Maui Vacation

This post is long overdue, but life happens & we've been busy!  At the beginning of June my husband & I went on a much needed vacation to Maui, Hawaii for ten days.  We did lots of exploring & adventuring, but best of all, spent some great quality time with one another.  With our busy schedules, it was an amazing way to reconnect as a couple.

This was an exciting trip (for many reasons) but one being that Sean had never been to Hawaii and it was so awesome to see him enjoy it for the first time.  We spent the first part of our trip on the south side of Maui in Wailea.  The hotel we stayed at was beautiful & great for relaxing.  The vibe of Wailea overall was very tranquil.

For the second part of our trip, we stayed in Kaanapali, where there was a lot more action.  I'm glad that we had the opportunity to stay in two different areas of the island.  That way, we got to experience different atmospheres.  Both of which were beautiful!

I really enjoyed walking around Lahaina.  Seeing the banyan tree, visiting the art galleries/museums & eating the best shaved ice ever were just a few of the things that we loved doing in Lahaina.  I got a beautiful print from Lahaina Printsellers & we got to learn about some Maui history by visiting the local museums.  

There were so many things that we did on this trip that are worth mentioning.  For the sake of keeping this post on the shorter side, I will just share my most favorites activities :) in no particular order:

Sunrise Haleakala Tour:  Haleakala crater is one of the best places (if not the best) to see the sunrise or sunset in Maui.  We decided we wanted to go for sunrise.  We ended up going on a tour which was a great choice for us.  The shuttle picked us up at our hotel at 2am so we could be up on the summit & ready to see the sunrise at 5:40am.  We were exhausted & it was pretty cold, but we were able to witness the most beautiful sunrise!  As the sun was coming up, someone sang a ceremonial chant.  It's an experience that we will always remember.

Road to Hana:  One of the most famous roads in Maui is the Road to Hana.  Hana is a small town on the eastern side of the island that is pretty isolated.  The easiest way to get to Hana is via the Hana Highway; a long, windy, often one lane road.  Our drive to Hana took a whole day, starting early in the morning.  There is so much to see along the way!  Beautiful beaches, waterfalls, trees & rainforest.  Although the town is uneventful, it's really the drive that most people go for.  We followed along with an app that was very helpful & mentioned which areas were worth stopping at and which ones were not.  

Snorkeling at Molokini:  I think this might be my favorite activity that we did!  We went on a snorkeling trip which took us out to Molokini, a partially submerged crescent shaped volcanic crater that offers a wonderful area for snorkeling.  Those that know me, know how much I love to snorkel.  This was the first time I was able to snorkel with Sean!  He equally loved it :)  We were able to spend a good amount of time in the water & were served a great lunch on our excursion.  We would have easily gone for a second day if we had enough time!

Luau at the Hyatt:  While in Kaanapali, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency.  Turns out, they have a fabulous luau!  We saw Drums of the Pacific Luau & all I can say is WOW.  It was amazing.  The food was awesome & the show was extremely entertaining.  From fire dancers to traditional Polynesian dancing,  this show did not disappoint & was well worth it.  Highly recommended! 

It's safe to say that we had the most wonderful time on our Maui adventure.  We already talk about our next trip back & can't wait to visit again one day.  Aloha!  XOXO

Book Review: Madame Chic Collection

I had been wanting to read the Madame Chic books by Jennifer L. Scott for over a year, but I never got around to buying them until they came out in a boxed set back in October.  As soon as I saw the set, I knew I had to get it!

I love reading anything about Paris & the French.  They seem to have an effortless way of life, that je ne sais quoi.  I am always getting drawn into their culture.  Jeanne Damas, Caroline De Maigret, Vanessa Paradis & Catherine Deneuve are just a few of the beautiful French women that I have come to adore & draw inspiration from.  Some of my favorite books are  How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are, The French Beauty Solution, & Love, Style, Life, all written by incredibly talented, fashionable French women & are wonderful books in their own right.  (Is anyone interested in reading a review about any of the books mentioned above? Let me know in the comments!)

