Tsunami

Last night while I was working at the restaurant, the tsunami center issued a warning around 7:30 pm after a huge earthquake hit the western coast of Canada.  The tsunami center predicted that all coastal areas of Hawaii would be hit by a tidal wave and initiated evacuation efforts--which includes blasting sirens for prolonged intervals.

The restaurant managers worked to spread the word among staff and guests that we would stop taking food orders so we could start closing the restaurant.

My last hour at the restaurant was frantic.  It was a scramble to get food served to the guests that were still waiting on dinner, while clearing plates and dropping checks to the guests that were done while steering them away from ordering dessert and coffee.

All of my guests were able to finish their dinners and pay up before leaving the restaurant.  Surprisingly, I made some really amazing tips on my last turn of tables despite the speedy service to get people out of the building.

After I finished my closing sidework and dropped my paperwork, I was finally able to leave the restaurant.  I have never been so grateful that I ride my bike to work than I was last night.  I stepped out of the restaurant and the traffic on Front Street was bumper to bumper as everyone cleared out of town.

I got my bike lights flashing and started to weave in and out of cars and made my way back up to my house.  I don't think I've ever biked up Lahainaluna Hill as fast as I did last night.  It was an absolute adrenaline rush squeezing through cars and blasting past pedestrians making their way up the hill.

Thankfully, our new house is halfway up a super steep hill in town--well out of the flood zone. I made it home right around 9 pm and Bryan made it home about 10--half an hour before they predicted  the first wave.  He said that on his way home he witnessed two small car accidents.  People were panicking.  Easy to do when a supposed tsunami is on their way, and Maui has the sirens blasting nonstop.

Our downstairs neighbors Will and Ashley were at home, and they were the official tsunami rescue center.  They had wine, beer and snacks, and they were waiting on their friend to arrive with steak for the grill.  More and more of our friends who live in the flood zone started to trickle in, ready to hunker down until we were given the all clear.  From our lanai we could see a banner of lights on the water from all the boats that had left the harbor to wait out the tsunami in open water.

Then--nothing happened.

Even though they predicted the tsunami at 10:30 in the evening, the tsunami center didn't cancel the evacuation orders until about 1:30 in the morning.  The tsunami center predicted a powerful surge carrying waves 3 to 6 feet high, but I think the most action Maui saw was a small wave in Kahului on the other side of the island that was only 2.5 feet above ambient sea level.

I probably didn't go to sleep until closer to four in the morning--and I was starving!  I hadn't had dinner, and I only had a nibble of cheese, a bite of steak and a few pineapple chunks during the tsunami night festivities, so when I woke up this morning I made myself a breakfast of epic proportions.

I sauteed an entire leek with half an onion, 2 cloves of garlic, an entire tomato and some kale in olive oil.  When that was cooked, I started a two egg omelette in another pan.  I tossed in some of the veggies before I folded it over, and as you can see in the photo above, I threw the rest of the vegetables on top of the finished omelette.  A sprinkle of shaved parmesan, and the omelette was complete.

But I'm still hungry.

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A Healthy Trade Off

Bryan swept and mopped all the floors this morning!  Making lunch for the two of us was the very least that I could do to acknowledge all of his hard work and celebrate the glorious squeaky clean feeling in our apartment.

I made potato gnocchi with garlicky greens.

I've been totally obsessed with the whole wheat potato gnocchi that Foodland Farms stocks.  I think I've gone through three packages in this month alone.  I beef it up by making garlicky greens (today I used heaps and heaps of kale) and layering it at the bottom of the bowl.  I gently coat the gnocchi with a store bought pasta sauce and then top the whole dish off with shaved parmesan.  Yum!  Easy, delicious and nutritious.

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We Are Grownups!

As we have accumulated grown up furniture (a nice couch, a great bookshelf), the move into our new apartment has feel more and more official, but nothing feels more "grown up" than finally hanging real pictures that are in frames.

Obviously, Bryan and I cannot take all the credit.  Most of the credit goes to my dad who sent us all this framed artwork.  He hand selected these pieces from my Nana's house to put into our new home.  It's nice to have these reminders of her in our home.  The artwork is also a small catalog of all the places that my dad has traveled to throughout his life.

