Tag: family vacation

I always say, the best way to experience a new place is through their food scene. Eat at places you’ve never been before, try food that you haven’t tasted, and ask the locals where they like to eat!

When we go to Hawaii we have our list of places to try and things to eat while we’re there. We’ve tried a bunch of places and have every intention to try more we go to Oahu. I thought I’d compile my list of places for those that have been asking 😊

1. Helena’s Hawaiian Food. THIS. IS. A. MUST! It had to be the first place I tell you about. It’s the best place you can go for Hawaiian food! My personal favorite dish is their fried butter fish with gravy. Everything is really good – there’s nothing I’ve had there that I didn’t enjoy. But O.M.G. That butter fish is just out of this world amazing. I’ve tried to make it myself, tried to find it elsewhere – nope.

2. Poke. You’ve got to have poke when you go to Hawaii. We usually go to Foodland to get poke cuz of their convenience and variety. BUT, if you want legit poke on Oahu I would definitely check out Tanioka’s.

3. Shrimp. Another stop you just have to make while on Oahu is the shrimp stalls/trucks on the North Shore. Giovanni’s is always a popular choice, but Charlie and I love to stop at Romy’s!

4. Uncle Bo’s Restaurant. If you want to go to a place for great food and drinks we love going to Uncle Bo’s! We first found this place when I was still planning weddings, one of my clients that was getting married in Hawaii had their rehearsal dinner here. It was delicious and we’ve been back there multiple times since!

5. Last but not least, you can’t visit Oahu without stopping at Leonard’s to get some of their tasty malasadas. A malasada is a soft bread/donut that’s fried, almost like a cronut but so. much. better! My personal favorite is their haupia filled malasadas but you can’t go wrong with the classic!

Can’t wait to go back! Is it normal to have withdrawals 5 days after a trip?

xoxo,

We took a red eye flight from Hawaii back to LA yesterday – we arrived at 5 am, went home, rested for a couple hours, drove to Oxnard a food show, then straight to work. 😪 We were still pretty tired but the red eye flight helped, it was my first time pretty much sleeping all the way through a flight. If you’re not good with airplane rides I can’t recommend red eye flights enough!

We had such a good time in Hawaii! It was definitely a short trip, but was well worth it.

We ate so much food and drank so many cocktails haha! Charlie and I had a list of food places that we wanted to hit and take his family . There’s really nothing like Hawaiian food! One of our favorite places to go while we’re there is Helena’s. We highly recommend making a stop there any time you’re on Oahu! We have our favorite dishes but anything you order from there is delicious!

Charlie and I always say that if it weren’t for our fur babies we would move to Hawaii. The island has a strict policy with dogs and other pets coming into the island because the island doesn’t have rabies. To bring your dog there you have to go through the application process and quarantine your dogs before they are approved to be transported there. But we love Hawaii! There’s just something about the atmosphere that is unlike any place 🌺

Now that we’re back I’m really excited to get back into eating well. I think the guilt of eating so much food and alcohol got to me haha! I’ve decided that I’m going to do a reset and go back onto my intermittent fasting diet. I’ve tried a bunch of different food lifestyles (I don’t like to call them diets) but the 2 that have worked well for me is the low carb/keto diet and intermittent fasting.

With everything I ate and drank I decided I’m going to do a 7 day green tea detox and do intermittent fasting. I’ve decided to go with intermittent fasting instead of keto because as a restaurant owner I don’t have much time to eat while at work anyway. I drink water while I’m at work, and then from 4-8 pm I allow myself to eat. The great thing is with that food regimen I’m able to “eat what I want” just not when I want. I put “eat what I want” in quotes because everything has to be in moderation – of course. I still have a caloric allowance every day and macros I can’t exceed, but with this diet I have the flexibility of eating what we have so long as it fits within that allowance. Flexibility in menu is so important for us right now because 1. After work we’re too tired to go out and buy groceries or eat out sometimes and 2. We have limited funds so eating out or buying high end/expensive items at the grocery store just isn’t an option for us right now.

I’m curious to see what my body stats are right now considering I went on vacation, hopefully I didn’t gain too much weight! 😆 I usually do a weigh in at the beginning of every month, so we’ll see then!

Xoxo,

It has been an amazing 4 days here in Hawaii! We’ve been able to spend a lot of time together as a family and have gotten some much needed R & R after a really stressful few months.

I’m sitting here at the Hale Koa Hotel pool right in front of the beach, sitting on a lounge chair, and enjoying my last 4.5 hours before we have to head to the airport.

Yesterday was a super gloomy day, the sun didn’t peek out after 9 am and it was pouring! But that didn’t stop us! Charlie and I walked a couple miles to see what new things Waikiki had in store for us. It seems like every time we come here it’s changed so much since the last.

We arrived on Thursday night at 9:40 pm Hawaii time. We took a nice Tesla Uber to the Hale Koa Hotel where we’ve been staying the last 4 days. Hale Koa is absolutely one of the best hotels to stay in when you’re in Oahu. It’s a military owned hotel so only active/retired military or people sponsored by military can stay, but it’s a beautiful hotel. It has everything we ever need when we’re here. There’s a convenience store that sells everything from Macadamia Nut Coffee to good quality take out sushi to souvenirs.

They also have a beautiful lobby area that is perfect for lounging and people watching. There’s plenty of places to sit and they even have a craft show where local artisans can sell their goods (right up my alley!)

But the best part? The hotel has a gorgeous beach front view. They have a huge pool area that is right next to a bar, snack bar, and the beach so you have everything you need just steps away!

If you follow me on Instagram or have even been following along on this blog you’ll know how much I love Hawaii. There’s just something so special and magic about this place, it gets me every time. The people, the pace of life, the nature, the scenery, the food, everything about it is just so different from home. This place never gets old. So thank you, Hawaii, for another beautiful time. Til the next time, Aloha 🌺

xoxo,