• Surfing in Lahaina

    royal hawaiian surf academy

    Maybe it’s because I grew up in the desert, or because my father played the Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffett on near-constant repeat through most of my childhood, but I am a little obsessed with the beach and the ocean. I assume that’s why I think surfing is the coolest sport in the world. Yes, you […]

  • The Feast at Lele

    feast at lele

    While it’s certainly possible to visit Hawaii without going to a luau, I wouldn’t recommend it. Some luaus are better than others, of course, and it seems like the kind of super tourist-y activity I try to avoid. But it really is the best and easiest way to learn a little about the history and […]

  • Diving at Molokini

    molokini dive

    About 20 years ago, long before I finally got certified to scuba dive, my family went to Maui and we snorkeled at Molokini — an underwater volcanic crater that is protected from fishing, so it’s basically like swimming in an aquarium. Toby and I thought about diving at Molokini the last time we went to […]

  • Scuba diving – The Cathedrals

    lanai cathedral

    The island of Lanai is only about 10 miles from the western part of Maui; it’s visible from Kaanapali beach and Lahaina. But since the island is very sparsely inhabited and almost entirely owned by one (very, very rich) man, we didn’t know much about it before we visited. Luckily for us, one of the […]

  • Scuba diving – Mala Pier, Lahaina

    Do you scuba? My dad got certified as a scuba diver in the 1970s — I’m not sure how he kept the water out of his mask with the insane sideburns and mustache he was rocking at the time — but he always wanted my brother and I to get certified. It took several false […]

  • Jen & Toby versus the volcano

    haleakala clouds

    My childhood hatred of hiking is well documented. But, as you’ve probably noticed, I’ve gotten past that — and since we were visiting an island that is 75 percent volcano, we thought we should probably visit said volcano. But there was no way in Hades that I was going to ride a bike down that […]

  • Matchy matchy

    I really didn’t plan it. When I packed this new dress from Kate Spade outlet, I didn’t know I was going to get Toby this Tommy Bahama shirt. But I did… and we matched perfectly. I adore this color, and it works really well on both of us. And when I tried on this dress and […]

  • Rainforest and waterfalls hike

    maui waterfall

    When we were planning our trip to Hawaii, hiking in the rainforest wasn’t really on our radar. We wanted to go up to the top of Haleakala (the volcano) and hike a bit, to scuba dive, to take surf lessons, and to lay around by the pool… and that was about it. Then we went […]

  • Blue and white

    linen tunic white jeans

    Is it weird that I packed jeans and a tunic with sleeves for a vacation in Hawaii? I know most people would probably just throw a bunch of shorts, tank tops, sundresses and flip flops in a bag, but I love wearing white jeans in the summer. And, as you can probably tell by the […]

  • July 4th, island style

    Aloha, y’all! I’ve been on vacation for about two weeks now — first at home, hanging with my friend who came to visit, and then in Maui — and while I didn’t really mean to take a two-week blogging break, it just kind of happened. Sorry about that! The good news is that I’ve been […]