Maui 2014

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My family and I returned from a trip to Maui, last week. We chose to stay at The Fairmont Kea Lani again, because Costco Travel was offering an amazing price. I love Costco Travel!

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The Fairmont Kea Lani is a beautiful hotel in the Wailea area of Maui. It is next door to The Grand Wailea and The Four Seasons. For us, it is perfect. The hotel is all suites so the kids have their own room to sleep in at night (my daughter slept on the pullout couch and we paid for a rollaway bed for my son each night). Each room has a huge veranda so we could choose to eat inside or out.

We reserved a deluxe ocean front room with a beautiful view. The room came with a Keurig coffee maker and pods, a small refrigerator and a microwave. This was convenient for our small snacks and food items.

The hotel is not crazy busy like The Grand Wailea nor uncomfortably demure like The Four Seasons. It is, in the words of a famous little blond thief, “just right.”

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At the hotel’s restaurant, Ko, we all had amazing dinners of fish. And whilst the ambience and meal were not as good as Mama’s (but honestly, it is on a level all by itself), the ease and convenience of it being just steps from our room, make it a restaurant we would absolutely eat at again.

And we all scraped our plates clean. It was very good. This is the third time we have eaten here and the flavors are always yummy.

I do recommend sticking to wine or beer if you indulge in alcoholic beverages after having tried four different cocktails on my visits here.

One of my favorite things served here was the edamame dip that is served with the bread. And those rice cakes? Swoon.

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We reserved pool cabanas two of the days and we really enjoyed this on one of the days. We had a problem with the air conditioning in the room (the picture below is me sweating and drinking wine (gotta make the best of it) whilst waiting for engineering) and so the manager very, very generously took the two cabana charges off of our bill. He really did not have to do that, but it definitely was appreciated. This made the situation much better and allowed us to continue to think of the Kea Lani with fond memories.

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We would absolutely return. The Kea Lani continues to be one of my favorite hotels. The staff is so friendly. On certain days (depending upon which woman they have hired to make leis that day), they even have free flowers for guest’s hair, complete with a long stick so it would stay behind your ear. My daughter and I loved this small little gesture and I hope they continue to hire the woman that provides that small detail. She was lovely. And it was such a little thing, but it remains in my memory as a wonderful detail about the hotel.

Another small detail is the containers of water and iced tea in the lobby, so there are always refreshments at your leisure.

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There is a man that lights the torches around the hotel at night and blows a conch at certain points on his journey. It is quite magical. They encourage little kids to follow him and it is cute to watch his little entourage trailing behind. One night I spotted a little boy and his brother gleefully filling up waterguns and trying to put the fires out. I have no idea where their parents were, but they were quite intent on their task.

And, no, I would absolutely not allow my kids to do this. But drinking wine on my balcony watching someone else’s kids do it? Entertaining.

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My favorite part of The Kea Lani is definitely the beach.

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They have free umbrellas and lounge chairs for guests that they will set up for you when you come down from your room. It is so relaxing and at all points around the hotel, they have stacks of white fluffy towels for you to just grab as you make your way to the beach or the pool.

I love that.

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We were down at the beach almost every single evening watching the sun set and our kids playing in the surf.

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I took many memories away that I will treasure.

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During the evening, we discovered the cutest little crabs flitting along the sand and ducking into little holes.

We learned that they are called Ghost Crabs. It was a perfect name for them, because you almost did not believe that you saw them, they were so quick.

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Of course, the sunsets were incredible. We tried not to miss a single one.

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My son’s favorite aspect of the hotel was the water slide. He was up and down that thing for many hours during our stay. The picture above is him waiting for his dad at the bottom. I love that adults can use the slide, too.

One of the other things I love at Kea Lani is the ability for night swimming. Several of the hotels nearby close their pools very early, but The Kea Lani keeps theirs open. I have fond memories of night swimming as a child and I really appreciate this aspect of the hotel. We only swam at night twice, but I enjoyed having a glass of wine and watching other families enjoy the pool and making memories at night, from our balcony.

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However, one night I was drinking wine and my husband took my son night swimming. This was what I got to look down on from my balcony. I had a moment of panic. But then he swam and did it again. So, I took some pictures, because I like to remember what his idea of fun was at age ten. My son loves to lay like this in the pool. But I have to wonder what other vacationers thought when they looked down at him.

