Ten on Ten

I stumbled upon the Ten on Ten Project yesterday from the blog, A Bit of Sunshine, just in time for today--October 10! What a wonderful way to celebrate a day. It just so happened that my husband was off from work today. Here's how our day went.

[Greeted by a rainbow this morning.]

[Getting inspired while having my morning coffee.]

[Took the dog with us to check out our future neighborhood.]

[Our future neighborhood is a flyover. The pup was not a fan.]

[But it does have a dog park with beach access. He enjoyed his first time at the beach!]

[Refueled at BK.]

[Made our way from the leeward to the windward side of the island. Hello, Kailua Beach.]

[Feeties in the sand.]

[Driving home up Kalanianaole Hwy.]

[Blessed to have lived through another beautiful day.]

Happy Ten on Ten, friends!

Happy Snail Mail

I finished and sent out my Elevated Envelopes last week. In all the hustle of moving our lives, it was a great change of pace to slow down and do something creative. Luckily, I still have a few craft supplies left that I just couldn't bear to give away. Yes, I gave away nearly ALL of my craft goodies. I almost pretty much cried. I'm just glad they went to loving homes aka my crafty sis-in-law and equally crafty friend, Jenny. But I figured if my hubs can sacrifice and give away ALL of his tools because of the big move (if you know my hubs, you know this is a big deal), then I can sacrifice my craft stash. But I digress...

Back to the envelopes. The theme was "Summer" and I got inspired by the summer I'm having now. I've kept referring to it as my "Epic Summer" because, well, it is and has been an epic one. I created the envelopes from a pad of travel themed scrapbook paper I had on hand. Inside each envelope was a note card, made from the same pad, and a post card that I purchased during my HI trip.


The whole project was a tribute to our summer journey from FL to HI. The hubs is flying back in a few weeks: 1.) for our friends' wedding, and 2.) so that we can take off on a cross-country road trip to CA and fly out to HI from there. Phew! Did you get all that?

 [A peek at the one I sent to Tara, the creator of the Elevated Envelopes Project]

[I used the new LOVE stamps. If you don't have them, RUN to your nearest post office. Seriously. They're so pretty!]

I'm hoping these all reached their intended destinations safely. (If you're one of the recipients and you're reading this right now, let me know!) I used our PO Box address in HI for these, so I won't get to see all my envelopes until I'm there finally. But I'm looking at it as a great welcome present waiting for me to get home. I can't wait!


Did you participate in Elevated Envelopes, too? I'd love to see what you sent out!

Let's get "Elevated"!

[Source: Elevated Envelopes by Ephemera]

Get your minds out of the gutter... I'm not trying to convince you to get "high" like that...I'm asking you to join me on a creative high! Come take this challenge with me. It's called "Elevated Envelopes" and it's from Tara over at Ephemera.


What are Elevated Envelopes, you ask? (From Tara's post):

"Wouldn’t it be fun to be pen pals with incredibly creative, talented, smart strangers? That’s The Elevated Envelope in a nutshell. There will be a theme (SUMMERTIME), and you will plan and design a creatively-addressed envelope that embodies that theme to you.  Then you execute it 10-ish times for the people on your list, put something fun inside explaining your concept, and mail it out by the deadline. Those same 10-ish people will send their creations to you as well.  Cool!"

More often than not, I get in a creative rut. I'm really excited to participate in this project. It's like enrolling in a mini art class! So if you love getting creative and receiving pretty snail mail like I do, head on over and sign up by leaving a comment on this post. The deadline to sign up is this coming Friday, July 8. All the details are on there. Hope you'll join me! Maybe we can end up on the same list! 

Thirty Days of Me - Day 30

Day 30: My favorite song

It's Day 30! Hooray!! I made it! Phew!

So my favorite song. I have a lot of favorite songs. But the one that sticks out in my mind right now is this one: "Honestly" by Ekolu. The hubby and I are huge fans of Hawaiian music and Ekolu is one of my favorite groups. "Honestly" is the song we danced to at our wedding. It's very near and dear to us.

I've enjoyed sharing little bits of me. It's helped me blog better and more frequent. I hope to keep it up. Hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I have! Thanks for sticking with me. =)

Thirty Days of Me - Day 29

Day 29: What I've learned this past month

(source)

What I learned in September...

- how to sew better
- my husband, family and friends are pretty much amazing... but that, I already knew.
- I may just finish this blog challenge!
- God is always on time. =)

Thirty Days of Me - Day 28

Day 28: A picture of me last year and now. What's changed?

Then: My 30th birthday at Walt Disney World. Now: (ish) Our first anniversary dinner.
Not much has really changed from last year and now. My hair is a bit longer and I'm a year older, but I still wear those glasses, I still make goofy faces, and I'm still as happy and blessed as can be. =)

Thirty Days of Me - Day 27

Day 27: Why I'm doing this 30-day Challenge 

(source)

I began this as a challenge to myself, to see if I could really go through with it. Seeing as though I start things with the best of intentions and never seem to finish them. I was doing well for most of this, even with a couple of skipped days along the way. And here I am in the home stretch! I'm almost there. So I'm pretty stoked that I'm actually going to get through and finish something! I also started this as a way to interact with readers of this blog. There have been a few of you that have commented, and I thank you for that! I hope that we continue to correspond and I hope that I've kept you entertained in some way. Thanks for sticking with me! I really do appreciate it!

