Happy Halloween!

So I may be a little slow in posting this, I mean it's only January, I'm just barely 9 weeks late, sheesh! :)

DH and I threw a fun little Halloween party this year. A couple of years ago when we were living in Jacksonville we had a Halloween dinner with some friends who had a tradition of having people over and eating dinner on their front porch while watching the trick or treaters. They started the tradition in San Diego, we did it with them in Jacksonville and we carried it to Hawaii. Now, to be fair, the outside dinner concept only works in warm weather places, but I love it. How many times have you been at a Halloween party and never seen a trick or treater?! This way you can see them all, and count how many Elsa and Anna costumes you get (we should have counted!!)

The weather was mostly with us for Halloween, it didn't rain while we had guests over, but a couple of hours before there were torrential downpours. Luckily our carport was undercover and large enough to prevent the table from getting wet. 

So we moved our dining room table out under the carport and also made an impromptu table with 2 sawhorses and some plywood because we had more people than our table will allow. We covered them with orange disposable table cloths, they were $0.97 at Walmart in Hawaii. We also had a black table cloth that we folded in half as a runner of sorts. Since it the table was outside and we had wind to consider (we live on the windward side), we needed to tape the tablecloths in place.

Above the table you can see some floating candles. We made them out of LED tea lights, computer paper and fishing line. You can use a whole sheet of paper to make the candles, but really you can get up to 4 out of a single sheet. Tie the fishing line around the base of the flame, tie the other end in a loop and hang it from a thumb tack. 

On the wall you can see some garbage bag spiderwebs I made using a tutorial I found on Pinterest. 

Finally, since it is Hawaii, we carved pineapple.

This was surprisingly easy to do. We found some pineapples which stood up on their own, cut off the top of the pineapple and cored it as normal. We have this awesome tool that if you think you will be having a lot of pineapple is a must to won. Then we just took a knife and carved it. The shell is a little harder than a pumpkin so you are more limited in the shapes you can get, but a simple face is easy enough to do. 

  

You can see how it looks at dusk with the hanging candles and the pumpkins lit.

 Finally, we served some 'spooky' spaghetti. It is spaghetti cooked in water with black icing color. Again, we found it at Walmart, but most craft stores that have a cake decorating section should have icing color. I think it looks like snakes on the plate. Seeing how easy it was to make I was suddenly struck with inspiration, Green noodles for St. Patrick's day! Red and blue noodles with plain (white) noodles for Independence day! Red and green noodles for Christmas! And then I realized that we just don't need to eat that much pasta. :) But I am going to remember how easy it is if the need arises. 

  

And we dressed up as Harley Quinn and The Joker.

Husband BOUGHT A PURPLE SUIT to be Joker. We have never gone big for Halloween, so buying an entire suit seemed a little overboard to me. So he got the suit and yellow vest/tie online and we bought a neon green shirt from Goodwill. He is required to wear that suit for the next several Halloweens, so he can either be the Joker, or the guy from the Mask, or maybe a Dia de los Muertos guy.

I went as Harley Quinn who apparently is Joker's girlfriend of sorts. I had never heard of her until this Halloween season, but fortunately she was very popular as a Halloween character. Since hubby spent so much on his costume I didn't want to spend a lot on mine. So I didn't really buy and premade costume of hers but looked to them for inspiration. I already had the black petticoat so I bought a black bra, red tank top, Harley Quinn official choker, red/black tights, the gloves and mask. 

Happy New Year

Last night 2 friends and I got all gussied up in 1920s attire with cute dresses, pearls, curly hair, and a smokey eye. And then we decided not to go out. :) Hawaii goes all out with fireworks with many families having professional looking fireworks. However the other girls' dogs were frightened by the fireworks even after drugging them...although they did only give half the dose. My dog, Lexy, is kama'aina, so she handled the booms and cracks like a champ. So we stayed at her home drinking champagne and overlooking the valley and seeing all of the fireworks. It was like our own personal fireworks show. We reflected on 2014, spoke about goals for 2015, watched the fireworks, drank bubbly, watched the Radio City Rockettes Christmas show and went to bed about 3 am.

