Friday Finds

 

Happy Friday! (to all 5 readers)

 

Back by popular demand my choosing, are some of my favorite Pinterest pins from the last couple of weeks. I love how years from now I can look back on these posts and see where exactly my style was and if I still wear these styles, but more importantly how many of them will make me wonder "what was I thinking?"

 

I'm so excited summer is here. It's officially shorts, romper, maxi and mini dress season! Plus I'm loving the gals mani with the white shorts on. Light pink, although I think I want to try powder blue first. Cute?

 

Light blue nail color

 

 

I'm not always on the hunt for cute clothing. I am addicted to all things boy, kid and fun too.

 

How adorable is the idea to paint your old miniature box a fun color to host a little party for all your little ones toys? And look at that homemade blanket! LOVE!

 

I would love to build/buy the boys a couple hot wheels shelves to display their ever-growing collection. We've got quite the stash and it keeps growing day by day.

 

If you have any kids, then you probably have some of these tiny little animals around the house. I usually find myself stepping on them and boy do they hurt. Such a cute idea to paint them and make them into a keychain.

 

Would love to get this Etsy camping print for the boys room.

 

xoxo

Oh Boy!

 

I love how kids have their own way of doing things. It's what makes each of them so unique and adorable.

 

What's been happening in our neck of the woods...

 

Elliot loves snacks! Both my boys do. Elliot likes to take every little piece of food that I've given him and has to hold all of them in his tiny little hands.

 

 

This past Memorial Weekend marked a first for our family. A huge hurdle. Noah finally entered a pool on his own free will and he LOVED it! I mean, this kid won't even get his face wet in the bath. Hates water on his face. I'm really hoping that if we keep up the pool appearances, his love toleration of water will only increase this summer.

This is the best photo I could get of this little guy.
 

xoxo

This Girls First Blog DIY | A New & Improved Front Doorway

 

Happy Monday Tuesday! I hope your long weekend was spent with good friends, family and food. We were fortunate enough to experience all of the above.

 

A play date and dinner with the Matson's, a Giants game for the hubby and Noah, a family dinner to celebrate my mother-in-law and some pool time with some great friends yesterday.

 

A great weekend was had by this family!

 

And on to the post...

 

I've been telling the hubby for a while now that I want to gather all the photos we've taken over the years of events we've thrown and DIY projects and create a scrapbook of sorts so I have them all in one place.

So here goes with my first DIY blog post. It's nothing fancy. It's not going to knock your socks off. It's just a little ole DIY curb appeal improvement since we all know our place could use it. Heck, it could use anything at this point, inside or out.

 

I'm a HUGE sucker for anything "before & after". Like ANYTHING! I don't care if it's a makeover, your eyebrows got waxed, something DIY'd....anything, I love it! I'm addicted to all HGTV and TLC shows that have makeovers on them. (That's if I have time to watch them all. I'm a certified TV addict and lord knows I already watch way too many shows.)

 

Here are some before pictures of our front door. Let me point out the intense red door, extremely ugly 1970's rock walls and blah black doormat. This place hasn't seen a lot up updates in it's lifetime so any TLC is an act of L.O.V.E.

 

Before | Front door/Entry way

Before | Front door, UGLY 1970's rock walls and blah black doormat

 Yes, we know it's hideous and there's not a lot you can do to make it more eye appealing other than doing it a favor and tearing it down to build a brand new house. However, that's not really an option so I went with Plan B.

 

I love hydrangeas and have been wanting to buy one for quite some time for our front entryway. I also have a bright and cheery turquoise pot I've had just sitting in our back patio for years now that would work perfectly for said hydrangeas. When I was grabbing the pot I noticed an old plant stand that was sitting back there too so I dusted off the cobwebs and used whatever spray paint I could find in the garage (yellow works...) and voila! A new and improved plant stand! The pot is a little small for the stand, but I'm making due with what we have.

 

Once dried I headed over to Target to grab a bright and cheery new doormat and that's that! A bright and summery new entryway to welcome us home each day.  

 

 

Come and knock on our door. We've been waiting for you.

