Danny's Last Day

... man I am a slacker. Posts went from Danny's first days, to his last, with nothing in between. Oops. I think I can say Danny had a good time here. Surfed a lot of the North Shore. Hiked on the South Shore. Ate some good food, a lot of which came from the grill I work at. His flight takes off at almost midnight tonight. Ouch. Hopefully he will sleep through most of it ...

Unfortunately this whole holiday weekend I will be working doubles at my jobs. I must say I am pretty sick of having jobs where I am scheduled on the weekends. It feels like that is when everyone else is having their fun, and I am pretty much always working. It might be time to lose one of them ...

Anyway - I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas, and has a fantastic New Years!!

Over and out.

Danny's first week...

So Danny has been here almost a week... here's what we've been up to:

First night he came with me on a week for my run around the park. I lost him. My music was up too loud, so when his bike chain broke I couldn't hear him yell. (note to self: should probably start listening to music a little softer). I ran all the way home before realizing he wasn't behind me anymore. Oops. I did find him though, and he was very thankful.
The rest of his trip has been spent on the North Shore with our auntie Shar Lyn and cousin Conner. He and Conner have been surfing a lot, and Danny already broke a board at Rockies. We cooked a lot and have had a lot of fun. One lunch we saw Pam Anderson at the Wailua Bakery! ... Conner missed out on that lunch, so funny enough they went back a few days later, and she was there again! Lucky boys.
I'm back in town at the moment, back to work sadly, but I will hopefully be back up Tuesday night.

I think I already heard Danny dreading having to leave Hawaii. Now doesn't that sound familiar...

Danny is here!

Yay, Danny just got here, he's eaten dinner, and now we are about to go for a run. I will try to keep you posted on what we do!

Christmas is Coming

Shaka Santa

Gotta say the Christmas tree that they put up at Outback today made me pretty dang depressed that I am not in Florida for the holidays. I have been doing a pretty good job of ignoring the fact that Christmas is creeping up, but as it gets closer, it is increasingly hard to ignore the songs on the radio, the lights, and all the decorations around the city (Honolulu kinda goes all out).

That is what I drive past on my way home from work every day. ->

Getting in Shape

I have been trying to get motivated to start regularly exercising for some time now. So much harder than it sounds. I go on hikes here and there, surf once in a while, and have been on a few sporadic runs in the past few months. I'm not the weight I feel the most comfortable and while I already eat very healthfully (minus when my sweet tooth gets the best of me), exercise is the answer. Last night I started my quest to lose 15 pounds. I went on a 3 mile run around the park and zoo and it felt pretty good. Especially afterwards. The during is just was just okay haha. Today I am planning another run around the park. It is so weird how hard it is to get up and just go run. The run isn't even the worst part, it's the dread before. If I can just get my sneakers on I've already won half the battle.
I miss the days of high school sports where you exercised for hours with your friends and actually had fun burning calories. I have been trying to find adult sports leagues and running groups without much success. Jacksonville was a little better in this department, and whenever I do return, I plan on taking full advantage of this fact.
What do you think are the best ways to get and stay motivated to get regular, intense exercise?? (Dad, runner of a bazillion years??)

Direction

I'm not really sure what has come over me these past couple of days, but I have become a little overwhelmed by the feeling of having no sense of direction in my life. I have lived in Hawaii for 4 months now, have become pretty comfortable being on my own and have had countless fun adventures, so now what? Where do I go from here? I'm starting to feel like I have accomplished the adventure I sought here, and am now yearning for something with a little more direction for the future. Should I be back in school, working at a more serious job, taking classes to earn my professional teacher's license, earning a culinary certificate to pursue my love of cooking/food? Ughhhhh ... it is weird to go from a life that is so laid out for you (school, then college, then career) to one that has no real step by step timeline to follow ...

Any words of wisdom or advice would be much appreciated : )

Ellie

Ellie 

Today my mom called me at work to tell me our family dog, Ellie, died last night in her sleep. You always forget just how much a pet can be part of your family until they are gone. I'm halfway across the world, and I still feel something is missing at home. I wish I could have seen her before she died. And it seems so hard to fathom that she is just gone now, forever. Death is a weird that way. How can someone/something be such an important and fixed part of your life, just be gone? I'm gonna miss the funny way Ellie sat back on her hind legs and sat upright while you pet her. How her favorite part of going to the dog park was just to get pet by all the other dog owners, instead of playing with the other dogs. The ridiculous noise she made when she wanted attention, and how she looked like a bat when she slept on her back. I am going to miss the way she went absolutely crazy for pizza crust. I am so, so sad I will never pet her or hug her or rub her belly again.

RIP Ellie, you were the best 'dog' our family could have asked for.

UPDATE!

Hello my fine followers, it is finally that time. Time for a long overdue update! So, since I have posted last, Neil has come and gone, I survived my first Thanksgiving away from home, and my brother's countdown to get here is at 10 days!!

Having Neil here was so fun. Bittersweet, but fun. We went on four hikes (Pill Boxes, Mariner's Ridege, and Koko Head, and Manoa Falls), went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, had Thanksgiving in the garden at my Aunt Shar's friend's house, perused the farmer's market, shared acai bowls, relaxed on the beach, and watch some of the Triple Crown surf contest at Sunset Beach. We had a full week to say the least. I was luckily able to get off work the entire time he was here, so it was almost like a mini-vacation for me as well.  I forgot how nice it could be to be in paradise with your best friend.... until you have to drop them off at the airport :( that was hard. And hard is a HUGE understatement. Traumatizing probably fits a little better I'd say. Just ask my mom, the one I called sobbing my head off after I had to walk to the car after saying goodbye to him. Going home to Florida is looking pretty good right about now.

Anyway..... I did take some pictures of our adventures that you can see below! Such a beautiful island isn't it??

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*Random hilariosity from today: I had to take the bus home from my teacher aide job today ... man do I NOT miss that damn thing at all. My entire commute home from start to finish took 2 1/2 hours (20 min drive in a car), but on the bright side I did get to ride alongside Santa Claus. That's right, Santa Claus was on the bus. Fully decked out in his red suit, and wishing every person individually a "Merry Christmas" as they boarded the bus. I wish I could say he was the most interesting passenger. But for anyone who takes public transportation in the middle of the day could probably tell you, there was much, much more to take in.

Neglect

I am so sorry for anyone who normally reads my blog that I have been neglecting you so much this past week. Neil was visiting for Thanksgiving week and as bad as it may sound, this blog did not cross my mind once. We had way too much fun!

Unfortunately I am on a short break between jobs, so I don't have time for a full update, but I promise it is on it's way - including pictures!

Camping

This weekend my roommate, neighbors, and I went "camping". We stayed in an old cabin right on the beach, feasted, and hung around a campfire. It was a lot of fun, and made it feel a little like fall for once. The fire was complete with s'mores, thanks to Rosie, who insisted on stopping at the superette for marsh mellows. Took me back to the good 'ole girl scout days haha. In the morning we woke up to the sunrising over the ocean (we were camping on the east side of the island), and then my neighbor and I got to work on breakfast. She made grits and eggs, and I made banana, roasted macadamia nut pancakes. The pancakes were amazing if I do say so myself. ; )

We spent the rest of the day down at the beach relaxing, before I stopped by my aunts house to borrow her car to pick up Neil from the airport on Tuesday!!!!!!!!!! I forgot how much I love it up on the North Shore. It is like a different island compared to the south shore. I need to make it a point to make it up there more often. This is for sure.

