Eva Gutowski's Blog, page 3

GIRLS IN BALI- ADVENTURES

Villa life in Bali is important (see my last post all about villa life here), but adventure life in Bali is magical if you go beyond the normally followed path. All you need is a car small enough to work it’s way up some steep and sometimes sketchy roads, a full tank of gas and some sunscreen, and you’re ready to explore! Here are some of the adventures I went on and recommend in Bali.

Slide Down A Natural Waterslide

Aling Aling Waterfalls is a bit of a mission to get to, but it’s worth it. After walking down a long slew of steps that have definitely seen better days, and sliding down a few loose rock pathways trying to not slip off cliffs, you reach this little oasis, tucked away under a canopy of trees (which you should definitely not try to climb since they’re covered in thorns… don’t ask). Theres a natural waterslide that looks intimidating at first, but is actually the most thrilling (and surprisingly safer than it looks) waterslide you’ll find in Bali. We brought donut floaties that I’d picked up at Target before the trip and turned the spot into our jungle playground. If you look across the water, you’ll see a set of steps. These steps are used to access a quaint 12 foot jump spot for any daredevil cliff jumpers. While waiting for the boys to return from the waterslide, I witnessed the cutest 10 year old girl, clad in her lifejacket, gather the courage to jump off it!

Explore A Jungle

Jungles are everywhere in Bali, but don’t just explore a jungle. Go to Nalu bowls! It’s the best acai bowls in town and you can find then in many locations. Rent a scooter and zip through the streets of Caangu through the day for some shopping and lunch, or head to the beach for surfing and drinks at Old Mans when the sun goes down! I’m out of college now, and Old Mans reminds me of a community like college again, since it’s filled with a bunch of young Australians. It’s the coolest vibe.

DON’T Fall Into A Rice Terrace

Tegallalang Rice Terrace. Beautiful to look at and wander through, but don’t miss a step. You may end up like me and accidentally fall 3 feet into a rice paddy. It was pretty gross at first, but then I realized that it’s not that bad… Okay, it’s pretty gross. But hey, that stuff turns into rice someday which is super tasty- so let’s just look at it that way. Not that bad. Yep. Bring an extra pair of sandals.

 

Find A Temple

On our way home from the waterslide adventure, we passed by this Temple. I had seen tons of Temples like this one online, but when I looked them all up, I sadly noticed none of them were close to our villa. When we passed by this Temple I practically screamed and grabbed the wheel as I yelled “PULL OVER! TEMPLE!!”. We all hopped out of the car to admire this beauty.

Create Your Oasis

I wish I knew what this place was called exactly, but I know it’s within walking distance from the natural waterslide. We were led here first by a guide. The water was cold, but the scene was out of a fairytale. You would have thought life was being photoshopped right in front of your eyes. A village above the oasis spot was burning a fire outside, so mini flecks of ash were sprinkling all over the water. It looked like snowflakes in a tropical paradise. We floated around lazily on the donuts for an hour as the sun came in and out behind clouds.

Feed A Monkey A Banana

If you find yourself in Bali, you have to go to the Ubud Monkey Forest. It’s insane. You buy about 20 bananas for virtually no money and get to just wander around this giant natural park that’s filled with monkeys. Some of them are fun to play with, and some are not so nice. Regardless, it’s an amazing way to get in touch with the monkeys of Bali and have a great laugh. If you hold the banana in the air, a monkey will even climb up behind you and sit on your shoulder while they eat the banana! It’s crazy and so much fun.

 

Bali is filled with so many opportunities for fun exploration! I haven’t even seen half of Bali yet, and plan to go back soon. Bali has such an amazing vibe that I can’t get enough of, and I can’t wait to share all my future Bali trips with you!

Have you been to Bali? Have you pet (or at least tried to pet) a monkey? Let me know!

XO,

Eva

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GIRLS IN BALI – VILLA LIFE

Bali is a wonderful place I’ve gotten to discover a little slice of this past year. A year ago, when someone would ask me where my favorite place in the world was, I never thought I’d be saying Bali. Yet every time someone asks me for travel advice, I just can’t help but immediately start raving about Bali, Indonesia.

And the funny thing is, I rave about the villa life in Bali just as much as the adventure side to the destination! Villas in Bali are an essential part of enjoying your stay. I couldn’t just do one post on Bali, so I’ve decided to break it up into two. This post is only about the villa life, and an adventure life Bali post will be coming soon. Here are some important and just fun facts I discovered while enjoying my villa in Bali.

Villa: Puri Beji

Location: Canggu, Bali

Villas are magical.

I found my villa for Bali on Airbnb. It was extremely easy to pick out a nice one, as villas are a common choice of stay while vacationing in Bali. I would recommend a villa over a hotel any day in Bali, because you’re going to soak up a lot more of what Bali has to offer. Bali is meant for relaxing. Bali is meant for tranquility. At a hotel, you’re going to see a lot of fellow travelers going in and out every day, and your lodging experience is going to often be less culturally inventive, whereas a villa is way more personal. Often times, you may be the only traveler in your villa, or may have 1-3 other travelers staying in connected villas around the property, so it’s a much more intimate experience. Many villas also come with a chef to help you with breakfast or a special dinner, and many of the villa representatives are eager to lead you to the best restaurants nearby. Our villa chefs prepared us an amazing breakfast every morning we were there!

