Weekend Recap...and other random rambling :)

Helllllllllo lovelies! How was the weekend? We're enjoying some darn good weather here and I hate to even MENTION it for fear I'm going to jinx it. Anyhoo, the weekend was good and it involved a.lot.of.eating. Starting description now... 

Friday night, I attended a surprise engagement party for some good friends! :) How did that work, you ask? Well, he sent out an evite to all of her close friends last week letting us know the plan that he was going to propose and then bring her over to what was supposed to be a "dinner" but would actually be a surprise party for her! So cute, right? Yeah, agreed. That's an awful lot in your face all at once, but she handled it well... haha.. :) And so glad everyone kept it a secret. That's a lotta trust in a LOT of people. *nervous* 

She was totally floored :) (and check out my friend behind the chair flipping the light switch on. hahaha...See her white tights under the chair and little hand peaking above on the switch?)

Anyhoo, Friday was fun! 

Saturday, Eric and I decided to have an indulgent breakfast. Tulsa peeps, if you haven't ever eaten at Shiloh's, you're missing out. It's good (but not healthy) home cooking. I mean they have chicken and dumplings.... YUM! Eric and I opted to see just how much food our bodies could hold by ordering all of the below... Yes, really. I'm convinced he has a tapeworm. (I really hope no one finds my blog by googling that. *shudder* haha).

(Um, and sidebar here, but speaking of home cooking, Pioneer Woman is going head to head with Bobby Flay this week! I think it's Wednesday. Set the dvrs! Eric and I have a bet going. I bet him she'll win. :) )

All of this was under $20 bucks! WHOA. and YUM.

Saturday itself was pretty uneventful (a positive thing). :) Errands here, cleaning there. Saturday night, we headed to the Hafli Fall Festival and had some awesome, authentic Lebanese food...

(Saturday was a very gluttonous day)

Today was full of errands and shopping around getting Christmas gift ideas for people. I also bought quite a few xmas presents! :) (So proud of myself for getting at least SOME of it done early).

I may or may not have come up with a few things for my own list in the process...haha... You see, every year, I get asked "what do you want?" and I never have a freaking clue. I feel lucky that I really don't NEED much of anything in many regards. But, my "I dunno" shrug frustrates the hell out of people, I know... Sooooooo, anyway, this year, I've made it a point for the past couple months to kinda jot down stuff-useful stuff, cheap stuff, spendy stuff, fun stuff, frivilous stuff, you name it- whenever I think about it (on my phone that is) so I don't forget.

As an aside, I have like 5 lists going on the phone for people's gifts. If something happens to the smart phone, I'm going to have to apologize for all the random gifts people will receive b/c all my planning will be gone...yikes! (thinking I need to back my lists up after I blog this).

Here are a few of the things I've included in my random cell phone list..

MAC is doing their holiday brush sets again!! The Sweep me off my feet one is funness! :)

I think Beauty and the Beast is coming to Tulsa's performing arts center! Wanna come with me? You know you do. (If I actually go, I feel badly for whoever sits next to me b/c I know a lot of the songs). *swaying head and humming "Be Our Guest" right now*

I want a (faux) fur trapper hat so much! I can't find one anywhere that I really like that isn't stupid expensive. I mean, it's just a freaking hat. sheesh! *sigh* I thought I found a cute one at the Gap, but after seeing it in person today, it might be TOO furry. (I seriously looked like I was about to attempt to build an igloo in it). Anyway, here's a cute one....

 I'm not a die hard fan of Vera Bradley. I mean.. it's cute, but it's just not something I've ever gotten into. That said, those massive duffel bags are freaking amazing. I mean they're the perfect.dang.size.for.everything. Need an airplane carry on? Take the duffel. Need an overnight bag for a weekend? Take the duffel. It's like the answer to everything. (being overdramatic. obviously).

