All in LIFESTYLE

ALONE WITH YOURSELF

Funerals are sad. Life can be sad. And sometimes there's a time and place to travel to a destination alone with yourself and experience the sadness. And also, the greatness in the sadness.  I also think there’s a myth behind why every mother feels a bit of guilt when she’s away from her kids. It’s not because she’s a mom. Or doesn’t have the right to leave town solo and enjoy the fruits of her labor unattended by toddlers on a plane with a double Starbucks in hand and a good business book on her lap. Or that the children will die a miserable death by consuming too much pizza fed by Dad or cut their knee open while wrestling with their older sister. It’s more in depth than that. It's more complex. But it shouldn’t be. But it is. 

A LOT OF LOVE GOES A LONG WAY (A LETTER TO MOM AND DAD)

Dear Mom and Dad, 

Thank you for the permanent stain of love on my heart. And for teaching me the lessons I so desperately needed to learn. Because today, as a wife and mother, they count. Like in a big way. 

I came across this image this morning and I fell apart. Not because of anything in particular, but because the smile that came across my face is now permanently indented there. And I could feel it. And I felt a lump in my throat. So much emotion came up when I looked at this image because I saw my life. Saw it in Luke’s smile. In it I saw mine and my husbands smile. I saw Dad’s smile in the background, and your dark Hawaiian Filipino skin hiding in the fading sunset. And I saw my Bo. And myKona Blue. And Mom, with a radiating smile that matched my Lukey’s like magic. And it is magic.

POOL PARTY ESSENTIALS & MESSY BEACHY HAIR HACKS

Pool Parties use to stress me out. Because I always made such a big deal about them. Like I gotta get it perfect. Everything from the food to the flowers. But then one afternoon after cleaning up the house after friends had left, I realized this. If there's a pool and some snacks and alcohol, you're golden. Nobody cares that much. Really. And if they bring their kiddos, they really don't care. They care if you have cocktails.