Let’s talk about some stuff in our jeans…

My week was spent in California working for Earthbound Farm.

As you can see below it was pretty awful.

EBF asked me to come out to the west coast to do a little photography, styling, and editing training with their design team. They didn’t need to twist my arm! I was completely honored and stoked for the opportunity.

While there I was lucky enough to stay in Santa Cruz and made it to the beach quite a few times for some sun + relaxation. Nothing like heading out to the beach for an hour after a day of work.

Teaching has always been something I’ve enjoyed and have been drawn to in some capacity since I was pretty young. In 5th grade I remember answering the question “what do you want to be when you grow up” with, “I want to be a teacher and a part-time baker.” I’ve got to say, in some weird way that’s exactly what happened. Writing a cookbook on nothing but doughnuts totally qualifies me as being a part-time baker.

I had an absolute blast training the sweet + mighty talented ladies you see below.

The first day we went over a lot of camera basics. I showed them the ins + outs of shooting in full manual mode, the benefits of shooting in RAW vs jPEG, and how beneficial a tripod can be.

We also went over tether capturing, which is extremely helpful when you want to make sure you got “the shot.” And then we got right down to business.

The girls had a few assignments to tackle while I was there, which made the learning process really come full circle. It was nice to be able to work through the assignment and help them along the way. You’ll be hearing more about the shoot below pretty soon!

Side note: If you’re ever in Santa Cruz I highly recommend Pearl of the Ocean. The style of food is Sri Lanken and they use fresh + organic ingredients. It was kind of like a mix between Indian + Thai. I ate the entire plate you see below, which was plentiful! I loved that they piled on the veggies. I enjoyed this dinner with a longtime blog friend Heather, who I hadn’t seen in about four years. It was so great to reconnect!

Bright and early the next day we headed to the Earthbound Farm Stand in Carmel. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the farm stand on three different occasions and I just can’t get over what a beautiful + peaceful place it is.

We were on to assignment #2 this day working on some photo-graphics for the holidays.

We were non-stop go-go-go all day long but were rewarded with non-stop snacks and meals from the farm stand.

Not a bad gig.

We finished up the day shooting two smoothies. It was such a different experience than when I’m working along on a photo shoot in my kitchen. The collaboration aspect was really fun! And actually talking to people throughout the day and not just my dogs.

And then there was froyo. But like, the most legit froyo ever. It’s made with Strauss organic yogurt [my very favorite yogurt brand] and they make it fresh at the farm stand.

On my last day in CA I headed down to the beach before driving in to work to breathe in the ocean air one more time.

It did not disappoint.

The last day there focused on learning the ins + outs of Lightroom 5 and then we worked on a few small photo projects for social media. After that I headed to the airport and made my way back to Colorado.

The entire trip felt somewhat surreal. It’s still hard to believe this is all coming together into an actual career. Pretty crazy and exciting…and I’m definitely ready for more.

Happy weekend!

Ashley

…

p.s. Dakota says hello from her bed of pulled weeds.

Looks pretty comfy.

Let’s talk about some stuff in our jeans…

We were in the DC area part of last week and over the weekend. Work first then play!

While Chris had a few work meetings I was able to meet up with Anne for juice + a lovely walk in Arlington. So great to catch up.

I ate at Sweet Green at least 3 times in 5 days and also adored the quinoa salad below from Mom’s Organic Market. Why don’t my salads taste this good at home?

After a few quick work days we were off to DC [from Fairfax].

We walked. And walked. SO MUCH. I loved every minute of it.

We drank a few things.

:: foamy margarita from Oyamel

:: mimosas from everywhere – Okay…just 2 places.

:: alcoholic ginger beer from an Irish pub [ah-mazing] – We had never seen this before, but apparently it’s pretty rare to find in the US.

And ate a few things.

:: breakfast at Busboys and Poets – That would be 2 breakfasts for me…oatmeal with walnuts + cream and scrambled eggs + grits. Give me all the breakfasts, all day long.

:: dinner at Oyamel – There weren’t too many veg options [found out the beans are cooked in lard] but there were still a few tasty plates we could order. I would not recommend the cactus salad, aka: slime salad.

:: outstanding anniversary dinner at Founding Farmers - We loved the veggie meals we ordered and they were very accommodating subbing a GF side for me. Also, a fabulous wine selection, “popcorn of the day” [it was ranch!], and the most amazing vanilla bean cheesecake ever!

:: dinner at Rice – Thai food with loads of veg/gf options. The portions were generous and the food was excellent! Also, they had THEE most amazing rice ever. I’m pretty sure it was cooked in nothing but coconut milk and coconut oil. I kind of died over it.