A Dream Come True… Our Trip to Maui

There was a time in my life when I only dreamed of going on exotic vacations. I used to imagine sitting on a beach, the hazy sun fading behind the horizon… people quietly strolling by.

I’d imagine standing next to the vast and powerful ocean at midnight, the moon smiling down on me and glittering off the water.

I’d picture myself dancing slowly at night with my man, to a live band, out on the beach…

Fruity drinks with pineapples and umbrellas in them.

But for one reason or another, I just didn’t go. Year after year. What if this happened? What if that? What about the money? I just didn’t go.

Until I did.

My boo and I took our lil’ booties over to Maui for the new year! And lemme tell ya, it was like heaven on earth!

What an absolutely ideal vacation… Here’s the low down on what we did and I’m sure it will continue to influence me in my writing and creating. Hawaii-themed yarn colors? PERHAPS! 🙂

• Layed around the first day. I attempted to make yarn out of cotton balls. Failed. Posted about it and you all thought I was crazy for not being on the beach. HA HA! 
• Ate delicious pineapple pancakes and got our marriage license. 

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Last Day of the Year:

• Spent the next day playing on the beach and taking photos:    

• Went to the aquarium and saw cool stuff like hammer head sharks and sting rays. 
  
• Saw the banyan tree park. Pretty cool!  It was all one big tree but looked like a big forest of them!
•  Drank juice fresh from a sugar cane.

• Went on a helicopter ride over Molokai/West Maui. It was amazing! We used the Blue Hawaiian company and they were awesome! They played music in our headphones which matched the scenery we were flying over. So we had ominous takeoff music (ha ha!) and then, for example, they played Skyfall by Adele as we were coursing over the gorgeous Molokai mountains and waterfalls. Like a movie!!
  

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First Day of the New Year!

• Woke up at 3:45 and drove to the summit of Haleakala to watch the sunrise. FREEZING!!! If you do this, take a blanket and wear every warm thing you brought with you. The wind was crazy!  

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Time for Magic!

• Went to Warren and Annabelle’s Magic Show. They fed us appetizers, desserts and drinks in a parlor and then Annabelle the ghost played piano for us, even taking requests! Then Warren performed a 2 hour, close-up magic show and we got to sit right up next to him in the front row!

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The BIG DAY!

• I got my nails done, took a shower, did my hair and makeup. The fella worked out.
• We moseyed on down to Mokapu Beach, where our guitar player was strumming on a grassy knoll, waiting for us.
• We got a few pics before the ceremony by random strangers.
• Kimo performed our ceremony and Jessica from Anna Kim photography took our photos. I’ll post those once we get them!
• I used Leah Robb of Island Wedding Memories as the wedding planner and lemme tell ya… SO WORTH IT! I can’t write enough praises! She took care of everything, from setting the marriage license appointment to giving us directions to hiring everyone involved, getting our cake, making my bouquet, picking the beach, etc. WORTH IT, WORTH IT, WORTH IT. Just to have someone taking care of our big day put my mind to rest and made the whole experience magical!
• During our ceremony, Kimo did a Hawaiian chant and prayer for us, a rainbow broke out of the clouds and then the sunset was absolutely out of this world.
• My dress got SOAKED and FILTHY ($260 dry cleaning bill a few days later) and was so worth every second. We climbed out onto some rocks, risking our lives in the windy, wild surf and were basically in heaven. THAT is how I wanted my wedding to be and I loved it more than words can say.
• Leah set us a reservation to eat after at Humuhumunukunukuapua’a. That is a restaurant in the Grand Wailea. It was heavenly.
• My drink was in a coconut, fish swam underneath us, and they gave us a free, congratulatory dessert.
• On the way out, Tim spotted several Fernando Botero sculptures, which iced off his night perfectly and I got a real live orchid lei.
• Perfection.

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The Day After…

• I promptly went and had my acrylic french tips removed. The nail guy was appalled and kept insisting he could just file them down or something. No, I said… I wanted them OFF and now. I can’t stand nails for too long as they hurt and I can’t type worth a pooey.
• Lazed around, ate good food and rested. 

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Epicness Continues!

• Oh, man, oh man, oh man!!! We went ziplining with the Flyin’ Hawaiian zipline company and it was one of our FAVORITE things EVER. Seriously.     
• 2.5 miles of actual zipping… The longest zip being 3500 feet.
• The view was in a word… SPECTACULAR.
• The crowd of people we were with and the crew keeping us all safe (wink wink) were amazing, fun and enjoyable.
• Without question, DO THIS if you go to Maui… Flyin’ Hawaiian Zipline…
• OH. The other cool thing is this zipline was started to preserve the natural beauty of the Hawaiian mountains, so it wouldn’t become commercialized. We even watered some hibiscus plants to give back to the earth. Loved it.

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Massage Anyone?

• More good food, drinks and lounging at the pool.
• And a couple’s massage in Wailea by two of the sweetest ladies ever!
• They recommended we go on a whale watch… so…

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The Whales

• We went whale watching with the Pacific Whale Foundation.
• I honestly didn’t know what I was expecting, but was happily surprised.
• We saw DOZENS of whales! Most were in the distance, so pictures just look like specks of nothing.
• But… one boat near us got stuck in whale jail. By law, you can’t get closer than 100 yds from a humpback whale, since they are endangered, and if they come too close to you, you have to stop and wait for them to leave. So this boat was stuck in “whale jail” and couldn’t move because a teenage humpback was playing and splashing all around their boat. It was so cool and we got as close as we could to see it, but still had to remain a ways away. AMAZING!!! So majestic. Scary. Powerful… beautiful. 

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Double Rainbow All the Way! 

• We woke up to some sprinkling outside and…and… a full, resplendent double rainbow.
• We raced down the elevator to get outside and get a full picture of it.
• It was so bright and epic… I’m telling you, one epic thing after another kept happening this whole vacation!
• We drove up by Paia and the north shore and watched surfers and the enormous, frenzied waves crashing on the rocks.
• And waddled right up to this lil’ gal! A 3-ft long sea turtle, just basking in the sun. Epic again. And more rainbows (we saw about 7 the whole trip) 

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Shopping

• The final day, we did a smidge of shopping and rock-scouting on the beach. I found a couple pretty stones and shells and bought some LUSH skin care which is divine! (Did you know I used to sell skincare/cosmetics? Someday I might open up a super cool, smell-goody/colorful/eco-friendly/giving back kinda skin care company. That’d be awesome!!) 
  
  

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Home

And now we’re back home! Unpacked, resting and happy. 🙂

So if you’re debating on a vacation to Maui, just DO IT!

Other tips:

• We stayed in Kihei, the more layed back, south side of the island, in the Maui Coast Hotel.
• Used trip advisor for nearly everything to check out ratings and reviews
• We used the Maui Revealed Guidebook a LOT!!! It helped so much to prep us for the trip.
• Set reservations for nearly everything! Lots of restaurants (like Sansei) were booked and hard to get into.
• Everyone dresses very casual, so pack a bunch of comfy, cool clothing.
• Take something warm for night, though, like a cardigan, as the wind was a bit chilly.

Now I’m knitting and exploring my plans for the New Year…I have SOOO many goodies for you! New yarn bases, tons of new colors, plans to give back and pay it forward, how to videos and loads of crafty goodness.

I hope you liked the pictures and that they inspire you to plan and get away sometime this year!

Let me know what you think in the comments below and I will read every single comment!!

XOXOXO

Chandi