TUESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016

Hi there! I know it’s been awhile, but it’s because I’ve been trying to figure out how I want to blog about my amazing trip to Hawaii over the holidays! Originally, I was going to do one big post, but I realized I have a lot of content to show you (even though it was only a seven day trip). So, I’ve decided to do this in parts. There’s going to be a total of four parts, and I can’t wait for you to see them! Let me start by explaining a little bit about my trip. My mom’s side of the family lives on Oahu, so I’ve been to that island almost every summer since I was little. However, I hadn’t been in three years (the longest period of time ever) until this past Christmas. As I’m truly a lover of all things warm and sunny, you can only imagine my excitement at being able to go back to such a beautiful place. We arrived in Honolulu on Monday, but it wasn’t until the next day that the adventure really got going… to Maui! My grandma grew up on Maui and she was going to show us where she had lived. I couldn’t wait!

We started our Tuesday off by waking up super early to catch a short flight to the tropical island of Maui. Our first stop was a cute little restaurant called Sam Sato’s that was highly recommended to us by our shuttle driver. We had their dry saimin noodles, banana pancakes, beef skewers, and a few other goodies that were all delicious! Then, it was time for my grandma to show us where she came from. We got to see the land where her house used to be, her high school, the local market, and we even visited one of her childhood friends that still lived there! They have known each other for over sixty years! It was amazing and surreal to be able to experience this with my grandma next to me and narrating the whole time.

Next, we headed to the Maui Ocean Center, a wonderful aquarium right on one of Maui’s harbors. Since it’s mostly dark inside aquariums, I didn’t really get any good pictures to show on here, but it was really fun looking at all the exotic fish alongside my mom, brother, aunt, and grandma. My brother is super into all things marine and aquatic, so he loved going through all the rooms. After we finished exploring all of the aquarium’s exhibits, it was time to go to Tasaka Guri-Guri! Now, this little shop is island (if not, world) famous for it’s guri-guri, which is basically a combination of sorbet and ice cream. It’s in this tiny shop and it only comes in two flavors: mango and strawberry. It’s definitely a one-of-a-kind and yummy (aka “goodie goodie”) treat! After that, we decided to head to another part of the island for dinner.

Outfit:
Top: Marshall’s // Bralette: Urban Outfitter’s // Bottoms: Hollister // Shoes: Target

We Yelped a couple places and chose the Tommy Bahama Restaurant, somewhere none of us had been before. On our way there, we pulled over to check out one of the many gorgeous beaches surrounding Maui. We found a little entrance to the shore and spent a few moments soaking in all the beauty surrounding us… We then made it to Tommy Bahama with an eagerness to eat some delicious food before heading to the airport to catch our flight back to Oahu. We ordered several different menu items, from a spicy poke dip appetizer to grilled red snapper to to ahi salad to pineapple-mango BBQ pulled pork. Everything seemed high quality and was super tasty. I think my favorite part was dessert. We had a delicious crème brulée inside of a pineapple! And while our trip to Maui was a short one, it was a truly amazing experience that I will never forget. I can’t wait to explore Maui even more one day!

xo, Rachel