Our Stay At YOTEL Singapore Orchard: A Smart Hotel

Zach and I were lucky enough to squeeze in a few days in Singapore during our Southeast Asia trip this summer. Although Singapore is a small country, it has so much to offer and is very advanced and modern. There are lots of skyscrapers and big city life all nestled into about 278 square miles.

We stayed at the YOTEL Singapore Orchard on the famous Orchard Road, lined with luxury malls, shops, and boutiques. It is THE place to be if you’re shopping in Singapore! Although Zach and I love to go to these places, this time we did more window shopping than actual purchasing. Gotta save what you can for traveling and food!

At YOTEL we were graciously welcomed by “Mission Control”, (aka customer service staff) but checked in to our room on these really cool computers. The YOTEL Singapore Orchard presents a very futuristic decor and vibe. Adorable purple and grey robots named Yoshi and Yolanda could take room service, extra towels, water bottles, etc. - directly to the guest rooms. This is definitely a “smart” hotel!

During our stay, we were able to unwind and relax by spending some time poolside. Outside our window we had beautiful city views. The rooms were cozy, very clean, modern, and inviting. We would recommend a stay at the YOTEL during a visit to this beautiful city!

Maui, Hawaii feat. Amerii, BHLDN, & Tend Skin

Our family trip to Maui was so special! It was made very memorable by our new addition to the family, my niece Ayla Joy who was 7 months at the time. We were used to family vacations the six of us, but with Ayla as our seventh it was definitely one for the books!

My brother just finished med school, my now-husband Zach just finished his doctorate, and we all had about a 3 week gap that all seven of us could take the time to celebrate and relax on vacation with one another.

We “oooh’d” and “ahh’d” over Ayla’s every move and babble - well mostly my mom, Deanna, and I. The boys gushed too but not as much haha.

We spent time at different beaches, the resort, eating out and eating in for meals, snorkeling, a sunset cruise on a catamaran sailboat, explored Lahaina and around our resort.

I had the pleasure with working with some awesome brands on this trip as well! Zach and I shot some gorgeous pre-wedding photos for BHLDN. I was wearing the new Andres Gown from their new collection. I also partnered with Amerii <a href="https://amerii.com/collections/shop-all">https://www.amerii.com</a> and styled their bamboo bag shown below. Such a cute bag for summer! I have worked with Tend Skin the last 2 months and June was the final month of our campaign together. They’re vegan, cruelty free, and helps keep my skin looking and feeling good!

This was the best family vacation yet and I’m so glad I got to spend it with everyone. Until our next one!

Seattle Feat. eTruism, Bel Kazan, & Boody

Welp, when two of your best friends move to Seattle you go visit asap!! This was a great trip and I had so much fun with @imdanielwoods and @ohheyits_ish. I stayed with them in their cozy Seattle apartment for 4 days and 3 nights. We explored the city, visited the Big Four Ice Caves, went to Pike Place Market, a greenhouse, waterfalls, and hung out with friends. I partnered with a few sustainable brands on this trip as well; eTruism, Boody, and Bel Kazan. Seattle definitely did not disappoint and I can’t wait to go back and visit!

Yosemite Feat. LNBF, Gaston Luga, Baume, Boody, Krochet Kids, Blanca Flor, & Fazl Socks

I had an itching to do some wilderness exploring and shooting so I assembled a small group of creative gal pals; Stephanie (@stephanieklotzphoto), Hannah (@hannahrosesesser), and Rachel (@notrachelmcadams), and we went on a 3-day, 2-night glamping trip to Yosemite National Park.

We stayed at one of the housekeeping units in the park. It’s basically a roof, bunk beds and a full size bed, a couple power outlets, covered by curtains and a fire pit, bear storage locker for all food and anything with a scent, and a table for meals. It wasn’t much but it was the perfect set up for what we wanted. It was kinda like camping but we didn’t have to set up tents and had a little more security with the bear lockers.

Over the course of the trip we visited a lot of the popular tourist destinations in Yosemite Valley, took lots of photos, made s’mores, wandered and explored! We worked with a handful of awesome sustainable brands also on this trip including Leave Nothing But Footprints (LNBF), Boody, Gaston Luga, Baume, Krochet Kids, Blanca Flor, and Fazl Socks. It was such a great time getting to adventure with these rad gals and I can’t wait to do it again!

Canada, Alaska, & Seattle Feat. Poshmark, Boody, & Healthade

Full disclosure, I’m way behind on my blog posts due to my other business obligations and time – oh, and yeah I traveled a lot these past few months! This is also going to be a fairly short post because honestly, a picture speaks 1,000 words and I have so many pictures! My trip this summer to Canada, Alaska, and Seattle was once in a lifetime and was made possible by our family “travel agent” father, Scott, who spent so much time researching places to go and things for us to do. Unfortunately, we only had half of our regular crew with us as my brother, Nathan, his wife, Deanna, and my boyfriend, Zach, couldn’t make it. Thankfully, my schedule is flexible enough that when Mom and Dad want to take a killer vacay, I’m tagging along forrrsureeeee.

