Naturally, I had one main hesitation. After high school, it finally dawned on me that Nikki is an introvert (duh, Chels) and I'm, well, pretty much the most extroverted person on the planet. Would I drive her nuts with my incessant conversation and probing to get to the inner workings of one my oldest and dearest buddies? I told her I'd try to not annoy her. I'm sure other moms can understand that--due to lack of adult interaction--sometimes we become chatterboxes and a little obnoxious when we have some 'time off' from bum-wiping, constant meal-preparation, and endless cleaning. My main goal was to relax and capture some of that aloha spirit.
{Are my snuggly poses one of the reasons someone asked if we were on a 'romantic' vacation?}
{The view from our room!}
Can I just say that this trip FAR-EXCEEDED my expectations?! Nikki was a true angel. She is methodical and determined (determined as in making sure we made the 3 mile roundtrip walk to Zippy's for fried chicken, shave ice and malasadas!), but more importantly accomodating and kind. She always made sure I had what I needed and took care of me, knowing I'm there a lot less often than she is! I loved doing crossword puzzles together (apparently my college degree did not help that part of my brain!) and visiting the hotel's VIP lounge at least 3 times daily for breakfasts, afternoon snacks (jars of cookies/trailmix), hors d'oevres (spears of veggies/hummus) and desserts (somewhat dry cake). The VIP lounge workers knew us well and by the second day, they would bring me my cocktail of choice before I even sat down (Sierra Mist and cranberry juice with a lime!).
The quirkiness factor that I can't stop smiling about can be seen in Nikki's urging for us to take the stairs instead of the elevator to our room (16th floor) and her cute perfectionism. Even in looking for a t-shirt for sister Jenny, she'd contemplate the colors, the sizes, and whether or not it was the best option.
I loved hiking Diamondhead where she glistened with sweat and I rained, though actually I love sweating...strange, I know. We rented a beach umbrella one day and just sat back and read and worked on our crosswords. So fun. The best thing, however, must've been when we paddle-surfed. I haven't gotten the water-proof camera pix developed, but man, I'm praying they turn out! It took a while for me to grasp the concept, but I loved being out on the water. I was just following the pro (Dr. Nikki!) and we soon realized there weren't many other surfers around us anymore. I was hopping back on my board and saw 3 dolphins dipping in and out of the calm surf. I started screaming and couldn't get back on my board because I was so excited. Well, let's just say, we were both so excited that we may have wet our pants on this excursion! There were dolphins everywhere. Some were flipping up in the air. It was so amazing, and magical, although at moments we were nervous, knowing we were basically helpless in the middle of the ocean. With bits of trepidation, we couldn't help but follow the small herds around. It was ridiculously cool. I couldn't stop saying, "Oh wow." "Oh my gosh." "Oh man." "Oh my goodness!" Nikki was making fun of me the whole trip for it. Suddenly every meal I ate and everything I did and saw received the same reaction. I told her to be grateful that I'm so easily pleased!
We both fell in love with a local artist, Heather Brown. I love the bright colors in her simple ocean paintings. And I love that even though Nikki's a stinkin' brainiac, she's also so artistic and went home to try her hand at some colorful canvas art. I bought a print to remember this fantastic trip.
{Our lounge buddies. We'd pretend we didn't know them, and they'd pretend they hadn't already seen us multiple times each day. They even packed a bag of Nikki's favorite cookies for our flight home.}
{side shot because blogger taking too long to re-upload. Nikki playing Scrabble and sorting her trail mix.}
{Mmmm. Local omelet (spam, chinese sausage, eggs, and rice) at Bogart's}
{Stairs heading up Diamondhead.}
Before departing for Hawaii, I had an entire day to spend with my beautiful mom in LA. So wonderful. And I even got to stop in and see Christy's new bundle of joy, Rhys. I'll post those pictures/details next. I'm sure I've already lost my 2 regular readers in this lengthy rambling!
4 comments:
I noticed Nikki's glistening glow at the top of Diamondhead but you didn't look at all schweaty. You forgot to mention that GINORMOUS pancake in front of your omelette. Glad to see pics of your fabulous vacation!
I am so jealous! What a fun trip! Oh, and I love your descriptions about the trip (I read the whole post!)
i read the whole post, too, and cracked up the whole time. it was a really cute tribute to our little perfectionista and i loved your statement at the beginning of the post that opposites attract (hey, hey). and btw, you guys totally look like lesbians in your pictures. just kidding! not at all! but i really, really, really miss you. take that as you will.
Chelsea!! You have more than 2 readers. I love reading your posts, you are so funny and so descriptive and creative with your writing! What a fun journey and one you will always remember! ( I still feel guilty about the whole hair/Laura episode. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me!)
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