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One evening, we were strolling back from the beach and we spotted a sign to star gaze with a woman with a large telescope. It was an amazing spontaneous adventure. I appreciated that The Kea Lani allowed this to take place and we got to see the rings of Saturn and even one of its moons. It was really neat.

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Was our vacation perfect? I guess it depends on how you view that word. For us, yes. But I view the imperfections as stepping stones to happiness, too.

I truly believe that life is what you make of it.

And vacations are no exception.

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My husband and I had a tiff on one of the nights we were on vacation. It happens. It was easily communicated after a night of sleep (I am not a believer in the adage: do not go to bed angry) and now I think it is funny. And the tagline that infuriated me and started the fight might be my new favorite thing to bring laughing tears to my eyes, “Settle down.”

If I never had a bad meal, then I would not know what a good one is. Even our bad meal was served with the best coffee I have ever had. Do you know what we took away from our one bad meal on Maui? Questions like this:

“Honey, where can we find coffee like that?”

And the bad meal also taught me: please don’t. Please don’t ever. Ever. Ever. Serve colored rock salt in butter with the bread basket. It is beautiful. And guess what? Salty. Crunchy. Salt. Salty.

No. Don’t do it.

Instead, we think of the yummy coffee. We forget about colored rock salt. And we dream of that coffee.

Of waves upon a shore.

Splashing.

Laughing.

Ghost crabs.

Rings of Saturn.

Flowers in our hair.

Sunscreen mixed with sun.

Blissful sleep.

Sunset waters.

Sandy toes.

“Settle down.”

Perfection.

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Dog Crazy

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There is nothing special about this outfit. In fact, I am not quite sure I even like it. It was a rainy day and like any rainy day, I was most excited about one thing. Busting out my rain boots.

I do, however, love my embroidered rain cloud necklace I purchased from Sew Happy Girls earlier in the year.

Something happened in this outfit that shall always make it a tad bit special. It was the day I turned into a shapeshifter, crazy dog lady Winner Of Most Embarrassing Mother Of The Year.

Here is the story about how I can shame my children no matter where we go. It is my very special talent:

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I was late. Nothing shocking there. Well, actually, that is not true. As ditzy unorganized as I am, I am pretty much always on time or early. OCD and all of that. Can’t be late!

So, I dropped my daughter off at Ms. Lisa’s house (our wonderful, amazing art teacher). I did not even run into socialize, as I usually do. I just drove away.

But I had to turn my car around to get to the main street. As I did so, I noticed her little dog had gotten out. He usually just runs to her planter and back inside, but on this day he had made it all the way to the curb. Having no doubt it was because my daughter had kept the door open, I parked my car in the middle of the street to help.

I jumped out like the maniac that I am. And I tried to chase the dog into the house.

Only, it wouldn’t work.

He liked being outside.

There was a whole new world to explore.

Lisa was calling him.

He ignored her.

He made like he was going to run further up the street.

I panicked. I did not want him to get ran over. Or lost. Or hurt.

Something primal took over.

Without thinking, I began to bark at the little dog.

I ran at him barking. He finally acknowledged me. He began barking back.

I did not back down. I, after all, was the much larger, much older dog. Just call me “Alpha” from now on. I barked and growled as I marched that little dog back into Lisa’s house.

He ran away from the crazy dog woman through the open door into safety.

“Safety” being away from the insane woman in his front yard.

Lisa looked surprised and said, “Well, I guess that’s one way to get the dog in the house.”

It was not until she said that that I realized maybe what I had done wasn’t exactly normal.

I turned from a dog into a laughing hyena in my car.

Later my daughter relayed the embarrassing moment to my son.

His response to his sister, “Oh my gosh! Poor you!”

I was aghast. What did they mean?

I looked at my daughter indignantly. “But you have to admit I sounded just like a dog.”

“Um. No, you didn’t. You sounded crazy.”

There was only one response to that.

“Grrrrrr. Ruff!”

The Winner of The Giveaway and Gift Ideas

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The Winner of the $25 e-gift card to Anthropologie is Kate B. (the first person to enter!). Congratulations! I hope you get something fabulous!

All of your comments were so sweet. And there were so many of them! So fun! I was going to do a reply to each, but being that I desperately need to actually accomplish some housework today, I am going to generalize. Sorry. I hope you forgive me! Thank you everyone who entered! You guys are the best. Most of you are looking forward to seeing family and friends and spending the next few weeks enjoying the season. I hope it turns out to be everything you wish it to be.