 

Cleaned out my car today and thought "hmm.. it'd be cool to have some of those coasters in their car people have for different sports teams. I want some TU ones!" Do I even know where to find them? Nope. But, I found a pic on google images. *shrugs*

I already smell pretty awesome naturally.. (sarcasm noted), but this stuff smells quite lovely if I do say so myself. And Eric tells me it doesn't bother his allergies. (This is a blog for another time, but I've been through 3 perfumes he nixed b/c they bug him...He's pretty awesome, but his nose and I have a love/hate relationship). 

 Rompers are awesome. They're comfy and I want to sleep in them. V!ctorias Secr!t apparently heard my plea and started making rompers for pjs. I dig. I won't pose like this in mine. And my skin definitely doesn't glow like that. But, ya know.. I still want one.

So there you have it. Weekend recap. Some Christmas stuff. I wish I owned a house b/c I REALLY want to decorate. My roomie gave me a 20 minute speech about not being in the holiday spirit this year at all and yada yada, so something tells me she wouldn't be thrilled to come home and find greenery and nutcrackers...

I always do this btw... get into the holidays around now... By the time Christmas gets here, I'm kinda over all the music, the crowded stores, cold weather, yada yada ...haha...So I'm just embracing it now with that understanding. I feel like I have many blessings in my life right now and that's something to be cheery about in my book. 

Have you started shopping? What's topping your list this year? :) 

Goal: Be done blogging about Maui this week. Think I can do it? Yeah, me neither... XOXO, loves! Have a fabulous Monday! 

MAUI Day 4!!! :)

Hiya peeps! Soooo Maui Day 4 didn't have as many photos. (You can sigh of relief now). We started at the beach and then set off a few hours later in the rental car for lunch... Sadly, Eric got a migraine over lunch, so I drove us back to the hotel where we blacked out the hotel room and he crashed out for a few hours in hopes of kicking the headache without having to take his pills. His pills set him back at least a day or two, so we were hoping he caught the migraine quickly enough to take some strong pain pills, rest, and kick it in the arse that way. Thankfully, it worked. But, I wanted to leave him alone so I opted to explore.... 

Anyway, that was the overview and here's the recap... 

We may or may not have eaten Pita Paradise twice in Maui. This place was good; just sayin. It was in a little shopping center in Kihei, had friendly employees, outdoor seating, and fab food. :) Once Eric started rubbing his forehead and looking at me with an "I can't believe this is happening" face, I leapt up, got us some to-go boxes, and we hightailed it back to our hotel. I don't get migraines, but Eric gets them BADLY off and on. He loses vision, is ultra sensitive to noise and light, etc. Major suckage. :( 

Pita Paradise

Feeling pretty badly for him having a migraine in paradise, I didn't say much and tried to make sure he had everything he needed, packed a little day bag, and bailed, leaving him in peace and quiet to sleep...

There was a little path our guidebook talked about from our hotel to the other nearby hotels...I opted to explore it!

It winds all the way back and curves to the left and all the way around

There's our hotel beach.... :)

About halfway around the curvy path, I realized I was (1) surrounded by TALL greenery, (2) alone (3) and it was getting a little cloudy aka ominous. I thought "Okay, I should just keep going and I'll take the main road back..." I dunno about you, but I can ROYALLY freak myself out. It's a gift really. (sarcasm noted). So, as I was at the height of "I'm going to get attacked and this is gonna be a very bad day" paranoia, this sign pops up outta nowhere...

Possibility of CRIME?! Hell.

I was quickly put in a happy place when I saw this mini palm tree. I want one. That is all. Moving along...

I got all the way down to the Grand Wa!lea, which is a gorgeous hotel, but it's the size of freaking Disneyw0rld and when you're hiking in flip flops, Disneyw0rld is not somewhere you want to be. At that point, I hoofed it back up to the main road, not wanting to take the scary stroll back alone again on the path. One thing I didn't realize: the path had been leveled out whereas the main road was mostly uphill. So, I used my fedora as a fan and was a little glad Eric wasn't there to see me dripping sweat and cursing in my head glowing a little on my hike home. 

