Style Guide: Fun Beach Accessories

We love living only 8 minutes from the ocean - it makes for great fun year round with the kids.  Here are some fun beach accessories that we've found for you!

Beauty Guide: My Favorite Travel Sized Beauty Products

When I travel, I like to find products that are travel sized.  It allows me to pack more efficiently - rather than taking the full sized bottles.  Travel sized products are usually also TSA friendly.  Just toss them into your bag and you're ready to go!  Spring break is around the corner...do you have any travel plans?  For us, we're staying in Southern California - we just went to Hawaii for our winter getaway and next month we're heading to Dallas for a conference.  

Oh - and by the way - these are my favorite toiletry bags.  It makes packing and organizing, oh.so.pretty.

Shop the boutique below for some of our favorite travel sized pretties:

Gift Guide: Map Gift Ideas for the Jet Setter

What to get for the person who has everything?  If they love to travel, then I have you covered here!  

This is by far, my favorite gift to give - a collage of travel photos - in the shapes of your chosen locale - ie:  California, Hawaii, Australia, etc. 

Here is a great gift to make for your loved one who has traveled a lot with you.

And here are some more great travel gift ideas.

Gift Guide: Gifts for the World Traveler

We just got back from Hawaii and we've got the bug to travel again....but with 2 kids in school, that's not going to happen until spring break.  Until then, I'll just look for our next adventure... 

Here are some great gift ideas for the jet setter in your life:

Kahala Resort - Best Sticky Buns Recipe

Good morning Lovelies!  Have I got a treat for you today!  The wonderful chef at Kahala Resort has shared their famous sticky buns recipe with us!  With only 6 ingredients - it takes only 5 minutes to assemble and the rest of the next 18 minutes - you will spend drooling in anticipation of eating these sticky and gooey and mouth watering sticky buns.  

Ingredients:

One can of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls

1 stick of unsalted butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 375.   Cream the butter and the sugars.  Drizzle honey in and mix well.  Distribute the pecans evenly amongst the muffin tin.  Add a good sized dollop of buttery goodness on top of the pecans and top it off with a cinnamon roll.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Flip them out and serve immediately.  

Sorry - I do not know the calorie count nor will I even make an attempt to figure it out.  I cannot be held responsible if you eat the whole platter because they are really that good.  Good thing maxi dresses are in this summer!  Or if you're just gonna have one - then these pretty swimsuits are definitely waiting for you.  

See?  Just 6 ingredients!  Easiest sticky buns you'll ever make! 

 Cream the butter and the sugars

Drizzle in the honey and mix well while scraping down the sides.

Add pecans into muffin tin and spoon the butter/sugar mixture into each well.

Drop a cinnamon roll onto each mixture.

Flip them out immediately and enjoy!  Don't forget to lick your fingers!!  

Things to Do on Oahu

There is a lot to do on Oahu from helicopter rides to cage diving with the sharks.  But.....we wanted to relax - so we didn't do a whole lot of the touristy stuff.  We spent most of our time at the Kahala Resort - laying around and playing on their private beach and snorkeling around their man made reefs.  

We spent one whole day driving around the entire island - seeing all the popular tourist spots.  It was fun but the traffic - oh the traffic - nearly drove me nuts.  There was only one lane at a lot of spots and the speed limit was only 35 MPH!  

Waikiki - we saw this busy little city on the first day in.  It was packed full of people!  Mental note - avoid Waikiki the rest of the trip!  We did stop here for dinner at Ramen Nakamura on the recommendation of a friend - it was delicious!  If you go - it's cash only - that's one thing that I noticed on the island - a lot of establishments is cash only.  The beach is packed - there is no easy parking - people were walking all over the place in their tiny bikinis and surfboards in tow.  

Waikiki

Oh did I say that I was here to relax?  Yes - the beach.  I loved the beach at the Kahala - it was clean and many times there were only a few families sharing a nice stretch of beach with us.  Quiet and a protected lagoon.  This swimsuit was perfect - ruffles and stripes and under $100.  These sunnies are another favorite of mine - super dark shades and oversized.  

Loved that the Kahala had a diving platform for the older kiddos to jump off of while Mama laid on the beach.  Cute bow sandals for $25!  

The snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was awesome - so many schools of fish.  Make sure you get there early because they will run out of parking - that and they only let 3000 people in per day.  Entry is $7.50 for 12 and up.  

Water shoes are a must.  These are super comfy and stay put via velcro.  You definitely don't want to cut your feet on the coral.  

