First Kisses

Today consisted of working at Jimmy Buffett's Shave Ice stand -- making shave ice and pineapple smoothies -- until 2:45pm. Not a bad 7.75 hours. I made more than $20 in tips (people tip more when you dress cute fyi) which is definitely a good day. After I clocked out I said hello and good bye to all my favorite Parrotheads and walked across the street to the Waikiki beach right in front of the Royal Hawaiian hotel. Can't miss it. It's the big bright pink hotel.

That's where I decided to lay down to sun bath (I can't let this tan fade. It's just too appetizing. ;-) ) While laying on my stomach I would read one of my library books but when I turned over I tuned into pandora on my iphone and listened to the Something Corporate station (yes I'm proud to say it's a regular that I listen to.) Anyway, The Starting Line - Best of Me came on (awesome song btw). There's one small lyric that really stood out to me while I was listening to it this time. "The next time I'm in town, we will kiss girl." (And here's the video for anyone that needs a throw back on high school days <3 )

That lyric made me think of first kisses and all the excitment that comes with them. If anyone knows me at all I'm completely terrified of commitment. Yes I've been in long relationships in the past but I'm scared of forever and I get bored of relationships quite easily. I enjoy the getting to know you part of the relationship. The beginning. The butterflies. The fireworks. The nerves. Whatever it is. That's the part I live for. Now this is going to be some serious soul spilling here but part of me would just enjoy going from relationship to relationship. Getting to know someone completely and honestly for a several months, maybe a year tops. When the relationship inevitably stalls/burns out then you just go on, by yourself for awhile, until you find someone else. Then you do the same thing with that person. You have all the firsts and the giggles, etc and get to know them completely, and then let them go. I don't understand the appeal of marriage and I'm not asking for any advice on it. I'm just throwing my thoughts out there into the world. I feel that marriage is something you do when you fear being alone. You decide to settle for one person because of the fear that when you're older, there won't be anyone else. It gets harder to meet new people as you grow older. It's all settling to me. Settling for a life that will inevitably become routine. I enjoy the spontaneity of new love and new adventures. Anyway, just my opinion.

I don't know. I feel that my thoughts on the subject are all scattered and confusing. It may be because I change my mind about things every other day/hour/minute/second. These are the only things that I can say for certain right now.

1. Here's to people that you can talk to about all this stuff that will just listen and not feel obligated to chime in with advice. Advice is not what I seek. I will find my way but sometimes I just need to talk about it in order to gather my thoughts.
2. Here's to finding a stable, serious career so I can support myself and if there's anyone else involved in my life then it's out of pleasure and not necessity. I don't want someone to take care of me and I don't want to take care of anyone. I just want to enjoy life.
3. Here's to amazing first kisses from the past that you can look back on and smile. And to future ones, real or fantasies, that allow you to feel hopeful about the future..especially the fantasy kisses with the cute surfer dudes at the beach. sigh.

4. Here's to enjoying the beautiful, Hawaiian weather and delving deep into my own thoughts while looking up at the sky and feeling the power of the crashing waves a few feet from my own feet.

We got older but we're still young, we never grew out of this feeling that we won't give up.

Manoa Falls

I've been to Manoa Falls twice so far. It's a great place to go hiking. You go through a rain forest until you reach a 150 ft waterfall. The first time I went, I journeyed there by myself. I got out of work at 2pm like I always do and I went right to the bus stop so I could take the #5. I got there a little late so I wasn't able to reach the entrance until 5ish. I was unsure about how long it would take to reach the falls and I didn't want to be there after dark. I hurried through the path.

Beautiful flowers on the trees.

Roaming through the trees

Crazy tree root obstacles.

Jumping over rocks.

Until you finally reach the water fall and what a site it is.

Here's a video so you can really see how big the waterfall is.

It was a relatively easy trail. It only took about 30-45 mins to get up there. The second time I went with a friend. Again we went after I got out of work at 2 but we made it to the entrance by 3:30. We went up to the waterfall very quickly and merged onto another trail next to the falls. This trail was definitly more challenging.  It was muddy and long and everyone we met on the way down kept saying that we were half way. LIES! I have no idea what we were looking for but we never made it. We decided to turn around at 6:30pm. The sunsets at 7:20pm. Yes, there was a quick jog down the trail. Fortunately we made it down with enough sunlight to find the bus stop to take us back. The adrenaline to get down made it so much fun. We were part jogging part falling down the path. haha. Good times!

Life is beautiful!

Sorry. I'm just tired.

I can't even put pen to paper....or fingers to keys....or thoughts into words. I'm so to the point of exhaustion. There's so many pictures and stories I want to put on here but, unfortunately, it will have to wait for another day and time. I hope everyone is enjoying their lives! Be positive. No one can bring you down but yourself...and all that jazz.

