Kel. 28. Lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduated from UC Berkeley 2001. Has a small obsession with TV. Enjoys chick lit and teen movies. Major shopaholic. Blogging since January 17, 2002.

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Date/Time: Thurs, Feb 07 @ 11:15pm
Reading: Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Listening: Popular, Wicked Soundtrack

 Barry.  Emma.  Kelly.  Kate.  Linda.  Marieke.  Marina.  Reen.  Robyn.

• kaua'i minimoon, part 2
• wedding teasers
• kaua'i minimoon, part 1
• back to reality
• women's gymn aa

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August 29, 2008

Had a day off today. Woohoo for 4-day weekends!

Ok, here's part 2 of my Kaua'i recap...

Thursday, 8/14
Did a whole lot of nothing. I think we were at the pool most of the day so no pictures... not even of food. We were supremely lazy.

But here's a bonus pic of some roosters. They are EVERYWHERE in Kaua'i. And they crow at all hours of the day, not just in the morning. So annoying!

Friday, 8/15
This was the first day we had to wake up to the sound of an alarm clock. We made reservations to do a Na Pali coast tour and we had to be at the pier by 8:30am. So painful after days of sleeping in.

We were the last ones to board so we got stuck at the very front with no shade. This boat ride is the whole reason I got so sunburned. OH! And sitting in the front was incredibly bumpy. We felt every little dip and swell. At first it was fun (like being on an amusement park ride) but after a few hours, I started feeling nauseous. Rob kept making me drink water and carbonated lime soda, which helped. At least I didn't get sick.

We saw dolphins!

Look how gorgeous the coast is!

Guh. Soooo pretty!

I also tried snorkeling for the first time (no pictures though -- we don't have an underwater camera). It took Rob awhile to coax me to get in the water (I am a terrible swimmer and was freaked out) but when I finally got in, I really enjoyed it. :D I wasn't crazy about the water filling up in my ears, though. I'm a wimp.

After the 5 hour boat trip, we had the most amazing shave ice at JoJo's in Waimea. YUMMY. I wish it was closer to where we stayed (it's on the southwest-ish side of the island and we stayed in the east) cause I could have eaten that every day. I had strawberry, Rob had liliko'i (passionfruit) and we both had haupia cream on top (haupia is like a coconut gelatin/pudding).

After a quick nap, we had dinner at Gaylord's (this was our big, expensive dinner). No pictures, sorry -- I was too lazy. I read about this restaurant on Fodor's forums and it was recommended to us by family so we tried it. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. I had a seafood platter (scallops, fish, shrimp, and lobster) and while it was good, it really wasn't worth the cost. Their lava flows were yummy though and the Banana Cream pie we had for dessert was solid.

Saturday, 8/16
Our last day in Kaua'i. Or so we thought.

Started out with a breakfast of malasadas. These are basically like donuts (no holes) covered with sugar. There's a stand in front of K-Mart -- they were fresh and soft and oh-so-yummy. Thumbs up. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them -- you can kinda see them in the very left of the pic.

Then we drove to Waimea Canyon. It's beautiful up there but UGH, you have to take a really, really, really winding road to get up there. We only made it to the Waimea Canyon Lookout, which is 10 miles. There's supposed to be a more breathtaking lookout another 10 miles from there but my head was starting to spin. I don't think I could have handled the drive. Like I said earlier, I'm a wimp.

Lunch was at the Shrimp Station. I just adore shrimp. :D I had the coconut shrimp and Rob had the beer-battered shrimp. Sadly, it was ok, not great. Maybe a little overrated.

Finally after heading back to the hotel to pack, we were off to the airport... to wait for hours before United finally decided to cancel our flight and shuttle all of us to a nearby hotel. That was an exhausting and frustrating experience. I still get angry when I remember that both our flights to and from Kaua'i had problems. Anyway.

Sunday, 8/17
Ok, our last day in Kaua'i. For real this time.

One last picture in front of the water.

At the airport again... playfully angry at having to go through security and agriculture one more time than necessary.

And that's it, folks! Rob and I enjoyed our time on the garden isle and hope to go back again soon. :)

Posted by Kel at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2008

Quick break in my Kaua'i recap to say that our FABULOUS photographers, Apertura, posted some teasers from our wedding on their blog. Check them out here.

A quick teaser...

YAY! We're supposed to get all our proofs back in 2 months. I can't wait to see them all. Hee.

I also want to do a wedding recap to share more pics with all of you... we've been getting TONS of photos from friends and family so just give me some time to get them all sorted!

Also, I have to say that I totally have wedding planning withdrawal. There is obviously something wrong with me. :P

OH! Our wonderful wedding coordinator, Angel Swanson, blogged about our day here. Same pics but more commentary. Angel has incredible attention to detail and impeccable style -- I was so happy to have her as support during the planning and to take the reins from me on the wedding day. I adore her.

Posted by Kel at 09:33 PM | Comments (6)

August 24, 2008

I just realized that back in late 2006 when Rob and I went to Paris, I started a trip report and I never finished it. OOPS. And since I consider this blog a diary of sorts, I want to write about some of the highlights of our mini-moon in Kaua'i... with pictures, of course (that way, I don't actually have to write very much :P)!

We didn't do much but lay in the sun and eat (perfect vacation to me!) but we did explore the island a little so here goes...