This blog is my only creative outlet. I had not written anything in thirteen years when I started it. It was incredibly scary (still is). And, as I find my way, I am so grateful to all of you who read my blog. Either every day or once in a while.

Thank you!

Doing the giveaways is my favorite part of the blog. I love to spread some of the joy that is given to me through your comments and views each month. So, thank you so much for entering. January 10th, there will be a new one!

With the holiday season here and the pressure mounting, I thought I would share some items I think are great for the kiddos and the men and women in your lives.

Here are some of my ideas:

For the little boy:

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The Zombie Slayer Z Curve Bow. My son got this for his birthday in August. He uses it every single day. I have never seen him play with a toy more. When we take him to the park, the foam arrows actually make a whooshing noise through the air. So cool! The brand also carries other models. I know I paid $25 for the bow in August. Prices go up and down on Amazon, so you might want to shop around.

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I have something to say you might not want to hear. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back. And Lego is making some pretty coveted sets starring these guys. Definitely on my son’s wishlist this year.

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This Lego Minifigure Book is not only sneaky in that it gets your little guy reading, it also provides hours of entertainment. Kids love staring at the pictures of older minifigures and trying to recreate them at home.

For the little girl:

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My daughter loved The Dork Diaries when she was in elementary school. They now sell the books in sets. The link will take you to Amazon, but Costco might have them even cheaper.

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We bought this for one of our nieces at Costco. She is very into Monster High. She can change the heads and create her own monster. In fact, the set is called, Create A Monster Skultimate Set. I like that it is imaginative and looks like it could provide hours of play vs. a standard doll.

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For our other niece (with an older brother), we also shopped at Costco for her, but we got her the Nerf Rebelle Guardian Crossbow. I wish they would have carried these fashionable pink toys when my daughter was little.

Speaking of which, on to the teenager:

Oh. The teenager. There is never such a hard person to buy for. Since my teenager reads my blog, I will not be posting what I actually purchased her. You know, not ruining Christmas, and all of that. But I do have some ideas, besides the obvious gift cards.

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I recently found and ordered from (and received my order) an online store called Jinx. They sell apparel and accessories from video games. They have World of War Craft, Minecraft, Call of Duty, etc. I pretty much know anything I order from this website will be well received in the teenage world.

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For the girl who doesn’t play video games, Sephora has really cute make up sets. I know I would be happy with any of them, too. Last year, this eyeliner kit was a huge success.

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The mom in me had to include this. Who doesn’t like to give books? The Maze Runner series is my daughter’s very favorite. I have read it, too, and I thought it was good. In fact, she is trying to get my son to read it. This is a highly recommended read from a teenager.

For all kids big and small:

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Finally, Target. Hidden amongst the aisles, and never at the checkout, Target has a little secret. They have the most fabulous gift card holders or kits that come free with your gift card when you load money onto it. This year, I snatched up some of these Pez dispensers. Not only are you giving a gift card, but also a (free) treat.

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And they even had Hex Pup Gift Cards. All you pay for is the amount loaded onto the gift card. The Hex Pup is a bonus. Did I ever tell you I love you, Target? ‘Cause I do.

The man:

Did I say the teenager was hard to buy for? Cross that out. Enter the man. He doesn’t want anything. He doesn’t need anything. Don’t get him anything. Heard that before? Ugh! So frustrating! It makes Christmas shopping a zillion times harder. Because there are a million ways this can go wrong.

My husband had a big career move fifteen years ago and I had no idea what to get him. “I don’t need anything,” he said. So, I went to a card shop. And there on the shelves was a glass globe. And sitting in the glass globe were those angelic freaky little children. I knew. I just knew that that is what I should get him. I gingerly held the globe in my hand.

What’s this?

It plays music, too.

Oh, yes it did.

It played, “I will always love you.”

I bought it.

I gave it to him.

Oh my gosh, the look on his face. Priceless. It still makes me cry…with laughter, every single time I think about it.

So, in regards to my husband, I could never get him a better gift than that snowglobe. Every present since then has been a struggle.

I set the bar too high.

