A Big Girl Birthday

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Mae

Aloha, Lovecat!

Although I celebrated my birthday two nights ago, IT’S MY BIRTHWEEK**, so I wanted to let you in on my celebration. Here are some photos from my surprise birthday dinner party at YuZu, a vegetarian/vegan friendly sushi joint in Ala Moana.

{ Surprise! A Big Girl Birthday Dinner Party With People! Yay For Friends and Vegetarian Sushi! }

thereafterish, foodporn, Yuzu Ala Moana, Hawaii Living, Nutella Crepe

{ Make a wish! My birfday strawberry nutelle crepe. }

As I stated yesterday, my birthday wish was to have something super low-key, understated, quiet and possibly boring. I didn’t want anyone or anything to be a big deal for my thirty-first. A cheap dinner and a walk on the beach would’ve been perfect, but Husby wanted to go out to dinner, so I suggested our new Japanese go-to restaurant in Ala Moana (the district with the big-ass mall next to Waikiki), YuZu, which provides a much broader range of options for vegans and vegetarians than other Japanese/Asian restaurants in Honolulu.

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{ Husby’s vegan-friendly veggie nigiri sushi platter. All vegan options! Delish! }

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{ My dinner entrée: Seafood Dynamite roll – Teriyaki salmon and shiitake mushrooms on dynamite roll bed. I’m a pescetarian – a fish-only vegetarian with vegan tendencies. }

{ Nigiri sushi balls @ Yuzu, Ala Moana at ma birfday dindin. }

When we walked in the door, running ten minutes late, I spied our friend JB, a triathlete, extreme hiker and Doctor of Group Hugs and Handshakes, sitting on the couch in the lounge. He gave me a hugely quizzical face, probably mirroring the perplexedness wrinkling up my face. I didn’t recognize him at first, since he was scrubbed up all nice, and I only ever see him in biking or hiking gear, covered in a sweaty sheen with some streaks of Hawaiian red mud. I’m sure he was stunned by my beauty (read: not at all). LOL.

After we were seated for a few, ordered some drinks, who comes sauntering in but my very first real friend in Hawaii, Allie (of life & style blog, Heels, Eggs and Rice) and her boyf G! Allie draped a gorgeous, fragrant orchid lei about my shoulders, and, at that moment I felt like some sort of pageant queen.

Husby then informed me that our other friends M, C and their son Nico couldn’t make it, and that he had forgotten to invite a few other people. Of course, I was pretty thrown off, because I wasn’t expecting people. Husby and I generally celebrate our birthdays just the two of us and in quietude. To have people at a birthday dinner is a huge change! It would’ve been a full-on grown up party! I’ve only ever had a few of those in my life, so it was a beautiful night.

{ Da group. Missing a few good people. }

{ Allie and I discussing eyebrows and fashion bloggers, and the men discussing hiking… and GD hopping in between convos. LOL! }

{ Birfday girl’s delicious dessert. }

For dessert, I ordered a Nutella organic strawberry crépe (with the whipped creme 86′d–don’t do full on sugared dairy). Delicious, nutty, chocolate-y goodness to finish off a night of amazing conversation, friendship and fun in a gorgeous, dimly-lit, homey environment.

thereafterish, foodporn, Yuzu Ala Moana, Hawaii Living, Asian Girl in Lei, Asian girl shaka

{ Shaka to yo mada! }

I decided against wishing, since all my birthdays have been progressively better, and each year of life improves upon the last. With my family, friends and amazing life in Hawaii, I decided making wishes would be hypocritical or excessive, or even may jinx all the good fortune with which we’ve been blessed over the last two years. I’ll just let the Universe continue to bestow all the amazingness and ride the current for as far as it takes us, perpetuating good waves and vibrations by trying to remain drama and negativity-free.

A wonderful night, all in all. Better than a mountain of presents. Mos’ def.

{ Do you make wishes on your birthday? What do you usually wish for? Share with me in the comments below! I’d love to know! }

Rock on, Lover!
Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

**FYI: This entirely spoiled rotten, indulgent notion of a birthweek is completely farcical and said in a joking manner. I would never encourage or demand anyone celebrate my birthday for a week straight. That’s just way bratty. Also, it would be too taxing on my energy to have to celebrate that much.

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31 Birfdays

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Mae

Aloha, Lovecat,

Do you know someone who is a total brat about his or her birthday? Loves reveling in the celebration, giddy like an excited eight year old in the thought of receiving presents and having people lavish them with attention?

{ Birthday Brat }

Day in the Life, thereafterish, Hawaii Life, Birfday, happy asian girl, paperhat, selfie

{Birfday girl. Wearing a WWD paper hat.}

A birthday brat. That’s me. I turn into a child every spring. We all know That Person–the one who makes their birthday the biggest friggin’ deal of the year, expects dinners and presents galore, calls it a Birth Month and expects their friends and family to play along with their Me Show. There’s one in every circle of friends and every family. I may happen to be That Girl in my family.

What can I say? I normally don’t like being the center of attention (believe it or not), but when my husband makes a big deal of me, I lap it up. And, seriously, a girl loves her presents. We don’t normally give each other huge anniversary presents (since we have three anniversaries) or Christmas presents… so, once a year it’s nice to get some goodies.

Husby has a 6-7 year running joke that he doesn’t remember my birthday or won’t do anything to celebrate it. So, for the last two years I’ve made an effort not to make a big deal about my birthday, not go overboard with mentions or reminders or ask for anything. Last year he rewarded me with a sumptuous dinner date, a couple’s spa afternoon and an extravagant shopping spree. (It was my Big Dirty Thirty.) In light of the luxurious (and expensive!) celebration last year, I decided to be pretty nonchalant about it all this year, shrugging when asked what we wanted to do, replying that I wanted something quiet and low-key, small and boring.

I like quiet and boring. With the right people, it’s a Happy Place.

I fully planned on napping in the car on my lunch break after my daily lunch walk through the wonderfully air conditioned mall near the office. Instead I received an email around 10AM:

I wanna take my girl out. What time can I get you? Where can we go? You can nap later.

So. Cute.

