Weekend Tee / Vasquez Rocks

adventure, adventures, travel

Hello everyone and happy Sunday! Today’s post is an exciting one because I got to work with an awesome brand: Weekend Tee! Weekend Tee is a brand that is all about promoting going places & doing the things you love. We got in touch and, after receiving some super comfy shirts, Lyle and I decided to head out to explore Vasquez Rocks.

Vasquez Rocks is a natural area located in Agua Dulce, California. You may or may not recognize it from film and television as it has been used as a filming location for many movies. One of my personal favorites I was excited to hear about was that it was used for scenes in The Flintstones movie! That was one of my favorite movies as a kid so visiting this place was pretty exciting.

We were pleased to find that the park was pretty empty when we arrived. It is a 932 acre park so, while there were plenty of cars, people were spread out exploring different areas of the park. My main goal was to climb to the peak of the rock formations. The view from the top was amazing so of course we spent some time to sit and soak it all in. After spending enough time at the peak, it was time to begin our descent. We climbed down opposite the way we went up, which was a tad more difficult. Once at the bottom, we followed the trail surrounding the formation back to where we started.

While we were exploring, we saw a group of people on the equestrian trails and one little boy riding a mini horse. A MINI HORSE! It was honestly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. When he came up to the formation he screamed “Oh! That’s SO COOL!” and whipped out his phone to take a picture. There’s so much more to explore here so we’re definitely planning on going back and I can’t wait!

I connected with this brand at the perfect time because I had been wanting to go visit Vasquez Rocks for some time now. Their shirts are super soft and comfortable and perfect for exploring! Be sure to give Weekend Tee a follow on Instagram and Twitter and check out their website to get some awesome shirts for your next adventure!

Day in the Life: Los Angeles

adventure

Happy Sunday & welcome back to another blog post! Today, I thought I would fill you in on another day in my life in LA.

Last Friday, Lyle and I went to Echo Park. We’ve gone to quite a few neighborhoods here in LA but I think Echo Park is one of my favorites. It reminds me quite a bit of some areas in Austin. There’s one street here that is just crazy. It’s called Baxter St. and if you ever find yourself in the area, I suggest you take a drive down it.

It was a surprisingly chill day in LA and we were definitely not prepared for that. I’m not sure how we didn’t realize it when we first walked outside but oh well. Our first stop was at Fix Coffee to, well, get our coffee fix (see what I did there?). Even though it was chilly, I still ordered an iced coffee because iced coffee is just my thing. But then, we sat outside and realized we made a mistake. So, we took our coffee to go and sat in the warm car.

After our caffeine intake for the day, we were off to Echo Park Lake to paddle boat around the lake. If you know me at all, you know I have an irrational fear of sharks. I’m convinced there’s a shark in any body of water, so, going out on the lake in one of those tiny boats was definitely out of my comfort zone. We still had a lot of fun chasing ducks (yes we’re 5) and seeing the park from a different perspective.

When we finished our time on the lake, Lyle had wanted to go somewhere to grab a beer. We found a place nearby and stopped in for one drink. We ended our night with some dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse. I know.. of all places we can eat in LA right? But, it was reliable and we were hungry and not in the mood to try something we may or may not be disappointed in. We weren’t ready to be spontaneous! If you do go to a BJ’s near you though, try the Monkey Bread pizookie dessert.. thing. You will not be disappointed!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed today’s blogpost! I wanted to do something a little different by adding a video. I’m not 100% sure if this is something I want to keep doing, but I figured it was worth a try once. Don’t forget to let me know what you think! Constructive feedback is always welcome! 😉 Until next time, xo!

Photo Diaries: February 2016

2016

Hey everyone! So, I think it’s safe to say that February flew by pretty quickly. It seems like I was just counting down the days to go home for my dad’s birthday and now it’s March. That’s just how life is!

Going back to February, I honestly had a few more adventures and photo ideas planned out, but, like I said, time got away from me. That’s okay, though, because now I just bumped them over to March, and that just means more content for me to have. So be on the look out for all of that!

Not too much happened this month. Between working and heading home for a few days, it was hard to find the time to want to go out and explore. Aside from grabbing some lunch or dinner and heading to Melrose to check out some live music, the main outing we had was visiting The Getty Center. This day, Lyle and my cousin Marissa grabbed some Lemonade for lunch and then some coffee. After, we headed to The Getty Center to check out some art! There was a lot of interesting pieces here and we definitely intend on checking it out again since we ran out of time. We were out on one of the terraces taking photos when a lady came to yell at us that they were closed. Note: they closed at 5:30 and it was 5:32.

