I dunno about you, but every year I (1) like to overthink New Years and (2) end up searching for attire the day of week before. Now, lemme say.... I dont care WHAT I do really...I dont need a fancypants party on New Years. At all. And I actually loathe the idea of a crazy dance floor, lines for drinks, and random wasted girls squealing every 10 seconds about something. (Is anything really that exciting? I mean come on). All I really want is good company (*cough Eric*) :) Yeah yeah insert the "awwww"..or the vomit sound...whichever you prefer. Anyway, all of this said, if I'm going to a party, I want a dress. Not just ANY dress, but THE dress I'll ring in the new year with! And this year, it looks like we're headed to a party. :) So, of course I've already been kinda glancing at dresses with the holiday in mind every time I'm out and about b/c I'm obsessive and crazy.
You see, I've always been weird about New Years. I have no idea why b/c it's really just a day. But, it just seems so..well..meaningful...as lame as that sounds. I remember breaking up with someone once (in like high school) on New Years Eve...just b/c I didn't want to ring in the new year with someone I didn't see actually BEING in my new year. (He was that blonde guy who I'll keep semi nameless but name started with a D...who used to drive off from drive-thrus forgetting to get the food after paying...if any of you remember him... He was pretty and sweet, but the elevator might have stopped before the top floor. Whatever).
Anyway, I'm just saying, I like New Years...the cheesy countdown...the cheersing....the auld lang syne.... Yeah, I like it all...and most of all, I like to be with people I enjoy. :) And if I'm going to wear a dress, it's going to likely be one that I really dig.
So, after all this rambling, I have already found two options thus far (both under $100 bucks!!) that I really like! So, as a break from the vacay posting, I'm sharing them. :) (PS things I'm into this season: lace and sparklies!)
Express dress
I havent actually seen the below in person yet, so it could be not so haute...
...or it could be fabulous. TBD.
by Calvin Klein
What about you? Thoughts on New Years? Love it or hate it? Like dressing up or prefer dressing down? With friends or family?
Oh, and guess what I finally got!
Yeah, I'm years (literally) behind the curve, but I never thought I needed a chi b/c my hair is so blah straight. I thought it'd surely be a waste of money for me. But, then I used a friend's and oh.my.gawd. What a life saver this little hot tool is! I can CURL.THE.ENDS.UNDER slightly without even trying that hard. Oh, dear chi, you have saved the day. Thanks for being hot and awesome. :)
Annnnnd while I've got your attn, I bought this new Maybelline Falsies mascara b/c I was wandering around target and it was 5 bucks on the end of some aisle. I thought "why not." Um... get it. Now. It's awesome. Well, don't get it if you have naturally awesome, long, and full lashes. If that's you, I hate you and am incredibly jealous. Kidding...kinda.
And there's your dose of randomness you never asked for. Sorry for the attention deficit nature of this post and the minutes of your life you can't get back. Love and hugs from Tulsa. Hope you have a good hump day, everyone!
Hellllllo peeeeeeeps! So, the camera was still smoking at the end of day three from all the pics. You've been warned. Pics are more interesting than my rambling and I know that, so yeah..sorry for letting my fingers get ahead of me in this post with all the text...
Eric had decided to book a round of golf at a nearby course for the morning, so I decided to book myself a pool chair (You really don't have to book those; I was trying to be funny. It prolly didn't work. Moving on..) Adult-only pool....yes.please. (Whoever invented the adult-only pool is my hero). Now don't get me wrong.. I love me some kiddos. But, I also love me some quiet poolside reading next to the tannest people I've ever seen. Seriously. That's them.. reading.. They seemed very nice, but every day, I spotted them sunning themselves...beach, pool, whatever..Chairs always positioned to get optimal sun. I mean seriously we're talking Something About M@ry standards here, folks. Anyway, whatever. I enjoyed the pool.
The staff came by with cold towels and fresh fruit as I read my book... *happy sigh and closing eyes* Care to join me there, anyone? I'm kinda ready to go back...
It's not like the other pool was exactly overrun with kiddos, though. Still very peaceful and quiet, see below! :)
Also, those cabana things.. see em? Okay, well they were like $300/day to rent or something. I dunno, we didn't get one. But, the peeps who did often went in there, closed the curtains around them...and sat there. So, um.. they paid $300/day to sit there enclosed where they couldnt see anything. Strange. Anyway...moving on...