I partnered with a couple great brands on this trip as well; Poshmark, Boody, and Healthade. Poshmark is a recycled fashion marketplace and app (maroon felt hat) - yay for sustainable secondhand finds! Boody is an eco clothing brand made from bamboo viscose (cream scarf, white 3/4 sleeve top, and I wore the black 3/4 sleeve top under a lot of outfits too for extra warmth). Healthade Kombucha is a healthy vegan non-gmo probiotic tea.

We started off in Vancouver, Canada where we were able to spend time with one of my close friends, Janie, from Arizona who is getting her nursing degree up there. From Vancouver, we took a cruise through the southern coast of Alaska. We visited Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, College Fjord, and then from Anchorage we took a train up to Denali National Park and Denali State Park where we spent a few days on land. We took the train back down and spent a day kayaking in Whittier and two nights in downtown Anchorage. This concluded my Alaska portion of the trip.

Although my my dad is about 70% vegan, he just “couldn’t” go to Alaska without fishing (lol), so he stayed for a few days to go on a guided fishing trip while my mom and I finished off our trip in Seattle for some girls time. We had the best time there together finding all the cool places to go and vegan foodie spots. So cheers to an amazing trip with my amazing parents, you guys rock!

Canada ————> Alaska

Alaska ————> seattle

Big Sur feat. Kindom Shop, Slide Belts, Proof, Mad Hippie, & Zealous

Last month, some friends and I camped in Big Sur-- it was a really good time in a beautiful setting, despite some interesting challenges along the way!  The trip included me, Dan, (@deer_dann), Ish (@ohheyits_ish), and Erikson (@eriksonerise), as well as Eddie (@edikins) and Joy (@_madewithjoy) who joined up on day two. While we had originally planned a larger creative trip mixing models and photographers, we made the most of our photographer-heavy clan, and still had fun!

The four of us left from Bakersfield at 4 a.m. on Friday to get a step up on the Big Sur Memorial Day weekend holiday surge. I was in fine form, having pulled an all-nighter to finish up some work on my laptop, so I was glad to not be driving. Our winding, twisting road trip there took some unexpected detours from Highway 1 road closures, and as well as an occasional hurling stop for my car/motion sickness--always a possibility on a real curvy road, especially when I am NOT driving!

Although we had arrived to the campgrounds before 8:30 am, there were no available or unreserved camping spots at either of the two camping options. Oh, did I mention we did not have a “reservation”??--(not recommended on holiday weekends, lol) . Luck was definitely on our side, however, since later on that afternoon, a nice lady at one of the campgrounds ended up giving us a place to park.  It wasn’t a legit “camping spot” because it didn’t have a grill or bonfire pit like the others, but it was a nice open space with lots of trees. We were grateful and happy to have a place to stay, so all was good.

Once we set up camp, we went down to the beach to walk around and explore - SUCH A BEAUTIFUL COAST. OMG. We definitely loved our time there.

We went back to camp to eat dinner and have some s’mores (mine were vegan obvi) We didn’t stay up too late as it was cold at night and we all wanted to bundle up in our sleeping bags.

Joy and Eddie (surprisingly) found us on day two and set up camp next to us. I say surprisingly because our campground and the surrounding 30 minute drive radius was a complete dead zone for cell phone service-- totally “off the grid”. We used a nearby pay phone  (a first for me!), to leave Joy a detailed voicemail describing our exact location. They never would have found us otherwise if they had already lost “service”. How much we depend on technology, even when we are trying to escape it!

Over the next two days, we explored the Big Sur coast, checked out McWay Falls, went into town, hung out at the beach, and got some good photography content for a few brands that Dan and I were working with.

The brands I had partnered with were Kindom Shop, Slide Belts, Proof, Mad Hippie, and Zealous.

Kindom Shop is an online boutique specializing in products made of sustainable, natural, reclaimed, and indigenous materials. The grey Madison Column Dress, Kaile Cosmic Universe Convertible Dress, and black Kira Convertible Ruffle Sleeve Top are all Kindom and made from reclaimed fabrics.

Slide Belts are not a vegan company, but they did just come out with a vegan women’s collection of skinny and thick slide belts. I’m wearing the brown/gold and black/silver combinations.

Proof is primarily a sustainable eyewear company that gives back to the community, however they do have other travel inspired goods. They use biodegradable, recycled, and natural materials and have a socially conscious business model. I'm wearing the Wilder Eco sunglasses in matte black/grey lens.

Mad Hippie is a vegan and cruelty free skincare company that gives back $1 of every web sale to conservation. They are sold in natural health food stores and markets as well as in Anthropologie and Free People. I featured their exfoliating serum, face cream, antioxidant facial oil, vitamin c serum, and their vitamin a serum - seriously some great skincare products.

