Boo!

 

Happy Halloween! 

Boxes, boxes, and boxes (times 3)

Tomorrow is the "Big Day," so today I had to finish packing up all of my files and personal items to get ready for the "Big Move." When all of my packing was done and labeled I had a total of 9 boxes, 2 shelves, and a printer. I certainly hope all 9 boxes, 2 shelves, and printer make it to my new desk. 

*fingers crossed*

Sundays on a Wednesday

Tonight the Mister brought home some absolutely delish ice cream: Roselani's Kona Mud Pie!  Kona Mud Pie (one of the Mister's favorite ice cream flavors) is mocha ice cream with mocha fudge sauce and choco cookie (think Oreo) pieces... mmmmm.
I really liked the Mud Pie, but I think personally, my favorite Roselani flavors are still Classic Mac Nut (toasted mac nuts in vanilla ice cream) and Haupia (coconut pudding ice cream).  :)

Everything In Its Place

In the quest for great desk accessories, after work today, I went to Office Depot, Office Max, and Target.  Although I was most impressed by the magnet and push pin and magnet selection at Office Depot, I really got excited about Peter Walsh's collection of the desk accessories at Office Max.   

My only critique is that I wish there was color or patterns in this collection...

My favorite find: an erasable PERMANENT (non-smudge-able) pen! Oooh!

New Office, New View

Today a few co-workers and I went to the "new office" to scope out our space.  The tech people and some builders were still setting things up when we arrived so I measured my desk and then tried to stay out of their way.  I wasn't able to spend much time in my space but I took some great pictures from our lobby!

Not Your Average Bridesmaid Dresses!

I'm kinda loving these bridesmaid dresses by ML Monique Lhuillier for NORDSTROM! Oooh! I wonder what the girls will think...

 
 

Edible Fashion *snap!

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A couple days ago I saw a re-run of Top Chef Just Desserts - Episode 5, the episode I fondly refer to as the "Shoe Episode."  The challenge was to design an edible outfit as well as accessories, in the form of petits fours, based on a pair of fabulous inspiration SHOES.

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Some of the creations were total messes and looked more like a cheap salad bar gone wrong than dessert couture - but who am I kidding, didn't really care about the forms, I was paying more attention to the petits fours (I love mini foods) and the inspiration shoes... (OMG the only thing more fascinating than the shoes being brought into the challenge was seeing Zac's reaction!!)

Cupcake Break!

I'm a sucker for sweets, especially cupcakes and so when a co-worker mentioned he was going to Cake Couture to get his wife some birthday cupcakes I quickly volunteered to "go with." Cake Couture's delicious cupcakes are are the perfect snack for cupcake lovers or anyone needing a quick pick-me-up in the middle of the work day.   I wasn't exactly planning to buy any cupcakes, but when I saw their seasonal pumpkin cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting and carmel drizzle, I just couldn't resist!  

I'm sure glad I bought myself a pumpkin cupcake! It was moist and tasty, and the frosting was very complementary: sweet but definitely not overpowering.   Yummmm!
PS. Happy Birthday Mrs I!

Headed to Hana

As soon as we got our rental car we took off on the road to Hana.  Hana is only 53 miles from the Kahului Airport, but due to more than 600 curves and 54 one-lane bridges on the way there, it can take up to 3 hours each way.

When we finally got to Hana we stopped at a hotel, quite appropriately named the "Hotel Hana Maui." The hotel is nice, and the rooms (very spendy - $557-$788/night) are set up cottage-style spread out semi-attached to each other around the property.  We were really hungry but after looking at the menu at a restaurant in the Hana Hotel, and being less than impressed with a $17 burger, we drove elsewhere.

We couldn't drive very far because there was a parade and the road (yup, one road in and one road out) was closed so we followed the local signs to a little hole in the wall called Tutu's.  Tutu's is literally a hole in the wall, right near the water, and serves burgers, plate lunches, ice cream and other snackie food; we shared a BBQ pulled pork sandwich.

There wasn't much pork in the sandwich had way too much BBQ sauce, I suppose the best part of the sandwich was the toasted bread.

As we were leaving Hana we stopped for a couple of souvenir pictures!

After a 35 minute drive from Hana we arrived at Oheo Gulch, known for the Seven Sacred Pools.  This area is part of the Haleakala National Park and requires each car pay $10 upon entry for a park pass (good for 3 days) -definitely worth every penny.  After a short and mild "hike" we ended up at a beautiful area just below a waterfall.

The Mister and I sat for a while (he went in for a quick swim) and just relaxed and enjoyed the scenery.  Sunshine, a waterfall, and the love of my life - it just doesn't get any better than this!

Wowie for Maui!

This past weekend was the much anticipated weekend on Maui! We flew over on Saturday morning and departed on Sunday night.  In 36 hours we managed to drive around the island, hike a little bit, walk along the beach, and eat at seven restaurants. My posts this week will be dedicated to our Maui adventure!  

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Kaanapali is pretty much a community of hotels, resort shops, and time shares located about 5 minutes from the restaurants and shops of Lahaina's Front Street.  Because of a great deal on Orbitz we stayed at the Westin Maui Resort and Spa in Kaanapali.  When you walk into the Westin you are greeted with a shell lei and the sound of the gushing waterfall in the center of the lobby.  Aside from one grouchy and impersonal woman at the front desk, the rest of the hotel staff was very cheerful and polite. 

{The Mister lounging in front of the waterfall}

Our room was definitely on the small side and our partial ocean view was definitely "partial," but overall the room was nice, clean, and modern.  