Shark's Cove, Sunset Beach, North Shore, Oahu

Time to stop and smell the Hibiscus

When I had started typing out this entry I was going to write *gasp* negative things about Hawaii. (Could there be anything negative about Hawaii? - yes. Do I want my blog to turn into a dark, cloudy, sad place? - no.) Therefore we will move on to another topic that I see everywhere I go -- FLOWERS!

There is an abundance of beautiful flowers in Hawaii. Obviously. Here are a few of my favorites:

Now, when you come to Hawaii, hopefully you'll get lei'd at the airport. (That's always a fun place to get lei'd. ;-) ) If not you can find fake leis almost anywhere but the most beautiful real flowered leis are found in Chinatown!! They're pretty cheap there too. Lei's will run between $5-$15. Not bad for a pretty thing to put around your neck.

Next up if you're a girl (or a guy. whatever), make sure you put a plumera clip in your hair. All the cool kids are doing it and it helps you get into the Hawaiian Aloha spirit. These you really can find anywhere. They're too expensive in the ABC stores but definitely try the International Marketplace on Kalakaua (right next to Jimmy Buffett's elevator/Shave Ice entrance!) You'll get a better deal if you buy in bulk so maybe we can get all of New Jersey to wear a pretty flower in their hair!

Just because the beach is full of sand doesn't mean that flowers wont prosper here. You simply must get a beach towel with flowers on it. It will also help if it says Hawaii and is brightly colored. This will make you're beaching experience even better (if that's at all possible).

Oh no. Did your cell phone die? Never fear! Hawaii still has pay phones (when was the last time you saw these?). These are even better though becuase they are decorated with... say it with me now....FLOWERS!

Hawaii's state flower is the Hibiscus. It's a beautiful flower that comes in many, many different, vibrant colors. These yellow ones grow right outside my apartment. They can be found all over the island.

You can find many unusual fresh flowers at the farmer's markets.

However, the best part is running into a few cuties on your walk to work on a beautiful, Hawaiian day. =)

Hawaiian desserts

I'm sorry its been so long. I have been crazy busy. No worries though. I may have been a little too busy to blog but definitely not too busy for DESSERT!!!!

There's nothing better than Hawaiian desserts. Now, if you don't know me, I have a sweet tooth like no other. I am a complete fatty when it comes to after meal snackage.

These are from my bakery. This is what I do every morning when I open there. I decorate cupcakes. I LOVE IT! That's my favorite part of my job. Pictured here we have Lilikoi, Red Velvet, Mocha Mac, Vanilla, Strawberry Guava, Carrot, Haupia, Chocolate, and Devils Food. Everyone that has had the pleasure of trying my wonderful cupcakes have greatly enjoyed them...so have I. Mocha Mac is my favorite followed by Lilikoi but they are all wonderful! haha.

Now this beauty is a dessert at Jimmy Buffett's. It's called the Hurricane. Please pay attention because I will only say this once. Brownie. Vanilla Ice Cream. Brownie. Vanilla Ice Cream. Whipped Cream. Hot Fudge. Caramel. Macadamia Nuts. Cherry on top. Did you get all that? Yes. It is amazing. Yes. It may be love.

Mochi. I don't even know how to describe mochi so I will leave it to wikipedia. Mochi is a Japanese confection made from pounded sticky rice with an ice cream filling. There are so many different Mochi flavors. My favorite is that orange one on the top left photo. It's passion fruit. I love my lilikoi (passion fruit). The other flavors shown are red velvet and raspberry (on the left) and chocolate espresso and chocolate peanut butter (i think -- those weren't mine) and raspberry and vanilla (on the right) Needless to say -- yum! You just need to taste it to believe it. And oh wait you CAN!!! Check it out! Free shipping. Try some!! If you're in Hawaii go to Bubbies on University Ave (thankfully just a 5-10 min walk from my apartment). You won't be sorry.

I was told about this sweet treat by a coworker from the bakery. When she was describing it to me she quoted the slogan written right on the front window. "It's not ice cream. It's not shave ice. It's not frozen yogurt. IT'S SNOW!" I wouldn't exactly call it snow. It's kinda of like a cold cotton candy consistency but with a better taste. Pictured above is mango flavored with mango pops. The pops are so good as well. It's like a burst of flavor with every POP! This dessert hails from The Snow Factory that is less than 5 minutes from my apartment. Unfortuntately this one doesn't ship but feel free to check out the website.

Yes, I know how lucky I am! =)

And then life stood still.... even if it was only for an instant.