Anyway, I’m not really one of those people to take my camera everywhere and say “Wait! Don’t eat that.. I have to take a picture of it first!” (although sometimes I’ll do that for snapchat…). I also tend to feel like I’m not really living the moment when I have my camera on hand. It’s tough for me to find a balance, but I’m trying. I really just want to be able to put up more content! So, just be on the lookout for new blogposts coming up this month. I do have some planned and hopefully they’ll all work out fine! Thanks for reading! xo

Weekend Getaway: Dad’s Birthday!

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Hey everyone! So, just last weekend, I flew back home to surprise my dad for his birthday! I don’t think I’ve ever surprised someone like that before and it was so nerve wracking! I was more nervous about lying to my dad about my day (he thought I was at work) then surprising him haha! So, here’s a little overview of my weekend.

I flew into town Thursday night. Shout out to Paul for being able to pick me up from the airport! I called my mom as soon as I landed, and since she was with my dad, she had to tell him it was me and I would call back. I called him when I was about 3 minutes away from home and rambled about how my “day at work” had gone. I was inside the house, separated from my dad by a wall, when my dog Sierra started barking at my other dog Sadie. My dad says, “What was that?!” and I panicked and ran up the stairs. I thought he was going to come out and see me and that’s not how I wanted to surprise him. He never came out so I went back downstairs and just hung up the phone and walked in and said “Hey!” I’ll never forget the look on his face; he was more shocked than happy to see me, haha! Even 20 minutes later he was still saying “I just can’t believe you’re here!!” If you know my dad, you know he’s asleep by 8:30. It was a little after 9 and he couldn’t stop yawning but he still wanted to take me to Whataburger.

Pretty much as soon as I got off the plane on Thursday night I was slapped in the face with allergies. That being said, I woke up Friday morning not feeling too hot. All I did this day was take my pup to the vet to get some shots and go back home and chill.

My niece Samantha’s 8th birthday party was on Saturday. After spending a few hours at her favorite place, Pump It Up!, we headed out to run some errands. We finally finished up and went back home. My parents went out to dinner with my godparents while I met up with Maria and Russell to grab some Rosario’s (yum!).

Sunday consisted of an earlyish dinner with my grandma, my aunt Carol, my uncle Rene & Ruby and my brother Steven and nephew Aiden. I chose to go to Luby’s because it’s always been one of my favorite places and I just can’t go home and not eat there. After dinner, I went to pick up my dad’s birthday gift and went back home. My parents had gone out to a concert with my godparents, so I spent my evening hanging with my pups!

Monday was my dad’s actual birthday. We both just hung around the house and what not until dinner. We had some homemade enchiladas and my mom had picked up some tamales on her way home from work. It was a dinner made in heaven, basically. Dinner was topped off with some delicious chocolate cake that my sister had made. After dessert, my dad opened his gifts and we all just sat around and talked. I really enjoy spending time with my family, even if they’re all crazy! :p

I had so much fun being back in Texas and I was super sad to leave my family. I’m really excited I got to see everyone, including all my nieces and my nephew! Tuesday was my flight back to LA so I didn’t do much except have my last Texas meal (Bill Miller’s) and head off to the airport. Now, I leave you with some photos from my trip and I hope you enjoy! Until next time, xo!

Photo Diaries: January 2016

2016

Hey guys! So, I decided to do this monthly series of recapping little moments throughout the month. This could be anywhere from mini adventures to random shoots to just any other photos or events that I feel like sharing with you all!

I started off January and the new year in Texas. We had gone home for the holidays so it was nice to be home with family. We headed back to California during the next week and decided to take an alternate route for a pit stop.

Salvation Mountain is a place that I have wanted to check out for quite some time now. Located in Slab City in Niland, California, it is an installation piece created by Leonard Knight. The entire structure is made from materials such as adobe mud, paint, tires, straw, windows and tree limbs. It is said to be his tribute to God and his way of portraying the powerful message of God is Love. I definitely felt a sense of peace and calmness being there. It was such a humbling place to be and I’m so glad we got to visit!

Moving on, my mom bought these cute coffee mugs for me and Lyle for Christmas, and I thought it would be fun to take some photos with them. Since moving to LA, this was the first time I busted out my studio setup and it was nice to find a place in our apartment to shoot.

So, that pretty much sums up my January! We also spent many hours in traffic going to DTLA to hang out with my cousin (haha) and got to spend Miclynn’s birthday weekend with her! I already have lots of ideas planned for next month so be ready to check those out! Thanks for your support as always!