Zealous is a sustainable home goods online store. The Beech Wooden Plates were used for the s’mores photos. These are biodegradable (obviously) because they’re made from wood!

I loved my time in Big Sur, and am excited to return!  Hopefully next time we can get a bigger group of friends, models, photographers, and significant others--AND we’ll have a reservation or stay in a cabin or AirBnb!  

Not showering for three days while trying to look and feel decent in photos was definitely a bit of a struggle for me, but still lots of fun!  

Flagstaff / Grand Canyon / Sedona feat. Eco Brand Groceries Apparel and Lillian & Co

As spring winds down and turns into summer, my schedule has gotten so busy that I’m actually writing this a couple months late. I really need to be more prompt in writing after a trip! I went on a trip to northern Arizona at the end of March and into early April with my parents and boyfriend, Zach, during his grad school spring break.  Here is the short and sweet version, and some info Groceries Apparel and Lillian & Co.—two companies I worked with on this trip.

We drove from Scottsdale to Flagstaff and spent the afternoon there. We enjoyed a Thai vegan lunch at Red Curry, and went on a short hike nearby after lunch. We then continued our drive north to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Once we arrived at the Grand Canyon, we checked into El Tovar for two nights--a beautiful historic hotel right at the rim--and did a little sunset walk—it was simply spectacular.  The location I would rate 10/10, hotel 7/10—very nice, but dated, older, smaller rooms—so much history!  The hotel and surrounding Grand Canyon area had instituted strict conservation measures due to a water shortage.  All food service in the dining area and throughout the hotel used disposables since washing dishes for a hotel would use excessive amounts of water.  While my inner “eco-warrior” was uncomfortable with using all the plastic and disposables, sometimes there are other more immediate priorities to address. The Grand Canyon surrounding area was experiencing a water and environmental crisis. AHH!! It was actually kind of funny sitting down to a fancy restaurant and being served on paper and plastic plates and dishes.

The Grand Canyon was seriously so stunning! I have been to the Grand Canyon a few times, but each time it takes my breath away with how beautiful and vast the canyon really is. It is just impossible to capture its true expanse and majesty in a photo.  We did all the touristy stuff there is to do on the south rim for two days and ate at the 3-4 local restaurants there.

We then made our way down to Sedona where we stayed at the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa for a few nights. We hiked, we ate, we explored, we enjoyed the spa, we watched the sunset, and we enjoyed each other’s company! We also went to one of my favorite Arizona restaurants, Picazzo’s. Although it’s not a vegan or gluten-free place, the menu has sooo many vegan and gluten-free options. I’m not gluten-free, BRING ON THE BREAD – but as a vegan, I do feel the celiac’s struggle with eating out sometimes.

I worked with sustainable fashion brand, Groceries Apparel, on this trip which was so much fun--I love spreading their message! Their factory is based in Los Angeles (I toured it last September!), they sustainably source materials, dye “in house”, use 100% organic and recycled fabrics that don’t kill the planet, and are ethical all the way around in their business practices. I’m wearing cream organic cotton Lindsey Top, black eucalyptus fiber Cypress Tunic, black eucalyptus fiber Mariah Top, and the navy eucalyptus fiber tencel Magnolia Cardigan. Their products are so soft, biodegrade, are free from all the toxic chemicals and are classic pieces that won’t go out of style.

I also had the pleasure of working with Lillian & Co, which is a USA-based jewelry line, which empowers women through thoughtful and inspirational messages. I’m wearing “Wandering Free” in rose gold and “Adventure Is Out There” in gold. I love the adventure and explorer vibes, so these messages are personally inspiring to me, but there are so many other inspirational and faith-based messages for all types of women and their interests and values.

Overall, my road trip with my favorite people was so much fun. Can’t wait to do it again sometime soon!

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! 

TGS Unplugged - Palm Springs

This trip was one for the books! TGS Collective (@tgscollective) put together a rad weekend at an AirBnb in Palm Springs for us creatives to UNPLUG from social media. We all can get so caught up in social media, we can get lost in the present.

Unfortunately though, in this generation in order to have a successful and lucrative career in the creative world -  whether you're modeling, photographing, filming, styling, designing, etc. -  you have to have be hustling and working hard online. It can be overwhelming at times for sure. This weekend was a time to unwind, set goals, and get inspired!

This weekend brought together such an awesome crew; TGS' leading lady - CEO and founder,  Alex Morehouse (@chiefwolfblood), photographer and TGS Collective Manager, Daniel Woods (@deer_dann), and fellow photographers Erikson Erise (@eriksonerise), and David Ardill (@d_ardill). Models included Kalista De Hart (@listyyloo), Tiana Ingram (@rosetiana_), and Andrelina Perazzo (@andrelinaa_). Not everyone knew or had met one another before the trip, but by the end of it we were all super close!

