The last of Kauai and where to next?

As much as I’d like to drag out my Kauai vacation forever via reminiscing through photos, I’m sure it’s getting a little stale for you   A final sampling of photos can be found at the end of this post (just click to see the bigger size)

If you’re like me, you’re propelled in life by things to look forward to.  Yes, I try to enjoy each day, but I love the anticipation of something great that is on the horizon.  And usually for me, that means travel!

Where I’ve been (outside US):

• Mexico (Cancun, Xcaret, Puerto Vallarta, Tiajuana, Ensenada)
• Canada (Vancouver, Ottawa)
• Spain (Southern half of country: Madrid, Torremolinos, Granada, Sevilla…)
• Whales (Cardiff)
• England (London)
• Australia (Darwin, Sydney)
• France (Paris, Epernay)
• Egypt (Cairo, Luxor, Aswaan)
• Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice, Parma, Milan)
• Costa Rica (San Jose, Monteverde, Manuel San Antonio, La Paz, Arenal)
• Brazil (Florianopolis Santa Catarina)
• Nicaragua (Managua)
• St. Thomas Virgin Islands (sort of British owned, right?)

Places that I’d like to visit soon:

1. Greece — I named my cat Mykonos in honor of one of the islands
2. Spain (again) – Anyone see Spain: On the Road Again with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batalli…so freaking good!
3. Argentina — Buenos Aires and Malbec vino?  Yes please!
4. Thailand — preferably near the beach
5. Eastern Europe — I hear Prague is gorgeous!

What’s on your list?

Have you been to any of the places I plan to visit soon?

Where do you recommend I go?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shoes-Day!

It may not be Spring yet, but my feet still wish they were in Kauai, so here’s  a bevy of photos from last week highlighting a wedge gladiator sandal.

Sandals at Kauai Coffee Plantation

Kim, me, and Andrea on the coffee "tour"

Turquoise sundress from Alloy.com.  Sandals by Kenneth Cole via Marshalls last summer for about $25.

The above pics were taken on February 28, which truly turned into a day filled with a hodgepodge of activities due to somewhat cooler weather that threatened our ‘secret beach’ day.  We started at the Kauai Coffee Plantation on the south side of the island.  Perched on the beach were lush greens, and rows of coffee bean bushes (?).  We mainly went to taste all the varieties of free coffee (probably over 30!).

Per Ilya’s (and the bestie’s) insistence we had to go to Poipu for Puka-Dogs:

Signage

Menuage

NOM

Happy hotdoggers

Puka-dog FAIL

I must admit Puka-dog really has a good thing going!  AND they cater to vegetarians.  Boooyah!  I got the veggie dog with spicy garlic sauce, pineapple salsa, and Hawaiian mustard and I can honestly say it was nothing like I’ve ever had!  And in a good way  They actually cut a hole in the bun and insert the hotdog and the sauce — a true 360 degree eating experience.    Andrea and Ilya got the Polish sausage with jalapeno garlic sauce, mango salsa, and Hawaiian mustard and they were in love (with the hotdogs…and each other..haha).

So despite the oozey mess I made and subsequent stained dress, I’d highly recommend trying this Kauai original out

And because it’s Shoes-Day, here’s another shot of the shoes:

Size 7.5 Kenneth Cole 1.5" wedge gladiator sandals

Do you prefer a little wedge on a gladiator sandal?  Any that you’re coveting?  Send me a link!

Have you tried Puka-dog?  Or have you been somewhere that has a tasty novel food idea like this?

PS.  Did you watch The Bachelor last night?  Dare I say I felt bad for Michelle!

POM and Kauai weddings are both wonderful!

Happy Monday!!! (yeah, probably too many exclamation points for Monday AM, but err, fake it til you make it?)

Anyway, I was contacted by Ryan at POM Wonderful to try some of their delicious pomegranate juice.

8 little bottles just for me!

The closest I had come to drinking pom-juice was along the lines of a Pomtini  I was excited to try it au  natural and as a mix in for other drinks/food.

My immediate thought was to make a new cocktail — enter Pom-agne

A "shot" of POM filled with Moet champange

And then because I wanted to make something just a wee bit healthier, I made this on Sunday:

1 medium banana, 1/2 bottle POM, 1/3 packet Shakeology greenberry mix

Yeah it may have turned out brown, but it was de-lish!

On to the wedding…

In October of 2009, when I took my course to be professionally trained in Wedding and Events Consulting, I had to draft an entire wedding as one of my assignments, including budget, location, day-of schedule, gown/tux, favors, invitations, food and drink choices, etc.  It was quite the epic endeavor and I knew just what I wanted to do…my recently engaged friend Anne hinted she may want to get married in Kauai.  She gave me a modest budget and away I went.  Well without going through all the details, you can see she executed much of my plan!  It was a gorgeous wedding for two fabulous friends, Anne and Conor.

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(Ignore the fact that the POM photos attached themselves to the slideshow.  GAH!  Did you notice that Kim is wearing my alternate dress that I showed here)

It was such a lovely, intimate wedding!  The highlights included seeing whales in the distance, the awesome mai-tais and veggie apps, fabulous dinner, delicious Lilikoi cake, and simply spending a little time with just Anne before the ceremony started.

Have you been to a destination wedding?  If so, where? All of the weddings we go to are not in the SF area, but the last true destination wedding was for my friend Andrew in Xcaret, Mexico (Summer, 2009).

Are you a fan of POM?  How do you use it?