Maui part 3

These pictures are of a winery in central Maui that was out in the middle of nowhere that we stopped in. Their specialty was pineapple wine, which was sweet and actually kind of gross, but we tried it! 

On our last night we had just dessert at another restaurant in The Four Seasons Resort called Duo. This place was super fancy and when you arrive they ask for your last name so the server can greet you properly. When the host asked me for my last name I starred at her blankly for what seemed like 5 minutes before I said 'Rourke'. I am so used to my maiden name, this is a huge change for me! 

The dessert was fabulous and they brought out homemade cotton candy with the check. It was a sweet ending to an even sweeter meal.

The last day we were in Maui we went to the local aquarium, I try to visit the aquarium of each city I visit if I'm able to. My favorite was the octopus, my favorite at every aquarium is the octopus. 

Our last meal in Maui was by far the best, at Mama's Fish House in Paia, which is where Willie Nelson is rumored to have a house. The menu is typed up everyday depending on what was caught that morning, and the dishes even say the fisherman's name that caught the fish. 

Before and after

Maui was absolutely amazing and I'm so glad we chose it for our honeymoon destination. I am confident that we saw everything we wanted to see while there and that we can check Maui off of our list of places to visit. Maybe we'll come back to the Hawaiian Islands for our 10 year anniversary. 

Lexi

Maui part 2

This was our view from Ferraro's at the Four Seasons, the food was fabulous. Jim's favorite part was that his jack and coke came with a tall glass half full of jack, and a carafe of coke so he could mix the drink himself. There was someone playing an acoustic guitar in the background during dinner and he randomly played our wedding song which was very romantic. 

The next day we drove around West Maui and found a little place called The Garden of Eden, which was gorgeous. It was literally on the side of a cliff which was very scary to get to, but when we got there it was worth it.

On the way back we found a black sand beach! Well, Jim found a black sand beach, I stayed in the car because at this point I was super car sick from driving down a winding tiny road around a mountain all day. 

Check out the size of that burrito! Besides eating at The Four Seasons, we tried to eat at mostly local places. This big as yo face burrito was from Kihei Cafe, a buzzing breakfast place in the little town we stayed in. 

This picture was taken at 10,000 feet above sea level. We visited one of the dormant volcanoes and weren't really expecting for it to be this high up! Maui is such a crazy place, at sea level it's hot and humid, but up here it was cold and windy. 

We were so high up that even getting out of the car made us nervous. We got out to visit the gift shop, took this pic then ran back in the car and drove back down to sea level. 

Lexi

Maui part 1

This was the view of the ocean that we had at our condo in Maui. It was so secluded and relaxing. We stayed in a little town in South Maui called Kihei. Everything there is so lush and tropical, we started each morning by taking a walk on the beach. 

On our first night in Maui we found a little dive bar within walking distance of our condo called Dina's Sandwitch (yes, sandwitch) Shop, the entire inside was wallpapered with dollar bills. It was full of old locals and was a nice place to get a cheap drink at the end of the day. 

One thing we knew we had to do in Wailea was check out the Four Seasons Resort. The actual hotel was amazing, but their patio going out to the beach was one of the fanciest things I've seen! It was nice to go check out what they had to offer, then go back to our reasonably priced condo. 

This sight is called 'Dragon's Tooth', because of the way the lava formations look. It was the strangest thing finding this place because it was in the middle of a private golf course and the directions given in the book we were using said to 'walk down the path until you run into the short bush, follow that down to the beach and you will see it'......not much of a description. Once we were able to find it, it was breathtaking. 

Jim's favorite part of our vacation was getting to drive a Jeep around the island.

We also saw the Botanical Garden in Kula, which was one of the most beautiful gardens I've seen. We saw a chameleon in a tree, just hanging out! 

This is just the first round of pics I have, there was so much to do on Maui and we literally went all over the island. More to come!

Lexi

Awkward and awesome Thursday

Awkward:

I think I might be obsessed with internet memes. When I'm at home watching TV I'll be browsing memes on Pinterest and Jim says he can hear me giggling from the other room, this goes on for like an hour before I get bored of it. 

I was annoyed with my long hair for the longest time, and the second I cut it I miss it long. Don't get me wrong, I like my new short hair. But now every time I see a picture of my long hair I think 'you know it wasn't that bad'. Nothing I can do now but embrace my new do!

Awesome:

I signed Rocco up for a 1 month trial BarkBox, and was pleasantly surprised. For $20 we got a big rope toy, some fancy duck dog treats, a bullie stick, a 10-pack of disposable quick wipe mitten things that are awesome for giving Rocco a quick wipe down, and some fancy dog gravy packets. Rocco liked it so much, we signed him up for another 6 months. 

I made stuffed shells for the first time the other night, and of course I forgot to take pictures of it so I can't make a recipe post about it. Maybe I'll make it again with pics because it was fabulous. Like, it was really good. 

Jim and I planted a ton of veggies and herbs and put them in the greenhouse over the weekend. I've been using fresh herbs in my cooking all week and it's be amazing!

Lexi

Cold fronts and hair cuts

So the day after our wedding we had a family brunch to say goodbye to all the family members who came into town for the wedding, and as soon as that was over I went to get my hair cut. I had been growing my hair out for the wedding since before we were even engaged (don't judge, my hair takes forever to grow!). I have pretty fine hair and I was getting so sick of constantly getting trims. 8 inches later, I felt great and was ready for Maui! 

love the lace details

Now on to my outfit. It's crazy that I'm wearing jeans and boots in April...in Texas. We've been having cold fronts come in lately so I'm trying to get a few more uses out of my boots before I put them away for the summer. My go to outfit this past winter has been boots with skinnies and a flowy top, it's a no brainer. 

I had this cameo made to wear with my wedding dress and now that the wedding is over I can wear it anytime, love the details! 

Lexi

Looking back on our wedding

So I'm married (woo!). Our wedding day was truly perfect and went off without a hitch. The day started off with Jim and I taking the dogs for a walk and sipping on some coffee at home while we waited to start the day. The bridesmaids and I went to the venue at noon to start decorating and getting our hair done. When I arrived I was shocked to see that all the chairs for the ceremony and reception had already been set up, and our DOC (day of coordinator) was already putting together the centerpieces, she had everything under control! 

The one thing I wasn't looking forward to was measuring and cutting burlap runners for all the tables, and that was already done when I got there! So I went back to the bridal suite (which was basically a 2 bedroom house, huge) and ate some breakfast tacos while chatting with my ladies. 

The whole afternoon was stress free, and I spent most of my time gretting family and then adoring my beautiful flowers when they arrived. Jim and I did a 'first look' since we were planning on taking all family pictures before the ceremony started. 

I wasn't nervous at all until our DOC started getting the bridal party ready for the ceremony to start. I looked at my dad and said, "If you feel the need to say anything sweet or nice to me before this thing gets going, shut it because if you say anything I will lose it." His reply was, "Well I don't even like you anyway so why would I say anything nice?" :)

I was super nervous when the ceremony started but we all got through it and I managed to keep it together until the bridal party walked back down the aisle after the ceremony was over and Shelley said something sweet and then I started crying. So unthoughtful of her ;)

The reception was a blur and flew by. I spent the entire night either in the photo booth or on the dance floor. I don't have any professional pictures back yet, but when I do I'm sure they'll show up on the blog!

Lexi