My work schedule has truly been insane. I can't complain because after all, I am in Hawaii and I do love it. I just feel like I can't say no. Anyone can ask me "Do you think you can come in for a few hours on [insert day here]". My response is normally "Well I'm going to be working at [insert other job name here] from [whatever time to whatever time] but I can come in afterward [or before in some cases]". WHY?!?! Why do I insist on always being the go-to person. Well, needless to say. This week has been crazy. Mostly working both jobs in a day so my work hours are 7am-7:30 or 10:00 pm. I'm putting up with it now because I have a visitor coming in 13 days and I will like to have at least 3 days off to galavant around the island.

Luckily today I just had to work 7am - 2pm at one job! YAY! That means beachy time at Ala Moana Beach Park with one of my wonderful housemates!! Another housemate ended up just accidentally being at the same place at the same time also. Haha. That's always funny bumping into people you know in random places. It's especially funny when you only know about a handful (or two) of people in the state. It was just nice to be able to lay around and not have to be anywhere or do anything. Tomorrow will be another one job kind of day. I'll be on Waikiki Beach by 2:05 pm. I love it!!

And the winner is...

After a long awaited time (sorry by the way)....

THE WINNER IS....

LAURA!!

Now, some may be wondering why her comment isn't showing up. Actually for some reason blogger was having some technical difficultdies when I was going to post the winner. I had to wait for the next day and for some reason 3 comments were deleted from the blog even though I received the e-mail with the comments. Since I received the e-mail I added them to the list of people to choose from. (I used random.org to generate the person to choose). Now, I believe I know which Laura it is but just to be sure make sure you e-mail me your address and I'll send you goodies right away!! Thank you to everyone who commented!! It means so much. Who knows. I may just send you a special little something soon!! =)

I'm sorry that I have been neglecting my blog lately. I have been so busy pulling a lot of doubles. Most days working 7am - 7:30 or 10:00 pm. I haven't been doing much except work. However, one day while I was leaving Margaritaville this was in the sky. A HAPPY, SMILEY RAINBOW!!

Have a wonderful day and I promise to write something good soon.

Congrats on the win Laura!

Thanks for playing! Come again soon!!

=-)

Goal #1 - CHECK!

About a week ago I wrote my goals for the month in my blog. This week, one has been checked off and completed exactly as hoped.

Tbe goal was:
1. Find another job (preferably in a bakery but don't push you're good luck too far.) Anything that allows you to survive with a little extra cash in your pocket will do.

That day I went to a bakery and it turned out that they were hiring and posted an ad on Craig's List. We had a brief interview outside in the outdoor cafe area and she asked me to send her my resume. As soon as I got home I sent the resume. I didn't go to any other bakery or restuarants even though that was the plan, simply because I had a good feeling about this one. Low and behold, next day I get an e-mail saying that they liked me and would like to do a trial run on Monday.

Yesterday was my first day in the bakery. It was everything I hoped for and more! I was there by 6:45am (15 mins early). I put on my apron and they put me to work right away. This is what I did!:

First thing I did was decorate mini cupcakes. About 30 of them were for an order and another 50 were for the bakery display case. Now, of course they had the regular Red Velvet, Vanilla, Strawberry, and Chocolate cupcakes. However, they also had Lilikoi (Passion Fruit), Guava, Macadamian Nut Mocha, and Haupia (Coconut). The cupcakes had various fillings and frostings and I had to follow the instructions in the book. Easy peasy! The most difficult part was getting used to using parchment paper folded into a bag instead of a normal cake decorating bag. After the first failiures with the strawberry cupcakes I nixed the paper and opted for the traditional bag. Muuuuch better! =)

Then, I scooped a whole bunch of oatmeal batter into cookie balls. This required a lot of bicep muscles that have not been properly used in a long long time. I worked through the pain though. This will not defeat me! I did it all. I forgot to count how many there were total but let's just say there were A LOT!

After that I piped white royal icing into coral reefs onto wax paper. This was hand cramp after hand cramp but I pushed through the pain. I made 25 of those very elaborate lines.

Lastly, I learned how to properly crumb coat a cake and ice the cake in whipped cream. It was definitely challenging. I haven't crossed that hurtle yet but I feel motivated to conquer it!

They liked me and I loved them and what I was doing!! They're going to give me my full schedule next week. But as of now it looks like I'll be working at the bakery Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. And at Margaritaville Tuesday thru Saturday. It'll be a lot of work and pretty much no days off but I'm so happy because I'll actually love what I do. YAY!

AND DON'T FORGET! THE GIVEAWAY DEADLINE IS TOMORROW! COMMENT ON THIS POST AND YOU'LL BE ENTERED TO WIN!!!

First Month in Hawaii, First Paycheck, First Giveaway

Today was my 1 month-iversary in Hawaii. It was love at first sight. It's funny because it's also the first full month of having my blog. Also, I got my first Hawaiian paycheck today! Yay firsts!!

GIVEAWAY!!

