antigua

hawaii: day eight

this is our last day here. we got up and went to the beach this morning so i could snorkel. i didn't see any turtles swimming in the water but i did see them sunning themselves up on the lava rocks. there were a ton of other interesting colorful fish though so it was a good snorkel afterall. we hung out and got some more sun and then went to the gift shop to get some last minute souvies. now it's time to pack up. we check out at 2pm and our flight is at 5pm. We are on the red-eye to chicago and land in chicago at 6am on Sunday. Then i have a 9am flight to Tampa and will get home around 12:30. it was a great trip and i'm really lucky my sister took me.

hawaii: day seven

hawaii: day six

hawaii: day four

secret admirer

today my sister and i got back from breakfast and there were flowers in our room. no note. so we called the florist in the hotel and it didn't come from them. the florist researched and found out that someone from off property brought them to the bellman and asked that it be anonymous. and they were sent to me, not my sister! so we couldn't figure out who would send them because no one knows that i'm here and then i figured out, duh, i put it on myspace. so it has to be someone, either who i know personally or not, who reads my myspace blog.

hawaii: day three

We got a rental car today and decided to explore. Kona is a big island and we stayed close and just wandered a bit. First we went to to the King Shops and walked around a bit. We got a few souvies but decided to head down to Kona where there was supposed to be better shopping. It was about another thirty minutes down the road with nothing to look at except black lava. I realize the colors of this side of the island are chocolate brown, lava black and light yellow-green. And that is all we saw on our ride. At least we got a convertible and got to feel the warm wind in our hair, but I ended up with a bit of a burn.

In Kona we drove through to check things out. We found the Fairfield resort which is where my timeshare is. It's in a great location so I'm psyched if I ever want to come back. We then went to lunch at Huggos. We all had great seafood dishes. Many of the execs from Canon showed up there as well. We then checked out the Kona Brewery which was really just a restaurant. We didn't do the tour. We then headed back, stopped at the Kings Shops again for some icecream and wandered through the back roads. It was great to see some of the hidden beaches and houses.

hawaii: day two evening

Canon sponsored a Luau as the company event. On our way walking over, Margie told me to take a picture of the sunset, and I wiped out. I was messing with my camera and missed a dip where the grass connects to the payment and feel right on my knee. Made a bit of a spectacle from everyone herding over to the luau. Margie missed it! So I now have a bloody knee that hurts – still. A bunch of little kids were dressed up in traditional Hawaii gear and greeted us “ALOHA” as came over to the area. A bunch of waiters where standing ready with drinks. I had my first of many mai thais.

They had a great spread of food. They didn’t have a pig roasting, but they did have a carving station with it. There was the largest pile of jumbo shrimp I had ever seen. I grabbed something that I thought was tomato salad but ended up being raw tuna. I think it was kind of an ahi poke – which I sometimes make at home. They had all sorts of other fish and seafood salad as well. Lots of other noodle and veggie salads. I piled up one plate but didn’t eat that much. Too much fish I think. I focused on drinking instead. I got Margie a selection of all desserts – there was chocolate cake, carrot cake, white cake, some meringue things and other stuff. She said they were all really good. I think I had about four mai thais since they were free there and $10 each if we paid at the resort. They kept getting bigger and bigger as the night went on.

The kids performed about three dances for us. After they came on stage and started, the music went out and they had to start over again. It was kind of funny because they didn’t know what to do. All of us adults were standing up taking pictures, and then it all went dead. Afterwards some traditional hula dancers danced while live musicians played.

After the luau, we went over to the polo bar and stayed there until they stopped serving us. It was fun. There is a lot of drama amongst some of the co-workers which got a bit intense. But overall everyone was happily served and having fun. It is a great group of people. One guy started playing the piano and we all sang along. But he was too drunk and could only play a few songs.

hawaii: day two afternoon

I had a wonderfully lazy afternoon today. The spa here is really nice. Not the best spa in the world, but the fact that most of the treatments are down outside in private little huts is very unique. I got changed into my robe and sat in the sun outside while waiting for my therapist to come get me. They had some yummy papaya tea and water with lemons. My therapist was a guy and he was really nice. He took my picture and didn't even make fun of me when I asked :) I got a great massage and he even worked on my jaw for a while. I chewed a ton of gum from being on all those planes yesterday and my jaw was hurting from my TMJ.

After the massage I went and found Margie on the beach. I sat with her for about 15 minutes. She, Diane, Billy and I went over to the poolside cafe for lunch. I had an awesome ahi tuna and mango wrap. The others all ordered chicken quesedillas. Our bill was $90! And I was the only one that ordered a drink. A $10 pina colada.

