Working Girl Once Again

When Brad's job took us here to Hawaii I was lucky enough to find a position with my work too. My original plans were to quit all together and stay home with the boys. As is turns out, it was best for me to keep working, but only two days a week. Just enough to keep my feet wet and make a little cash. Plus its a job I actually enjoy.

Today was my first day at the new office. I have to say, I think its going to be great. It felt good to put on my favorite Calvin Klein pointy toe heels and a fresh coat of lipstick. Im still not totally sure what the usual dress code is like out here. Do I wear Aloha print shirts? Moo Moos? Is it too out of place to wear black slacks? I think I over dressed a little today.

This is my dream ensemble for a working girl in Hawaii:

The shoes are to die for. But they are all sold out in my size!! Blurg! Oh well. Im going to keep working on appropriate attire for work. Maybe deep in one of these moving boxes is a cute skirt I forgot I had.

All items can be found here and of course here

What would you wear?

Welcome! Come on in..

Before all the boxes and the furniture arrived, our house looked clean and spacious and, well, empty. I took some pictures and will post "after" pictures as soon as it looks picture worthy in here.

These guys were the first to move it. They secured the perimeter.

The front door. We actually have a yard!

And a sidewalk!

And grass!

And a plumeria tree!

Its a far cry from living on the 7th floor.

Looking into the living room from the entry way.

Anther view of the living room. Dont you just love the windows?

The dining room, taken from the living room.

I love the built in cabinet. I cant wait to display all my cake plates and dishes!

The breakfast area in the kitchen.

The kitchen. Sans dishwasher :(

The entry way. Front door is on the left there.

The hallway.

The master bedroom. Windows on three sides and a closet on the other makes it a challenge to arrange furniture.

My favorite Hibiscus plant. This is on the side of the house that leads to the kitchen door.

Our awesome plumeria tree. The scent wafts in and its lovely!!

Not pictured are the boys room, the bathroom, and the over the garage quest suite. Yep, we have a perfect place for you to come visit!

Make your reservation today!!

Aloha Boys!

Aren't they beauties?

Gems of the Islands

As sweet as the plumeria blossoms behind their ears.

Getting Settled

There are boxes EVERYWHERE! And with a toddler, a baby, and a beach that calls my name every afternoon around 3:30, the boxes aren't getting unloaded too quickly.

I took a bunch of pictures of our house with plans to post them here and ask for decorating advice, but the camera battery died and I have no idea where the charger is (a random box somewhere no doubt) so the house pics will have to wait at least one more day.

In the mean time Im doing some curtain planning . Our living room is windows on 3 sides, which I love. Its beautiful. But, it can feel like a fishbowl at night. Or a green house in the afternoon when the sun beats in and practically cooks us (hence beach day every afternoon!) So curtains are in order. We bought some fancy light and heat blocking curtains for the Western facing windows. They are by far the worst in the afternoon. The curtains are pretty plain, just beige. But for the other walls I have more exciting plans! I just ordered 18 yards of this:

From here. Its a mid weight fabric that will work great for drapery. Im planning to add some tie backs on the beige beauties with the polka dot fabric to tie it all together. To top it all off I recently WON!! some awesome yellow and orange fabric from my good friend Aunt Spicy (miss you tons!) that might be made into pillows for the couch.

I have so much I want to share about the house and life in Hawaii. Things are way different here people! But for now, I just need to get my life in order. And stop living out of a suitcase. And find my sons Dragon Castle. And dig out the sewing machine! And hope the tension settings didnt get too messed up in the move so I can sew these bad boy curtains when the fabric arrives in 7-15 days!

Stay tuned, Im a work in progress!

We made it!

The flight was surprisingly good! My kids really did me a favor and behaved on the 6 hour 15 min. flight. They were way better than the annoying kid and his super annoying mom two rows up. Doesnt it seem like sometimes the parents are worse than the kids? Anyway, we are here. Staying in a vacation rental for a few weeks till all our stuff gets unloaded off the big ship.

