Hawaiian Days --- Part 2

From my other travels, I have learned that trying to take pictures of landscapes almost never works out. So much of what makes Hawaii fabulous is the actual environment, and I refuse to bore you (or myself) with bad pictures...

FRIDAY we woke up semi-early. After a Kona coffee and a delicious muffin, we headed up to Manoa Falls for a nice little hike. It was AMAZING! I have never seen individual leaves quite as big as I did in the jungle-like undergrowth in the tropical forest. It was super muddy, super slippery (I watched a little old Asian woman totally bite it down a muddy hill), and super awesome. :) I really enjoyed the hike.

After some lunch at Fresh Cafe in the business district (famous for their parking lot murals... including a fairly inappropriate one of Mark Twain and a pineapple... I'll let your imagination figure that one out), we headed back to Waikiki for some beach time. I spent most of that building a sand cake, not castle, as I was in need of water shoes before actually playing in the ocean. Dinner on our condo's boardwalk gave us a great view of the Friday night fireworks and a super cliche hula show. :)

SATURDAY we headed down to Chinatown and explored their markets. I question whether they pass US health inspections, but we did see some interesting produce and.... "meats". :) Following Adventures in Grocery Shopping, we had a lunch at a really great French restaurant called Du Vin. We made a Target run for snorkel gear. Much needed nap time and salt water pool time filled most of the afternoon, and we ended the day with spaghetti at home.

SUNDAY I had my first snorkel session! :) We got up crazy early (I would say before the sun came up, but there is quite a lot of light at 5:30am), downed some cereal, and made the short drive to Hanauma Bay - touted as one of the island's best places to snorkel (more on that later). We arrived well before the visitor center even opened, hoping to avoid the throws of tour buses that would assuredly arrive later. One of the center's guides met us (with a booger in his nose that I could not help but look at...) and told us that unfortunately we would have to get in for free since no one was there to take our money. :) It was GORGEOUS! Unfortunately, I didn't bring my good camera since there wasn't safe storage for it, so this picture is a random one I found online. When we got to the beach I suited up in my snorkel gear and borrowed some fins from Kim and Dave. I realize that you are supposed to put the fins on IN the water, but that seemed more difficult that waddling out to the surf. I was sooooo wrong. I also discovered that I have absolutely no control of my body in fins and kept them on for probably 5 minutes before I gave up and just used swim shoes. The first moment I put my snorkeled face in the water was FANTASTIC!

For those of you who don't know, let me take a moment to describe my personal history and opinion on fish. They are evil, disgusting, meat-eaters that are simply waiting for the opportunity to attack and devour. When I was 8 or 10 I had a run in with one of these (below), a rope, and a sail boat on Canyon Lake.

nasty needle nose gar

Or how about these, that my sister and I found spawning in the shallows at our lake place growing up on Lake Buchanon.

more gar

Or perhaps even worse, because they are seemingly mild-mannered and "non-threatening", tasty even:

the evil that is bass

Anyhow, the fact that I am voluntarily getting in the water with fish is a feat in and of itself. It really is incredible to see these fish though. Perhaps the bright colors make them seem less vicious or the fact that I can see for my own eyes that they are not particularly interested in dining on my flesh in the clear, blue waters. You'll just have to take my word for how beautiful these fish were as my T2i is not waterproof.

By 8am we were all shivering and ready for food. We came back into Waikiki for some breakfast and a LONG nap.... like 3 hours of nap. :) At 4:00 we headed over to a local theater to watch a production of Jane Austen's Zombie Apocalypse that Kim took part in and finished off the day with dinner and drinks at Side Steet Inn, another Anthony Bourdain approved diner.








MONDAY, the kids started a week of YMCA splash camp, so Dave and I went off to explore on our own (Kim is having to actively work while she's in Hawaii). First thing's first: breakfast at Leonard's. As you can see from the sign, they are known for their Malasadas, a Portuguese donut-like object that is spherical, fried, super rich, and topped with sugar. We got cinnamon sugar on ours. One was MORE than enough and ridiculously delicious.

We started our trek around the island, this time making our way counter-clockwise to the North Shore. The Oahu North Shore is famous for amazing surf and is frequented by the likes of Laird Hamilton. I'm sure the waves were cool, but the scenery was amazing.






First stop was the Nuuanu Pali Lookout. Every guide book and website warns about the strong winds up there, but I've been to the Cliffs of Moher on a day when the wind swept a tourist off their feet to their death... I KNOW strong winds.

This was crazy strong.

