Aloha!
I cannot believe another summer is almost over. How is that possible?! We hope all our friends and family had an awesome one. Anyways, we've had a very busy last month celebrating our anniversary, Mark's birthday, attending a outdoor comedy festival, participating in a charity bowling event and heading back to Big Island to name a few!Earlier in August we attended an event at the Waikiki Shell; '1st annual Laugh Under the Stars' (an outdoor auditorium- similar to the Marcus Amphitheatre) which had a lot of local music, and comedy acts. The show was a charity event with proceeds benefiting Brave Hawaii (an organization which brings awareness to bullying). The event was hosted by the hilarious Augie T, a radio host and comedian. Mark was lucky enough to get discounted tickets for us through his work. We walked down to Waikiki from our apartment and had a little beach lunch before the show. The event started around 5pm and lasted a little after 10pm. It was so much fun because we were able to enjoy the night with many different comedy acts and listening to awesome music- including one of our favorite local bands; Kolohe Kai. Their music is so positive, happy, and really makes you feel lucky living in Hawaii with all it's beauty. As we sat on the lawn enjoying the show- with an awesome view of Diamond Head, drinking our frozen margarita, we felt soooo lucky we live Hawaii! :)
Last weekend we visited Kaneohe on the Windward side of Oahu to see the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens. Ho'omaluhia translates to "to make a place of peace and tranquility". Getting to the east side of the island is one of my favorite drives on all of Oahu because the views are just breathtaking even on cloudy days. Last week there was heavy rain on and off which made our visit even more interesting and adventurous. There is no complaining about rain in Hawaii-after all that's what makes all the waterfalls! When we first arrived it had just stopped a crazy hard downpour. There's something so relaxing after a good rain, especially in Hawaii. The temperature of the air versus the ground differs so much it tends to create beautiful fog/low clouds that hover near the mountains. This garden sits nestled in the middle of the Ko olau mountain range and also has a beautiful lake in the center of the gardens. Weekend mornings you can rent a bamboo fishing pole to participate in catch and release fishing (we were not that adventurous this trip however, lol). We spend a good amount of time hiking many of the different trails around the property discovering numerous different plants with many uses in the medicine and cooking worlds. There were a few downright weird looking plants and also plenty of beautiful ones! It was such a quiet and calm place that we really enjoyed after such a crazy hectic work week.
Our anniversary fell on a Monday, so after work we celebrated by having dinner and drinks at Ruth Chris'. I had a delicious stuffed chicken and Mark had an awesome steak. We had a few glasses of sparkling wine and a flaming chocolate strawberry dessert that we shared. It was such an awesome night. Mark and I have such a low key relationship, and don't need to do a whole lot to celebrate (our first dating anniversary we ate at a China Buffett, lol) - so it was fun to have a fancy dinner after work together! Later that evening, we walked around Waikiki and watched the sunset and enjoyed a warm night by the ocean.
For Mark's birthday a few days later we ordered his favorite pizza out here (as close as we can find to Ferraros back in Racine and watched a movie at home). I was able to surprise him with a present when got home after work. I blew up 29 balloons (sorry Mark- I gave away your age, hehe) and hung a picture of us throughout the years on the end of each one so when he arrived home it was so fun seeing his reaction!
We have been having some crazy weird weather going on around us so far this hurricane season. Other than a few days of intense rain on and off we have been very, very blessed none of the storms have hit the islands to bad. There was a record set this week of three category 4 hurricanes in the Pacific all at the same time Let's hope the rest of this hurricane season is just as gracious to the islands! I was just thinking a few weeks ago that I miss really good thunderstorms- and just a few days later we had the craziest storm. The lightining was so severe that it woke us up through blackout blinds accompanied by thunder that literally shook the house. These tropic storms do not mess around!
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^One of our favorite new restaurants is a Northern Chinese cuisine restaurant called Dew Drop Inn. It's one of my favorite places here because it's a teeny tiny little hole in the wall place with killer food. One of the most unique things on the menu is a dish that is served with four sesame seed flakey bread pockets. It comes with a separate plate with a pork and tofu scramble that you are to stuff into the pockets. In Mark's words a 'fancy hot pocket' if you will. It was really strange to me but the experience was fun and it's always enjoyable eating with your hands in a restaurant. **Bonus points** They have the best orange chicken and chicken gyoza ever! Dew drop inn is so awesome to us because the moment you walk in you feel like you are in a different world. One of my favorite things about Hawaii is the vast majority of restaurants and different cuisines. No matter how long the two of us live here, it won't be enough time to try everything we want.
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| Killer view from our living room |
Just a few days ago we got back from the Big Island. We were so blessed we stayed at the exact same resort we stayed at on our honeymoon. To say we had fun was an understatement. How many people can say they can do that only two years later. One reason this whole Hawaii adventure together is so special for us. We'll share all the details next time! :)
XoXo,
Jen & Mark
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