Relax and unwind.

Massages in Bali. Oh. My. Goodness. You can’t go to Bali without getting a good massage. The prices compared to America (or literally anywhere else) are phenomenal! I had to “splurge” on the $18 massage every single day I was there, and If I lived in Bali, I’m pretty sure all my money would go to bargain massages.

It’s the coolest thing. The villa helped organize it all, and called the massage company for us. At the time of the massage, the ladies would lay out massage beds in the common area of the villa, open all the windows and put on soothing music. Every day at 3 pm, we’d lay down shirtless and enjoy the best massages of our lives while listening to the calming sound of birds chirping. It was as close to heaven as we could get.

Blast your tunes.

My villa had a Sonos speaker system throughout every room of the house, which was absolutely amazing. I had never heard of the speakers before, but as soon as I got home, I had to get one of my own. To get to wake up, lounge around and fall asleep all day to your favorite tunes had me going wild. I’d dance around the entire villa and be the DJ, suppling tunes for every changing mood with the hours. I’d literally determine when everyone woke up, just by controlling the music from my phone in other peoples rooms… hehe. If you don’t have surround sound, no problem. I never leave home without a portable speaker! 

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I am the DJ of this villa.

[image error] Enjoy the mornings.

I’ve never woken up so early on a trip before Bali. I sleep in. I love sleep. I am sleep. Yet somehow, the first morning I wake up in Bali, I am wide awake at 6 a.m, ripping open the blinds and fully taking in the sunrise. Literally- the sunrise. Maybe it was jet lag, or maybe it was that awakening (haha… awake..) feeling that the combination of the sun rising behind the purple clouds and the morning birds singing that just really got me going. I woke up every day that trip at 6 a.m. to enjoy the sunset and play music in my room, while I laid in bed. 

Make your own fun.

Ultimately, what I loved about life in the Bali villa was that time felt like it slowed down. It felt like I’d do a million things in the day and then check my clock and it was only 12 p.m. We’d take the time in the day to swim, write, dance, create, sleep, relax, have conversations, and then run out to the city for a quick Nalu bowl. Bali villa’s are for unwinding and recharging, and that’s exactly what we did. I can clearly see why everyone wants a house in Bali- even I want my own villa to call home. It’s your own personal abode for the duration of your trip to work and play, all in perfect harmony.

Have you stayed in a villa? Where did you go?

Let me know!

XOX,

Eva

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My Very First Vlog Camera | #12DaysOfMyLifeAsEva

Remember when I started vlogging? Oh my God. I remember it was a gloomy day in Fullerton, California (the town that I went to college in), and I was shooting my best friend’s headshots for her acting class. Even then, I was into shooting photography! (even though I was pretty terrible). Vlogging on my phone was great, because I got to show you guys what I loved to do every day- but It wasn’t until I got my very first real* vlog camera that things changed. Something about getting to vlog in 1080P with a flip out screen makes things all the more exciting. Its so funny because vlogging takes a LOT to get used to, and even still to this day I’m nervous to vlog in public. Deep down, I wish I was like Alisha and Teala and could just be fearless in a store, ordering my Starbucks and casually talking to you guys in a vlog. It’s kind of my new years resolution. My very first vlog camera brought a ton of memories, like when I vlogged my best friends and I looking at Christmas lights in my old neighborhood back home, or when I got my hair done in the very first fancy ‘Los Angeles’ salon I’d ever been to (and the last…I like salons back home way better!), but my favorite vlog I remember doing on my first vlog camera was the Pretty Little Liars A Reveal. Holy shishkabob. I remember Alisha came over, and I didn’t own a tripod for my vlog camera, so we balanced my camera on a stack of shoeboxes and books and made popcorn and watched the A reveal. When they said A was Charles, I jumped so freaking hard that the entire vlog camera fell over. That was the funniest moment though, because we literally jumped. We were so scared. We jumped so hard and when I scooped my vlog camera off the ground, there was a small crack in the screen. All because of how shook we were about the PLL A reveal. My leg was going crazy like a damn animal and it was all caught on vlog.

Since then, two years have passed and I just recently got a new vlog camera- the same one, but without a crack. I’m creating new memories with it, like taking it with me to Puerto Rico and finally (almost) finishing Vlogmas 2016….hey, I got 23/24 the way there. New cameras mean new memories and new cracks to be made in them, but I’ve still kept my very first vlog camera all these years, and now I want you to have it.

It still works. Don’t worry. I hope you don’t mind my crack in it. You can thank Pretty Little Liars for that one. But I hope it inspires you to go out and create memories with it, whether they’re vlogs, crappy headshots for acting class or more. Get inspired, and make your #RememberWhen

XOXO,

Eva

Enter to win my old vlog camera by tweeting me a photo of your #MYLIFEASEVABOOK Preorder confirmation! Winners will be chosen daily and contacted via Twitter DM

 

 

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What I Learned In 2016 – Mylifeaseva

2016 is finally, finally over (good riddance and peace out). As I can assume through social media, 2016 was kind of a nightmare for everyone. Now I’m not going to lie, 2016 provided many of the best memories of my life! So much happened and so much changed, and sometimes I’d want to cry of happiness and sometimes i’d want to die in a damn hole. But 2016 is over now, so let’s reflect.