Oh my goodness, it's beautiful! I'm not even sure what we were looking at, but who cares! My hair looked absolutely disgusting by the time we left. My eyes were watering like mad from the wind, and all I could think about was getting a couple of shots to prove I was there. :) At one point, there was a couple that asked if I could take a picture of them, and Dave had to stand behind me pushing on my shoulders to keep the wind from tossing me around! It was crazy but, again, breathtaking.

As I promised before, I won't bore you with pictures of landscapes that don't photograph well with my basic of basic lenses, but we stopped several times on our way to the North Shore. Sunset Beach looked like a nice spot to spend a couple of hours working on your skin cancer. I found a lovely, sand-smoothed shell that I jacked. The Banzai Pipeline, home to some of the biggest surfing waves, wasn't overly cooperative when it came to trying to catch one of those big ones on film, but the sand was hot enough to make you not want to stay out there too awfully long.

some random park with a random island

The highlight of our stops was Shark's Cove. Someone had told me that was a fabulous place to snorkel and scuba dive, so now having discovered that snorkeling is kinda fun, I wanted to check it out.

Whoever says that Hanauma Bay is the ultimate snorkel spot on Oahu is a pyscho hose beast. By the time we made it to Shark's Cove it was already pretty hot for Hawaii standards, and the sweat on my back really made me want to hop in the water, even if just for a few minutes. Dave and I literally took a 30 minute snorkel (in shifts as we had not planned on where to put the car keys while we took said snorkel) which was long enough to know that this place far exceeded the awesomeness that was Hanauma Bay. The water was deeper. You weren't maneuvering reefs. The were plenty of huge rocks that both created crevices for a plethora of new types of fish and gave swimmers places to regain their bearings. We decided that we'd return with Kim and the kids on the 4th, and with that headed out again.

JJ's Irish Pub pizza (strange, I know) and some wine rounded out a great day. 

Aloha, Hawaii! --- Part 1

As I will probably be the only one awake for a while (my body still isn't used to the time change), I'll use this time to cover the 1st chunk of my Hawaiian adventure!

Being a fairly lucky duck when it comes to travel, this is my second time to come to Hawaii. My first trip (1986) ended with very fuzzy memories, the most prominent one looking something like this:

I stepped on a thorn on the the beach, and that is what I took away from all that Hawaii had to offer.

Twenty-six years later and fully aware of the dangers of pointy objects, I feel I am more qualified to appreciate island paradise. My trip began with 9 collective hours on a plane with multiple children looking much like the kid above. The Dallas-Honolulu leg had a toddler that screamed continuously for the entirety of the 8 hour flight... I played through many imagined scenarios, most of which included me telling the mom and dad what horrible parents they were for 1) having birthed that child, 2) thinking the constant screaming was funny, and 3) for taking a child of that age and that level of behavior on a plane with people that did not pay an incredible amount of money to listen to a child scream to the point of hoarseness. The other passengers would then cheer that I had said what they were all thinking, in my imagination of course... Instead, I gritted my teeth and watched an episode of Around the World in 80 Plates I had downloaded to my iMac.

I was met at baggage by my brother-in-law and his two kiddos with the most delicious smelling leis! Truly, is there any other way to be met at an Hawaiian airport?

Even before heading to the condo, we stopped at Shokudo's for an early dinner (I was starving) of seriously weird sushi (spicy tuna on top of a rice tater-tot with pickled jalepeno), DELICIOUS ramen, some other strange rice-based dish with yummy beef pieces mashed against the walls of a super hot bowl, and, the crowning glory of the meal, honey toast. :) That stuff is delicious!

A few minutes drive and we were at our condo on Waikiki Beach - home for the next 2 weeks. After surviving the toddler from hell I figured I earned an adult beverage and satisfied that need with a Lava Flow, basically a pina colada with some strawberry stuff. No paper umbrella... We watched the sun go down, made some attempts at capturing the light, and headed back upstairs where I managed to stay awake until 9:30 before crashing.

Hawaii has daylight from about 6am-7:45ish. I woke up Thursday morning to pre-daylight, while the clouds still had some color to them. The clouds, which lingered all day, were high and dark with some wind behind them. It was, in fact, chilly all day, at least to my Texas-acclimated body. Kim and I walked to Cream Pot, a fru-fru brunch restaurant that is entirely out of place but heavenly in Waikiki. I indulged both my tastebuds and my wallet for amazing strawberry soufflé pancakes and Kona coffee.

me & a bombax tree

For my first day in Hawaii, we spent a good deal of time just scoping out a good bit of the island while I got my bearings. First on the agenda: Queen's Medical Center. Odd place to visit without knowing a patient? Only if you know nothing of the history behind the place. In a nutshell, the Hawaiian Queen Emma insisted on making the grounds of her namesake hospital as beautiful as the gardens she loved tending. The resident physician was also a noted botanist who was interested in rare trees. Together they obtained and planted a number of truly exceptional trees on the property. I can't tell you how cool these trees were! We also got in trouble for taking the pictures.... something about patient confidentiality... whoops!