2016 Goals

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Hey guys! Ugh, it’s been too long for me. Having so much to post at the end of 2015 and starting 2016 with nothing to post isn’t such a great start. That’s okay though because I’m here now and that’s what matters. Today, I wanted to talk about my goals for 2016. These aren’t all necessarily blog related, however, I still may incorporate them into my blog one way or another. I have four main things that I really want to focus on this year so let’s just jump right into them!

First off, I want to declutter and organize my life. Being a photographer, that mostly pertains to my digital life. I have photos and videos on external hard drives, my computers, my phone, my email, just.. EVERYWHERE! While backing up photos is very important, I feel like I just have them cluttered everywhere. I want to clear out the photos that are irrelevant and savor the ones that are memorable.

Going along with organizing, I want to start journaling and keeping an agenda. I will admit it’s already the middle of January and I have yet to find the perfect agenda. Also, haven’t journaled anything yet. (Yikes, already messing up.) I basically just want to be able to plan and organize my posts better. So, we shall see where that goes!

My third goal is to learn a new craft slash get better at an old one. I took a painting class in college and it was surprisingly one of my favorite classes. Painting and watercoloring are two things that I love to do but don’t consider myself an expert at. I don’t intend on becoming professional or an expert, I just want to improve my skills in those areas. Another love of mine is hand lettering/typography/design. I sort of grouped those into one because to me they go hand in hand. I have a deep admiration for those that are skillful in that area and I aspire to be as good as they are some day.

My fourth goal is a given. I love exploring and being outdoors and I don’t plan on stopping. Ever since I was younger, I was always one to be exploring new areas and adventuring into the unknown. I have quite a few places on my list for this year and I’m really hoping I’ll be able to hit a majority of them. I feel like traveling, exploring, and adventuring doesn’t have to be costly or a huge trip. It’s always possible to explore places that are right outside your door! You just have to know what you’re looking for. So, I definitely plan on a lot of exploring this year.

One thing I will say about my blog is that I’m thinking I want to do a monthly overview of adventures. For example, unless I have a big trip that I take (that will have it’s own blogpost), at the end of each month, I’ll compile the mini adventures I have into one post. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments! 🙂

A Recap of 2015 // A Look into 2016

2015, travel

Hey guys! So, just like last year, I wanted to do a little recap of my year. In the beginning of 2015, I really didn’t have any specific direction for my blog. I wasn’t blogging weekly anymore so I had to figure out what work I wanted to produce to show y’all. I started off by posting some creative images. For example, remember my cinemagraphs? Those were some of my favorites to make!

I also had a few client sessions to blog about! I photographed Nancy’s graduation photos and Alexis & Edward’s engagement photos this year. I’m so happy I was able to capture these important milestones in their lives.

I began to showcase a little bit of everyday lifestyle posts. I showed you how much I enjoy grabbing an iced coffee with my friends and what a day in my life is like.

But, one of the main things my blog turned into was my travels and adventures. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit quite a few places this year. I even packed up and moved across the country to California with Lyle! Traveling and exploring the outdoors has easily been one of my favorite things to do ever since I was little. Now that I’m older, I’ve been blessed to be able to go explore new places. I managed to turn Lyle into somewhat of an outdoorsman and I was even told that I inspired someone to get outside and explore the great state of Texas and that made me so, so happy!

So, one thing I’m pretty excited about is to see where my blog goes in 2016. Blogging is something that I have really grown to enjoy. I’ve always loved writing and photography so being able to put them together and share it with people is a great feeling. I love being creative and having a place to express it and share it! I’m thinking I want to take things a little further and possibly add some videos to my posts. What do you think?

So, here’s to what 2015 was and what 2016 will be! Thank you for your love and support again this year! I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!

xo,
Lori

There’s Snow in Southern California?!

adventure, Christmas portraits, Lori Sandoval Photography

Hey guys! So, ’tis the season for our annual Christmas photos! We attempted these photos twice this year. The first time, we decided to venture out to Sequoia National Forest. I had seen it snowed there a bit and I was so excited to see snow that I forgot all about the Christmas-y theme of the photos. On top of that, the road to a trail we were going to hike was closed. We were able to take some photos, but I just wasn’t super happy with them. So, I went to buy some Christmas props and we went out for a second attempt, this time to Big Bear, California.

I was absolutely in love with this little mountain town. There were so many cute little shops in their downtown and there was a lake surrounded by mountains. There was snow everywhere! The only problem was that it was mostly for the ski/snowboarding resorts. We didn’t know where to park to hike around on our own. After driving around for awhile, we saw a couple park on the side of the road and start walking into the woods. We decided to stop there as well and hike up the trail. It was mostly icy snow that covered the ground but it was still fun to play in. We took our photos and tried to get back to the car as soon as possible because my poor baby Sadie was freezing her little tail off.

