bringing in 2012.

SNAPSHOTS.

I've joined the instagram craze. I got an iPhone for my birthday and instagram is definitely my favorite part so far!
Here's a few snapshots of what I've been up to lately:

making pretty decorations // counting down the days until Christmas // eating too much sour cream berry pie (mm!) // making mix cds as Christmas gifts


my instagram username is: letterstorome

guest post: a non-profit Christmas.

I have a guest post today from one of my favorite ladies in the entire world (aka "Cam"/"bestie"/"wifey"..). She's put together a lil' list of products from non-profits or companies dedicated to helping causes around the world!

______________________________________________________

Hi everyone! It was so nice of Megan to invite me to guest blog over here. My name is Cambria and I blog over at camabia. I blog about my faith, photography, fashion, what inspires me and non-profits. I am very passionate about non-profits so today I will be blogging about fun and cute non-profit Christmas gifts. 


Krotchet Kids International exists "to empower people to rise above poverty." Women in surrounding countries are learning to crotchet and the items that are made are sold online. My favorite part about this is that their names are written on the items which makes it more personal. 


The hat and scarf are great for Christmas because it gets so cold in the winter and what better to be warmed up by these beautiful items. 

Warby Parker is an organization that "was founded with a rebellious spirit and a lofty objective: to create boutique-quality, classically crafted eyewear at a revolutionary price point." For every pair bought a pair is given away. I do believe Megan bought a pair of these. (Yes I did! They're the best!)

a christmas and birthday wishlist.

1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5

what's on your wishlist this year?

it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas.

pinterest loves.

wreath cards

winter snow globes

santa hat cupcakes

wrapping paper

pasta fijole soup.

Disclaimer: I have no idea what "fijole" means/is! Apparently something delicious.

This soup is so good. It's been my choice for numerous birthday gatherings and it's the perfect lunch on a cold day. Or a summer day. Or any day. 

On the downside, this is one of my mom's recipes that has no measurements. (Who in the world makes a recipe with no measurements?!) You might have to go a little bit Julia Child on this one but it's definitely worth it.

So here is what you need:

spicy sausage

hamburger

onion, chopped

celery, chopped finely

carrot, julienne cut

one can (14-15 oz) Italian stewed tomatoes

one can Swansons beef broth

V8 (vegetable juice, sometimes we use the Trader Joes brand)

garlic clove

crushed basil

one 15 oz can kidney beans

chile powder

pepper

salad pasta 

Saute sausage, hamburger, celery, and onion together, adding minced garlic for last few minutes. Drain grease. Add carrots, stewed tomatoes, broth, V8, kidney beans, and spices (to taste) and simmer until carrots are done. Add cooked, drained salad pasta and serve. Also good topped with parmesan cheese.

joy to the world.

image from her blog

Angela Hardison, an awesome designer, made this "Joy to the World" print and has the pdf free on her blog here! So simple, so pretty.

december you are off to a lovely start.

diana photo from last winter

drinking too many cups of Trader Joes sipping chocolate.
making Christmas wishlists.
making birthday wishlists.
feeling like I'm making too many wishlists.
baking cookies.
listening to the She & Him Christmas album on repeat.
attempting to tackle the never ending pile of homework.
reading blogs when I should be tackling said never ending pile of homework.
soaking in the magic of Christmastime.

that's what I've been doing lately!
what have you been up to my friends?

Dear Megan,

photo taken on my diana f+ camera

Sometimes I like to imagine that you get things done on time and are great at time management.

But really you are an awful procrastinator. 

Sometimes I like to imagine that you read poetry and are enthralled by the beauty of the words.

But really half the time you have no clue why they're talking that way or what's going on.

Sometimes I like to imagine that you love to drink hot cups of tea, any kind, in big mugs on rainy afternoons. 

But really you think most tea tastes like nasty flavored water.

Sometimes I like to imagine that you don't care about what you look like or what other people think of you.

But you do. You really do.

Sometimes I like to imagine that you always put God at the center of your life.

But sometimes I think you love other things more. 

Maybe someday things will change.

Someday soon.

the perfect day for...

...raspberry hot chocolate and slipper socks. 

amen.

I want to be the moon

"If you are the Sun then I want to be the moon

I want to reflect the light that shines from You."

"Sun and Moon" by Phil Wickham

playlist for a fall day

pressing pause

"Rejoice in the Lord always. 

I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

(Philippians 4:4-7)

An amazing God we serve, no?

___________________________________________

Well I'm back. College apps, SAT prep, and life have been keeping me pretty busy. I'm glad to say that things are starting to slow down (a wee bit). 

pretty desktop wallpaper

from here

from here

from here

dreaming, dreaming.

I've been day dreaming about France lately.
Maybe it's the beautiful architecture, or the art, or the food (who am I kidding, I'd go just for bread and cheese) but I would love, love, love to go to France someday. Someday soon, preferably.

all photos from this lovely blog

What have you been dreaming about lately?

A cure for the easily distracted...

I found this video via bleubird and fell in love. I think this was made for me. Little quirky videos are my favorite.



video:
Miranda Joy
"A Handy Tip For the Easily Distracted"


Happy Sunday!

cupcakes and precal

One of the major benefits of going to a school downtown is the local shops and restaurants. During a moment of weakness, the best friend and I decided to run down and grab cupcakes before PreCal and it took us all of 2 1/2 mins. New record.
Sometimes all you need to endure a cold, rainy day and an extremely boring math class is a cupcake.

