Back To Life, Back To Reality

I'm back from vacation! I look a little tanner, feel more relaxed, and am readjusting to my daily routine - not to mention the fall temperatures. BRRR. Where I come from, 50 degrees is shorts-and-flipflops weather, but it's so hard to get used to it again when you've just been lounging on the beach!

Hawaii is INCREDIBLE. I was afraid it would be one of those places that gets so hyped up that it's nothing special when you actually go, but it really is as amazing as they say it is. The sky is blue blue blue, the water is warm and soothing, and the sand is so fine, it's like powder beneath your toes.

We stayed in a resort on Oahu, where my relatives live, and had a seriously baller room with a giant bed, two bathrooms, and a full kitchen complete with washer/dryer and granite countertop. You have no idea... I wanted to take this room back to the East Coast with me so I could live in it. Because the resort was right on the beach, every morning we wandered down and spent hours lying on beach chairs, soaking up the sun and the salty breeze.

And we ate. A LOT. The fruit in Hawaii is the best fruit I have ever tasted in my entire life. I ordered a special pina colada called a Lava Flow, which had fresh mango and pineapple in it. SO. GOOD. Fruit will never taste the same to me after this.

Check out some of the pictures I took of this place, with my dinky little camera that I've had for about 15 years. This place is so gorgeous that the photos from even an old camera look this good:

Leaving the coast of California (~5-6 hours into the plane ride)

 Hello Hawaiian islands! (~5-6 hours more)

Our fantastic resort

I could get used to this. 

The view we saw every morning.

Perfect weather... EVERY day

I hope I'll get to go back someday, though I don't know when that will be. But it's nice to know that there is a place somewhere in the world where people clap and cheer when the plane touches down because they're so happy to be there... where flowers are the most beautiful jewelry a woman can wear... where everyone has a friendly smile and an "Aloha" or a "Mahalo" for everyone they see... and where dancing in the sand under palm trees is completely normal.

Traveling across multiple time zones wore me out, but the good thing about a long plane ride is that you have tons of time to read! I finished three books AND the first draft of my critique partner's gut-punchingly awesome YA horror novel. It made the time fly!

I'm almost done catching up on responding to your blog comments and returning the favor, so if I haven't visited you yet, I'll probably be there soon!

Coming up this week... a fun meme that will share more information on my YA mystery/paranormal, ELEGY. I know I've been living, breathing, and blogging PPP, so it'll be nice to focus a blog post on another project of mine!

Hope you have all been well! Have you traveled anywhere lately or are planning to travel soon?