Moving to Paradise: Sisters, Wine, Dancing. Don't Get Much Betta

In the beginning of November I surprised my parents with a secret trip to Sacramento for 5 days. My sister picked me up from the airport and we went straight to In-N-Out

After that we went to our parent's house. I set up 2 cans of their favorite Moana Loa Macadamia Nuts with a heart formed by sand. Then a rather splotchy trail of sand leading them to me, where I was hiding around the corner. I have video of my parent's reaction, hopefully the video will upload correctly.

The next day my family got together for some dinner and wine. I brought a slideshow of my Europe trip pictures and shared them with everyone. I also gave my mom and sisters their souvenirs from Europe. I created a slideshow for them to really understand the gift I had for them. In Florence I bought 5 Florentine scarves at a street market shop. All the same style but in different colors, the color that I thought each person would love and fits them well. In addition, I would choose that person's delegated scarf to travel with me for one day in a town or city that I felt really embodied them as a person, what they mean to me, a place I know they would really enjoy, etc. For that day while I wore their scarf it was as if they were there with me.

The funniest thing is that the colors I chose for everyone matched that evening's outfit perfectly!

It turned into a girls night. Movies, junk food, wine, and a sleepover

For the next few days I spent quality time with each sibling and parents, met up with a few long lost friends, and even applied for colleges.... Something about the mainland kicks my butt into a more productive gear I guess.

My sister and I hung out all day and went out dancing that evening. We chose to go to Badlands, a gay bar. The best part of a gay bar is that no one is looking at you as a female. You can have a drink at the bar and dance on the dance floor with your girlfriends without having to deal with ruthless players trying to hit on you :D And laugh at some funny situations while you're there.

It was packed!

One of the main reasons for visiting Sacramento was to see my darling nieces. I spent more time with them than I thought I'd be able to because I took them for a full day when their mommy was sick. It was so much fun getting to spend time with them , getting to know Chloe better (she was barely 1 when I moved to Maui), and seeing my darling Sienna tall and talking full sentences and understanding so much!

Sadly I had to return back to what I now call home, other people call in Paradise :D

Chamber and Chambers put on a wine tasting, free to employees of the major restaurants on Maui where the vendors and sales people of the vineyards could pitch their wine to the employees of the restaurants. So basically I was invited to a FREE four hour wine tasting, including free refreshments. Yes Please.

We went out to breakfast before

It was held in a dinning room in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Kapalua

My best friend on the island, Toni

By the end our teeth were getting purple and we were getting goofy

dancing...

Maui is the "transplant" state. People "transplant" themselves here for a year then move away to go on with what ever life brings them. And the easiest industry to get a job in is the tourist industry. So because of that the restaurant business has fairly high employee turn over rate with new and old employees coming and going often. Our restaurant, Hula Grill, knows there are many employees without the luxury of having a family home cooked meal on the major American holiday Thanksgiving. It's also because they won't allow us to ask for that day off because we are way too busy for every employee to ask for it off... So Hula Grill puts on what they call an "orphan dinner" where all us little orphans without families can come together as a family and have a home cooked thanksgiving meal after the restaurant closes. They serve us what is left of that evening's Thanksgiving special, which is a lot, and provide wine and dessert as well. I think that is just so thoughtful and considerate to want to accommodate and give back to the employees of their successful establishment.

Cruisin' on the beach until it was time to eat

A friend of ours also put on a little thanksgiving party at her place that week

It became another game night :) The best kind!

And this is what I actually did and ate on Thanksgiving. House and pet sat for my auntie while she and uncle got to see our family back in Sacramento for the holiday haha. No worries, I was JUST there, I just thought the situation was funny.