Outfit of the Day: At the Aquarium with Anne Rice

On Friday the week before last, I got to meet Anne Rice!

She was at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco doing a book signing for her new book Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis.


Outfit of the Day:

Because I thought it was a cute idea that she was doing her Atlantis book signing at the Aquarium, I decided to wear my trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea coral to play along with that theme! I paired this with a vintage Navy sequined cardigan which I got earlier this year from Etsy. To keep warm, I paired this with light beige sweater tights from Target from a couple years ago and though not pictured a beige wool wrap coat also from Target from a couple years ago. Because I knew we'd be getting into some walking I wore a pair of navy flats by Rocket Dog from Zappos from a couple years ago.

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea Coral- Front View

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea Coral- Side View

With Anne Rice at the Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco!

At the Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco, CA

I'm looking forward to starting Anne Rice's new book! But first, I'm reading Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert (the fifth book in the Dune series) before I let too much time pass between the last time I read Dune book #4 and this one.


Are you a book lover? What book are you currently reading?

Matching Your Dress To Your Teaware Part 28: Into the Sea

“I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.”
― Bram Stoker, Dracula

Now that we are at the end of the last full month of the summer, I wanted to end things with a sea themed Perfect Pairing.

Last year Trashy Diva released their Deep Sea Coral print, a gorgeous novelty print. It is everything I love most about novelty prints- it's a little quirky, yet decidedly more mature than other vintage repro novelty prints out there. I love that it's on a dark background and I also love that it isn't too busy, both which help in giving it a somber feeling. This somberness transfers into elegance as one takes in the corals, shells, and minimal sea floor. From the way the print is illustrated, the corals seem to sway gently in this darkest quiet corner of the sea floor. The bubbles in the print give the print just the tiniest touch of whimsy and keeps this quirky somber elegant print fantastical rather than menacing.

Deep Sea Coral print by Trashy Diva- Close Up

Trashy Diva 40's dress in Deep Sea Coral Print

Like the Deep Sea Coral print by Trashy Diva, the Ebb Tide Pink and Turquoise Teapot by Hull found on Replacements.com perfectly illustrates the elegance and beauty of the sea. Moving up from the sea floor, finding ourselves at the shore, an ebb tide occurs between high tide and low tide when water is flowing away from the shore. I image a gentle day as the waves moves up touching the shore, then moves back out tickling the sand, the waves unfailingly crashing and receding, gently swaying and moving. The soft and varied color on this teapot bring to mind an early morning or early evening, like the ebb tide, a moment in between. A little bit quirky and whimsical, yet elegant and so graceful, this teapot is the most genital and refreshing dawn or dusk at the sea embodied.

Hull Ebb Tide Pink and Turquoise teapot, image source, Replacements.com: http://search.replacements.com/search/?query=hull+teapot+ebb+tide

Vacation Slideshow: Island in the Sun, Maui, Part 2

...Continuing on with Vacation Slideshow: Island in the Sun!

If you missed the beginning, you can see the start of Vacation Slideshow: Island in the Sun here. :)


Day 3:

Since Tim was a trooper and went along with everything I wanted to do the first two days of our trip I told him the third day was going to be all him-- anything he wanted to do.

I was not surprised and was quite anticipating that his first choice was going to be surfing!

On the third day of the trip, after waking to a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and bananas we walked down to nearby Kalama beach in the town of Kihei. The stretch of beaches in Kihei were our favorite for surfing the first time around and were just as nice this second time around.The water was warmish and the waves small. After working up an appetite in the surf we stopped at a food truck across the street for a fish wrap lunch which we brought back to the beach to eat there.

Kamala Beach, Kihei, HI

Oh Yeah! Surfing at Kamala Beach, Kihei, HI

After Kamala beach we headed back to our home base for a dip in the pool and then were off again this time to Makena beach also known as big beach. If you go to the end of big beach and climb the rocks there you can get to little beach. We almost didn't do it after seeing how high up the rocks went but knowing how much I hate regretting the things I didn't do while on vacation I mustered up the courage for the climb and we went. The climb itself wasn't nearly as bad as it looked from ground level and the path to little beach once you get on top is smooth and sandy. Now I heard little beach was a nude beach but I wasn't expecting what we found on the other side! It was so crowded. Lots of people were working hard to get there tanline-less suntans at little beach that day! If you keep walking along little beach after you reach the end there are tide pools too. We had fun playing on the rocks looking at the sea urchins there.

Makena Beach (Big Beach) Makena, HI

View of Makena Beach from the top of the cliff, Makena, HI

Path to Little Beach from the top of the cliff

After climbing back over to big beach we tried playing the surf but the undertow was really strong and pretty scary so didn't stay in the water too long.

Playing at Makena Beach (Big Beach)

Before driving back to our home base we decided to keep driving south to where the road ends to see what was there. Along the road we drove past La Perouse bay and lava fields in the Ahihi-Kina'u nature reserve (most of which are closed to public access other than driving through on the road or a few hiking trails. 

Lava fields, Ahihi-Kina'u Nature Reserve, Makena, HI

Baby goat crossing the road, Ahihi-Kina'u Nature Reserve, Makena, HI

After coming back for the night we didn't know what we were going to do for dinner so it was a really nice coincidence that the timeshare complex we were staying at was having a bbq in the pool area! We got to relax and eat cheeseburgers and chips poolside. Not a bad way to end the day.


Outfit of the Day (Day 3):

Since most of this day was spend in bathing suits I threw on a blue jersey knit dress which I got from Nordstrom Rack several years ago. This is one of my favorite dresses to use as a beach cover up. It's a dress but since there's no zippers or buttons it's perfect as a cover up.