To celebrate my firsts I would like to do a little giveaway. I'll make a little Hawaiian themed package of assorted goodies and send it to someone chosen at random. Trust me, I'll make it worth your wild. lol. Leave me a comment telling me what you're favorite first was and you'll be entered to win! I will keep this giveaway open til Wednesday, May 11 when I will pick the winner at 3pm EST (9am Hawaii time).

Now...GO! Comment!!

Goals

It's important in life to set goals for yourself. Especially for me. Slight neat-freak and obsessive list-maker. I plan out my days/weeks/months as soon as I have an inkling of what might be going on. I'm not so bad that I feel that I must stick to the list of the whole world will crumble. However, I do my best to get everything done. The lists, the goals, keep me focused on what I need to do. It's how I function.

Therefore, here are my goals for the Marvelous Month of May!

1. Find another job (preferably in a bakery but don't push you're good luck to far. Anything that allows you to survive with a little extra cash in your pocket will do.

2. Join a club, league, or fitness program. Just have something to do once a week, every week. Either something active or creatively stimulating. It's fun and there's always room for new friends! =)

3. Look into the Masters of Nursing program at UoH. You know this is what you want to do. Visit the school, see what the classes would be like. Make them want you before you even apply.

Life is sweet -- Savor and Enjoy!!

I made Chocolate Chip Cookies today for the roomies. The recipe was found in Buddy Valastro's autobiography and cookbook, Cake Boss. I love the stories and this may be my new favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies!!

Saying goodbye to the best April ever.

Dear April (the month--not a person),

It's been so great to see you. Let me list my favorite things that has happened while you were around.

 

On the first day you arrived, my very best friends and I went out to celebrate my birthday! We went to Midieval Times, had the opportunity to go backstage and hang out with some knights and horses, and then had a slumber party in a hotel. I definitely had an amazing time and will never forget my treasured friendships.

Later on, I had to take my sweet and adorable kitty cutestuff to the vet to get her Hawaii ready. The process to bring pets from the mainland to Hawaii is long and grueling. She has to wait 120 days before she gets clearance. This is to keep Hawaii rabies-free. I had to say goodbye to my love, Tigger. I know she's had a great time with her babysitter.

While you were here, April, I had to say goodbye to family and friends. This was the most challenging event but still a favorite. I wish I could say that I never took these people for granted, never got angry at them for childish and ridiculous reasons, and never, not even for a second, forgot what they mean to me. However, I couldn't say that then, but I can definitely say that now. I miss  each and every last one of you. Please know that I greatly appreciate your constant support and friendship. Seriously, feel free to come visit!!

Still early on in your visit I made the BIG move. On my 25th birthday, April 6th, I got on a plane and took the 15 hour journey to Hawaii. It was love at first sight. Best thing about Hawaii has to be the beaches. I go multiple times a week. There's nothing more relaxing than laying down on the warm sand listening to the lightly crashing waves while feeling the salty, sea breeze on your face.

Fruit, fruit, and more fruit. I found out that I LOVE MANGOS! Thank you for showing me something new! Plus, keep bringing on the fruit please! Thank you!

I know how the saying goes. Normally, April showers bring May flowers. However, NOT IN HAWAII!! There's always beautiful flowers here! I've gotten so much more of an apreciation for the year-round, vividly colored flowers. I don't ever want it to end!

Palm trees. What more could anyone ever ask for? One of the reasons why I wanted to come to Hawaii was because of the palm trees. They're magnificent. Tall, Short, Thin, Fat, Crooked, Straight. All different types here.

Thank  you, April, for seeing me through getting a job and finding an apartment. These two things were the end all be all of Hawaii. If I wasn't going to be able to get either of these my dream of living in Hawaii would have been very short-lived. I have a great job that I enjoy being at every day. The people I work with are all so nice and chill. The customers are all in good moods because obviously if you're vacationing in Hawaii what is there to be upset about? I love hearing about where everyone is from and how they've been enjoying their vacations! Now the apartment. Oh the apartment. There aren't any words to describe how completely amazing it is living with these specific group of girls. It'll be 2 weeks on Wednesday  that I've been at this apartment. In these two weeks I feel so comfortable with all the girls. All of them are so caring and genuine. We hang out often and I am very happy to have new friends as great as these! 

Now, I said before that the ocean is the most relaxing place. I lied. Take that peacefulness and multiply that by about a million when  you have the opportunity to watch the sun set into the ocean. I had never been able to see that from New Jersey because it's on the East Coast. It's wonderful and everyone should experience it.

What was your favorite thing that happened in April? Please leave a comment and let me know!!

Therefore, in closing, I would just like to thank you April for all the wonderful things you have brought me in the 30 days that you were here. I look forward to more fascinating and exciting things to come when your friends come to visit! Yay!

Looking forward to seeing you again,

Mary