I’m Pretty Sure Kauai is the Best Place on Earth

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Can you believe that, in the entire 7+ years H. and I have been together, we’ve never taken a real vacation together? Sure, we’ve visited friends in their cities and gone for a few long weekends away, but not a week-off-of-work, time-to-relax-and-explore vacation. After spending a week in Kauai, I now know we were definitely missing out. Vacationing is the best, and vacationing in Kauai is the best kind of best.

We took awhile to decide where in Hawaii we wanted to honeymoon. We wanted someplace relaxing, and since we go to bed so early, nightlife wasn’t really essential. We wanted a place with gorgeous scenery and delicious food. When we found a beach-side private cottage on the North Shore of Kauai (Hawaii’s Garden Island), we knew it was a perfect fit.

The North Shore is beautiful, quiet, and super-secluded. To get to our cottage, we had to drive along a several-mile stretch of curvy highway that overlooks the ocean. It was terrifying, but also insanely gorgeous. And then we got to stay in this adorable cabin that was right on the beach!
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That was the view from our yard. Oh, how I miss it.

In addition to its astounding beauty, here are some of my favorite things about Kauai:

1. People are nice.
No, really. I read in my guidebook that Kauai is one of the warmest, friendliest places you can visit, but I wasn’t prepared for how truly helpful and kind people were. Everyone was nice. The people at the car rental. The people walking around. The waiters and waitresses. Also, people almost always let you over when you want to merge in traffic, and it’s considered rude to honk your horn. Heaven.

2. It’s relaxed.
This is one of those Hawaiian stereotypes I didn’t necessarily expect to be true, but it was. Even in the nicest restaurant we went to, everyone was just wearing shorts and flip-flops. We didn’t go anywhere that the most casual dress wouldn’t seem appropriate. Also, oddly enough, nearly everything closed at around 8 pm. Nightlife was almost nonexistent, which was fine with me. We got to go to bed early and wake up super early the next day to hang out on the beach, which worked out pretty well for our serious jet lag.

3. Animals!
There are chickens everywhere. On the sides of the road, outside restaurants, in yards, just chilling all over Kauai. As squirrels are to Ohio, so chickens are to Kauai. Here’s a chicken that was just raising its babies in a parking lot:
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Also, lizards were all over the place, including inside our cottage. Here’s one that we found outside:
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4. The residents truly care about their heritage and land.
There aren’t exactly a ton of radio options in Kauai (it’s a small island), so H. and I spent most of our driving time listening to the community radio station. One morning, right after H. asked, “Do you think people in Hawaii like being part of the United States?” a song called “Living in a Sovereign Land” came on, and it was all about how the United States took over Hawaii and destroyed its culture. So, yeah, it is weird to visit a place that has a pretty love/hate relationship with outsiders. On the one hand, tourism is the main industry! But on the other hand, tourists don’t necessarily have a reverence for the land that native Hawaiians do. Also, the US sort of forced out traditional Hawaiian culture and stopped Hawaiian language from being taught in schools (the US sort of has a track record for that, right?). In more recent years, there’s been a big resurgence in Hawaiian pride, but if listening to community radio and reading bumper stickers taught me anything, it’s that there are still some hard feelings. It was still cool, even as an outsider, to be somewhere where people seem to truly care about preserving their land and their heritage. Also, I should probably add that I learned this in my limited experience listening to community radio, which tends to represent a certain sort of person. So, maybe take what I just said with a grain of salt.

