bricks and ivy.

Last week my family went to Seattle to our favorite Thai restaurant, Mae Phim. It's a hole in the wall kind of place but we've gone there since the beginning of time and the servings are huge and cheap (and really good). We walked around town a little bit afterwards and found ourselves taking pictures left and right. I fell in love with brick walls and ivy over the weekend. And that last picture that my SIL took makes me fall in love with my ring all over again.

note to self: let's do this, 2013. I have a feeling it's going to be the best. year. ever.

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sponsor sale.

Interested in sponsoring Note to Self? Ads are now only $8.00

Ads run for 30 days at a time and it's only a few step process. Upload your photo, say a little bit about yourself, and it's up on the site! (Ads run through Passionfruit). We love new friends on the site, so a "sponsor" post is optional too. Email me at allisoncelestia.blog (at) gmail (dot) com if you have any questions!

lake wenatchee in an instant.

I posted about our trip to the family cabin a couple of days ago, but I didn't share these instax photos. I literally say it everytime and I'll say it again, instant photos are my favorite. But how can you not when you see a pocket sized photo pop out of the camera and watch it develop right in front of you? So this time it's Lake Wenatchee in an instant. You can check out more of our instant adventures here, here, and here.

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be merry.

I've been waiting a few weeks to post this picture. Happy holidays from lil bub and me (although I'm no where near as cool as that grey cat). Here's our family Christmas card that I designed this year too. Tate, wish you were here!

Merry Christmas, friends!

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cabin.

Tate's never been to our family cabin before, so that was one of the things we wanted to check off our list while he was here. A few days before there was a pretty heavy snowstorm and when we got there it was so white. I kept singing "walking in a winter wonderland" as soon as we pulled up. Unfortunately the power was out and our driveway was dumped with snow so we had to shovel for what felt like hours (while it was 30 degrees outside) but it ended up being a really good time. Although Tate pushed me in the snow a few times! Before we headed back home we stopped at Leavenworth to play tourist and eat. A very chilly day, but a good one!

21

the story.

We woke up in the morning and it was snowing and rainy but we wanted to do something fun (since he was in Washington for only a few days) so we decided to ride the bus to Seattle. I remember as we were driving to the bus station Tate said, "We should definitely get ice cream tonight". This wasn't the first time he had mentioned getting ice cream, but I didn't think anything of it. I said sure, and that was the end of the conversation.

We weren't in Seattle for too long but we ate really good grilled cheese, macaroni, and mini donuts. I bought a few things from Urban Outfitters and we decided to head back on the bus to Redmond. When we got back to Redmond Tate reminded me again he wanted to get ice cream. I was thinking "why in the world does he want ice cream so bad" but we went to Safeway anyways. It was still rainy and pretty chilly, but hey, who can say no to Ben & Jerry's. 

So we the bought treats and got in the car to head back home. Tate asked if I wanted to eat it now but I mentioned how we didn't have spoons...

He pulled out these antique spoons from his pocket and handed them to me. I couldn't read them too well because it was dark so I turned on the lights and read what it said. And I thought they were beautiful and very thoughtful, but I didn't think he was going to propose (he had previously told me we weren't getting engaged until we were back at school, so I let go of the thought of a Christmas engagement). But I looked over at Tate and he was holding the ring! At this point I was extremely happy and pretty emotional, and apparently I snatched the ring from him and put it on myself (haha). I think I forgot to formally say "yes" too. A lot of tears and smiles and laughs. Never did I think I'd get proposed to in the Safeway grocery parking lot, but it was oh so perfect.

When we got home we took a bunch of polaroid photos before we shared the news with anyone else (you can kind of tell I had been crying). It was definitely a very special moment. And I give him all of my props for keeping those spoons and a diamond ring wrapped in tissue all day in his pocket without my knowledge. I'm going to have to frame those spoons and our polaroids and keep them somewhere special! 

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i said...

yes!! 