2016 was the biggest year of learning in my life, aside from 2012 (in high school), when I learned the important lesson that life isn’t going to hand you anything, and if you want something you better work as hard as you can to get it- on your own.

I thought I’d always known myself.

I did, in a way. I knew who I wanted to become, and I knew when to say no. I knew what I wanted to do and what I didn’t want to do. I knew I didn’t want to do drugs. I knew I didn’t want to sit around. I knew I wanted to someday write a book. I had some things figured out. Decisions seemed relatively easy up until 2016. Before 2016, I was living in Orange County and going to college. Things were on a set track; Go to school, upload weekly, visit your boyfriend who lives down the street and feed your cat.

But then things changed.

I moved to LA, my relationship ended, I finished school and suddenly all I had was my cat.

Living in LA is different than Orange County. Even though I was only 40 miles away my whole life, LA seemed like another planet. The nights started later and went on much longer. The people in LA weren’t like the people at my school in Orange County. Suddenly, me, a girl who had been to maybe four parties her entire life, was sitting in the middle of a dirty old couch in a nearly empty mansion in North Hollywood, surrounded by 14 year olds smoking weed and making out.

This wasn’t me, and I knew it wasn’t where I was supposed to be spending my time. But here I was, my first month in LA, and I almost convinced myself that this was the life I was going to live now. I remember clearly sitting on another one of those countless dirty couches after only two weeks of living in LA and thinking “I’ve never smoked weed before, but maybe I should try it. I live in LA now, and this is what LA people do. I guess this is normal”. A kid passed me a bong and I tried it. I immediately started coughing and thrusted it back. WTF? Eva. This is not you.

Time passed by, and suddenly two weeks turned into 2 months of surfing couches at probably a total of 5 parties I experienced. I saw girls I’d always looked up to on youtube and Instagram fall into the whole “LA lifestyle”. At first I thought they were cool, and I wanted to be like them. I saw them at parties and could never talk to them because I wasn’t in their group, and I wasn’t doing the things they were doing. I knew I didn’t want to do drugs. I didn’t even want to be surrounded by them. It made me feel dark. It made me feel like I was in the slow lane when I had always been in the fast lane, hustling and putting all my love into my youtube channel. Uploading got harder, and something I never thought would happen.

I lost myself.

Almost.

At the time that I moved to LA, Teala and I were just becoming best friends. Her and I would go to the parties together, and we both could tell that we weren’t into them. We were fun, and loved to have a good time- but not like that. We needed something different, we just didn’t know what it was, or how to find it. I think we were looking for a way to have fun on weekends, but parties weren’t the answer. It wasn’t until one night that we saw someone that we knew throw up all over an apartment elevator because of doing too much drugs that we had a serious reality check.

Who were our friends? Who cared and loved for us? Who would be there for us without doing drugs or ubering to parties? It dawned on us that everyone we thought was our friend was really only there for us on weekends to split an uber ride, and even then, we weren’t doing the drugs, so we were always detached.

Thats when we realized the only real friends we had in LA were each other. Teala and I decided to leave the people who only wanted to hang out after 9:30 pm, and suddenly it was just her and I.

Teala and I did everything together. We were all each other had. We took up so many new and cool things. Instead of going to a party on the weekends, we’d play the latest video games and order Veggie Grill. We’d see a movie. We’d get our nails done or go to Wi Spa. We explored LA and made our own fun in so many amazing ways.

Just a few months later, Sierra and Meredith joined us on our quest to finding the good, clean fun in life. I think they too were girls looking for something more than what LA offers on the surface. And so all of us began to take the world by storm together, throwing Disney dates and dinner dates. We spent time together and had more fun than any party could ever offer, and we did it all 100% sober.

The thing I’d always stayed true to myself about was knowing that drugs and alcohol do not make a life fun. You make your life fun. I’d gone all throughout growing up making the most amazing memories sober the whole time, which to some people may think is weird, but to me, I didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t for any religious reason, and I wasn’t judging anyone that did it differently than me. Just to me, I never bothered to try it. I consider myself pretty crazy and happy all the time, so I didn’t need anything else to make me have a good time somewhere.

Then I get to LA and it’s almost like drugs and alcohol were deemed “necessary” to having a good time. And that was the first time in my life that I’d experienced that. For a second, I almost let it change me. But I didn’t, and neither did the Savage Squad, and I think that’s why were so strong together.

 

2016 taught me that just when you think you have it all figured out, you don’t. You will always be growing and learning. It’s kind of like math class, when your teacher teaches you 1+1=2 and then you look at the test and its 1+1=-54574385973+45*^3 =a +b =c^tan cos 3.

Like no.

But that’s life, and you need to be prepared to stick to what you believe is right for you through it all. I say for you, because you can’t be judging people if their path is different than yours. If 500 kids want to do drugs to have a good time, thats not your problem. Your only problem is you, so take care of yourself and stay true to what you need to do for yourself. Stay healthy, stay motivated and know how to have a good time that’s fueled only on the energy of your closest friends surrounding you. It’s about knowing yourself and what your perfect recipe of good clean fun is. That’s what matters.