I highly suggest it.


Also, hello October! You are going to be a stressful month. I foresee lots of cupcakes in the near future...

things neatly organized

I love when things are organized neatly. As you can imagine, when I stumbled across this blog, my heart was very happy.
Here are some pictures from the blog, cleverly titled, "Things Organized Neatly".

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*

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happy first day of fall, my friends!

Wow. Has it really been a week since I last blogged? Whoops!
Our teachers have been on strike for the past two weeks, and so today was our first day back. Over the "break" I was able to tackle some college stuff, but I spent most of my time reading which was nice for a change.

Some lovelies from this past week:
-I read "Blue Like Jazz" this week, and was amazed by the beauty and truth of this quote:
“There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what He is doing. (They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.) And as I lay there, it occurred to me that God is up there somewhere. Of course, I had always known He was, but this time I felt it, I realized it, the way a person realizes they are hungry or thirsty. The knowledge of God seeped out of my brain and into my heart. I imagined Him looking down on this earth, half angry because His beloved mankind had cheated on Him, had committed adultery, and yet hopelessly in love with her, drunk with love for her.”       -Donald Miller
-I made Buttermilk Chocolate Cupcakes multiple times this week. I promise to post the recipe soon! They. Are. Heavenly.
-Warm weather. Sometimes fall (when we are in school) in Washington is warmer than summer. This is wrong, I tell you.  
-The movie "Once. Have any of you seen it? So beautiful. I've had the soundtrack playing nonstop in my room. My favorite songs are "Falling Slowly," "When Your Mind's Made Up," and "If You Want Me." 


Have a wonderful weekend!

I need to start living

lovelies

*Peach season is one of my favorite parts of summer. I could have peaches and yogurt every. day.
*WARM WEATHER! It has been in the 80s all week. I think Washington finally got the message that it was supposed to be summer.
*Kina's cover of "Sound of Silence". It is so breathtaking. I'm a sucker for three part harmonies.
*First week of school = awesome.
* the notebook doodle's free phone wallpaper downloads! I have one on my iPod right now.
*I'm playing at this coffeeshop tonight with some friends and I'm really excited. We are playing "You Are My Sunshine" (Civil Wars cover), "The Water" (Johnny Flynn), "Hallelujah", and "The Sound of Silence".

How was your week?

what to do with doilies

The Simple things: Dark Chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

Why have you not been in my life before now?

a new school year = school year goals

The new school year is always a perfect opportunity for making goals. And I love making goals. A lot of these are ones that might be slightly unrealistic (working out four times a week? pshh) but I'm going to try my best.
What are some of your school year goals?

Psalm 63

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary 

and beheld your power and your glory. 

Because your love is better than life,

my lips will glorify you.

I will praise you as long as I live, 

and in your name I will lift up my hands. 

My soul will be satisfied as with the riches of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Psalm 63:1-5

font love: august edition

download them (for free!) here:
payday
masana
blackout
type keys
the maple origins

in the kitchen

Let me start by saying that these are some of the best carrot cake cupcakes I have ever had. Ever. Beats the local cupcake shop for sure. Another highlight of these little bits of heaven is that they have lots of carrot in them. So that makes them healthy. Essentially, you don't have to feel guilty about eating them. Guilt free cupcakes? Yes, please! Let's get started.

You'll need:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans (I leave these out)
• 
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Now for the heavenly cream cheese frosting:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
• In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Warning: be prepared to eat at least ten cupcakes in one sitting. Happy baking!

recipe from here

Lovelies

-a lovely lunch with a lovely lady
-this "14 Ways to Make Mediocre Art" post is so great
-a whole week of sun. Washington finally realized it is summer...
-listening to worship songs in Spanish. you should listen to "the stand"/"agui estoy" by Hillsong.
-new school supplies. one of my favorite parts of summer!

what lovely things have you found or done this week?

wisdom from atticus finch

alaska skylines and robert frost

taken from the cruise ship

"Bereft"
by Robert Frost
Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly striking at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret my be known:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.

THE SIMPLE THINGS: blueberries

friday favorites

-the head and the heart's music [my favorite song is "looks like hallelujah"]
-kara's blog. the design is just so lovely.
-frozen peanut butter cookies. have you ever had frozen cookies? so delicious. try it.
-the book of acts. love. love. love.
-this verse:
"the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. and he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. from one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." Acts 17:24-27

thoughts on solitude

photo taken on my diana f+ camera

i recently read an incredible article by william deresiewicz on the "end of solitude". here are some of my favorite passages from the article:

"If boredom is the great emotion of the TV generation, loneliness is the great emotion of the Web generation. We lost the ability to be still, our capacity for idleness. They have lost the ability to be alone, their capacity for solitude...Today's young people seem to feel that they can make themselves fully known to one another. They seem to lack a sense of their own depths, and of the value of keeping them hidden. If they didn't, they would understand that solitude enables us to secure the integrity of the self as well as to explore it."

how do you go about finding solitude in your day, in your life?

MUSIC: JOHNNY FLYNN

photo from here

i am mildly obsessed.

listen to some of his music here.

pencil eraser bunting flags

i stumbled across this idea on pinterest and i decided to try it out myself. it is so simple and makes the cutest little cards. 

so...here is what you need:

a pencil with a new eraser, x-acto knife, paper plate, paint brushes for stirring, cup of water, paper towels, your choice of paint, and cards or object to stamp on

[happy first day of august!]

pssst: have you entered the giveaway yet?