5. Food!
Okay, so I’ll have to do an entirely separate post about the food. For now, just believe me that it was great.

6. It’s BEAUTIFUL.
I know, I know. I already said that. But seriously, I’ve never been anywhere so spectacular. We were able to drive up to the Waimea Canyon State Park (nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Hawaii, for obvious reasons), take a (super short) hike up a small portion of the Napali Coast, check out a lighthouse, and take a riverboat ride to see the Fern Grotto.
Here are just some of the awesome things we saw:
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I’ll be honest: I didn’t want to leave Kauai. I cried when we got back to Columbus (and I love Columbus!). I’ve rarely felt as good as I did when I was there, and I don’t think that’s just because we were on vacation. It’s sort of a magical place (I mean, Jurassic Park was filmed there!) and I already want to go back. If it wasn’t so terrifically far from our families, I’d probably be trying to convince H. to move there. Basically, Kauai is the best and everybody should visit!

Next week, I’ll have a whole post about the food, because holy moly. We ate a lot.

Lady Inspiration: Lauren Oliver

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Ever since I read Before I Fall a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been sorta obsessed with author Lauren Oliver. I mean, first of all, it’s an amazing book. I feel like I say that all the time to you guys, to the point where you’re probably like, “Ugh, Kerry, we get it, you think all the books are amazing,” but this book is really amazing. When I finished it, I immediately walked upstairs and gave H. a wordless hug. He put his arms around me and said, “Did you just finish a book?” The man knows what I look like when I’m emotionally devastated.

So, yes, Lauren Oliver is a top-notch writer, but I’m also inspired by her dedicated writing habits. Take this quote, for example, from one of her blog posts:

“I wrote Before I Fall while commuting between a full time job, full-time graduate school, and part-time work at a nightclub. In spare moments on the subway or yes, in the bathroom, I typed paragraphs on my Blackberry, later emailing them to myself so I could cut and paste into a word doc. Two hundred words is better than no words. Forty words is better than no words—and if you have time to compose that pithy tweet, you have time to bang out forty words.”

She wrote a book on her Blackberry? That’s intense. She also says she writes 1,000 words a day, every day. I admire that dedication so much. She doesn’t let herself slack off, and that’s why she’s written so many awesome books (and become an all-around badass).

No excuses, you guys. Let’s go out there and get shit done.

If you’re craving more Lauren Oliver, read my HelloGiggles column this Saturday (spoiler alert!) or check out this awesome interview she did with Ohio State Writers Talk.

Wednesday Link Party!

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Did you guys think Wednesday Link Party was dead? Give me a break! Wednesday Link Party, just like vampires and my love for Prince, can never die.
Anyway, this has been a great week for me. I turned 27, which I’m pretty jazzed about. I had three birthday dinners in a row and Hollis threw me a little surprise party. It was the best! Now I’m trying to get back to my regular schedule. You know, the one where I don’t have a fancy dinner every night. Other than that, I’ve been moving my stuff into our place, which is just as fun as it sounds (so, not fun at all). Is there anything worse than moving? Yes, definitely. But moving still sucks. On with the links!

My friend Ashlee started a blog! Yay! Everyone should start a blog! I love it, and so will you, because she’s smart and funny and a great writer.

Since I just went to Hawaii, I’m extra in love with this Hawaii travel guide on Yes and Yes. Plate lunch! I want to go back!

This interview with author Claire Vaye Watkins is bananas, and it definitely made me want to read her book. Once you start tossing around words/phrases like, “grotesque” and “desert brothels” and “her dad was a Manson follower,” then I’m 100% in.

I’m loving this all-girl kick butt workout playlist on Gab White’s blog.

Stawberry Rhubarb Pie is one of Mama W’s specialties, and this Joy the Baker recipe is really making me crave some.

This post by a woman who tried Gwyneth Paltrow’s diet made me laugh.

“Like, it basically says, ‘I’ve got a ton of stuff to do, like shuck corn, and muck out a barn, but I’ve still managed to retain a femininity that glints in the most attractive and unexpected ways.’” – My Wedding Hair by the hilarious Emma Rathbone

-I’m pretty into this Anthro-inspired pillow tutorial from Stuff Steph Does. Also, yay for Columbus bloggers!

