A Week in Paradise

For the past year or so, Nick and I had been planning on taking a graduation trip this spring. However, when we found out he'd probably have to take spring classes to stay on track for graduation next year, we discovered he probably wouldn't be able to take a week off. So, being the amazing husband he is, he let me leave to paradise without for a week to take a little mommy-daughter trip to Oahu.

If you know my family at all, you know we have quite the travel bug. Throughout my life I've come to find that there is a HUGE difference between traveling and vacationing. My dad is definitely a traveler, and not a vacationer. This was the first trip my mom and I had taken together, and we both agreed we needed some serious real vacation time which included excessive time at the beach and at the pool.

Two sights I don't think I'll ever get sick of: Waikiki beach and a classic Waikiki sunset. Amazing!

I decided to try out Priceline.com to see what kind of deals I could find on hotel rooms. I was a little apprehensive because it was my first time ever using it, but we ended up getting an awesome room at the Marriott beach resort for a killer deal. The location was probably the best of all the Waikiki hotels I've stayed in -- and the pool was amazing too. I can definitely say I'll be using Priceline more often!

 Loved all the vegetation in the courtyard and at the pool

  

I'm a huge fan of tropical flowers. Plumerias are my ultimate favorite!

 

 What we did almost every day on the trip. We spent almost all day at the beach and then topped it off with Yogurtland. I kind of have an obsession with frozen yogurt.

 There's definitely something to be said about Waikiki's nightlife. There's an endless selection of restaurants and more luxury shops than I've ever seen on one street. And, lucky us, we were there on the night of the "Spam Jam." Yep, Spam. Hawaiians love it. I don't think I've ever even tasted it. They blocked off the entire main street to set up the festival devoted to this processed meat. It was quite the event.

 All the local restaurants had a food booth with all-Spam recipes. I wasn't daring enough to try any, but everyone on the street looked like they were loving them!

 On Sunday we went up to Laie for a few hours to go to the Temple. They just finished renovating it a few months ago and the exterior looks amazing!

 We also met up with our good friends, the Blau family, on Sunday. My parents have known them since before I was born and their family is some of our dearest friends. Seriously some of the nicest people I've even known. They have an amazing house in Kailua and were so nice to have us over on Sunday for dinner. 

They even have a DOG! Little Reese was my friend for the weekend. I've been dog deprived lately.

 Our plan was to fly home Sunday night, but as you know if you've ever flown standby, you're never quite sure if you'll make it on the flight or not. There had been a cancellation earlier so our scheduled flight filled up unexpectedly. The Blaus were so nice to let us spend the night and the following day at their house. I felt terrible for leaving my lonely husband at home longer than expected, but the extra day in Kailua was amazing.

I got to spend the whole day in the pool reading a book. I can't remember the last time I read a book for fun!

 The week of R&R was just what I needed to jump back into real life for the upcoming summer!