Thanksgiving is almost here. Still haven't decided what I'm making. Yikes. I should probably get on that. Hmmmmm ....

Started at the Elementary School

Today was my first day as the teacher's aide for the first grade class I decided to help out. Those kids are adorable, oh my gosh! I am now officially Ms. Katie, and get to work with the little ones individually on reading and math. I cannot believe the huge range in ability between all the kids! I don't know how a teacher could attend to the students individual needs by themselves. I read with one student who had to sound out just about every word he read, while another (who had already skipped a grade) was reading a chapter book better than half of some of the middle schoolers I had in Florida. Crazy!

I will be working there five hours a day, three days a week. It seems to be a good little set up.

I cannot believe we are already halfway through November! It's ridiculous, I feel like yesterday I was in awe at how fast October flew by! Again, crazy!

Wow....

So I was walking home from the laundromat with my hands full of clean clothes, and I'm about two blocks away from the place, when this man comes running down the sidewalk with MY UNDERWEAR in his hands because I dropped them on the way out!!!! How embarrassing!! I think if I saw a stranger drop their underwear and they were already out of earshot, that pair would just have to accept a fate of living on the sidewalk for the rest of its days. Sorry.

On another note, I just got back from a lovely little run, swim, and walk. We ran down to the beach, swam out to the flagpole and back, and then walked through the park home. I feel so much better. Now I'm going to have lunch, and maybe go shoot around with the new basketball I bought yesterday : )

Resolutions

Kapiolani Park

I know resolutions usually wait until the new-year, which amazingly, isn't that far off. However, in light of the book I have been reading (The Happiness Project), I have decided to start early. Today, as party of my low-key, sickness recovery day, I treated myself to breakfast and coffee, and then took my book to the park to read in the fresh air, under the shade of a banyan tree. I love the park by my house! Anyway, the book highlights an entire year where the author aims to improve her happiness. She came up with resolutions to focus on each month in an effort to add more joy into her everyday life. As I was reading, I couldn't help ask myself what my resolutions would be if I were to add more happiness into my life. Not that I am unhappy now, but the purpose of this book is add even more happiness to your life, and why not? Happiness is something you can never have too much of in my, and probably most peoples', opinion.

Here is my first draft of resolutions I would like to start working on (some apply to when I come home). My plan is to print these out, and put them around my room in the hopes it will be a constant reminder to get up an do the things that make me happy. Let me know what you think, and share any resolutions you have now, or any you would like to start! One suggestion from the book that helped me come up with some of these is to remember what you enjoyed doing growing up. Make time to do those things again.

• Eat out once a week, somewhere new
• Listen to live music
• Dance more, learn to dance differently
• Salsa, ballet, hip hop
• Eat when I’m hungry, and savor it
• Join a sports team
• Learn something new – take a class
• Drawing, painting, cooking, guitar, Spanish, wine
• Lighten up & let it go
• Make new friends, and stay in touch with old ones
• Always be reading a book, not just novels
• Try a new recipe once a week
• Join a club, organization, etc.
• Go by myself
• Go on a mini – vacation once a month
• Go play outside
• Do something with Meghan & Danny once a week
• Grow my own food, even if it’s one plant at a time
• Run three times per week

And on that note, I am going to get started on "Go play outside". I have been talking about buying a basketball to go shoot around with for too long. I am going to buy one and shoot around right now. After all, there is no better time like the present, right? : )

Gratitude

I am currently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I whole-heartedly recommend it, and have found some very enlightening insight in its pages. I have been meaning to blog a little about some of the points I have found most useful and interesting, but I am sick, and don't feel quite like getting into all of that now. However, I am reading a section on gratitude and couldn't help but comment on it. I would really like to take a moment to say how inexpressibly grateful I am for my family. Of course growing up, it is pretty standard to bicker with your siblings, and to "hate" your parents for your early curfew, assigned chores, etc. Now though, especially being so far away from them, I am so thankful for my entire family. I have become so aware of the fact that they all will do anything to make me, or anyone of us, happy. My old boyfriend and I are trying to coordinate him coming out to Hawaii for Thanksgiving, which includes finding a place for our dog for the duration of his trip. I felt sure I could count on my brother, sister, and parents to help. It might sound a little "assuming" to think I could just unload my dog on my family for ten days, over Thanksgiving. But that is exactly what I am so grateful for. The fact that I know my family would do whatever it took to take care of the puppy so I could have a friend out here with me for the holidays. When I called my brother, sister, and parents (all individually) they each had the same reaction. They didn't dwell on details of how Hailey (the dog) would be taken care of. They each said, one way or another, they would make it work. No problem.

I have always felt this way about my family. Probably never took enough time to tell them. And for some reason with us, it always feels a little embarrassing to say mushy things like this, but I feel so lucky to have the brother, sister, and parents that I do. And I think the chapter in The Happiness Project really reiterated my deep feelings of gratitude toward them. So much so that I felt strongly compelled to heave my sick-self out of my bed to grab my computer and type up this blog post.

There. I feel better. I had to get that off my chest : )

Love and miss you guys!

House warming & Home sick

We have finally having a little house warming party tonight from 4-7pm. Unfortunately for Rosie I have to work up until people are supposed to come over, so she is in charge of the food. Sorry! It will be nice to show off our handy work a little, and have friends over without the evil eye of our old roommate peering out from her room. Ha.

Also. I officially miss home. Pretty bad. Maybe it's the holidays coming up, or maybe the honeymoon phase of being in a new place is starting to wear off a bit ... but either way, I miss it.

Starfruit Marmalade!

Oh!! I forgot to mention ... yesterday I made starfruit marmalade. A total experiment that turned out delicious! The starfruit tree outside probably has more fruit than leaves at the moment, and so I wanted to do something with them. Rosie made cookies which were pretty yummy, and yesterday I tried the marmalade yum yum! It is so fun to experiment with food and have it come out tasting good! Especially when the ingredients come out of your backyard! The marmalade reduced for about an hour an a half and went from a light yellow to this rich, dark red. So far it is delicious on toast and with brie cheese ... perhaps as a peanut butter and marmalade sandwich?? ... we'll see ...

Job Numero Tres!

This morning I woke up to a voicemail from the principal that decided to add me to her substitute list (which still hasn't started because the application process is extensive to say the least). She would like to hire me as a paraprofessional/teacher's aide for two of the 1st grade teachers at her school!! It's $13/hour and I will be working about 15 hours per week! Yay yay yay! This is exactly what I need - more income! I have been stressing the last week or so about money because my bank account isn't quite as healthy as it was when I moved her. It's lost a lot of weight you could say. And I don't particularly want a skinny bank account, body yes, bank account no.

I think I start next week. Just waiting on the phone call that my application/fingerprints have been processed.

I will have to invest in a raincoat though as I got soaked on the way into the school today. Not fun. And as winter draws closer, so does Hawaii's rainy season. Rain + moped = unhappy teacher's aide.

Halloween Weekend!

