The Real Hawai'i Life...

**This is a lengthy post. You have been forewarned ;)**

Truth:

I love home reno tv shows.

I love the dreams that exist as the consequence of binging on 5 straight hours of home reno tv.

I am, however, about to diss on a dream that home reno tv makes look all too real.

That is...

Hawai'i Life.

You see, in the start of one popular show, they say,

"You don't have to be rich to live in Hawaii — you just have to want it"

I'm not saying that's not true,

but I'm willing to share my truth what 

not being rich and living in Hawai'i looked like.

And yes, I did want it.

For brevity's sake (and because the show is a real estate show), I'll only focus on real estate in this post, not the other elements of "Hawai'i Life" that actually make all of this worth living there.  See the REST of my blog, like this post, this post, and this post for that info.

Here we go:

Apartment #1:

The Blue Light Special

$1400/month, 2 bedroom, 2 bath, near Pearl Harbor, 

30 min. to the nearest nice beach,

"Looks a bit like prison"

I lived on the 4th floor of this building.

Most likely, if you aren't rich in Hawai'i, you'll be living in a walk-up building. Heck, even if you are rich, you may be living in a walk-up.  This means: cinder block walls, jalousie windows, and the ability for anyone to "walk-up" to your door, bugs and people alike (See more on this below in Apartment #4.)

My roommate and I were stoked on this apartment because it touted new laminate wood floors, separate bathrooms for each of us, easy entrance to the freeway (she was a student at UH and I worked a bazillion jobs to make rent), and a blue light bulb in the overhead kitchen light.

 This was the view off our front lanai...not too bad.

 Here was my lil' bedroom

 Wish I had a better pic of this bathroom...it had a tub 1/3 the size of a typical bathtub...not really sure what I was supposed to do in there.  Pretty humorous, actually.

 This was our shared living space

This doesn't have anything to do with Hawai'i life...it's just funny.  We had to hang a mug off of a fork, off of the dripper, to make coffee...but it worked!

 Here we are. Livin' the Hawai'i Life:

 We had plenty of space to invite friends over (and please take note of my hubs luscious locks in this pic...timeless)

 This was the sunset view from my bedroom window. 
Not half bad....

Apartment #2:

Ferngully

$1200/month, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, near Waikiki,

15 min. to nearest nice beach

This was my (now) husband's apartment when I met him. 

He lived on the 2nd floor of this lovely 2-story walk-up in the middle of this paved paradise.

I was jealous of his lanai.

My walk-up apartment didn't have a lanai, 

but it did have new flooring, 

and his had only old (I'm talking '60's/'70's old) laminate tile.

Look at that hunk of man!

Apartment #3:

The Studio.

$900/month, 1 room (kitchen/hallway that fit a bed), 1 bath, 1 closet.

15 min. to nearest nice beach., 5 min. walk to stunning hike.

Yep.

300 glorious sq. feet.

My first "place of my own."

Then, 4 months later,

my (now) husband moved in.

2 grown adults and 1 pet gecko cohabitating 300 glorious sq. ft. of cinder block walls and '70's orange laminate flooring.

The location was key, though. 

Centrally located between all of our jobs,

at the base of a lovely hike into the forest,

and next to one of the biggest private schools on-island (false sense of security).

Here's the view of the "guest bedroom/kitchen" as seen from sitting on my bed (with guests in town...hooray for futons in the kitchen!):

Baby me reading the Sunday paper and just happy to livin' the Hawai'i Life:

It was in this kitchen that our love of cooking together was born ...and when I say together, I mean 
"one small counter top together"

We even had a small lanai which featured our washing machine and our camping table for date-night dinners.

Date night! Woo-hoo!

Apartment 4:

The Married Life 2-Bedroom Spacious Delight

$1200/month, 2 bedroom, 1 bath

same building as the studio, 15 min. to closest beach, 0 min. to closest burglar.

