Food, Friends, Fitness

Thanks to the holiday I was able to spend three whole days away from work this week. The holiday came at just the right time. The break gave me time to enjoy food, friends and fitness. 

Check out these beautiful pies my friend made. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving, but this year I used the day to celebrate Friendsgiving. I spent the morning working out, the afternoon cooking and the evening eating and drinking with friends. 

Big crowd at the gym on Thanksgiving

I wasn't in charge of the turkey this time (whew!). It was my first time eating a brined turkey that was cooked in a bag, definitely juicy.  

I made dressing as my contribution. After years of practicing with my Dad I finally got to make it solo. Not too bad!

I also made Strawberry Pretzel Salad. It was the first time most people had tried this "salad" and it was a hit!

Saturday I celebrated small business Saturday and got serious about my Christmas shopping. I'd show I picture of all my purchases, but I don't want to give a sneak peek of the Xmas gifts I bought. 

Sunday I spent the afternoon enjoying the beauty of HI. Instead of working out at the gym, I did a two-hour hike with some girls from the gym. 

Hanauma Bay looks ridiculously beautiful from high up above. 

We hiked all the way down to the ocean. Look at all the dried salt on the rocks. 

This is what the way down to the water looked like. 

The extra day off from work has got me excited about all the upcoming holidays. I'm now counting down the days until I have more time off & I get to spend it with my family. Woot woot!

And now for the pic of the week:

This was my attempt at the lotus pose. I guess I have some work to do on my flexibility. Haha. 

Mahalo!

The Club

This weekend I started a club with a friend if mine. I would like to say it's an exclusive club, but really, others are welcome to join. After much thought and deliberation we gave our group a name:

The Breakfast Club

(insert a raised fist and the opening lines of "Don't You [Forget About Me])

Instead of being a group similar to the brat pack, we are just girls who like to brunch. 

For the inaugural club meeting we drove up to Kailua and ate at Cinnamons. This local spot is known for their Red Velvet Pancakes. 

Here's our meal:

It isn't breakfast/brunch without coffee. My cup was refilled multiple times. 

We split a full order of the Lox Benedict. Imagine all the deliciousness of a regular bene, but with smoked salmon substituted as the protein. 

Instead of Red Velvet Cakes we went with the daily special...pumpkin! They were the perfect dessert. 

Cinnamons was definately worth the drive over the mountains and the 30 min wait list. I would recommend it for anyone who likes coffee, eggs and/or pancakes (and who doesn't). 

And because sometimes brunch just isn't enough... We stopped by the farmers market and I picked up a lilikoi lemonade. 

The Breakfast Club may have to take a little break for the holiday season, but in 2015 I expect to do some serious group meetings. Any persons interested in joining may contact me directly. The application process is simple:

Are you willing to split an order of pancakes? Y/N

And now for the pic of the week:

With winter here I expect more rainbow pictures will be showing up on the blog. 

Mahalo!

1 year

This past weekend was one of reflection and celebration. 

- Thursday was the anniversary of my move to HI. 

- Friday I went out to celebrate with the girls. 

- Saturday I went to a picnic celebrating the anniversary of my gym. 

- Sunday was ukulele lessons. 

It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by. Some days it feels like so much has changed. Other days it feels like I just moved here yesterday. 

525,600 minutes in Hawaii!

I celebrated with dinner and drinks with the girls. Luckily it was my cheat day so I enjoyed mojitos and pizza... Yum!

At the picnic the next day there wasmore delicious food to choose from. But since it was a gym event, there was plenty of healthy choices. 

The big surprise of the picnic was the awards. Four awards were handed out. I received the first one. It was in recognition of all my online posts about the gym. 

This was me getting my "Loud & Proud" award. 

Check out all the swag I got at the picnic as a result of my award... Sweet!

And after my ukelele teacher reminded me (multiple times) I finally got a binder to hold all my music. I thought it was an appropriate choice. Haha. 

And now for the pic of the week:

It was a 79 degrees this weekend. Last year I would have considered this a hot day. This year I cuddled up in a long sleeve jacket and sipped on some hot tea. I now have a whole new definition of "chilly".

Mahalo!

#transformationtuesday

I know I normally post on Wednesdays, but this week is a little different. This week is all about my health and fitness accomplishments. And what better day to write about them then on  #transformationtuesday!

A little over a week ago I posted a picture on FB. I was acting silly at the gym, had my seven year old sidekick snap a picture and posted it without even thinking. A couple of days later I had 50+ likes and a bunch of comments about how great I looked. BTW- I'm considering hiring that little girl as my personal paparazzo. 