Day in the Life, thereafterish, Hawaii Life, Birfday, foodgram, gramming

{My birfday lunch: vegetarian/vegan picnic in the park with my family.}

Day in the Life, thereafterish, Hawaii Life, Birfday, Wheaten Terrier

{Husby and Max the Bear, the best presents I’ve ever had in my life.}

Husby and Max picked me up for lunch at the office, we hit up a local deli for our vegan and vegetarian eats and then drove to Kapiolani Regional Park in the shadow of Diamond Head, found an extremely shaded spot and copped a squat on a beach towel for a makeshift picnic. Perfect lunch date with my perfect little ohana (family).

Max begging and Husby enabling…

Day in the Life, thereafterish, Hawaii Life, Birfday, iPhoneography

{Caught picnic gramming.}

Although I’ve been joking it’s my Birfweek on my social media, yesterday was the perfect singular day for my birthday. After we got home, I grammed for a bit on the couch, then we went out to dinner. More on that tomorrow.

Day in the Life, thereafterish, selfie, ariel gordon initial necklace, lace earring, coral lipstick, happy asian, reflection

{Reflection selfie}

Day in the Life, thereafterish, selfie, ariel gordon initial necklace, lace earring, coral lipstick

{Birthday selfie: the perfect understated necklace from my best friend Lily, a single crazy lace earring and coral lipstick smiles.}

{You can see my hormonal acne if you look closely. LOL.}

It was definitely the best way to celebrate 31 years. I’m now firmly in my Thirties. I love it.

{Reflecting on life.}

Along with another year of life, I find myself reflecting about how I live and the years behind me. And I truly must say, life does get better as one ages. Do you find that’s true? If not, you’re living wrong.

{ Do you know a Birthday Brat? Are you one? Do you find that life gets better the older you get? How do you celebrate your birthdays? Please share in the comments! }

Rock on, Lover!
Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

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Day in the Life: Home – Put Down the Damn Phone

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Mae

Aloha, Lovecat,

Have you ever been so engrossed with something so petty or meaningless (like a phone or a magazine article), that you miss the greater beauty of the moment happening around you?

This happened to me yesterday.

{ A Day in the Life: Life is Beautiful, Put Down the GDDMN Phone! }

Hawaii life, living in hawaii, Hanauma Bay, thereafterish, Wheaten Terrier, Sony NEX 5R, Hawaii Sunset

{My Hawaii Life: Shaka – It’s all good.}

N sat on the couch next to me, a bowl of salad on his lap, crunching away on his greens. In between bites, he paused and gasped.

“Oh my effing God,” he said, leaning forward.

“Mm-hmmm,” I mumbled, scrolling through my Instagram feed.

“I can’t believe we live here! Look at that sky!”

I briefly looked up from my iPhone. The sky was afire, apricot, peach, tawny reds, some lavenders, a little pink tinge on that wisp of cloud, and a gradient of infinite, deepest blue. Against this coat of many colors, the cone silhouette of Koko Head had a patch work of light playing against the dry greens and yellows and browns, shadows creeping deep in the ridges and grooves eroded into the sides of the volcano. The moon was a quiet shimmer through the clouds, ready to rise once sunlight completely died.

N’s mouth was agape.

{Sunset chasing and sweet kisses from my Son[Dog] Max.}

{Poke!}

I went back to my phone and the beautiful women in beautiful clothes crowding my timeline.

“Seriously, look at this… this is effing beautiful!” N continued, pausing to take another humongous bite of his dinner salad. “Did you ever think to yourself, three-four years ago, that we’d ever in our lives be living here?”

“Uh uh,” I mumbled, shaking my head, not taking my eyes from my phone.

Gorgeous outfits and sky-high heels flashed before my eyes as I tapped and scrolled, tapped and scrolled, liking a photo quickly and moving on to the next without commenting. I continued scrolling from photo to photo for awhile before I realized N had stopped talking.

I looked up. N’s brow furrowed deeply, lines cutting across his head like cracks in a dry lake bed. A deep fissure between his eyebrows. A look of concern and stern scolding flashing in his dark eyes.

“What?”

“Don’t you ever put down your damn phone? Look where we are. Listen to what we’ve just been talking about. Look outside and see how lucky we are. You live where you never dreamed you’d be. Why don’t you just put down the phone and be in the moment for a second?”

He snatched the iPhone out of my hand and tossed it on the floor, just a ways out of my reach. Normally something like this would annoy the shit out of me, but he was absolutely right. I needed to be in this moment, a moment of true and stunning beauty that may never be replicated.

Koko Head’s slopes were darkening in the waning light and the moon had gained strength from that quiet shimmer to a glowing orb, silver and hazy behind the clouds.

I gasped. All my breath disappeared for a quick second.

{Koko Head and moonrise.}

Truth is, no, before I met N, I had never imagined living in Hawaii, let alone travel there. I mean, I’d wished I could visit, but on a poor college kid’s budget, not something I’d really fantasize about and plan in detail. Before I met N, no one had ever said they’d take me there, or talked about what was here. I never played the Anywhere But Here Fantasy game where I’d imagine different scenarios and daydream about vacations and excursions in this exotic locale of legendary sunsets, gorgeous rainbows and white sands. Before I met N, I’d never let my dreams venture farther than the reaches of the eastern coast of the United States or farther south than Baja Mexico (where I’d already been) or farther west of the California coastal town I lived in. My mind just didn’t expand or widen enough to include faraway places and foreign lands or tropical destinations. I was firmly and plainly a continental girl, living in a bubble and unimaginative beyond all measure.

Then I met N, who came from a weird and foreign place (Detroit), who had traveled the globe and was interested in it… and my entire perspective of the world changed. All of a sudden, there WAS a world out there. It actually existed and real people lived in it and had stories to tell. Not just the stories I heard on the news or saw in movies or read on blogs or in magazines. All the fairytales and fantasies were real, happened in real castles and cathedrals and palaces and in hillsides and forest glades, along rivers and in lakes and in glorious, towering mountains, and not just as the history books told them!

I know I make my teenage and early 20 something self sound so naive, but in truth, I really was that sheltered. Sure, I knew the world existed, but never once did I think I’d go out and explore it, so it never made sense to be curious or imagine a life of adventure in it for myself.

{Max looking out over Hawaii Kai, to our mountainside neighborhood, Mariner’s Ridge.}

So now that I find myself living this weird and beautiful Hawaiian adventure with my husband and my Wheaten Terrier, why do I let myself miss out on it so often?