Dressing up consisted of two days and two separate events. First, was Art After Dark - the event held at the Art Academy with beer/wine, open art galleries, and live music, and of course, a costume contest. I had a lot of fun getting ready (which I think is the major source of fun when it comes to Halloween anyway), and between the red lipstick, huge pearl earrings, and fake eyelashes I felt like I belonged in the 40's. Rosie (the roommate) and I caught a cab and headed to the Art Academy. The line to get in was wrapped around the block! Noooo! Rosie was a member to the Academy so her line was only about 10 deep, aka an hour + less wait time than mine. There was no way in heck I was standing in that line, plus it would have been a miracle to even make it inside before the event ended. I decided to see how much it would cost to become a member. For students it was only $20 for a year. Sweet! Not too bad. It was two nice-looking elderly ladies working the membership sales. "They'll understand if I don't have my student ID" I thought. Ha! How wrong was I! They didn't budge an inch. I pleaded with them explaining my friend was already inside and I was stuck out here all by myself, and my ID was at my house, I just didn't bring my wallet. There were hearing none of it. Ughh! I am not paying $55 to become a member, when I have no clue how much longer I'm even going to be living in Hawaii ... and that's when I saw my in. Two young guys nearly at the front of the 3 mile long, non-members line. Maybe if I ask really nicely they'll let me stand in line with them... "Excuse me, my friend is already inside, and I'm out here all by myself, and those mean old ladies won't let me in because I don't have my student ID, and I really don't want to go to the end of that long line .... do you think I could stand in line with you??" (fake eyelashes came in handy here, haha) All they said was "you've been standing here with us this whole time, right?" ... exactly ... they caught my drift. Success! I was in! **Life lesson learned from all this: if you are planning to go somewhere that has a chance of a long entry line. Wear fake eyelashes and bat away! Haha.

Saturday was dress up time round two. My cousin and 4 of her friends came down from the North Shore and we all got ready at my house. They raved about our place! Said it looked straight out of a magazine! Yay! I loved hearing that :) We all got dressed up - me as Rosie again, my cousin as a punk rocker, her girlfriend was Liza Minelli, and then a pin-up girl, a snail, and a greek god and loaded into a cab and headed for Chinatown. Wow! It was so crowded! Six stages of live bands playing and thousands of people dressed up in costumes! Talk about people watching. After about four hours of walking around downtown, aimlessly trying to find other friends that were downtown, listening to music, dancing, and drinking, everyone was about ready to head home. Well almost, the majority of our group voted to stop at Zippy's (the Denny's of Hawaii - AKA crappy diner that's open 24/7). Finally, after everyone got their healthy dose of sodium, saturated fat, and preservatives, they were ready for bed. I had a greek god in my kitchen, a snail on my living room floor, and Liza Minelli in my the other bedroom. Only on Halloween!

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First things first ... Pizza Recipe!

This pizza was delicious when I made it a few days ago. However, this is NOT a recipe that falls into the quick and easy category. It takes a good little while to make, so more of a weekend dinner when you have some extra time. You can always roast the veggies the day before to save some time!

It has all my favorite ingredients on it: butternut squash (probably my all-time favorite ingredient), goat cheese (a close second), caramelized onions, sun-dried tomato pesto, and spinach. Here is how I made it!

Ingredients:

• 1 store-bought ball of pizza dough (I used whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup of sun-dried tomato pesto
• 3 large handfulls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups of low-fat, shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 medium butternut squash, cut into 1" cubes
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles 
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt & pepper  
• 5 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced 
• red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 thin slices of prosciutto (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F and take pizza dough out of the fridge to rise (needs 30 minutes). 
2. Heat a medium sized saute pan over medium-low heat
3. Add 1/2 tbsp olive oil, and then the sliced onion. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Onions will slowly begin to caramelize while you are roasting the butternut squash and red pepper.
4. Put butternut squash and red bell pepper in a large bowl. Add remaining olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and minced garlic. Toss to evenly coat veggies in olive oil. 
5. Line a baking sheet with olive oil and spread veggies out on pan, and put into preheated oven to cook for 40-45 minutes, stirring once after 20 minutes. 
6. While squash/red pepper and the onions are cooking, stretch pizza dough out to the size of your baking sheet. 
7. After the butternut squash is cooked, and the onions are caramelized, set these veggies aside. 
8. Place stretched pizza dough on a lightly greased baking sheet and put in the oven for 5-7 minutes, flip the dough over, and cook for another 5-7 minutes (or until both sides are a very light golden color). 
9. As the pizza dough is cooking add fresh spinach to the onion pan and cook until just wilted.
10. Turn oven to broil, and broil prosciutto slices until crispy (about 1-2 minutes per side). Break prosciutto up into small 1/4" pieces. Turn oven bake to 425 after prosciutto is finished crisping. 
11. Top pizza with sun-dried tomato pesto, then wilted spinach, then shredded mozzarella cheese, followed by the onions, butternut squash/red pepper mixture, and finally the goat cheese crumbles.
12. Cook pizza for another 10-12 minutes, or until dough is golden brown. 
13. Remove from oven and top with fresh basil, red pepper flakes, and crispy prosciutto bits. 
14. Eat and enjoy - yum yum!!

Halloween Weekend on the way...

Ok, I sort of feel the need to apologize for my increasing laziness when it comes to writing new posts. I wish I could say that I am so busy having the time of my life that I just couldn't even find ten minutes to post. Unfortunately ... not the case lately. This week has been a tough one. I have had a hard time entertaining myself during the day while my roommate is at work, and other friends are at school, work, etc. And down time like this is when I start to feel really lonely and miss home. Hence talking to my sister on the phone for an hour and a half (thank goodness for free family minutes right mom?? haha). I got so desperate yesterday I went on a 3 hour hike by myself! It was pretty nice, definitely good exercise, but I couldn't help thinking how it would have been a lot nicer with friend. At least the weekend, excuse me, Halloween weekend, is on its way! I am sooo ready for some fun distractions to keep me from being homesick!

Rosie the Riveter

This Friday is Art After Dark again and Saturday is a block party in Chinatown! Costumes both nights ... which I do not think I have mentioned, but I am going dressing up as Rosie the Riveter. I bought red lipstick, a bandana for a buck at a kwik-e-mart, high waisted shorts and a button down shirt from Goodwill, for a grand total of about $15, not bad! I will definitely take pictures to share!

Also, a few girlfriends from the westside are coming to stay with us on Saturday which will be nice! Our first house guests in the new place! Yay! Of which I am even more fond of now that I found out her halloween costume ... a French MAN! Hahaha. I must say I misjudged her. I pinned her as the type of girl who would were a scandalous nurse or cop costume. I was wrong. Her French man costume includes a mustache and a baguette. Too funny!

Butternut Squash Pizza

So today I am off to have my TB test read (one of the approximate 10,000 steps to becoming a substitute teacher in Hawaii). When I come home I will start cooking. I promised my roommate my specialty pizza.... roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, spinach, and goat cheese! Yum Yum! If anyone is interested in the recipe let me know! Happy to share! ... which reminds me... a little thanks to Leslie - I made good old pepperonchini chicken the other night and it was, of course, a hit with friends! So thanks for that one :) Here is a picture I took once when I made it before ... 

Alright, I will try to start posting more. I have been getting complaints on my dwindling number of PPW (posts per week - haha), which I guess is a compliment.

I will leave you with a question - what is everyone dressing up as for Halloween??!!??

Substituting and Dim Sum!

Picture from dim sum in June

I have decided to add substituting into my list of current jobs - I loved teaching, and I love being around schools ... and .... Hawaii is freakin' expensive! I spent an entire day calling every school in town to try and get a school to interview me to be on their "preferred sub list" (which is the first step in the extensive - to say the least - hiring process). Finally I got a call back from an elementary school in the poorest, and furthest area of town. At least I have a school though right? Then of course, after meeting with and telling the principal I'd love to be on her list, I get a call this morning from a much closer middle school (the age I taught it Florida). Dang it! Now what am I supposed to do? One of the first things you learn in Hawaii is not to burn any bridges because Oahu is a small island, and some way or another, everyone knows everyone. Shoot!