But it’s not all about drugs and alcohol. I had other learning experiences in 2016, like dealing with the worlds crappiest boys, attempting to hit on girls and have them take me seriously as being bisexual, and dealing with my second depression.

I don’t want this blog post to get too long, but let me recap and you can maybe tell me in the comments or tweets what you’d love for me to expand on in a bigger story.

In the summer of 2016, I turned into too much of a “yes girl”, where even when I was drowning in work, videos to edit and more, id always say yes to everything because I didn’t want to make anyone mad. When I didn’t have time to see my best friends, I’d make time, which would make me behind on work, which would make people mad. When I needed to work, I couldn’t see my friends, which would scare me that maybe they thought I didn’t care about them. I had too much to do- not enough time, and yet, I tried and I tried to balance it all. It became unhealthy, and I found myself filming new videos every week and never getting around to finishing them, and suddenly,  I didn’t have anything I could gather the strength to finish to upload. I was in a complete mess of a cycle and didn’t know how to fix it. I started to become depressed. When I was with my friends, I felt like I wasn’t even there. It was like my body was there, but no words could come out of my mouth that made sense. I was just present to be somewhere. Meanwhile, I would spend my days not leaving bed until 3 pm. I’d lay in bed all day with no motivation to do anything at all. I was so behind, It gave me anxiety to start anything I needed to do. I couldn’t leave my house, and didn’t even bother to shower. Id cry for no reason. I think it was just because of everything piled on top of me that I didn’t know how to fix.  It was bad, and I’m sure a lot of people never even knew it was happening to me. I started to see a therapist, which helped me get out of my depression, but for the longest time, I wasn’t motivated to do anything.

In 2016, I met a lot of crappy guys, which a lot of fans judged me for, and I’m going to assume they weren’t evanators because evanators don’t talk crap, but I’m glad it happened, because trust me- it will happen to everyone, and despite having run ins with some crazy guys, I also had a ton of fun, and stories that will last a lifetime.

2016 was the first year that I got to be single since I was 17. In my opinion, I feel like relationships are great, but everyone needs a time in their adult life where they experience whats out there in the dating world. It’s the only way to really see what you need in a relationship! I had the best relationship growing up, but it took us breaking up for me to realize so much about myself that I never knew existed.

This year was my trial and error year. You guys don’t know this, but a lot of the guys you shipped me with that never ended up working out often ended because we just weren’t meant to be together! (i.e, supports Donald trump, shoots and kills bears, is secretly dating 4 other girls on the side) yeah, those qualities don’t really sound like they align with me. So I went around this year trying to meet as many people as possible and learn about myself. I learned that a lot of boys (most of them in my case) just want to waste your time and maybe gain a few quick Instagram followers. Isn’t that sad? When you’re in social media, you have to worry about if a guy likes you for you or just for your Instagram followers, because they’ll act like they like you when they may not even find you attractive at all. It sucks.

This year, I got used by boys, I got my time wasted by like 59849743 people, and I hit on girls that most likely never got the hint and thought I was just being “friendly”. It was my first time I learned what the true single life was all about, and I’m glad I experienced heartbreak, betrayal and some pretty great liars because it only made me stronger. Strong AF.

And hey, it all worked out in the end, because just as I had been kicked down for what I thought was the final time I could handle of the year (a guy I really liked told me he didn’t want a girlfriend, then a week later- had a girlfriend, yep), I met Adam.

And I don’t need to say too much about Adam, other than he’s a real one and this is nothing but good, solid, unconditional love.

 

So, 2016, thank you for reminding me of who I am. Thank you for testing me. Thank you for making me stronger. I thought I was strong before 2016, but now I’m ready to take on anything. I know when to say no. I know when to say no, I will not allow you to change my judgement. I will not allow you to take advantage of me. I will not allow you to lie to me, and I will not allow my anxiety to take over my life.

Thanks 2016 for bringing me three other true friends who love me In the daytime. Three friends who are the realest. Three friends who will always have each other’s backs. One Savage Squad.

Thanks 2016 for testing my patience with a bunch of guys who wanted to waste my damn time. Thanks for teaching me my self worth, and for making me learn the hard way how to stick up for myself when people want to do me wrong.

Thanks 2016 for leading me to find my other half. Thank you for giving me someone to inspire me every day, travel with and cuddle with at night. Thank you for giving me someone who truly deserves all the love I can give.

Through all the hard times in 2016, thanks for blessing my family with good health, and keeping my evanators safe and healthy through all of the world’s events.

Life isn’t easy, but it is a beautiful journey, and 2017 is already feeling like its going to be even better.

What did you learn this year??

Love,

Eva

 

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Christmas In St. Moritz, Switzerland

You guys know how much I love to travel. Alaine and I basically took the world by storm in 2016, traveling everywhere from the Bahamas to the Aegean Sea (which btw was the most freeing time of my life!). I was literally prepared to take on forty more countries in a week with Alaine, until she got a real person job and suddenly could no longer be my travel buddy for the time being.

I was devastated.

Who was I going to eat vegan schnitzel with in the streets of Berlin? Who would hold my hand as I waded through a beach break of (friendly but f*cking intimidating) stingrays in the cays of the Caribbean?

