Vintage Hawaii

I'm salivating over this poster (in 24" x 36", please) but the slightly steep price (sans frame) is keeping me from buying it. I know exactly where to put it because I've been waiting to find just the right poster/print for a certain wall in my house. I want a vintage Hawaii travel poster to commemorate our honeymoon and all the memories from that time. I love the bold, graphic looks of vintage posters, and they're relatively affordable. But I haven't yet clicked on the "purchase" button yet.



I also like this kitschy poster from the late 40s, but it's a bit smaller.

There are lots of other cool vintage Hawaii posters to choose from online, it's just a matter of picking the right print and the right price.












Hmm....

All done

The Hawaii honeymoon pix are all on Flickr now, compiled into a pretty little collection with this cool mosaic cover.



Whew! That was a lot of caption writing... Enjoy!

Secret cat code?

Dollie laying all over my other desk and the PC keyboard



I was writing captions for the billions of pictures I uploaded to Flickr for the honeymoon pix, Day Twelve (will it ever end?) and stopped in the kitchen to grab some more coffee and talk to Pete. When I came back, I surprised Dollie, who was on my keyboard and had written this:

\ bbbbbbbbb

```cvw222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

(and so on for a million more 2's)

222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
11111wbv

For this photo:



I'm not sure what it means. Could it be a secret rendezvous place (in Maui, of all places) for her other cat cohorts? She seemed rather suspicious, and quickly tried to hide what she was typing with her furry body. I was on to her though, and shooed her away from the keyboard, hopefully stopping the code from being transmitted to other cats across the country.

Two can play at this game, my feline friend, two can play...



Dollie laying on my closed (and safe, for now) laptop

Days Four and Five of Honeymoon in Hawaii...

Pete in water, talking to a couple on a beach near Hanalei Bay as the sun sets, Kauai, Hawaii



...can now be seen on my Flickr page. More days to come...

UPDATE: Days Six through Ten are now uploaded, only three days to go...

ANOTHER UPDATE: They're all uploaded, so check 'em out!

Me and my Dollie-Cat

Today I decided to use one of my favorite mugs as I uploaded more of my Hawaii pix to Flickr and worked on my freelance project that's due like super soon. What mug, you ask? Why, my Dollie mug, of course! I don't remember where it came from—I think someone gave it to us?—but as you can see, the cat on the mug looks just like Dollie's mug. Ho ho ho, I crack myself up!

Anyhow, of course Dollie happened to appear as I was getting my coffee. I don't like her going on the counters (I usually shoo her off) but I let it go so I could take her picture next to my mug. She seemed rather blasé about being famous enough to appear on a mug, but that's just her, she's very humble like that. And sorry about that crud on the counter—it's the result of living with a messy husband.



What?! Has Dollie taken up smoking too? I don't think I can live with another smoker!

I'm probably very biased, but although I have three cats (Max and Dollie, who live at my house, and Ginger, who lives with my parents), I think Dollie is the absolute cutest cat in the world. Although she is sweet, hyper, friendly, funny, and super affectionate, she is also quite a scrapper. She loves nothing more than climbing and exploring, especially the dirtiest and most dangerous spots in the house—which there are many, since this rental house is old and in ill repair. I will often go in the basement to do a load of laundry and call out to her, only to see her pop up from high above, chortling in her funny little cat talk, face peering out from some duct work, completely covered in spider webs but having a grand old time.

Minutes after the above pix were taken, I heard a commotion in our creepy basement. I went down there and peered below, between the wall by the stairs and a gap near the back of the refrigerator. I saw Dollie hanging from some sort of ventilation and shimmying along a brick column.



She eventually had to let herself fall from this spot, but she calmly walked away and reappeared a second later, ready for some Fancy Feast. You would never think that a cat that is as chubby and short limbed as Dollie would be the adventurer. Max the slender and elegant model cat prefers to lounge around, but Dollie is as hardy and curious as they come.

Okay, gushing over. Back to work...

Oh yeah, check out my first three albums of Hawaii pix here. I'm still writing captions for Day Three, so you might want to check back later to look at that album, but One and Two are ready for viewing. And Days Four through Thirteen are on their way this weekend.

Here comes Hawaii

A photo from Day Two of our honeymoon in Hawaii—Pete swimming in Queen's Bath, Princeville, Kauai

I have FINALLY started going through my honeymoon photos and prepping them to upload on my Flickr page. The sheer number of photos has been a bit of a deterrent for me, I must admit. There's about 3,000 photos—yes, you heard right, 3,000—but now that I have figured out how to convert multiple files at once, I am slowly slogging through them and getting them published to my Flickr page. It's slow going, so don't expect them to all pop up overnight. I'm working on the first few days right now, and they'll be posted in albums that focus on each day of the trip. I'm hoping to be done with them during the next several days, but we'll see. I'm working on finishing a freelance project first, which of course takes priority over playing with my honeymoon pix, unfortunately.

P.S. I'll be featuring select photos from each day on vivid as I post the pix to Flickr, so check back often!

Photo of the Week: "Really Missing Hawaii Right About Now"

As I write this from the frozen tundra of Illinois...

'Nuff said.

Speaking of Hawaii...

Here's a dorky picture of Pete and me that was taken at the Kalahui Airport in Maui, in one of those goofy photo booths.

Wistful

Dusk in Maui



Wet, dreary nights like this make me miss Hawaii and its breezy, tropical warmth.

Home at last!

Adora seemingly waving a friendly "hello"

Well, Pete and I arrived home this weekend to some very happy dogs and cats (and family and friends, too). We adored Hawaii, but I don't think I'll miss being on a plane or in an airport for a long, long time. I'm still unpacking but my photos are all uploaded. I have to post the cream of the crop online for people to check out. IPhoto tells me I took almost 3,000 pix! So I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Anyhow, it's good to be back home, hangin' with Iz, and just relaxing in our normal, wedding-free lives. Well, except for the thank you cards we have to make and send. But otherwise things are almost back to normal, and harmony is restored in the Hoogestraat household.

(Photo courtesy of Iz)

My feet and the waves—a sequence of images

Last day in Maui, homeless

Pete forcing down leftover ice cream at the beach

Steam blowing from the Sugar Cane Train, while Pete observes

Chris on the Sugar Cane Train

Pete emerging from the waves

View of Hanakao'o Beach

Haleakala National Park, part five (ending at the hotel)

Chris in awe of eucalyptus forest

Sunlit leaves

Pete walking through sunset in the forest

Sunset on the way to Lahaina

Pete and Chris in the hot tub

Haleakala National Park, part four

Little green bird and my foot

Berries on a bush

Pete and Ken make a fire

Hot dog and a good read, "Pocket Guide to Hawaii: Trees and Shrubs"

Mossy rock

Haleakala National Park, part three

View from the summit

Colorful crater and rocks

Crater

More of the crater landscape

Pete and Chris in front of the crater

Haleakala National Park, part two

Pete walking up rocky steps

Pete on top of a rocky hill

Chris in front of the crater

Rocky ledge and crater

Crater and clouds