photo diary: greece

(view while walking down to Amoudi Bay in Oia, Santorini)

With about a week left in Israel, Oren and I decided to be 

super spontaneous and book a trip to Greece. We figured 

we were already half way across the world, we had both 

always wanted to go and it was too close to Israel not to do it, 

so three days later we were off to Crete.

Although our first hotel was quite disastrous, we definitely made

the most of our time. We rented a car, (named it Willy, don't ask why 
because I don't have an answer) looked at a map and started

driving. We spent an entire day picking random places on the map

and navigating our way through the small towns full of crazy Greek
drivers.

We ate a super weird lunch due to errors in translation... 

Clarification:"a small fish" does not mean a whole plate of tiny

 fish, right? We swam at a handful of beautiful beaches, sweat a lot, 

and got really dusty due to dirt roads.

We found places I thought only existed in a dream life. We drove 

(off roaded if this were Oren typing) almost 2 hours down a bumpy

dirt road (pictured below) with no idea what we would find at the end.

The choice to continue the terrifying drive around twists and turns, above 

drops onto jagged rocks, proved to be the right decision. The end of the 

road brought us to secluded beach  (also pictured below) with only six other 
people and tons of goats... yes. goats.  We both agreed that it was the most 
beautiful place we had ever seen.

For our last two days, we decided to go to Santorini. We arrived at our 
teeny hotel right in the cliff in Santorini. From the ground floor you took 
an elevator down 3 floors and THEN walked down another 150+ stairs. 
The view was unreal and it was so cool to stay right on the side of the cliff.

Greece is such a stunning place. It looks just like in the movies.... 
But with more goats.

(charming street in Oia)

(on our way to the end of the dirt road)

(local man and his horses in Oia)

(outside of a pretty building)

(octopus tentacles drying out at our lunch spot)

(one of the many amazing views on our road trip in Crete)

(posing by my favorite trees... I made Oren stop at all of them... they are everywhere)

(close up of my favorite tree)

(Dinner spot on a bay in Rethymnon, Crete)

(view from our hotel in Santorini)

(having fun with the amazing views on our road trip in Crete)

xxAli

  (photos: Ali Stone Photography images: 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17 & 
Oren A Photography images: 3, 5, 8, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18)

photo diary: Israel

Fall is officially here and I have been doing some serious 
reminiscing about my summer. I felt it was finally time to share 
with you some photos from my summer travels. 

In July, Oren and I went to Israel to visit family and friends, 
dive and relax on the beach. Eilat is like a super hot heaven 
and is a beautiful place to visit. We ate unbelievable food, 
spent time with the loveliest people, explored markets and I 
finally took my first real dives (I'm hooked)!   

I had a summer made of dreams, really. I am sad it's over, 
but oh so happy that it happened. 

I hope you enjoy some of my favorite images from each trip.
Beginning here with photos by Oren and I from Eilat and Tel Aviv.
(All images taken on camera, iphone or gopro.)

xxAli

  (photos: Ali Stone Photography images: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 13 & 
Oren A Photography images: 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 14)

hood river: iphone photo diary I

There are few things I love more than Hood River, Oregon. The wind, 
the water, the heat and the people. Oh, the wonderful people. We 
started coming here 16 years ago and we've built a West Coast family. 
It's always a joy to come back.

The outdoor possibilities here are practically endless. Hiking to massive 
waterfalls, paddling both flat water and killer downwinders in the swell, windsurfing, 
kiteboarding, mountain biking, you name it, they do it here. 

It's special to be able to travel across the country and feel like you're still home. 
Like every year, we'll be sad to leave. But, we know coming back is never too far away.  

xxAli 

(all photos from my iPhone)

photo diary: bright lights, big city.

New york is like a loud, smelly dream. Streets lined with food vendors, a store for 

every designer you could imagine and trash. Lots and lots of trash. It smells bad but 

looks great. The people watching doesn't get much better anywhere and 

the shopping (for food and fashion) can't be beat. These are just a few 

photos from a short, lively four days in NYC.

Hello, I love you.

xxAli

Photos: Ali Stone Photography & Oren A Photo

Obi the Frenchie Pup.

I have always been a dog lover. It took me four years to convince my mom to get our first dog! When I moved out of my parents house, one of the things I missed the most was seeing my dogs every day. I started to think about getting my own dog, but knew it probably wasn't a great idea while I was still in school. I would research all the time, deciding what breed would be best for me. Three years ago, I decided that was going to be a French Bulldog. My friends and family told me I was obsessed! I always reading about them and looking at pictures (I follow over 30 frenchies on instagram.. obsessive? maybe). But, I knew I had to wait until I was out of college to get one so I could give my pup the awesome life he deserved and not leave him home every day while I was in class. I patiently waited and researched and waited some more. 

It was proving to be much more difficult to find a good breeder than I expected. I got in touch with our vet months ago to ask him to keep a lookout for a breeder. I would make calls almost weekly to possible breeders, none of them working out for a multitude of reasons. Eight weeks ago, our vet delivered a litter of four gorgeous frenchie pups. He immediately put me in touch with the breeder. An older lady who lived only about 45 minutes away from my hometown. It took me a few days to get in touch with her, but when I did, she was thrilled. She was so kind and interested in my life. She realized pretty quickly that I could not wait to have my own pup and was really ready for the commitment. After a while on the phone, she said she would be happy to sell me one of her frenchies. I was so excited I started crying (yes, I'm a bit of a sap). She sent me a photo of the four pups the day they were born from that photo I picked out my beautiful boy, mostly white with black eyes, ears and spot on his cute little butt. 

Here we are, Obi and I, eight weeks later, loving every minute together. So far, he's been a wonder. I'm one lucky girl to be the mom of this little pudge baby.

xx

ALI & OBI