Sunday & Monday: Lahaina

We arrived in Maui at about 2:30 on Sunday, landing at the Kahului airport. Picking up our silver Sebring Convertible, we took off, top down, for Lahaina. Stopping along the way for bottled water and granola bars at Costco, we arrived at the condo at about 4:00.

The condo was just beautiful, 4th floor ocean view, looking out over Lana’i (thanks Mom & Dad!). After settling in for a bit, we headed out into Lahaina Town, having an awesome dinner at Pacific O’s (thanks Grama Geri & Glenn!).

The mashed potatoes were AMAZING – a deep rose color which made me suspicious at first, but I quickly came to realize it was a bit of heaven on my plate. We ate dinner, drank Mai Tai’s, and watched the sun set behind Lana’i. After dinner, we wander the town a bit more, window shopping, and then called it a night.

The next morning, we walked over to the Sunshine café for breakfast, and then spent the next few hours exploring the shops of Lahaina Town. After shopping, it was beach time, and we enjoyed a few hours sunbathing and playing in the unbelievably warm water. After the last few weeks of sheer insanity, it was wonderful to take a day doing nothing.

Warren & Annabelle’s beckoned that night, and we headed out to see the show. Stopping by Local Boyz West for some mighty fine shaved ice (eaten under the giant banyan tree, of course), we made our way across Lahaina. I could go on for pages about the truly fantastic time that we had at Warren & Annabelle’s, but I’ll spare you, and just hit the highlights. The four-hour dinner theatre experience started with a two hour dinner in Annabelle’s parlor; Annabelle being the ghost who haunts the piano, playing tunes requested by the diners.

Two combination appetizer platters, two desserts, and four drinks later, we were led into Warren’s theatre for the most flabbergasting sleight-of-hand magic show I have EVER seen. The best.
Jeremy and I were selected to sit at the stage and be active participants in the show. I assisted with two card tricks and a coin trick, and Jeremy earned the nickname “Goober.” (Feel free to call him that whenever you like, he really likes it. Honest.) I’m still trying to figure out some of the tricks, as Warren was able to make a card that had been torn into four pieces mend itself – while the pieces were in my fist the entire time. The logical part of my brain knows that it was distraction, but the believer in me witnessed true magic.

Sometimes life really is like an old-school ketchup commercial

Good things do come to those who wait. Including you! We'll start posting about the honeymoon this weekend, I'm currently editing the 350+ pictures we took. Wedding photos will be in sometime before November 24, as soon as we have them, we'll post those as well. In the meantime, here's a couple from my dad to tide you over.

Thank You, Uncle Sam

Our first-time homebuyers tax credit came in, hallelujah! We're getting a new hot water heater on Sunday, and a new roof on the garage sometime in the next month or so. Plus, we now own the fridge free and clear! Every penny of it is already spent, or allocated to be spent, but we were happy to get it.

Totally random tangent: last night, we took Garlock on a doggy date to meet a girl dog named Maxie, who is up for adoption from a local dog rescue. Maxie was very sweet to us, but she bit Garlock in the face. Needless to say, that was enough for Garlock, and Maxie won't be coming home with us. On the bright side, Garlock still has Shelby, his girlfriend next door, to run around with a couple of days a week.

Three weeks and one day

We're down to three weeks and one day to the wedding, so posting around here is likely to be light and sporadic at best. After the wedding, I promise to fill this site up with pictures and stories around the whole event. In the meantime, if I get more than a sentence or two up a week, it'll be a good week.

Jeremy will be posting about his recent backpacking trip. He's got some beautiful photos.

Michelangelo had it Right

While Jeremy was on his backpacking trip this past weekend, I kept myself busy completing a few outstanding painting projects – namely, the ceilings and baseboards. Between Saturday and Sunday, I painted the ceilings in the kitchen, living room, and hallway white. The difference that this makes in the brightness and cleanliness of these rooms is unbelievable. I wish that pictures would do it justice, but they don’t. I also finished painting the rest of the baseboards – they look so much cleaner now. It’s funny, the house is looking more and more like a house that people actually take care of, and I can’t get used to the changes. Having always lived in places where the ceilings and baseboards are white, it’s almost a shock to my system to see them finally white in this house. Now, we just need to get new floors put in, so I don’t have to look at fugly (yes, you read that right, I said fugly) tile anymore. All in good time, all in good time.

On a side note, as I’m writing this it’s Tuesday, and I can almost lift my arms above my head without wincing. Painting is fun!

On another side note, last night, sitting in the living room, I decided it’s time to start painting some accent colors in the house. Now that I’ve gotten every room to the same color, I’m ready to put some other colors on a few walls. I think this is becoming a sickness.

Happy white ceilings & baseboards in the hallway: I realized that I didn't take a before picture of the hallway, so a description will have to suffice. The hallway was the same poopy brown at the living room, from baseboards to ceiling. Much better now.

Garlock, (who is always one step behind me when painting), with a big blotch of white paint on his belly from when he laid down in a spot of paint, showing his glory to the world:

Warming it Up

A couple of weekends ago, we had a party double-header - why have one party when you can have two? On the 12th, we had Kali’s second annual Back to School Pool Party, which was a huge success. Nine of her friends joined us for an afternoon of swimming, Magic Dip, pizza, and Rock Band. They’re all great kids, and they were a lot of fun to watch. Kali’s friend Michelle had a broken arm, so we wrapped her cast in a plastic garbage bag so that she didn’t have to worry about being splashed. An hour later, she almost gave me a heart attack when I walked around the corner, and saw her floating in an inner tube in the middle of the pool, cast held above her head. Images of her flipping the tube and soaking her cast had me on the edge of my seat the entire time, but no such catastrophes occurred.

The girls:

Garlock, living it up:

That night, we had our grown-up housewarming party. Also a huge success, I played grill master while Jeremy plied everyone with drinks (Sunday was not a good day) and Kali and her friend Mel took some pictures of the party. We really enjoyed having everyone over, and it was unanimously agreed to that our house is a great house for entertaining; with a pool and an outdoor bar, we’ll be having parties three or four times a year. Jeremy and I discussed starting a few annual parties, so keep you ears open for invitations!

Pictures, courtesy of Kali:

And suddenly, some of these pictures make A LOT more sense...

Target, how I love thee

Let me count the ways…

I’ve long been a fan of Target. In high school, Jamie and I would go wander the aisles at least weekly, and I continue to do so to this day. There is hardly a week that goes by where I don’t find some excuse to venture to the land of Target. Its gotten to the point that I need to regulate myself upon entering the store, to prevent run-away spending. My Target shopping philosophy?

If you’re broke, no basket, no cart. If you can’t lug it to the counter with your own brute strength, you can’t bring it home.

Got some money, but need to rein in the spending? Grab a basket. If it doesn’t fit or makes the basket too heavy, it wasn’t meant to be…put that sucker back.

Ready to go buck wild? Grab a cart, and enjoy it! It’ll be awhile before you have one of these moments again. (Buying a house is a good catalyst for a Target shopping spree, and an excellent justification for grabbing the cart.)

I’ve also recently come to appreciate a whole new side of Target – the wedding registry. Jeremy and I went after work one night a month or so ago, and wandered the aisles asking “do we need _____?” Which, as any avid Target shopper knows, could be anything from lip gloss to a power sander. After we finished our tour of the store, I ventured online to add to the registry – and a whole new world opened up to me. Target, I love thee, I really do.