para- para- paradise

*please note maddie cutting pineapple the fancy way we learned at the dole plantation

i am impressed if you scrolled through all those photos and even more so if you actually read any/all of this post. i haven't written on this blog in over a year, but have been wanting to do a better job at documenting my life lately, so i'm back at it. i spent last week in hawaii vacationing and visiting my friend maddie who moved there recently from NYC, where we were roommates. i have always wanted to visit hawaii and was so sad when maddie left the city, so we decided a trip was in order. maddie lives on oahu, in laie right next to BYU hawaii and the LDS temple. i want to get sappy for a second and say how grateful i am that we are friends and that she let me visit her. she is so thoughtful and fun and was the very best hostess/tour guide/navigator/adventure buddy all week. maddie is a total go-getter; in new york we always packed our days full of as many cool destinations and activities as possible, and i love that we did the same thing in hawaii. we fit a lot into one week! here is everything that we did:

DAY ONE
arrived in honolulu in the evening
picked up my rental car and drove to laie
dinner at seven brothers at the mill

DAY TWO
bikini beach
laie point
kawela bay (the water here was so beautiful and perfect for swimming, also this is where the cool banyan tree from lost and some pirates of the caribbean sequel is)
lunch at wailua bakery in haleiwa
sunset pillbox hike
watched the sunset at backyards beach
dinner at elephant truck (my favorite meal of the trip! the pad thai and panang curry were incredible)

DAY THREE
breakfast at hukilau cafe (it inspired the diner in 50 first dates, also has great pancakes)
rode the pineapple express and ate dole whips at the dole plantation (dole whip might be the real reason i came to hawaii)
went to see "lion"
manoa falls hike (this is the stunning waterfall you see in the photos above)
watched the sunset at waikiki
dinner at teddy's bigger burgers

DAY FOUR
pearl harbor memorial (a moving experience and the memorial is so beautiful)
punchbowl cemetery
lunch at eggs n things
malasadas at leonard's bakery (malasadas are portugese filled donuts and are SO tasty)
cromwell's beach
watched the sunset at tantalus lookout (stunning view overlooking honolulu. the number 1 rule of hawaii is to never miss a sunset!)
snuck panda express into "la la land"
frozen yogurt at menchie's

DAY FIVE (maddie's birthday! loved celebrating our february birthdays together)
scenic horseback ride at gunstock ranch (this was beautiful and so fun. i probably hadn't been horseback riding in 10 years)
lunch at giovanni's shrimp truck and kahuku farms
snorkeling at hanauma bay (neither of us had been snorkeling before and it ROCKED MY WORLD)
watched the sunset on the makapu'u lighthouse trail
dinner at papa ole's
snuck into the hot tub at the turtle bay resort
ate birthday cake!

DAY SIX
crouching lion hike (this was my favorite hike and the view was so beautiful it looked fake)
ocean trampoline at pounders beach
peanut butter rolls at papa ole's (omg get these, they are to DIE FOR)
acai bowls from haleiwa bowls
snorkeling at sharks cove (we loved snorkeling so much we had to go again)
matsumoto shave ice in haleiwa (there is always a crazy line but i loved this place, it's a must)
watched the sunset at keiki beach
dinner at north shore tacos truck
ate chocolate cream pie from ted's bakery and watched "this is us"

DAY SEVEN
walked around the laie temple grounds
breakfast acai bowls at banzai bowls (banzai bowls, can you plz open in new york? so delicious)
talked on the beach at kawela bay until i had to leave
cried all the way to the airport

every inch of hawaii is so beautiful and there is so much to do. i had the time of my life. thank you, maddie. i miss you (and your island) already.

back in blue

before i start the section of this post i like to call "reasons i am glad to be back at BYU," i will give you a quick recap on our new york vacay and cross-country drive.

sorry for the overdose of sisters-in-a-row-hands-on-the-hips pics... we need to come up with some original poses. anyway, i didn't take as many photos in new york as i should have but we had a really fun week. we saw a whopping FOUR broadway shows!

we had bought tickets to wicked and how to succeed in business without really trying way in advance, but my dad spontaneously bought tickets to the musicals catch me if you can and spiderman during the week we were there. wicked blew my mind and rocked my world. i had been dying to see it ever since it came out when i was in seventh grade and it was everything i'd hoped and dreamed of and more. plus our fiyero was quite good-looking. then we saw how to succeed which also blew me away! daniel radcliffe really was amazing. often when they put a big name in a broadway show the other actors kind of dance around them but daniel really held his own. he was so so great and his singing and dancing were really so impressive. he's only there until december so if you have the chance, see it, see it, see it! the actors in catch me if you can were so great and i was actually really impressed with the flying around involved in spiderman. we also spent our fair share of time eating in restaurants, visiting museums, and just exploring. it was a fun week.

then catherine, liz, and i embarked on our cross-country journey. besides every single inch of our tiny car being absolutely packed, it was not so bad.

we drove for four days and ended up driving straight through the last day so we could get in provo one day earlier. on our way we spent a night at our friend kinard's house near indianapolis and our other indy friend, chloe, came over to her house for the night too! we hung out, ate graeter's ice cream [which you should definitely try if you're ever in the midwest], watched jane eyre AND something borrowed, and crashed in the basement. it was just like old times.

we are back in provo and back in school! i am so excited. we had a little bit of a rough start with our apartment [it was not clean when we came to move in—gross!] but we got everything all taken care of with management and we are really liking bountiful courts so far. so here it is...

reasons i am glad to be back at BYU:

1. i share a room with these two lovely ladies. and i have three new roommates i'm liking a lot.

2. i love walking around campus and seeing someone i know every time i turn around.

3. i'm in an all sports pass group with my friends from last year and i can't wait for football to start.

4. is it weird that i love grocery shopping? and i really love cooking and baking.

5. i love my classes so far. and tuesdays, thursdays, and fridays i get done class at 11 a.m. awesomeee 

6. i'm officially changing my major this week to art history!

7. because of said major change, i am also taking french! i have always wanted to learn french.

8. i could come up with lots more but i have homework to attend to, so bonsoir!

also, things i do not love = the job hunt. but i'm working on it.

anyway, it's good to be back.