Before the trip, I had gone to Goodwill to find some interesting pieces to shoot with. Sometimes the crazier the clothing, the cooler the shot. Or it could turnout weird.. but that's up to you - the photographer and creative visionary! Many of the pieces in the photos below ya girl thrifted up a storm to find, and I'm so glad that I did because they turned out bomb! I'm a strong believer in that if your outfit is no bueno, the photo will likely be no bueno as well.

This is part of the reason I love to style my own models - if they're on point, you're on point. I got the pearly beaded blazer, white lace cover-up dress, red oriental top (Tiana bought it from me after the session!), sheer fringe kimono, floral romper, navy blue floral dress, and black sheer embellished dress - all between $5-$9 apiece. Recycled fashion KILLIN' the game! WHAT WHAT?!

We spent the weekend creating, laughing, relaxing, editing, sharing Photoshop and Lightroom tips and tricks, styling looks, eating, bonding, and overall just loving our lives away with the freedom from social pressures and the outside world. We encouraged each other, helped one another, and we left feeling motivated and ready to conquer our business goals. We all had our own stories and our own obstacles, but together we all had one thing in common - we love creating and we're ready to work our butts off to get where we want to be. 

THANK YOU GUYS FOR INSPIRING ME! And for a killer weekend.. And for killer pics. Much love.

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Exploring Portland

My friend Toria (@toria.webber) and I had a few days free mid-week in January so we decided to book a trip to the PNW on a whim! We were deciding between Portland and Seattle, but with Portland we could stay with a friend of mine from college, Ana (@ana_nelson3) so Portland it was! 

We booked such an early flight! I had to wake up at 2 am, so getting to the airport was a struggle. Our flight had only 17 people on it so we basically had the whole plane to ourselves. Woohoo!

We took the train to Ana’s place upon our arrival, and conveniently used the key she had left for us while she was at work. We got settled and relaxed for a little bit before we ventured off to find some lunch!

If you didn't know - Portland is a vegan mecca, with bomb vegan food on every corner. We went to a vegan cheese restaurant called Vtopia, and ate UNREAL mac n cheese, a cheese platter, and a buffalo tofu jam sandwich with caesar salad. Toria isn't vegan and she loved it too!

After lunch we explored the city near Hoyt Arboretum. It rained each day of our trip, so getting around was a little harder but we took the train and bus system everywhere and then walked with a raincoat or umbrella. It was just too wet outside to take photos near the arboretum, and since we didn't have a car to travel elsewhere, we decided to wrap it up, get some donuts at VooDoo, and go meet Ana for dinner!

We went to Pine Street Market; a collection of different restaurants and vendors in a cute market setting. I got ramen - nom nom nom.  If you haven’t already noticed, FOOD is a HUGE part of any Allison Carol travel experience!

The next day, Toria and I were feeling adventurous and planned to visit the one of the nearest waterfalls, Multnomah Falls. It had supposedly been closed due to all the rain but had recently re-opened. We took a train 1 hour and 45 mins, and then a Lyft for 30 minutes only to arrive and have it be... you guessed it.. closed!! It was very disappointing, but we still viewed it from a distance and got some really cool photos!

Despite our initial disappointment at arriving to a closed venue, our biggest ordeal was actually trying to get back to Portland—apparently Uber and Lyft were not on the regular routes to the Falls, and after trying taxi companies that were way beyond our budget, we finally and luckily connected with an Uber to get us back to the train station, and off to Portland.

Exploring for food, (once again), I found this vegan tiki bar called No Bones Beach Club that was amazing! I would highly recommend the place! Ana met Toria and me there once she was off work.  When we returned home, we stayed up watching Definitely Maybe while eating sweets and snacks before bed. I had forgotten how much I liked that movie, and its star, Ryan Reynolds.

In the morning, Toria and I took the train to downtown Portland and went to Petunia's Pies and Pastries - an all vegan bakery. It was such a cute bakery, everything was branded so nicely with blush pastels and delicate fonts and embellishments.

After brunch we took the train and bus to St. John's Bridge, walked around the riverbank and took photos. What a gorgeous area! We then went to 23rd street and shopped around - mostly window shopping but it was such a cute area as well Stopped in Lush - one of my favorite natural beauty companies for some zero-waste shampoo and conditioner bar containers too!

After meeting Ana for dinner at a Thai restaurant, we stopped at the famous Salt & Straw for dessert down the street. All of their limited edition monthly flavors were vegan (bless their souls).. so I did my fair share of sampling and decided on a cup of Heidi Ho Lemon Cheesecake. Heidi Ho is one of my fave vegan cheese brands by the way. They are known for having a creamy consistency like goat cheese, but the ‘cheese’ is actually made from cashews.  :)

We finished off the night at Ana's packing and getting ready for an early flight the next day. Ana was such a sweetheart and offered to drive us there at 4 am…blessed. 

Overall, it was such a great few days and I really enjoyed spending time with the girls. Tips for next time:  1) go during the summer, but still be prepared for some rain! 2) rent a car – despite good public transportation, in our case, it was a time-waster to not have our own vehicle. Thankfully I'll be 25 soon and won't have to deal with high rental car fees. Yay! Until next time Portland!