Side note: my cousin is back from Maui and we are going to dim sum in about an hour and a half! Woo hoo! Can't remember if I have talked about dim sum yet, but its basically a Chinese style brunch where all kinds of random foods come by in little carts. You just point to what you want and you get a little sampler of that food. Everyone shares with everyone, my kind of meal!

New Place - Some Before & Afters!

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Da weekend

This weekend is off to a good start if I do say so myself. Friday was a Zombie pub crawl in Chinatown which was pretty hilarious. One, because my roommate and I changed and did our make up in the parking garage outside her work. So as people are leaving work on their Friday evenings, and they happen to glance in her car, they were probably slightly concerned to say the least. We had ripped clothes and fake blood gushing out all over the place. We actually made the taxi come straight up behind her car so no one could see us. Haha. The whole ride we were dreading getting out of the car, not sure how many people actually were going to dress up. Once we got there it was quite a sight! Sooooo many people participated. At least 500 zombies were roaming the streets of Chinatown last night. Unfortunately we were both exhausted and only made it til 8:45pm. I guess we didn't make the best zombies... I think they come alive at night right? Us... not so much. It was all worth it to see the taxi driver's face that took as home. As soon as I stepped in the cab, he screamed and grabbed paper towels for me to wipe up my open wounds hahahaha. Even as we were trying to explain it was fake, and there was a zombie party downtown, he still looked so worried, and repeatedly asking if I got into a fight!! I then felt the need to really explain what was going on because just think what would happen if he got back to Chinatown and one of the "all-out zombies" got into his car!!! He probably would have had a heart attack. I mean what would you do going about your job, just a regular Friday night, and a freaking real life zombie got in the back of your cab!!!! Hahahaha. Here's some pictures from the event: http://www.honolulupulse.com/bars-clubs/pics-zombie-pub-crawl-in-chinatown#36832

After falling asleep before 10pm Friday night, my roommate and I got up early this morning and rode out   to the North Shore to go surfing. We grabbed some delicious breakfast burritos at the farmer's market on the way home. As soon as I jumped out of Rosie's car I hopped into another friends car and drove straight to the marina where I got on a sailboat with 10 other people and we rode out to the middle of the ocean and barbecued as the sunset. It was so beautiful and relaxing! Hawaii is truly amazing sometimes. If the crystal clear water, homemade beer, and warm sun wasn't enough, on the ride in one of the guys on the boat with us whipped out his ukelele and played Bob Marley for us! Ahhh, good day!

Westsiiiidde

This weekend was a busy one. Friday night was First Friday block party in Chinatown. Music, art galleries, and food trucks (guava smoked pork pizza!!!). It was a lot of fun. Taking the bus there however, not so much. When you are feeling like life is getting you down... go for a bus ride. You will soon see just how good you have it. (No offense fellow bus riders).

Saturday I worked a double, so nothing too exciting happened that day. Although I did have my best serving night so far. $100+ in three and a half hours of work - woop woop!

Sunday morning my roommate, her friend, and I work up at 6am to go surfing on the westside (comparable to the northside of Jacksonville, or Cocoa in Brevard - can be a little scary). Anyway, unfortunately there wasn't much in the way of surfing, but we did end up going boogie boarding on some really fun waves. After about an hour, we drove about five minutes down the road to help with a beach cleanup for the Surf Foundation my roommate's a part of.

Pretty good weekend over all. Busy, but good.

First Week of October

Okay, I know I have been slacking a little bit lately when it comes to the blog. However, in my defense I have been extremely busy between moving, fixing up the new place (I believe I am at about 10 hours of painting, with another 5 planned for today), three jobs, and trying to fit in a little fun too.

This past weekend was the Art After Dark party and Oktoberfest I had mentioned in a previous post. Both were a lot of fun, with lots of live music, wine, and interesting people. The Art After Dark had a 70's theme costume party, which provided us with an unlimited supply of quality people watching. Not to mention by the time we made it over to Chinatown for Oktoberfest, the majority of the crowd had definitely had their fare share of booze - again providing some stellar people watching. Haha.

Bathroom

As far as the new place goes, I have just about finished my room - maybe one or two pieces of art for the walls, I painted the bathroom a light green, so it is now finished as well. Last on the list is the kitchen (which I will be painting today since I'm off work) and the living room. We are still in need of a couch and dining room chairs. I have to say, although it hasn't been anything too involved, I have taken some enjoyment out of fixing up a place on my own. It is fun to see the changes, and then we to enjoy our new and improved place. Although the second I set foot it this place it was an improvement from my last laundry room situation. I forgot how much a comfortable bed matters! Now I can honestly say, in the words of my Grandma, "I love my bed, I love my bed, I love my bed!"

Lastly- I have officially resigned from the yoga/running apparel store, and instead have taken up a job at a local restaurant. It is a super casual, order-at-the-counter style place, but I get to cook and be around food. It is amazing how much faster a work shift can go by when you enjoy what you are doing! I have also decided to start substitute teaching. Since I have a teacher certification I will be making $160 a day! Woo Hoo, what an increase from Florida's measly $59! At the very least, there will be plenty of entertaining blog posts to come I am sure.

PS my dad officially has a cell phone. I honestly never thought this day would come. Welcome to the age of technology pops!

Until next time . . .

Laundry Room Upgrade

After

Before 

Yayyyyy my new room is turning out to be soooooo nice! Ahhh so much better than my freaking laundry room! The apartment has a whole is still under construction, but my room is basically finished. I need one or two things to put up on my walls, but other than that it is great! Here are some before and after pictures to give you an idea!! I will update more about the past weekend and the new place a little later ... 

Fix-er-Upper

Today marks the day where I went into an Ace Hardware to buy things to fix up my own place. Don't get me wrong. I have been in Ace before, and Home Depot, and Lowes ... probably more times than I've been to church. My dad is an amazing handyman, and therefore, I have spent many an hour with him in hardware stores growing up. DIY has been a family value forever. If you can do it yourself, you should. Therefore I am trying to embrace the inner "handywoman" in me, hence going to Ace Hardware by myself to purchase my very own paint roller, brushes, pan, and drop cloth today. I will be painting my new room "apple river" blue, and am actually pretty excited to fix this new place up... I guess we'll see how long that lasts after the first time I drip paint on the floor, or in my eye. Ha.

Anyway, Dad - expect a few phone calls over the next few weeks as I begin a very small start in your footsteps.......... hopefully avoiding the wrath of any, and all utility knives (haha - too soon??)

New Place

The new place is official. No more laundry room for me yay yay yay! I will have my own bedroom, with a closet, and we have a little side yard, and the living room is light blue. The kitchen and bathroom are kind of shabby, but with a little love could end up being nice. I am excited to embrace the "Dan the handyman" in me and fix this place up. Ha. Unfortunately for him, that means a lot of phone calls and instructions long distance.

This Friday is Art After Dark - a party at the Honolulu Academy of Arts that displays art (obviously), has food, drinks, and music - should be fun! And there is also an Oktoberfest block party in Chinatown . . . what a blend of cultures (ha), should be interesting to say the least!

Hallelujah!!!!