Blue Jersey Knit dress as beach cover up photographed with a wooden mermaid sculptured in progress on the beach

Day 4:

On day four, after eating our oatmeal and bananas for breakfast, we headed down south to Polo Beach to do some snorkeling. We forgot the camera that morning so sadly did not get any pictures. After our morning snorkel we jumped in the pool for a little bit then cleaned up for lunch. Mama's Fish House in the north shore town of Paia was the big destination for the day! The location, setting, food, and service were all amazing but I will let the photos do most of the talking. I just have to add that Mama's Fish House was probably my favorite part of our whole trip. If you ever find yourself in Maui, do not hesitate to go!

Mama's Fish House, Paia, HI

Our table at Mama's Fish House, Paia, HI

The view from our table at Mama's Fish House

Guava Colada at Mama's Fish House

Hood Canel clams simmered in garlic brooth with edamame noodles

Fresh caught Ahi grilled in a ti leaf with papaya and coconut rice

Polynesian black pearl: Liliko'i chocolate mousse in a pastry shell

In front of Mama's Fish House, Paia, HI

After lunch we decided to head back to our home base in Kihei by taking a scenic route via highway 340 along the northwest coast. The last time we were in Maui eight years ago this road was closed and we didn't realize there was supposed to be a road up there. This trip, we heard stories about this road... mostly that the road gets narrow and there's "nothing's up there". Compared to these comments we were not expecting at all what we found! To say the road narrows is an understatement. It goes so narrow that it's narrower than a single lane road. This happens amidst blind hairpin turns butted up against sheer cliffs going straight down. My heart was racing the whole time. I was happy when we got out of it alive and without a scratch on us. While I don't know if I'd be able to recommend this drive to anyone going to Maui, it was an adventure to have! And the people that said "nothing's up there" got that part wrong too. It was wonderfully scenic up there (once you got past the fear that it was possible to die at any moment) and we got to this great part in the road (before it turned too harry) where there was a gang of wild chickens and kitties on the street.

Wild chickens and cats along the north west highway 340

Gorgeous view along the north west highway 340

Coming out of the worst of the one lane road where the road opens up again to a proper two lane highway we came across this blowhole we weren't expecting.

Nakalele Blowhole, Pohelua Bay, HI

And then later saw this wild looking beach full of surfers trying to catch some big waves (you have to look very closely for the surfers as they are way out there)

Before heading home we stopped in the town of Kapalua for some snacks which got me craving some Lappert's ice cream! A quick look up on our navigator told us the nearest Lappert's Ice cream place was in Wailea which was past home base but we decided to go anyway. It turns out there is only one Lappert's ice cream on the whole island of Maui. I'm glad we found it. I love Lappert's ice cream so much! I got a scoop of caramel coconut macadamia nut ice cream. 

Lappert's Ice Cream, Wailea, HI

Enjoying a scoop of caramel coconut macadamia nut ice cream at Lappert's

Continuing our drive back to our home base we stopped by Foodland, the local grocery store, for some spam and fried chicken masubis. Seeing these delicious rice rolls readily available at the grocery store was one of the must dos on my list for this trip! They are so good plus I like the novelty of being able to pick them up at the grocery store! We had to get some. Though what we didn't know was that when we got back to our home base the family would be there making dinner! We decided to save our masubis for breakfast and joined the family in a much enjoyed family meal. 


Outfit of the Day (Day 4):

For this day's activities I decided to wear my Trashy Diva Trixie dress in their Deep Sea Coral print. I figured the sea theme of the dress would be perfect for a fancy lunch at Mama's Fish House. I paired this with a peachy pink cardigan I got from Target several years ago and wore my comfy black Sketcher Go Walks with it. 

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral, pictured at beach in front of Mama's Fish House, Paia, HI

Outfit of the Day: Under the Sea

This past Saturday Tim and I spend the day out and about at different festivals around our area.

Our first stop was the Hayward Vintage Alley Car Show. This was the first time I was able to attend this second annual car show put on by our local retro reproduction shop, Vintage Alley. It was quite big and definitely exceeded my expectations. I was thinking it would just be a small strip of cars along a small section of B st, but really, they basically took over the entire downtown area with classic cars, classic and custom bicycles, several retail and food vendors, and even a large stage with a live band. We had a lot of fun looking at all the sights, as well as taking a stop at Vintage Alley and at the new ice cream shop next door.

After the car show we headed down to the annual Pittsburg Seafood Festival. There was so much seafood to be had there! I had a delicious crab sandwich, then shrimp and grits. I wanted to go back for a fried shrimp po boy but was too full by then. But I did get a bite or two of Tim's friend alligator before we left. There was jet ski races there as well as live bands. They advertised kite surfing demos but we didn't see them there. Either we missed it or it just wasn't happening on the day we went. I wish they would have had some kind of schedule of events listed for this festival. It seems like there was a lot of stuff going on including bath tub races and paddle board lessons, but for the life of me I couldn't find a list anywhere saying when what was going to be taking place. At least the seafood was always there :)


Outfit of the Day:

For this day's activities I had to wear my new Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral! The seafood festival seemed the perfect occasion to get out my new deep sea coral dress! ;) I paired this with a rose pink cropped cardigan by MAK also from Trashy Diva and a pair of navy flats for all the walking we were going to be doing.

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral- Front View

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral- Front View

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral- Side View

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral- Front View

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral- Front View

Trashy Diva Trixie dress in Deep Sea Coral- Side View

Starfish Earrings- Close Up