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!

Joshua Tree // In A Desert Daze

Welcome to the desert!! Yay! Definitely one of my favorite places for a mini getaway in California.  I had the opportunity to shoot with some pretty awesome girls and rad brands on this trip. The models included Allison Kelly (@butwhatshouldiwear), Raeann Langas (@raeannlangas), Ally Rubbo (@allyrubbo), and myself (@allisonsherman4 / @allisoncarolcreatives). I also photographed when I wasn't modeling and was accompanied by other photographer Kate Mitchell (@sixthousand.minutes). Included brands we worked with were Shop Lux Clothing (@shopluxclothing), The Little Avocado Shop for jewelry (@thelittleavocadoshop), San Diego Hat Company for (most) of our hats (@sandiegohatcompany), and Elison Rd (@elison_rd) for clothing as well. One of my fave mostly vegan shoe brands, Coconuts by Matisse (a branch of @matissefootwear), we got to shoot for as well! We had the cutest airbnb to shoot around, explored the area, and shot until dark. Thank you all for such an awesome time, you rock!

Pioneertown

After a couple nights in Joshua Tree for a retreat with friends, we met up with some other creatives and shot in Pioneertown. The photos really speak for themselves - wild wild west and vintage inspired, like we went back in time! Our team consisted of Jazlyn Sward (@jazlynnicolette), Leila Zandy (@leilazandy), and Haley Hudson (@darlinghaley) all as models, Alex Morehouse (@chiefwolfblood) as a model and stylist, and Tim Herman (@mr.therman) as a model and TGS support. The second photographer was Daniel Woods (@deer_dann) and Ish Barron (@ohheyits_ish) also assisted the team as TGS support. It also happened to be Ish's birthday! Yay! We shot until dark and once we were done we had dinner at the Pioneertown restaurant. We celebrated Ish and our wonderful day with new friends and old. Definitely some great memories from this trip and shoot!

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.

Sequoia National Park

A few weeks ago, I went on a day trip to Sequoia National Park. The trip was organized by one of my very talented photographer friends, Daniel Woods. We carpooled to Bakersfield where Dan lives, which is the halfway point between Los Angeles and Sequoia. We had a big group but unfortunately most of the models bailed last minute so it was mostly photographers. This did not stop the fun though! 

We then caravanned through the canyons and forest to get to Sequoia where we continued on the windy roads. We were supposed to meet up with another car full of people there as well, but as luck would have it - there was no phone service! Our group of four cars got split up and since no one could call or text anyone we just did our own thing. The park was pretty packed since it was peak season and on a weekend so that didn’t help either. Thankfully, a couple hours later we ended up finding each other at the Giant Forest shuttle station! Tip for next time: BRING WALKIE TALKIES - or you’ll lose each other haha. 

Once the group had been reunited, we wandered through some meadows and a forest path that led us to the most beautiful lookout of the mountains during sunset. We took so many photos but we also took the time to appreciate our surroundings and how incredible it all was. 

After dark, some stayed to get starry Milky Way photos until dawn (they turned out so good!), some drove back to Los Angeles, some drove back to San Diego (I know, I know.. don't know how they didn't fall asleep!), etc. and I drove back to Bakersfield and stayed the night with a college friend of mine, also named Allison, who just moved there. :)

It's hard to put into words how creative trips like this make me feel, but I saw a quote today that really resonated with me. It said, "jobs fill our pockets, adventures fill our souls." - pretty much spot on. I've been so busy with my job lately that it's really been the weekends and adventures like this that have been keeping me sane. Anyway, can't wait for more amazing days like this one!

Models: 

@jessicagjurashaj @jessicagunzs @_markohhpolo @sosodrunk 

If you want to see other photos from the trip, be sure to check out the hashtag #DWxSNF! 

Death Valley x Tony Bridal & The Secondhand Society

A few weeks ago, I went on a day trip with some photographer and model friends to the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in Death Valley. I don’t know why we decided to go here in summer because we almost died of heat exhaustion haha but the photos still turned out amazing and we have memories to last a lifetime.

I recently collaborated with two different companies and thought this trip would be perfect to shoot them at. I have been looking to shoot a bit more bridal stuff because – let’s be honest – brides have the money to spend on photos and ya girl needs more paid gigs! Plus, I’m all about a romantic fairytale type of shoot. Tony Gallegos (@tony.bridal) is a local Long Beach wedding dress designer from Mexico.  Him and his husband came along on our adventure and it was such a pleasure to have them! The two dresses were very elegant and detailed in their construction - seriously so stunning!

