coming out next weeeeeek.

Happy Friday, friends!

my best friend is a beauty queen.

it's plain and simple... she was a gorgeous bride & is still a gorgeous newlywed. 

love this lady bunches.

_______________________________

in other news:

i second shot a wedding last night with a friend of mine and will post a few teaser pics as well as a few on my site [ www.rachelmccordphotography.com ] which i will be updating with those and other images this week! so stay tuned!

happy sunday.

on becoming a real life big girl

i turned 21 this weekend.... 

and it was glorious.

people always tell you on this particular anniversary of birth...

"have fun!!!! but not too much! ;)" while using way too many !!!'s and ;) ;)'s. ... but God bless 'em, they mean well.

they always tell you...

"liquor before beer, you're in the clear, clear before liquor you'll never be sicker."

they always tell you...

"don't do anything I would'nt do!"

they always tell you...

 "put your wallet away. i'm buying you a drink, it's your birthday!"

this weekend... i never got sick once, always mixed well, didn't do anything you wouldn't do, and didn't buy a single bev on my bday & it was deeply fabulous.

although, i was pretty spoiled because i had the pleasure of turning the big two-one in puerto penasco, mexico while celebrating my beloved friend shannon's wedding (which was hands DOWN the most fantastic wedding i have ever attended/been in, btw. such a B L A S T)

at 12:01, i was greeted with hoots, hollers and of course tequila by dear friends. followed by the whole afternoon of sauntering back and forth between the beach, the waves, and the pool. followed then by a glam/laid back rehearsal dinner & cocktail after party. 

it was a rough go, real hard day...

great friends, great sun, great times and great day, full of many"best birthday ever" thoughts.

i think i'm gonna like this big girl business.

p.s... i am finally (part-time) employed! i'm a freelance eater, photographer & writer for a foodie website. perfect summer job? i'm thinkin' cheaaa. PTL.

p.s.s... snippets of mexico adventuring to come :)

... aaand breath out.

and just like that, weight off my shoulders.

after weeks of worrying, asking friends, asking professors, asking photographers, asking myself, asking anyone and everyone... i am proud finally breath out and say: i have an internship for the fall. [yesssss!]

with a photographer that i have heard nothing but great things about, in addition to his impressive body of work as well as great interactions i've had with him so far.
i can legitimately say that i am so stinkin excited.

in other news:

- it's dead week, and i am actually not dying yet, ha, just on an IV of diet coke and cat naps.

- still crossing my fingers for on campus job for the fall [think happy thoughts for me]

- my studio final projects are creepin up on me but aren't overwhelming which is a new feeling, i actually have a good handle on them and am happy with the way they're turning out so far, which is also a new feeling.

- i will be a senior in college in exactly 9 days. N U T S. who let this happen?

- the national is delicious, see for yourself down below:

mi mama

happy MOTHER's day. to the coolest mom on the block...

it's true. she is the coolest.

don't believe me? i'll prove it.

:: she knows how to party, the woman can dance

:: she's a snappy dresser and her hair always looks fab

:: she is aging super well, i now have grounds for hoping to always look 28

:: she can cook like nobody's business, and even makes stuff up, but never fails

:: she knows like, 5 languages i believe. nuts

:: she is the best grandma to the best nephews

:: she is hilarious and has the most absurd squeal of a laugh, its great

:: she doesn't mind that i am always all over the place, in every way, she encourages it

:: she actually understands me when i start to talk in art-language

:: she is great at life talks & listening

:: she is where i got my creativity

:: she is where i learned how to support & encourage

:: she (almost) always has everything under control, and will admit when she doesn't

:: she has an unnatural obsession with Italian-style house decorations

:: she somehow managed to make my siblings and i turn out right despite our best efforts

:: she is my friend & let's me vent

:: she is my momma and i like it that way

love you, lady!

Help a sistah out!

Hello my faithful friends,

As many of you may know, I have a this blog (duh, silly statement) in which I record life, thoughts, happenings and the general overflow that the walls of my mind can't keep in. 

But {here's the part where you get stoked} I've created another blog for a class project. That's right. Two blogs. I may be crazy, but I'm embracing it. This blog is a space for something entirely different, however.

For my Photo II class our final project involves exploring digital media and this new blog will be a reflection of my attempt at understanding digital media in our contemporary context.

I will do so by creating a process of taking 50 photos a day, posting them along with text/literature/music/video/scripture/media/news etc. to create a cohesive stream of thought. 

I can't guarantee it will all be great, but it will at least give me {and you, if you so desire} something to chew on and hopefully some pretty things will emerge along the way.

I hope you'll join me in this new little avenue of thought and art that I'm about to head towards. And please keep your eyes & minds peeled for any thing on here that may intrigue you.

And PLEASE feel free to comment as much as you like, it will be taken as a collaboration with my project that I would love to include.

So check it out >>HERE<< and see what I've got cookin' over there.

Thanks in advance, you guys are great!
See you here, and there...

xo, Rachel