There were also baobab trees on-site, but as they are incredibly slow growing/long living trees, they were still pretty small and less impressive.

me & a banyan tree

Nawa canopy

Following my botany excursion, we drove up to Kailua on the East coast. Lunch at Bob's Pizzaria, shave ice at Island Snow (an Obama favorite), and then it was off to a powder sand beach that really was super awesome under your feet. :) We didn't swim; it was just a sight-seeing day. A bit on the beach and then we started the drive back to Waikiki following the coast line. The weather was atypical but created some great pictures.

Anthony Bourdain approved Hula Dog for dinner!

 And thus ended my first 36 hours on Aloha Time. Unfortunately, no paper umbrellas yet...

New Hats for New Babes

I have had the rare opportunity to work from home this June as my previous band hall is being gutted and my new band hall has not been released to the school district by the construction company. Keeping my own hours is great as I can choose what time of day I work and what time of day I watch Real Housewives! I've been sliding into my normal summer routine of going to bed later and later while waking up barely in time for The View. :) You know you've slept too late if you miss hot topics!

One of my friends, who I am also lucky enough to work with during the school year, just had her first kid. With kids comes the excuse to pull out the yarn in the name of "gifts". Earlier this year I made my nephew this sock monkey hat born from online inspiration. A month or so ago I came across a newborn elephant hat on Etsy that had already been sold that was so dang cute I couldn't help but want to try it myself.

I had plenty of time! This kid wasn't due until nearly mid June!

But then life happens, as we all know it does, and there were just soooo many DVR episodes to catch up on, so many emails to send to square things away with my new school, so many Pinterest recipes to try! When I saw the Facebook update that my friend was in labor, I'm fairly certain that my exact thought was "shit!" I had to start that hat!

I ran up to Hobby Lobby and bought my grey, pink, white, and black yarn, and sat down determined to finish the hat before the kid was born. I used this site for my hat sizing. For the elephant ears though... I just had to stare at the original picture. It looked like the ear interior were two conjoined pink circles with then the grey outlining and giving the elephant shape.

Easier said than done... I remade the first ear 7 times. Seven times I made the complete ear, looked at it, and thought no, that is not a satisfactory elephant ear! Each time I frogged it, the size got a little better, the shape got a little better, and then I started getting inspired to put some curves into the actual form. The end result:

guess who's getting lots of junk made for him since my dogs won't wear sweaters?!?!?!

I was really happy with the result and think my version came out just as cute as the original, maybe a bit cuter. :) The ears have a slight Yoda look to them, but I like it! When Noah outgrows the hat it'll have to get passed around because it is just too awesome not to be worn. ;)

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Wonder what this is going to be...

Darcy Endorses: 3 Pinterest Reviews

This week I felt slightly domestic - not enough to clean or anything like that, but just enough to try out some Pinterest foods.



#1 - Pineapple Sangria - May I just say O.... M.... G.... This stuff was delicious!!! I even bought a little pot thingy to put it in, unfortunately not clear, so I didn't get the joy of seeing my amazing mixture, but I DID enjoy tasting it for several days. :) I didn't use the mint as garnish but chopped it and dumped it in the jug with everything else. It was QUITE strong, but you couldn't taste the alcohol hardly at all. This is definitely a must-make-again-and-again recipe, and for anyone who likes pineapple: please make it and invite me over. :)

#2 - No Bake Cake Balls  - I was a little concerned this was going to be a fail, but they were FABULOUS!!! Yum yum yum! My icing wasn't quite as pretty, but mine had far more sprinkles, therefore I win! :) I really like dense cookies/cakes, so they were perfect in my opinion.

#3 - Skinny Monkey Cookies  - I don't actually know how I feel about these. Have I eaten several? Yes. Are they delicious? I'm not sure. Will I eat more? Duh... The ones I sprinkled cinnamon on top of taste better than the other, but they are pretty good. I'm trying to teach myself not to crave sweets quite as much, and these definitely are not super sweet. They are a good replacement for regular cookies but I'm not sure they are truly that much healthier. :)

2.5 out of 3 isn't bad! :) 

Not really a review, but I also had a fun day at the vet today. Lucy got a little upset while having her nails trimmed and.... leaked... the gross, super smelly, butt leaking... She also got trimmed a little too close on one nail and ended up bleeding a bit. Of course, all of this happened on one of my favorite pair of jeans. LUCKILY, I pinned a miracle cleaner on Pinterest several months ago!