We sacrificed a lot, slaved for years and risked much to come and build a life here. Given everything we’ve been through to make our own dreams real, why take it for granted or even forget that it’s here? Why obsess over material things I’ll never give myself and obsess about beautiful women I may never meet, whose style I can’t attain? There are much more beautiful, gorgeous things happening here in Hawaii. The best runway show at Paris Fashion Week could never rival the light show that runs across our Hawaii skies each night.

{I put down my phone for a second to enjoy the view.}

Sometimes, you realize how absolutely breathtaking your life is… you only have to put down that goddamned phone to see it.

{ Have you ever come to a similar realization? }

Rock on, Lover!
Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

Photos © Nate Luzod except for first photo.

Day in the Life: Swimming Hole versus Wheaten Terrier

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Mae

Aloha, Lovecat,

This weekend, we hike five miles. Along a mountain ridge, descended the mountainside into a valley, followed a stream to a waterfall with swimming hole. This is video evidence that my Wheaten Terrier (which we also call our Bear[dog]), Max, enjoyed the hike.

I hope your weekend was lovely. Have a great week!

Rock on, Lover!
Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

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Life in Pictures: Last Week, According to my iPhone

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Mae

Aloha auinalā, lover!

How are things in your world? Last week things were pretty fun, my uncle visited and stayed with us for a week after working the Honolulu 1st International Auto Show, and so we took him around our Island home here and there. It was pretty fun.

{ Life in Pictures / Week in Pictures: What We Were Up To Last Week, According to My iPhone }

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, Wheaten Terrier

{Max pouting in bed on Sunday morning after a particularly rainy morning walk.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, Diamond Head beach, Karl Shinsato memorial

{A shrine dedicated to a deceased surfer, Karl Shinsato, who died in 2005.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, Diamond Head Beach, Cloud pictures, hawaii sunset

{Even in the darkness, there is a golden ray of hope. Tourists and other sunset chasers (like us) at Diamond Head beach.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, sweet home cafe honolulu

{Authentic Asian cuisine that’s super healthy and deliciously filling at Sweet Home Café in Mo‘ili‘ili.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, Sunset chasing, China Walls, Wheaten Terrier

{Max the Bear and Uncle L sunset chasing at China Walls, our normal sunset watching spot.}

{While sunset chasing, we ran into some Instagram Friends, D, D and R, who also have a Wheaten Bear back home! Hi, guys!}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, ootd, thereafterish, what I wore

{Tuesday’s OOTD.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, OOTD, What I wore, Bunny ear headband

{My quirky bunny ear headband and arm party on Tuesday.}

{Max and his dad, N, sprawled out in the living room Wednesday Morning.}

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{Feelin’ pretty for small show with Jon Yamasato and Herb Ohta, Jr.}

{Family portrait on Thursday after dinner with my cousins and uncle at our usual Thursday spot, the Kailua Farmers Night Market.}

{Max was all loved up on Uncle L, one of his favorite uncles.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, Kaneohe

{The epic and lush Windward Side (East side) of Oahu as seen from the Pali Lookout – Kaneohe Bay and Kaneohe town in the distance.}

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{Kaneohe Bay glitters aqua and bright.}

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{More views of the lush landscape of the Windward Side looking toward Kailua and Kapa‘a Quarry in the distance.}

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{Uncle L and the amazing Windward Side landscape sprawling below.}

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{Cliff jumpers contemplating their fate at La‘i‘e Point on the North Shore, Oahu.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, Laie Point, North Shore Hawaii

{Epic waves batter the sharply textured rocks at La‘i‘e Point on the North Shore. Husby and Max in the distance.}

hawaii life, living in hawaii, thereafterish, things to see in Hawaii, North Shore, Hawaiian Coffee, Coffee Gallery

{My favorite place to get amazing locally grown Hawaiian coffees on the North Shore: Coffee Gallery.}

{My Hawaii Life in Pictures}

Sunday: Lazy day cleaning the house and hanging with Max.
Monday: Dropped off Uncle in Waikiki before work, then picked him up after his lazy beach day, took him sunset chasing at Diamond Head Beach, and then do dinner at Sweet Home Cafe in Mo‘ili‘ili
Tuesday: Worked, then met Uncle, Husby and Max at China Walls, our normal sunset chasing haunt, but our sunset blocked by clouds. However, we ended up running into some Instagram friends, D and R and their daughter D, who also have a Wheaten Bear back home in California! Yay, FRANZ.
Wednesday: Worked, then jammed into town to see Jon Yamasato and Herb Ohta, Jr., local recording artists play some beautiful Hawaiian music.
Thursday: Worked, then jammed over to the Windward Side to eat dinner with my cousins (who were also visiting Hawaii at the same time) and my Uncle at the Kailua Farmers Night Market. We forgot to snap photos with my cousins, but we did get a family portrait with a very hyper Bear[Dog].
Friday: Took Friday off work for Doctor’s appointments and to hang out with la familia in the evening, heading out to Lanikai Beach where I also forgot to take pictures. Oops.
Saturday: Morning appointments, then a massage at my regular spot, gifting a session to my uncle as well! Lunch, and then afternoon road trip up the east shore and up to the North Shore with lots of pictures to be snapped.
Sunday, Uncle left, but I’ll save these photos for next week’s post.

How was your week last week?

Rock on, Lover!
Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

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Day in the Life: I’m a Nerd

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Mae

Regarding a certain task I’ve been needing to complete and haven’t done yet.

{ Day in the Life: Musings on Nerd-dom – How I Define Things }

I have a certain thing I have to do that’s been overdue for a long, long time. Even though there’s only a tiny batch of the entire task left to do, I just don’t want to do it. The whole undertaking was a helluva lot to accomplish, and it feels like such a battle (albeit a mental one) to complete what’s already mostly been done.

The final hurdle feels like a growing gulf to cross and it feels like there is no quick way to get over it.

And how this pertains to me being a nerd? Well, I summed up my feelings on this issue to Husby (N), who would understand without any additional thought exactly what I was talking about.

“And that [MUNDANE TASK TO BE COMPLETED]… the final batch: It’s like that last, big boss in a long-ass RPG that you don’t feel like leveling up for just to beat the game.”

And that’s how I roll, yo. Any RPG (Role Playing Game like Zelda, Final Fantasy, etc.) nerd or gamer would understand exactly what I’m talking about and probably sum up their I-don’t-wanna-arduous-tasks with an analogous simile.

Has this ever happened to you? Where the final item in a task feels like the biggest mountain to climb, the largest burden to surmount? Do you ever define things in videogame or animé terms? Do tell!

Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

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Day in the Life: Yesterday Was Pathetic, Today is OK

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Mae

Yesterday kinda rocked, but also kind of stunk so this title by a song of the same name by Icelandic Band Múm is kind of appropriate.

Where I ate lunch after my Doctor’s appointment. My view from Island Brew Coffeehouse in Hawaii Kai, next to Koko Marina

I’ve been waking up with mild throbbing, pulling tension in my forehead, behind my eyebrows and at my temples for several days. As the days spend out their hours and come to a close, the tension becomes actual pain and a sharp, pounding pressure and continues to mount until I have to go to bed and I feel like I’ve just put my head through a wall. Hot showers, neti-potting (nasal flushing or douching, if you prefer), facial massage, cold compresses, Tylenol (acetaminophen)–nothing I tried would bring relief. Monday and Tuesday night, the pain became so unbearable, I grew dizzy, my eyesight started warping and blurring a bit, and I couldn’t sleep properly. Which is saying something, because I can sleep through a hurricane once I actually fall asleep (which is the usual difficulty for me)! In addition to a lupus/arthritis flare in my hips and back, my head was raging…all in all, Monday and Tuesday night pretty much sucked except for the part where Husby cooked me delicious seared tofu and veggies for dinner and let me veg on the couch all night.

I have never had a headache this bad… nor have I had one last for five days straight.

Yesterday, I came into work, feeling mildly as if I’d been run over, the buzzing in my forehead only getting stronger. I called my Doctor’s office, who was able to get me into the clinic the same day. Then I checked in with the bosses (I work for a couple), who said, “don’t even think about taking your work home, just go home and rest,” and by 11AM I was out the door for the day. (I love my bosses and my job. So grateful for them.)

1.5 hours at the doc. It wasn’t stress, it wasn’t a cluster headache (as I feared), not a tension headache, but a sinus problem. I have managed to develop allergies. Never in my life have I had allergies. Even when I lived in the smog and pollen ridden Midwest, I did not have allergies. Damn you, tropics and your perfect climate for flourishing molds and fungi! All that damn mold from living in the rain forest and all the mold we regularly have to clean away from our rainy mountain top home have made me develop allergies! That explains the X-men mutant strength blue and brown dark circles I’ve developed over the last year that make me look like someone beat the living sh*t out of me every morning, which I must cover with corrector, foundation and strongly pigmented concealers (4 layers, people!) everyday to look somewhat normal. (I swear you can still see them through all that cr*p.) And the random sneezing (I thought it was just because my office and car–two places I spend a lot of time in–were dusty). And the headaches. And the dizziness. And the eyeball probs. But seriously, allergies SUCK. Husby has LOTS of them. It has, on occasion, been absolute misery for him.

BLARGH!

After the disappointing news at the doctor, my head still raging, I decided to call my massage therapist and see if she could squeeze me in. YES. 1 hour of relief. With half an hour to kill, I decided to eat lunch by Koko Marina at a local coffeehouse. As I walked in, one of my favorite local recording artists, Jon Yamasato (also here), was floating through the place, and silver light flooded the walls as it reflected off the water of the marina. I just sat, listened to the quiet and contented conversations of the patrons enjoying their coffees, heard the whir of the coffee grinder and the hubbub of the staff making lunches and lattés, watched the sun glint off the water like glitter alive. That moment felt as if I’d come upon an oasis. My head still pounded… but everything felt less chaotic.

Then, massage. Om, b*tches. Serious om. That’s all I can say.

Fail, install this side down, construction fail, epic fail

INSTALL THIS SIDE DOWN. Translate to: #FAIL

Then, head still pounding, but less badly, I picked up yet more items at the drugstore, grabbed my prescriptions from Costco (where I noticed, in the loo, that someone had installed the toilet paper holder upside down–another example of wonderful Hawaii construction standards, LOL) and then headed home, by which time it was already almost 4:30PM. What? So much for working from home.

I tried to eat something and then spent the next hour medicating; massaging my arms, back, temples and forehead; inhaling bergamot and tea tree-oil infused steam from a hot compress over my face; applying Biofreeze to my inflamed hips and lower back and watching HGTV. Fell asleep by 6 and then woke up again only to take a nap from 8-9:30 to make myself a hodgepodge of dinner and clean the kitchen. I missed seeing sunset (sunset chasing is one of my newfound hobbies), which can be epic in my neighborhood due to the moisture and atmosphere that develops on this slightly wetter side of town. Sad. I’m not sure how I spent the time the rest of the night or what time I even managed to drift off to sleep, but I know it involved re-watching more episodes of Downton Abbey, House Hunters and The Property Brothers before I completely conked out.

hawaii sunset, sunset in hawaii, thereafterish, hawaii living, living in hawaii, hawaii life, hawaii kai

The epically gorgeous sunsets in Hawaii are even more stunning particularly in East Oahu where there’s more moisture and clouds.

How do I feel today? Dizzy, lightheaded and sore. But at least I don’t feel like I got run over by a truck, so that’s better. But I’m a bit annoyed and frustrated.

Because of this new development in my body there are yet more drugs I must take from now on, in addition to the half bottle of supplements, vitamins and couple lupus-related meds I already take daily. I’m a healthy person… I eat right (mostly), I exercise (more than the average American), I hydrate, stretch, try to be positive and live [mostly] drama-free, but man, all this pill popping and these headache issues really chap my ass. Can’t I just be normal for once? So. F*cking. Annoying.

I guess there’s a price to pay for paradise after all. I’ll take it. Despite this stupid hiccup, I’m still insanely lucky to live here. And no matter what, I still wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Ever.

How are you today?

Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

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Days in the Life: Holidays 2012, Part I

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Mae

Aloha, Lovecat. So, yeah, I was kind of missing in action all Christmas/Holiday Season. But, I’m bat-sh*t crazy for Christmas. If you didn’t know… you will know once you’re done watching this vlog. Even though I was MIA, I filmed a lot of footage of my days. So here it is…

{ Day in the Life: My Holiday Season 2012, Part I }

thereafterish, honolulu living, wheaten terrier, dogs that look like teddy bears

Max the Christmas Bear at the Christmas House in Hawaii Kai

If you want to know what I was up to this Christmas season… please keep watching.

