Life Lately Via My iPhone

It’s been a minute since I popped in here with a Life Lately Via My iPhone post. Our May was positively spectacular — my parents were in town, the weather was gorgeous, we got to play tourist and well, it was just an awesome month! It’s not that we even did anything over-the-moon amazing, but we just really had a wonderful month. Does that make sense? Anyway, I’m stopping in today with a dose of what we’ve been up to lately all via photos straight from my iPhone! Let’s hop to it…

Life Lately Via My iPhone

One of the first days my mom was visiting was Mother’s Day, so after a delicious brunch in Honolulu, we headed to the North Shore for a beach day. It was pretty windy, but a beautiful day nonetheless! 

We had decided before my mom arrived the we would both wait to get pedicures until she got here, so that was another first order of business. I took her to my favorite spot on the island and we both picked our colors individually. When we were done, we realized we had both picked an almost identical color! HA!

If you follow me over on Instagram, you know that I usually snap a photo of dinner and share it. On this particular night, we were having shrimp with cauliflower rice in lettuce wraps and the dogs could not get enough sniffs! 

We hiked or walked every single day my parents were here and these Olukai trainers were on my feet pretty much at all times. They ROCK and are perfect from land to water! 

Okay, everyone: Meet Bassett Jesus. If you have ever gotten mail from me, you know that I’m one of those people that decorates the outside of the envelope. In any case, it was my friend Casey’s birthday last week, so I decided I would go ALL OUT and draw a Bassett Hound on the outside of her package. Somewhere along the tutorial, things went horribly awry and I wound up serving some serious Jesus dog vibes.  

Just a chicken pic I snapped while grabbing some coffee at Green World Farms on the North Shore with my mom. 

Growing up, we made a beach snack that we called “The Mix” and it was M&Ms and Skittles. It sounds really bizarre, but trust me when I tell you – it was delicious. You serve it frozen, if you were wondering. In an effort to be a bit more health forward, I created a new beach snack mix that is coconut chunks, cashews and pistachios. It’s pretty delicious!

My mom LOVES the Makapuu Lighthouse hike — it’s her favorite! We did it quite a few times while she was here and had someone snap our photo on this particular (windy!) day. We actually had on matching shirts – not planned – since we are both Athleta lovers. 

On a different day hiking Makapuu, we also had on the same exact shirts as above, just different colors. It’s a great workout tank! 

Hanauma Bay had been closed for a bit here on Oahu due to some sewage issues (yuck!), but as soon as it opened back up, we headed there for a day of sun and snorkeling. We had amazing weather, not-too-crowded water and plenty of fish to see! 

We walk our dogs every night right after dinner and sometimes Mother Nature really puts on a spectacular showing. Look at how beautiful this sunset was the other night. I will NEVER get over the colors of Hawaii!

If you ever visit Honolulu, I cannot say enough good things about the rooftop restaurant of Tommy Bahama in Waikiki. I know it sounds a little crazy to eat at a traditional clothing store, but hear me out! It’s worth the stop for yummy cocktails and locally-sourced grub. Order the fish tacos!

My parents are grilling fanatics, so when they come to visit, they are all about showing us new techniques for using our grill. When it’s just the two of us, grilling just seems like a lot of work, but they always inspire me to use it more frequently. So, while they visited we were outside cooking about 75% of the time and this delicious garlic lemon salmon was one of the dishes! 

Haupia Dole Whip – have you ever seen a cuter cone?! #ALOHA

We visited Breakout Waikiki during their visit and had a great night! We joked with my mom ahead of time that when the clock started to tick down, the walls started caving in and she was positively horrified/terrified. When we told her that we were just joking, I think the weight of the world lifted off her shoulders. Sorry mom! 😉

One of the perks of Dane having his boating license is being able to take boats to the sandbar for an afternoon on the water. We had partly cloudy weather, but a ton of fun floating around and even spied some turtles!

If you’re in the market for a good lunch place in Honolulu, definitely consider House Without A Key at the Halekulani Hotel. It’s delicious + their drinks are STRONG! 

The Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, we headed out to Punchbowl National Cemetery of the Pacific to pay our respects to the fallen. We were amazed to see all the flags posted at graves and learned that a local Boy Scout troop had taken the initiative to make that happen. The night we went was a candle light service to mark Memorial Day and it was really special to see.

Enjoying my morning coffee with my parents and the dogs became something I looked forward to each morning of their visit and on this particular morning, Bill had taken the head of the table seat. Sneaky pup! 

Is anyone using the Snapchat filter that makes you look like a man/woman? How is it possible that Dane looks so…pretty?!

On Memorial Day, we camped out at the beach for the entire day before heading to the Memorial Lantern Launch at Ala Moana Beach Park. If you have never been before, I highly recommend it! Traffic is a bit of a nightmare and it’s crowded if you don’t get there early enough, but it’s a truly emotionally stirring and magnificent event. 

7,000 lanterns are launched from the shoreline into the waters off Ala Moana in remembrance of those that have passed away. Messages are written on the lanterns and they sometimes include photos or lei. It’s so beautiful. At the end of the ceremony, boats collect the lanterns and they are cleaned and recycled for the next year. I waded into the water to get some photos of the event this year and I’m so glad I did! 

My house is quiet and sad without my parents here as Dane and I fall back into our routine and gear up for a bit of travel this summer, but I’m so grateful for their visit and the time we had together. 

If you made it through all of that – you’re a saint! I love doing life lately posts so that I’m able to look back years from now and remember what was happening in my day-to-day life. Now that you know what’s been going on here, tell me — what about you?