The other brand accompanied on our excursion was the Secondhand Society (@secondhand.society). They are a recycled fashion subscription box company that sends you personally styled pieces once a month ranging from purses, dresses, accessories, pants, etc. – whatever your preference is! You fill out a style quiz with your likes/dislikes and sizes prior to receiving a box. They even check out your Pinterest fashion boards to make sure they’re picking out styles you would like! I received a complementary box from them with a dusty blue BCBGMaxazria dress, black and grey printed Free People kimono, gold fan brooch, gold and black circle earrings, and a silver/turquoise bohemian style bracelet. The box value is insane – just the retail price of the dress is likely $150-$250 but you get 4-5 pieces for as low as $27 a box (depends on the plan that you choose)! There are so many subscription boxes out there, but very few are committed to sustainability issues. By using thrifted, vintage, and recycled fashion finds you are working towards decreasing textile waste and manufacturing emissions, off-setting your carbon footprint, giving unwanted clothes a new life, and the list goes on! One of the easiest ways to live more sustainably is to shop secondhand – but still keep in mind to buy quality over quantity!

Our trip consisted of 14 photographers and models collaborating and creating content collectively. I know it sounds cliché, but it’s such a beautiful experience and makes you feel so alive to be exploring, wandering, and working with new friends and old to create not just to create art together, but memories as well. The best photos are the ones that have a story behind them or the ones that make you feel something. That’s what we hope to gain on these trips. We made photo stops along the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, shot at Badwater Basin (the lowest point in North America), the rainbow rocks in Death Valley National Park, and ended the evening shooting at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes until dark. We took a moment on our way out of Death Valley to get out of our cars, star gaze, a few of us attempted to get some Milky Way shots on our tripods, lit sparklers, and danced in the lone road to music.  There were no other cars for miles, just us and the desert. You know those moments that you’ll remember forever - those moments that make you feel like you’re apart of something so much bigger? This was one of those moments.  So much love to all the people that came and to our trip coordinator Laurence (@photosby_laurence) for making it happen! Can’t wait for our next adventure together!

photographers:

@photosby_laurence

@deer_dann

@blakeephoto

@edikins

@e.c.shots

@koltinsullivan

@shot_by_dame

models:

@_lindsaybonilla_

@joey_danielle

@blake_eiermann

@hollyantionette

@megancarlos / @itsmegancee

@smileitzdunya

San Francisco Girls Trip

I recently went on a girls’ trip with Autumn (@grlwithbangs), Nicole (@nicoleliolie), and Kaitlyn (@kallme.kaitlyn) to San Francisco and it was such a blast! I’ve only been to SF once or twice before this when I was younger so everything was pretty new to me!

Day 1:

We drove from Long Beach to San Francisco – if you aren’t familiar with this drive you can do it a few ways. In order to get there by lunchtime, we took the inland route on the interstate 5. We made a couple pit stops, one of which was a photo-shoot on the side of the road rocking our GRLFRND Denim in the middle of nowhere haha but it’s chill. After lunch, we stopped by the Mosiac steps overlooking the city and explored around in my car. We then got settled in at Hotel Fusion where we were staying and started getting ready for dinner.  The hotel was in a touristy area but the staff weren’t all that friendly and our room was a little cramped. But hey, I guess that’s San Francisco – everything is squished! We decided to go to trendy Asian restaurant/bar Hakkasan (yes the same one in Las Vegas but this one people actually eat at and there isn’t a dance floor). The girls and I decided to have a little fun and once we had a drink or two our fake British accents came out for about two hours on and off but we were convinced we had the bartender, waiter, and restaurant staff fooled. FYI we didn’t haha. The waiter came and apologized at the end of our meal (he thought he was being rude in his response to my vegan questions haha) and ended up bringing us some complimentary sorbet because of it! It was so nice of him!

Day 2:

We ate breakfast at this cute vegan café called Nourish. Autumn had picked it out and I had no idea it was vegan so when we showed up I got super excited! I had a yummy green juice and a breakfast toast sampler. The rest of the day was jam-packed – I felt like we did so many activities. We went to Chinatown, saw the Painted Ladies (from Full House), and went to Haight & Ashburry- the mecca of hippie town and LSD. We stopped at two places for lunch – Veganburg for Autumn and I and a café across the street for Kaitlin and Nicole. Probs the best vegan burger I’ve ever had. They also had loaded fries that were bomb – 10/10 would recommend. We later visited the Palace of Fine Arts, which was pretty much just a beautiful park, small lake, with huge palace-looking structures. We had attempted to go see the Golden Gate bridge after but traffic was so bad and I made a wrong turn which cost us about 30 minutes to an hour so we decided to save the bridge for day 3.  Nicole has some cousins about an hour outside from SF, so they came to have dinner with us at Boudin at Fisherman’s Wharf. As we were finishing up dinner, two of my old Industrial Design classmates from college got seated at the table behind us with a friend of theirs. Such a small world! I had actually been messaging one of them earlier that day to meet up but as you can tell from our busy schedule that it was difficult.  We let them finish dinner, parted ways with Nicole’s cousins, and the four of us went back to our hotel. My college buddies came over after and had some drinks at the downstairs bar, Club Fusion, with Katilin and I.  Supposedly SF doesn’t have much of a club/bar scene, but low-key it was rager down there! Overall, it was such a fun and busy day exploring the city!

