Sick & Tired

As a kid I always hated getting sick during the summer. Instead of missing school, I was missing out on fun with my friends. It felt like I was being cheated. 

Well the only thing worse is getting sick as a grownup. On a weekend. In the summer. While living in Hawaii. 

This past weekend & the first part of the week I spent fighting a cold/virus. So instead of going to the beach or hiking to a waterfall I was coughing & sneezing. I spent most of the weekend in bed, which wouldn't have been so bad except the humidity the last couple of days has been oppressive (that's the word the weatherman used to describe it)! On the upside I think I'm all caught up on daytime TV. 

Luckily I'm starting to feel like a human again. I even went back to work today. And I've got my fingers crossed for some beautiful weather for this coming weekend! 

Thank goodness I bought tissues for my my parents visit. I put them to good use. 

Gilmore Girls reruns can still be found on ABC Family...yes!

Forecast looks good... Whew!

Pic of the week:

Yes I know I've posted a bunch of sunset pictures, but this is all I got ;-)

Mahalo!

Weather Watch

It's officially hurricane season. After living in Charleston I'm no stranger to tropical storm and hurricane watches. Now that I live in HI there are a couple of differences. 

1. They are called typhoons. 

2. Once a tropical storm becomes a typhoon it gets a name; however all the names for storms in the Pacific Rim are Asian. 

3. If a typhoon (or for that matter a tsunami) were to hit HI, there is no evacuation route cause we're an island. Duh. 

4. There are storm shelters, mostly in hospitals and schools. Apparently there aren't enough shelters for everyone. Whelp. 

This past week has been full of weather activity. Two typhoons and two tropical storms. Tropical storm Fausto was the best kind of storm. He appeared in the middle of the ocean. He stayed far away from land. But Fausto still had an impact on the island. He brought breezy wind to help cool the temperature down. He increased the surf to create some of the best surf days of the summer. And my favorite, he brought clouds that created beautiful sunsets. 

Check out the views I had this past week:

Because they were all beautiful and yet so different I felt compelled to take a picture each night!

And now for the pic of the week:

This is some of the crew at my gym. While taking the picture they said "make a funny face". This is what I get for following directions. Ha! 

Mahalo!

Challenge Time!

Everyone loves a healthy challenge. Particularly when the challenge is, you know, healthy. I've seen how the ab challenge is sweeping Facebook (though I've yet to join in). 

This month I'm repeating one of my favorite challenges, the Green Smoothie Challenge. The deal is simple. Just drink at least 16 oz of green smoothie goodness every day for 30 days. This will be my third time participating. 

Luckily the ladies at www.simplegreensmoothies.com make this challenge super easy. Every week they email me a grocery list and five new recipes. Last week I tried a "Pineapple Upside Down Smoothie" and this week I had a delicious "Blackberries and Cream Smoothie". During the week I'm drinking one serving for breakfast and another as a pre-workout snack. On the weekends I'm sipping on a smoothie as I sit on my lanai. 

This isn't about weight loss (though you won't hear me complaining if it happens), but it's about supporting my goals of eating healthy and getting in my daily fruits and veggies. If I drink two smoothies a day, I'm guaranteed 2 cups of leafy greens and 2 servings of fruit AND it tastes good! 

This is one of my favorites: coconut water, spinach, apples,orange and banana. 

This smoothie is a cleanser and is a little more instense with cilantro flavor. 

And when you add a bunch of frozen blackberries, the green smoothie ends up purple. Yay!

Never tried a green smoothie, but nervous they'll be too GREEN. Here's one that's easy to make and tastes delicious!

Beginner's Luck (2 servings) 

From www.simplegreensmoothies.com

2 cups fresh spinach

2 cups water

1 cup pineapple

2 bananas, sliced and frozen

- Blend the spinach and water for a minute

- Add the rest of the ingredients

- Blend until smooth

- Serve in a cute cup with a fancy straw

And now for the pic of the week:

As great as this picture is, it isn't half as amazing as the actual sunset. 

Mahalo!

Booze, Books & Bodybuilding

Much like an episode of Sesame Street, today's post is brought to you by the letter "B". This past weekend was a busy one and it was all about: Booze, Books & Bodybuilding. Wouldn't put those together would you? Here's how I did...

Instead of my regular Friday night workout, I joined some friends for pau hana (happy hour). The dive bar in Waikiki specialized in cheap Mai tais, half priced pupus and a lot of military men. The drinks weren't bad for being well drinks and it was funny watching all these clean-cut guys singing "Sweet Caroline" along with the jukebox. 

It's not that Mai tais are my favorite drink, but they are so very Hawaiian. 

Saturday morning I visited the annual Friends of the Library book sale. It was incredible. Imagine a high school cafeteria full of book lovers and discounted books. To make the event even better every book was an additional 50% off. The only bad part... I walked, so I had to carry all my new books over a mile to get them home!

So many books to chose from!

I think I showed restraint with my purchases ;-)

Saturday night I attended Ikaika, a bodybuilding/figure/bikini competition. The competition was a whole day event, but my group decided to go out for dinner and then show up for the awards portion. 

When it came to the competitors I found the bodybuilders to be ridiculous. Their bodies were just TOO big. But the figure and bikini competitors were impressive. It was particularly amazing seeing the two girls from my gym go from people I workout with to being all glammed, tanned and oiled up. 

My group decided to get dressed up for the night out. I didn't wear heels like everyone else, but I did wear my hair down. #babysteps

Dinner with a champagne toast. 