I actually cannot find pics of this place,
perhaps because my computer was stolen in the burglary.
I will say, we thought we were in heaven to have 
2 BEDROOMS AND A HALLWAY!
Heaven even included upstairs neighbors with at least 12 people living in their two-bedroom...
running 2 washing machines on their lanai...
one after the other...
from the same water line...
which meant when one machine was on the spin cycle,
they would disconnect the water and let it drain over their lanai...
onto our lanai...
dirty laundry water from 12 people.
Gross.
But we were happy to have the space,
until everything we had in the space was stolen one day while we were at work...
working to pay for the bigger space.

That's a Hawai'i Life reality, folks.
Drugs and drug money are a big problem,
and people aren't afraid to take what is yours to make some money for their drug addiction.
Lock your doors (and your jalousie windows)
and DO NOT leave anything in view in your car
(my preschool teacher's car was broken into at my wedding and they took a bag with a towel in it. Seriously.)

Okay...onward...

Apartment 5:

The Castle in the Sky

After the burglary, I moved us immediately to the 

most secure building I could find 

(even though the property manager told me "secure buildings either secure the crazy out or lock the crazy in.")

This was the nicest apartment we lived in during our time on island.

It even had a convenience store on the bottom floor!

The rooftop deck had shared BBQs which looked out over Waikiki.

We loved it here.

We ate many dinners overlooking our incredibly beautiful view:

We had two bedrooms, so family could come and visit.

This was Thanksgiving one year:

We were even the rightful (3rd) owners

of an Italian-made couch from Craigslist.

We had a kitchen big enough for one person to cook Thanksgiving Dinner...

Space to work on our graduate studies

 

A large master bedroom

2 bathrooms!

That view, though!

An ocean view from the rooftop deck

A moonrise view from our bedroom

Fireworks every Friday

Ko'olau dreams any time we wanted them:

In short, we nested here.

Until it was sold.

For 800,000 dollars.

BAWK!

That's when we decided that our dream of raising a family in Hawai'i was too far flung for two (now) teachers.

Our kids would rarely see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins on the mainland.

We would (probably) never afford a house with a yard.

In short,

we loved our Hawai'i Life 

despite the burglars, high rent, flooring from the 1970's, etc.

For everything there is a season,

a time to live in Hawai'i,

and a time to move back to family.

Hawai'i, however,

will always be our

"home." 

aloha.

Plastic Free July

Plastic.

It's everywhere

and 

I admit:

I use it

all the time.

The effect of single use plastics

on our oceans,

however,

is devastating.

Take the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,

for example:

https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/videos/trash-talk-what-great-pacific-garbage-patch-0 

The non-profit

Plastic Free July

(based out of Australia)

challenges us all

to do exactly that.

 Be as "plastic free"

in July

as possible.

Here's a link to the info:

Plastic Free July

Here are some ideas to "reduce your use" in July (and every other month):

1- Keep a clean reusable coffee "to-go" mug in your car.  One of my best friends taught me this one. My favorite is the Contigo Mug. Although they are typically a bit more expensive than other coffee mugs, they are stainless steel, have locking lids (hey-yah! No coffee spills in my bag!), and they keep your drink hot or cold for hours. 

2- Reusable bags.  This one seems SO simple, but I admit: My bags like to keep my car company while I shop. I've walked MANY times in the store and realized, half-way through my trip with my cart already full-that my bags are in the car. I sometimes set my cart in a corner, run back to my car, and grab my bags...but let's be real: what a pain! Simple way to fix this? 

Put the bag(s) in your purse. 

Period. 

These ChicoBags roll up nicely. 

They also have  produce bags.

3- Buy veggies plastic-free. Why do I need my zucchini wrapped in plastic wrap on a styrofoam tray? Simple answer: I don't.  I'll refuse to buy veggies with a side of plastic. I only want the veggies, anyway.  I don't typically go to the store and have "styrofoam tray" listed as something I want to buy that day.  We are lucky to have an amazing Farmer's Market, as well as a family-owned local farm-sourced grocery store nearby. I know this isn't everyone's reality, but research your options.

...and just for kicks,

here's my favorite mockumentary 

of all time:

 I challenge you (and me :) to:

Be in the "now":

Remember your bags...

