lab + camp

hello to you all!

as the number of days I have left in california dwindles down to a mere fourteen, I have been trying to cross off as many things on my bucket list as I can before I head off to the east coast. my friends & family know that my extensive bucket list has always been a reference for activities or food places that I suggest when we go out and luckily my best friend Christine was up for a day in the OC to try and knock off as many things as we could (along with her fancy new camera hehe)

now let me just start with how the activities we ended up doing were not what we originally planned. our ORIGINAL plan was to head to the OC Fair for their free admission day when you bring school supplies, but that didn't end up working out because we got to the fair at 3:15pm and supposedly the free admission was only until 3:00pm so they wouldn't let us in for free :( If we hadn't already gone the week before, we probably would have been a little more willing to spend the $12, but we're already broke college students and didn't really want to spend that money to only go in for an hour...

after our fair plan had failed, we went to my bucket list to see where else we could go & that is where I remembered that I had The Lab Antimall and The Camp on my bucket list. If you are not from the area, The Lab and The Camp are both trendy "strip malls" in Orange County and I have always wanted to go there! The only problem is that they charge a $75 fee to take photos so I was a little scared that we would get caught and have to pay, but there is one thing that Amber Fox told me that I will always remember: "Keep taking photos until you get caught or are asked to leave" so that is what we did hehe and luckily we did not get caught, just weird stares from people as they passed by us

to start our photoshoot, we chose a spot in front of the milk & honey trailer! I loved how the trailer brought a rustic vibe to the shoot and luckily they were closed so we didn't have to worry about people around us, it was so nice!

we then found this colorful striped wall that was on the backside of a restaurant (can you tell we went great lengths to not get caught!? haha) and it was the perfect backdrop for a fun summer shoot...the only difficult thing about shooting in front of the wall was that the stripes weren't exactly straight so it was hard to get the perfect composition and have the stripes be straight, but I think the photos turned out pretty nice :)

after we were done with The Lab Antimall, we headed to The Camp...luckily, they do not have a photography fee so it was much more enjoyable to walk around and take pictures haha! I think I like The Camp more because it's a lot more mellow and the stores are cuter, plus there are succulents everywhere (and who doesn't love succulents!?) 

we found this green and white staircase towards the back and thought it would be perfect to take pictures in front of. also, I would never pass on the opportunity to shoot in front of something green 

we then found this metal building while there and I thought it would complement my outfit so we decided to shoot there as well. you never know how dedicated you are to getting the perfect shot until you get the weird stares from strangers as you flip your hair back and forth for 30 seconds straight haha and before I forget, here are my outfit details! this is probably one of my favorite outfits because it is so comfortable and I am pretty sure I am obsessed with my denim jacket because I wear it at least twice a week if not more haha 

denim jacket - mom's closet

grey crop top - cotton on

black skinny jeans - old navy

white sneakers - converse all-star

after knocking off those two places on my bucket list, we headed to dinner at Raising Cane's where the entire menu consists of chicken fingers, so basically it is every kid's dream restaurant haha we then went to Cauldron for dessert where they are known for their "puffle" ice cream cone...If you are going for the first time, then I suggest you get the puffle cone, but then after that, it's not worth it. However, their menu of ice creams is probably the first place I have been to where every ice cream option I could see myself having. I ended up getting "The Cauldron," which was Vanilla Cinnamon ice cream with Thin Mints and Oreos in it, it was DELICIOUS

as we headed back home, with the sun setting in the background, Christine spotted this parking garage and we knew we couldn't miss out on one last photoshoot, especially since it was golden hour (aka the best time of the day) hehe

this day has taught me that sometimes your original plan isn't always how your day is going to end up, but in those spontaneous decisions, come great memories that you would have never had if you had stuck to that original plan. so my advice to anyone out there is to go with the flow...coming from someone who likes to have everything planned out, it may be hard to change plans, but you never know what exciting adventures are in store when you do :) I went from planning on getting nothing knocked off my bucket list to 4 things hehe

thanks Christine for a wonderful day & here's to the many more photoshoots we have in store for us when we are reunited in December. Have fun at USC and I know you are going to kill it! Fight on x

to those that are beginning to go back to school, start off strong so that you're not stressing yourself out by the time the end of the semester comes around. trust me, you'll thank yourself later!

Until next time...