Tuesday, February 24, 2009

paradise


Breakfast in Paradise:  fresh pineapple and papaya.


We conquered Hanauma Bay on Saturday.  The view from above shows the beautiful coral reef below turquoise water.  Huge rainbow fish swim close to the sand.  We saw swarms of them!


Little P. has perked up (by day three) and was able to make the climb up and over.  Shortly after this picture was taken it started rain....hard.


They have coconut lattes here in Paradise.  They are even better cold, on ice!


The draft is finished, and we have just one more whole day left.  One more day to stuff myself with fruit and brace myself for returning to the freezing rain.  Until then....beach!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

happy hawaii


Don't want anyone thinking I'm a big whiner.  Last night ND and I snuck off for a walk up the strip.  The sunsets here are the bomb.


They love their Obama here.  I dug the t - shirts spotted in various shops here and there.


This one was at Crazy Shirt.  Love this!


Here's the view from a little bar up the street from our beach spot.  We had mai tai's and nachos as the birds flew in and out around our heads.  (Yes the raw diet is on hold at the moment - thought I'm still doing a green smoothie every morning.)


I haven't bought a lei yet this trip.  I love the colors of Hawaii!


My favorite hotel.  This place has big wide plank floors and oversize rocking chairs on the porch.  Big ceiling fans and quiet ukelele music completes the sense of place.  Gorgeous.


Ginger grows like weeds.


Buildings are refreshingly bright and artistic.


Abstract hibiscus on a construction wall...


...and real ones growing at the foot of it.

Ah, that's better!  Today we're off to Haunama Bay.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

frustration


While I should be enjoying a well-deserved break, I am instead stressing out about school.  Here's the mountain view from our Waikiki condo.  It's been cloudy, but 80 degrees.  My instructor says I'm "completely off base" on my thesis outline, and I've been having nightmares every single night since we left on Wednesday.


It's not fair!  Here I am in paradise and can't let my hair all the way down.  Instead I'm getting up at 6 a.m. every morning and hitting the laptop, emailing and revising and downloading and researching until my fingers are sore and I scream "Enough!" And then I drink some green tea, pull on my swimsuit and head to the beach.

It's also NOT fair that Lil P. has been sick this whole time, with a fever and hacking cough, and has no interest in the beach, just wants to lie on the futon and watch Sponge Bob.


Today was better... we were on the sand by ten, and the sun shone and the water lapped a healing balm on us all.  Little P. made a friend or two, and I managed to forget all the stress of school for a little while.... at least long enough to get a slight tan.

More soon.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

not studying


It's hard to study when you can go here and get a free hour long yoga session for any ability. Add a warm fire, a clean bamboo floor, and a pot of tea and there's no way you want to read a dry textbook. Just move, melt and tune into your body.

There is a different workout every day. I am trying some inversions but nowhere near this level. I hear they are good for your brain. But will it make me want to study? That remains to be seen.


It's hard to study when there are so many different juice combinations just waiting to be tried. Beet - carrot - orange - ginger is a nice warming blend. And beautiful.


It's hard to study when your adorable cat is entertaining you with his antics. Here we have a game called jump in the drawer and flick things out, then jump down and chase them across the floor.


It's hard to study when you'd rather be in the kitchen. When you know the fridge is full of wonderful organic food waiting to be experimented with. Yes I do have the world's smallest fridge; it's propane. But it holds the essentials: top to bottom, jam, salsa, miso, raw goat cheese, sprouted almonds, old condiments I should throw away, almond butter, homemade salad dressing, leftover roasted root vegetables, leftover quinoa, sprouted lentils, tortillas (Nice Dad cannot live without these), young Thai coconut, kale, spinach, carrots, and in the drawers several pounds of assorted vegetables (whatever looked good, which these days is EVERYTHING).

It's hard to study when you'd rather be blogging, or surfing the net for raw food recipes. But since I'm leaving on vacation soon I'd better get back to research.

*hugs*
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