Wooo Hooo we have been approved for an apartment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It isn't the nicest place in the world, but it has a roof, which with only 3 days until we have to be out, is my only criteria. It isn't official until the lease is signed, but things are looking up! I will keep you posted!

Roommate's Bday Weekend

This weekend was my roommate's 24th birthday. We celebrated with a little beach BBQ. We had the works: a tent, table, radio, beach chairs, grilled pineapple sausages, veggie burgers on taro buns, rum POG (Passion fruit, Orange, and Guava juice), and my raspberry chocolate cake (which turned out awesome if I do say so myself). We and some friends/neighbors relaxed at the beach from noon to about 6pm, then came home, showered up, and drove up to the North Shore for a party at one of the local restaurants. I actually ran into three guys that went to the same college as me. It really is a small world.

I am also happy to report that my new moped has been preforming superbly! Hooray for that! It is rather nice to have transportation that actually runs and isn't illegally un-registered. Ha.

*... and last but not least, we are at the 5 day count down of having to move out, with NO WHERE TO GO YET! Ahhhhhhhhh! Someone, anyone.... everyone!!, please send some positive, apartment-finding vibes my way!

Quick Update

Okay, this is going to be brief as I need to leave for work in 20 minutes:

1) We are supposed to be out of our apartment in 9 days and have not a clue where we are going to live.
2) I have purchased a helmet for my moped. It is red, and it matches. So anyone who was worried about the safety of my head can breath a sign of relief.
3) It is my roommates birthday this weekend which is going to be a lot of fun. BBQ at the beach! I am in charge of the birthday cake ... I'm thinking dark chocolate raspberry bundt cake.
4) Coffee Talk is awesome. They gave me a free bowl of carrot orange spice soup for lunch today.

... that is all.

Wonderful Weekend

New 'ped

This weekend was definitely a successful one. 1) I got a new moped, a used Yamaha 2) I went to an eat local art show 3) Found my new favorite bar/restaurant - Murphy's Irish Pub (might be some bias there I guess) 4) went to an outdoor reggae concert 5) sampled it up at Whole Foods Market.

So, after finding out my aunt's car registration was a year and a half expired (!!!) it was time to ditch the illegal car and take my chances with another moped. I went into the moped shop I had the source-of-all-evil moped fixed. Eric had a used Yamaha for sale, much more reliable than the Chinese 'peds, so I bought it! Woo hoo it feels to good to be able to hop on and drive where ever I went to again. No parking worries, no meters to pay, and $4 to fill up! I have faith this moped and I are in it for the long haul together. PS I am taking recommendations for names ...

Murphy's Pub

Friday night, my roommate and I went to Chinatown for a little art and food street party where a few vendors were showing their crafts and selling food that was made with all local ingredients. We each had a glass of wine and shared some butternut squash soup before heading down the street for another block party. It was in front of Murphy's Irish Pub and was a "Halfway to St. Patty's Day Celebration" haha. How funny! They even had bag-pipers. In the spirit of celebrating my Irish heritage, we went inside the pub, brick walls and dark wood bar, and had a Guinness and a "oatmeal cookie" mixed drink each. Hmmm. The oatmeal cookie was delicious! Definitely a fun place. I will be back for some shepherd's pie in the future!

Last night was the outdoor reggae concert. A lot of fun, but went just an hour too long for my taste. For some reason, basketball maybe I don't know, my back cannot take standing for a long time. So mine was killing me after a 7 hour shift at work, and then a 4 hour concert. The music was really good though so a little pain was worth it.

Lastly comes Whole Foods. Today was a special event for the "eating local" cause. There was a poi (mashed taro root) making demonstration, homemade ricotta cheese lesson, pineapple wine tasting, and samples of local cheeses and my favorite Ono popsicles. It wasn't anything earth-shattering, but a good way to get some free lunch nonetheless ; )

New Seat in Coffee Talk . . .

The red chair is my new spot

** Note to self: sitting up at the bar at Coffee Talk instead of at a table = awesome! I have already been given one free coconut macaroon, one peanut butter cookie, and a sample of tomato basil soup. Just from switching seats. It is starting to get a little awkward because I don't want the owner to think I sit here just for the freebies ... but, I have to sit somewhere, might as well make it count right??

It is now September 14th, and my roommate and I are no closer to finding a new place to live then we were when we gave our 30 days notice at the beginning of the month. Yikes! It is hard to convince myself leaving my current apartment was such a good idea. Since I really feel like I have no clue how much longer I am staying here in Hawaii, it is hard for it to seem logical to leave a place where I am month to month, to spend money on furniture, and even more money on rent. Buttttt if I want to give myself a real shot at liking it here, I should probably move out of the laundry room... shesh.

Koko Head

View from the top of the Koko Head Stairs

Today in the middle of the afternoon I decided to go get some exercise. I had been sitting around my favorite coffee shop, Coffee Talk, reading and looking for places to live, all morning. Exercise was in order. I made the drive to Koko Head to hike straight up the side of the crater. Good grief I forgot how ridiculously tiring that hike is. My right leg was literally trembling by the time I was halfway down. I was so ready to sit in the car and drink some water. My iPod crapped out, and was in need of something to distract me to make it to the end. And then there it was. My distraction. A 20-something year old on his way up the mountain in a bright blue speedo! Hahahaha! His friends pointed out how it matched my shirt. How special. At least I got my mind off of how tired I was for a little while!

... Hope this little story brightens your day like it did mine : )

A Date with my Roommate

The bar at Brasserie Du Vin

Last night my roommate and I decided to take ourselves to an amazing French restaurant/wine bar called Brasserie Du Vin in Chinatown (http://brasserieduvin.com check out the website to get a feel for it). It was definitely one of the best nights I have had since I've moved to Hawaii. After 20 minutes of trying to find a parking space, we finally made our way into the dimly lit, cozy restaurant, and I immediately felt like I was in Europe. We grabbed a seat at the bar, and started off with a glass of wine each. I had the house sauvignon blanc and it was amazing. We also ordered a loaf of homemade bread, a double cream gouda cheese plate (served with pecans and dried fruit), and a charcuterie plate that was served with whole seed mustard and pickled vegetables. Everything was sooooo delicious! I love how many different tastes you can get out of a few ingredients when you pair them in different ways. The gouda with a bite of cranberry tasted so different from the gouda paired with the cured beef. Not to mention how differently the same glass of wine tasted depending on the flavor of food I just ate. My roommate and I savored every bite. I was in foodie heaven. Our original plan had been to get an appetizer and glass of wine, and then move on to another location. But we just couldn't make ourselves leave. The bartender was letting us sample a few of his favorites, trying to help us make a decision for our second glass of wine. I ended up with a dry riesling to accompany the herb, garlic buttered escargot we ordered. Yummmm!! What a perfect night! Good food, good wine, and a good friend. We can't wait to go back, and have officially decided to become regulars :)

Friday morn'

Wheewww bikram yoga was intense this morning! I am exhausted and hungry since I haven't eaten anything yet and it is almost noon. I think I have earned an acai bowl from Bogarts... yep, I've made up my mind - breakfast here I finally come!

Then, I have some errands to run, perhaps surf with my roommate, and then meet some possible new roommates. Glad today is a busier day. I like busy.

Feeling Better . . .

Just when I was really missing my friends and feeling pretty lonely out here, I go to work and now have a new workout buddy who wants to start getting into yoga and exercising, AND another girl who plays pick up basketball!!!!! yay!!!! and wakes up early on the weekend to watch football (games come on at 6am here!). Woo hoo, feel better already. We have plans to do bikram, maybe a free bootcamp class on Saturday, and to watch football on Sunday morning. Hooray!