1 part dish washing soap, 2 parts hydrogen peroxide

Smelly butt juice - gone. Blood - gone. AWESOME! 

The Post I Won't Share on Facebook: Complaining

I got home today, stupid early (it was awesome!), and after feeding and snuggling with my doglets made the wise decision to go to the gym and try out a new interval training of running and walking. It might be considered jogging with me, but I'm hoping it will yield positive results in my last minute quest to look a little better in a swim suit come my trip to Hawaii.

I came back, with every intention of walking the girls, but got sidetracked in the backyard with how much the weeds have grown in our fairly cool spring temperatures and with the recent rains. I pulled clover for a while and finally decided just to mow it all down. I love how the yard looks freshly mowed.

After consuming my gourmet dinner of Totino's Party Pizza (yes, I know... this probably cancels all that I did at the gym today), I poured myself a glass of wine and meandered through my backyard relishing in all of the work I've done back there over the past 3 years. I think it looks awesome.

And that got me pissed.

I'm about to turn 30. Who cares. That doesn't bother me. What does bother me is that not so long ago meandering through my yard was a social activity. I'm pissed because I'm 30 years old and somehow I'm right back at square one.

I had a plan.

I went on dates. I met "the guy" and fell in love. We got married, bought a house, adopted 2 pretty little dogs, and I started tearing up the backyard in the name of gardening. We'd sit outside at night, glass of wine in hand, admire the work, talk about the weekend, pet a pup, eventually notice that the sky was being taken over by stars one at a time, and realize we should go inside or at least turn on the Christmas lights. The plan was to keep doing that for like 30 years and then retire, hopefully acquiring a surprise windfall along the way to finance all of the European vacations we'd take. That was the plan.

I'm good at making plans and following through.
I chose a career and decided to get good at it. Check.
I zoned in on the specific area I wanted to live and work and made it happen. Check.
I wanted a fancy, eye-catching fireplace, so I bought Dad beer. Check.
I set lofty goals and then somehow or another actually met them. Check.

And here I am, a week away from 30, and I'm back at square one, alone in my yard. I realize that for whatever reason, the number attached to it does have some bearing. By the time you're 30 you're supposed to be kinda settled down, at least in the south. I've always known I wanted to be married. I work better with a partner; I just do. I really did have it all, and now I'm back at frickin square one, and I'm pissed about it!!!

My anger is seeping into really unfair places. I can't tell you how many Facebook friends I have strongly considered un-friending solely because they are A) pregnant, B) post pictures of their kids, or C) talk about how awesome their spouse is. Understand that what I say next I 100% know is completely ridiculous:

Don't you know how rude that is??? Can you not possibly imagine how insensitive it is to constantly rub your nice little tidy life in my face???

Granted, I don't feel that way all the time or even a majority of the time, but as my 30th birthday has been approaching, and as I transition from one job to another, this really angry voice that I don't generally entertain has been surfacing far more than is healthy. I'm an intelligent, decently attractive, successful, funny, and very loyal person, and damn it, I deserve not to be alone in my backyard!

New Life in the Gardens

Back during spring break, my folks, my good friend Anne, and I tilled up the front of my yard and replaced crappy, water hungry semi-grass for what will eventually be a very lush front butterfly garden! In just a couple of months a lot of the plants have started filling in nicely, especially my Wendy's Wish salvia (the HUGE mauve colored one) that is making it's appearance just about everywhere in Austin right now. It's a pretty incredible plant! You can see a lot of new growth on my bamboo muhly, right above my Texas stone, that has shot up thanks to this crazy stuff called rain! I was initially hesitant to make such a drastic change in my landscape, but I am very happy I did - as are the hummingbirds that are now frequenting what used to be a very sad little yard. :) 

Yesterday at a backyard fundraiser at a good friend of mine's east Austin chateau, I randomly met two of my landscaping idols - the guys from The Grackle. I'm sure it was a very awkward encounter as I introduced myself as Darcy who is obsessed with your yard. :) 

Yeah gardening! 

Busy, busy, busy

I can't begin to tell you how pleasantly hectic everything has been the last month.

I've done a lot of planting, a lot of purging, pretended to clean, puppy walking, (going with a 'p' theme here apparently), all on top of the craziness that comes with the life of a band director this time of year.

But today, I discovered that someone else has been busy, busy, busy, and I can't tell you how excited I am!

I'm also super nervous for this little bird and her nest as the wind today is CRAZY! I realize I have never built a bird's nest and that birds have been building nests for millions of years, but I'm worried for her to the point of fixation. :(

PS. I'm not this bad of a photographer. The wind and trying to take pictures through the window make me look terrible though!