twin falls, idaho.

My dad likes to stop at scenic places when we go on road trips. And usually, they're pretty out of the way. But this time (driving home from Utah), we stopped at these pretty amazing falls just right off of the highway. Twin falls, that is.

Oh how I wish I could've swam at the bottom of the falls. My dad and I saw a couple of kayakers down there and I couldn't help but envy them.

A rainbow! For some reason I thought taking pictures of rainbows wouldn't work...

I even got to touch the rainbow. haha. No but really, I don't think I've ever seen one this large and in charge before.

note to self: you know what? I'm starting to think that Idaho might be maybe possibly almost as pretty as washington...

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and the driving begins.

Yesterday my dad and I drove to Utah to try and fix my cousin's car that he gave me so I could take it to school. Fourteen hour drive! Not so fun. And that darn ol' BMW is being stubborn anyways. But I'm here, and I'm having a blast spending time with my friend Kenzie that's already at school.

I hope Kenzie doesn't see this or she'll probably kill me :) But I spent the night at her dorm (which feels like a dungeon but in a really awesome, cozy way) and we hit up a couple of freshman parties until 2 or 3 in the morning. haha.

Later in the day I came to my grandparents house and had dinner with them and took a peek in their basement and found lotsa treasures. Like my mom's junior high school formal dance dress, a beaded purse, a very very old quilt that my great great grandmother made, and TWO typewriters. I'm a very happy little lady.

I LOVE the inside of my grandparents house.

How cool is this chair? And those little houses? I used to stare at those little houses when I was little and try to decide which one I'd rather live in.

I'm so grateful that my grandparents live so close to the "Y". This little mountain brings back so many childhood memories of when I'd come here to see them and hike to the top of the "Y" with my friends that overlooks the valley.

note to self: my goodness, this was a fun little vacation. I got a small taste of college life (which was SO fun) and spent some time with my grandparents one last time before I go to school. And this week is going to be so busy and bittersweet and hectic and fun. So bring it on!

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that little room of mine.

Excuse me for only talking about the things im going to miss or this change called "college" that's happening next saturday. It's consuuuming meee. On that note, I'm going to miss my room; a lot. I love my wood floors and my shelves and my fluffy blankets. And I adore my two bunnies that keep me company when it's cold and rainy outside or when I'm bored or feeling slightly sad.

So I was thinking... room tour? I want to look at these pictures when I'm 80 and laugh at my room when I was 18 years old:

I have a tiny room. It's basically a square room with a bed, drawers, and bunny cages. But I like to think it has some character.

My thrifted drawers for 14.99. I taped up a picture of that climber a couple of years ago... just cuz he's cute. And at one point I wanted to collect dream catchers, but that's the only one I have so far.

My messy, unorganized door. And my shelves that I just re-organized last week but somehow still appear cluttered.

My two bunnies. eeek! They make me oh so happy. But I think I might have to give them away before school because my 'rents don't want to take care of them. Sigh.

Clothes. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

I inherited an obsession for blankets from my mother. I'm currently into antique quilts. And nail polish. It's fun being a girl :)

note to self: even though I'm really going to miss that little room of mine, it'll be cool to start a new room in Rexburg. And I'll be living with 5 other girls! We can go crazy and decorate our apartment with tacky decorations or keep it simple or go all out 70's vintage. The sky's the limit! This change is going. to. be. awesome.

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hello michelangelo, goodbye summer.

Definitely wasn't expecting homework assignments before school even starts, but somehow I'm stuck reading 800 pages of The Agony and the Ecstasy, a biography about Michelangelo, by September 10th....

I went to Seattle today with my mom and bought a few warm sweaters and a couple of pairs of sailor pants for school, and when I got home all I wanted to do was relax. haha I guess that means a good day of shopping? I watched a little bit of tv but then realized I should probably spend my time reading this book. And because it was pretty nice out, I decided to read outside.

I thrifted that fantastic yellow floral sheet last week for 4.99. Value Village never lets me down. Ever. Next time I go to the beach, this sheet is coming with me!

Note to self: on page 467 of 776. you can do it allison!

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idaho in an instant.

This week was oh so lovely. On wednesday morning my two best friends (Bianca and Kenzie) and I drove up to Kenzie's lake house in Sandpoint, Idaho. This week's agenda: lay on the dock all day, tan, and read my required 800 page Michelangelo book before school starts.

Honestly I was having so much fun this week that I only snapped 6 photos with my Instax camera:

The view from Kenzies house. Pretty freaking amazing, right?