Since I hadn't heard from him, I headed to the pool to chill and read my magazine. Pool=much better than scary path. I gave it a thumbs up. Literally. 

After the magazine was read, I sighed, looked around, and wondered how else I should entertain myself... The answer was waiting for me at the adult pool... 

ahhhh pina colada.... 

Chatted on my cell phone with a girl friend, people watched, and sipped my tropical beverage. :) 

It was approaching dinnertime when I opted to head up to the hotel room and quietly shower. Admittedly, I was wishfully thinking Eric would wake up and feel 100% better! Thankfully our hotel was all-suite, so our room was a suite and I could move about the bathroom, living room, etc, without really disturbing him a lot... Sadly, he didn't get up (poor guy), so once I was showered and dressed, I opted to hit up the nearby Shops at Wailea to see what I could find there...

On the way down, this was the sunset view from our open air lobby... I remember thinking "Gosh, I wish Eric was here b/c (1) this is gorgeous and (2) he could take a WAY better sunset picture with this camera than I can..."

I didn't take any pics in the Shops at Wailea, but I stole this one from a travel website. It's an open air shopping center with some higher end stores and some little boutiques. I ended up buying Eric a little get well present, some snacks for the room, and a tropical-looking dress... :)

Shops at Wailea

Somewhere in the middle of shopping, I started to get pretty bummed. I was like "Okay, exploring was alright, pooling it with a drink was alright, but I'm kinda lonely in paradise now. :(" I headed to Cheeseburger in Parad!se in the shopping center, got us some to-go food and headed back to the room. I think the fragrant aroma of one of nature's perfect foods, aka the cheeseburger and fries, shook him awake and cured him! haha! ;) He woke up as I came in, and was feeling better! We munched on our fine cuisine on our hotel room sofa while I told him about my day's adventures...

:)

And onto day 5...... :)

Capes and Tiaras...

First and foremost, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the men and women and their families who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces to ensure our freedom. Many of my family members are among those who have protected this great country. I am so glad and thankful we have this day in their honor. Regardless how you feel about war, politics, etc, I think we can all agree those men and women deserve a very big thank you. My thoughts and prayers are being sent to those individuals and their families today... 

I had Veterans Day off today... I ran many many MANY errands (the drycleaners had to ask me if I had ever been there b/c it's been so long. Oops.)  

One of the errands I ran took me to the mall and...........

I got the gold dress!!!! And yes, I took a picture in it b/c (1) I was excited D!llards actually had it and (2) it fit! :) And yes, I also did the skinny-arm-hand-on-hip-pose b/c I did. Whatever. (I actually made a point not to do it a lot in Maui b/c um... I do it a lot. And it looks forced. It also makes arms look skinny so there's that. Anyway, whatever). 

 Thanks so so so so SO much for all the comments about the dresses! Ya'll motivated me to get off my arse and head to D!llards today. Therefore, you kinda saved yourselves from a post two weeks from now where I whine about the store not having it b/c I waited too long.. haha.. :)

And also thanks to Leslie for posting today about Curly Girl Designs! After reading about it on Leslie's blog, I headed over and got my mom a notepad as a stocking stuffer and got myself a notepad with this fun saying... It makes me smirk a little and will be a good addition to my cloffice (cube + office). ;)

Anyway, the site has notepads, ornaments, cards, etc etc... And totally affordable! (My magnetic notepad was 6 bucks!) Thanks, Leslie, for posting about it today!

Having today off was great, but since I have to work tomorrow, I feel like I just had the shortest weekend in the world. Weird...

I'm currently watching Private Pract!ce as I blog.. Do you watch this show? It's getting SO GOOD! I also keep seeing an ad for another promising show that looks like Lost + Greys. (I'm in denial that Lost is really gone). Hope you're gearing up for a great weekend, friends!

Weren't we just ringing in 2010?!

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!

Maui DAY THREE! :)

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....

Until Day 4..... :)