The Christmas House
My Fixation with Christmas Season and Festive Decor
Christmas House #2
How Christmas in a Warm Climate is More “Christmas-y” to me than Snow Fields, Pine Trees and Cold

More to come with several parts – see parts of my Christmas Holiday, parts of a last minute trip to Canada, and how I spent New Year.

Music:
Listed in Order of Feature.

Goto80 and the Uwe Schwenk Band – “Volksing Ferretismico” (Chip Tune, Electronic)
freemusicarchive.org/music/Goto80_and_the_Uwe_Schenk_Band

Sycamore Drive – “Slumber” (Chip Tune, Electronic)
freemusicarchive.org/music/Sycamore_Drive/

Lomovolokno – “Overlay Star” (Electronic, Chill Out)
freemusicarchive.org/music/Lomovolokno

Sycamore Drive – “Mortimer’s Melody”

Will Heikoop – “Christmas Star”
freemusicarchive.org/music/Will_Heikoop

How was your Holiday Season?

Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

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FTC: Not a sponsored post. There is nothing sponsored about this video. It’s a very personal video and no person or thing was harmed in the making of it.

Music obtained from Free Music Archive by WFMU. Music is all royalty free and approved for use by artists through the Free Music Archive user agreement.
—

Vlog: Love and Honesty: Be Who You Are, Show Yourself

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Mae

Aloha, Lovecat, This will be a very personal vlog and article…

I’ve mentioned it before, but I am and can be insanely self-conscious about myself, my body and my outfits, and sometimes down-right insecure about all three. So I thought I’d talk about 1. perception and tell you a bit more about my personality, 2. go bare-faced and in depth about the biggest insecurity of all that I face daily, and 3. show you a little bit more about my Everyday (my workplace and my office).

*Warning: NSFW: contains explicit language*

You may not know that I’ve been a blogging for, like, forever… I started a personal blog back in 2002, which began as a true journal, where I’d write my fiction (I’ve been a writer since childhood, and even went to school for writing–English Bachelor of Science), talk about my relationship, do some creative non-fiction and, of course, the occasional style post. As time went on, I wanted to focus less on talking so openly about my relationship as we progressed and grew into more of a family-unit together, and more on my style posts and fiction. Eventually, it was advised that I focus primarily on style and make a separate style blog just for my fashion-related posts and keep my creative, personal blog private. That was two years ago. Eventually, my journal site writings fell by the way side as my energies on my style blog grew, and the more open, raw, honest and personal side began to diminish.

I know that I don’t always showcase all sides of me on my style blog. Many fashion bloggers have this flawless, gorgeous appearance. They always look amazing, they have perfect photos, great outfits, expensive clothes, the perfect house. They have this well-polished facade–not necessarily fake, but a curated aspect of their world that only showcases one facet of their life, while keeping their personal, IRL personality behind an unspoken screen. Occasionally, they show us their real colors and their personality, but a lot of the time, what we see of them is only what we see in their gorgeous, edited photos.

I have many times tried to infuse my silly personality through my writing, but I never know how it’s received. Some of you actually know how insane, quirky, totally bat-shit weird I am. Some of you know that I have the habits of a yuppie and like to joke that I hate being called it. Some of you know I label every thing in my life in order to ascribe meaning to them and what they mean to me. Some of you know I don’t take myself very seriously. Some of you know that I’m pretty sarcastic and my sense of humor doesn’t make sense to most people. Some of you realize I think I’m a lot funnier than I am truly, and that what I can say in text can translate pretty poorly. Some of you know I live with Chronic Bitch Face and Chronic Bitch Voice, so I can appear or sound condescending, snotty and bitchy, when in my head I’m singing, dancing in the rain and skipping down streets, and cooing at people in a happy voice.

But honestly, until you’ve met me, you don’t really know what I’m like, because only fractions of ME show up on screen. So I challenged myself to open up to you guys a little more and talk about things in my life honestly.

I’m finally now in my Thirties, and it’s taken me a life-long journey of successes, failures, strength and weakness, grief and joy, pain and calm, to understand who I am, what I want in life and how to get there, what it is I love about me, how to address what I don’t love, and grow and mature in the process.

I used to want everyone to love me, like me, understand me. I used to want to get along with everyone and please them. Everyone had to be my friend. When they didn’t, when I got rebuffed, when I got bullied (I was bullied a ton in grade school and junior high), when I was threatened, when people talked sh*t, it f*cking hurt, leaving me heartbroken. It would rend my little world asunder, my head would reel and falter and my heart would plummet into a void for weeks or months. Sometimes, it still feels a little like that when people don’t like me, and yeah, it hurts a little, but after awhile, I’m like Eff-It. I’m more than blessed with amazing family, friends, besties and even readers who are some of the most brilliant, supportive and kind people in the world. But you know? It took lots of alienation, lots of great friendships lost and gained, lots of heartbreak and new love for me to understand that not everyone can appreciate the intensity of my personality, style of communication, friendship and love. A lot of people can be put off by me as a person, and by how intensely and passionately I live my life. But that side doesn’t always communicate through the screen, the silly canned poses and edited pictures, since my blog is probably the one thing I take casually and view as a fun, creative outlet and a type of catharsis from everything else in life.

Anyway, I’m trying to show you my True Face, my Bare Face… so that I’m a bit more real to you as a person, and hopefully as a friend. I speak very plainly in this vlog, and I know that I may get flack or not for even posting it, but if I’m being honest with you (and myself), then it doesn’t matter. I just want to connect with ONE PERSON over everything I’m saying, however scattered, however nonsensical I may sound right now, and maybe make another true friend from it. (Note: Some of the best friendships I’ve had and have in my life, have been made through blogging connections, and I am so lucky for that. Bloggers are a tribe.)

What you think of yourself is much more important than what people think of you, be happy with yourself inspirational quote

Truth. via http://www.yogitimes.com.

None of us are perfect, we all have SOMETHING we want to change about ourselves, and maybe by being real about it and talking about it and addressing it, we can grow and mature from it and maybe even change it for the better. And when you learn to live to make yourself happy and make yourself a better person, and not live for other people and what they think of you, your entire life changes and makes the world in which YOU live a better place.

Okay…. that was all off the cuff, just letting my brain go, brain-farting as it so often does, so I don’t know if you follow any of this scattered mess. I just wanted to be more real and give you more about me. I want to get back to the open, more real stuff I used to write about. I used to find such joy in writing. I won’t go into the details I used to–after all, SOMETHING has to be kept private–and I may or may not post fiction here, but this blog is more to me now than just my over-the-top fashion. For one thing, I live on a budget and I can’t afford to shop all the time. And for another, I’m too busy to photograph my outfits everyday, anyway. When I’m not thinking about blogging (which is often), I’d rather just be living and enjoying the Heaven on Earth I’m so lucky to live in, and hopefully taking some of you along for the ride.