In comes Barto.

Captain Barto, as I should say. Or, as I like to call him; Adam.

Adam is my boyfriend. And with only having been “official” with him for maybe two weeks, I asked him to come with me to Europe…On a crazy Switzerland adventure… because yes, I am insane.

Luckily he said yes, because I soon found out that Adam too, is insane.

Nonetheless, we packed our bags and a few days later we took a literal 14 hour Lord Of The Rings odyssey to find St. Moritz, Switzerland, where we would be exploring for the next week.

Berina Express Swiss Alps, St. Moritz, Switzerland

Trains, trains everywhere. 

When in St. Moritz, be prepared to take the train or bus. But don’t fret- you’ll absolutely want to. Especially the Berina Express, which is that iconic red train that travels through the alps and has panoramic views for all your Harry Potter dreams to come true! My tip is to take an early train so it’s more likely that the panoramic cab is empty, and you and your travel buddy can have it all to yourself to play music/dance/sing/take photos/be obnoxious and just enjoy the views in solidarity.

Take the Berina Express to Alp Grum, especially if you are visiting in the peak winter seasons. Theres a giant frozen lake that is a glorious shade of alpine blue, and you can ice skate here. But- be prepared and bring your own ice skates. We couldn’t find any rental spots there, and it’s easier to rent them in town for a cheap price and return them after your train ride. If you go to St. Moritz you HAVE to ice skate at this spot. Apparently it’s the “second best spot to ice skate in all of Europe” (as the locals said), and with the combination of absolute tranquility, a background of the snowcapped Swiss Alps, frozen teal blue ice to skate on and a bright red train passing by- I’ll give that claim to them without a doubt.

Ice skating on Alp Grum train station, Lago Blanco

Pink house in St. Moritz, Switzerland Swiss Alps

I could go to St. Moritz just to ride the trains through anywhere they could take me. The cool thing about St. Moritz is that it’s got a central train station that can get you to so many places. If you had a few days in St. Moritz, you could take the train all the way to Munich, Frankfurt or even Milan! It’s not a far ride, and there’s even a restaurant on board. If you can’t go as far as hopping the country, you can still enjoy the train on the way to and from the airport. Theres tons to see and tons to take photos of! I snapped this photo of the pink house on the way to the airport on our last day.

Berina Express with Adam and Eva

Giradino Hotel, Switzerland

Of course, when in St. Moritz, you’re going to need a cool place to stay. We stayed at Hotel Giardino Mountain, which is a five star hotel located in a pocket of St. Moritz and surrounded by some very aesthetic little hotels that are perfect for shooting looks around. Be sure to keep an eye out for doors in St. Moritz; they provide the most beautiful backdrop for outfit pics! 

When in the Swiss Alps, you have to go skiing or snowboarding! I went snowboarding for the first time, which resulted in a lot of scary falls on my butt just inches away from sliding off the slope and into 400 pine trees. Advice: maybe don’t learn how to snowboard on any mountain in St. Moritz… the easy ones are still super professional.

Falling on your butt every two seconds takes a toll on you, so be sure to stop into any of the local restaurants on the mountain for a hot glass of Gluhwein and a warm blanket to cuddle in!

St. Moritz was pretty amazing. Just getting to tuck away into such a tiny town where everyone’s main focus is which mountain to ski on all day and what glass of red wine they’ll have for dinner. It’s such a beautiful town with so much potential to see and experience more with just a quick and breathtaking train ride! The pastel town has a painted backdrop of the alps to gaze at all the way until the sun goes down. It’s romantic and quaint, and the perfect little escape for any snow lover!

Have you been to the snow? Where did you go!

Love,

Eva

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Sailing In The Aegean Sea

On my 22nd birthday, I found myself in Santorini, Greece. I’m not one to “treat myself” on one day adventures, but since Greece was my dream destination, and I had never really taken a boat before anywhere aside from cheap car ferries, I figured it was time to test uncharted waters- literally. Wow that was a terrible joke. Anyway, I rented a catamaran for my birthday. Here’s how the festivities went!

Fruit buddies

Part of renting a boat means the boat people will make you rent out people as well, like a private chef. Luckily, our private chef was the sweetest and most chill greek woman ever, and we found out like us, she LOVES fruit. After a quick hustle out from the port to the open ocean, she presented us with the first fruit plate of the day. We shared it with her, and together we sat eating nectarines (my favorite) and apples, with tiny toothpicks. Alaine and I had to be extra af and feed them to each other.

Searching for Islands

This was taken right before our captain literally peer pressured us into jumping into the sea. I was scared, and we had only been on the boat for maybe 20 minutes and already here we are about to hop into the ocean off the side of this boat. I was all dolled up in my birthday makeup, so of course, we had to do a quick photoshoot before hopping in! The hair was on point and I really didn’t want to mess it up, but when the ocean calls, you answer.

Hours after swimming like a lil’ fishy and two more fruit plates deep, Alaine and I settled in for some golden hour shooting on the deck of the boat. We finished the night off watching the sunset…while I droned it all (the video is on my instagram!), and finally settled in to enjoy the ride back to the port from the back of the boat. I played Ben Howard tunes and contemplated all my life decisions. That’s what sunsets on boats are for, I suppose. It was a good moment, and an amazing birthday I’ll never forget.