And when the little guy gets tired - he wants to be carried.  I LOVE the new ErgoBaby 360 that lets him face forward.  He loves being able to see everything!  It is so comfortable to wear that I didn't even bring a stroller on this trip.  The belt is thicker than the old style and allows you to adjust the tightness via velcro - almost like a weight belt.  

Olivia really wanted to swim with the dolphins so we booked it through Dolphin Quest which was located right on property at the Kahala.  Amazing and attentive staff who really took the time to explain dolphin behavior, training, and husbandry to the kids. 

We visited the shrimp trucks in Haleiwa along the North Shore.  The husband got the garlic shrimp and rice from Giovannis and I got mine from Honos.  We both agreed that the rice at Giovanni's is better but the shrimp was better at Honos.  Both were delicious and definitely a must eat.  Bring cash - $13 a plate.  The only drawback was - there were a million flies flying around which was quite gross....but everyone said we had to try it - so we did!  

We stopped by the North Shore to see the famed 15-20 foot waves.  So sad.  There was nothing that day.  It was a pretty stop nonetheless!  We also stopped by the Dole Plantation  and learned some fascinating facts about pineapples.  Don't get ripped off like I did and buy the chocolate covered macadamia  nuts there - they charge $14 a box whereas at Costco - yes I went to Costco - sells it for only $2.35 a box!!  The husband liked to joke that the Pineaapple Dole-ar exchange rate is 6:1.

Our next stop around the island was at the Mormon Temple in Laie.  It was beautiful but we didn't get to stay because it was getting late and it was another hour and a half long drive before we would get around the island. 

We kept driving and saw the ranch where they filmed Jurassic Park - it's a beautiful drive if you have the time.  Where are your favorite, must see spots in Oahu?  

The Kahala Hotel & Resort Review

The children had winter break, the husband's about to turn 40, and I wanted to go somewhere warm - that's right - San Diego wasn't warm enough!  How does Hawaii sound to everyone?  It was a resounding, "YES!"  I mean, how could you not want to go to Hawaii?  

I did some research and decided to stay at the legendary Kahala Hotel and Resort.  It is a gorgeous five star resort tucked away in an upscale residential area - far enough away from bustling Waikiki but close enough to get to if you want to be in the middle of the action.  We came here for a lot of rest and relaxation - not to party nor shop.  Days relaxing and frolicking on a private white sand beach with the family was exactly what we wanted.  

The second we arrived, we were greeted with the traditional lei greeting.  My not so little girl loved it and proceeded to hula dance with it on.  

Outfit details: White tee (20% off with code: SHOPPINGTIME) , sunglasses, flamingo tee

A huge thank you to Kahala for upgrading us to an oceanview room on the 7th floor.  It was heavenly to just be in the room.  The beds were SO incredibly comfortable that we fell asleep right away every night.  We loved sitting on our lanai and just listening to the waves crash in the distance.  The shore is protected by a reef so good snorkeling is available just by walking downstairs.  

The food at the Kahala was phenomenal.  Absolutely delicious and service was so incredibly gracious.  Traveling with a 16 month old - well, they can be messy - especially since mine is always wanting to feed himself - he's at the "I can do it myself" stage.  We never leave a mess for the servers - always cleaning up after the children - I think it's just something our parents taught us....well, the husband got down on the ground to pick up after Christopher and immediately our server ran over and stopped him, asking him to please stop doing their job!  They insisted that they didn't mind sweeping up his mess.  

Outfit details:  Swimsuit, Cover-up by kate spade - old, similar ones here and here, sunglasses

We loved seeing some very well taken care of dolphins, turtles, bat rays, and fish at the resort - they were all beautiful and all very friendly.  Olivia was really looking forward to doing the dolphin encounter with Dolphin Quest and it was worth every penny.  We wanted to have her do the "Trainer for the Day" but they only have one slot - so if you want to do it - book it before you get to the resort!

Since we traveled from California - the time changed messed with the kids a bit and they were up before sunrise every morning.  The sunrises were gorgeous every morning we were there.  

My favorite photo from the whole trip - watching the sunrise with my kiddos.  Mahalo Kahala - we can't wait to visit again!

Gift Ideas for Those with Wanderlust

I'm currently in Hawaii vacationing with the family at the gorgeous The Kahala Hotel & Resort.  Keep an eye out for a review on this gorgeous property that you'll definitely want on your list of places to visit!  In the meantime - take a look at these fun gift ideas for the wanderlust in your life!