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! 

Maui, Hawaii

So when your parents invite you on vacation you say yes, always... unless for some reason you REALLY can't get out of work, school, or have some serious life complication or situation you're dealing with. Because when parents take you, you don't have to constantly calculate if what you're about to do will fit in your budget... and they love you unconditionally and are actually really fun to hangout with (my parents are at least). I know I know, I got pretty lucky! 

This winter break, Zach had a longer break from graduate school than usual so we went to Maui in the third week of January to avoid the peak times. To be honest, I can't remember the names of half the places we went to because most have super Hawaiian names that I can't even pronounce haha.. but I will do my best to recall!

One of the big highlights was the Road to Hana. I do not recommend this drive if you get squeamish about dangerous roads, heights, or rocky cliffs, however it was really beautiful. There are multiple waterfalls, black sand beaches, scenic landscape you would see in Jurassic Park, and gorgeous coastline. Perhaps one of the best stops on the Road to Hana is Coconut Glen's, non-dairy coconut based ice cream aka a vegan's dream. Side note: before I went vegan my favorite ice cream was peppermint (no, not mint chocolate chip - the REAL seasonal peppermint), and I have never been able to find vegan peppermint ice cream before... until COCONUT GLEN'S! Not going to lie, I got seconds it was so good. No shame people.. No shame. They had other great flavors too and  awesome coconut candy (and I'm not even a big coconut fan). 

Another big highlight to the trip was scuba diving Lanai with my dad with Extended Horizons. We saw dolphins twice above water and once while diving and I was freaking out.. they're my fave animals along with small dogs! We saw multiple whales on the boat too. The place we dove is called Cathedral 1 because of its underwater tavern-like formation. It was probably the coolest spot I've ever dove. Also, the dive staff and captain were awesome and so informative!

We spend a lot of time on different beaches, went to different hotels during the day, visited the Nakalele Blowhole, and went on a whale watching booze cruise. The cruise was on a catamaran called SeaMaui and was such a blast. We had a lot of whale sightings, got a little buzzed, and noshed on some food.. not too shabby. 

Overall it was a wonderful trip with my parents and boyfriend, Zach. Until next time Hawaii!