Bryan and I hung these small Vietnamese boat prints in a diagonal across our living room wall.  There's still plenty of space for when we find new additions!

A closeup of one of the Vietnamese prints.

We hung this small flower woodblock print in this partitioning wall.  If you look closely you can see Esperanza, my pregnant skeleton lady, guarding my cookbooks.

Our friend, Newman, donated this Cleveland Browns print to us when it was taken off the walls at his work.

You can see our flower print on the right, and a small woodblock print on the far wall leading into the bathroom.

The previous tenants left teeny tiny square prints above the bedroom and bathroom doors.  The one leading into the bedroom says: 

"At the beach, time doesn't move hour to hour but moment to moment."

The one above the bathroom says:

"As the ocean is never full of water, the heart is never full of love."

We put the largest painting above our bed.  It's a watercolor of a town square in Mexico.  We love that the colors in the painting work well with the color of our walls and bedspread.

Our new apartment finally feels like home, and Bryan and I feel like a pair of grownups!

It's nice.

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Not So Uncommon Anymore

Bryan and I were in ACE Hardware this afternoon, and I stumbled upon personalized Christmas ornaments.  

Surprisingly, I found BOTH of our names on display!

Bryan with a "y."  We don't see that too often.

I remember when I was a kid, there were never any personalized items that had my name on it.  Now, I'm all over the place!  I think that makes me feel like my name is a little less special and unique...

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Epic

What an absolutely gorgeous sunset captured at work tonight!

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Trying New Things

Yogurt is a suspicious food to me.  I understand that it can be really good for me, but there is something about it that I don't quite like.  Perhaps its pudding-like texture, or its tartness that underlies the sweetness of whatever it has been flavored with.  Whatever it is, yogurt is something that I occasionally put into my grocery basket as long as I have fruit and plenty of sweetened granola.

At the store today, I came across this interesting twist on yogurt.  Amande--a cultured almondmilk product that mimics yogurt.

I dumped it onto some granola and Kula strawberries this afternoon to make a pre-work parfait.

The almondmilk yogurt is a tad sweeter than the regular variety, but I liked that the Amande had fewer calories and less sugar than the regular vanilla yogurt at the store.  Bonus!

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Sorry

I apologize that I've been off the radar for the past week or so.  I got hit by a crazy dizzy spell last week that got diagnosed as Vertigo.  Once I got over that, I got blindsided by a nasty cold, so I've been laying low and having minimal adventures as I heal up.

I did get back in the saddle last week.  My girlfriend wants to get back into horseback riding, and I decided to accompany her despite my cold.  It was great to get back into a barn, groom and tack up horses and then ride around the arena.  I'm definitely a little rusty.  My legs are still sore from the one hour lesson I took on Thursday!

As much as I had, I doubt that I'll get back into riding full-time.  I started wheezing midway through the lesson, and I sneezed the entire time.  I'm not sure if I want to invest in paying for lessons and buying new riding gear to ride just once a week and feeling miserable most of the time.

I'm always up for an impromptu trail ride, though!

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Bird Brain

I had to stop in at the Doctors on Call office at The Hyatt, but I made sure to make some time for all my bird friends in the lobby.

Yup.  The Hyatt is so swanky that they have birds in tuxedos.

I think it was feeding time or something, these penguins were going berserk in their swimming pond.  All they look like here are black and white blurs.

Roger, a Macaw.

An Crowned African Crane

R2D2, an African Grey.  When I was staying here back in 2008 with my girlfriend, Ann, R2D2 was our favorite bird.

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The Best Crustless Quiche

Bryan brought home farm fresh eggs and kale from a friend of ours that lives on a farm outside of Wailuku.  I wanted to make something delicious and hearty with the goodies she gave us, so I made a simple crustless quiche yesterday.

{the spread}

I chopped up three colorful carrots I had purchased at Whole Foods and began to saute them in a pan with olive oil while I chopped and prepped a few green onions, a tomato and tons of kale.

Once the carrots were slightly softened in the pan, I threw in the green onions, followed by the chopped tomato.  I also grated 2 garlic cloves and threw those in too.