Day 3:

We checked out of our hotel and went to the Golden Gate Bridge. We didn’t actually cross it; we just went to a nearby coastline park to hangout for a little and get some photos. We were really looking forward to finding some swing that overlooks the bridge but we were already running late on getting home and it would have been a mile or so hike to get to so we decided to save it for the next trip. We also kind of messed up for breakfast today. We were all doing some research on our phones and I found this cute café to go to in the financial district. Not only was trying to find parking that wasn’t $25 the most stressful and time-consuming thing but once we did find parking and walked 15 mins to get to this café they were closed. I guess businesses aren’t open on July 3rd for the holiday the next day. So we ended up doing the most basic option there is and just grabbed some breakfast items at the nearby Starbucks.  We then started on our drive back home to Long Beach. Because of recent mudslides the route on the coast home is closed around Big Sur, so we drove as long as we could on the coast until we had to cut over inland. We had to stop a few times for photos (of course) haha but it was a nice (but long!!) drive home.

I think next time I’d like to make it a four-day trip, or maybe fly if we’re going to do it in three – we all felt a bit rushed to see everything. Overall though, this trip was so much fun and I can’t wait to have more girls’ trips like this in the future. 

Big Bear, California feat. DeLezhen & StyleWe

I recently went on a trip to Big Bear, California with some of my creative peeps! Originally the group was supposed to be pretty big but it narrowed down to just four of us: @koltinsullivan (early bday boy and group organizer, yay!), @snow.fox_, and @rex.dude. We all met up at Koltin's house and carpooled from there. It was only about an hour and a half drive to the airbnb in Big Bear. We explored the area and shot at a few different locations until dark. There weren't many options for dinner haha but we ended up finding a nice Chinese restaurant called Dynasty where we all chowed down. We relaxed at the cabin and Koltin continued shooting some artsy indoor stuff with Rex and Cindy until bed. The airbnb was huge and could have fit like ten people, so it was super spacious with just us four!

We had a lazy morning the next day and then began to scope out some more good places to shoot. We were later accompanied by @lisajstarrett and @elliepanger and shot two looks for each of them. We had originally planned to stay until sunset, however we were getting tired and a little pictured-out from the weekend and decided to head home a little earlier. Koltin was a superstar driver and drove the whole way (again) while the rest of us (maybe just me haha?) instantly fell asleep for the drive. We arrived at his house and said our goodbyes and parted ways. 

I also partnered with a few brands on our little excursion: DeLezhen and StyleWe. Delezhen is a USA-made small jewelry company that makes the cutest dainty pieces! They sent me a white and gold druzy necklace (pictured in photos 3-5). It's super versatile and can go with so many outfits! Love love love it!!

As for StyleWe, this is my third time partnering with them on a shoot - yay! They sent me two pieces as usual for me to style, one of these is the Blue Lace Up 3/4 Sleeve Stand Collar Denim Mini Dress and the other is the White Vintage V Neck Floral-embroidered Midi Dress. Honestly, I was kinda up in the air about what type of setting I wanted to shoot these in because they could both totally work for a beach theme too haha but I like how the nature vibes from Big Bear turned out even better! I joked on my Instagram that the maxi dress could have gone one of four ways: 1. beachy 2. pregnant lady 3. mariachi band or 4. a super unrealistic (yet totally cute) adventure in nature with it.. obviously I chose option four lol. Needless to say, this trip was a blast! I'm so thankful for the memories as well as DeLezhen and StyleWe for the goodies! 

Southwest Road Trip: CA > AZ > UT > NV > CA

This year both my boyfriend, Zach, and my brother, Nathan, had the same spring break - yay!! My brother is in medical school at the University of Arizona and Zach is in physical therapy school at California State University Long Beach, so you can imagine our family's excitement that they would be out of school at the same time! When schedules align, my dad loves to plan family trips so this time we made it a southwest road trip!

Zach and I drove out from Long Beach to Scottsdale, AZ where my parents live and stayed a couple nights. Nathan and his wife, Deanna, drove up from Tucson and met us in Scottsdale a day later. We then caravanned in two cars (mine and Nathan's) to Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon for two nights. We stayed in the cutest lodge right on the creek and it was super roomy for our group of six. While in Sedona, we hiked, explored and shopped around downtown Sedona, went to Tlaquepaque, etc.

On day three of our trip, we ventured north to Flagstaff and stayed at my aunt and uncle's cabin in Forest Highlands. We did a little bit of hiking, explored downtown Flag, etc. We also went to one of my fave restaurants, Whyld Ass - literally the best vegan mac and cheese and baked goods omg. unreal. 

