Life Lately

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had the best kind of weekend – equal parts friends, rest and recharging. Next weekend we are kicking off 3 months worth of whirlwind travel with a staycation at one of our favorite resorts in downtown Waikiki, so it was nice to have this slow weekend together with the dogs before life gets kind of crazy (in a good way). Of course, we also managed to squeeze in a trip to our favorite store (Costco) and spend some time picking up the house, vacuuming, steam mopping and all that “really fun” stuff 😉 Speaking of steam mops – our Shark steam mop broke for the second time in 18 months. The first time Shark sent a new one under warranty, but this second one stopped working and we will need to pay to replace it. My question is – do you have a steam mop you love? Should I pay to replace our Shark or am I missing out on a really good steam mop somewhere else?! I hate to admit how much I love steam mopping our floors, but I do. It just is such a bummer that our experience with Shark has been lemons. In any case, today I’m sharing some snippets of life from my iPhone, so if you care to see a peek behind the curtain of our life, today’s post is for you 🙂

Life Lately

Last week, Dane and I headed to the beach for an hour or two to read and relax and we saw a man with, what appeared to be, a ton of octopus (octopi?) right in the surf. It turns out, the 8-legged friends swarm this particular beach during low tide to enjoy the food on the reef before retreating back into the ocean later in the day. He was telling us that he has been coming here his entire life and I was just super excited to see one in real life. You can’t see it in this photo, but the opposite side of the octopus had these beautiful turtle-colored spots and coloring. Beautiful creatures!

We had an abundance of bananas and I decided to whip up a pan of my gluten free banana bread. It’s honestly the best banana bread I have ever tasted, but I think I got burnt out on it a few years ago after making it nearly every week – whoops! It always reminds me of my friend Sarah + I SO wish she could have been with me to enjoy a piece together. Or let’s be honest – the whole pan 😉 Either way, it’s a recipe worth testing if you’re in the market for something sweet.

The weekend Dane came home from his Army trip, we decided to play tourist in our own town and head up to the North Shore to explore. We have always known that the food trucks up there are delicious, but we found a few new-to-us spots and I snapped some photos to remember for the next time we have friends visiting. There are a lot of delicious stops and truly something for everyone.

My mouth is still watering at this garlic shrimp sandwich with fresh avocado and “special sauce”. I don’t even know what was in the sauce, but it was equal parts tangy and spicy, which is my foodie love language. Dane enjoyed a giant garlic shrimp plate and we watched the waves – a total lunchtime win!

And honestly – what is a trip to the North Shore without stopping for some shave ice? For whatever reason, I’ve been craving it like crazy lately, so this seemed like a perfect time to stop and enjoy some. I love mine with a side of mochi balls! (3 Best Places For Shave Ice On Oahu) I got lilikoi flavor and then a Hawaiian-punch type of flavor, while Dane opted for pina colada, pineapple and banana. 

We tried to go free diving on the west side of the island recently and were horrified to see how badly the wild fires have been burning. The thick smoke was clear, even more than 4 miles out from where the burn is the worst and it left tons of ash on the road and beach. We attempted to get into the water, but the ash in the air left 0-no visibility and the water was incredibly choppy thanks to some storms that have been circulating in the Pacific. Not a great day overall, but hoping we get some rain soon to put a stop to all the burning. 

Dane and I always talk about how we need to go out and enjoy the sunset more, so on Friday, we did JUST that! We packed up a couple bottles of wine, our favorite picnic blanket and ordered pizza from the most divine pizza truck to ever exist. For my local friends, it’s Impossibles Pizza at Shark’s Cove and it’s only open Thurs-Sat (and you absolutely must call ahead or you’ll wait forever). We had the best time watching the sun go down, eating pizza, laughing till our stomachs hurt and welcoming in the weekend on a super low-budget, but fun date night.

We have a strict – no dogs on the bed policy – when we are using our fluffy white duvet and down-alternate insert. It’s an embroidered duvet cover that we got for our anniversary and it’s cream in color, which means that every little mark shows up. Well, I accidentally left the door open last week and came in to find these two crazy pups making themselves right at home!

Last week I met my friend Anthony for lunch and it was so good to finally meet in person! I’ve been enjoying his work for so many years (both here in Hawaii + beyond), so when we were finally able to match up our schedules for a seaside lunch, I was elated. He’s a talented photojournalist that has been here in Hawaii for a few years, but prior to that was in NYC. He’s leaving Hawaii this fall for Colorado and I absolutely cannot wait to see what he does next! Give him a follow for some beautiful work here.

We have officially been on the island long enough that friends we know have left two times over and a new rotation of friends is arriving, just as others are leaving. It’s kind of a weird aspect of military life the coming-and-going of it all, but we are grateful for any friends who arrive here. We spent Saturday morning hiking with Clement and his wife, Katie, who Dane was stationed with at Fort Bragg. It was an amazing morning and we enjoyed brunch afterward at one of our favorite spots – Koko Head Cafe (Need some more brunch inspiration? Here are 19 Brunch Spots You MUST Try On Oahu). That 4AM wakeup call meant coming home after brunch, showering and enjoying a 3 hour nap in the air conditioning. It felt amazing!

I chose a vegetarian benedict (a weekend special) that was broccolini and mushroom risotto made into cakes with poached eggs and a garlic red pepper hollandaise. It was out of this freaking world good! Of course, we also enjoyed some post-hike Queen’s mimosas, which were lilikoi juice and champagne. So yummy!

Whew! I’m a little bit exhausted re-reading all of that, but it’s safe to say we really love getting out and exploring 🙂 What have you been up to lately?