We split up again after lunch. The others went over to the beach but it was way too sunny for me. I came back to the room for a bit, grabbed my book and my iPod and went and found a hammock in the shade. It ended up that it was too hard to lay in the hammock and read so I just chilled out and listened to my iPod. I had a really cool moment. Mostly Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha were on the mix I was listening too but then God Only Knows by the Beach Boys came on. The sun came out from a cloud and by the end of the song, when they keep singing over and over in harmony, the wind was blowing really hard. So I was listening to that amazing song looking up at the palm trees blowing over my head against the bright bluw sky, my hammock swinging in the wind and it was an incredibly peaceful moment. I didn't stay too long after that because the sun was moving and the palm trees didn't shade me that well.

Now I'll take a shower so I can be out of the way when my sister gets back. Maybe I'll take a little nap in the air conditioning or I may sit out on our lanai on the lounge chair. We have a luau tonight which should be a ton of fun. The entire group of my sisters company will be there. Everyone we have met so far has been great so I'm looking forward to it.

hawaii: morning of day two

I woke up at about 4am because my timeclock was all messed up. It is six hours behind here. I wrote a little bit on my computer and then went back to sleep. Margie and I got up at about 6:30. She finished unpacking and then we went down for breakfast. Canon provided breakfast for everyone in our group. The buffet was nice with the most amazing fresh pineapple and other fruits, pastries, eggs, bacon, pancakes and there was even coconut syrup. We met a few people she knows and we went over to the “swimming lagoon” to check it out. For a $40 activity fee we can get snorkel mask and fins for our entire trip. Some of the best snorkeling island is right in that swimming lagoon. Also included in that fee is a 90-minute session of sunrise yoga which is each day at 8am. I definitely want to try that one day this week.

Margie had her facial scheduled for 9am. We each got one spa service included in the trip. My massage was scheduled for noon. I walked with her over to the spa to check it out. We stopped in the fitness center which is really nice as well. Margie likes to work out in the gym each day if she can. I plan on going some of the hikes they offer around the resort. After I dropped Margie off I walked around the resort and took some pictures. Came back to the room to post yesterday’s pictures on my blog. Now it is time for my massage so off I go!

hawaii - day one

I was sitting at the dinner, five of us girls, just laughing all with a sight buzz from the mai thais and pina coladas we had at the bar earlier. There were palm tree everywhere. The sun had set about an hour ago but the sky still had some of that wonderful dark-blue light that accentuated the clouds. Two musicians were playing music on the grass and a woman in a colorful flowered dress was dancing some variation of the hula. And it hit me that I’m in Hawaii.

It was a long day getting here. I had a 6:30am flight from Tampa to Chicago. Then I had to switch terminals to meet up with my sister and wait another hour to board the flight here. I bought a travel pillow so I could sleep and had to get a Chicago-style hot dog from the vender at the airport. I never ate hotdogs all that much when I lived in Chicago, but lately I had been missing them and can’t really find them in Florida. It was an eight and a half hour flight to Maui. Then we waited about an hour from people to get on and off the plane and another half hour to Kona (the Big Island). We landed at about 3:30, but Hawaii is six hours behind Florida time – so the total commute time so far was 15 hours. We then had to get our luggage and take a shuttle to the hotel. They had a hospitality suite set up with sandwiches and snacks for us which was great because we were all starving.

Our room is great and the Fairmont Orchid Resort is gorgeous. There is a man-made waterfall right under our lanai (balcony) so we got to sleep with the door open to hear it. They have a huge pool that is shaped kind of like a lake – all curvy. The ocean is just beyond. There are a few beaches we can get too and all sorts of water sports. Sea turtles come up onto the rocky beach on the property each night to next. They are gorgeous. The resort has several free activities so there is always something to do. The only negative is that like most resorts, there is nothing nearby. So we can not walk around and go shopping or anything like that. But there will be plenty to do here. And we will all be forced to relax which is probably the best part.

the scraproom 05/06

today i received my monthly package from the scraproom. yeah! look at all the fun goodies i get to play with. the coffee of the month is french vanilla and it smells awesome.

happy birthday bono

today is bono's birthday

studio friday: sounds

the jangle of my bracelet

happy hour

traffic

playing piano

random things

abc's of me

Activist, Blogger, Compassionate, Divorced, Enthusiastic, Foodie, Good-natured, History Channel, Internet, Jewelry, Karma, Live in Florida, MySpace, Naive, Own two dogs and one parrot, Photographer, Quizzical, Redhead, Scrapbooker, Takes lots of pictures, Unique, Vacations, Web Developer, Xenophile, Yoga, Zoos

to do list

i have so much stuff i want to do tonight but then again i also want to do none of it. have a ton to get done before the weekend.

1) catch up on three circle journals i'm behind on
2) prepare what to server for kentucky derby party on saturday
3) start deciding what i want to pack for hawaii
4) clean the birdcage
5) burn cruise vacation pictures onto cd and mail out
6) mail out the one completed circle journal package that has been sitting on counter for one week
7) do my bills so everything gets paid while i'm on vacation
8) mail insurance letter to naomi
9) decide if i want to fight with ex to get all my camping stuff back so i don't have to buy new
10) RELAX!!!

okay, reading the above list i guess it's not too bad. i have 2.5 days before having people over and 10 days before i leave for my trip.