::Electric::

Today we made it out into the ocean for the first time in a while, especially for me.

We hit up our favorite spot- Electric Beach. It's located on the Waianae (whine-eye) coast of Oahu across the street from an electric plant, totally safe I promise. The electric plant pulls water in from the ocean to cool the plant & then pushes the hot water (still clean) back out through two huge (big enough to drive my Saab S9 Hatchback into) pipes that run into the ocean. This mixture of hot meets cold ocean is a breeding ground for plankton which in turn attracts schools & schools of fish. It is perfect for snorkeling, free diving, skin diving, scuba diving, getting your tan on, swimming with pods of wild spinner dolphins, surfing & stand up paddle boarding at the beach right next door. What more could you ask for?!

We did a day trip and then came back at night for a night dive. I get to play shore patrol because, well, pregnancy & scuba just dont mix (and I literally got all brand new gear as a gift from my dad the day before I found out I was pregnant!).

These pics are from my phone- sorry, I know, but i'll post better ones soon.

Die Fluffy Die!!

I spent most of the morning frantically reading every news article I could get my hands on regarding the potential Government Shutdown (we don't have cable). My husband is an Army Medic and if this shutdown occurs we are, temporarily, screwed. They assure us we will get paid...eventually. I'm sure those of you who live paycheck to paycheck understand where my stress is coming from- we don't yet have a "rainy day fund". So in the midst of sprouting new gray hairs and reading article after article I looked to my left and just started to laugh...

I was so busy freaking out they massacred their newest toy ten feet from me and I didn't even notice.

It was a nice reminder not to dwell on the negative, everything will work out and be okay :)

xo

Pocket Full of Rainbows- Elvis Presley

RIP Between The Trees

This is the only picture I have of the band and its just before their set, all of my polaroids are back on the Big Island. I found this one in the deep dark corners of my old photobucket account.

In 2007 my friend Colleen and I strapped on our most rockin outfits and took a bus, a train, a subway, & our own two feet to The Knitting Factory in New York City. From the look of the outside you'd think that this place is tiny but inside it's three floors of stages, bars, and music goodness.

We ventured out for one reason and one reason only to indulge in a show by Between The Trees. We ran into them the Summer before our second year of college at Bamboozle, a large outdoor rock concert with 9 stages all with bands playing at the same time- it's sheer rocktastic bliss, people were finally realizing who they were and they were no longer playing on the teeny tiny stages at Bamboozle but on the in-betweeners. We spent a few hours helping them market their band name with large chunks of chalk and the ground. We wrote Between The Trees what stage they were playing on and what time ALL over the once empty lot in Jersey [I know...Jersey] and it seemed to help draw quite a crowd. From then on Colleen and I swore to go to every show they played in NYC; never had we met such a nice rad down to earth band like this, most of them could give two shits but not these guys. They hung out and thanked us for helping and well, never forgot who we were.

We were so relieved to finally make it to The Knitting Factory and were even more relieved when we saw the band unloading; they missed the last show they were supposed to play so we were hoping they were making this one. It's a very selfish special feeling when a band you love so much walks up to you and remembers who you are- I was on the phone explaining to my sister where we were and how we were gonna see BTT play when Ryan, the lead singer, walked up said hey and proceeded to somehow carry on a conversation with my sister. RAD.

We spent the next two hours in music heaven forgetting about the rest of our lives and just enjoying good ol fashion music.

I'm not going to lie, I loved them more live than I did their albums but that's the case with all bands I've seen live. It's not just music, it's an experience. We always left their shows on a natural high as we got lost trying to get back to Grand Central Station.

No, they're not The Beatles but they gave me an escape from a life I was unsure of in New York. For two hours I would get to be free and live in their music, living vicariously through their passion for performance; it was invigorating.

I'll never forget these sweet guys from Florida. I'll never forget the sweat drenching their foreheads as they closed their eyes and let the music happen. With the end of Between The Trees as a band I feel a piece of me has been boxed up, marked Music: The College Years 2006-2008 in wet black sharpie and thrown on a shelf in the attic.

