Pinecrest Cabin feat. Gentle Fawn

Went to Pinecrest, CA a few weeks back with some friends and it was such a great trip! Our crew consisted of Kalista (@listyyloo) and her boyfriend Colton (@coltrainkilla) who were kind enough to host us at her family cabin, Daniel (@deer_dann) and his boyfriend Ish (@ohheyits_ish), Kelsey (@princess_kelbelle), David (@d_ardill), Erikson (@eriksonerise), as well as my boyfriend Zach (@zstude). 

I partnered with Canada-based brand, Gentle Fawn (@gentlefawn), as well for this trip and was able to get some rad content of their pieces. The green floral kimono, tan pattern kimono, lace-up v-cut sweater, pink lace dress, and green floral dress are all Gentle Fawn. 

We had a weekend full of adventures including photoshoots indoors and out (one of my fave things obviously), going to Pinecrest Lake, trekking around in the snow, eating lots, watching 90s movies, hanging by the fireplace, David getting his drone stuck in a tree, etc. But perhaps the biggest adventure of the weekend was staying in a cabin with eight other people and having the water pipes frozen! This means no showers, no washing hands/dishes, no flushing the toilet (unless you replace the water in the back of the toilet with a bucket of water from a leaky pipe), etc. It was unfortunate, but also was so funny and memorable.. boy will we have stories to tell forever! 

Zach was even such a trooper and (reluctantly) did couples photos with me! He's not a fan of photos at all, which is actually ironic knowing me haha. Dan did a great job with them!

I'm really looking forward to spending more weekends like this with friends in the upcoming year. They're so special, so much fun, all the photographers and models get bomb content, and it's loads of adventure without loads of cash. As much as I would love to take extravagant trips all the time, there are more affordable options nearby of places I've never been to that I'd love to check out! Perhaps the next one will be Big Sur or the PNW? We'll see. You'll have to stay tuned! 

Mammoth Lakes feat. Lovestitch Clothing

Ever since I saw the most mesmerizing photo a year ago with a girl in steamy hot natural pool surrounded by snow, I knew I needed to visit Mammoth Lakes! Took me a while to plan and get a crew together after I first learned about it, but needless to say it was one of the most fun and memorable trips of 2017! I collaborated with Lovestitch Clothing @lovestitchclothing on this trip as well, so many of the looks I'm wearing are from them - the blush tied top, paisley printed long sleeve maxi dress, and the black floral long sleeve dress. Loved these outfits for the vibe of the trip!

The lovely ladies that accompanied me on this trip were Hannah Sesser (@hannahrosesesser), Sarah Lydia (@thesarahlydia), Haley Hudson (@darlinghaley), Jazlyn Sward (@jazlynnicollete), and Claire Dean (@clairealydean). Chiara Spee (@chiaraspee) joined us for the first day but unfortunately was not feeling too well so she headed home early. After we carpooled up to Mammoth and met at ZPizza, we shot around the Mammoth Visitor center until dark and made our way to the Airbnb. We struggled for an hour or so getting into our Airbnb.. turns out when you view your trip itinerary from the email they send you and on your account online it doesn't include the dreadful scavenger hunt your host messaged you months back to get the keys. Haha what a joke it was. We thought we were going to have to turn around and drive six hours home because we couldn't get in and couldn't afford to drop another few hundred dollars on a hotel nearby. Thankfully by the grace of God we were able to get ahold of someone who gave us information about where to retrieve the keys. Definitely was freaking out for over an hour, but once we got inside all was good. We finished off the night at a bomb Thai restaurant. We had a very veg-friendly crew on the trip so ordering and eating out was a dream because we could all share!

Saturday started off with brunch and then off to Convict Lake. It was such a beautiful site - snowy peak mountains surrounding a cool blue lake. It was so windy though, almost blew us over a few times. Shot around and explored the area and then went to lunch. We decided to try and find these magical hot springs that I had heard so much about. Turns out the visitor center can't even tell you about them because they don't have proper facilities or bathrooms so we had to go off of some random blog post directions. We parked the second car (Sarah's) before we headed out on a bumpy dirt road. Sarah's front right tire got caught in a sunken hole filled with water and we couldn't get the car out! At this point, we we're freaking out, thought we had to call a tow truck, have my car tow her car out, etc. neither of which were good options. We ended up finding a random toilet seat in the lot and covered the hole with it so Sarah could maneuver her way out of the hole while we all pushed the car (in our decked out outfits mind you). It was quite the site to see haha but it worked! So we all hopped in my car and went down this sketchy dirt road for about 20 minutes before we realized the hot springs were nowhere close to there and we'd made a wrong turn. WWOWWW. All of that just to have to turn around because we messed up. We ended up making the most of it though and finally found where we were supposed to go about 2-4 miles away. Ah-ha! We finally made it to the magical hot springs! We walked down a wooden path for about ten minutes only to arrive to have each hot spring packed with people. At this point, it was almost sunset and we didn't have much time to shoot anyways. We made a decision to come back for sunrise the next day to shoot instead and for now just hang and shoot around the area. So back to the Airbnb we went for the night to share stories, snacks, drinks, and talked for hours.