 

XOXO



Spring/Summer Trends

Hi! I'm loving spring right now. We just got back from our family vaca in Maui so my nice tan is pairing quite well with my outfits these days. This girl cannot complain.

 

I'm also trying out some new spring trends that I didn't think I would ever catch myself wearing which has been a lot of fun...well, three out of the four trends below. Can you guess which one I won't try?

Trend #1

 

 

How adorable are these rompers? If you're on Pinterest then I'm sure you've seen them all over the place there or even walking down the street. They're everywhere and are super adorable!

 

And look! She's sporting the top bun!!

 

Trend #2

 

 

How classic and sophisticated is white on white? I love it! White is the new black people!

 

Trend #3

 

 

These jumpsuits are super cute and although I don't have one (YET), I have tried some on and let me just say they feel like you're wearing jammies. Super soft and comfy. Flip flops or heels, you can wear it with both.

 

Trend #4

 

 

Ok, so this is where I draw the line. Have I had a pair of Birk's in the past?...guilty. Have I kept them in my closet for years thinking they'll come back in style and I can wear them again?...guilty. Are they back in style?....yes. Will I wear my old Birk's again?....NO!

 

My old pair are boring and dark brown. Yuck! However, I have found someone to take them off my hands and sport them around town like a new set of wheels. I'll keep her name anonymous though.

 

Which trend would you wear?

 

 xoxo

Day Date

Two Friday's ago, Nana graciously watched the boys while the hubby and I enjoyed an adult only day of relaxation and great eating. We started the morning off by checking out the new Hyatt Andaz Hotel in Wailea which I'd been dying to see. The hotel is beautiful! It's not what you'd expect on Maui at all or is there anything similar. It's extremely modern by Maui standards and they really did an amazing job on renovating it. It used to be the Marriott Renaissance which, I believe, has been closed for years. 

We ate breakfast at the Ka'ana Kitchen where the kitchen is open to diners to walk amongst the chefs and pick which delicious breakfast item they'd like to indulge in. It was amazing and different than any other buffet style eating we've ever had. We highly recommend it. 

Look at the reception area of the hotel. So cool!

Yummy breakfast! I think I finally took a photo after my third trip to the kitchen. Our view was of their 4 infinity pools that began right by our table and continued down to the beach. Breathtaking!

 

 

Bottomless mimosas'? Our server even gave me one to go! Why thank you Miss!

Don't mind if I do!

 

 

We then headed to the beach in front of the Fairmont Kea Lani. It was so nice to be able to lay out and relax with my hubby. This is the life!

 

After the beach we headed home to shower for our dinner reservations at Monkeypod Kitchen in Wailea, another favorite of ours. The kids were both asleep so we got ready in record time and bolted out the door to enjoy happy hour before our table was ready.

 

I ordered the Bulgogi Pork Tacos which were AMAZING!

 

And they are known for their homemade cream pies so we ordered a piece of their chocolate cream pie and banana cream pie. DELICIOUS!!!!

 

Such a great night!

 

xoxo

Mother's Day & Another Day Date

 

 

Happy Belated Mother's Day to everyone. We celebrated with a great brunch at the Sheraton in Ka'anapali. It was yummy!

I'm a lucky girl. Just look at those handsome men!

 

 

Fast forward...

The hubby and I were fortunate enough to have yet another day date so we decided we'd take a little car ride past Napili to see the Nakelele Point Blow Hole. Apparently there are only 3 in the world, however I'm not convinced of that fact. There have to be more.....right?

 

Anyway, you park on the side of the ride (exit 38.5 to be exact) and walk to the edge of the cliff. There are a couple signs to warn you that it's very dangerous and people have died there. Just 3 weeks earlier a man from Redding got sucked into the blow hole and they still haven't found his body.

 

I think I'll stay far away from that thing.

 

 

We walked down the cliff to the blow hole as close as we could without being in harms way. It was actually pretty cool. Totally worth the short hour drive. The photo below is one I took when we were hiking back up the cliff back to the car. You can't really tell from this angle but we're actually quite high up and as close as the water spurting out of the blow hole looks, it's actually about 2 stories down or so shooting up about 50 feet.



  Someone must have carved this heart into the rock, although I like think mother nature made it.

