Category Archives: family

cruise part IV: the end.

[packed up and ready to go]

after 7 days of fam time, good eating, mexico, and relaxation, all the fun came to an end.  it was an absolute blast and i miss seeing all of my cousins and family every day!  we got off of the boat in long beach and since my brother couldn’t come on the cruise, he and his girlfriend met us all for lunch near the airport before us out-of-towners flew home.  sidenote to all of you ladies: never wear a maxi dress to the airport.  despite how comfy you think it will be, you get a full-on/full-bodypart patdown at the airport in front of everyone (which was kind of embarassing to be honest) because you could be “hiding something.”  Good security I guess, just not my cup of tea.  consider yourselves warned.

[sad to say bye!]

[the starbucks obsession runs in the family]

[reunion]

[kelsey + ryan]

[taco salad.  i guess i didn’t get my fill in mexico.]

[taylor + bradley]

[pretty much what i looked like the whole cruise: i l o v e m y c a m e r a.  and yes, all you pro photographers, i know i am holding my camera wrong.  i’m a total amateur.]

cruise part III: puerto vallarta

[streets of puerto vallarta]

day 4 we were in puerto vallarta!  this was probably my favorite port because we got to see a lot of the city on our hour long taxi van ride to the beach.  the drive was beautiful and i was snapping my camera every 4 seconds through the window.  when we hired taxi man, he said “15 minutes to beach” — so after we were in the car for over 35 minutes (and parts of the drive were uphill…away from the beach), i started to think he was sketch and we were being kidnapped.  turns out mexican time = hawaiian time where 15 minutes = 1 hour.  and taxi man did not disappoint.  he brought us to an awesome beach where there were a lot of locals and also some restaurants nearby that provided us with beachside drink service.  not too shabby.

[first stop: wal-mart, of course.  to load up on snacks and gatorade]

[wrought iron gates + brick buildings]

[love the architecture and the charm of the little bug]

[la playa]

[strawberry pina colada]

[kelsey]

[i love big hats]

[buses all around]

[grafitti walls]

back to reality.


i made it back safe and sound last night to hawaii after an amazing vacation with my family!  it was soooo much fun.  seriously one of the best.

highlights:
– spending time with my family who i don’t get to see enough! (my sis Kim and bro-in-law Blake flew in from Texas and a bunch of our cousins flew down from Oregon!)
– being away from technology for an entire 7 days and not at the mercy of my beloved iphone/email
– having NO concept of time whatsoever (going to bed at 3 AM and waking up at 10:30 AM) and the week feeling like it was a month long but also feeling like it went by too fast if that makes sense
– laying out on the beaches in mexico and reading a good book (havent read a fiction book in like 10 years and im officially addicted to reading again — thank youuu sarah!)
– eating really good (and waaayy too much) food — i kinda think cruises are the reason for obesity in America
– learning how to use my new camera by taking tons of pics and capturing every moment in a photo or on video (cannot wait to edit a little video ASAP)
.
i’m going to recap this week in a few posts starting tomorrow because i took a gazillion pictures and have so many i want to share!  but right now i have to get to that thing called work.  back to reality.

jet-setting.

HNL >> KONA >> LAX (yippppeeeee!)

tonight immediately after work i am off to the airport!  first stop: kona, second stop: LA.  i’m going on a really fun vacation on sunday for the week with my entire family and i can’t wait!!
work, please go by fast.  thanks.

island hopping.

Yesterday my parents and I went to Kona (Big Island) for the day to visit my sister Kimberlee’s in-laws (so my co-in-laws?  is that even a word?).  [Funny story:  I guess my older sister and I (btw we are basically the same person and I copy her in everything I do) both have a thing for white boys from Hawaii; she met Blake (a haole from Kona) while going to school at the University of Hawaii and I met Reis (a haole from Oahu) while going to school in Santa Barbara.  Blake moved to California after they graduated to be closer to my sister and I moved to Hawaii after I graduated to be closer to my boyfriend.] Weird, huh?  I was just trying to be exactly like her :)

Anywayyys..to make up for the lack of road trips you can take while living here in Hawaii is the opportunity to island hop!  The flight to most outer islands is no longer than 30 minutes and all of the islands have something unique to offer.  I LOVE Big Island and we had so much fun catching up with the co-in-laws by eating, shopping, and adventuring our way through Kona.  We feel so blessed that our families are so close and it was so fun to see them!  Here are a few pictures from our trip.

dinner at duke’s.

Last night we had a deeelicciousss dinner at Duke’s in Waikiki.  My parents LOVE this place and we go every time they visit (+ I also make a trip whenever I have visitors in town). Even the hostesses and servers have actually started to recognize me and my boyfriend since I guess we are “regulars” among the mobs of tourists. Embarassing?  Kind of.  The wait is never less than an hour on any night of the week but it is so worth it in my opinion.

We started with some tropical drinks (don’t make fun of my Malibu Pine..the sweeter, the better :)).  Next up was the salad bar which is my favorite part about this restaurant because of the never-ending carbs offered: taro rolls, plain rolls, banana macadamia nut muffins, carrot cake muffins, and white rice.  Mmmmm mmmm.  We finished our dinners of salads and steak off with their famous Hula Pie.  So. dang. good.

I swear all I have done the past two weeks is eat; I don’t think I need to eat for a week.  But I should go do some running.