Sunday we woke up around 4:45 to catch the sunrise at the hot springs. Since we had been there the day before but didn't shoot in them, we knew right where to go this time around. There were a couple people there at that time surprisingly but we worked around them and everyone was pretty friendly. I photographed the girls and then snuck some in of me at the end that Hannah and Jazlyn took. These shots though - so good! Life and trip complete!! We finished up and headed back to our Airbnb within an hour or two. We packed up our things and finished off our trip at brunch before carpooling back down to Los Angeles. Seriously had the best time with these girls on this trip. Mammoth Lakes you will be missed!! Until next winter!

Mendocino - Eco Travel & Vegan Resort, The Stanford Inn by the Sea feat. Feroshchick

Over Labor Day Weekend, my dad planned an awesome family trip for us to Mendocino! There were many things to celebrate as it was my 24th birthday on the 4th, my brother, Nathan, and his wife, Deanna's, 3rd wedding anniversary on the 12th, and my mom's 60th birthday on the 13th. So it was pretty much a celebratory present for us all to have a nice trip together and see each other. My boyfriend, Zach, came as well. 

We all flew from different cities and met in San Francisco. Zach and I came from Long Beach, Nathan and Deanna from Tucson, and my parents from Phoenix. It took a while for all of us to land, get the two rental cars, and be on our way to Mendocino. 

We stopped for a lovely lunch at a cute vegan Mexican place called Gracias Madre in SF (not to be confused with the West Hollywood Gracias Madre - completely different restaurants!) that was fab. Unfortunately, San Francisco was in a heat wave with 100 degree weather and no place has AC so that was a brutal few hours in the city. Found a cute bookstore boutique with some vegan baked goods too so my dad and I got some pastries. 

We then continued on our way to Mendocino on super windy roads through the mountains, forest, and coastline. Such a beautiful drive! I'm sure a lot of you are thinking, "why would they go to Mendocino out of all places?" Well... it just so happens that Mendocino is home to North America's eco-vegan resort, The Stanford Inn by the Sea, which my mom and I have been dying to go to! 

To give a little background, I was vegetarian for seven years and went vegan over two years ago. My mom is a bit of a health nut and soon became vegan once I did after learning of all the health benefits, treatment of animals, and environmental impacts. Over the last six months, the two of us have had quite an effect on our other family members and friends. 

Nathan, Deanna, and my boyfriend, Zach, eat mostly vegan with the occasional cheat meal, and my father, Scott, eats mostly vegan as well with mainly pastries being his cheat. All pastries are "vegan" in Scotty's eyes haha. Deanna's family also has adopted a more plant-based diet as well as many of my parents' friends. 

Although it was late at night, we were welcomed at The Stanford Inn and then got settled into our rooms. The lobby was cozy with couches, a fireplace, plant-based recipe books, vegan lifestyle books, local vegan wines (I know I know, it's weird that all wines aren't vegan, it should just be grapes!), toys, nik naks, etc. I could tell this place was going to be a blast. These people get me!!

In the next couple of days, we did a lot of fun things together! We explored the resort and their facilities, the garden, went in the pool and jacuzzi, went mountain biking through the forest, explored the nearby city of Fort Bragg, went canoeing, ate sooo much delicious vegan food, and went to the little downtown area of Mendocino. We saw otters, crabs, and seals too while canoeing because it was an estuary -  it was like a river/ocean which was super cool and different! We also celebrated my birthday on the 4th! 

The drive back to San Francisco was much shorter than the drive there. Nathan, Deanna, Zach, and I left on Tuesday as we had school/work to get back to but my parents stayed a few extra days and continued their road trip up the coast to the Pacific Northwest. It was such a wonderful trip with my fam and Zach, my heart is so full from it! 

I also recently collaborated with vegan-friendly bohemian boutique, @feroshchick, so many of my outfits pictured are thanks to them! Shop my looks here: Sleeveless Midi Dress with Lace Detail, Matilda Lace Tank, Sleeveless Ruffles and Lace Dress (sold out - sorry babes!),  Draped Ribbed Sweater Poncho,  & Boho Striped Ribbed Cardigan.