Monday, 8/11
After breakfast at Kountry Kitchen (loco moco for Rob and strawberry and banana pancakes for me - forgot to take pictures), we went to... K-Mart and Wal-Mart. Here we are on our mini-moon and we go shopping?!? BWAH! We were actually looking for some flip flops we could trash, some cheap-o sneakers for me (we wanted to do an easy hike and I completely forgot to pack sneakers), and also HURRICANE POPCORN (only the best popcorn ever). It's basically butter popcorn with seaweed flakes and rice crackers. Weird, I know but oh so good.

Lunch at Hamura's Saimin. I had the wonton saimin. YUM. (Saimin is a noodle soup dish, similar to Japanese ramen).

After lunch, we visited Opaekaa Falls...

...Lydgate Beach Park (but we didn't go in the water)...

...and the Sleeping Giant.

And we rounded out the day with drinks on the beach. I had a lava flow (pina colada with strawberry puree) and yes, it was alcoholic. :D

Tuesday, 8/12
Beach Day!

Started off with breakfast at Eggbert's.

We shared eggs benedict (YUM), pancakes, and a side of spam. :D

We checked out the Spouting Horn.

Then we ate again at Puka Dogs. They're YUMMY YUMMY hot dogs inside a sweet Hawaiian bread layered with their secret garlic lemon sauce and your choice of tropical relishes. DROOL.

Next we laid out at Poipu Beach (my back got super tan after falling sleep on my stomach for who knows how long).

Ended the day at Hukilau Lanai (the restaurant in our timeshare) with some ahi poke nachos, calamari, and lobster curry bisque. I love food.

Wednesday, 8/13
Rob's 30th birthday!

Drove up to the north today and saw the Kilauea Lighthouse.

Look at the view!

Stopped at the Hanalei Valley Lookout. Gawd, this island is gorgeous!

Then we tried to stop at Ke'e Beach but there was no parking (grr!) so instead we went back home and had Lappert's ice cream. Pineapple for me and Kaua'i Pie for Rob. So good.

Part 2 coming soon...

Posted by Kel at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2008

I'm back from Kaua'i. *sigh* It sure was tough going back to work today and catching up to over 300+ emails.

Rob and I had an amazing vacation even though United was at it again and totally ruined our departing flight back to LA. We were supposed to leave Saturday night at 8pm and had even boarded the plane when the flight attendants said there was a mechanical problem they were trying to fix. We deboarded and waited around for 2 hours before they determined that it could not be fixed, the flight was going to be cancelled and we were going to be rescheduled for 2pm the next day. Sure, it was nice to have an extra night on the island on United's dime but at that point, we just wanted to be home instead of dealing with the line to get our accommodations vouchers and then another line to be shuttled to the hotel. UGH. It was seriously painful. Our time on the island, though, was super relaxing and fun (I have the sunburn and awful tan lines to prove it!) and I'm so glad we had that time to enjoy each other's company after the wedding.

Speaking of pics, here's one that my best friend Robyn took of Rob and me before the wedding... we decided to see each other before the ceremony to get all our pictures out of the way. This was taken right after our "first look" -- we look so giddy!

YAY! More pics soon.

Thanks so much to all of you for all your well wishes, especially Kelly and Sarah for the awesome cards. It was so nice to come home to them. :)

Lastly, I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my best friend Carms! Love ya!

Posted by Kel at 07:44 PM | Comments (6)

August 14, 2008

First, I just want to wish my husband Rob (weird!) a happy belated 30th birthday. It was actually yesterday but we were out sightseeing on the north shore and I was too lazy to blog about it. :D

So it's 7pm Hawaii time... Rob's taking a nap after a very tiring day at the pool (hee) and what am I doing? I am refreshing my browser every few seconds checking on the scores of the women's gymnastics all-around competition. Gawd, how I love the Olympics.

And because I don't think it has aired yet (warning: spoiler ahead)...

GO NASTIA!!!

Posted by Kel at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2008

So Rob and I are married.

:D

Saturday was amazing. The whole day felt completely surreal and overwhelming. Everything came together beautifully -- so much more than I ever expected. I'll definitely share photos of the day once we get them from our friends and family.

Now we're in Kaua'i for our "mini-moon." It's so nice to be able to relax! Too bad it took us *forever* to get here. Our flight was scheduled to leave LA at 4:55pm on Sunday and due to an air circulation problem on the aircraft, we didn't actually leave until just after 10pm. UGH. Oh well, we're here now and that's all that matters. I don't want to the vacation to end! :)

Posted by Kel at 02:05 AM | Comments (6)

August 7, 2008

We had our wedding rehearsal and dinner tonight! We had to get everything (programs, menus, all the DIY projects) over to my coordinator so I'll be spending tomorrow taking it easy. YAY. It's been an absolutely crazy few days. Just one more day!

Posted by Kel at 10:51 PM | Comments (2)

August 5, 2008

It's the Tuesday before the wedding and we just got finished with our final florist and DJ meetings. Wowzers.

Now I'm going to meet with my cousin (aka Maid of Honor) and put her to work on some crafts! HEE. I still have to work on tying ribbons on our programs, wrapping the presents for the bridal party, figuring out the execution of our "wish tree" guestbook... gotta get to work!

Posted by Kel at 04:50 PM | Comments (2)

August 3, 2008

I am officially off for 2 glorious weeks! WOOT.

Rob and I drove down to SoCal yesterday and we're already running around taking care of wedding errands. Today we're finishing up our programs and then going to Kinko's to get the paper cut. Whee! We're almost there!

I'll check in again soon.

Posted by Kel at 02:45 PM | Comments (1)