… um. So yeah.

Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching.

Me ke aloha ~ With love + aloha,
Mae Xx

Day in the Life: Reality Shifts in the Universe of a Coffee Addict

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Mae

A day in the life of a coffee addict. What happened to me Thursday morning.

{ Day in the Life: The Shifts in Reality in the Crazy Universe of a Full-blown Coffee Addict AKA A Messed Up Coffee Experience Can Throw The Morning }

Aloha, Lovecat! Do you ever have a day where, if one eensy, weensy, tiny-tiny-tiny thing goes wrong, it can totally throw your day, that moment or your attitude dreadfully askew? Have you ever had a moment where you could experience almost a lifetime of thoughts and sensations in just a few blinks–your mind is racing so fast?

My Thursday morning was like that.

thereafterish, day in the life, Coffee Addiction, Day in the life of a coffee addict, close up mocha, close up latte in cup, coffee picture, mocha photo

The deliciously frothy and perfect Alpine Mocha Latte (white chocolate with almond milk) at Mocha Java Café, Ward Centers in Kakaako, one of my favorite cafés in town.

So I brew my Vanilla Macadamia Nut Kona Coffee and I’m feeling awesome, right? I add my hazelnut coconut milk, stir it lazily and then, as I’m drawing the cup to my lips, I look down and see a coffee grind swirling around on the caramel surface that seems suspiciously hairy. Elongated and dark brown, the coffee ground with hair.

It’s an earwig-like bug… In my coffee.

Thoughts run a mile a mili-second, machine gunning through my brain. “WTF? How did that GET there? Was it in the coffee maker and died a slow, boiling death? Was it in my mug before I put it under the stream? Ew, why didn’t I check? Was it in my coffee? It was in my coffee bag, just sitting there? Gross!”

Kind of puts a kink in your morning ritual of java addiction, don’t you think? What’s supposed to be a spiritual, almost-sacred daily ritual, once ruined, can spin the entire morning into a universe gone painfully awry, a new reality of pain, endless irritation and people whose eyes don’t blink.

Then I breathe deeply for a second… two, three, four, five… in and out and in and out, reaching down into my center and pushing it out heavily so the stale air is “exhumed”. I calm the Horrible Human Being welling up in me, brew a second mug, take a scalding swig, and, as expected, my universe is suddenly a calm sea with a gentle hyacinth blowing fragrantly across my face.

Ah, the different worlds of sensory and mental “realities” when you’re a coffee addict… Just another morning in the life of a coffee junkie.

Has this ever happened to you? Can you relate?

Me ke aloha ~ With love, Xx
Mae

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Day in The Life: Halloween at Aloha Tower Marketplace: Crazy, Sexy, Ghoul! 2012

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Mae

Want to know how Hawaii locals get their Halloween party on? Check these crazy flicks from the Aloha Tower Marketplace annual Halloween Party, Crazy, Sexy, Ghoul, Honolulu’s annual pre-halloween costume shindig, 12 years running. You can see details of my Lady Gaga White Rabbit costume and preview pics of the party here.

How Honolulu Ballers Ball: Halloween at Aloha Tower Marketplace, 19 October 2012

Warning: Photo Heavy Post

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Goth Kpop princess, Lady Gaga White Rabbit

Goth Kpop Princess and Lady Gaga White Rabbit, before we came home tired and/or buzzed (CK, not me).

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, RENO 911

RENO 911! I hope he danced.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Cat Girl

A more original cat costume. A better take than the ubiquitous and sadly generic “Sexy Cat” costume.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Hula Man

Hula Man. I think I probably choked on spit laughing when I saw him.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, peacock costume, birdcatcher costume

A gorgeous peacock and her birdcatcher. Ingenious!

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, 20000 leagues under the sea costume

Mermaid and her 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea Diver man, and their pirate friend. All very nautical-inspired.

Greenman

Me and Greenman Greg again. Still my favorite.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party,

This is NOT what I meant when I said, “get the feet”!

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Kpop Costume, Lady Gaga Costume, Gaga White Rabbit Costume

I don’t know, Lady Gaga White Rabbit, Goth Kpop Princess, Lady Gaga

thereafterish-alohthereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Kpop Costume, Lady Gaga Costume, Pilot Costume

Kpop Goth Princess, Gaga and Delta Pilot.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, iPod Costume

Pair of iPods. So fun.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Lady Gaga White Rabbit Costume, Lady Gaga Costume

The Two Gagas. Lady Gaga White Rabbit, and just Gaga.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, I'm Fat costume

When asked, “what ARE you”? He responded by ripping his shirt open and shouting, “I’m FAT!” A+

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Cat Woman costume, Jailbird Costume

The best Cat Woman and her Jailbird.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Indian Costume

Indian Chief. How!

Molecules? Golf balls?????????

Molecules? Golf Balls? IDK.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Sushi Costume

He is some sort of sushi… ebiko, I think??

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Harry Potter Costume

James, the adorable Harry Potter again.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Stripper couple

This is the Bacon that kissed my hand and told me I was ravishing and lovely. Yummy, sir. Just yummy. I hope you pick up all women that way, really.

This stripper couple had matching legwarmers. So cute. And he’s quite fit, if you don’t mind my saying so.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Lady Gaga White Rabbit Costume

Me and the stripper twins.

Wilson!

Wilson and Castaway. Cutest date ever.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, dominatrix posse costume

Dominatrix posse passing through VIP.

This guy got cheated out of his costume by Fedex.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, 80s Hairband Costume

80s Hairband Rock God and his latex pants.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Animal Man

Animal Man? He didn’t know, either. He DID know that it took him forever to paint himself.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Boba Fett Costume, Darth Maul

Boba Fetts.