Remember your to-go mug...

Buy plastic-free items...

Buy items which are meant to be reusable, 

not those which will last a long time in our oceans.

aloha.

Morro Bay

We decided to stay in Morro Bay for the night to:

1- Break up the drive from Santa Cruz 
to San Diego, and

2- To see a friend I haven't seen in 15 years.

(on a side note: 15 years? How'd that happen?!)

We chose to stay at the 456 Embarcadero

due to the good reviews online,

the proximity to the water,

and the AAA rate :)

Having never been to this area, 

we were taking a chance

on what we'd find...

...and what we found 

was

breathtaking:

Upon waking in the morning,

I grabbed my camera and hopped across the street 

to photograph the mirror image created

by the picturesque

stillness of the water. 
(Reminder: You can click on the pictures to view them larger...
and for these, you are going to want to! Promise!) 

To you this might look like an old wooden post with bird doo all over it...

to me, this is nautical at its best!

Teal-colored wood,

ivory rope,

sailboats gallore...

ah...

I LOVE it! 

Morning light...

one of my favorite times of day...

The town of Morro Bay is delightful.

Quaint, for sure.

Dreamy, no doubt.

 

 Even the motel is cute...

(now, how many towns can say that?)

 

Most of the locals have flippers...

...or wings...

This little guy was so delightful in his (or her)

morning swim,

that he made me wonder why I don't have a morning swim ritual.

Something to ponder on...

or take action on...

it is summer, anyway!

We found these two while we were out on a morning walk...

we think the female was on the rock,

and the male was in the water,

very obviously strutting his stuff for his mate.

Although our stay in Morro Bay was 

less than 24 hours, 

we will, without a doubt,

be back to explore.

We hope to stay here again,

as the 456 Embarcadero Inn

was lovely!

The recent renovations were perfect...

clean lines,

calming colors,

comfortable bed,

a yoga mat and robes in the room,

the best "free" breakfast we had on our trip,

friendly staff,

and most importantly (to us):

steps away from the water.

'Til our next adventure,

we bid you

"aloha 'oe" 

CA's Central Coast: Santa Cruz to Morro Bay

From Santa Cruz, we drove south down to Morro Bay.

It was this leg of the journey about which I was most excited...

Amazing photo opps...

and a spectacular part of our state I had yet to see.

 Bucket List stuff, you know?

The Bixby Bridge...

worth the hype,

for sure!

Grey clouds loomed for the majority of our drive,

which only added to the mystique

of our adventure.

Let's talk about:

McWay Falls

What a spectacular site!

AND...

the hike there is not really a hike...

it's a nice dirt path...

less than 1/2 a mile from the road.

Simply. Stunning.

and NOT to be MISSED.

Our next stop was to see the elephant seals.

I felt slightly touristy stopping off here,

but I highly recommend it! 

Such a bizarre animal!

From there, it was a short jaunt to Morro Bay.

We will be taking this drive again in the future...

next time we'll leave more time in our schedule for this leg of the journey, and hopefully take some time to camp in Big Sur.

aloha.

CA's Central Coast: Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz

 We recently had the opportunity to drive the central coast of California. 

This is a trip I've always wanted to take

and we jumped at the chance to explore!

We started at Half Moon Bay.

 We'd heard about this spot from surf films,

directly south of the

the huge waves of Mavericks.

 It was a beautiful spot,

however Half Moon Bay

seemed strikingly similar to the

beaches of San Diego.
We moved on from here pretty quickly...
guess we need to come back when the waves are pumpin'
 at Mavericks!
There was a nice oceanside walking path, though!

 Along the drive from Half Moon Bay to Santa Cruz,

we came across this incredibly beautiful lighthouse.

When we got to Santa Cruz, 

we found a little rocky overlook

 and had a picnic.

 To cut costs, we packed our food for this trip in a cooler loaded into our Subaru.  

It was surprisingly refreshing to not think about where we were stopping for food...
and honestly I love myself a good PBJ...or 5.

 Santa Cruz proved to be a charming little college surf town.

aloha.