Classic "jumping off the dock" photo.

... and then of course we all had to take a picture of us jumping.

We passed by a rest stop on the way home from Idaho and I had to take a picture in these fields; because this is probably what it'll look like in Rexburg where I'm going to school.

Random sleeping man in his car at the rest stop. I was just thinking "why not take a picture of a man sleeping in his car"...

Pretty dark photo of us driving back, because the sun was glaring in our windows for a few hours.

It feels awesome to be home, but I actually really miss that place of Mackenzie's and coming home is making school that much closer. And I'm trying really hard to not let it consume my thoughts... because I really have no idea what to make out of these changes. Anyways, this is what I'm wearing today:

My new favorite cardigan and dress. I'm really into leopard print right now, and I like this sweater a bunch because I thrifted it for 4.99. And this dress: originally 200.00 but I bought it on sale for 49.99 from Free People. Practically a steal if I say so myself!

Agenda for the rest of the day: catch up on the Bachelor Pad with my sister in law, Tanya, and maybe continue reading my book that I need to finish before school starts.

P.S. I'd love to pick up on some new blog readers along the way. Join the fun by following me and leaving comments!

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and had a really really really good time.

I'm leaving for school in about three weeks and im trying to live life the fullest. So Bianca and I got her in car and drove around just being typical teenagers and stopped at random places that you always want to go to but always say "next time ill stop there". We first stopped at Alberstons and bought floaties for 2.00 (that we didn't end up using) and headed to Rattlesnake Lake to hike and swim.

Somehow we found ourselves at the laundromat on the way to Rattlesnake:

After snapping a couple dozen of photos at the laundromat, we headed to Rattlesnake and did our routine 1.9 mile hike to the top of the ridge. Random side note: we kind of have a theme song right now by Macklemore so we were singing that pretty much all day.

At the bottom of the hike on the lake there's a big boulder you can jump off of, so naturally Bianca and I had to take pictures:

What's that pose im doing? I'll never know. But we tried retaking my jump multiple times and every time it came out like this....

"and we danced, and we cried, and we laughed, and had a really really really good time".

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weekend in lake wenatchee.

This weekend has been amazing/fun/kind of traumatic. On Friday Bianca and I drove to Lake Wenatchee (about 2 hours away) to stay at my cabin for the weekend and get away from the overcast here in Redmond.

Right when we got there we headed up to the top of our property and snapped a few photos and looked at the view of the lake that never gets old:

So get this. Bianca and I have this fear of cougars right? When we were at the top we heard this super loud rustling in the trees below the cliffs we were on and we were positive it was a cougar. We both looked at each other, and honestly I thought that this was it. We're going to get attacked. We were both frozen and trying to figure out what we should do, but then we heard a clicking noise.... it was Gypsy (my dog). No idea how she found her way to the top, but she escaped my cabin and scurried to the top. So glad it was just my little pup.

We woke up at four in the morning to watch the Perseid meteor shower in the middle of the highway. The moon was full and really bright, so unfortunately I didn't see any. Bianca saw a few though.

I the morning we floated the wenatchee river about 10 miles away from my cabin. It all started super relaxing and I was snapping photos left and right with my new underwater digital camera, Pixie. We were both saying how it might not be a good idea to be facing backwards when randomly there were these super fast rapids and we crashed into a tree and our little boat flipped over (and this is about 2 minutes after we decided to take off our life jackets because they're "dorky"). We were separated, everything was everywhere (bags of cherries, our shoes, our water bottles), and my camera disappeared. We were both pretty disoriented and I got pinned in between the boat and a log and I thought "this is it" again. But we both pulled through. I'm just freaking bummed I lost my brand smacking new camera with all of these photos I was really excited to see. Cameras a replaceable but photos aren't you know? I'm just bummed. And sorry for the super dramatic re-tell.

On our way home, we went on this hike called Evergreen point (on Evergreen mountain). So freaking gorgeous. Bianca and I mutually agreed we felt like we were in the Alps.

Is there any other state that's prettier than Washington? haha I doubt it. I'm a Washingtonian and way too proud of it.

Note to self: That was the last time I'll being going to my cabin before I go to school. Which means I probably won't see Lake Wenatchee for a few months. For sure this time was my favorite time coming here (even though I lost Pixie). And I think I might be the luckiest girl to live on the most beautiful place on Earth!

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go find yourself.

