Couples love Maui, for a honeymoon, wedding anniversary, or just a romantic getaway. So, it’s no surprise that Maui has some very romantic hotels and resorts. So why not book one of these fabulous Maui vacations for couples. The Sexiest Most Romantic Hotels in Maui Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Four Seasons Resort Maui […]
Couples love Maui, for a honeymoon, wedding anniversary, or just a romantic getaway. So, it’s no surprise that Maui has some very romantic hotels and resorts. So why not book one of these fabulous Maui vacations for couples. The Sexiest Most Romantic Hotels in Maui Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Four Seasons Resort Maui […]
Explore WelcomingSpirit's 2620 photos on Flickr!
Paris and Rome are classic honeymoon and anniversary destinations for a reason, but if you want whisk away your loved one on a trip that's a little less cliche, try one of these unexpected locales instead.
Celebrating cultures around the world and vivid moments of our past, the project National Geographic Found curates historical images and
Couples love Maui, for a honeymoon, wedding anniversary, or just a romantic getaway. So, it’s no surprise that Maui has some very romantic hotels and resorts. So why not book one of these fabulous Maui vacations for couples. The Sexiest Most Romantic Hotels in Maui Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Four Seasons Resort Maui […]
Lifestyle Management,VIP Concierge,Corporate Concierge,Luxury Concierge,Lifestyle Concierge
There has always existed a fundamental tension between those who seek to amplify the voices of the oppressed and the vulnerable and those who paint a rosier picture, one that acknowledges superficial flaws but seeks, ultimately, to justify the prevailing order, economic or otherwise.
Couples love Maui, for a honeymoon, wedding anniversary, or just a romantic getaway. So, it’s no surprise that Maui has some very romantic hotels and resorts. So why not book one of these fabulous Maui vacations for couples. The Sexiest Most Romantic Hotels in Maui Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Four Seasons Resort Maui […]
I know...I can't even really believe it myself... just how long it's been since I've blogged. The last 3 months have been out-of-control busy for me. Which isn't such a bad thing for life but a bad thing for all those 'routine' things I like to do. By early November, I'd been out of town 10 of the prior 12 weekends but I now intend to be IN town at least all the way through Christmas. It's a nice feeling - especially since this is a beloved time of year for me. I'm going to attempt to do some catch-up here on activities referenced (since I certainly haven't been around to do any baking). One that I've referred to a lot was my trip to Hawaii over Labor Day. It was quickly shadowed by this but I've finally found some time to go back and actually sort through my photos. A view of Waikiki and Diamond Head from Deb and Nick's lanai (aka balcony) Just how close the beach is to their building! And they have the pool too! The reason I've titled this post "Ono ono" is because ono means "delicious" in Hawaiian and BASICALLY all I did in Hawaii was eat (and shop). It was far less about being a tourist and far more about visiting my very best friend and learning about all of her favorite spots. One of Deb's FAVORITE jaunts: Leonard's for malasadas If you've read my blog for at least the last few months, you'll know who Debbie is. I drop her name all the time. She moved devastatingly "far far away" almost a year ago and while phone calls and IMing and infrequent visits there or here are good - it's just not the same. But while it will likely just take time to get used to this, it's perhaps not so difficult to find a bright side regarding the location to which they moved: Oahu, Hawaii. Just a stone's throw north of Waikiki and essentially across the street from both the beach and Ala Moana Shopping Center. If a best friend must move somewhere, I'd certainly rather it be Hawaii than.... *trying not to offend anyone, but assuming you'll understand* North Dakota?.. Reunited, and it feels so good Deb made me breakfast complete with Portuguese sausage (a staple in Hawaii) Deb's first day free, she took me on an "Island Tour". From Leonard's in Waikiki for fresh malasadas, down through Kahala, and a stop at Bubbie's Homemade Ice Cream. Then up the East Shore past Kailua Bay on our way to Matsumoto's in North Shore for shave ice. We returned to Honolulu after a quick stop for poke-by-the-pound, just in time for dinner (which we totally needed. Not). Kualoa Ranch. Scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed here Driving along the H2 highway on our way back to Honolulu The days were lazy and filled with shopping and eating. I was on my own for a couple of weekdays while Deb was working. And I spent them entirely at the mall. Note to all of you (like myself) who are materialistic snobs: luxury items are cheaper in Hawaii than anywhere else in the world. This was told to me by a friendly yet pretentious Chanel salesman. But I also observed this with my own wallet two eyes at Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Prices run ~10% cheaper and additionally, sales tax in Oahu is about half that of San Francisco. Ala Moana Center (complete