In a Western Place

Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the well wishes! Being engaged (!!!) to M is like like finding the Tanooki suit in Mario 3, it’s awesome. We do have a date and location in mind… but the details are only sketched out in dry erase marker on our bathroom mirror. That’s how we get things done.

I can’t say it enough, our trip to Hawaii was amazing. After a five hour direct flight, we landed on the west side of the Big Island late Monday morning, April 6th. Stepping off the plane onto a tarmac facing an “outdoor” airport on an isolated island in the middle of the Pacific ocean was… a little unsettling to me, at first. Then I felt the warm sunshine and found my element. We spent the rest of our first day acclimating to the climate, relaxing in our condo, and exploring downtown Kailua-Kona. It was very low key, but we more than made up for it in the adventurous days that followed. Hawaii Day One photos here.

Thanks to a rare, unexpected, and unusual heatwave in these parts, sorting through a trillion Hawai’ian images and uh, wedding planning (!!!) are big to-do’s low low low on the priority list. High on the list? Playing outside and BBQs!

I feel a little embarrassed to show my ring after someone asks to see it. Don’t get me wrong, I love it…  but it’s not traditional. I mean, what do you get a girl that doesn’t like gold, or blingy diamonds?

This, is perfect, for me.

I’ve never had a Mai Tai prior to our trip to Hawaii (cocktails are seldom my thing). But hey, when in Rome, thou shall drink dark rum, light rum, pineapple juice, and taste… delicious!

Ironically, or, disappointedly, the drink was invented (with Polynesian flair) right here in the Bay Area. Boooo!

Aloha, we’re back!

Out of the eight main Hawai’ian islands, we opted to vacation on the Big Island for several reasons, more notably: volcanoes, rainforests, snow-capped mountains, deserts… need I go on? And while the Big Island is the largest of the Hawai’ian islands, it is only 93 miles across. So yes, we managed to cover a majority of the territory thanks to our rented Jeep Wrangler, and an unrelenting desire for adventure.

I have so much to tell (and show) you, but first, I have some Big news to share. While in Kona, Matty proposed and I said YES.

I’ll leave you with a few shots of newly engaged, happy couple. (!!!)

His way of telling me that the water dish is too far away.