A couple weeks ago it was my best friend's birthday. And I just gave her her birthday present yesterday... but I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. We're both going to different schools, 800 miles away from each other (not to be exact or anything), and I'm really bummed. It's already kind of hard thinking about going to a school where I don't know any girls, let alone without my best friend.

I wanted to make her a couple things for her dorm/apartment/house for college:

I bought this cardboard/kraft "B" initial and covered it with paper and sealed it with decoupage. I left the sides and back bare because I like the natural kraft color and look.

The "B" rapped up in newspaper in a box with a handmade card on top. This paper totally reminded me of her.

My favorite part! A couple of years ago I bought tiny tiny alpha noodles and took this picture on my counter. I really wanted to print a large poster-size, but I could never figure it out; and Bianca wanted one too. But Costco just came out with this new program where you can send them a picture and they'll convert it onto a canvas. So I ordered a nice sized canvas for her... and now I really want one!

All wrapped up. With American Crafts wrapping paper and ribbon. I have a lot of fun with wrapping paper. Too much fun maybe. I think Bianca loved her prezzies!

And just 'cause yesterday I was having fun trying on clothes with my new/vintage petticoat-tutu skirt:

Typical blogging pose. whatever. This petticoat: $36.00. It was practically a steal and it's so fluffy and soft and I feel so girly and I also feel like im playing dress-up when I wear it. Oh, and cowboy boots will be required whenever I wear this skirt.

Not sure if you're reading this, but Bianca: SERIOUSLY Sri. You're amazing. It's crazy how only a few (maybe five) years ago we were in the 7th grade coming from different schools, with different friends, but we just "clicked". We're both weird, silly, adventurous, slightly creepy, and appreciate the same type of music. We both like hiking and all these other outdoor things, but were really into shopping too... and I think that's awesome. It's kind of crazy that we've never spent more than a couple weeks apart from each other, but maybe being so far away for a couple of months can be a good thing? I'm not sure how, but we'll figure it out. Aaaand this is officially starting to sound creepy haha sorry. But we're still going to call each other on the first day of school and talk about all the cute boys that we were too shy to talk to and we'll definitely have to share crazy roommate stories. Anyways, thanks for being my best friend forever and ever and ever.

Note to self: haha so that's that. Less than a month until I leave for school. Let's make these few weeks the best! Camping? Hiking? Shopping with the money that we don't have? Yes please.

6

im a mac.

A very active day. I woke up and went climbing at Vertical World and was super rusty because for some reason I pay 40.00 a month and don't even go... and because I was rusty I only lasted an hour there. Sigh.

After climbing I went on a hike at Rattlesnake Ridge with my friends that I'm going to school with in a few weeks. So excited! These guys are awesome.

squinty eyes. That's Carlin and Dylan behind me. haha hey wait what's that guy in the black t-shirt doing back there anyways? I just noticed that and I laughed out loud.

When I came home my new laptop was waiting for me! After I made my brother download all the good stuff I took her outside and explored the features and everything. She doesn't have a name yet.

Yup. Sporting my high waisted jeans, wolf t-shirt passed down from probably 3 people, and hipster glasses.

And then movie night at Marymoor. Toy Story 3 was playing. And this time, Sri and I brought sleeping bags because last time we were pretty cold by the end of the movie. Definitely bringing my bag every Wednesday.

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that girl on fire.

bonfire last night! Well, more like a mini fire pit but I had a lot of fun seeing friends that came back from school for the summer. Before going to the fire, Anna and I went to Value Village (it's basically our default hang out place) and came out of the store with a bag full of random crap that I don't need but love.

I bought:

-a miniature brass deer (because it will look pretty cute on a shelf in my apartment) 4.99

-an embroidered butterfly with a wood frame (because it's 70's and I couldn't resist) 4.99

-2 boxes of vintage ornaments (...probably won't use them because I just love the way they look in their old box) 0.99 each

But anyways. Ever heard of cracking a glowstick into a jar? It looks awesome and it's super easy. And that's exactly what Anna and I did:

(Don't mind my overexposed photos.... I couldn't figure out how to change the settings, but it turned out sweet)

This morning I woke up smelling like smoke but decided against showering, in case you wanted to know. Today is going to be awesome because I'm going to:

-rock climb with an awesome friend at Vertical World

-hike with a couple close friends at Rattlesnake

-make my mom wait home all day for my laptop to arrive... thanks mom!

-watch an outdoor movie at Marymoor with Sri

Hope youuuu have an amazing day!

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