Here is a small taste of what I have in store.... (taken from the back deck of our rental last night)

Aloha!

I havent been keeping up with the blog lately. We are in a major transition right now. About a month ago we left our hearts in DC and came home to Prescott, AZ for an extended stay. Its been fabulous!! But the best is yet to come. Tomorrow morning before the sun is up, the boys and I will be on our way to meet up with Brad in Hawaii!!!

Yes, Im moving to Hawaii tomorrow!!!

Cant wait. The only thing in between me and paradise is 3000 miles on a plane with two rambunctious boys. Wish me luck.

Autumn

I Guess Im a Runner!

I did it! I ran the Baltimore 10 miler last weekend, and I loved it! I didn't train as much as I should have, and I was really feeling it at mile 8, but I did it.

I was at the back of the pack

An accidental picture, but I like it. See my cute new shoes with yellow laces?

Perfect weather!

I used my phone to time my miles. I didnt always hit the "lap" button right as you can see. I had some false alarms and I forgot to clock mile 9. But it looks like I averaged about 13 min miles. Some were faster and some were hill filled, so they were slower.

I met a good running partner, Cami, during the run. She was funny and we ran together for about 4 miles. Her pace was good and we laughed at the same people.
There are some strange people out there!

I got a really cool pull over after the race that would be perfect for winter running. But since Im moving to Hawaii where there is no winter, I will have to save it.

My feet were really tired and my legs were weak at the end but I felt good. Turns out I really love running. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

A New Dress

One of my recent creations:

I picked up the fabric at G Street clearance section. Im not sure what the fabric is made of, but is stretchy, feels nice and it hangs really well. It was really easy to sew with too.

I used a shirt and a skirt that I know fit well as my pattern. It was actually really simple to make. Just a front piece, a back piece and some trim! Next time I will do a step by step post so you can see it really was pretty easy.

Laptop Love

I was in Florida last week for work (rough, I know) and brought my laptop with me. I needed to check blogs (duh!), watch No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on the plane ride, and video chat with my boys at night. Its a must have for a solo traveler.

Literally on my way out the door I decided I need to make a snuggie for the laptop. My husband is usually the carrier of the laptop. He has his manly Patagonia bag that it fits in nicely. I didnt want to take the manly bag, I would rather travel with my favorite gigantic yellow purse. So instead of just sticking the laptop into my purse I whipped up this little number to keep it safe.

Its pretty simple, just some minky fabric on the inside and some retro computerish looking fabric from Joann on the outside. It only took me about 15 minutes to sew it up. I was afraid I would be late for my flight so I pretty much ran the entire way and was sweaty by the time I got to my gate. Turns out I got my flight times mixed up and was actually about 2 hours early. Nice. But at least my laptop looked cute. I even got a compliment from a fellow traveler!

If you have a laptop, show it some love. Make it a snuggie.

V Neck T

The sale section at G street fabrics is dangerous. I found yards and yards of fabric I wanted. And I made friends with two hilairous ladies that were actually draping fabric on me and designing a beach wrap. It was awesome. I came out with some great finds, including the softest cream colored knit fabric and turned it into a V neck T-shirt.

Im tired of having to wear two shirts, one on top to look cute, and one underneath. Most V neck shirts I find are too low, and hardly ever long enough, so I decided to make my own!

Turns out this cream fabric is kind of sheer so I have to wear a shirt underneath anyway. Next time I will choose a darker or thicker fabric.

I used one of my favorite shirts as a pattern. It was a little tricky, but I did alot of thinking and a lot of re-pinning, but finally figured it out!

It was my first attempt at 1. a shirt, 2. sleeves, and 3. elastic thread (which I LOVE)

The ruffle is more super soft knit sewn with elastic thread then added to the neckline. I think it looks like whipped cream!

And it fits perfect. This is the joy of sewing it myself!