We drove around Big Bear Lake and then stopped to watch the sun set behind the mountains over the lake. It was absolutely beautiful! We started driving back down the mountain and I had wanted to stop to take photos of the after sunset sky over the city and it was then that I realized I didn’t have my tripod. Lyle was so concerned about getting Sadie back into a warm car that he put it down and drove off without it. I was pretty sad about it but I realized it was replaceable and not a big deal. It’s better than him putting the tripod in the car and forgetting Sadie on the side of the road!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy our annual Christmas photos! And we want to wish you all Happy Holidays!

Moving West: Roadtrip Day 4 // Hoover Dam, Las Vegas & California!

Lori Sandoval Photography, travel

Day 4 starts at 12 midnight on Friday. Fair warning, this is probably the least exciting day we had. We pretty much had to drive straight to Vegas overnight to make sure we got there in time to pick up Maria from the airport. You see, originally she was supposed to land at 11am so we had to be there early. Her flight ended up getting delayed a few times and everything worked out so… moving on!

As I was saying, at midnight we were definitely somewhere in New Mexico. It was pitch black out so there weren’t any exciting things to see or anything. All we had was the radio and each other’s company. However, it was late and had been a long day and I couldn’t fight it anymore so I fell asleep. Lyle was a trooper through and made the drive all the way through New Mexico. I woke up at some point and we switched so that he could get something to eat. I didn’t last long driving though. With Lyle already asleep, I didn’t have much to keep me awake or entertained. I decided it was best to stop at the next place I could find to rest. We stopped at a gas station about an hour into Arizona so I could sleep. There were a few truck drivers who had stopped here as well but for some reason I was too paranoid to sleep. I would pass out for maybe 30 minutes and then wake up. Finally, I could see the sun coming up and decided to just get up and go get breakfast. I went inside the gas station and was pretty disappointed to find out I was too far west to get breakfast tacos. Instead, I had to learn to settle for a breakfast “burrito”. They’re basically the same thing though; equally delicious and definitely satisfying.

After coming to terms with the fact I couldn’t sleep, I decided to take off around 6am. I drove for a bit until Lyle woke up and we switched. I slept maybe an hour before he woke me up so I could see where we were. I woke to see we were driving through a forest area in Flagstaff, AZ. He knows I get super excited over things like this so he said he had to wake me up so I wouldn’t miss it. We found out there was a meteor crater nearby, tried to visit, but it was closed. We didn’t want to wait so we just kept going. There really wasn’t much else to say about our drive through Arizona. It was mostly a lot of mountains and forests so it’s safe to say I definitely still enjoyed the drive and the views.

We crossed into Nevada around noon. Since we were no longer in a rush to get to Maria, we decided to stop and take our time to take in some more views. We had stopped at an overlook and since Lyle knew I had never been to the Hoover Dam, we spontaneously stopped there next. I was pretty excited about that. So after we explored around there, we were finally en route to Las Vegas!

We got to our hotel and unpacked and relaxed for a bit. I actually had to give Sadie a bath because she had spent the past few days adventuring around the red dirt of Palo Duro and sandhills of Monahans and her paws and fur were filthy. She was definitely due for a bath. While that was happening, Lyle headed to the airport to pick up Maria! Let me back up a bit. She had a bunch of days off because of her birthday so she decided to take the trip out to Vegas and Cali with us because why not?! So once they got back, we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant in the New York, New York hotel. We were all starving and ended up ordering more food than we could eat. So after that, we went back to the hotel and Maria and I ended up taking a nap (oops!). But hey, I only had about two and half hours of sleep that night so a nap was way overdue. I woke up later that night to Lyle and a friend of his (who actually lives in Vegas) talking. After struggling to wake up, we all got ready and headed out for the night. And we’ll just leave it at that! 😛

So we may or may not have struggled waking up the next morning. When we finally got things going we packed up the car, stopped to get food and were on our way to LA. The next few days were nothing but unpacking, cleaning and organizing. Maria had to leave on Tuesday so we took the day to hang out in Santa Monica. We went to Third Street Promenade, walked around downtown and then headed to the Santa Monica Pier for a bit. Then, we grabbed lunch and headed to the airport to drop off Maria. Can I just say that I have the best friend in the entire world. She flew across the country on a whim just to help us move into our apartment. I’m super thankful to have someone like her in my life.

