This is my Grandma. In her lifetime she has seen radios to color tv, cassettes to CDs and now computers and internet. A touch screen? Mind blown. Video chatting on a cellphone? Amazing. The light in her eyes when she is introduced to something new is the best. In my lifetime I’ve become accustomed to change and expect advancement. We are always looking for the next best thing. Grandma is good with what she got, but put and iPad in front of her playing YouTube videos of her favorite Japanese singer and she’s all in. I don’t think she ever thought any of this was possible, but now I’ve got pictures to prove it. Evolution at its finest.
G-Flo spent her 89th birthday cruising around Honolulu in her red mustang of a wheelchair and this black stallion SUV. She enjoyed being surrounded by those tall buildings of the “big city” of Hawaii. We through down her old stomping grounds in Waikiki (Lewers Street) where she worked as the hostess with the mostess. We ate Japanese food everyday, sometimes for more than one meal a day and that was okay. She was wow’d by our room on the tippy top floor and even threw her hands in the air to show her excitement.
G-Flo’s lipstick smile accompanied by the black cat eye sunglasses she “borrowed” from me (never getting them back) are priceless. I can only hope I age as gracefully as her. Happy Birthday, G-Flo.
I never thought I was a cat person (blame that on Mom for not allowing pets), but then there’s this cat. She acts like a dog, she thinks she belongs here and she makes herself at home. She even walks into our home. Her real name is Vicky and she came from our neighbor. They didn’t neglect her, she just decided she liked our Grandma better.
No one knows for sure but she has to be somewhere between 12-15 years old. She’s had litters of babies, got into a dog fight, and survived jaw surgery. She’s brought us many “gifts” with feathers and tails too. Vicky fits the description of the ladies that live in this house. Independent and tough bitches that do what they want. Her old age has turned her into an inside/outside cat and if that’s what the Queen wants, that’s what the Queen gets.
There was a duck phase in my past and I still have this blanket to prove it. It hides under an all-white bed now. Fifteen years old and so. damn. soft. Today it also doubled as a photoshoot crime scene for this Matsumoto Studio post. A shout out to our big brother because he’s the only boy of this house and all us ladies love him.
Stuck with me, like pb & jelly.
Date : January 27, 2016
Sisters. (and awkward hand candids.)
2016 is three days deep and we’re not going to limit our chances for adventure. Even if adventure is throwing rocks into water and getting cold feet (from the river).
One is never enough. (That’s how I feel about my clothes collection.)
T H U S F A R
Date : October 16, 2015
5AM in New York and it’s not just any day but it’s my birthday. I’m listening to Lil’ Wayne, Drake, and Demi Lovato (I know, what a combo) and working per usual. But, for whatever reason, I thought about someone–my Dad.
Yesterday on a FaceTime call with G-Flo, told me she hates water because its “boring.” I suggested she put something in it (referring to Crystal Light, or flavored water drops) and she responded, “Like what, vodka?” UM. WHAT. (more…)
As I look at my planner (yes, one with pages and blocks for every day of the year), and flip to next week, there is a big B coming up. Birthday. Another year of celebrating life and a milestone to really mark the end of a year and start of another. (Picture from the start of this past year when I blew out a handmade candle from an apple cider vinegar bottle after being serenaded by an 8 year-old and ate a toppled cake from Dominique Ansel)
I am changing. While birthdays of my younger years were filled with dreams of what types of gifts I wished to receive (and $$$), they are different now. People ask me what I want and my answer is nothing. Everything I need right now, I already have and I really believe it. (more…)
Often our Uncle will send along e-mails of video links, funny images, and his own photography. He will usually write a note. Yesterday, he wrote this:
Don’t take your life for granted. Remember your roots.
I thought about this day in 2012. We went to have lunch with a view of almost all of Maui. Our island isn’t big, but its also where my roots began to grow. I’ve used that line over and over since writing my college application essays in high school. Back then, I wanted to go beyond the islands for growth and change. I was ready to “get off the rock” and figure out my own path beyond Maui. Now, eight years later, I’m looking back at the place I left with respect, honor and pride. This has been a helluva migration from island, to coast, to other coast, but it always comes back to this place–Maui.
Don’t lose your roots, respect the ride.
Liquid fertilizer // No trespassing // Home