My roommate and I meet two prospective roommates tomorrow, hope that goes well so we can start looking at places. It would be nice to know where I will be living at the end of the month...

Missing Home

Yesterday, today, and hopefully not tomorrow, have been pretty hard when it comes to my homesickness level. I'm probably about an 8 of of 10 (1 = don't miss home at all, and 10 = booking my flight home). I miss my best friend, I miss all my friends, I miss my family, I miss my dog, I miss my bed, I miss my car, I miss knowing my way around, I miss air conditioning, I miss Taco Lu, I miss living in the same town as my brother and sister and only 2 hours away from my parents. And not only do I miss all these things now, I am also afraid of what I am going to be missing in a couple of months... Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have never missed a family holiday, and while I feel like I don't know much about myself these days, I do know one thing - traditions are incredibly important to me, and I can't take it if they don't go the way I remember them.

This is how Thanksgiving is supposed to go: My dad and I, and sometimes my brother, wake up early Thanksgiving morning to run the Turkey Trot - a 5k run. You get to see a bunch of familiar faces you haven't seen since last year, and get some exercise in so you don't feel as guilty about eating a week's worth of calories in one sitting. After we're finished with the race (I always lose to my dad, but I like it that way. I honestly hope I never beat him), we head home for Thanksgiving breakfast. This always includes cinnamon rolls, eggs, and bacon (turkey bacon for dad). After we digest, we lounge around watching the parade on TV, and then I start helping my mom in the kitchen. Mom and I are cooking and cooking all day, always running a little late, always having to force ourselves to get into the shower to get ready for dinner. Our family friends come over to our house, or we head to theirs, and always have an amazing time telling old stories. There is always a turkey and mashed potatoes, my 'aunt' makes sweet potato casserole with pecans on half, my mom makes brown sugared onions, and of course, my dad makes the infamous broccoli puff. Thanksgiving would be all wrong without it. Cheesy, creamy broccoli casserole with a buttery ritz cracker topping. Easy crowd favorite. Wouldn't matter if we had a five-star chef making a five-star dish. Broccoli puff has a special place in all our hearts - every year. Something usually gets burned, the gravy only come out good every other year ... I love Thanksgiving. And I am so scared about how much I'm going to miss it. So scared I am already worrying about it, and it's September. And don't even get me started on Christmas. Ugh, growing up and moving away sucks sometimes...

PS Mom please don't cry after you read this. It is hard to move away, but that doesn't mean it isn't good for me. It just feels better to get it out. I almost didn't write this because I didn't want to make you sad : )

Work, work, work

Today was pretty uneventful. Went to my first job (yoga/running apparel) from 8am-2pm for my first day of training. Ran a few errands, and then went to my second job as a server from 6pm-9pm. Fun, fun... Serving was definitely a slow night, its a Tuesday, but percentage wise I made the best tips I've made so far. Which is ridiculous, because a) I dropped ketchup on a guy's leg/pants and b) I had no clue table 47 was mine, and a man sat there forever before I realized it was my table! Oops...
Ketchup-man tipped me $15.00, and the guy I forgot tipped me $12.00 (more than 40%)! Why is it when I think I'm on top of everything I get gipped, and when I am doing bad I get tipped more? Hmmmmm. Maybe I should forget to take customers' orders for 20 minutes and spill ketchup on their khaki pants more often???

Oh what a good morning...

Labor day! Off of work and so is my roommate. We woke up early and went to bikram yoga for my first time. Wow. I did not know my body was capable of producing so much sweat. It dripped in my eyes and up my nose. But I felt pretty amazing afterwords... until I tripped down down the path to the ocean to rinse off and scrapped the hell out of my knee and foot. Shesh!

We came home and cooked a delicious breakfast. Blueberry banana walnut pancakes! Yum yum. Breakfast of champions. Then I cut myself with the knife. Maybe bikram isn't such a good idea. It makes you so dang tired you are delirious and end up hurting yourself. Or maybe that's just me. Either way I am now exhausted and bleeding.

Tonight Lolo has invited friends and family over to her house for Labor Day dinner! Yay! I am looking forward to seeing everyone and collaborating to prepare a delicious meal. I have been assigned dessert. Imagine that. I am not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing (haha). Either way, rest assured, I will never let them down with a responsibility as important as dessert :)

Sunday Funday

Last night on the North Shore was pretty fun. Freedom's Progress played an awesome to show, to a full house, and gave their demo CD out to a lot of people! Unfortunately I had a crazy stomach ache and had to sit in the car to be awoken by a security guard and a flash light wondering what the heck I was doing. Luckily though after about 40 minutes of lying down I felt much better and went back inside to a much drunker crowd than I remembered. The guy situation was pretty hilarious looking back, with a particular weirdo in mind who spit like crazy when he talked. I was sprayed from forehand to shoulder. Lovely. 

Today I caught up on a lot of much needed rest and slept until almost noon!! After breakfast my roommate and I toured a prospective new living situation. I give it a B-, beautiful property with a washing machine, but the rooms were pretty tiny (not compared to current situation of course) and the kitchen was a little crazy. Afterwards we went surfing at a beautiful beach I hadn't been to before. Totally clear water, bright sun, offshore winds. The waves were pretty small but it was still fun. A sea turtle showed up to hang out for a little while too! Now I am off to work, in my auntie's car (yay!), hopefully about to rake in some tip money!! Wish me luck.

Saturday Morning Farmer's Market

Oh how I love farmer's markets. I just love all the little artisan food stands - macadamia nut pesto stand, lilikoi butter stand, salted watermelon popsicles... love, love, love. I can't wait until next weekend so I can go back. I already told my roommate I plan to taste every single flavor of Ono's popsicles, as they are amazing! And such interesting flavor combinations! Cinnamon orange, thai basil, lemon cream, Mexican chocolate, the list goes on... I chose the lemon cream which was very refreshing and ended up buying some of the macadamia nut pesto which was soooo delicious. I am currently in the process of thawing out some chicken to make a creamy citrus pesto chicken salad to pack to the North Shore so I don't spend money on food. After last night's First Friday in Chinatown I officially need to be on a budget. Taxi to get there, cover charge to get in, friend who forgot her debit card....then left this morning without paying me back (errr).

I will report on how Freedom's Progress album release party goes later, ta ta for now!

Asian food influences

I am loving all the new Asian cuisine I am getting to taste around here! It's everywhere. I had Vietnamese pho for the first time the other night, ahi tuna poke for lunch yesterday (at Ono's Seafood, which I had been wanting to try, and was not disappointed. It will remain on my food list for poke restaurants, at least for now), and just cooked garlic teriyaki stir fry with tofu, bok choy, onions, and a wild rice/quinoa mix for lunch today. Yum. I ate it with the new fancy chop sticks I picked up from this awesome little antique/collectible store down the street - Peggy's Picks. If you are ever bored/stuck waiting around at the moped mechanic (like I was), it is a fun and interesting way to pass the time :)

Friday Funday

It's funny how Friday doesn't really mean that much to me anymore. With the two jobs I have now, a weekend doesn't really exist. I have off on random days throughout the week. I remember last year, Friday was all I thought about. How many days left 'til Friday? Hours? Seconds? Here, it's not like that. Which is kind of nice. I sometimes forget what day it is. Imagine that. Just like it was back in school when you were off for summer break. Friday might as well me a Tuesday, it made no difference.