with lower priced luxury goods) is RIGHT across the street!!!! The food, the food, the food... I'm not sure "Hawaiian" food is the type that would be loved by all. But Asians, especially American Asians ♥♥♥ Hawaiian food. It's Asian-tinted in a very unrefined manner. Ahi poke, spam musubi, sesame ramen, malasadas, shave ice with condensed milk, [incredibly good] tempura udon from the food court, Dole Whips, afternoon tea ON Waikiki Beach, all the high end seafood at Alan Wong's (ok maybe that's a bit refined...) I was seriously in heaven. Malasadas from Leonard's Char-Siu Tan Tan Ramen at Goma Tei Matsumoto's shave ice with azuki beans, ice cream, condensed milk and (I think) Rainbow flavored syrup. Front view and back! Buy poke by the pound from Poke Stop - Creamy Ahi in back (just ok), Sweet Onion Ahi in front (very good) For my [very belated, by September] birthday, Deb took me to the Moana Surfrider Hotel for afternoon tea. It was incredible! We sat just at the edge of the water and ate our finger sandwiches while watching sunbathers, surfers and paddlers. I loved it! It was perfect! The Banyan tree at the Moana Surfrider Hotel We wait for our tea experience to begin! Pick 'yer own tea! They had a lot to choose from! Afternoon Tea by the beach? Can it GET any better?? I am ♥ing this!! It seems Hawaii attracts a ridiculous number of friends, so Deb and Nick are certainly never all that lonely. The month of September I think they went 2 days without guests! This particular trip our friend Kevin was in town for some golfing, and though he did not stay with Deb, we got together to hang on the beach, drink some cocktails and dine at Alan Wong's. Met up with Kev and friends at Duke's It was a magnificent vacation. And I suppose, if Deb's gotta be anywhere other than home, paradise will do.
Maui Wedding Photographer | Penny Palmer Photography - Capture your engagement, civil union, wedding, anniversary or vow renewal.
The holidays are coming up and you know what that means: time to plug my book again. It’s been weeks! WHERE THE HELL AM I? TRIPS I HAVE SURVIVED is that one stocking stuffer you have to have – even the ebook version. The Kindle/Nook/iPad/Sony Reader version is still only $2.99. Go here for all formats. Go right here for Kindle. It's currently the number one travel book in Tennessee! WTHAM? TIHS is a collection of humorous travelogues culled from ten years of curmudgeonly sojourns. What follows today are brief excerpts from several of the entries designed to make you want to order and read more. Number ONE in Tennessee, people! Laugh and enjoy. BIG SUR October 2007 Twice a year my wife has to go up to Berkeley for an academic conference, so we took the opportunity to have a romantic night in Big Sur, visit our son in Silicon Valley, and have a leisurely weekend getting lost thanks to the Avis GPS system. Rented my first Prius at the San Jose airport. For an extra $10 a day you can get one with Oregon plates so you’ll really look like you’re going green. It would’ve been nice if Avis had included an owner’s manual. Questions I never solved: why did the little exclamation point warning light come on? What does it mean? And how do you get the car out of reverse? Big Sur is absolutely breathtaking. And the drive to it on winding single-lane California Highway 1 offers spectacular views if you can just get by the traffic, gusty winds, septic tank trucks, construction, vertigo, panic attacks, drizzles, car sickness, and bikers. Since the area is so stunningly gorgeous they take their New Age star gazing, crystals, plain-aired painting, scented candles, and Yanni very seriously. That’ll change when Walmart moves in. Stayed at the Ventana Inn & Spa, which is my idea of “roughing it.” A plasma TV and wireless internet is a must for this hearty outdoorsman. Sure the fireplace wood was pre-chopped, treated, and in a convenient burlap bag, but I had to light it. Well…actually my wife lit it. Did not sign up for the mushroom hunting expedition, which reminds me, lots of old hippies still make Big Sur their cave. They can all show you Bobby Darin’s former trailer and where Jack Kerouac – all hopped-up on espresso – wrote his greatest novel (until it was explained to him that someone else had already written Little Women). The drive back up to the Bay Area was equally treacherous/lovely. Swung by storied Pebble Beach golf course in Monterey. I could almost hear the ghost of Bing Crosby saying to his caddy, “Hey, hand me a five iron, willya? Think I’ll beat Gary senseless with it.” Drove past Santa Cruz. Lovely woodsy area. In California anytime you have a region with more than one hundred trees it is required by law that there be a Santa Claus Lane. There is not one Coffee Bean in the entire South Bay. However, Matt says there is one in Shanghai. Unfortunately, I was one week too late for the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. The Folsom Street Fair is a celebration of leather culture and sexual fetishism. There were the usual couples leading each other down the street with dog collars and leashes, public floggings, men in thong underwear playing Twister, women dressed in teeny silver dresses shaped like martini glasses and bra cups decorated like green olives, and for the shoppers, stalls selling such must-have items as baseball caps reading “Master” or “Slave,” silk ropes for being tied up, and a book entitled Dungeon Emergencies and Supplies. It was a hectic but fun four days. And to answer your next question: 40.3 mpg. But I understand you get even better mileage if you’re in drive. MAUI February 2009 Spent most of our time at the Grand Wailea. This is a true luxury resort but HUGE. It should be called the MGM Grand Wailea. Picture a combination of the Bellagio and Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Slide Park. Lagoons, spas, thirty million dollars in sculptures that no one notices and are primarily used as jungle gyms by kids, its own chapel (tan with Jesus), and exclusive shops with prices so staggeringly high that even rappers don’t buy their jewelry. Another exclusive feature is their Grand Spa where a massage is just part of the package. Unfortunately the other part is not a "happy ending". It's an absurd beginning. You're invited to go through a series of kelp baths, loofah sponge baths (administered by a guy named Thor), sea salt exfoliation treatment, and a Japanese Furo bath. You're then offered a selection of massages. My favorite: they pour hot oil on your forehead. All this for only five times what a normal massage would cost (with a happy ending). Plus, there is a handout on "spa etiquette". Among the entries: "ladies on their menstrual cycle are asked not to utilize the Terme.” That’s actually good advice for anywhere. The hotel’s thatched hut tropical lagoon restaurant is actually named Humuhumunukunukuapua's. Annie says when she goes on Survivor that's going to be her tribe's name. You can’t walk ten feet in any direction without some jogger calling out “on your left!” Every time I return to Hawaii I am more convinced it’s the most spectacular place on earth. Imagine the beauty of Lost without the polar bears, mysterious smoke monsters, the “Others,” abductions, explosions, killer force fields, flying spears, illegal medical experiments, and that annoying couple they buried alive. Do you like great pizza? Then go to Hawaii. Matteo’s on Maui. The reverse is not true. You can’t go to Italy for scrumptious poi. You can’t help but reflect on December 7th, especially if you’re in Hawaii. When our kids were little we took them on the U.S.S. Arizona tour. Annie pretty much summed it up. “You look down, you feel sad, you go.” I would only add: “You remember”. I know this is an awkward transition but you MUST try Sansei in Kihei for the greatest sushi this side of our former enemies. During one of the many beautiful weddings at the Grand Wailea’s too-cute-for-words chapel, the gorgeous bride walked down the aisle, heard the organ music, the applause from her beloved friends and family, and a guy yelling “on your left!” This is not a big selling point to me: Alex Air –the only DOORS OFF helicopter tour company on Maui. Did not see the sunrise at Haleakala. But did get a report from someone who did. A bus picks you up 2:30 in the morning. You drive an hour and a half to the top of this massive shield volcano. By top I mean 10,023 feet. You get out in your shorts, flip flops, and aloha shirt -- it’s pitch black, and 22 degrees (literally). When the sun comes up (two hours later) it will rise to 37. Finally the dawn. It’s breathtaking, awesome, and your teeth are chattering like castanets. You don’t want to even think about the possibility that there’s a YouTube video of this. You get on the bus and either go home or into shock. For more fun you can bike down the outside of the volcano… like a rocket on a two-lane winding road that hugs a cliff that’s steeper than those in Road Runner cartoons. Bikers must also negotiate tour buses, vans, and tourists in unfamiliar rental cars. In 2007 there were three biker fatalities. Bike tours (when they’re not suspended) are $100 - $150 dollars. Bring a parachute. Makawao is another quaint attraction. Up country, it’s a little cowboy town, specializing in glass blowing – just like Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid used to do. I kept looking for the jail and saloon but alas they’ve given way to art galleries and a market that makes fresh donuts. But get there early. They go fast. There’s usually a shoot-out in the town square for the last cruller. There’s no longer a sheriff, but Makawao does have two hypnotherapists and a certified colon specialist. Every restaurant in Hawaii serves ribs. Even the vegan ones. I bet that colon specialist does a bang-up business. I wonder how many vacationers think “wi-fi” is a Hawaiian word. Every lounge singer on Maui thinks she’s Norah Jones. I miss the days when they all thought they were Joni Mitchell. Attention criminals! Stay out of the Foodland shopping center! Right between the Rainbow Attic and Aroma’s Italian restaurant is the Kehei police department. My guess is all three close at 10. Maui onions cost more on Maui than in Los Angeles. On the other hand, you get some pretty good deals on wine at Longs Drugs. PHILADELPHIA October 2009 Philadelphia is the home of Rocky Balboa, Dick Clark, Gogi Grant, Danny Bonaduce (actor, alcoholic), Broderick Crawford (actor, alcoholic), Eddie Fisher (singer, homewrecker), World B. Free, Lola Falana, Betsy Ross, Suzy Kobler, George Jefferson, John Coltrane, Pink, Teller, Fabian, Chaka Fattah, Chubby Checker (who absurdly believes