I realized that 2014 was full of changes. We moved to a new state, (as far as one could go and still be in the US...from Florida to Hawaii). We got Lexy, my first dog (who is amazing!). I quit my dream job and had 10 of unemployment and started another job. I learned that pharmacy is my passion and definately the right career for me. We made lots of new friends through the squadron, from the wine society, and game night. I've really enjoyed the events of 2014, and I'm hoping 2015 brings a little more stability, but I already know some big events and decisions are coming down the pipe.

2014

2014 was a busy year for us. We spent Christmas 2013 in a huge beach house in Pensacola. My parents couldn't come, my mom had just had surgery, but we had DH's parents, sister, aunt and cousins all there. I can't remember what we did for New Years, but I'm thinking we went to a friend's house.
My husband had training in another part of the state for January. Pensacola also got snow!
February brought the end of my job and got an offer on our house.
March was filled with visiting family in Oregon/Washington.
Then we moved to Hawaii! We found and adopted our dog Lexy and bought an island Jeep. We spent lots of time on hikes, drinking wine, soaking up the sun and meeting new friends. Hawaii had it's first hurricane make landfall in about 20 years...there were a total of 3 that threatened the islands this summer, and at one point we even had 2 at once! Fortunately our part of the island did not have anything worse than a heavy rain...not even the heaviest rain we've had here.
June and July hubby was gone and I went to Maui and continued to meet friends.
October we went to the Big Island where we went to Volcanoes National Park and Mauna Kea. We also hosted Halloween Dinner outside under the carport complete with 'spooky' spaghetti and carved pineapple.
November my Sister-in-law came to visit and the In-laws came for Thanksgiving.
December hubby is gone again and my Mom is coming out for Christmas.

I had so many great experiences in 2014 and cannot wait to see what is in store for 2015!

Job hunting

Are you unemployed? Looking for a new job? Just move to a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean only knowing your spouse? Well this post may be fore you.

About 6 months ago my husband and I moved to Hawaii. We both were leaving jobs we loved in Florida, but only he had a job out here. I didn't do any research to prepare for moving out here. I thought I would just practice retirement or be a beach bum. Well reality set in pretty fast that I would probably need to get a job while out here. So I first worked on getting licensed in the state. The process took 4 months. I would recommend starting as soon as you find out you are moving. There were things that would have been easier to get done while in Florida (letters signed, information from job, etc).

Then I took to filling out job applications online while I had met all of the requirements to be licensed, but did not have my actually license number. I don't recommend doing this either. It meant that I technically came across as unqualified for the positions. Just wait a few weeks (or a month...) and fill out whatever jobs are available then. They will come.

Open your mind to other alternatives. I knew about retail and hospital pharmacies, but I applied for jobs in insurance companies and doctor's offices too. I even looked at remote order jobs back in Florida!

See if there are additional things you can do to make you a more competitive applicant. Hawaii has a specific class that is required for some of the outpatient pharmacies. I took the class to be more marketable.

However, I will say that the number one thing that got me furthest in my job hunt was developing and maintaining a relationship with a director of pharmacy. Before we left Florida I made a single phone call to my 'dream hospital' asking if they had any openings for when I'd be arriving. They said no, but agreed to me sending my CV. A couple of months later after arriving to Hawaii I emailed back to see if they had any openings (they didn't). Finally when it looked like a contract position opened up with the company I emailed again letting them know that I had expressed interest in the job. He actually said the contract hadn't been awarded yet, so he wasn't sure what I was applying for, but when it was, he'd keep my resume on file and give it to them.