Once everything was cooked through, I threw in the chopped kale right on top of all the vegetables.  Once the kale was slightly wilted, I slid the vegetables into a greased baking pan.

I whisked together the eggs and poured the mixture right over the vegetables.

I then put the pan in the oven and baked the quiche for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

I let the quiche cool for five minutes before finally digging in.

{crustless quiche warm from the oven}

{a slice of quiche served with a handful of radish sprouts purchased from Whole Foods}

{almost all gone}

After I got home from work last night, I made a salad and served up the rest of the quiche for Bryan and me.  Delicious!

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Travel Bug

I have been bit, and I have been bit bad!  Ever since the tickets have been purchased (thank you Mom and Dad!) for a family springtime trip to Japan, I have been insane about looking up travel tips online.  Of course, I've been reading up about Tokyo and Kyoto (the destinations that we are most likely to hit up on our trip), but I've mostly been reading about what to pack and how to pack it.  I don't really get it either.  I guess it shows you all how OCD I am.

I want to pack super lightly because there is no way in hell I'm going to pay to bring luggage.  Of the many upheavals that have taken place for airline travel, paying for luggage is the one change that irks me the most.

How audacious is it that airlines are making you fork over your money to bring luggage with you?  Of course you are going to bring stuff with you on your flight!

Granted, some of the fees are minimal, but I balk at the price solely based on principle.

I would love to pack everything for my trip to Japan in a single carry-on.  Packing a carry-on is not only hassle free (no fees! no worries that you'll lose a bag!), but I like the challenge of making my packing wardrobe concise.  Considering that we'll only be gone for a week, I think this is very doable.  My only concern about not checking luggage is making sure I have room for all the goodies I'm planning on stocking up on while shopping in Japan!

I also plan on packing comfy, chic and loose clothing, because I am definitely planning on getting fat in Japan.  This is going to be less of a sightseeing trip and more of an all-you-can-eat tour of Japan.

Until I actually take off, I'll be pinning tips, places to see and foods to eat on Pinterest.  You can stay abreast here.

Also, just because of the trip and just because I'm packing lightly and just because I'm slightly obsessed, I may finally cave and get myself a flippin' Kindle.  I know, I know.  I've resisted with every fiber of my being for so long, mainly because I want to remain true to my true love of the written word on paper, but also, I have a deep, dark feeling that if I got my hands on a Kindle, I would fall madly in love with it.  The convenience of traveling with a Kindle is quite the siren's song, and I will probably end up purchasing this one before too long.

In the meantime, I'm still devouring old-fashioned books with a healthy appetite.  My current read is Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild.  It's being loaned out to me by a friend, and I'm plowing through it.  It's fantastic.

My copy of Unbroken is making its rounds at work.  In fact, I'm not sure which coworker is reading it now, and I'm sadly uncertain if the book is going to make its way back to me.  It's bittersweet.  I'm sad that I may not see it again, but I'm pumped that my coworkers are loving the book so much that they cannot suppress the urge to keep passing it along.

What are you all reading these days?

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Newest Home Addition

Not only did we finally acquire a freakin' bookshelf, but we also got our couch!  Secondhand, but still comfy and cushy.  Come on down and hang out with us!

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Health Overhaul

I consider myself a pretty healthy gal already.  I eat well and in moderation (most times), and I get plenty of exercise.  

But lately, I found myself diving into deliciously decadent meals a tad too often, and I realized that I had been going through the motions in many of my workouts.  I decided to clean it up a bit.  I'm trying to prepare my own meals at home using as many whole and "clean" food as possible.  Hence, eating tons of kale--like this raw kale salad I made for lunch today.

I threw in kale, half a chopped tomato, some diced onion, basil, grated Pecorino cheese and some cooked quinoa into a large mixing bowl.  Then I topped it off with homemade vinaigrette (extra virgin olive oil whisked with balsamic vinegar, Bryan's Ohio Stadium Mustard, salt and pepper).  Delicious!  I ate about half of my salad and threw the rest into the fridge for tonight.  I will probably top it off with a poached egg tonight--or maybe throw the salad into an omelette.

