hawaii

Aloha! Mahalo! <- (goes to Hawaii one time and pretends she’s a local…the only 2 Hawaiian words that I know and will annoyingly repeat every time I go to the islands)

Although there many not-so-fun things about getting older, one very fun thing about getting older is getting to travel more with friends and celebrate all the milestones with them.

A few months ago, I was able to celebrate my friend’s 30th birthday by going on a trip to Maui with a group of girls. Now, I hadn’t been to Maui since I was like..eleven..sooo this was basically like my first time visiting this island 🙂 (Sorry mom and dad for my short-term memory issues…)

Now thankfully, the girls I went with were major planners AND foodies, so every moment of our 3 days spent on the island was well-spent and we were well-fed!

Day 1: Hit up a cute coffee shop.
Visit the Maui swap meet… macademia nut bread/cake was BOMB!
Take a cool workshop. We made flower crowns and that was super fun.
Tin Roof is a Maui fast food must try!
Maui Tropical Plantation Tour…aka eat delicious coconut ice cream and watch locals cut coconuts in half!
Eat lots of Hawaiian food (Da Kitchen’s loco moco bowl portions are OUT OF THIS WORLD! Can easily share between 3/4 people they are ginormous!)

Day 2: ROAD TRIP to Road to Hana. Be warned..this is not for the weary. This was a 12 hour trip round trip. Bring LOTS AND LOTS of snacks. And bug spray. And water. And comfy shoes. And sun tan lotion. The roads are seriously so scary and windy and narrow. I thought this was going to be the last day of my life. But alas, I am still here and survived! I also saw the MOST amazing double rainbow I have ever seen in all of my days and beaches made of black sand! The delirious-ness really set in that evening as you can probably imagine.

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Day 3: Whaler’s Village – sometimes it’s fun just to embrace full tourist mode. Because this village is definitely tourist land. Go here to shop and drink mai tais. There are some amazing happy hours here and some kickin’ strong mai-tais let me tell you! The foam on top is really what makes the drink. You will also be greeted by ukulele playing classes.
Ululani’s Hawaiian Shaved Ice – because no trip to Hawaii is complete without a shave ice.

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I am ready for another tropical trip…

xoxo,

-Lena

ps.. you can watch our trip here:

Hi lovelies!

I hope you all are having the best summer! I am SOOO overdue on this post, many apologies.

This summer has been a whirlwind between several trips, work, and getting prepared to move. But here I am, back and ready to share more adventures with you all 🙂

I went to the gorgeous lush island of Kauai, aka “Garden Isle.” Okay… my mind is seriously blown at how much green exists there. Literally you see green, and then look up and see blue skies. SO PRETTY! I did so much research prior to going and planned out an itinerary that I loved. There are so many more activities you can do such as zip-lining, kayak-ing, helicopter rides, horseback riding.. seriously the opportunities are endless. However, I stuck to more adventuring on land.

Here’s my list of must-see’s:

Day 1: South Side

Our first day there was filled with exploring the southern part of the Island. This included visiting the Sprouting Horn, and of course a few coffee and shaved ice shops on the way!

Day 2: West Side

This day was the longest drive as we were staying on the East side. We stocked up on freshly made taro chips from Taro Ko Farm and made the journey up to Waimea Canyon: (think.. Hawaii version of Grand Canyon). It was seriously such a stunning view… I could have stayed up there all day long!

Of course we gained a huge appetite so a stop at Puka Dog on the way down is an ABSOLUTE necessity. This was seriously the best meal I had on the island. Kailua pork dogs with shredded pork and amazing spicy sweet sauce on top..word on the street is they may be opening location in California soon..

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On the way home we stopped by the quaint town of Hanapepe (on Friday nights is their Art Night festival!) which houses this swinging bridge that is the perfect photo opp, as well as the Kauai Coffee farm which is perfect for any coffee lover out there. There were samples on samples of all their different types of coffee and a coffee shop serving up pastries and beverages.

Day 3: North Side

This side of the island was one of my favorites, as I thoroughly enjoyed the day. We started off by going to Kilahea Lighthouse, which was so fun! There’s a gorgeous lighthouse and view of the ocean while a species of endangered birds have made their home here and magically fly all around. The very best beach on the island that I enjoyed was here called Anini beach. It was perfectly clear and peaceful waters that was perfect for lounging by. It was so fun exploring all the small towns as we made stops in between.

Day 4: East Side

The side we stayed on is home to the many waterfalls on the island. We decided to stay local and explore them. Many of them you can drive up to the viewpoint, get your shots and head to the next one.

I definitely wanted to make use of the hammock under the palm trees with an ocean view in front of my hotel room, so it was a relaxing day spent reading and getting a tan.

My favorite shaved ice spots were also on this side. Wailua Shaved Ice & Hee Fat. Both so good and different! TBH, I ate my weight in shaved ice if that is even possible on this trip. There’s something about the Kauai air that makes you crave it 🙂

In the evening I went to Luau Makaiwa which was so much fun! I loved learning about the culture of the islands. This is located at Marriott Courtyard and you should seriously see the coconut groves that served as the backdrop. STUNNING!

I am having some serious withdrawals as I sit here typing this. I’m pretty sure I left a piece of my heart over there.

Til next time…

xoxo,

Lena