Eric got done with golfing and we decided to see what extreme West Maui had to offer, specifically Nakalele blowhole! It's a place where the ocean has undercut the shoreline, pounding underneath the lava shelf, where it spits through a man sized hole in the lava rock! (See, sounds cool, right?). Here's the basic drive we took.... (started at Wailea where our hotel was). :)
..stopped at a scenic lookout....
...took some pics....
....applied sunblock... (haha)
...took photos at random gorgeous beaches we saw along the way... :)
...and then arrived at Nakalele blowhole! Wait..wait...Okay, so, it took us a couple days to actually chill the hell out and realize we were on vacation. We were obviously LOVING life, but the daily grind had left a deep gash in our stress level before the vacay...and it was healing slowly.. lol! What I mean is, getting to the blowhole was semi hilarious.
I was reading the guidebook and it says verbatim "Exactly 1/2 mile past the 38 mile marker is a wide turnout backed by round boulders. About 1200 feet from the road is the blowhole." Eric was driving and we didn't see the boulders, so stress was quickly mounting. I believe he said "well, you're not giving me any sort of address" to which I snapped "oh excuse me, I meant the boulders are at 444 boulder lane. I have no idea!" or something equally crappy. We exchanged an exasperated glance before I made him get off the road and read it for himself. When he did, we looked and both went "Oh, there are the boulders" like right by us. Nice. So, anyway, we found the blowhole...haha..
We got out of the car and looked down...waaaaaay down...to see the blowhole. We decided we didn't go all that way to just stare at it from above...so down we started climbing! See pic below. And see the specks above me? Those are PEOPLE! That's where we climbed from. I took the time to identify it for you...ya know...to make sure you didnt miss it...haha...
The blowhole!
We took turns going and standing there as the blowhole did it's thing! You never knew which wave would make it really roar! (But definitely didn't want to get too close b/c if you got sucked down, things weren't gonna be good).
Love this one of Eric and the blowhole! :)
Eric got an awesome video of me and the blowhole! I look (and sound) like a total cheeseball, but it's still a pretty cool video. I thought he was just taking pics so I keep smiling like an idiot and then point out a rainbow... Anyway..whatever.. There was some cute little girl that kept saying the blowhole liked us. I dunno. She gets points for being under 8 and climbing all the way down there. My kids will be cool like that someday. I'm just saying.
This guy is pretty awesomesauce. :)
Our guidebook called the area around the blowhole something that looked like an alien warzone where combatants fought with acid. *nod head affirmatively as I type* Pretty accurate. Eric posing... :)
We hiked back up and headed on to the Olivine Pools. I was REALLY looking forward to them... But uh... we were the only people anywhere NEAR this trail and couldnt tell where the pools really were. (And felt like we were about to become some sort of Datel!ne special alone out there)
Soooo we opted for a quick photo kiss and moved along. See ya next time, Olivine Pools.
And onward to the "best banana bread on the planet" <--guidebook. I mean with a rep like that, we HAD to check it out. It was a mere few miles away! Check out Eric signing the guestbook there. As an aside, we told them we were from Oklahoma, and the dude immediately said"BO0MER SO0NER! B0B ST00PS!" We were in the middle of nowhere, people. Go figure, a sooner fan.. sheesh. (We didn't go to OU) Still funny and way random.
To get the best banana bread on the planet (it really was damn good), we had to take roads like this. Oh? You dont think it's so scary? See a guard rail? Yeah, me neither. And the dropoff isnt pretty. Oh and did I mention this is a two way rode?
Yeah, it is. We were seriously half on the grass as close to the edge as we could go without tumbling to our deaths as this car passed. I may or may not have been saying ohmygawdwe'regoingtodie repeatedly. I'm such a positive person to have in the car in one of these situations....
And if the crazy highway didn't kill us, then we'd be damned if some falling rocks were gonna get us.. But uh... they coulda gotten someone... Check this out! Sign....
...two feet later...
Stopped at a gorgeous beach as the sun was setting.... :)
...and took some photos...
Just look at these happy smiles after some banana bread! (we both get cranky when we don't eat. Just saying).
