Life Lately

How in the world is it December 20th? I honestly have no clue where this month as gone. As I write this, we are officially on the East Coast to celebrate Christmas with our families. It’s the first time in a very, very long time we’ve been able to go home for the holidays, so our hearts are practically bursting just to 1. be with family and 2. be in chilly temps this time of year! Some people don’t miss seasons in Hawaii, but we DO, so this is a total treat. Don’t worry, the Hanson Labs are in the precious care of their nanny and her family this Christmas and I know they are being well fed and taken care of. It’s their favorite place to be outside of our bed…I’m looking at you Judy Hanson!

One of the really neat aspects of living in Hawaii is the history of the island, which of course includes Pearl Harbor. This year, I was lucky enough to be able to attend a remembrance ceremony that had some survivors present. It is incredible to hear their stories and surreal to be sitting in a place that was being bombed all those years ago. And get a load of that full rainbow that Mother Nature threw up right at the end of the ceremony. Absolutely beautiful!

The week before I left the island, I got a chance to check out the amazing new Instagram museum on Oahu, Epic Aloha, with my friend Jaci. It was such a cool place and I snapped tons of great photos! It’s a good rainy day activity on island, not to mention a great place to create some colorful content 🙂

We love our neighbors next door dearly and this year, they gifted us some delicious homemade candy for Christmas. The wife used to have a candy shop and made these yummy coconut truffles – gosh they are so freaking good! We also got homemade Buckeyes (the one and only time I will root for them) and candied nuts. What is better than heartfelt homemade presents?!

How beautiful is the Hickam Air Force Base tower all lit up? Each year when they light the trees, they host an interactive light show with Christmas music. It was such a nice night that we headed over this year to enjoy it and I’m so glad we did. It lasted about 15 minutes, with the lights and music matching up. I was definitely impressed!

Do you ever go to Costco and pat yourself on the back for what you find? I was SO EXCITED to snag these from the freezer section of our Costco. Honestly, they taste a little bit like gnocchi (those cauli ones from Trader Joe’s!). I cooked them according to the direction (15 minutes at 425) in the oven, but next time I’m going to try pan frying them with ghee. 

For those that may not know, my mom is a yoga teacher. Imagine how excited I was when she showed me these adorable cookies she made for her weekly yogis! She made homemade tree pose cookies for all of her regulars. Isn’t that adorable?!

Dane and I can’t be trusted when it comes to treating the dogs, so when we stumbled upon jumbo stuffed animals (their favorite) for a STEAL at Walmart, we got two. It’s safe to say Judy is IN LOVE with them and Bill sleeps with his each night. AWW!

Since we would be in full blown travel mode for Dane’s birthday, we celebrated a few days early at Tommy Bahama in Waikiki. For those that don’t have one nearby – yes it’s a store! BUT – in some locations, they also have a restaurant. Ours is a restaurant and full rooftop bar with fire pits, which makes for a great happy hour spot. We had a great night out and it was fun to celebrate the birthday boy. 

Friends of ours joined us for a night out at Tommy Bahama and they had never walked through the Royal Hawaiian Hotel before, so we were like – let’s go see the beautiful Christmas decor! Usually the hotel has a huge pink gingerbread house, but unfortunately – not this year. That’s okay, seeing the mini hotel museum in the basement and all the pretty pink trees was still awesome!

It’s officially big surf season here in Hawaii – the waves have been huge! This means that traffic can also be a little crazy, so heading to the North Shore means making a day of it or sitting at a standstill in your car..no thanks! Dane and I got up early last weekend to head up there, take photos and hang out on the beach. We got to see total walls of water at Waimea Bay and treated ourselves to delicious bowls from the Sunrise Shack. Delicious!

And now – we are ready to full immerse ourselves into holiday madness at home with all of our family and friends who we don’t get to see too often 🙂 What have you been up to lately?