Well fast forward to Thursday, I get a call out of the blue from him asking if I was still looking for a job and stating that the liked my resume better than the ones he was getting from the contractor. The weird thing is that I had applied for the job with the contractor nearly 6 weeks ago. so I'm not sure why they didn't pass my resume on since the job though I was such a great candidate! Oh well.

So for next time we move I'm going to 1. Work on getting licensed early, 2. Call and email directors of pharmacies so they will have my resume on file if something happens, 3. Apply to all jobs. 4. Sit back and let the job offers roll. ;)

Necessity is the mother of invention

Or so the saying goes. Well if that's the case, then I must not really have many needs. Actually, I do tend to sway on the minimalist side. However, I have recently been trying to come up with something to make or sell or do. I've thought about decorating baby clothing or even making baby clothing despite not knowing how to sew or having any real experience with baby clothes. I've thought about trying to start a twitter account and then monetizing it. I thought about making other crafts to sell. I've even been trying to wrack my brain for something I could INVENT. Surely I could simply come up with the next newest latest and greatest thing in a day or two despite never previously having the aptitude for it.

Well in my quest to make side hustles or produce income streams I found a website where you can post your inventions and then, through crowd sourcing, you can influence the way the product looks or costs or even if it gets made. That sounds perfect! I can make a few pennies and learn about the invention process. Well I love taking surveys, so the 'influence' part is great. I just get an opinion and tell it to them. So easy! Let the $$$ roll. (I haven't made money, I doubt I actually will make money, actually I'm not really even 100% clear on how money is made in this stage of the game, but hey, that's beside the point.)

Then I thought about looking through their past products. What do inventors make? Bonus, I can consider this research for my latest and greatest yet-to-be-had idea!

Well turns out they make a lot of gadgets...and power outlets. Now my husband and I have been crowned the King and Queen of small kitchen gadgets, so I'm not really one to scoff at brightly colored, single use items. However, I did feel that rather than building a better mousetrap, one that was completely novel in form or function, people just built the same old thing...with a small twist.

For example one of the products is an attachment for a garden hose that made it spray like water from a watering can, and apparently also can double as a sprinkler. I guess you can buy this one new gadget and get rid of two gadgets you already own! Hooray consumerism.

Another invention was what looked like a salad spinner for popcorn. I thought it was for seasoning, but apparently it is just a plastic bowl you use to microwave the popcorn in...but it has a spinner so you can put butter on it.

Another was pitcher with two pour spouts..which you can hold on to...so you can pass it across the table and both hold onto it. Not sure why the two spouts and not just multiple handles.

And finally...someone invented scissors. No, not just any scissors, ones that open up and can be used as a single blade for opening packages, or curling ribbon, or scoring paper. Say it ain't so! I've never seen such a thing. Oh wait, I've got a half dozen or so floating around my house already. Their twist on the product is...wait for it...a spot in the handle for the second blade to rest. Guess I never knew I was risking life and limb all those times I was curing ribbon.

So all of my research has proven that I don't have to invent something that hasn't been done yet. I just need to add something superfluous to some already common invention to make a minuscule difference and viola...new invention! Now let the $$$ roll.

Pink Shorts

As I mentioned yesterday I got these shorts on clearance from Old Navy. I'm so glad I did, because they have already become a staple in my wardrobe.

This is how it was seen worn yesterday.

Black shirt, pink necklace, silver sparkle reef wedges

Flowered shirt and Lexy.

Another Old Navy clearance shirt find.

Old Navy Clothes

I went to Old Navy the other day and got these shorts and blue top. I have been wanting some more shorts and this bright color complements a number of my shirts. As a bonus it was in the clearance section. I've been wearing it quite often and I'll show you some them tomorrow. Also in the clearance section were a couple of tops similar to this blue one. I liked a few of them, but the one I liked best (of course) was this blue one that was full price. The tank is sheer and has white, navy and light blue circles on it in circular shapes to give the shirt some dimension. I have to wear a tank top underneath, but both white and light blue have worked great. I styled it with my pink shorts and also with a pencil skirt for work. I'm not digging it with the skirt, but I think if it were tucked in better with possibly a belt, necklace and some shoes it would look much nicer. 

