Not tryna go native on myself, but driving upcountry to makes this saying ring in my ears over and over. We learned in the 7th grade that “Kūlia i ka nu’u” meant “strive to the summit.” You know, go for the gold, reach high, go far beyond where you possibly think you can be. From the moment I learned that saying I thought of one thing–driving up towards the summit of Haleakala, one of our majestic mountains on Maui.

We used to live up here and this green building holds many of my early memories. I remember picking up our mail from our P.O. Box of the Post Office (that no longer exists) at the corner of Pukalani Superette. I remember buying spam musubi here on Saturdays and after we moved downtown we stopped here (and still do) after every dentist appointment or upcountry adventure.

This is one version of gold. The mac salad is still my favorite, finding chili chicken drummettes are like finding the needle in the haystack , and the tako poke is so damn tasty. The produce is always fresh and packaged into little portions perfect for our small family and its always clean. My mom always loved this store and I do too. These are the places that make Maui, Maui, and what makes home, home. I know I’m home when I see it and I hope it stays awesome forever.

Quite possibly one of the best cookies I’ve ever had and it’s not because it starts off with a shot of milk and is in the shape of a cup. New York, you’ve taught me you should never say never and this is example 542. Thank you.

Being too busy to sit and eat so I’m just going to stare at pictures of past meals instead. That’s how life’s been this past week. (Except avocado toast Wednesday!)

Brunching on a Wednesday because, why not.

Got nothing on HAWAII shave ice.

In a random order these are the things that happened in May. A month that was mostly spent on Maui with family and friends over a lot of delicious food. There’s a lot to say but I will just let the photos speak for themselves. Make up your own story, sometimes that’s fun too.

..the best excuse to stop working because everyone needs to eat. Copy catting a salad that I bought to take me through many long days in grad school by throwing together frozen grilled chicken strips, avocado, dried cranberries, goat cheese and tomatoes over spring mix with balsamic vinaigrette! Honey wheat pretzel sticks because why not and reading the New York Times because it’s good for your health to know what’s going on in the world.

KISS. Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. Far too often I catch myself overthinking, overexerting and over-doing things. Trying to mesh lots of things into one design or do too many things at once. This only makes for a lot of “less good” things done at one time, or not enough great things being done. Less is more and quality over quantity. I’ve learned this in New York, more than anywhere else I’ve lived so far in my life. Here in New York, you can get almost ANYTHING you want to eat. It’s a blessing and a curse. We can get that $1 pizza slice, or you can get that $5 pizza slice that has the tag line “Organic” or “Farm fresh” in front of it. While the cheap price point might be on point, you get what you pay for most of the time and it’s not always pretty. Definitely not as pretty as the meal above or even the one be low.

Okonomi is the cutest little restaurant tucked away in the BK. That’s Brooklyn, Williamsburg to be exact. Thanks to friends who live in the neighborhood, I have only heard good things about their traditional Japanese set breakfast. Over a year later, I finally got to try it myself and it did not disappoint. The colors, the flavors, the presentation, the ambiance. Everything so simple, yet tasty and made from local, fresh ingredients. Every time you go it’s different, and this time I selected to have the sake-marinated Big Eye Tuna. Combined with picked veggies, egg and swiss chard, it was divine. Living up to it’s hype and then some. Not to mention the company. This was my second time at Okonomi, the first was for a ramen birthday dinner, and I would go back again and again. With only 12 seats and 1/3 of them being at the bar, it’s not great for big parties so keep it simple, stupid. Bring A friend, not 10.

And then there’s Umami Burger. Straying away from the small quaint vibe, to the borderline loud boisterous bro-bar. This California implant holds a special place in my heart because of the times I had Umami in LA. The burger isn’t big, the choices are also changing and not of a wide variety, but the burger is done right. I am a burger girl. I love to eat a good one cooked just right with a little pink. Not really a fan of the Whopper Jr. anymore and will pay for quality over that White Castle quantity. Umami hits the spot, and when you get your plate and think “that’s it” trust me–that’s all you need.

New York, as complicated as you are, thanks for the reminder to KISS. That’s right–keep it simple, stupid.

I’m talking about a dime, as in perfect 10, not just worth a few cents. I’m throwing it back on this Thursday to a state I’ve learned to greatly appreciate–California. From top to bottom, east to west, I’ve only really explored a few hot spots of the Golden state. All I have are these memories pictures but I have to say that being here on the East coast has made me long for California more and more. Of course while I was there, I was finding everything wrong with it, and now it seems like there is a lot of right going on with the left side of the USA.

Let’s start from the top, in the Bay. Oakland to be exact. Yes, I always think about what my life would’ve been like if I went to USF and spent four years in the Bay. My guess is my life would be a lot different, but I am so happy with where I’ve been so far. Now with so many ties up north, I can always visit and be guaranteed a good time. One of my first trips after graduating in 2011, we roamed Berkeley and Telegraph Avenue, obviously with the desire to stop at CREAM. Ice cream + chocolate chip cookies–yeah glad I didn’t get those every week or my pants size would be a lot different too. Cookies do rule my world though.

Moving down, how can I ever forget where it all goes down, in  JTOWNNN. Japan Town in Los Angeles. Taken during one of my first trips down to JTown, Japan towns are always so quaint and quiet in wherever they might be. Things are changing, business are moving and I would love to feel like I’m in a little piece of Japan, away from Japan again. Okay fine. I really just want to eat ramen and get mochi.

Last but not least, San Diego. I remember taking this picture during one of my last few months in college. In a part of town that I really only started going to during my last year of college but should have ventured to more often. This is the North Park Post Office. As retro and vintage as it seems, it is. The streets of North Park are filled with stores that take you back to a quieter time. If it wasn’t for that GMC truck and H3 monstrosity behind it, throw this photo in black and white and you might even be fooled about when it was taken.

Leaving San Diego to go to New York was the right thing. The time came for me to close the college chapter of my SD life and change my pace. I could have seen myself living in California longer, maybe in SD, LA, or SF, and I still do. There was only so much I could do in the four years I spent there and so much more I wish to explore. I want to climb more rocks, eat more food, see historic landmarks and make more memories. So far, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen from top to bottom. So California, thanks for the memories, I’ll be back for more. You better believe it.

I have a temporary new home in Manhattan. Not just in Manhattan but in the West Village. Pretending to be ballin’, but really just balling when all meals are $15. Guess I’ll be eating in more often and getting getting round off #pizzanight #everynight.

Behind every good morning is an even better breakfast. Better breakfasts lead to even better blog posts.

I live far from the “traditional” lifestyle of work. As a freelancer, I wake up, roll out of bed and into my office (my desk), sometimes still in my pajamas. The first thing I do in the morning, after brushing my teeth, is make breakfast. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with smoothies (like this avo-kale-mango-almond milk-chia seed concoction), but a lot of times I have  greek yogurt and berries or some type of oatmeal. Growing up breakfast was just more minutes to add in to the morning routine that I would rather have spent sleeping. Now, I can’t live without it. I eat my breakfasts as I write my blog posts for matsumoto studio.

When I find it hard to design things first thing in the morning, I can easily write. Writing is like a warm-up to the rest of my day.  I look forward to morning breakfasts and blog posts. This is a routine, but with a different subject everyday, it’s never rudimentary.