Darth Maul and Boba Fett – teaming up to eliminate the Jedi? Probably. And that Green Man is at it again in the background. Told you he was everywhere.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Boba Fett Costume

Boba Fett and Baba Fett. A+

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Sailor Mars Costume, Tuxedo Mask Costume

Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Mars, together, at last.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Tamago Costume

She want as Tamago Sushi for halloween. SOOOOOO AWESOME.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Buzz Lightyear Costume

Buzz Lightyear, all growed up… Pretty damn hilarious.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, cyrano de bergerac costume

Cryano de Bergerac. Proboscis and all.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Male Marilyn Monroe Costume

Male Marilyn. So awesome.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Smurf Costume

Pretty smart. Just wear stockings and paint your body blue. SMURF.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Kung Fu Panda Costume

Kung Fu Pandas! Geniuses cut holes for their peepees so they could pee comfortably without disrobing. Pretty smart.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, assless chaps costume

The single most inappropriate duo of costumes at the party… yes, these are real assless chaps S&M gear. My eyes=raped.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, lady gaga white rabbit halloween costume, alice in wonderland costumes

Alice, Gangnam Style Mad Hatter and Lady Gaga White Rabbit. They were pretty jazzed there was a White Rabbit. I’d like to think so, anyway.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, alice in wonderland costumes, Hip Hop duo costume

The Hip Hop duo: They actually were playing music out of that vintage stereo. BRILLIANT.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, strawberry shortcake costume

Strawberry Shortcake Steve and CK. He rocked my world with his costume. Ballsy.

thereafterish, alice in wonderland costumes, red queen costume, mad hatter costume

The Mad Hatter and The Red Queen. All handmade.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Samurai Costume

This samurai’s armor was all custom-made. He wasn’t very talkative with me, but I suppose if you had 20lbs of armor on, you wouldn’t be, either.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Lolita Doll, Pirate

Self-explanatory. Except these bastards were next to us in VIP smoking up a storm, it smelled AWFUL.

A gothic Lolita Doll and a Pirate. Her makeup was off the chain.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Stereoman, Cleopatra Costume

Good Humor Man, Rainbow Brite (I think?), Cleopatra and Stereo Man. Stereo Man was ingenius.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Rocky Balboa Costume

Kpop Goth Princess and Rocky Balboa.

Our perpetually shirtless neighbor as Rocky Balboa (I think?), CK and I.

My friend having people play ring toss with his Conehead.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Margitte Son of Man Costume, Strawberry Shortcake Costume

Strawberry Shortcake Steve and Margitte’s Son of Man. Brill.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Girl Thor Costume, Cowgirl Costume

Female Thor and her Cowgirl side kick. Pretty brill.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Castaway Costume

Castaway and his friend Wilson.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Stripperella Guy Costume

Stripperella Man costume… it made the ladies crazy. Literally the tallest man I saw at the party.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, 007 costume

Goldeneye. He hit us on the mark. Props for his props.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Priest Costume

The second most inappropriate (but totally clever) costume of the night. Pedophile priest.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Greenman costume

Me and Greenman Greg posing again. He was EVERYWHERE. I think I was secretly stalking him. j/k. He was hard to miss.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, Goth Kpop Star Costume

Goth Kpop Star duo. My neighbor CK and a matching goth Kpop King…

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, sexy Steve Urkel Costume

Sexy Steve Urkel. No need to say more. He rocked it.

thereafterish, Aloha Tower Halloween Party, male ladybug costume

One of the more humorous gender benders from the night. Ladybug. Guybug?

thereafterish, lady gaga white rabbit halloween costume, alice in wonderland costumes

The Red Queen designed and handmade there costumes. The only ones to recognize me as The White Rabbit.

thereafterish, lady gaga white rabbit, harry potter costume

Gaga White Rabbit and the most adorable Harry Potter ever. I think his name is James. He’s my girl Shar’s friend.

thereafterish, lady gaga white rabbit halloween costume, Aloha Tower Halloween Party

Vintage Gaga White Rabbit? Have we met in another life somewhere?

Creeptastic doll face.

And I didn’t attend any other parties this Halloween season… too much money spent on last year’s Lady Gaga White Rabbit Costume, I didn’t feel like wearing it a second time in a row. It’s a small Island, after all.

{ What did YOU do for Halloween? Have a good time trick-or-treating tonight! }

Me ke aloha ~ With love, Xx
Mae

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Day in the Life: Awkwardness in a Public Restroom.

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Mae

I already feel weird going to the bathroom with other people nearby, but this experience took the cake.

Day in the Life: Ultimate Discomfiture in a Public Restroom

thereafterish, day in the life, awkward bathroom experience, foot shot bathroom

Restless feet: Awkward bathroom experience in a Costco restroom.

The most awkward bathroom experience in a public restroom in the history of ever.

I’ve been on a kick to drink more glasses of water per day, in an effort to be more healthy and have better skin. Consequently, I find myself having to piss pretty frequently. And when the need hits, I gotta go, ‘cuz I gotta go, know what I mean?

At Costco this afternoon, the need hit hard while I was refilling prescriptions for my arthritis meds and monthly contraception. I rushed immediately to the women’s loos to let it out.

Midstream, I hear grunting in the next stall over.

Pause. My pee stops. Um…?

The lady starts moaning and grunting. I hear shifting. More loud moaning.

Is she having a particularly satisfying number two? A simply good pee? I hear no evidence of anything going into the toilet, no noises of anything hitting water, only inappropriate noises emanating from my toilet neighbor.

I force my piss out as fast as I can and wash my hands, uncomfortable as hell, while the moans, oohing and low grunting continues from the stall next door. I speed through the hand dryer, frantically shooting glances over my shoulder, half expecting the woman to fall out of the stall. The bathroom exit feels yards away. My hands are still damp as I speed-walk the heck out of there.

I still have no idea if she was experiencing discomfort or if she was getting herself off.

Talk about awkward toilet experiences. I may never feel the same about that Costco restroom.

Me ke aloha ~ With love, Xx
Mae

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Day in the Life: Dorkasaurus

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Mae

dorkasaurus, thereafterish, asian poses, dorkery, nerdery, day in the life

AZN Dorkery: Pullin’ some Traditional Asian “Cute Style” poses.

1. Blargh. 2. Meh?

1. Hi. / HI / HAWAII 2. Gross toes in Crocs (yep!).

The Internet went down at work this week and I got loopy in between editing video blogs for the company… so, um… ALOHA!

Hope your weekend’s awesome.

Me ke aloha ~ With love, Xx
Mae

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Day in the Life: Lessons From the Bees

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Mae

Everyday, as I make my way up the stairs from our lower level Ohana Unit (apartment unit in a detached family home) to the streetside, I’m accompanied by the thrum of bees pollinating the tree on our hill. The soft hum is a soothing low sound, like a harp string in a low key plucked and drawn out. It’s a quiet reminder that nature is amazing and that hard, industrious work yields sweet results.

