Ten Things I Love About Maui
They move quickly taking on magnificent shapes in the sky and by mid afternoon daily there are always clouds heading up Haleakala! (Our mountain)
• Hana is a touch of old Hawaii. I worked as a nurse for two and a half years in Hana by the sea. I felt a true sense of belonging here because of the friendliness of the people. Within two weeks people were calling me by my first name at Hasegawa’s store.
• Maui is small but yet it feels spacious. There is room to breathe. The small town feeling makes it comfortable and the proximity of everything makes life simple.
• Elegant Resorts: One can visit the most elegant resorts minutes away then return to the down to earth lifestyle of Maui having experienced the best of both worlds in Hawaii.
Happy New Year 2010 Makena Beach and Golf Resort Hakone Japanese Restaurant Maluaka Beach
Problogger says to just do it! Jump right in when you have Bloggers Block.
Be consistent. Do it everyday.
NotQuiteNigella is a perfect example. Her cooking blog of Australia is a work of art and she consistently amazes with dazzling photography of her food and restaurant reviews. Her witty personality and love of beauty combines with a passion for food that is so classy.
Kailani of An Island Life is also unrelenting with her daily reviews of restaurants on Oahu, books, music, toys, iPhone Apps, contests, links and giveaways! Where do they get the energy? See her January Photo Contest!
Liza of A Maui Blog makes it look so easy!
Deeba of Passionate About Baking also creates a work of art almost daily.
I determined that like any teacher or successful business person, they have a plan laid out for the year. They have a vision. Problogger says to brand yourself you must have a Theme. You can start by creating quality content that sizzles. Make it irresistable. What do people want to see? Ask questions!
Run contests! Do giveaways.
I noticed that many of the blogs feature a regular event weekly like Aloha Friday, Wordless Wednesday and NotQuiteNigella’s Wallpaper Wednesdays featuring her gorgeous photos as backgrounds for you to download if you please. I can only imagine these incredibly talented people sketching out their plans, then writing, editing photos, collecting data to fill in every day of the year.
While on my own discovery I know what I love most and have a passion for is cooking, photography and designing t-shirts! I love putting it up for the world to see! I love Maui and everything about this place. I have a desire to teach what I know and feel that those of us with talent should not let it go unshared. I also know that everyone has some form of creativity within them and I want to inspire that in others. This enhances our lives greatly and I have witnessed the joy that comes to my friends and students when they paint their first T-shirt in the watercolor style. They are transformed. They can’t believe they had it in them. I love to see the spark that lights in their eyes when they realize the potential to create beautiful works of art.
My theme here at The Artful Hawaiigirl is “Making Every Day a Work of Art.”
Like the bloggers that I follow and wish to emulate it is my goal to show the world that there is beauty in everyday life. I also just want to share this gorgeous place I live called Maui.
SO, I started out the New Year with a bang! We had arrived back from California December 8th, 2009. The day before had snowed nearly a foot in the mountains and we had to use chains to get out of there.
We arrived back on Maui to coolness and mild, wonderful temps. My mother-in-law could take off her coat and wear slippers again for the first time in 45 days. She went to stay with her daughters for the holidays and I immediately got to work on My Holiday Boutique Party for December 16th, my birthday. On such short notice it was mostly a family and friends kind of get together but was fabulous. There were no Christmas Trees left on Maui so my husband topped a Norfolk Pine from his mother’s house in Halii Maile. It was the most gorgeous tree I ever had. I prepared great food and my fabulous lilikoi-fresh squeezed orange juice punch which my sister-in-law and I enjoyed with a little Gold Tequila spiked in ours.
Christmas was quiet and beautiful as I like it. I’m still playing my James Taylor Christmas tunes on my iPhone. (Baby it’s Cold outside)
As New Years rolled in my honey and I always like to take the time to reflect on the year past and this year was quite amazing! (Worldwide) All our lives have been so affected. I vow that this is the year our dreams will soar!
We decided to call the Maui Prince (now called Makena Beach and Golf Resort) to see if there were Cama Aina Rates and they gave us a special deal. We were so happy we booked three nights. We had an ocean view room with a view of Makena! It is a fabulous place to spend New Year’s Eve and awaken on the first day of the year in Hawaii.
On New Years Eve we decided to have sushi at Hakone and the sushi bar was excellent. Our sushi chef Ivan has worked at Hakone for twenty-five years. He created special works of art for us like “The Mermaid Roll”, “Turtle Roll” and a “Christmas Wreath roll”. Gorgeous and delicious. I’m so glad we took photos outside and inside the restaurant because the name is changing this month to “Zen-Zen”… I follow @MakenaBeach on twitter now and on Facebook to get all the latest updates. We love it there and look forward to going again soon.
New Years Day turned out to be gorgeous despite the VOG (Volcano originated gases) coming from the Big Island of Hawaii.