Random Thursday

living room - Banksy Print - Candle - Sheeeeels

Today I'm just taking it easy peasy (like I haven't been doing that lately anyways)...I'm really focusing on getting my puppies potty trained....any puppy house breaking advice? Because I'm literally losing my mind.

My Belly is getting HUGE.

I rescued two Gecko eggs in my neighbors door frame- he wanted to feed them to his dog, I don't think so!

I'm now on this quest to make sure they hatch & live a long Gecko life...In Hawai'i the Mo'o (native Gecko) is becoming extinct because these vibrant green gecko lizard things are killing them...I grew up chasing and playing with the old lil brown Mo'o and want Reef to get to experience the yard adventures they bring to a child's imagination too.

R is for Reef & Robot & Reuse

 

I spent today organizing everything we have for Reef into one closet in our bedroom and quickly made this little sign to put on it...I did it a little too fast and cut the picture too small but oh well I ninja-rigged some tape behind it and it's good enough for now [satisfied my need for the moment but I'm sure I'll redo it tomorrow].

We have decided not to go balls out on a nursery A) Because my husband's best friend is moving in in a few weeks and B) We're not quite sure how long we're going to be in this house. So, for now, we're rearranging our room & living room...It's actually less daunting than the idea of an ENTIRE room for Reef...We only moved into our home in June of 2010 and finally finished furnishing it right before Christmas...the idea of a whole other room for lil babes is just too much right now [especially since I did the move alone while Zach was deployed].

We're also really in to using second hand items. Don't get me wrong I enjoy shiny new things but right now it's more economical to reuse and I've noticed it makes people so happy to see that their beloved and well used items are going to another happy lil one. For the baby shower I've asked my best friend to put on the invites that I'd LOVE for people to re-gift items they may have that we need but that they aren't using anymore.

And last but not least, I totally scored a Phil & Ted's double sport stroller in black on craigslist for $160. It needs a little TLC but once I have it shining I'll post some pics- I'm completely obsessed with it. I wanted a new one but they run about $450 a pop and well, hah, I wish I had the extra money for one. So, when I found this used one and I found out that no one had bought it yet I immediately dragged my husband to a pool party the seller was at to pick it up [not like he was tired from working a 13 hour day or anything...].

Messy Procrastination

Today

I have absolutely no energy or drive

&

my house is a wreck from the last week of sickness

&

I have no desire whatsoever to clean (nothing new there).

On

a cuter note, I stumbled into a ferocious boutique while my husband was having his oil changed.

It was my first day actually out of the house in a while and although the company that did our oil change ripped us off I found my new favorite local place to shop:

Philanthropy by Madison & Company

They carry some great lines like Trinity & Audrey 3+1
Plus, their owners are three of the sweetest most rad chicks ever.

I've missed being in a boutique on the weekly,

I used to work for the fabulous Miss M 

& 

got waaaaay too accustomed to the boutique style

[you may be thinking I'm crazy but it's an easy addiction my friends].

Unfortunately my baby bump & baby boobs made everything a tad too small for me to fit

but I was able to find this cute (excuse the terrible photos) Audrey 3+1 Dress for only $35.

Why, excuse me

Dearest friends,

please excuse my week long absence. My extra nasty morning sickness finally took it's toll on my body and I ended up in the ER last week Monday- talk about shaking things up. Of course my mom had just left and Zach was off island doing army training. I've spent the last week in my bed ignoring anything that wasn't my pillow, the shower, my dogs, Reef, & my husband.

My doctor has finally gotten me on medications to correct all the crazyness my body is going through, although she got all nasty and irate when I told her I hadn't taken the meds the hospital gave me because I was afraid I was taking too many prescriptions and I wanted her opinion first. [side note: my doctor is an amazing OBGYN but she also has some weird mental block when it comes to being compassionate or explaining things in a non-bitchtastic way].

Long story short I'm finally feeling better and going back to work Monday so I can make that thing called Money that we are always in need of :)

I listened to this Arcade Fire song a million times this week: