Hawaii Highlights

My husband and I are back in Chicago after an amazing vacation in Hawaii! The time we spent on Kauai and Maui was so wonderful -- we feel so lucky to have been able to take the time to travel there! I can't say I preferred one island over the other -- they were both unique and equally beautiful. Here are a few highlights in photos from our trip:

Top to bottom

Hiking and lookout point in the Waimea Canyon -- Kauai

French toast with pineapple, macadamia nuts & coconut syrup -- Kauai

Shipwreck Beach near our resort -- Kauai

Catching some rays at our resort -- Maui

Checking out the ocean view -- Maui

Swimming under a waterfall that we kayaked and hiked to -- Kauai

The lava shelf at the Olivine Pools -- Maui

Olivine Pools -- Maui

Napali Coast lookout -- Kauai

Jack Johnson concert -- Maui

If you're headed to Hawaii in the near future, let me know if you have any questions about Kauai or Maui! We did a lot of research before we left, and I am happy to recommend sites to see on either island! I also highly recommend both resorts we stayed at -- The Grand Hyatt in Kauai and The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua in Maui. Aloha!

Catching Up

I feel like life always gets busier this time of the year. People are out and about, and the city feels more energized -- I love it! The quiet and cozy winter gave way to spring summer temperatures this week, with the high reaching 82 the last two days! The sliding doors were open all week long to let the fresh air in, and I was able to enjoy some time in the sun on our deck. Since Darling Notes has been a little quiet, I figured a little catch-up post was in order.

1. Did you know that I'm a paper person? I'm head over heels for nice papers, pretty stationery and invitation design. I've been working on my husband's cousin's wedding invitation ensemble. The bride selected a pretty shimmering pink and green palette with starfish and shell motifs. We're in the design process right now, but I have no doubt they'll be beautiful!

2. The warmer temps have me thinking about flip-flops and being barefoot. I need a new polish color for the spring, and I'm thinking about this strawberry pink color from Essie. I'll definitely need a pedicure before our Hawaii trip.

3. I could not resist posting this photo of a pug in a bowtie in front of a ship. I mean, is he cute or what? Sweet Paul is hosting a giveaway for your choice of the bowtie or flower collar from Etsy shop Rover. I'm hoping to win the flowered collar for Bean.

4. Have you been keeping up with The Everygirl? I'm loving all of their daily features, and today's post is no exception. Click over to see two pretty and delicious drinks for St. Patrick's Day. Since this is our first St. Patrick's Day in Chicago, the husband and I are going to head downtown tomorrow morning to watch the river be dyed green. Apparently it gets VERY green, and I think I need to see that (maybe with an Irish coffee in hand?)

5. Last Friday, my old iPhone 3GS jumped right out of my hand onto the sidewalk (imagine!) and the screen sadly shattered. Although the phone was sort-of working for a few days, it took a turn for the worse and cracked a little more on Wednesday night. . Since it was over 3 years old and I was eligible for an upgrade, I headed to AT&T on Thursday morning and selected the 4S. IT'S AMAZING. I should tell you that it's currently being held in a massive Otterbox case that is probably bomb-proof. Knowing how clumsy I am, I'm willing to carry around the phone in a bulky case to keep it safe.

Have a great weekend and a very happy (and lucky!) St. Patrick's Day!

We're taking a little trip...

Actually, we're taking a pretty big trip. In late April, the husband and I are headed for sunny Hawaii! At the beginning of the year, it didn't seem like a trip was in the cards for us this year. Pesky things like work sometimes get in the way.  However, we sat down with a calendar and planned out our family visits and other happenings for 2012, and found some extra days... and decided to treat ourselves to a trip to the islands! Neither of us has been to Hawaii, so you can imagine our excitement. I want to start packing right now! We have flights, hotel and car booked, and we're having fun planning out our "itinerary" of activities. It's going to be hard to narrow it down, because EVERYTHING in Hawaii looks beautiful, and we want to see it all. We'll be staying in Maui and Kauai for a total of 10 days. So, friends who have been to Hawaii... what do suggest? What should we see? Where should we eat?

tote, sunglasses, sunblock, earrings, bikini top/bottom, shorts, flip-flops, camera, scarf, lei

"Paris is always a good idea."

These Parisian prints from The Eye Poetry Print Shop make me daydream about another trip to the city of lights. In my senior year of high school, I explored Paris and the Loire Valley with my AP Art Studio class, a handful of French students, and my eccentric but amazing art teacher. I've been longing to go back, as I imagine experiencing Paris in my late 20's would be far different than my experience as a high school student. Until I pull out my passport again, these images will remind me of the beauty that the city really holds. 