Overly muscly men. . . Ew!

Overall it was a great night supporting my gym ohana. 

And now for the pic of the week:

 This picture of the sun was taken through a rain drizzle. 

Mahalo! 

It's gettin hot in herre

I was like, good gracious, that temp is outrageous! (Thanks to Nelly and memories of 2002 for inspiring this blog.)

Back in November, during my new employee physical, I was whining about the hot temperatures. The RN laughed and told me that in 6-12 months my blood would thin and I wouldn't notice the heat anymore. I'm still waiting...

Well now it's summer and it's officially HOT! Here's some examples of when I want to whine and complain about the temperature:

- getting ready in the morning and I start sweating before 7am

- walking to work... it's nice, but hot

- while running around the hospital & have to wear a gown over my clothes for every single patient

- walking home from work... again it's nice, but even hotter in the afternoon 

- while at the gym where all the sweaty people make it feel even hotter 

- cooking in my kitchen that feels like a sauna when the oven is on 

- at bedtime when I turn the AC on and I STILL feel hot

Have you figured out the trend yet?!? I'm hot all the time. 

Now the funny thing is when I start complaining about the temperature, people start asking about the weather in Georgia. They assume that Honolulu has Atlanta beat in the heat & humidity department. What they don't realize is that before the move I spent every minute of every summer enjoying central AC. Now I'm spending more time outside and only turn my window AC unit on for 8 hours a day. 

In case you were wondering what the weather was like in Honolulu today. 

And yes, it was hotter in Atlanta today. 

Now one of my new favorite things. What better way to cool off than a homemade popscicle?!?

Recipe

Orange segment

Blueberries

Sugar free juice

- Fill popscicle mold with the ingredients 

- Freeze for at least four hours 

- Cool off and enjoy!

(Don't have a popscicle mold? You can buy one from Amazon like I did or you can use Dixie cups and wooden sticks)

And now for the pic of the week:

The snails don't seem to mind the heat & humidity... They're everywhere!!

Mahalo!

Hawaiian Holiday

In Hawaii June 11th is kinda a big deal. Schools, banks, government offices and most importantly rehab departments shut down for the day. The reason for all the shutdowns and closures? Why King Kamehameha Day of course!!!

In honor of the day off from work I did some formal research on the Hawaiian holiday. Apparently today is the birthday of King Kamahameha the Great (not to be confused with all the other King Kamehamehas). Why was he so great?!? This king was responsible for uniting the islands as a Hawaiian nation. 

I also did some informal research and polled my co-workers to figure out the authentic way to celebrate. There was no consensus. One was just gonna sleep in (sounds good to me). Another thought the holiday was perfect for picnicking (who doesn't love food outside?). The last one mentioned an official parade and lei ceremony, but had no plans to go (as a new transplant I should give it a try!). 

Here's what my Kamehameha holiday looked like:

It was a beautiful day, so I had to spend most of it outside. Though with very few clouds and not much in the way of trade winds, 90 degrees felt awfully hot. 

The surf was up in Waikiki ... So many surfers and body boarders!

 As the day progressed it got hotter and hotter, so I hid in the shade of the lifeguard tower. The sand was so hot I think I burnt my feet!

It's not an afternoon at Waikiki without seeing this juggler. 

MUST cool off with some shave ice!!!!!!

Ali'iolani Hale where the festivities took place. 

The scale of these decorative leis was huge. The air was full of the scent of plumeria. 

And the final product. The statue is completely draped in lei. 

And now for the pic of the week:

One happy selfie...

Mahalo!

Green thumb

As you may or may no not know, I come from a family of farmers. My mom and her four sisters were raised on a farm. My aunt and uncle continue to live on that same farmland. My parents don't grow produce, but they do have the most beautiful backyard full of plants, bushes and flowers. You'd think that some of my family's talent would be genetically passed on to me. And although I've always wanted to grow things, I've never had much luck.

I think it all started with a middle school science project. I had three batches of lima beans and tried to determine if sitting them in front of the tv or radio would have a negative effect. Problem was, even my control beans didn't want to grow. 

Fast forward to my first apartment in Atlanta. Elisa and I were given a plant as a housewarming gift. The guy picked out a large palm because it was low-maintenance. Three months later that plant was a goner. 

Now in Hawaii I have a dilemna. I want to try my hand at growing things again. I feel with the tropical climate, things should go better.

But as the saying goes, history likes to repeat itself...

Here's my latest housewarming plant, also a palm. Not too bad from far away. 

But up close some problems become apparent. On a positive note this plant has been around for 5 months, soit has  definitely outlived the one sister and I killed. 

Here is a picture I found on Pinterest that served as inspiration. Since herbs are so pricey on the island, I though maybe I should try to recreate this. 

I decided to start small. I didn't want to be overly optimistic, plus my lainai really isn't that big. After a week here's what I got:

Can you even call those dead bits cilantro, or Chinese parsley as they say in Hawaii?!?

Luckily the Thai basil is fairing better, so I'm not a complete failure!

And I celebrated my success by using my first crop to make a chickpea and tomato salad ... Yum!

Recipe

1 can chick peas, rinsed

1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced

25 basil leafs, chop using chiffonade technique

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp olive oil

1 tsp honey

Salt to taste

- Mix all ingredients

- Chill in fridge 

- Enjoy!

And now for the pic of the week:

More than six months in Hawaii and I still think every rainbow is magical. 

Mahalo!