Feb 13, 2010 | Fashion, Life
It’s funny how much and how little of the geography here we recall. How to get from here to there is still a source of contention as Hub refused the map at the rentacar place, insisting he knew Honolulu. But as we pass street after street, things start coming back.
Both yesterday and today were full of visiting the airport. Yesterday, twice to the airport to pick up the inlaws, then to the Children’s Discovery Center where we further psychologically-scarred Lil Tot with the exploding organs doll (an 8-ft tall stuffed doll that’s probably been there since the 60’s, kind of resembling Raggedy Andy with blue hair, with a large zipper in his chest. When you pull open the zipper, the doll’s stuffed organs projectile vomit at you. Nice for little kids.)
Then to Mariposa for lunch, a delicious pan-island restaurant atop the Neiman Marcus at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. (We always get full on the starters that the waiters bring: hot popovers with strawberry butter [used to be papaya butter which I thought was better], and a cup of light consomme soup.) I had a salad with island greens, goat cheese, wasabi-crusted pecans, broiled salmon, and papaya vinaigrette, one of my favorites. I shared the cheesecake with Hub – a whipped cheescake with blood orange gelee, manadarin slices, raspberry coulis, and a coffee crunch crust: I’m not really a cheesecake person but this was pure heaven. They also have a location in Bellevue, WA if you are ever in that neighborhood.
Today we woke up early to got to the wedding that was our primary reason for coming to Hawaii this time.
Hub’s best friend from high school was getting married – and get this, exactly one week before today the travel agent they booked the entire trip and wedding with went bankrupt – and stole their money – $20,000+ of it! (This is a travel agent based in Japan.) Since all their friends and family had given the couple money for their travel accommodations, the couple then felt obligated to pay for everyone’s plane and stay that all had to be rebooked last week. The travel agent had cancelled the wedding plans and reservations and everything – and Hub’s best friend had to rebook everything himself at the last minute. What an awful start to their life together! 🙁
Anyway, the wedding was held on the North Shore where Hub and I got married (his best friend was in attendance then and liked the ceremony so much he decided to get married at the same place now, 5 years later). It was pouring with rain on the way up so the ground was soaked, but everyone put on a happy face and tried to make the best of it. The bride was beautiful, and the groom got all choked up during his speech at the reception where he mentioned the difficulties they’d had in getting to today and all the inconvenience they had caused everyone. They even presented Lil Tot a toy: a Darth Vader with removable helmet and megalomaniac computerized seat hutch (you’ll have to forgive my lack of words; I’m really, really tired at this point) – which I’m sure Hub will place in the location of honor on his Star Wars shelf at home. (Don’t ask.)
(handmade dress, handmade necklace, Target rayon scarf, ring from Pineapple County, Deena & Ozzy bag, Steve Madden shoes)
I ripped chiffon strips to make this dress – would have added more had I had the time – and was even tacking them down to the bubble hem in the car on the way to the wedding. (I bought the dress below off-the-shelf and added a layer of ripped chiffon to make it look more unique.) Hub calls it my “jellyfish” dress.
The necklace is kind of reminiscent of the $700 Michael Kors Rhodium Bead Necklace from his S/S 2010 collection…just better. (And cheaper.)
Anyway, after a long drive back to the hotel, I got ready to leave, and am now sitting in the airport about to board the redeye flight to New York City in order to cover Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
I’m super-nervous about the plane breaking apart in midair and being engulfed in flames (or being knocked unconscious by a wayward headrest), so if that happens, I told ya so! 😉
See you on the other side (of the country) ~
xo
Carly
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Feb 10, 2010 | Fashion, Life
So we’ve arrived here in Hawaii and despite my forebodings the plane didn’t go down in a flaming ball of carnage.
However, about 2 hours into the flight my son had woken up from his nap and was lying with his head in my lap – and I noticed the guy sitting in front of me was shifting around a bit and suddenly, OUT OF NOWHERE this gigantic, cumbersome, heavy blue thing whizzed up in the air and landed in my lap 3 INCHES FROM MY SON’S FACE. I was staring at it blankly for a few moments, trying to figure out what the hell it was, and the guy in front of my turned around and was staring at me – and I realized that the thing in my lap was the headrest to his seat.
image from hobotraveler.com because I was too shaken to take a photo of the real thing when it happened.
Yup, that thing! He had tried to adjust the sides to the headrest forward, like in the photo above, and the whole thing had snapped off the seat, flown up into the air, and landed smack on my lap behind him. Apparently the whole headrest is secured to the seat with a 4″ steel pin, which had loosened from its bearing and the whole thing had come out. And so there I was, with an amazingly heavy (like 8+ lbs, heavier than my son’s head) headrest with a 4″ pin sticking out of it in my lap, just stunned. I handed it back to the guy, who murmured “sorry” but then I just realized that had my son not shifted a few minutes prior to it happening the headrest would have landed right on his face! (And likely broken a tooth or two.) Lil Tot wasn’t really upset or anything, just a little confused. It was a close call (plus the guy in front of me wasn’t particularly apologetic or concerned – which I thought was weird because if it had been my headrest that flew behind me into a woman with a child, I would have been almost in tears worried that either of them had been hurt) and I was so thankful that my son hadn’t been hit by the headrest.