Images 1 - 2 - 3 - 4

A Trip to Northern California

Yesterday afternoon, we returned from an amazing trip to Northern California (including San Francisco, Sonoma, Napa and the surrounding wine country areas). We'd been anticipating this trip for so long, and had the best time with our friends Ashley and Bryan. Here are a few highlights from the trip:

We started the vacation in San Francisco, where we enjoyed a farmer's market, 24 hour brewed iced coffee, a visit with some friends, a cable car ride, sourdough bread, Alcatraz, China Town, Fisherman's Wharf, and so much more. During our stay in San Fran, the Mr. and I celebrated our two year anniversary with a fantastic dinner at Foreign Cinema, where we sat outside and dined while an old black and white film played on the outdoor wall (a great date night idea for anyone living in the area!)

After exploring the city, we headed up to wine country. On our way, we stopped in Muir Woods for a dose of gorgeous scenery. The trees were beautiful, and I snapped a lot of fun photos.

Wine country was better than we had even hoped. Stunning vineyards, fantastic tastings, lots of sites, delicious food, and time to relax. We rented a house with the other couple that we traveled with, which turned out to be the coolest little house on a vineyard with an outdoor space that was to die for. We cooked our own meals two of the nights, and had an absolute blast playing bocce and sipping wine.

Some of my favorite tastings were at the smaller wineries, including Frias Family Vineyards, and Chase Family Cellars. Sitting down for a tasting with the wine makers is so neat, and we learned a great deal from them. The larger, more developed wineries were also great, though -- Plumpjack, Ravenswood, Duckhorn and Caymus for example.

If you ever have the chance to visit wine country, I highly recommend the trip! There are so many vineyards to see, so many wines to taste, and the sites are just amazing. For now, I'm happy to be back in Chicago, though - even if it's a bit chillier than 90 degree Napa! 

Bags are packed, ready to go...

Images 1, 2, 3

Quite honestly, my bags are not yet packed, but I'm certainly ready to GO! The Mr. and I are headed west early tomorrow morning with two of our best friends for a California trip. We'll start in San Francisco and make our way up to Napa and Sonoma. We really lucked out in finding an amazing house to rent in Sonoma -- it sits on a vineyard! So today, as I finish up some last minute work projects, I'll daydream about real sourdough bread, wine tasting and relaxing!

On a funny note, we will be celebrating our two year anniversary during the trip, and get this -- it's the day we got tickets to tour Alcatraz. Of course we shared a little laugh over how it seems wildly inappropriate to visit a prison on your anniversary -- but hey, perhaps we can get a chuckle out of the tour guide.

I'll try to pop in with a few photos during the trip, and I'll surely be documenting the highlights on Twitter. Follow along if you'd like!

Vacation: Portland, OR

The Portland, OR leg of our trip out west seems like a blur, now! On Friday afternoon, after an amazing breakfast and then checking out the Space Needle in Seattle, we boarded a train to Portland. Along the way, we spotted Mt. Rainier, had lunch and took a much needed nap. My brother and his friend met my husband and I in Portland, and we immediately headed to Rogue for dinner and beer sampling. Saturday morning was spent strolling through the Portland Saturday Market, which was really neat despite the rain. Once we had our fill of the market, we indulged in Reggie sandwiches from Pine State Biscuits (featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives!) When the rain cleared out, my brother took us to Washington Park. The park is full of gorgeous trees and moss that is almost neon green. We also visited another Portland brewery and a massive bookstore. We dined on sushi that night, and then headed back to the hotel to get some rest. Early on Sunday, my husband and brother and I drove up to Mt. Hood for a day on the slopes. My brother is a really talented snowboarder, and is very familiar with Mt. Hood, having worked on the mountain last year. The snow out west is much different than the snow out east, and took some getting used to. The mountain was enormous -- we couldn’t even see the peak because of the snow and clouds. Everyone was tired after skiing, but we made it to one more brewery for dinner before crashing. On Monday, we slept in, packed and then had to head home to reality. It was a long day of traveling followed by a tired Tuesday, but we’re back in the swing of things now!

We had a great time on our vacation, and really enjoyed experiencing the Pacific Northwest. It’s a location that my husband and I have always wanted to visit, so we’re very lucky to have gone on the trip this year! I hope you enjoyed my vacation posts -- I’ll be back to regular posting now!