We opted to stop in Ka'anapali for dinner and to check out Whalers Village, a little shopping center. :)
We were looking like hell a little rough and not feeling like a photo (shocking, I know). When we were told the only seats for dinner were at the bar, we gladly accepted. And I mean.. if you're at the bar, you really should order a drink. It's only polite. ;)
We dragged our tired selves back to the hotel where we showered and met up with Eric's friends there on their honeymoon at the resort next door! :) From there, I'm fairly certain it took 15 seconds before we were counting sheep....
I'm taking "me" time. And it's GLORIOUS, people! (<--bolded, underlined and italicized. Just.saying.)
Here's the sitch: Eric had a little come-to-Jesus talk about me being too nice and not demanding enough of "my" time at home. I have a hard time focusing while my roomie is talking to me, so I go in my room...and she keeps talking. I shut my door...and she keeps talking... And she's so sweet...but I can't get anything done. I say "I'm working on the computer" and she keeps talking...
And like I said, she's so sweet. She really is. And I'm not good at being like "Okay, if I'm working on the computer, I really need it to be quiet which is why I'm in my room."
And it's not her fault that my routine is to utilize my home as my sanctuary for decompression and hers isn't as much...
So, I end up taking "me" time at like 11pm...and I get to sleep late...and I get frustrated....and it's just blah. It wears on me. And it makes me crankier than I should be.
Eric was like "Jackie, you used to blog all the time. You used to chill out at home a lot more. You just need to be more demanding of your time. Plain and simple."
And he's right. He said a very obvious thing, but I guess I just needed to hear it.
Tonight, I did it. I came in here and said "I need to work on alumni stuff (and I did), so I'm going to be antisocial." I shut my door....
And it worked...not right away... but it did!
And here I am... blogging! at 9pm! AND I've already gotten through all my personal email! (I can't get personal email at work, so I often neglect it when my weeks are busy b/c the last thing I want to do when I get home is read email).
So, I think I might try to blog Maui Day 3! And still be in bed at a decent hour! I am so freaking overjoyed! ANNNND I'll likely get to read quite a few of your blogs, too! eeeeeee!!! <-- excited squeal. :)
So, I'm busy. Whiney whiney yada yada. We all are. I've realized "my" time and what relaxes me is blogging-writing mine and reading yours, other interweb activities (surfing, facebooking, emailing), my tv shows, reading before bed, walking my pup, I could go on and on....but anyway.. yeah. I guess I've just realized that I really do NEED some of those things for my mental well-being.. ha! Go figure... :)
So, what about you? What do you like to do for your "I need this for myself" quality time?
Things I did tonight: Had a semi nervous breakdown b/c I hadn't had enough down time lately to (1) go to the grocery store or (2) upload photos to facebook (and otherwise do a few things "for me.") Sometimes, I think I might overcommit myself. (Those of you who know me are laughing and likely thinking that's a small understatement). Anyway, I really like having a ton going on and LOVE being involved...but when you no longer come home to an empty house, but instead to a rather chatty roomie (who I adore, but just saying), it's harder to decompress when there's a lot going on everywhere else. I think it all starts to compound or something. *shrugs* And I just wanted to upload my dang facebook pictures and not talk. to anyone. (Only children get kinda anti-social sometimes) It's the little things, people...haha...Anyway, do you ever get like that? (This is where you say I'm not crazy. Thanks). Eric is kinda awesomesauce (I say that a lot, but it's mostly b/c I mean it...mostly... haha.. teasing ;) ) and let me come over and just chill while he watched a movie and I uploaded photos. I brought dinner as a thank you. :) He watched Predators or something equally thought provoking (why do boys like alien movies?) aka I was devoted entirely to my computer screen... Absolutely Jax-centric-Maui-photos night. *happy sigh* (I still didn't go to the grocery store, but whatever).
So, without further ranting about nothing you care about, here's more ranting, but at least this ranting has photos to coincide with it! :)
We went to the Old L@haina Lu@u and loved it! (Actually, it was three weeks ago TODAY!) A lot of people called luaus cheesy, etc before we went, but we were like "We're going to Hawaii; we're doing a luau." I think we definitely chose the right one b/c we both really dug the food (despite having lowered expectations from some people's reviews of luau food) and even tried poi. *shrugs* And most importantly, we thought it was a really good show! And gorgeous setting!
Okay, here goes... Did you know women are supposed to wear flowers on the left/right side's ear to indicate their relationship status?! I didn't. Anyway, I was "taken" hence left side. (obviously. When you're on vacation with your boyfriend, putting the flower on the "single" side isn't going to win any points...haha!)
