I am so excited to be sharing all about my trip to California! Back in December, Styled Shoots Across America announced that they were hosting a shoot crawl in California and the mood boards and venue looked amazing. I mentioned to my friends that we should try to go, and we actually were all free. So, we decided why not?! Fast forward a few months and the trip was here before we knew it…and we had so much fun! Here is a recap of everything we did in California!

Day 1 in Santa Barbara

Day one was a huge travel day! I absolutely love to travel and I enjoy flying, but I had never been on a flight that long. I also have never been to the west coast, so that was something totally new. It was sorta strange flying into Phoenix for our layover because there was no grass and it looked like the desert with big mountains. Once we landed in Santa Barbara, it almost felt like I was in a dream because I couldn’t believe that I was in sunny California! We headed to our Airbnb and oh my goodness it was so nice. It was very spacious and worked perfectly for the three of us. When walking out of the house, there were tons of fresh flowers, a lemon tree, a palm tree, and even views of the mountains…certainly nothing like Ohio! We made a trip to the store to get a few snacks and then afterwards, we decided to just drive around and see the area. All of the architecture there is lovely, including the white buildings with the red clay roofs. In Santa Barbara, we were right by the ocean, but we could also see mountains from every direction. We ordered in some pizza, unpacked and called it a night! There is a three hour time difference between Ohio and California, so that was strange.

Day 2 in Santa Barbara

On Monday morning, we woke up and went to brunch at Chad’s, which was right across from the beach. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast and of course had to try a mimosa flight! That’s the only way to brunch, right? 😉 Afterwards we went back to the house and just chilled a little bit before going out and exploring the town. We walked to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse which was beautiful. It would be a great place to elope! While we were there, we took some headshots of each other. After that we headed to State Street and walked around, went into some cute boutiques and ended up eating lunch at Pascucci, a really good Italian restaurant. It was a beautiful day and we even got to enjoy eating lunch outside. Since we were in wine country, we had to visit a winery and try some different wines. Honestly, the wine wasn’t even that great, haha but overall it was a fun experience! We headed to the beach at sunset to get some more headshots of each other and just enjoy hearing the waves crash. Don’t let the pictures fool you, it was actually pretty chilly that night. After pictures, we headed to In-N-Out Burger because my friends really wanted to try it, but they weren’t too impressed though. We had SO much fun that day, I didn’t want it to end.

Day 3 in Santa Ynez

Tuesday was the day of the styled shoot…the whole reason we went on this trip! We started the morning out by walking to a donut shop and of course we had to get Starbucks because we all needed coffee. After that, we started getting ready, and we actually had some time before we needed to leave, so we decided to take some headshots of each other around the house. Before heading to the shoot, we stopped by Old Mission Santa Barbara. It was very cool to see, and such a pretty building. After that it was officially time to head to the photo shoot! Little did I know that I was in for a wild drive straight up a mountain. The styled shoot was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to share all about it and my pictures in another blog post! Once we were done we headed for some dinner and ice cream from McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream.

Overall, this trip was so incredible and none of us wanted to leave! It was great to spend time with two of my best friends doing what we all love! We are all so similar and had many great laughs, but most of all we made so many great memories! One of the biggest bonuses of having photographer friends is that I got some new headshots! I am so grateful that this job of mine allows me to travel the world and see new locations. I hope you enjoy seeing some of my favorite pictures from my trip!