That time Dane bought me a house

Can I just stop for a second and say how much I love a good weekend?

It’s a lot. I love a good weekend A LOT. And sometimes when you have are having one of the aforementioned good weekends, you really just have to stop and savor it.

That is my weekend in a single sentence. Or two. However many I just wrote.

Dane decided that he was going to take an entire weekend and plan it beginning to end. Raise your hand if you’re one of those ladies who loves a good surprise. Me too.

So, I pretty much thought it was the cat’s pajamas when he came home from work at noon on Friday instead of the usual 6pm. We packed a small overnight bag and off we went. Where to? Hotel Renew–as featured on The Today’s Show. Yes, friends, Dane watches Matt & Savannah. Score 2 for this guy. And refreshing cocktails upon check-in? Don’t mind if we do.

So, what do you do with an afternoon in Waikiki? You go to LuLu’s happy hour, of course.

The rest of our evening was spent bopping around First Friday–a really cool celebration featuring galleries, boutiques, cafes, and restaurants. See: A high class bar tour. I didn’t hate it.

One of the coolest bars we went to was Manifest. It featured lights strung across the ceiling, live music, and hand drawn photos of patrons all over the walls. Dane and I also got a chance to catch up with Michelle and her hubs. Love a good blogger meet-up 🙂

I mean, seriously, what is better than an enormous Hello Kitty on your arm?

And Saturday…Dane bought me a house.

How incredibly thoughtful of him. How did he always know I wanted 14,000 square feet on 5 acres in prime real estate? He’s THAT good.

Wishful thinking, I suppose. We toured Doris Duke’s oceanside estate, Shangri-La. I have to be honest here. When Dane told me we were taking our morning in Waikiki to tour what is considered a Center for Islamic Art and Culture, I rolled my eyes. Twice.

If you ~~live~~ are traveling in or around Oahu, run, do not walk to tour this property. You don’t even have to be a history nerd like myself. The views are breathtaking and you will wish you had the last name Duke. Or maybe that’s just me.

Oh but friends, he was not done. That night, we joined two of our friends for Opal Thai on the North Shore. Sound familiar? It should. It was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. We’re just going to pause here and take a little aside for the part on that show that they don’t show. And it’s the freaking line out the daggone door. We waited for an hour. Yes. One hour. I don’t wait for much of anything, but food falls into that category. More specifically, food that is raved about all across this island.

The best part of the whole experience is that there are approximately 20 seats in the whole place and the owner comes around to each table individually to see what you are drinking (it’s BYOB. Double score), and then ask you what you normally get at a Thai restaurant, if you have any allergies, and if you prefer a certain type of meat. That’s it. They don’t do the menu thing and I kind of dig it.

I was a ravenous beast by the time we got our food, so I have no photo. But here’s some mimosas from our endless mimosa brunch on Sunday. If there are two words that should always go together they are endless and mimosas. Forever and ever, amen.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, and enjoying the nice Hawaiian sunshine, a nice change of pace from the snow and rain that’s about to pelt the Northeast (Sorry, Mom!). And currently? We’re watching Act of Valor for the third time and I have no shame. This movie rocks me to my core every single time and if you have even the slightest amount of patriotism–watch it.

Peace, Love, & Mai Tais

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