Ohh boy did he surprise me. Talk about the best christmas present ever. I cannot wait to spend eternity with this guy (and I can't believe he chose me). We're heading up to our family cabin this morning to play outside and go snowmobiling, but I'll post our engagement story this week! 

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christmas spirit.

Yesterday was filled with a lot of food and Christmas spirit. We made chicken pot pies and cinnamon rolls and then after drove around candy cane lane (a neighborhood full of christmas lights). The lights might not have as impressive as previous years, but it was a good time none the less. Next to check off the list: ice skating and trips to Seattle!

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oh, you.

This guy. I get to spend 4 days with him. Best early christmas present, ever!

9

the weekend.

Sorry the photos are so tiny, but here's some bits of my weekend. I learned how to knit scarves through YouTube on Saturday and since then, I can't stop making them (I'll probably never purchase a pre-made scarf again). And I made my last christmas craft with those mason jars and mini trees. Also, I can't take off my new boots. Zara, you have the best stuff. My boyfriend is flying to Seattle tomorrow and I'm so excited to spend a little bit of time with him before Christmas! Instax photos, here we come...

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tgif.

source 

okay, what? This dog is so cute I even set her as my desktop photo. I was going to make an 'inspiration, lately' post but she's better. One more 12-9 shift at work tomorrow... yes. I see a lot of relaxing and decorating in the near future. Have a lovely weekend friends! Any fun plans?

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best final ever.

My humanities professor told us to submit a project proposal for our final and just get going on it. I wanted to make a scrapbook of the things I'm grateful for (like polaroids or typewriters or being in an awesome relationship). There were really no guidelines so I had a pretty good time... and I had an excuse to buy pretty paper. Plus, I haven't done a fun project for school like this since high school. Best final assignment ever.

25

bedroom.

A few of the Christmas crafts I've been working on. Felt poinsettia wreaths, collecting ornaments for my mini tinsel tree, advent calendars. I guess making stuff is somewhat therapeutic for me. A retail  job during the holidays can really just burn you out, you know? But I've got one week left of work (and online classes) and then I'm free.

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red and green.

I've always wanted to go out to a real tree farm to cut down my own, but the weather is usually super rainy so we go to Home Depot. And even though it was raining Friday through Sunday, it gave me an even better reason to stay inside by a fire and watch christmas movies while crafting/decorating trees for hours on end. I'll have to share photos soon.

p.s. I decided to scrap the diamond header (although I'm still very much in love with diamonds/geometric prints!) and re-do the design of my blog entirely. I hope you like it! Thanks Tanya for all of the coding :)

16

crafty weekend.

source

Happy friday, friends. I'll be crafting and listening to christmas music on the floor of my room all weekend. Although, I really wish I had a design studio like that. So much white space and color at the same time it's hard to say how much I really love it. I keep telling myself... someday...

p.s. we have a winner for last weeks giveaway:

Congrats Alice!! Email Pamela at psjewelry (at) gmail (dot) com with your shipping address!

16

polaroid z340.

I just got this camera in the mail the other day and it's my new favorite. It's basically a digital and polaroid camera blended together, so you can choose and edit what photo you want before you click and it prints out. Plus, the film is tear resistent and less expensive than 'real' polaroid film. I was going to save it for myself for christmas but I just couldn't wait...

note to self: take too many photos this christmas season.

24

buy mistletoe. check.

I've never seen real mistletoe before, so when I saw this at our local plant nursery I was pretty happy. I'm not even sure if or where I'll hang it but it was definitely worth buying. Also half tempted to preserve them with silica crystals to keep it for next year. You guys, it's really starting to look like Christmas! 

p.s. My sister is having a crazy huge giveaway on her blog. Check it out here! 

26

las vegas in an instant.

red rocks.

luv-it frozen custard.

shooting.

more red rocks.

That week in Vegas came and went in a second, but I sure had a blast. I lugged around at least three cameras at any given time and although those instax cameras are chunky, the photos are worth it. Tate and I had a fun time experimenting with the colored frames (you don't know the color until it pops out). Shoot, I love instant photos. And I'm s.o. happy I've got a guy that appreciates them too.

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