Anyway, we have officially reached the end of our trip moving west. It was an eventful and emotional time but Lyle and I are super blessed to be able to say we’re one step closer in making our dreams a reality. I hope you enjoyed reading about our adventures and felt like you took this trip with us! Also, what’s a trip without a travel vlog to go with it? Be sure to check out the video down below and as always, let me know your thoughts! Love you guys and thanks for coming with us!

https://player.vimeo.com/video/148033563

PS- This song is called “Something Good Can Work” by Two Door Cinema Club. I chose this song for the video because it has always reminded me of Lyle. He has always been the one to tell me that things will work out for me the way the best way they can and that I have something big to show the world. It just takes a little time and hard work. It also really fits the transition in our lives right now. Give it a close listen. 🙂

Moving West: Roadtrip Day 3 / Palo Duro Canyon State Park & Cadillac Ranch

Cadillac Ranch, Lori Sandoval Photography, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas State Parks, travel

Hey everyone! So, day three started out on a dreary morning in Amarillo, Texas. I had never been to Amarillo before, in fact, I hadn’t even been that far north in Texas before. It doesn’t matter if Amarillo isn’t exactly a go to tourist spot, it’s just the idea of being in a new place excites me. It’s that seeing places I’ve never seen and driving on roads I’ve never driven on feeling that makes me so happy. I love being lost in new places (in a good way of course).

First thing’s first, we picked up some breakfast and were en route to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We stopped at the first scenic area to take in the awesome views and then started our drive to the bottom of the canyon. I think it’s pretty neat that you’re able to do that. It allows you to fully experience all perspectives of the canyon.

We went straight to the Lighthouse Trail because it’s the number one hike to take. While hiking the trail we met a few groups of people who were already on their way out. They warned us that there was a rattlesnake a little over halfway to the lighthouse and to be careful, especially with our dog. Already I was panicked because Sadie isn’t exactly an outdoors dog and she loves to stick her nose in places it doesn’t belong. However, we kept on going and just figured we would deal with it when we came to it. Now, this is about a five and half mile roundtrip hike, which means it’s about 2.7 miles one way. Keep in mind that I said Sadie wasn’t an outdoor dog. Back home, she wouldn’t stay outside longer than 20 minutes because after that, she’s whining and barking to come in. I did make sure to have plenty of water for her but she still started getting very tired. The weather started off being overcast but it cleared up and started getting pretty hot. That’s when things got worse for her. We were a little over a mile in at this point and she just kept stopping and wanting to lay down. I began to get super worried and decided that the hike wasn’t worth something happening to her. We stopped for a few minutes in the shade to let her drink water and calm down. When we felt she was good to go, we decided it was best to turn back instead of trying to push her to keep going. My poor little pup isn’t as adventurous as she likes to think she is!

After getting back to the car and making sure my pup had lots of water and took a treat, we decided to venture off to other areas of the canyon. We stopped at little areas to walk around and left her in the car with windows down so she could rest. All the other times we left her in the car she would start to whine and cry (#separationanxietyissues). After being exhausted from that hike, she didn’t care if we left in there or for how long. After a bit of other adventures, we noticed the clouds started rolling back in. We decided it was time to head out before the rain caught us. We stopped one last time at the main scenic overlook because I clearly couldn’t get enough. When the rain started coming down that’s when it was time to head to Cadillac Ranch.

We arrived at Cadillac Ranch to find quite a few people stomping around in the middle of the street. Of course we thought that was odd but as we got closer we realized that they were actually trying to get the globs of mud off of their shoes. Texas had been quite overcast and rainy the past few days (probably sad to see me and Lyle leave to California- haha but really!), so it’s no wonder that all of Cadillac Ranch was a giant mud pit. That didn’t matter because we figured “Hey, we’re already here. We have extra shoes. Whatever, let’s just go!”

First step in and squish, freshly mudded shoes. It got stickier and worse the further we got. There were tons of spray paint cans scattered throughout the mud. I had read that you could bring your own or use whatever was left on the ground but I had decided it was probably best to just get our own colors. It was a good thing we did though because the cans left behind by others were too far gone in the mud. So, we walked around all the cars and checked out the art others had made and then went in on our own spray painting. After enough looking, painting and picture taking, we were left with a good 2-3 inches of mud on our shoes from walking around. Not even kidding. Now we were the ones stomping like crazy people in the middle of the street.

After a somewhat decent attempt at cleaning off our shoes, we finally got in the car and started our venture west for good. It’s funny because after 3 days of driving around Texas, my family had been texting me saying “You’re still in Texas? You’re never going to make it to California!” Let me live, familia! I wanted to finish exploring my homeland before I couldn’t anymore! Anyway, I hope you’ve been enjoying my ramblings about our adventures! Day 4 will be next so be ready for that.