65 Books You Need to Read in Your 20s. I only have three years left; I’d better get cracking.

Image via Flickr

Make This Tonight: Curried Apple Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

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I have a confession to make: I love Clean Eating magazine. I hate the term “clean eating” because it sounds stupid (if you “eat clean,” do you think other people “eat dirty”? Ugh. Gross.), and I hate diets and eating plans in general, but I can get behind this concept for the most part. It’s just about not eating processed food, so, whatever. Also, have you even seen Tosca Reno, the woman behind the clean eating empire? She’s in her 50s but she looks way younger. Eating clean has given her ever-lasting life, and tiny shopping carts, apparently.
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Last week, I used the magazine’s super-easy recipe for chicken and sweet potatoes. It might sound weird to combine those ingredients with applesauce and curry, and I guess it is, but H. and I both still liked it. I also made snow peas and white rice, which probably would’ve killed Tosca. Not clean at all. I’m aware that this isn’t necessarily the prettiest meal in the world, but whatever.
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Curried Apple Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
16 oz boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup applesauce
1 TBSP honey
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger

In a crockpot, layer the sweet potatoes, onion, and chicken thighs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a medium bowl, combine garlic, applesauce, honey, vinegar, curry, and ginger. Spoon over chicken, cover and cook on low until chicken is tender and cooked through (6-7 hours, depending on your slow cooker).

Another bonus? This is made in the crock pot. What’s better than coming home to a kitchen that smells like curry? Nothing! Unless you hate curry, in which case there are probably a lot of things better for you.

Another Year, More Goals: Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 28

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On Thursday, when I turned 27, H. insisted on putting 27 candles on my birthday cake, even though I told him that in my family, we just scrounge around in the bottom of the kitchen drawers and see what candles we come up with. And sometimes those candles are just random numbers that don’t correlate with the person’s age, or sometimes it’s just one big candle.
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But H, apparently, has higher standards. As Chase was trying to light all 27 candles, it started to look like the first one might melt before he lit the last one. And that’s when I realized, holy shit, I’m not 17 anymore. Like, I knew that, because I’m aware of my age, but that’s so many candles!

Not that I’m complaining about my age. Girl, please. I firmly believe that growing old is a privilege, and it is, as an inspirational throw pillow might say, better than the alternative. And you know? Sometimes throw pillow wisdom is true. I mean, if someone spent all that time to cross stitch that message, you know they believe it.

Instead of seeing my birthdays as depressing proof that I’m getting one step closer to death’s door, I like to see them as reminders. Reminders that say, “You’re not getting any younger! Better get some shit done!” And so I always use my birthday as an opportunity to reflect on what I did the past year and, more importantly, make a goal list for the next year.

My 26th year was a pretty great one. Bad things happened, of course, but they were outnumbered by good things. I got a new job! I started getting paid for my freelance work! I got engaged! I got married! I met new friends! I attended a couple of great weddings! And then, of course, there were all the little things that make up a life…the dinners, the concerts, the early-morning walks, the nights spent reading books.

Goal lists don’t make your year great all on their own, but they do focus you. They force you to think about what you really want, and then work towards those things. My goal list includes a lot of things, like:

-Finish the quilt I’ve been working on since 3rd grade. I mean, really Kerry.

-Write a book (but you already knew that). I’ve got a good feeling about this one. I think this is my year.

-Buy a house! H. and I are not actively house-hunting yet, but we’re at the point where buying makes a lot more sense than renting. We plan on staying in Columbus for awhile and we want our own little place!

-Listen better. Everyone has a story and an experience, and a good writer listens and learns from everyone. I have a lot of work to do on this one.

-Make bread. I’ve never done it, and now I have a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook. No excuses.

-Try Ethiopian food. Okay, so this one will be easier than the others, because Alex is going to come down some night and go with me.

What about you guys? Do you make goal lists on your birthday, or New Year’s, or any other day? And what are YOUR goals? Let me know! I love hearing about stuff like this.

Cover image via flickr.