Hawaiian Holiday

Aloha!  How was your weekend?  Mine was just lovely - my boyfriend surprised me with a trip to Chicago on Friday to celebrate Valentine's Day, Saturday was spent with my step-sister and her boyfriend who came to Indianapolis to visit, and Sunday was basically just spent in anticipation of the season finale of "Downton Abbey" {which was absolutely devastating!!}.

I always find the time from mid-February to the end of March to be the slowest and dreariest of the year.  Winter has been in full force for months now, and with Valentine's Day over there isn't much to look forward to  other than what seems like the never ending wait until spring.  During this period, I always seem to spend a large amount of my time daydreaming about being on a beach somewhere -- ideally in Hawaii.  

A few years ago my family and I took a trip to the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kauai and stayed at the absolutely fabulous Grand Hyatt Kauai.  The lush island was used to film "Jurassic Park," and at times as we were driving through the dense canopy of trees I felt as though we might see a Tyrannosaurus Rex run out in front of our car.  Our days were spent exploring the island, lounging and picnicking on the gorgeous beaches {one of which was used to film the opening of "Gilligan's Island"}, listening to music played on the ukulele, feasting on an abundance of fresh fruit, swimming in our hotel's fresh water lagoon, and above all relaxing.  I ventured to the hotel spa for a day which has since become "my happy place" {they had open-air showers carved out of black igneous rock, covered in green vines and pink flowers, and when you looked up the only thing you saw was the bright blue Hawaiian sky - it was heaven}.  

Some photos from my trip are below, hope this warms up your Monday morning!