Finishing Touches

These two photos are a great example of how finishing touches really serve to bring a level up to the next level. The necklace and shoes help pull together the outfit. I sort of wish I had brown sandals so that the white wasn't quite so glaring, but my only brown sandals have gold and are a whole different look than what I was going with for this outfit. This top is one of the pieces that I got on clearance from Old Navy.

 Yellow shorts (NY&Co) shown here and multiple ways seen here

Hawaiian Outfit

This outfit is all Hawaiian..sort of. I had been on the lookout for some new shorts and ran across these ones when I was in Maui. I'm pretty sure I bought them from Alice in Hulaland in Paia. Paia is a cute little town with a bunch of boutiques and amazing food. The Paia Fish Market has great fish tacos, the Flatbread Company has great pizzas. So ono! There is a Maui Girl Bathing suit store as well as a number of other boutiques some way out of my price range and others more down to earth. Just go there!

Anyway I found these shorts that are a great mint color and have a little bit of white lace detailing. My only regret is that I didn't try the size smaller because I think it might have fit a little better. 

This shirt I got from Mu'umu'u Heaven in Kailua. It's a little hard to see, but it has a screened picture of a bee and says Aloha...Be Aloha. It's a fundraiser shirt for bee protection. My tank is pretty tame, as it's just an express top with the screen on it, but some of the tops they chose for the collection were shirts with album covers so they looked pretty cool. 

The shoes are just Old Navy, and weren't purchased in Hawaii. 

Kindess of Others

So while Don was gone for work I was sitting and watching too much TV...and also hanging out and working out some, but too much sitting. I have wanted a stationary bike or treadmill or some sort of workout equipment in our house on and off for years. I think that it would be far easier to work out at home rather than go to a gym and I think I could spend part of those sitting hours TV getting in some additional activity. So it was about time for my semi-annual review of Craigslist for exercise equipment. However I didn't find anything that I actually wanted and/or was actually willing to shell out the money for. 

So the next day I was taking Lexy for a walk and we passed by the new Goodwill store that had just opened and I saw a man with a stationary bike in the back of his truck. I asked it he was donating the bike. Of course in my head I immediately was thinking, "Duh, it's in the back of my truck as he's unloading stuff at Goodwill" and "What are you going to do snipe their donation?" Well he and his wife were actually looking to donate the bike, but Goodwill doesn't take exercise equipment so they were probably going to have to take it to the dump. So I asked if they wanted to donate it to me and they did! So Lexy and I jumped in the back of their truck and we drove the 4 blocks to our house. The man was so nice and brought the bike into the house and wouldn't even accept any payment for the bike or transport!

I posted about this story on facebook so DH could see and his first question was "where is it going to go". My favorite response was from our friend who said, "Looks like the dining room!"  Ha Ha...although it really does live in that little nook area between the living and dining rooms. :) 

Necklace Hanger

When we lived in Pensacola DH and I each had our own walk in closet. DH had built me this beautiful huge wooden earring holder with a bunch of pegs at the bottom to hang all necklaces from. Well now that DH and I have to share one standard size closet and there was no room for it. However I still needed something to hang my necklaces up on.

I went to the hardware store looking for pieces of wood and drawer pulls. However the pulls can get pretty pricey and weren't as fun as I wanted, so I found these hooks instead. You don't need very large hooks. These are about 3/4 inch. Our hardware store has a scrap wood pile so I got one piece about twice as long as this, and another piece this size for $1.50. After cutting all the pieces to size, twisting on the hooks, drilling holes for the screws and screwing it onto the wall I was done. This one I put the hooks at varying heights, but the next one I just put them in the middle. I didn't paint or stain the wood, but you certainly could to make them look more polished or to give them a pop.