 

 After the blow hole we headed back the way we came stopped in Ka'anapali to lay out at Black Rock Beach before heading home to get ready for our third dinner date.

 

We had a great day!

 

xoxo

Maui Ocean Center

We visited the Maui Ocean Center on Thursday. The boys had a great time observing and learning about Hawaiian marine life. Elliot was in awe of all the fish he saw. 

And Noah was a great little host to his little brother, showing him where to look to find the fish. 

This is my favorite picture. Elliot had just pulled Noah's hair…I think his expression says enough.

Brothers…One minute they're pulling the other's hair and the next they're loving siblings again.

xoxo

Sun, coconuts and Lahaina OH MY!

Before I dive into what we've been up to the last couple of day, I forgot to share our fun flight photos I attempted to take with the boys towards the end of our long flight to Maui. Good times!

Say cheese!!

When we arrived, Nana was waiting for us at baggage claim with a homemade sign and lei's for each of us. Yay! We made it!

Now for what we've been up to a lot these past few days. We've played hard and slept hard. 

On Wednesday, we went to a great beach on the border of Kehei and Wailea for a few hours until our little pale bodies couldn't take it any longer. 

Elliot LOVES the beach. He loves the sand, loves to eat sand and loves the water. Noah on the other hand hates water. He doesn't like getting his face wet…ever! 

This is also the beach where I took the same photo of Noah 2 years ago in the same spot. Look how much my baby has grown. It makes me sad. He is a lover of all things "land", not sea. He's also a good treasure hunter. That kid can find a piece of sequins in a tub of sand. 

After the beach we rinsed the boys off and headed over to the little Kihei shops to walk around, look at the koi fish and Nana bought Noah his first fresh coconut. Elliot was the one who loves the coconut water, not Noah. 

After Kihei we showered (showers are a regular occurrence on this vacation) and drove to Lahaina to window shop and grab dinner. We were planning to watch the sunset but the clouds weren't having it. We ate dinner instead at The Hard Rock cafe (good, but nothing to write home about).

Kandah Family Photo Op | Lahaina

We got home late that night for Maui standards, around 9:30pm. We're livin' on the edge people!

xoxo

Paddling, Wailea & Pa'ia

The hubby and I paddled yesterday morning with the Kihei Canoe Club out about a mile or two. It was my first time and it was such a beautiful experience. It's so quiet out there. We're going again tomorrow and I'm hoping to get another glimpse of a turtle.

Later in the morning we all headed over to the Wailea shops for some lunch and of course, some shopping. We didn't go home empty handed. 

And then...we had our first date night at Mama's Fish House in Pa'ia. It was Amazing (with a capital A)!! Amazing because we were sans kids and amazing, well because the food and service we're fabulous. 

Us before heading out for dinner...

Back at the ranch... (Nana babysitting)

*Disclaimer: We didn't want our "family jewels" out and about on the internet, hence the photoshopped speedo. 

They love them some Nana!

We arrived at Mama's and it was different that we had expected. Bigger and just plain better. 

We arrived about 45 minutes early because we wanted to take some "date pics", check out the place and hang out at the bar...check!

Then the hostess grabbed us and gave us the best seat in the house! How did she know we were celebrating no kids?

Beef tenderloin in a mushroom glaze.

Chocolate cream pie. Sooo good!

Best date night ever!

Xoxo

Paia and Pizza

Aloha! Yesterday we went to Paia, walked around town taking in all the adorable shops and hippies and had a great lunch at The Flatbread Company. Their pizzas and salads are amazing! Try it if you're ever there.

Flatbread company.com

We then hit up a small little upcountry town called Makawao. Nana watched the sleeping kiddos in the car while the hubby and I took in the 2 blocks of shops they had to offer. Small town but cute!

We were able to squeeze in a quick selfie.

Then it was off to our favorite cliff we like to take family photos at each visit and prime wind surfing and surfing spectator spot, Ho'okipa. 

It was extremely windy yesterday which meant many surfers in the beautiful water. 

We drove back to Paia to our favorite island grocer, Mana Foods for some goodies to take home. 

Today? paddling 

It'll be my first time and I'm looking forward to it.

Xoxo