We continued north on day four and drove up to Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend in Page, AZ. My dad booked us on a tour of Upper Antelope Canyon which was pretty cool! I had seen the Lower Antelope Canyon before but this was my first time seeing the Upper one. The main difference is that the Upper one is more expensive, there aren't any stairs or climbing that you have to do, you get driven in, and you walk through it there and back. After Antelope Canyon, we stopped by Horseshoe Bend. It was really windy and people were getting way too close to the edge it looked like some of them were going to blow off the edge! Serious anxiety there haha but the view was worth it! Nathan and Deanna parted ways with us here and drove back down to Flagstaff for the night as we continued the trip to Utah. 

Once we left Page, we drove into south Utah and made it to our cabin in Duck Creek Village around dusk. It was such a cozy place but every restaurant nearby was closed so we ended up scrounging up some food from the cooler to put together dinner. It was super cold and snowing out too which we didn't prepare for either. 

On Day five, we drove through Bryce Canyon National Park which was spectacular! There is one main road and many lookouts and places to stop along the way. We didn't bother hiking much here because it was snowing, my dad has a bad hip, and Zach recently hurt his ankle. We ended the day at a hidden gem of a restaurant that was super nice! We drove back to our lodge in Duck Creek and stayed for a second evening. 

In the morning, we packed up our stuff and got ready to go to Zion National Park. Because I was so cold the day before, I thought it would be a good idea to wear four pairs of pants (three leggings and one pair of loose fitting jeans over lol). This was a new record for me, but Zion was surprisingly much warmer than Bryce Canyon so I ended up taking off most of my layers. Zion was much more crowded than I was expecting and it made for a less relaxing time there than Bryce. It was still very beautiful and scenic though! Once we were done driving through the park, we started making our way to Las Vegas!

We checked into the Mirage and got settled. They got both of our room arrangements wrong and my dad through a fit haha but they wouldn't do anything to fix it - pretty bad customer service if you ask me. Anywho... we ended up finding this super vegan-friendly steakhouse (lol, weird I know) at the Wynn and ate dinner there! This was probably one of the most expensive menus I've ever seen but everything was amazing and they really catered to vegans so my mom and I were super happy. After dinner, we went back to our hotel and got ready for the late showing of the Cirque du Soleil show Beatles Love. It was very 70's and hippie vibes - pretty cool tricks and acrobatics as well! We finished off our night in Vegas drinking at a cocktail lounge and hanging around the casino. 

We ended the last morning of our trip eating at a buffet at the Mirage for breakfast. Zach and I parted ways with my parents and drove back to Long Beach. It was such a great trip and even better times with my fave people! Can't wait for our next family vacay :)

NOW ENTERING...

LAST STOP... VEGAS!

Joshua Tree & Salton Sea Feat. Peoples Project LA

I went to a photography meet-up a few weeks ago hosted by @rubyjamesphoto, @irenerudnykphoto, and @jessicakobeissi. I found out about it through another photographer friend @messinaphotos. The meet-up was at 6pm in Echo Park... so by that time it was already dark and surprisingly windy and cold. Sounds kinda sketchy to meet a bunch of random people you don't know in a public park when it's dark outside haha but it all worked out okay. I was talking in a big group and we all thought it would be a good idea to do a day trip to Joshua Tree and the Salton Sea and started a group message. Our group of 7 or 8 people turned into just 3 of us,  @koltinsullivan, and myself!

Koltin and I planned the meet-up for his place and started reaching out to models, photographers and other creatives! We ended up getting a group of 7 (@serenalisaa, @juliaamotta, @exit_the_minute, @photosby_laurence, @asantov, @koltinsullivan, and myself) leaving from Glendora and met another group of 4 (@brittneyborowski, @heysalem, @sarahwaseaton, & @justinomega) at Joshua Tree.

Big shout out to @peoplesprojectla for some of the goods I shot with in Joshua Tree! I love working with local brands and love even more when they are committed to philanthropy and the environment. Peoples Project LA is partnered with Heal The Bay,  which is a non-profit organization dedicated to making our coastal oceans safe, healthy, and clean. Ten percent of the proceeds from Peoples Project LA go to Heal The Bay - YAY! Their stuff is so cute too! I'm wearing a gray top, light blue floral dress, and denim jacket from them. 

After Joshua Tree, we went to this random Mexican restaurant  for lunch that was actually pretty good. There we met another one of Brittney's friends, @gregkantra. Lunch was pretty fun with all of us but then the group split up after and the original 7 of us continued to the Salton Sea!

The Salton Sea area was pretty much deserted but we surprisingly found 2 people living around there and lots of puppies haha. The sand was more just like crushed fish bones and your shoes would sink into this salty toxic mud.. honestly pretty gross and smelled kinda bad. We were there around sunset and the sea was so serene, it looked like glass and was almost an optical illusion because there was no movement in the water!

We shot until it was dark and then did the long drive back to Koltin's (about 2-3 hours) and everyone went their separate ways! This was probably one of my favorite shoots to date because I met so many awesome creative people, went on an fun day trip, and got a lot of good content! Can't wait to do a shoot something like this again!