Complementary Colors: Purple and Yellow

Complementary colors are probably the most basic way to color block. They involve mixing colors from opposite sides of the color wheel. Audrey from Putting Me Together has a great post on using the color wheel to create a wardrobe. She also links to another great post about color wheel theory by academichic.

The purple and yellow combination I wore almost always makes me think of LSU. However, since I'm no longer living in the south I felt safer wearing this outfit without someone thinking I am a Tiger's fan. Another way to wear this combination would be a with a lilac rather than such a rich purple. Other complementary colors also have strong associations in our lives. They are orange and blue (Go Gators!), red and green (Christmas anyone?).

Manoa Falls

A little while back a friend and I met up and hiked the Manoa Falls Trail. It's a good hike, particularly for beginners or visitors. You park at the visitors center for a $5 fee, which is what we did. Upon further investigation you might be able to park in the residential area and walk in. If you chose to do that, please be respectful!!

The visitors center has bathrooms, a little mini mart and a grill. Then you start on the trail. The terrain can get a little rough with branches and rocks on it, and it could be muddy if it has recently rained, so shoes are best. The trail follows along the river some, but you never have to cross over it. There are also lots of trees and other foliage to look at. At the end you are rewarded with this beautiful waterfall. It's said to have been filmed in both Lost and Jurassic Park. So a pretty quick and easy hike with a beautiful view and bathrooms at the end...what's not to like. Also note you can't go swimming. You don't want rocks to fall on your head! :)

My friend and I weren't ready to be over so we continued up the trail and saw a lookout over the Manoa Valley. There actually are probably miles and miles of trail back there, but we didn't really know where they ended up so we turned back at the next trail head.  After the hike we still wanted to explore so we walked up to the Lyon Arboretum which has free parking and another set of trails (which don't link up to Manoa Falls) and another waterfall. We were getting pretty hungry so we didn't go on those trails. Next time! After that we went to Grylt which was amazing.

Some thoughts on being social

For anyone looking to be more social (or moves to an island where they don't know anyone and has their husband gone).

1. Say yes to everything. You will have new experiences and meet new people.

2. Leil Lowndes's How to Talk to Anyone is a great book. I probably read this book 3 years ago and found it really interesting. I found that I already did many of the techniques the book discussed, but it also gave some other concrete examples of things to do and say while talking with people. It's great for people who have to network or need help making small talk.

3. Try Meetup. I'd heard of it before, but never used it before now. There are tons of groups for tons of different activities. It's a great way to meet people with common interests. I really think it is great for single people. I'm thankful that I met my spouse in college and I've always wondered how singles meet in adulthood rather than online dating or a bar. Well Meetup could be that answer...just don't be a creeper, not everyone is necessarily looking for romantic connection.

4. Get a dog. She will force you to get outside and get walking. Find a dog park where your dog likes to play and meet the other owners.

5. Take classes. See if there are classes at a gym or yoga studio. Check out the local community college for classes.

June 24

Creative title, huh? So I'm not really one for blogging whole things (at least not without an outfit photo!) and I didn't want to completely bomb twitter with all my crazy thoughts. However there are little tidbits that come up during the day that I wanted to share/remember so I figure I could start "journaling" here. Prepare to be dazzled. :)

The US Navy warned today that due to joint exercise RIMPAC, some garage door openers may be affected.

They are making another 'Planes' movie. This one is called Search and Rescue. Cannot wait to see it. I really enjoyed the first one. It was really smart and I was thankful to be an aviator's wife to be able to get many of the references. I'm hoping the Navy/military will be prevalent in this one.

I passed the Hawaii MPJE so now I can be a pharmacist! Just pay for shipping and handling...:)

I went and saw the Edge of Tomorrow movie upon the recommendation of Pop Culture Happy Hour (PCHH- an awesome podcast BTW). It was pretty good, even though I had to watch it ALONE!