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Since he does my links, I cannot post what I actually bought him. But I can post what I got him last year. That still counts, right? He loves his Google Nexus from last year. There is a new version this year, but since he didn’t need it, he didn’t get it. Seriously though, he uses this every day.

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The Jambox. This wireless little speaker punches a sound. My husband loves to hook his nexus up to it.

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If all else fails, get him something you he has always wanted. Is it your fault he wants to remain a mystery? Take this gorgeous ice cream maker as an example. I know it has been on my his wishlist for years. So, this year I finally bought me him one. I cannot wait to see his face when he opens it! Just kidding. I am terrible at keeping secrets. Especially big, funny ones. He actually wrapped this for me himself. It was too heavy for me to wield.

He really is the best.

And, thankfully, he likes ice cream.

For the woman:

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A vest. I don’t care what vest. Vests are in. Every woman wants one. Anthropologie has a huge selection of them. My favorite right now is the Ruffled Hem Sweater Vest. I get compliments every single time I wear it. It is easy to throw on and actually look pulled together. However, there are many comments in its reviews that state this vest is not as long as shown in the pictures. I decided to do an experiment. I can see from the embarrassing picture above that that is in fact true. The vest is much longer on the model. I can’t tell if it is because of my hips. I am wearing the largest size it comes in for reference.

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Jewelry. Yes. Even if she says she doesn’t want it, she does. Okay, scratch that. Not all jewelry. Not dog collar jewelry. And that is my last word on that.

I love the Anthropologie Bird of Happiness Necklace. I think it is lovely. The price tag is nice. Love it! Hint. Hint.

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I love Anthology Magazine. A subscription to this periodical is always appreciated.

For anyone:

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The gift of feeding someone else. Heifer International is a wonderful organization that provides impoverished families with livestock to raise. I think what they do is amazing. They have a gift book on their site that includes gifts of chickens all the way up to gifting a woman empowerment through a herd of goats or an education in creating a business. Chills. I love this organization.

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A television series on DVD. I bought three seasons of Downton Abbey for my husband and myself. We just finished watched season one last night. I love giving the gift of entertainment.

I hope this helps! And if not, just show your gift recipient what they could have been gifted (ie: a snowglobe). They will never complain again!

Trust me…

I know.

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P.S. I actually like snowglobes. There is something romantic about them. Just maybe not the best gift. For a man. Getting a promotion.

Do you have any gift suggestions? Who do you think is the hardest to buy for?

It’s The Little Things: All Wrapped Up

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I am going to just come out and say it: I don’t like the typical holiday wrapping paper.

Oh no! I am beginning to sound like Scrooge! First the poor elf, now cute paper? What’s next? Santa’s suit?

Weeeeeellllllll…

Just kidding. His suit is perfection.

Anyway, back to the cutesy paper: That is not to say it does not end up in our house. Santa Claus has an affection for the stuff and he loves to give the kids their gifts covered in outlandish cartoon wrapping paper.

But for my presents under the tree, I like to keep it streamlined.

Usually this = a disaster.

Years and years ago, I wrapped all of my presents in brown kraft paper. It was so pretty under the tree. But then it happened… Presents started being exposed left and right as the tape popped off of the heavy paper.

I learned my lesson.

Or did I?

After that came the year of the all-white wrapping paper. Again, pretty, but very expensive.

Then there was the year of the fabric. Combine all of the problems I had with the brown kraft paper and the expense of the white paper and imagine this headache.

So, I caved. I bought the wrapping paper that I did not like. And I endured.

Heroic.

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But this year I had an idea. I stole into my daughter’s room and I snatched her giant roll of white drawing paper from Ikea off of her desk (if you have not used something in our house within a year, it becomes fair game. Meaning: it reverts back to being Mommy’s. Seems fair, right? Oh, and this rule does not in any way apply to Mommy). I began to wrap presents in it.

It still needed something.

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Every year I buy rolls of beautiful ribbon from Costco. They come in rolls of 50 yards for $7. This is an unbelievably fantastic price.

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I wrapped my presents in different colored bows.

And I was happy.

For the larger presents (like the ice cream maker I purchased for myself my husband because I he always wanted one), I am using gold and silver wrapping paper.

It’s the little things: beautifully wrapped presents under the tree.

Now, if only I could get someone to wrap them for me.

Any takers?

I think I know of an elf who might be available.

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P.S. I shared this on Savvy Southern Style.

And My Romantic Home