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GIRLS IN SANTORINI

Santorini; probably the most romantic place I’ve ever been to. I’m so lucky I got to be single AF in Santorini with one of my best friends! Seriously though, I absolutely loved this place. Why? Even though it was a definite “on the map” tourist destination, I felt like I was left on my own to wander freely. Santorini wasn’t empty, however it wasn’t ever crowded. The biggest crowd Oia ever got was a group of about 30 people in the best mood ever, quietly enjoying a gorgeous sunset. Other days, I was left on my own, free to literally do anything I wished in Santorini, which of course included grabbing Alaine and barefoot parkouring it on people’s roofs, as we wildly searched for the perfect photo spot.

Girls Featured: Eva Gutowski (Mylifeaseva) and Alaine Limjoco (TheFashionBum)

Me pretending to be @Captainpotter

Feel free to hang your feet off of anything and everything in Santorini.

Me pretending to be Gypsylust

Santorini consisted a lot of being barefoot, wearing white, and climbing Jungle Book style all over the architecture. It was a sense of freedom for sure. This idea of being fearless, yet also feeling safe. I jumped off of a boat for the first time in Santorini. I hung my toes over cliffs of homes white I shot photos. I even jumped off a cliff on my own, without any help of boys! That was pretty freeing. Santorini helped me find a sense of strong womanhood for sure.

Woah Eva, don’t fall!

If you get a chance to stay in Santorini, I recommend staying in Fira instead of the popular Oia. Oia is only a hop skip and jump away in a car (about a 20 minute drive), and you will thank yourself later, because taking your time to soak in the drive at sunset is a must. Most people don’t know this, but Fira is actually a way more unique and gorgeous view than Oia in my opinion. Fira is cut alongside the massive caldera. Think hardcore Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants vibes. Theres the most insane cobblestone walkway all along the caldera that you can walk on at all hours of the day and feel like you’ve transformed into a literal poet or highly intellectual person. Im telling you, this cobblestone walkway could make you figure out any life problem you need to solve. It’s simply cleansing. If you’re tired of hiking up the caldera, take a break in a cafe that sits literally on the cliffs of the caldera. (Note: These places are super overpriced of course since they know you’re tired, hungry, and awestruck by their view, so just be prepared to pay a lot for a latte.)

Fira is peaceful. It’s quiet. It’s serene. I would take my mornings to sunbathe alongside the caldera cliff face on the edge of the pool. When in Santorini, you must get a pool meets sky photo.

The Aegean sea is simply magical. I’m a surfer, and I’ve generally gotten used to sitting in open ocean water, not knowing whats below me. But never in my LIFE had I been brave enough to jump off the side of a boat in the ocean. I mean, how DEEP is that water? What if there are sharks following the boat! I’ve just never been about the whole “I’m a young and free teenager jumping off the boat” thing. Until I took a boat in Santorini for my birthday (yes, I was here for my birthday!), and the captain of the boat anchored in this bay. He looked at Alaine and I and gave us the “well… aren’t you guys jumping off?” look. Alaine and I meandered around the boat and threw off excuses like we didn’t want to ruin our birthday glo ups, until finally, I was like “we need to do this Alaine… for the drone shot”. She agreed. Within minutes, we were soaking wet and diving into the Aegean sea for the first time.

I was scared. I don’t know why I was so damn scared after the fact. The Aegean sea is tame. It’s loving. You can just feel it when you’re in the water, nothing here wants to hurt you. As soon as I jumped off the boat each time, I panicked and swam back to the boat as fast as possible. If i could do it again, I definitely would have dived deep and said hello to the very cordial fish that hung around us. Im sure they were lovely.

Intense Security

If you’re a good explorer, you will find this little home at the end of a pathway in Oia. It all looks fun and games, until you notice their security system and camera. They aren’t messing around. Take your pictures and peace out respectively! On the other hand, feel free to climb all around their neighbors roofs (but you didn’t hear that from me).

SUPER PHOTO

Funny story about this photo. On the way to our boat ride, apparently we were running just five minutes too early. So our driver gets extremely excited and overjoyed. He turns his back to us, while on the road, and in the most wholehearted attempt at english just says to us “we have FIVE EXTRA MINUTES! This is VERY SPECIAL! I have the BEST VIEW OF GREECE I WILL SHOW YOU NOW! its going to be a SUPER PHOTOOOOO”. We trust him. We really wanted to get onto the boat, but sure, were down for a super photo.

We arrive at the spot, which takes around 10 minutes to get to. He looks at us, his smile wide “we only have a few minutes, but this is a lookout, the BEST view of Santorini. We only have time for JUST ONE SUUUUUPER PHOTOOOOO!”. We get out of the car and walk up to the view point, which was I guess not as epic as we were hyped up for. Alaine and I laughed. This guy was so stoked on us getting to take a “super photo” in this spot he loved so much. We looked back to the car and our eyes both focused on our driver who was watching us proudly (still smiling). So what did we do? We had a super photo shoot. I stood on the barrier and Alaine and I took a “super photo”. We got back to the car, and showed the very happy driver our shots. He was in heaven. We had to make him happy, and this photo- I mean super photo, now has so much meaning behind it- even if the view wasn’t that cool.