The lesson is there for me everyday if I just remember to listen.

—
Except the bees were not humming as usual this morning. The wind was turbulent and whipped through the flowering trees that shade the stairs up to the street.

It somehow felt off-kilter. An essential part of my morning, my daily reminder to be productive, happy and motivated, had been silenced.

The silence in and of itself, however, was enough of a reminder to be present and fruitful today while I can…before a roaring wind of life quiets opportunity. A salient suggestion from the Universe to live in each moment, embrace it and milk from it every available drop. Beauty, happiness and success can only happen now, when I choose this moment to take it for myself.

Still, I can only hope the buzzing continues tomorrow.

Me ke aloha ~ With love, Xx
Mae

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Life in Pictures: A Bear and His Mama Spend a Weekend

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Mae

This weekend Max and I were without Nate, who was still in Detroit visiting his family and setting up his brick and mortar office for his development business GRID LLC. Much of the weekend involved running errands, going for long drives, taking lots of walks up and down on the sidewalks of our mountainside neighborhood, frolicking at the dog park, lounging in the living room and sleeping.

Wheaten Terrier, Hawaii Living, thereafterish, Max the Bear, Honolulu life

Max the Bear lounging on our guest room bed, uninvited.

Life in Pictures: A Bear-y Max and Mama Weekend

In the house, Max lounges around, quite lazy, dozing off in one spot, only to wake up an hour later, stalk to another spot and stretch out there. The only time he seems active and lively is when I’m eating and he follows me around, begging for treats with his extremely expressive eyes. Other than that, he’s lying around somewhere. In the hallway, under a table, on a guest bed without being invited…always asleep or on the verge of dozing off.

Max, lounging in the cool, dark hallway. One of his favorite spots.

Someone’s following me around…

Are you looking for something, Mr. Bear?

… Oh, you want treats? Cookies? Schneke? … Beggar Bear.

I, on the other hand, am more committed to my lounging spots. I park my ass firmly onto a specific corner of our comfy couch and I lay back, feasting my eyes on the bountiful visual delights of my new boyfriend, HGTV (Home and Garden TV network). I occasionally get up to empty my bladder, find the Bear and lavish him with Friendship (a currency in his country!) or skulk to the kitchen to rummage through our barren cabinets for something to snack on, only to realize moments later that we don’t keep snacks in the house for the very reason that we binge when we indulge ourselves in hours-long sessions with the TV. Dangit.

When we tire of lounging (who could do such a thing!), we go outside. I either take him on a specific loops of streets in our neighborhood, craning my neck here and there for a view of the ocean (not hard to find), or I take him to the dog park at the bottom of the mountain.

Max successfully terrorized the big dogs and remains the victorious Bear of the wilderness.

Max, pouncing.

Max comes alive when he hits the grass at the dog park. The lounging, somnolent little bugger becomes a leaping, bouncy beast, pouncing on nearby dogs and dog-parents alike. He reserves no judgement and withholds no affection. He loves all moving creatures alike (though he hasn’t started to gravitate toward purse dogs, yet… like mother, like son, I suppose!).

This weekend, he chose a specific doggy dad to follow around the park between our fast-paced frisbee fetch and tag game. Coming up to me to comment on Max’s cuteness, the man diplomatically received Max’s fierce onslaught of Wheaten Greetin’ and Friendship exchanging. When Max calmed a bit a few minutes later, he leaned heavily against the man’s leg while the man scratched behind Max’s ears. Oh, what a spoiled one.

When it was time for more Frisbee, Max ran for it, but in a moment of distraction by a newcomer big dog, he ran off into the pack to jump and punch and play with all the other kids…. and then he discovered and immediately fell in love with the dog park’s mudhole. Breaking off my conversation with the doggy dad, I ran off to retrieve the frisbee and Max only to discover him lying down full in the mud, legs, stomach and all.

Where’s Max? Too tired to find his way out of those treacherous curtains!

I hosed him off when we got home and then we both promptly collapsed into our respective beds, Max, so tired he couldn’t be bothered to maneuver his head around the curtain that half-covered him.

When he’s super REM-ing, he sleeps on his back, full on Grocery Store frozen food aisle chicken style.

Tuckered Bear, tuckered Bear mama. Lazy Sunday.

Sunday, we slept a lot, snuggled a lot and didn’t go near the dogpark, having thoroughly tired ourselves out.

It was a good weekend.

How was your weekend?

Me ke aloha ~ With love, Xx
Mae

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Tag Archives: day in the life

A Big Girl Birthday

{ Surprise! A Big Girl Birthday Dinner Party With People! Yay For Friends and Vegetarian Sushi! }

31 Birfdays

{ Birthday Brat }

Day in the Life: Home – Put Down the Damn Phone

{ A Day in the Life: Life is Beautiful, Put Down the GDDMN Phone! }

Day in the Life: Swimming Hole versus Wheaten Terrier

Life in Pictures: Last Week, According to my iPhone

{ Life in Pictures / Week in Pictures: What We Were Up To Last Week, According to My iPhone }

Day in the Life: I’m a Nerd

{ Day in the Life: Musings on Nerd-dom – How I Define Things }

Day in the Life: Yesterday Was Pathetic, Today is OK

Days in the Life: Holidays 2012, Part I

{ Day in the Life: My Holiday Season 2012, Part I }

Vlog: Love and Honesty: Be Who You Are, Show Yourself

Day in the Life: Reality Shifts in the Universe of a Coffee Addict

{ Day in the Life: The Shifts in Reality in the Crazy Universe of a Full-blown Coffee Addict AKA A Messed Up Coffee Experience Can Throw The Morning }

Day in The Life: Halloween at Aloha Tower Marketplace: Crazy, Sexy, Ghoul! 2012

How Honolulu Ballers Ball: Halloween at Aloha Tower Marketplace, 19 October 2012

Day in the Life: Awkwardness in a Public Restroom.

Day in the Life: Ultimate Discomfiture in a Public Restroom

Day in the Life: Dorkasaurus

Day in the Life: Lessons From the Bees

Life in Pictures: A Bear and His Mama Spend a Weekend

Life in Pictures: A Bear-y Max and Mama Weekend

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