This morning I had my HR meeting with my new yoga/running clothes store. Aka my employee discount  has begun, aka I have a lot of new, beautiful work out clothes. Which I must use. So, I will be going to a CrossFit class this evening with a few of the girls from the store. This is my second class, and it is no joke. It's a wake up the next morning and not want to get out of bed because it takes to much effort-type class. Wish me luck!

Wednesday AND Thursday actually ...

Today might have topped the charts, set a new personal record, when it comes to walking around town. I almost hit the 7 mile mark! The hike to the post office was the worst. I take that back, the hike from the post office was the worst. Not only did I have three packages to tote home (yes mother yours finally came - yay!), but one was too large to fit into my back pack so I had to carry it on my hip while I preceded to walk another 5 miles or so. Hooray for the exercise though, that is for sure ! Between living next to Leonard's (the Polynesian bakery), and working at Outback, every burnt calorie is appreciated.

So, as we have discussed Black Betty has gone on to a better place, and therefore I am in the market for a new moped. I stopped into a shop today to see about test driving a particular moped that was just dropped off. Right before I am about to hand over my money and ride off to work, the owner of the shop decides to test drive it one last time. THANK GOD HE DID! Just as he pulled onto the sidewalk in front of his store, and just as the words "it rides like a champion" were coming out of his mouth, low and behold, the tire blows out! I must have a curse . An "all-mopeds-near-me-turn-to-crap" curse. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such a curse, but I am sooooo thankful that tire blew out before I bought it! Can you imagine? I would have had a meltdown. Plain and simple.

On another note, one of my roommates and I have decided to put in our 30 day notice at our current apartment. Or in my case, my current ex-laundy room. So any help in finding a new place of residence would be much appreciated.

And on one last note, I am very much looking forward to this weekend. 1) I have an HR meeting with my new job at a yoga/running apparel store, after which, my employee discount kicks in. 2) It is "First Friday" in Chinatown, which I have yet to experience, but have heard great things. 3) I get to go to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. And 4) A few of my girl friends and I are going to the North Shore on Saturday for my friend Lolo's boyfriend's reggae band's album release party (that was a mouthful). They are called Freedom's Progress, and are very talented. Woo hoo for the weekend!

The band!

With all this excitement it seems I have forgotten to shave both my legs when I was in the shower... Oops. One is better than none I suppose ... ?

Walking, My New Transportation

At first I saw having to walk places as a total pain. It takes you about 5 times as long and you usually get pretty sweaty doing it. Lately though, I have kind of started to appreciate it. You notice what's around you a whole lot more for one. I have been getting some needed exercise for two. And you have the opportunity to walk alongside some pretty interesting people ...

I had to go to work this evening, and in lieu of my recent moped-less status, I decided against the bus (very infuriating), and the taxi (very awkward), and chose to walk. On my walk home, I ended up walking beside another girl who was by herself and headed in my same direction. I asked her if she wanted to walk together, as the street we just turned down was pretty empty (see how outgoing I am becoming?? haha). We started talking and it turns out Teresa is from Germany, just graduated school to be a teacher, and before she is settling down with a job, has taken an entire 18 months to travel the world!! How amazing?!?!? She does something called "Couch Surfers",  a program where you essentially sleep on members' couches (or floor, or spare bed, etc.) for a week or so before moving on to your next destination. I am in such awe at Teresa's independence to commit to traveling the world alone for a year and a half! It was so inspiring to talk to her. She has already been to Alaska, Seattle, Vancouver, Quebec, and obviously Hawaii and is only a few months in. We swapped numbers and plan to meet up sometime during the week she is here...

... If she's not careful I might end up on her German "kleiden" (couch) in the near future!

Black Betty and I have gone our separate ways . . .

I wish I could say I was sad to see her go... After getting her back from the mechanics for the second time, I decided I would be better off without her. Maybe she will work perfectly now for someone else, maybe not, either way she will not be causing me any more anguish! And I am happy to say I got all the money I spent, plus what I spent at the mechanics, minus $4 (I'll take it).

So now here lies my dilemma, to risk it with a new moped, pay to rent my Aunt's car, or what? Decisions, decisions, and I am so scared to make another bad one!

Advice??

Monday Night Dinner at Lolo's

Moped is fixed at the moment, I have put it on craigslist, I want nothing to do with it anymore. Hopefully I will be selling it first thing tomorrow morning...

Just got back from a delicious and much needed girls dinner at my friend Lolo's. She made a chili ginger salad with roasted beets, tofu, and carrots. And I made roasted butternut squash and cauliflower curry with jasmine rice. Yum yum! So nice to have close girlfriends to share good food, good gossip, and good stories with. We are hoping to make this a Monday night "thing". If anyone is interested in any of our Monday night recipes let me know, happy to share! ... of course the best part of our dinner wasn't homemade at all. Cookie dough ice cream with hot fudge! We had to fit in our dairy food group with all those vegetables we had for dinner - healthy eating is all about balance after all :)

The Moped Saga Continues

Okay. Just got off the phone with the mechanic from Saturday. The one who "fixed" my moped the first time. The "fix" that cost me $120.00, and lasted all of 10 minutes. I am hoping round two goes better. Wish me luck. I will keep you posted.

My Moped, the source of all evil . . .

I officially HATE my moped! I want to drive mine off a bridge into the ocean!! Oh wait, I can't! You know why?!? It won't even start! So even if I wanted to kill the most-infuriating thing I have ever paid money for, I couldn't... I even gave her a name - Black Betty, thinking we would have some good times together. I was sorely mistaken...

... source of all evil

Two days after buying it, the dang thing starts going crazy! It idles at 25mph when you first turn it on, I can go up my driveway without my hand even on the throttle. When I slow down for a red light, my darling little moped shuts off, and I have to restart.

Hey, but at least it runs right? Wrong! In the middle of the street it has one of its little shut down episodes, only this time it doesn't start back up. So I wait around for an hour and a half to have it picked up by a mechanic. I have to sit at a bar by myself waiting and waiting (the only plus to this is my discovery of "honey toast", see Foodie post). After two days at the mechanics, I get my moped back, drive it home, "Yay, it's fixed". Ha! Not so fast! A mere 10 minutes goes buy as I change to go meet up with a friend, I hop on the beloved moped I just paid to have fixed, go to turn it on, nothing! Seriously?? I JUST brought it home from the shop! I give the mechanic a call, they're closed. "Okay, I will call them tomorrow"...  nope closed on Sundays too. How perfect.

I crossed my fingers this morning that my moped would miraculously come back to life - and thank the lord it did! Woo hoo life is good! ... then it starts raining... not so good, but still, my moped is back! I get off work and am ready to go home for a quick break between jobs, put the key in the ignition, hit the start button ....................... my miracle has ended, and my good 'ole moped is down for the count, AGAIN! So now I am stuck in town with 3 hours to kill before my second job, which I have to walk to, in the heat, in pants, and the most uncomfortable shoes ever.

Literally the most frustrating thing of my life. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

I can't believe how much I took my car for granted back home. I wanted to go somewhere, I hop in, it starts, I take off. Here, whole different story. I want to go somewhere, I hop on my moped try to start it, nothing... still need to go somewhere, wait 30 minutes for the bus, pay $3 (because I never have the exact $2.50),  get off at the wrong stop/transfer point approximately 4 times, and get to my destination 2 hours later. Now I need to get home, so I either pay $10 for a creepy taxi ride or I can walk home, while accumulating blisters and sweating my butt off. Oh how I miss my car!