Whole Latte Love

Be sure to get an iced latte when in Santorini. Something about the way Greek lattes are made tastes so good. This was an adorable little coffee spot that you can easily find when wandering through Oia. When sitting at this coffee shop, you’ll probably even see some donkeys carrying luggage up the stairs to hotels! 





On the second to last day of Santorini, we chased the sunset in Oia. We were on such a roll and were just going to make it- that is- until a slow driving family had us backed up behind them going 20 mph on a 45 mph road for miles. When we finally arrived behind them in Oia, we had both missed the sunset. I was really really bummed, but as I walked back to the car, I found this adorable pair of labs that the owner of a restaurant owned. He let me play with them, and suddenly I found myself 30 minutes later rolling around on the floor with these two pups. I guess everything happens for a reason! Santorini was beautiful, magical, and everything i’d expected and more. Nothing compares to the serenity that this place gives off. I would 100%  return someday, and you should check it out too! Have you been to Santorini? Let me know!

XOXO, Eva!

 

 

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GIRLS IN MYKONOS

If you would have asked me any year of my life what my dream destination would be, I would have told you Greece. I was obsessed with Greece, particularly Mykonos. I mean come on, we’ve all seen that same photo of that one cobblestone street lined with blue windows, and I knew I had to see it for myself.  I dreamt of one day getting to that street, until July of this year, when I finally got to see Greece for myself… and of course, the street. But we’ll get to that later!

Girls Featured: Eva Gutowski (Mylifeaseva) and Alaine Limjoco (TheFashionBum)

First on the Greece stop was Mykonos. I knew I had a lot I wanted to get done in Greece, and figured Santorini would be the more relaxing spot of the country, so we powered onto Mykonos first. I knew little about Mykonos, but it wasn’t until I arrived (at the second tiniest airport I’ve ever been in) that I was pleasantly surprised at the culture of Mykonos. It was a PARTY spot! I had NO idea. I show up and the taxi driver is literally blasting Calvin Harris “Burning” in his headphones and head bobbing. He loaded our luggage into the back of his van and drove us through what would then be my first “tour” of Mykonos. Once we got to the hotel, I was vibing so hard. We came to Mykonos during a pretty bad wind storm and our room wasn’t ready yet, so we had to wait at the hotel pool for an hour. The hotel offered us champagne and then turned on their pool speaker system. Suddenly, this quant little boutique hotel starts blasting the most epic deep house remix ever to Claptone “No Eyes” (The Gamper and Dadoni Remix) and after a few sips of champagne, I was dancing around the hotel pool in the most intense deep house trance ever. This mood didn’t end until… well it still hasn’t ended.

Blue Doors

Yep, you guessed it. Beautiful blue and white- everywhere. Nothing else. We zipped through the city’s skinny dirt roads and took in the sights of the minimalistic yet oh so aesthetically pleasing, tiny homes. The driver told us that in Mykonos, it’s a law to have to keep your home white with select approved colors of your windows. That’s why nearly everyones home is white with splashes of gorgeous color!

Cats. Cats Everywhere.

Cats. Cats everywhere. One thing I did not mind in Mykonos and just Greece in general is their abundance of lovable street cats. I don’t know what it is, but something about gaining a street cat’s affection is the highlight of my life. Street cats can throw down. They’ve been through a lot. And for me to somehow gain the trust of not one, not two, but like FOUR street cats in Mykonos all within a few days made me feel pretty dang baller.

Pasta and Raviolli, please!

The food in Greece is absolutely ridiculous. Think the freshest veggies, cheeses and pastas you’ll ever taste! I’m a vegan now, but in Mykonos I was not. Im low-key glad I wasn’t, because I got to taste authentic greek yogurt, which my God you will crave every single hour of the day for the rest of your life once you leave Greece. Their greek yogurt tastes heavenly. When you go to Greece, don’t ever forget to try the greek yogurt!… every day!

Also, be sure to feast on all the homemade pastas and noodles. You can find a ton of authentic pasta shops that put love in every noodle right in the Mykonos town center. Caprese is also a must in Greece! And heavens, please don’t leave Greece without having fresh tzatziki!

Mykonos Town Center

The Mykonos town center is an absolute MUST. You can’t go to Mykonos without visiting the town center as much as you can. It’s the place. This is where you will get all of your epic blue and white, cobblestone street instagrams. However, don’t get caught up in the hustle of the tourism crowd! The town center is yours to wander, so don’t be afraid to get lost (because you certainly will, and it will be fun). Hike up the steep steps you see no one else climbing. Yes, it sucks and it is steep, but this is where you’ll wander off into the empty streets that are absolutely picture perfect. Literally, you will not believe this place. Theres gorgeous delicate fuchsia flower petals flowing through the breezy walkways, following your footsteps. Heck! Take your shoes off and walk barefoot! Dance in the pathways! This is your private spot for a few moments. You’ve hiked up the stairs no one else wanted to go up, enjoy it.

