Moving to Paradise: Anniversaries

In December I participated in a Charity Fashion Show. The Charity was for Toys for Tots. It took place at a restaurant, Stella Blues, in Kihei and we wore pieces from Karamel and Pakaloha. Karamel is a one of a kind family owned store with a collection of pieces from France, Italy, and Spain. Pakaloha, which I didn't walk in, is a VERY popular local swim suit designer. I just recently got photos from the show. The first photo has a guy giving me a standing ovation in the front row screaming. No worries, not a stalker, just a friend from work who was very excited to see me on the runway for the first time.

January holds 2 very important anniversaries for Jon and I.

Jon and my 2nd year anniversary of marriage January 13, 2010

Jon and my 1st year anniversary of living in Maui January 12, 2011

Ergo, January began our ANNIVERSARY MONTH. Like how some celebrate their birthday for the whole month, we celebrated our anniversaries this whole month! This was made possible (financially) because we have many gift certificates saved up from various things.

The first week in January we went to Jon's work, Pineapple Grill, and dinned in the fancy dinning room. We usually eat at the bar or on the lanai where the bar menu is available, so it was a special occasion to eat in the dinning room with a reservation set up and everything! Jon had been awarded Most Improved at the end of the year Christmas Party which came with a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant. This came in handy for our nice dinner.

Our auntie snapped a photo of us all dolled up from dinner.
The animals need to be involved in the shot too haha

On our real anniversary date, we went above and beyond to properly celebrate :)

Jonny surprised me with a scrumptious mimosa in the morning

And a darling stack of pancakes with "LOVE" imprinted in the middle

We drove the North route to a hiking spot Jon had done while here for the wedding. The North route around the West side of the island is very dangerous. Aside from twisty turney twists, a majority of the time it is a one lane road with many blind turns. Rental cars are rumored to not be aloud on these back roads, when in reality, rental companies just will not insure any accidents or incidents that may happen on this road.

Then... why drive that way??

Welllll it's BEAUTIFUL

Before the road went to one lane

This is our FAVORITE place to stop. The most scrumptious banana bread you'll ever taste! Julia's Banana Bread. She cooks only a certain amount and is open until she sells out. And she does. Everyday. We planned on stopping, but regretfully realized we didn't have any cash, and in a small little village in the middle of no where, they definitely did not take card... Shortly before this picture a man danced his way across the road in front of our car trying to sell his pineapple and coconuts. Haha, I danced with him but sped off before we got sucked into buying anything ( I had a fresh pineapple back home)

Head on, on a one way street. The minivan had to back up until there was some room to scoot over

Video of our time on the back road of the North side, loud, sweet music, singing and whistling along with the windows down and a smile on the face

We hiked the Waihe'e Trail on the most gorgeous day!

We trekked along the ground full of roots for the first fourth of the 2.25mile hike

The rest was mostly uphill. Jon grabbed a buncha photos of me trailing behind, out of breath

I MADE IT

I MADE IT TOO!!

"End of Trail"

View of the other side of the island

View of neighbor island Moloka'i

After our Hike, we made our way to the North shore where the waves were going off at Ho'okipa Beach. We enjoyed the views for a bit, then headed to THE restaurant on Maui- Mama's Fish House.

Enjoying the waves

We got ready at the beach because Mama's was 2 minutes away. I had just bought that dress this day when we stopped in the Hippie village Paia on our way to Ho'okipa and spent some of Tracy's Christmas gift to me at a loved store Mahina, great addition to a great day :)

Mama's Fish House has it's own private beach

Jon's General Manager at Pineapple Grill called ahead to Mama's Fish House, because you know, he's got connections :) And we got some extra special treatment on our anniversary. Starting with this personal note with our names and Happy Anniversary written in Hawaiian

I LOVEDDDD the bottle of wine we got. Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir. Buttery but a fruity, smooth, floral red wine :)
The manager gave us that beautiful flower lei for Jon to "lei me" and kiss both cheeks. It was a very nice lei

They also bought us 2 de-lish pupus (appetizers). A fresh off the boat raw bar plate with sashimi, opakapaka, and salmon with their own special spices/pairings. And my favorite were the locally caught prawns with a yummy buttery sauce. Also seen here is the Honey wheat bread with a honey butter, and the "Beef Polynesian" which were filet tips, maui onion, tomatoes, and veggies over a grilled papaya.