We had so much fun visiting our good friends and enjoying one of the coolest cities in the world during the holiday season.  Even packed with the bajillion people gawking at the Rockefeller tree, there was so much cheer we didn’t want to be anywhere else.  Proof is in the pictures (there really were a bajillion people!).

Huskies lose by 6 to Duke. A good second half but not enough.

Rockefeller Center during the holidays!

INSANE crowds to check out the tree at Rockefeller.

Walking along Highline Park in the Meat Packing District.

Yummy snack at the Donut Plant.

As always, it was super relaxing and loads of fun.  We stayed in Waikiki so we could easily surf every day.  Honolulu was a lot more crowded this time than it has been the last few times I’ve been.  Tourism has definitely picked up…making it harder to surf our favorite beach without worrying about getting bonked on the head with someone else’s surfboard.  Still fun, just slightly annoying.

Landin and Missy (who might me moving back to the states – bah!) were the best hosts ever.  They always take us to new places that never disappoint.  Like the evening we had a yummy and disgustingly filling dinner followed my mochi ice cream.  Or the beautifully hidden sunset lookout.  Or on what they called a Disneyland hike.  I disagreed.  Disneyland doesn’t have hills!  We managed to squeeze in a beautiful hike, a beach stop that reminded me of where LOST might be filmed and lunch all before our flight at 1pm.  The best part is, we love their company so it really doesn’t matter what we’re doing – it’s always fun.  And they’re total nerds.  At the moment, they are way into birds and plants (last time it was the underwater creatures).  We got a mini lesson along the hike about all kinds of birds and tropical plants.  I don’t remember much of it now but it was adorable watching them geek out and get excited about a bird that they couldn’t even see.  Not sure what we’re going to do if they move to Denver!

We’ve had a lot of friends and friends of friends recently go to Kauai so my research for this trip was slim.  I printed out a bunch of their notes and took them with us.  No books.  No internet research.  D booked our condo.  All I did was get a car (which Kevin upgraded for a douchey blue Mustang – it was fun, but douchey blue?).

Kauai is known as the “Garden Isle” because of its’ endless beauty.  It’s very green and lush.  We learned that the tallest peak in Kauai is also the wettest measured spot on earth.  The north side of the peak it rains so much it can be considered a rain forest.  And to the south, it rains so little, it can be considered a dessert.  That’s some crazy topography!

Pros and Cons of Kauai.  Pro – it’s beautiful.  Con – there are chickens EVERYWHERE.  Everywhere.  At the beaches, in parking lots, waking you up at 6:30am.  Pro – the variety of beaches (calm, surfing, boogie boarding, snorkeling, glass sand, scenic, good for sunsets).  Con – you have to drive to get anywhere.  We stayed in Poipu (the sunny side) but our favorite beach was on the North end at Hanalei Bay.  It felt like most of the trip we were in the car…which is not fun, even in a Mustang.

All in all, this turned out to be a great little trip.  We spent some QT with the Dhara’s, cousin was on the island too and our trips overlapped a few days, we flew in a helicopter(!) and at the end, we tagged on a few days in Oahu to visit our friends there.  Oahu is still my favorite island.  There’s something I just love about it.  Maybe it’s the friends we have there now or the awesome trips with other friends and family I’ve taken.  Whatever it is, I’m really glad we ended our trip in such a special place.

Breakfast Rainbow from our patio!

This first installment, to get you all warmed up, is a video from the Bachelorette Party.  D planned an amazingly awesome Chelan excursion with a “Reality TV” theme.  We had an Amazing Race scavenger hunt, a Top Chef cook off, a how well do you know your celebrity Bachelor and Bachelorette game and a Biggest Loser competition.  It was awesome.  And all superbly documented by KMJ who put together this cute little video.  Love my girls.  Long time.

I was talking to a new girl at work this week and learned about this man-made island just off Everett.  Yeah, I know, it’s pretty sad that I’m learning about my city from a girl that moved here only three months ago.  Since we’re headed to Hawaii next month, we figured we should get into shape and practice our people watching, reading and napping on the beach skills.  Turns out, we’re pretty good at it.

We paddled to, from and around the island but most people take the free 2-minute ferry ride.  It was cool being so close to home but feeling like you were somewhere far away.  The view was gorgeous and there were lots of families and even more kite boarders who were really fun to watch.

Stay-cation in Everett – who knew?

Boat launch and kite boarders on the back side of the island.

We walk by Notre Dame everyday.  Sometimes a few times a day and it is always vibrant, full of people - even at midnight.  We wanted to go in but didn’t want to wait with the masses.  Thus, the early morning visit.  It was a beautiful way to start the day.  Notre Dame is immaculate all on its own.  Add a picture perfect morning and very few people, you get the most amazingly serene experience imaginable.  It was like we were in a different world.  A calm, peaceful, tranquil world.  A world we really enjoyed; so we slowly took in every single stained glass second.

Soon, the tourists started to flood in, loud talking and cameras flashing – which was our sign to head back to our apartment….and take a nap.  After all, we had a couple of hours until Berthillon opened.

Berthillon is considered the best ice cream in Paris and bonus, it’s on Ile Saint Louis, three blocks away from our apartment.  Between their limited hours and our long days, we hadn’t been to Berthillon yet!  And this was our last day.  So, we were determined not to miss it, therefore sharing ice creams for breakfast.  It was the best breakfast we had in Paris.  And the best ice cream ever.  I really didn’t believe the hype that it would be that much better – it so was.  We were so sad we hadn’t made a breakfast run every morning!

Satisfied, but still hungry for food food, we went to Colette.  Not necessarily a restaurant but a strange cross between an upscale Urban Outfitters and Ikea.  Ikea only because you can shop and eat there.  The restaurant at Colette was a “water bar” which Kevin was excited about, reminiscing about his days at Glacia Nova.  Nope, there was no Sly Water or Serac on the menu!

Our afternoon took us to Versailles.  We had both been to Versailles our last trip to Paris (13 years ago) but we never really explored the gardens.  I remember being really dis-interested in the gardens then.  Mostly because we were on a tour and we had just gone through the entire palace and more walking was not appealing.  But now, having our own out of control yard, we have an entirely different and new appreciation.  The Gardens of Versailles are beautiful, incredibly maintained and insanely huge.  We walked through the tall hedges, admiring all the hard work that must have been put into the unending flower beds.  And discussed how we might be able to turn our little crop circle into an outdoor ballroom, like Louis XIV.  Like the other parks we visited, the gardens were packed.  Full of people picnicking, biking, canoeing and enjoying the sunshine.  We shared another ice creams and soaked in as much sun and people watching as we could.

On our walk home, we walked by Shakespeare and Company, which moved in 1951 to its new location, but is still run in the same manner, allowing young writers to live and work in the shop.  We recognized it from Midnight in Paris.

And then we made our love and marriage officially official.  We locked up our love on the Pont de l’Archeveche and threw away the keys into the Seine, ensuring everlasting love.  Had we known all it took was $3 euro, we may have skipped the wedding!  It’s a silly custom – but we love silly customs.

It’s our last night in Paris so everything we did was with the utmost intention.  Dinner at Les Philosophes, a bustling cafe we’d been eyeing all week.  And then we shared another Berthillion and watched the sunset from the river bank right in front of our apartment.

This is why we picked Paris.

You can find Kevin’s new twitter account at @imsoballer.