Started reading a book called something like A Brief History of the Middle East. I'm just in the introduction, but so far so good. The intro primarily focuses on Western infuences on the Middle East. One part is talking about headwear and saying that Western headwear didn't catch on despite Muslims wearing it as a sign of respect because of the brims that may hit the ground during their prayer.

I watched my first 2 episodes of Dr. Who last night. I can see while people like it. I'll probably watch a few more episodes, but I'll admit I'm not completely hooked yet.

The Happiness Project

I just finished reading The Happiness Project a book by Gretchen Rubin. It was very enlightening about how people can make consious decisions about becoming happier and/or removing negative thoughts and feelings.
Several quotes stuck out to me:
1. Regarding decluttering/cleaning out her closet: "First, I got rid of items that no one should be wearing anymore. Good-bye, baggy yoga pants. Next I puled out the items that, realistically i knew I wouldn't wear. Good-bye gray sweater that barely covered my navel. Then the culling got harder. I liked those brown pants, but I couldn't figure out what shoes to wear with them. I liked that dress, but I never had the right place to wear it. I forced myself to take the time to make each item work, and ifI couldn't, out it went. I started to notice my dodges. When I told myself, "I would wear this," I meant that I didn't, in fact, wear it. "I have worn this" meant that I'd worn it twice in five years. "I could wear this" meant I'd never worn it and never would."

2. Do things for yourself, because you wantto do them, not because you want a Gold Star.

3. Acknowledge the reality of people's feelings. She alluded to a book called How to Talk So Kids Will Listen. by Adele Farber and Elaine Mazlish. She also quotes that most parents say "No" and to try and incorporate more "yes". "No, you can't do that, we have to have lunch first" vs. "Yes, we can do that after lunch."

4. "To eke the most happiness from an experience, we must anticipate it, savor it as it unfolds, express happiness, and recall a happy memory."

Casual outfit

I wore this outfit running errands on my day off. It reminds me how much I like that blazer. The jeans and wedges evened out the potentially formal top. 

Green and Navy Geometric Top

This post is sort of a 1 item many ways post. However, in reality it is just the iterations I went through trying to get dressed and wear my new green and navy geometric top from Target. I tried it by itself with navy pants, with navy and green cardigans and navy pants, with khaki pants and cardigans. Ultimately I wore it with my khaki pants and navy cardigan (and tan shoes not pictured). I felt like wearing the navy cardigan and pants was too dark of an outfit. I really wish my burgundy cardigan had been clean, because I think it may have gone nicely with this outfit. A yellow necklace could also be a nice addition. 

Had to have

Ever have one of those outfits you just have to have? For me this dress is one. It's from Target and I saw it while I was looking for a birthday present. I tried on a couple of things, but they didn't have the dress in my size. I figured I would try the other Target in town. Well low and behold the dress was suddenly on clearance, but they still didn't have my size. Fortunately they had 3 in my size in the next town over. So off I went. I not only got the dress, but it was now on sale/clearance. Score! 

I also bought this belt to go with it. It's color is called raspberry. I think it will be a fun addition to my closet, I don't have many belts, and it goes perfectly with this dress. 

This dress screams spring to me, but it is fall (and cold now!) so I paired it with tights, boots and a cardigan. I tried it with the cardigan underneath and on top. I ended up wearing the belt on the outside, but looking at the pictures now, I'm not sure which I like better. 

Compliments

I got a lot of compliments on this outfit today. Not really sure why. I mean, it's just dress pants, a collared shirt and a cardigan. Which I wear pretty frequently. I think it might be because of the color combination. I know we are dead in the middle of fall, but these colors seem like spring for me. Oh well. I pulled it off and apparently others like it too!

I bought this cardigan from L.L. Bean when Don was stationed up there. I saw it and just had to have it. Then it sat unloved in my closet for the longest time. I always thought it was too large. However, it seems to fit pretty well. The weight of the cardigan with the cords makes it lay nicely and gives it a little more structure than some of my other cardigans.