One of the (many) things that makes the Madame Chic collection different from the others that I previously mentioned, is that it is written by an American (Jennifer L. Scott) & documents how she had to adapt to living in Paris while she was in college. 

The first book in the collection is Lessons from Madame Chic: 20 Stylish Secrets I learned While Living in Paris.  In this book, Jennifer talks about the tips she acquired while living in Paris.  She talks about le no makeup look, the ten item wardrobe, diet & exercise, keeping an air of mystery & so much more!  I loved reading all of the little stories she had to share about her time living with Famille Chic & how differently the French live their lives from Americans.

The second book in the collection is  At Home with Madame Chic: Becoming a Connoisseur of Daily Life.  This book is all about, you guessed it, running a home!  Jennifer shares her tips on how to keep your home organized, clean & clutter free.  Have you ever found yourself bored with your home?  Overwhelmed with the amount of cleaning you have to do?  This book gives some direction in how to fall in love with your home all over again & how to keep up on daily cleaning in a non-overwhelming way.  She also has tips for entertaining, various recipes & even how to fold towels.

The third book in the collection is Polish Your Poise with Madame Chic: Lessons in Everyday Elegance.  We learn in this book what poise is & how we can achieve it.  Jennifer talks about the five characteristics of poise; confidence, composure, compassion, presentation & present.  She explains how we should be our "best, poised selves at all times" & gives tips on how we should dress for certain occasions, grooming, deportment, communicating, hosting guests & much more -- all very important things for demonstrating poise! 

All three of these books deal with etiquette, which I feel is a lost art for many of us.  It was refreshing to read about etiquette in a fun way & made me look closer at how I conduct myself.  

Learning about etiquette was wonderful--it was what I expected to gain from these books.  What I didn't expect was the lasting impact they had on me.  This series posed many questions that got me thinking about how I currently live my life & how I want to live my life.  To find the simple pleasures in life, to use the best things that I have, to live within my means & to rid my life of clutter are just a few of the things that these books touch on & that resonate with me.

If you're anything like me, someone who loves reading & learning about other cultures while trying to incorporate their practices into your own life, I would highly recommend this series!  The content of these books can be a bit redundant & some of the tips may not be practical for everyday use, but overall it was a series that I enjoyed reading & it held useful information.  I am constantly finding myself refer back to these books in my daily life & I hope that someday I can possess the poise that Jennifer & Madame Chic hold. :)

Does the Madame Chic collection sound like something you would be interested in reading?  Would you like to read more book reviews?  Let me know!  XOXO

Powder Room Update

We have been in our house for nine months now!  It's crazy to think that it has almost been a year since we started this journey of being homeowners.  There have been ups & downs along the way (more on that another time) & we are still working away at making it the perfect home for us!  One major thing to check off our list was the downstairs powder room.  Eventually, I would like to change out the gold doorknobs on all of our doors & replace the window blinds to wooden or bamboo shades, but for now it's perfect!  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Have a look! :)

The first room I painted in our house was this bathroom, I actually started painting the day after we got our keys!  I used the color Polar Star by Valspar.  Another thing I wanted to do from the start was get a new mirror.  Turns out, the current mirror was glued to the wall & it wasn't coming down.  It was crooked & driving me crazy!  We decided to buy some wood & stain it, that way we could frame the mirror instead of buying a new one.  I think it turned out great!

Something else that we did early on (before moving in) was add some tile backsplash behind the sink.  This is one of my favorite things we did to this room!  It really helped transform it & add a little something extra to a boring bathroom.  We used this tile backsplash from Home Depot.  I love the look of the mixed glass & stainless steel tiles...I think it matches our paint color perfectly.

When we moved in, this bathroom (& the whole house) had gold fixtures everywhere.  The faucet, light & towel ring/toilet paper holder were all that brassy gold color.  We quickly switched those out to brushed nickel & it looks so much better!  

I'm excited to share the rest of our house with you soon!  Thank you for reading about our little bathroom makeover! :) XOXO