So once we got over the Headrest Incident, landed, and got to the hotel, we went to
Ala Moana Shopping Center so I could check on my favorite shops.
It’s strange to be back – in some ways it feels like we never left. Hawaii is one of those places that stops in time; every day is the same, the weather is the same; the endless stream of tourists is unchanged; parts of Waikiki get knocked down and rebuilt; the radio stations are still playing what they were 2 years ago. It’s interesting to be back and look down at my side and see a little boy, because I keep feeling like I will see a baby (as my son was before we moved away).
Anyway, at the mall I was quite bummed that Miss Sixty is no longer at Ala Moana (replaced by Lucky Brand Jeans, it seems), so that puts my
Waikiki Shopping map out of date already. Aldo Accessories had some boot chains to be wrapped around the shaft of the boot, kind of like this:
photo from Nelliinen vaatehuone, one of my fave Finnish fashion bloggers
I was sorely tempted, but at $30 they weren’t a deal, and even the ones on sale for $16 were too much for my stinginess. Just buy a studded belt for $8 from Forever21 and wrap it around! (Though a solution will have to be devised to keep the darn thing up. Hmmm….)
Fendi’s cork wedges clocked in at $595 at the Fendi store (I claim no responsibility; mother-in-law wanted to know); Le Lotus Blue was jam-packed with so much Ed Hardy I felt like I was Jon Gosselin’s closet (ewwwww); and the store I had been dying to go to for months – Spiral Girl – was amazingly disappointing.
I only had my camera with me so the quality of my photos isn’t very good, but this is kind of an idea of what the store is like.
Trendy stuff straight from Japan. Usually my cup of tea, but the prices….
Last April the clothing ranged from $30 – $70 or so; with few items being over $100.
Now, most of the clothing started above $50 and ranged way into the $100’s. Even the on-sale shoes were $105 (remember my cone-heel pumps I got there on sale for $20 2 years ago???)
Well, the recession has also hit this store hard and certainly isn’t helped by the yen-dollar exchange rate. I found sequined tops, cropped leather jackets (for $155 ON SALE), drapey tees, and blouson dresses, all way out of what I would consider okay to spend on something that’s basically Forever21 quality.
Tights with super-large polka-dots…
I seriously contemplated this frilly blouson top decorated with tiny gold studs all over but at $79 I decided no.
They had a few different colors, though I was drawn to the green one. Aren’t the dots like starlight? Lovely.
But I picked up some DIY ideas, even if I wasn’t in the mood to buy…
Add lace to the back of a hoodie to girl it up a little…
Punch a variety of sizes of eyelets into a clutch bag…
Decorate a beret with studs. Oops! Done that already. Turned out pretty cute – have to take a photo to share with you guys.
I left the store somewhat let down, I have to say. 🙁
And then we went to this little Greek place called the
Greek Corner that we’ve been going to ever since we first came to Hawaii in 2004…best Greek food on the island! It’s like a little hole in the wall over on University Ave. that’s amazingly good, as far as island-based greek eateries go.;-) Yummy thick-cut oven fries with garlic-mayo dipping sauce, gyros with generous portions of lamb, and thick baklavas with layers of pistachios, oozing butter and honey. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take photos of the food before we ate, but we were so hungry I only realized mid-way through the meal that I hadn’t…and so I demurred, assuming none of you would like to see a half-chewn gyro.:-)
and some weird thing called “Sprunch” on the menu…I can only assume it is Sprite with punch…shall have to try sometime!
Tomorrow…a trip to the beach for the best shells on the island, and maybe a couple naps??
I know I need them!
xoxox
Carly
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Feb 9, 2010 | Life
Me and my newly-bright red hair are hopping on a plane this morning headed to Honolulu for a friend’s wedding. Then Friday I’m heading to New York!
Thank you for all your kind comments – especially about flying – here’s hoping nothing will go wrong! (And if it does, maybe after watching all those crash videos Hub will be able to take the controls if the pilots are rendered unconscious or something. One hopes.)
While I’m in Hawaii I may or may not be able to do some updates, but once in NYC I’ll be trying to give you a play-by-play of the action at Fashion Week! Stay tuned!
I hope you gals all had a fabulous Super Bowl Sunday (not that I even noticed it was Super Bowl Sunday, LOL) and have a great rest of the week!
xoxox
Carly
Image from University of Canberra
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Aug 3, 2009 | Life
Just to let all of my lovely readers know, I’m going on vacation to Japan for the next 3 and a half weeks. I’ll be in Tokyo most of the time, and hopefully I’ll be able to post some shopping/cool stuff updates while I’m gone. I probably won’t be able to respond to many comments, but I am checking and keeping this site updated. I’m so thrilled…one of my favorite things to do is to shop and check out new brands and stores, and Tokyo is probably the best place in the world to do that! Can’t wait to let all of you in on the fabulosity that is there!:-)
I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your summers!
-Carly
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