Stealing A Mans Scooter For A Pic

The best way, and really the only way to get around Mykonos is by scooter or quad. Don’t rent a car. Trust me, it’s scary, theres no parking, the streets are really too small for cars anyway, and the GPS is still pretty unreliable in Mykonos, so you may find yourself turning down the wrong street in the middle of the night and well, lets just say cars don’t have the same turn radius as a quad does, so have fun being stuck on a road until someone can tow you out of it backwards. Just don’t rent a car.

Quads were super fun! I had only ridden one in the desert, and was pretty scared to take a quad on a bustling street for the first time, but I did it and it all worked out! Quads make you truly feel like you’re living a college students dream. You feel really cool. The sun is on your back and the wind is in your hair, and you’re only occasionally getting your hair stuck to your chapstick. However, once the sun goes down, riding on a quad in the night gets pretty chilly. Make sure you keep some coverage in the cubby of your quad!

Oh, also, make sure you have the person you rented the quads from’s number. The first night we had the quads was all fun and games until Alaine’s quad broke in the middle of the town center, and the only way to get home was up the steepest, sketchiest 2.5 mile hill I’ve ever witnessed. I tried to ride up it to get help, and my quad broke too… on the hill, which resulted in ALL of our group hiking up a freezing cold hill in the least amount of clothes possible for 2.5 miles. Yeah, make sure your quad works.

Us probably freezing our butts off in our quad during sunset.

The music of Mykonos pulled me closer to this little place more than anything. I’m a huge fan of house music and edm music in general, but Mykonos made me fall in love with deep house so much more. The second night of Mykonos, the whole town was buzzing with the arrival of the latest DJ (David Guetta) that was coming to perform. We didn’t get tickets (I wish I did!), but ended up that night at another club (Cavo Paradiso) where we bobbed our heads to a local deep house DJ while I silently stared at the crowd knowing I could low key DJ a way more lit show.

Interestingly enough, that night as we rode our quads home to the hotel, I noticed some posters for my friends, The Chainsmokers, who were apparently coming to Mykonos to perform. I figured their performance was weeks away, until we called each other and figured out they were in Mykonos at the same time! Alaine and I ended up at their Mykonos show the next night, which was super fun…until Alaine got too lit and lost her phone on the club floor- which resulted in me taking a sad bestie home as the sun rose.

Mykonos town center is a great shopping spot. Let me tell you, there are shops GALORE here. You’ll walk one street and see the smallest, cutest little beaded jewelry boutique and smile warmly thinking “oh, how quaint this little town is”, and then you’ll turn another corner and see Victorias Secret Pink and Louis Vuitton literally embedded into an eggshell colored clay establishment with blue windshields and your mind will be so confused, but you just go with it. There’s also plenty of tasty gelato shops, shops that sell cute shoes, cheap sunglasses and more. I got a couple amazing orange sarongs that I ended up wearing nearly every day, which I felt vibed with the colors of Mykonos quite well.

Mykonos was absolutely amazing. Between the crystal clear aqua water that could compete with The Bahamas, the various shades of blue and white, and the romantic cobblestone streets of the town center that could make nearly anyone consider “finding themselves” again there, I have to rate it as one of the top trips of the year. If you ever get a chance to go to Greece, do NOT forget to stop by Mykonos for some watermelon dipped in fluffy greek yogurt by the sea, and amazing deep house music. Have you been to Mykonos? Let me know!

XOXO, Eva!

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Rainy Laguna Beach Trip!

Despite the rain, Laguna Beach was a perfect place to spend the afternoon. Being outside in the rain  forces you to literally not care at all about how you look. You learn to embrace it. I HATED being caught in the rain in school, but something about the rain being on your watch makes it sort of…fun! I know- it sounds insane. But when you have a gorgeous beach to stare at, the rain is totally fine. 

This is one of my favorite beaches in Laguna! The hidden beaches are the way to go there. I’ve never set foot on the main beach…most likely because finding parking is like finding your mom in a grocery store.

Yes, this photo was actually taken in the rain. Why am i wearing a two piece skirt dress? Because the weather man lied to me.

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Disappearing

Disappearing seems to be my specialty. I have this thing about me that is; whenever I stay in one place for too long, I go absolutely crazy. History has proven that the longest I can last in one place is around five months. It’s so odd. Every time I sign a lease on an apartment, I sign it for one year because that’s whats cheapest, but after five months, I find myself miserable. No matter how much I fall in love with a place at first sight, you can bet that after five months, I’ll be trying to escape.

So I’ve been escaping a lot lately. If you haven’t kept up with me (which don’t feel bad if you can’t; most of my closest friends can’t even), I’ve been to 4 countries and 5 states since I last posted. Because I like to consider myself an amateur photographer, I have a ton, AND I MEAN A TON, of photos to share with you! I don’t even know where to begin! I think I haven’t posted for so long simply because I’m so overwhelmed with content I want to inspire you with.

Anyways, I am spending nearly all day trying my best to organize all the photos and stories I want to share with you from my hectic past few months. For now, here is a photo of a beautiful view in Tahoe. It was the night of this epic sunset over the lake. I hadn’t ever seen a sunset like this one, and I’ll always remember it. Remember to reflect on the best moments in your life when you need to find happiness. You don’t always have to be looking forward.

Love, Eva

 

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