Vacation: Last Seattle Day

Today is our last day in Seattle. We woke up to a text message from my Mom, asking if we were OK. Confused by this, I checked email. There was a note from a friend making sure we were safe, since there was a possible tsunami approaching the west coast. Stunned, we turned the news on the see the devastation in Japan, and listened to local reports. As many of you already are, I urge you to keep the people of Japan in your thoughts and prayers. The videos and photos are unreal, and it's astonishing what a force Mother Nature can be. After hearing that we would be safe here in Seattle, we ventured out. We were able to see all of Seattle from the top of the Space Needle -- Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier, the city, and the lake that Tom Hanks' house boat was on in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. Later this afternoon, we'll be boarding a Portland-bound train to meet up with my brother. We're looking forward to skiing at Mt. Hood tomorrow, and exploring another city!

I'm sorry I haven't been able to share any photos of the trip -- my mobile blogging app is acting funny and not allowing me to upload any to my posts! I'll post a few highlights upon our return.

Vacation: The rain won't stop us!

The morning started out clear -- no rain, just a bit of wind. The hubby and I had Americanos at a cafe and then walked through REI. The cafe was "coincidentally" located next to the cafe. My husband claims he had no idea that the massive REI store, complete with it's own mini hiking trail around the store, was just near the cafe. I'm suspicious though, as he insisted on this particular cafe. He's clever like that! After fueling up on caffeine, we boarded the ferry and crossed Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island. We each had amazingly delicious dungeness crab dishes for lunch and walked through some cute shops as the rain came pouring down. Now, we're back on the big ferry (don't you just mobile blogging?) and headed back to Seattle. We'll be checking out the underground city tour and then having dinner at one of Rachel Ray's restaurant picks. Another full day!

Vacation: Hello, Seattle!

The hubby and I spent our first day in Seattle exploring the Public Market and its surrounding area. Pike Place was bursting with fresh fruit, veggies, gorgeous flowers, stinky cheeses, and some of the biggest fish I have ever laid eyes on. I simply love markets like Pike Place -- they are so full of energy! After roaming through the market and having a great lunch, we approached one of the sites that I'd been really anxious to see -- the original Starbucks! I'm a huge coffee lover, so it was like a brewed bean Heaven. Lots of photos and one tall Pike Place brew later, I was one happy camper! We can see the Space Needle from our hotel room, and we're planning out tomorrow's ventures. I'm exhausted, so I doubt I'll be "sleepless in Seattle" tonight *sigh*

Mobile Blogging -- Help!

Image via Pinterest

This week, my husband and I are packing up and heading west! We’ll be discovering great food, the Space Needle, wonderful coffee and more in Seattle, and then hopping a train to Portland to spend some time with my brother. Of course, we’ll be spending a day on the slopes of Mt. Hood, too! We’re really excited about our getaway, and I’d love to share some of the highlights with all of you! So, I ask… do any of you who blog using Blogger have any tips for apps to use while mobile blogging? I’ve got an iPhone, but have yet to find an app that will work for sharing a picture or two with a short post. I’d love to hear your recommendations! Thanks, blog friends!

Daydreaming

Lately, I've been daydreaming (night dreaming, too!) about strolling through Paris. During my senior year of high school, I was so lucky to be able to visit France with a group of students from my AP Art class, some of the students from a French class, one very proper French teacher and my wacky and amazing art teacher that I absolutely adored. It was an amazing spring break trip. While my other friends were lounging in Cancun's sun, I was touring the French countryside, Monet's home and gardens, the museums, the cafes, the Eiffel Tower *huge sigh*! I've been longing to go back -- this time, with my hubby. While spending a year abroad in London, he was able to visit Paris. We both agreed that we weren't able to spend as much time there as we'd liked, and would love to return for a more leisurely trip. So, pretty visions of the Eiffel Tower and sweet macarons are running through my head at the moment -- sounds nice, doesn't it?

 Image via Pinterest

Image via Pinterest

Daydreaming About....

This quaint hotel in California's wine country - Metro Hotel & Cafe - looks like a perfectly Parisian-inspired getaway. Not only does the mix of modern and vintage French charm make me happy, but this hotel's location near some of Napa's best vineyards couldn't be more perfect! C'est magnifique! So, today I'm daydreaming about a little Napa getaway with this hotel in mind.

Look at the old-fashioned keys! I love little details like this.

Each room has a clawfoot tub in the bathroom - so chic!

Wake up in the morning to have French pastries and a cafe au lait!