I've also been kicking up my workouts a notch.  On Wednesday I went to Airport Beach and swam down to Black Rock (a little over a half mile in the water) and ran back on the sand.  I know people who do the swim to Black Rock and back!  And they do it multiple times a week.  I'd love to be able to work up to doing the full mile swim.

And! I'm also kicking my Diet Coke habit.  Today is Day 4 without sipping soda.  Not sure if I'll ever give it up for good, but I would like to eliminate it from my daily diet.

I got my back tire replaced on my bicycle this morning, so I'm back to riding my bike to and from work.  Looking forward to burning my way back up the hill tonight after tonight's shift.  Since I didn't squeeze in a traditional workout today before work, I plan on using my bike ride home as the cardio part of my post-work workout.  When I get home, I'm going to punch out 50 pushups and do my horrible, painful, oh-so-wonderful Ashley Conrad ab routine.  You can check it out here.  It is fabulous.

Alright, time to ready myself for a big night at work!

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Sunset from Napili Bay

Another gorgeous night off! Watched the sunset with the girls at Napili Bay. Those lights on the horizon? A lit up cruise ship leaving the Lahaina harbor for Oahu.

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The Perfect Sunday

As Bryan so eloquently put it, yesterday was a 10.

We drove from Lahaina to Kihei to meet up with Bryan's parents at their condo.  We loaded up their rental car with a cooler and four beach chairs.  After a brief stop at Safeway to grab some hummus and crackers, we made our way to Kula to check out the Surfing Goat Dairy Farm.  I had a serious hankering for their goat cheese, and I knew it would be the perfect snack for watching Polo in Makawao.

At the farm we had a mini tasting of their more popular cheeses before selecting our favorites: the Maui Secret (a more drained Chevre marinated in virgin olive oil), Ole! (creamy gourmet chevre flavored with jalapenos, artichokes, lime juice and cilantro) and then of course, the Udderly Delicious (salted, plain chevre).

After cheese shopping, we headed back into the car and headed towards Makawao to the Oskie Rice Field on Olinda Road.

{the road to the polo field}

We pulled off onto the rodeo grounds and drove through the pastures until we reached the polo field.  After paying our admission (5 bucks per person), we rolled through the field.  Skirting the red polo "wall," we made our way to the far end of the field.  The woman who was in charge of admission told us that that was the best place to watch the match--the sun wouldn't be in our eyes.

We parked our car, unloaded our chairs and our picnic and got started on snacking while we waited for the game to start.

My friend Shaina joined us along with her friend who owns and rides horses in Launipoko.

{the spectators}

{my favorite spectator}

{the polo field bordered by trees with a great view of the ocean--only on Maui}

{empty polo field}

{lucky ladybug found in the grass during the game}

{Flagger behind one of the goal posts--they raise their flags high in the air when a team scores a goal}

{polo ponies with their tails bundled up}

{polo players in action}

{our very enthusiastic "narrator"}

During the entire game, this ragged cowboy drank down beer after beer and provided colorful commentary of the goings on of the polo match.  You can get an idea of how amusing he was in the following clip:

Isn't he great?  

{look at those clouds}

{looking back across the field towards the mountain}

{riders switched horses between "chukkas" or 7 minute playing periods--the game we watched had 4 chukkas}

{ponies galloping across the field}

The first game we watched was the United States Polo Association Players Cup.  Afterwards, there was a second game played by the Maui Polo Club members.  It wasn't played with the same level of athleticism as the more professional teams, but it was still a blast to watch.  The last time I watched polo was back in Mexico City, and even though the games I watched in Mexico were far more exciting with players galloping full blast across the field at every moment--I don't think I can say that I watched at a more beautiful spot than yesterday's game in Upcountry Maui.

We left the polo field after the second game finished, and headed back into Kihei for an epic meal at Cafe O'Lei.  It was my first visit the restaurant, but I plan on making the trip out to Kihei to eat there again.  Delicious!

As Bryan said: Sunday was a perfect 10.

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There were also goats

We may have also run into some goats on our upcountry adventures yesterday...

Stay tuned for more.

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Polo Preview

A little teaser of our afternoon yesterday watching Polo in Makawao.

Plenty more photos and story to come.

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