Rock the Vote 2012

Proud to have voted in my first Presidential election. 

We The Urban

Insomnia

A playlist for those sleepless nights

Listen here

Daisy

I know, I know, Daisy is old news.  Julie and I were obsessed with it when it first came out and are still obsessed.  When Julie brought it home from Boston with her as my birthday present, it's all I've been wearing.  It's so light and refreshing, effortless if you must label it.  A no brainer, slap (or in this case spritz) it on, and go type of ordeal.  Not to mention it looks damn good on your dresser.

Shoe Lust: Summer Edition

 

 

Find them here

Good Eats

I was cleaning up the files on my blackberry tonight and I realized that there are pictures I never got around to uploading from various food escapades.  So here you go, eat your heart out.

Romy's Kahuku Prawns & Shrimp

This is a must-do when you're joyriding in the country.  I'm personally not a huge shrimp fan but my mama and siblings swear by it, enough to wait sometimes up to 40 minutes.  I may not like the shrimp but I'm all about the rice and garlic topping. 

The aftermath of eating at Romy's, but this time the prawns.  It must have been good because they wiped it out before I could snap a picture.

 

Matsumoto's Shave Ice

Shave Ice makes me so happy I live in Hawaii.  I live for shave ice.  I can eat it all day, everyday and honestly never get sick of it.  The only shave ice you need to take the time out to go get is the shave ice from Matsumoto's.  The perfect summer day, or any day for that matter, is chilling at Haleiwa Beach, eating lunch at Cholo's and then heading down the street to grab my personal favorite combination, large guava and lilikoi (passionfruit) with a snowcap (condensed milk).  If you're feeling a little more adventurous, add in some ice cream. 

Guys, trust me on this one.

 

Honolulu Greek Festival

Part of me wants to be a brat and never speak of this festival because it's so amazing and gets more and more crowded each year.  But because my need to share and just re-live the annual Greek Festival until it rolls around again outweighs my want to be selfish, here you go.  It is hands down, one of my favorite events to go to.  The food is amazing, the music is so so good (check out Fotia and Sotos Kappas), and the atmosphere just relaxes you and makes you feel, well...Greek.  I'm counting down the year till I can grab a glass of Greek wine or Ouzo to wash down the delicious food with but until then, I'm satisfied stuffing my face.  Some of the highlights from this year though I have to be honest, I was too busy enjoying myself that I forgot to document. 

Gyro

Bento of mixed baklava and Greek pastries, Greek beer, souvlaki and pita

 

Half devoured plate of moussaka, rice pilaf, and spanakopita

 Not really food but I love watching people from across the little pond, gathering under this tree to eat and enjoy themselves.

See what else I'm up to here

*All photographs taken on my BlackBerry Bold

 

Note to Self

Clean Cut

I have a love affair with my hair.  It grows super fast, its insanely long and super thick, and it was only ever dyed once in my life (horrible highlights that I completely drawn a veil over).  But I've had the same hairstyle forever.  It's literally almost to my ass and it's heavy and gets in the way.  I want to cut it short and donate it because I know it'll grow back in no time.  I just don't know what I'm looking for.  Tonight my nook downloaded the new Glamour magazine with Kristen Stewart as the cover model.  Her hair is amazing.  Maybe I've found my new hairstyle?

 

Fall Lust

The perfect fall uniforms

J.Crew

Organize My Life

I need to find a better way to organize things around me.  I've started on my desk and picked up baskets that I can store my things in so it isn't so cluttered.  Now I need to move onto my dresser.  I have products up to my eyeballs and nowhere to put them all.

Who do I need to talk to in order to make this happen?

If I hang a fixture like this over the wall, it would free up insane amounts of space.

To deal with the obsessive collection I own.

Make-up and trinkets, yes?

A beautiful way to hide crap.

I need this in my life. 

Rainy Days

Back to school in Manoa means back to wet and rainy days.

Last fall semester I ruined a couple pairs of shoes because of the rain so I'm thinking maybe it's time to invest in some rain boots.  I'm digging the style of these Hunter Brixen wellies.

 

However, when it isn't raining I'd like to strut around campus in these babies.

"Nothing of me is original.  I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known."


                                                                                   - C. Palahniuk

Adore

I absolutely love that Helena Bonham Carter is in the new Marc Jacob's Fall Campaign.  The woman is brilliant.

City Life

Cultured

I spent my Saturday afternoon floating along in another museum, the Hawaii State Art Museum (HiSAM).  Located downtown pretty much right across St. Andrew's Cathedral, the museum is actually housed in the original site of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  I attended summer school for about six years at St. Andrew's and I've never known about this museum.  The building itself is amazing.  It's so sad though with Hawaii's government in a financial mess that there is hardly any upkeep for the building.  In comparison to the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the HiSAM is quite tiny.  But no one minds when you see what they have displayed.

Renamed the No. 1 Capitol District Building, the scrollwork and other architectural details were modeled after the Davanzatti Palace in Florence, Italy.

Yoko Haar

Erosion #2, 2000  Ceramic relief

Satoru Abe

Copper Cutout Series, 1985-1992  Copper

Two of my favorites.

Fred Roster

The Eye of the Storm, 1994  Stone, wood, and cast bronze

It's all in the detail.

Satoru Abe

East and West, 1971  Welded copper and bronze

Die-hard

Last night I watched VH1's 100 Greatest Artists.  Every so often they'd have other artist's ballots on their top five favorite artists of all time.  So for the three hours that I was watching, my mama and I tried to come up with our personal list of top five artists.  That honestly has to be one of the most challenging things to do.  After sleeping on it I still can't organize a working list.

A list I do keep though, is a list of songs and artists I come across.  I have one on my phone as well as in a journal and on the notepad on my computer.  I bought a notebook specially made to keep track of these kinds of things but like usual, I neglect my notebooks.  I should make that my summer project: transfer those lists into the book.  Ah, we shall see.

Afternoon Delight

This past Sunday I was lucky enough to have the day off from work allowing me to visit the Honolulu Academy of Arts with my family.  I haven't been there forever, easily since elementary school.  I assumed it wouldn't be much, just a few pieces here and there and mostly locally-themed art.  I was completely wrong.  The facility itself was beautiful.  A mix of old and new architecture, there was gallery after gallery filled to the brim with amazing pieces.  The curators at the Academy of Arts really take pride in their exhibits.  For me, the highlights of the afternoon were the Renaissance, Baroque, and Romantic era themed galleries, the Greek sculpture and pottery gallery, and the rotating gallery which this time around held the Artists of Hawaii 2011 exhibit.  If you have the chance to go, check out this gallery before it's gone.  I also fell in love with the Mediterranean Courtyard.  So peaceful and bright. I'm definitely going to make a point to come to the Academy more often.  

Daren Waterston's 'Forest Eater' exhibit.

Donald Dugal

Twenty Improvs on a Bougainvillea Hedge, 2011  Watercolor on paper

Richard Pousette-Dart

Savage Rose, 1951  Oil on canvas

Chandelier in the Romantic Art gallery

Marble statue in Renaissance era gallery

Mediterranean Courtyard