All that attention made me go back and think about my health and wellness journey. In the past year I've:

- Gotten this close to eliminating sugar and wheat from my diet

- Switched from a 1 hr commute 2x/workday to a 1 mile walk 2x/workday

- Become a regular at the best gym in Honolulu... Fitness Ranes

- Reached new strength goals (180# deadlift, 53# kettle bell swings, 70# front loaded squats, just to name a few)

- Lowered my cholesterol by 35 pts

- Lost 33 lbs

And for me seeing my transformation really happened when I looked at two photos taken 13 months apart. Check it out =>

These changes were a result of hard work and dedication, but I couldn't have done it without Chris, Pauline, Jesse, Blake & all my wonderful workout buddies at Fitness Ranes. Now I can't wait to see what changes the next 12-13 months will bring!

And now for the pic of the week:

Purple is my favorite color & it looks love-er-ly in a sunset. 

Mahalo!

Trick or Treat

If you know me, you know that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love dressing up, being silly and acting like a kid. 

This year did not disappoint. I was able to expirience all the things I love about Halloween, but with a Hawaiian twist. 

At work the department dressed up as sushi. Last week I gave you a preview of my costume. This week I got to wear the final product. 

When you are dressed like a Japanese food product of course you need to pose like a Japanese tourist!

Since I don't like to mix my day and evening wear (jk), I decided to switch things up after work. I put on all my favorite purple clothing added some sweat bands and called myself "Super Penny". 

And of course Super Penny needed her own hero-worthy photo shoot. 

I started the evening eating and drinking at a food truck event. The night ended walking the strip staring at everyone in costume. The whole street felt like an unorganized parade. Here are some of the pictures I snapped:

Tourists love taking pictures of dogs in camel costumes. 

The guy on the ground is a welcome mat. The girl on top is a loofah. I don't think they had met prior to this moment. 

These ninjas sat stoically on the wall...for hours. 

Who's this crazy girl jumping on the streets of Waikīkī? Why it's Super Penny of course! And it only took 20+ tries to get this shot. 

Overall Hawaiian Halloween exceeded my expectations. It was the perfect combination of food, fun and friends. 

And now for the pic of the week:

We've had at least one rainbow every day this week. This beauty showed up for the Halloween festivities. Squint and you can see that it's a double rainbow...all the way!

Mahalo!

This is getting serious

In just a few short months my relationship with Pinterest has gotten quite serious. Just like with Facebook, I procrastinated and joined the trend late. But I quickly went from a casual pinner to a Pinterest Fanatic. 

Unlike a lot of pinners out there, I try to follow through. I don't try to accumulate a gaggle of boards with hundreds of pins apiece. Rather I have about ten boards each filled with things I've already tried or expect to try in the near distant future. 

This past weekend was an excellent example. My friend was turning another year older and decided to celebrate by throwing herself a party. I volunteered to contribute pupus for the party. After scouring Pinterest I found the perfect treats for me to make .... they were simple and delicious!

Caramel + Chocolate + Pretzel = yum-o! (Though I'm pretty sure my aunt made these WAY before Pinterest existed)

These bite-sized s'more "lollipops" we're cute and delicious. 

And of course I fell back on an old favorite, crack crackers. 

But Pinterest isn't just for cooking, it's for crafting too. With Halloween right around the corner I've been working on my homemade Halloween costume. The theme for my department at work is sushi so I decided to be shrimp nigiri. Though one of my co-workers has pointed out my costume is not authentic since nigiri is not traditionally wrapped in nori. Oh well.  

Here's the hand-stitched ebi shirt with a black scarf functioning as nori.

And what's sushi without a side of wasabi and ginger?!?

Although I'm a Pinterest Fanatic, I don't think I want to make this relationship exclusive quite yet. I mean, I still enjoy spending time with Facebook, Instagram and Blogger ;-)

And now for the pic of the week:

This mama and baby snail were hanging out on a wall on my route to work. 

Mahalo!

Party Pooper

Nothing ruins a week worse than a cold. Actually nothing ruins a week worse than a cold and a hurricane. 

This week I was attacked by a serious cold bug. It was no Ebola, but it sure knocked me on my behind. I spent most of the week in bed. When I wasn't sleeping I spent my time catching up on daytime tv. While laying in bed I discovered only two things were being covered by the news media: the threat of Ebola and the threat of Hurricane Ana. Every once on in a while a talk show host would mention enterovirus 68 just to switch things up. 

On several occasions the expert panels on Ebola were interrupted by a news update on Ana. With all the talk of impending doom, I now feel like an expert on both. 

Check out this symptom comparison chart. My virus wasn't a match for any of these. Guess my flu shot worked. Also I don't have a rare/deadly disease ... Woot woot!

One of the highlights of the hurricane was  these cute memes referencing Frozen that I found on Facebook. 

Another highlight... With all the rain I got to wear my rainboots!

Now that the rain is gone and my cold is going away, I can stop being such a party pooper and get back to life in paradise. 

And now for the pic of the week:

Yep... They're selling this cute little fella at the grocery store. Arrrgh!

Mahalo!