Thirty Days of Me - Day 26

Day 26: What you think about your friends

I think...

...I have the greatest friends anyone could ask for! They're important pieces in the puzzle of my life. I love them all to bits and I thank God for placing them in my life. I'm truly blessed. ♥

Thirty Days of Me - Day 25

Day 25: What you would find in my bag

(Yes, I have a huge bag... I'm one of "those" girls)
Here's the skinny:
- Bag from Tar-jay. Xhiliration, maybe? I forget...
- moleskine journal
- Shapie Pens (my FAVE! I have one in my pocketbook, too)
- bobby pins (you can't tell, but they're on top of the journal)
- Dakine pocketbook
- C.O. Bigelow Mentha Lip Tint from Bath & Body Works
- Chapstick Fresh Effects
- PINK with a Splash: Fresh & Clean body spray
- CleanWell Hand Sanitizer spray
- sunglasses case
- Fuji Instax Mini
- extra Instax Film
- small notepad (I heart lists)
- small flashlight
- Sony Cybershot (used to take this pic)

Whew! This was actually a good excuse for me to clean out my bag... It was also littered with various receipts! What's in you bag?

Thirty Days of Me - Day 24

Day 24: A letter to your parents
To my wonderful parents,
I really can't thank you both enough for instilling in me a faith that keeps me strong. You 've provided me with everything and more. Your unconditional love is amazing to say the least. Dad, I miss you more than life. And mom, I love you more each day. Thank you both for loving me.
♥ ~h

Thirty Days of Me - Day 23

Day 23: Something you crave for a lot

Goodness me. I crave this SO much. This food masterpiece, ladies and gents, is the Mexican Bubble Roll from my favorite sushi place, Nagoya Sushi. It's UH-mazing. (For all of you Orlando locals, if you love sushi--there's no better sushi place in Orlando than Nagoya. Trust me.) This delicious roll has shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese, spicy mayo, and tempura crunchies... it's to die for! Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard...

Thirty Days of Me - Day 22

Day 22: What makes you different from everyone else?

I'm pretty speshul. What makes me different? Let's see...I can hyperextend both my elbows. Funny pictures come naturally. I'm speshul. I married an equally speshul man. I love celebrating differences, because normal gets boring! Celebrate your differences! =)

Thirty Days of Me - Day 21

Day 21: A picture of something that makes you happy

(All images from We Heart It: here, here, here, and here)
Chocolate. Need I say more? What makes you happy?

Thirty Days of Me - Day 20

Day 20: Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future

(From our engagement session. Photography by the insanely talented Jana Morgan)
No brainer here! I'm already married to the one I see my future with! He's the funniest, kindest, most loving person. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to call my husband. I'm truly blessed and I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.

Thirty Days of Me - Day 19

Day 19: Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Let's see... Nicknames. I have a ton. I don't even know where to begin!

Tok Neneng: This is what I grew up being called, from my childhood days in the Philippines. "Neneng" is another word for little girl in Tagalog. And I'm not exactly sure where "Tok" came from, because that's not a word at all. As I grew older, Tok Neneng just got shortened to Tok. My dad was the only one that really called me that, so it's pretty dear to me.

Hazzle Razzle Dazzle: This came out of nowhere. I think I was in high school. A friend of mine came up with it. Didn't really catch on after high school until...

HAH-zul: What my adorable sister-in-law calls me. She's so precious. She can't pronounce "Hazel" normally, so she says it "HAH-zul." And I'm always greeted with: "Oh, hi, HAH-zul!" I love it. It's stuck. And my mother-in-law sometimes shortens it and calls me "Hahz."

Hay-sel: Just because it's the way my name sounds when my mom says it, in her Filipino accent. hee hee!

Do you have any nicknames? I'd love to hear 'em, so please feel free to share! =)

Thirty Days of Me - Day 18

Day 18: Plans/dreams/goals you have
This post is a couple of days late. Sigh...

(source)

My Plans:

- Finish my Thirty Days of me, sidetracks and all!
- FINALLY fold and put away my daunting pile of clean laundry!
- Clean my house to get it ready for my guests that are coming in a few weeks.
- Keep up with going to the gym again.

My Dreams:

- Living it up in Hawaii with the hubby and raising our ohana.
- Be a successful freelancer so I can provide for said ohana.
- Have a successful Etsy shop.
- Be healthier.

My Goals:

- Save money.
- Lose some weight.
- Again, just be healthier, so I can enjoy life more.

What are your plans/dreams/goals?

Thirty Days of Me - Day 17

Day 17: Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why

(Source)
This was a tough one. I couldn't come up with an answer right away. I think I'd like to switch lives with Steve Jobs, If only for the free Apple products. But only on the condition that I get to keep said free Apple products when my switch day was over...and that my wardrobe consist of more than jeans and black turtlenecks! ahahahaha

Who would you switch lives with for a day?