Foodie at Heart

As much as I think the term "foodie" is kind of dorky, I am one. I am a foodie. True to my new title, here are my Hawaiian food reviews three weeks in (I'm sure this list will be constantly changing and growing): 

• Coffee House: Easy... Coffee Talk on Waialae Ave. Amazing assortment of homemade scones, bread pudding, muffins, cookies, you name it. Their coffee is excellent, best iced coffee I've had in a while. I also tried a veggie burger that was pretty tasty as well. Overall, great atmosphere, yummy food and drinks. I love it.
• Breakfast: Bogart's on Montserrat Rd. - delicious acai bowls, loaded breakfast sandwiches (I recommend the turkey bacon and adding avocado), and cinnamon french toast, yum!
• Poke: I have personally had my favorite SO FAR, on the north shore at a little Hawaiian kwik-e-mart, but I have heard wonderful things about Ono's Seafood off of Kapahulu Ave.
• Happy Hour: I wandered into Indigo in Chinatown and found they have delicious $4 martini's from 4pm-8pm, but get this... FREE pupu's from 4pm-5pm! They must have had a good 10 plates to choose from of mostly vegetable-based pupu's that were good, not great, but good ... and free.
• Dessert: My heart is torn between the tried and true malasadas (Polynesian donuts made fresh) at Leonard's, and the honey toast from Shokudo Japanese on Kapiolani Blvd. I might be biased toward the honey toast though since it was served to me during my hour of need (right after my 2 day old moped broke down). Basically bite-sized pieces of soft, chewy bread, slightly toasted and drizzled with a sweet/salty honey sauce and topped with vanilla ice cream. Hot toast, cold ice cream, sweet honey, and salty bread - all about contrasting flavors, sooo good!

Honey Toast! Amazing!!

• Dinner: this category is kind of "to be determined". I haven't been out to dinner much at all therefore this spot is up for grabs. I have heard great things about Town, but have yet to make it there. 
• Dim Sum: Legends in the Chinese Cultural Plaza in Chinatown. The carts, the variety, the culture. Dim sum is so fun. Legends serves up dim sum from 10:30am-2pm, but I heard they get mad after 1pm so get there early!

*PS I want suggestions and more recommendations!

On another food note, I am very much looking forward to cooking with my friend who is attending culinary school at the community college... I am waiting for her to teach me everything she learns! ... and side note: I desperately need to go to the grocery store. Luckily it is across the street, and literally the most beautiful grocery store I have ever been. And their deli is amazing. And the poke is half off after 8pm. And it's open 24 hours :)

First Few Weeks... Ups and Downs Continued

Top: Malasada from Leonards's; Bottom: Koko Head Hike

The title of this post is "Ups and Downs", so obviously my first night, more of a down. Here are some of the ups: I have hiked to a waterfall, I have been sailing at sunset during a full moon and Friday fireworks (yes, every Friday Honolulu sends up fireworks, how cool?), I have surfed in crystal clear water under a full rainbow, I have hiked Koko Head to see all of Honolulu, I have discovered a bar with free pupu's during happy hour, a coffee shop with amazing snacks, and jammed out at an outdoor reggae concert. It seems like just when I am starting to miss home, or my two-day old moped dies for instance (don't even want to get into that one), Hawaii has a way of lifting you back up. Whether its a delicious lychee martini, a good surf session, or a custard malasada from Leonard's bakery ...

First Few Weeks... Ups and Downs

My first posting was more or less an introduction to describe how I came to end up here in Hawaii. I have been here exactly three weeks as of tomorrow and have had quite the adventure so far...

My journey back to Hawaii from the mainland was not a particularly enjoyable one to say the least. In addition to the 11 hours of flying, I encountered a few setbacks along the way. Besides being utterly distraught at leaving my boyfriend and our love child/puppy (who has a name, Hailey) behind, I had to stand in line to check my bag for over an hour, my plane took off late, I had a whopping 30 seconds between getting off my first plane and onto my second, our baggage was brought to the wrong carousel where we all waited for 45+ minutes to find out it was all sitting unattended in the middle of the floor near another carousel, my shuttle was an hour late, my bags were taken by a man on the shuttle, I found out my new room is actually an ex-laundry room with a grand total of about 50 sq. ft. with a 6 inch thick, horrible mattress, muddy floors and greyish walls (*please note in my profile I am a certified clean freak), when I went to unpack my comforter it ripped sending feathers EVERYWHERE, and last but not least, woke up in the middle of the night to pee and fell down the stairs and cracked my toe nail in half! Phew, and that's how my new adventure began. I do have to give myself credit though, through all of this, I did not cry once, and impressed everyone with my new found inner calm (ha!).

How It All Started...

Love child aka Hailey

You know, it's kind of hard to pinpoint a specific time where the possibility of me up and leaving the "mainland" first started to grow. I guess perhaps if I was to go way back, it may have initially started when I left home for college with a long term boyfriend. We were best friends, grew up together actually (I'm talking pre-school here), and more or less lived together for the past four years. We definitely had fun, and even got a puppy together (our little love child as our friends called her).
But you know, the comfort of having someone so close to you, during the time of your life where you are supposed to "find yourself" isn't perhaps the best thing - which I have recently discovered. I never really had to go out on any limbs to make friends, I had him, I wasn't forced out of my comfort zone, and even though I technically lived in the dorms - if I remember correctly, and I do - I slept there a grand total of one night! Why would I? He had an apartment all to himself, and it happened to be awkward roommate-free!

... So anyway, it comes time for us to graduate, both of us completing college in three years, and we both have "real person jobs" as I like to call them (basically a job that requires a degree, 40 hours+ a week, benefits, blah blah you get the point) lined up. So here we are 21 and 22, out of school, careers ahead of us, our love child/puppy, and an apartment together for the fourth year in a row. I was very happy and proud for us, but as the 9-5 went on I became a little envious of my friends that were still in college, serving at restaurants, sleeping in, staying out late, etc, etc...

Anywho, summer rolls around and my cousin and I fly out to Hawaii to visit our relatives. I was in Hawaii for 2 weeks and I fell in love! For the first time, I wasn't ready to come home when it was time to leave, I wasn't home sick ... in fact, I didn't really miss home at all. Something about it here I just liked, loved! Hawaii made me calmer, more peaceful. A backdrop of mountains that end in crystal clear ocean, with palms trees, cool breezes, rainbows, sunsets, breathtaking hikes (not just because of the view - literally breathtaking if you've ever hiked Koko Head), the list goes on! I had two close friends in Hawaii as well, and they planted the seed for my idea to come back and live here.

What a scary thought!! Leave my boyfriend/bestfriend of 5+ years, move farther away from my family, quit the teaching job that I loved, and move halfway around the world! I can't do something like that... it doesn't follow society's timeline (aka graduate high school, go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, die - fun huh?) ... but that's exactly why I did it!

... One week after I returned from my Hawaiian vacation in June, I booked my one-way ticket. Probably the most difficult decision I ever made. And you know, I tried to talk myself out of it, even coming up with excuses for why I couldn't/shouldn't go. But something in the back of my head wouldn't let me stay, something told me I had to go, that I needed to experience life on my own, figure myself out a little, take a step back before I grew up too fast, got married, had kids, and then, realized I never had any adventures in life. So here I am, Hawaii, my Never, Neverland, where I came because I wasn't ready to grow up quite yet.

Honolulu, Hawaii