there should be a statue of himself at the Rock n’ Roll Hall-of-Fame), Mohini Bhardwaj (no description necessary), funnymen Larry Fine, W.C. Fields, and Richard Gere, two of the most admired women in the world – Grace Kelly and Tina Fey, G Love and Special Sauce, and of course Henry “Box” Brown, an abolitionist who escaped slavery by literally mailing himself to Philadelphia from Richmond, Virginia. (Book rate yet!) Philadelphia is also one of Hollywood’s favorite locations. It’s been the setting for Mannequin, Rocky, and The Sixth Sense. The Philadelphia Story however, was filmed in Hollywood. Meant to get out to the Mutter Museum, founded originally to educate doctors of the 19th Century and current HMO’s. Big attractions include conjoined twins and a catalog of foreign objects removed from bodies. Bring the kids! The first few nights a Nor’easter blew through town and it was colder than a witch's mooseknuckle. But then the sun came out and temperatures rose from 30 to 70 degrees. It’s not always sunny in Philadelphia, but when it is. it’s glorious! I love that the area has regional delicacies – hoagies, soft pretzels, Goldenberg’s peanut chews, Tastykakes, and the most famous of all: Philly Cheese Steaks -- thinly sliced slippery gristle and melted cheese whiz on a long roll, yet somehow it tastes great. But only in Philadelphia. Everywhere else it’s a grease trap on a bun. There is much debate over who serves the best cheese steak, but many locals contend it’s Jim’s. And then there’s Scrapple. This is a mush of all the pork parts not used elsewhere. Considering what they use in hot dogs, that pretty much leaves the sphincter, doesn’t it? See the Liberty Bell. Yes, it’s a real touristy thing to do, but it’s worth it. This is the birthplace of two major revolutions – the American and shopping. It is in nearby Westchester that QVC is located, which is why I thought I saw Marie Osmond at baggage claim waiting at the carousel for 42,000 dolls to come down the chute. For some reason taxis, and even buses, have the right-of-way over ambulances in the inner City of Brotherly Love. The Phillies had a great slogan last year: “Why Can’t Us?” People say L.A. is weird, but in Sunday night’s Phillies/Dodger playoff game the Phightins’ former catcher, Darren Daulton, threw out the first pitch. He currently talks to lizards, preaches unconventional theories regarding human existence, and time travels. Even Lauren Conrad from The Hills doesn’t do that.
Couples love Maui, for a honeymoon, wedding anniversary, or just a romantic getaway. So, it’s no surprise that Maui has some very romantic hotels and resorts. So why not book one of these fabulous Maui vacations for couples. The Sexiest Most Romantic Hotels in Maui Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea Four Seasons Resort Maui […]
Discover the stunning beauty of Hawaii, with sunny weather and plenty of romantic activities. Find your perfect Hawaii honeymoon escape!
Looking for things to do in Maui with Kids? Not sure what the best activities for kinds on Maui are? Check out this article with fantastic, creative ideas!
WHEEE!: Westin Maui Resort & Spa Vacations -
Time to tee off! AD rounds up the most architecturally significant golf clubhouses around the world
Capturing the elements is tricky, and the photography approach required for each varies greatly, depending on each situation. This tutorial focuses on FIRE.
From the country's oldest tasting in Maui to classical music in Napa, seven events oenophiles will love.
Molokini Crater Scuba Diving is world-renowned as having some of the best Wall diving and shark diving in the World.
For the Garden Isle's best hikes, beaches, restaurants, and more... Read this post for the best things to do in Kauai, Hawaii!
The U.S. Postal Service puts Haleakalā Crater on a stamp.
For the Garden Isle's best hikes, beaches, restaurants, and more... Read this post for the best things to do in Kauai, Hawaii!
This listing is for an UNFRAMED print of a beautiful watercolour painting of wedding venue Anstey Hall (Cambridge) which can be customised to provide a wonderful personal gift. Ideal as a wedding or anniversary present, this print is the perfect keepsake for couples who have married at this beautiful venue. Printed on high quality 300gsm watercolour paper, our prints are available in two sizes, 6x8inch and 8x10inch. When ordering, please include the couple's names and wedding date in the 'add personalisation' box. Please ensure all wording is spelt correctly before sending. If you would like this print framed, please add this 'frame add on' listing to your basket, ensuring you choose the same size frame as the print you are purchasing: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/946468746/frame-add-on-for-any-listing?ref=shop_home_active_1 Your order will be sent Royal Mail 1st Class as standard - please upgrade to First Class Signed-For if you would like your order to be tracked (reference available on request). Please contact us with any questions you may have before ordering. ---------------------------- Can't see your venue in our shop? Send us a message and we can do a custom listing for you. ---------------------------- Want to use this artwork in your wedding stationery? We can design your order of service or invitations for you, just send us a message!