{This is a partial barely ocean view room}

There is a nice walking path at the edge of the hotel's property that passes all the Kaanapali properties.  We woke up early on Sunday morning and took a nice walk along the beach.  We saw a lot of people walking, running, and even a few people doing yoga on the (larger) grassy areas.  

A couple of other hotel perks are the the restaurants: Tropica and Ono.  Tropica is an upsacale restaurant just steps from the beach that features a PacRim menu while Ono has a walk up bar a definitely a more relaxed atmosphere, and on Sundays it is the place you will find all football junkies because they show "all games all day!"

{Tropica}

Also at the hotel is an amazing water slide! Unfortunately we didn't have time to go down the water slide but it sure looks (and sounds) like fun!

The Luxe Treatment

In preparation for Maui I scheduled my toes-ies a much needed pedicure at Luxe, a relatively new nail salon.  A couple weeks ago while at the mall I was intrigued by the Luxe's chic, garden vibe facade and grabbed a service menu.  The prices are quite reasonable and I booked a "pedi-on-the-go"($25).

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The polish selection included OPI, Zoya, and Essie.  I opted for a nude colored OPI called "sweet memories." Yes, I chose the color because of the name!! I couldn't resisit, after all, it is the perfect polish name for a person heading on a Maui vaca!


The interior was as nice as the exterior.  I sat on a massage chair and had a flat screen TV right in front of me and another massage chair.  The service was great and I loved how my toes look.

In the rear of the salon there is a section designed for private parties that has 3 single chairs (shown above) and 2 doubles, loveseat style.  Unfortunately, it doesn't look like any of these chairs are massage chairs (*squishy face*).  On the positive side, the set up looks like the perfect place for my bridesmaids and me to get mani/pedis before the wedding, albeit next year, so I inquired about hosting a private party at Luxe.  According to the manager, you can have private parties but prices for groups are not discounted.  She also mentined that you can bring in champagne or wine, for a $10 corkage fee.   The Big Day is still more than a year before so I will continue to scope nail salons.

Freebies at Snapfish

I love a great deal, especially freebies!  Retailmenot.com is one of a few favorite sources for online coupons and discount codes.  While recently perusing the section of online discount codes I found that snapfish.com has a lot of great promotions going on (via online discount codes).  The freebies I plan to capitalize on are:

100 free* prints, for new customers (code: OCT10PRNT)
A free 5x7 picture book (code: BABYBOOK)
30 free 4x6 prints (code: TRAVEL30PRINTS)
*does not include shipping 

I haven't tried any of these discount codes yet, but I'm thinking these freebies will be perfect for our upcoming trip to MAUI!

I'm Ready for Halloween!

I have been a bit of a procrastinator this year, but with a couple of weeks to spare I got my Halloween decorations out! There are some spiders, a crazy web, some glass/mirror jells, some pumpkins banners...

The Mister and I haven't yet decided what we will be for Halloween this year.  We have a few ideas but we are finding that it is really hard to top Mickie and Minnie!

We Got a Pumpkin!

On our way to a birthday party on Sunday we got detoured when we spotted two large pumpkins at a produce stand on the side of the road.  While we didn't get either of these large pumpkins we did get a (more conservatively sized) pumpkin. 

    

{Me & L @ Buggie's 1st Birthday Party}

When the Mister and I got to the birthday party we had a great time spending time with family and friends.  We snaked on party favorites like cake, cotton candy, and popcorn! ... and we got some cool balloon creations! Good times.

Pumpkin Scones

Le dessert du jour is Pumpkin Scones! I chose this recipe for a few reasons: it looked easy to make, it got good reviews, and it was compared to the scones from Starbucks.

As promised, the recipe was quick and easy to make.  The Mister helped me make these scones and worked on preparing the dry ingredients (he loves using the measuring cups and spoons) while I whisked together the wet ingredients.  In the time it took to pre-heat the oven we had prepped the scones and started on the first of the two icings.  

Unfortunately, I haven't had the scones from Starbucks, so I cannot compare them, but the scones we baked tonight were very tasty (even without any icing) and the perfect snack to munch on while we watched our favorite Sunday night show, Brothers & Sisters.

Cause a Carved Bell Pepper Just Isn't the Same...

Last year the Mister and I procrastinated, and by the time we decided we wanted a pumpkin all the stores were sold out.
I really wanted to carve a "jack-o-lantern" so I had to get creative: and we got an orange bell pepper!

I don't want to be pumpkin-less again this year so we're gonna start looking for a pumpkin this weekend.

43,161 and counting...

The Good:  I got courtesy email from Hawaiian Airlines informing me that currently I have 43,161 miles.

The Bad:  The miles expire in two months if I don't redeem or add to them.  

I have a few trips planned next year: Donne's Bachelorette Party and wedding as well as my Bachelorette Party and have been planning on cashing in on my miles at some point during 2011, so I wasn't ready to deplete my miles and definitely couldn't let them expire just yet.  

And so, after a little bit of planning and some schedule rearranging the Mister and I decided to add to my miles and schedule a weekend on MAUI! 

I'm so excited for a lil vacation, just me and my Mister! 

Christmas in October?

I think it is a little bit lotta bit crazy that retailers already have their Christmas displays up.

If I didn't know any better, I would think it was December. But hey, I do know better, and it isn't even Halloween.  For goodness sakes, it's only the FIRST full week of October!

I remember when people used to think it was crazy that retailers used to put out their ornaments and wrapping paper weeks before Thanksgiving, but weeks before Halloween, that's just a little bit much.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas, but I want to enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving too! ... On that note I'd better quick get my Halloween box of decorations :)