Greeted at the door with mai tais and leis... I'm okay with that...
If only we'd stood facing the other way, but whatever... I still like it even if it's dark...
I learned lots of things about coconuts. I would share everything I learned but I can't remember. I really just wanted to try the fresh coconut and was hoping he would let us the whole time he was talking (he did).
Bloated mini tiki man? And Eric copying him? I dont know, but it's awesome. If I had a luau of my own, I would set up random huts like this and put random bloated tiki men inside, too...just to confuse tourists.
We reserved the luau a month before we went and therefore got rockstar seating in front of the stage on the ground (ground seating = "traditional" while table seating = "conventional.") Very worth the early reservation. :)
The setting :). We got seated at a table with a mom and her two daughters, one of which had just done the iron man in Kona. Way.freaking.cool. We enjoyed talking with them a lot... :)
After the sun set, the show began!
The gentlemen's shorts/pants coverage concerned me with the high level of activity they had to do. Just saying.
Wanna see some luau-ness? The noises on there are the dancers; kinda freaky and cool at the same time. Alright, let's go to the luau..... :)
Is it me or does it feel like it should totally be Friday already? *shrugs* Thanks for sticking with me here. I know I will feel really good to get all these days blogged about for memories' sake. :) Hope your first week in November is rocking along, peeps!
Thanks so much for the sweet comments about day one! :) Day two was long because we had the luau that night and I'm way too sleepy to upload our fun luau photos and videos (yes, videos. overboard=us). I wouldn't do em justice right now... (think "this is a Hawaiian dancer. He is good. Goodnight, everyone." haha!) So, I'm stopping at the midway point of our day!
Day two was seriously two things: (1) beach and (2) luau. Not a bad agenda for the day in my opinion.... haha! :) Sooo...
We got up and decided to head into Kihei for breakfast (like 5 minutes away). On that note, towns are seriously like miles from each other. One minute, you're in Kihei, the next Wailea, the next.. Anyway, you get it. It took us a minute to understand that. We thought the names were just new streets, not new TOWNS. Anyway, comedy. Okay, so breakfast was fabulous! We read about the french toast, so like true fat kids on vacation, we each got a full breakfast...and then shared an order of french toast. (I mean we HAD to try it. The guidebook said so!). We weren't disappointed and wanted to make it back for another breakfast, but we didn't get the chance to.
Anyhoo, we walked over to Kalama Park (across the street) and watched some people taking surfing lessons and some school children playing outside with their teachers. (How cool would THAT be? Recess at the BEACH!) Self portrait on our walk...
Got back to the hotel and got our first real daytime glance at our beach through the open air lobby. How.gorgeous. I mean, seriously, you can see straight to the ocean! *wistful sigh*
Drawn by the lure of sand in between our toes and sun on our skin, we decided right then and there to toss on the suits and see what our hotel beach had to offer! We weren't disappointed. :)
Didn't take us long to get used to this... ;)
Also didn't take me long to want to take a picture (duh, have we met?!). Anyway, we went for self timed. Eric thought it would take him 5 seconds to reach me, turn around and smile. Um... I'll let you see how that worked out. (The kid makes it even better...hahaha!)
10 second timer=much better idea :) (even though we have no feet. You make sacrifices when it's a self timed photo. Whatever).
Our hotel gave out snorkels, fins, masks, boogie boards, etc to its guests... So of COURSE we needed all of those things. (I looked ridiculous carrying my pile of stuff back to my relaxing spot on the beach...haha). Anyway, I immediately decided I was born to boogie board. I'll let you see how that worked out for me. (*I tried to make the collages bigger, but they kept cutting off on the edges. Boo. You can double click to make them larger).
Our hotel beach behind me! (The building behind me is actually condos to the side of our hotel). And I might start to look a little ridic in my hat, but the ONE day I didn't wear it, my scalp got roasted. Sheesh. Anyway, fedora or bust!
Clouds rolled in a few afternoons around 2:30 in Wailea, but usually cleared up by dinner time. (We didn't have any rain until the last day). By the time the clouds rolled in, we'd already been at the beach like 3 or 4 hours, so we were good to bail and head for our next adventure.
So, until our next adventure it is.. Next stop, luau! :) Mahalo!
