Sunday Fun Day

Sunday was a fabulous day off.

I went and had lunch with friends at the gorgeous Honua Kai Resort:

Laid out at Airport Beach:

And got wine with girlfriends to celebrate my birthday at The Wine Palette at Kapalua Bay.

{wine flights with pupus}

The manager, Jim, was incredibly warm and welcoming, and took amazing care of us alongside our server, Thomas.

We felt like total VIPs.

The Wine Palette is the only wine bar on the west side (and maybe all of Maui) replete with a fantastic wine list, the ability to order customized flights of wine, and you can order blank canvases or wine glasses to paint while you sip wine.

Thomas sent out clean and polished wine glasses with palettes filled with an array of colors and a fat glass filled with paintbrushes.  I was actually really impressed by how much fun I had painting my wine glass!

{seahorse wine glass}

As you can see, it's been a rather successful week of celebrating my birthday.  I think I may have to actually rest and take it easy on my actual birthday tomorrow to recover!

{girls' night at The Wine Palette}

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Birthday Week Shenanigans

Since I'm actually scheduled to work on my actual birthday, I've been taking every chance I can to celebrate on my days off.

It's been very easy to get into the birthday spirit at my new job:

{birthday balloon and gifts at work}

{birthday banana cream pie from Shaina}

and on the dance floor:

{Jungle Boogie TOLO show at Longhi's}

and at Migrant for a birthday dinner:

{clipboard menu at Chef Sheldon's new restaurant in Wailea}

{pupus: ahi avo poke, fried brussels sprouts, and mini loco moco--which is much better than this photograph}

{hangar steak, french onion ramen, pork tonkatsu}

And randomly: a plethora of plush towel animals made by the extraordinary Housekeeping department.

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Birthday Goods

I got some amazing birthday treats for the special occasion, and I couldn't help but share...using Instagram pix of course!

Birthday shoes for the birthday girl: bejeweled sandals from Mom and Dad, and pair of RED Toms from Bryan!

A full view of the famous birthday dress! And please take a look at those crazy sky high heels.  I'm getting better and better walking in them, but that doesn't mean I'm less afraid with every step I take.  And yup, that's the belt that Shaina helped me pick up from Mahina.  The Carlos Santana heels were a steal from Ross a year or so ago.  I love them, but I'm afraid of them.  It's a healthy relationship.

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Birthday Fun

I had the best of birthdays yesterday.  I got up early, did a short and brutal birthday run up the hill to the high school, pampered myself rotten with a facial at Soleil Luna, got lunch with Shaina (and ordered my favorite Chicken Salad at Longhi's), went shopping (also with Shaina, she helped me pick out a belt to wear with my birthday dress), did some gardening at home, then had dinner out with Bryan at Hula Grill followed by the Spanish Guitar show at Maui Theater.  Whew!

It was a day filled to the brim with fun, food, friends and calls from family.

On our way to dinner, Bryan and I accidentally locked the keys in the parking lot (oops), so our amazing neighbor Alexa rescued the days and drove our spare set of keys to us while we got started at the restaurant.  Thank you, Alexa!  You're a party-saver!

Here are a few snaps from our dinner:

{scallop and lobster potstickers}

{sashimi}

{a bottle of our favorite Pinot Noir}

{tandoori style Monchong with a cucumber yogurt raita--the fish was spicy!}

{a very dark photo of our amazing dessert: a brownie ice cream sandwich with whipped cream, chocolate ganache and a raspberry drizzle}

{loving every bite of dessert--and that dress that I'm wearing, by the way...was probably the biggest hit of the night.  I've never received that many compliments on any piece of clothing I own.  I had multiple people--some of whom were strangers--ask me to take a turn so they could see the full back of the dress.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!}

And then, this totally happened:

Alexa had received several free tickets to the new Spanish Guitar show at the Maui Theater from the show's choreographer, and she invited Bryan and I to go with her.  It was totally cheesy and brilliant--all at the same time.  The lead guitarist channeled Fabio, and hair flipped more than the female dancers, but he had some amazing guitar skills, and the dancers were incredible.  

After the show, Bryan and I got a glass of champagne at Kimo's before heading home to hang out with the rest of our housemates drinking wine and toasting Maui.

As I said before, it was the very best of birthdays!

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Birthday Brunch at Mala

Bryan took me to brunch at Mala Tavern to celebrate my 26th birthday.

For a little while, we were the only ones out on the deck.  The breeze was blowing in off the ocean.  It was a beautiful morning.

The waves lapping onto the shore sent the rocks tumbling down over one another making a lovely sound.

About halfway through our brunch, the sea turtles came out.  Bryan and I watched a big one drift in and out of the shore break.

Of course, the food was almost as spectacular as the view.  I got the Huevos Rancheros and Bryan got the Eggs Benedict--made with bacon instead of the traditional ham.

Delicious!

Our server, Rob (a friend of a friend), served us up complimentary homemade mango sorbet as a birthday treat.

Not a bad way to start the day!

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