What an amazing weekend I had in Oahu with my ohana. The familiarity of home and the love and comfort of having them there is such a great combination for my soul.

I landed at 8:49 on Friday night and my Daddy picked me up. He was alone which meant catch up time which I love. The car ride is about 25 minutes and it’s always fun to get that alone time with him. We talked about their new place, work, the dogs, the new clicking noise under my left tire of my car and Colt. Catching up with my dad is one of my favorite things in the world. Once we pulled up to their new apartment (which is awesome) I was greeted excitedly by Mani, my mother and my long time friend and bridesmaid Deni.  It was so great to hug both of them (it had been 6 months but truly felt like forever).

My mother quickly gave me the grand tour with Mani trailing closely behind. Their new Waikiki apartment was upgraded and modern and just perfect for them. As I looked around it didn’t take me long to notice the mock centerpiece my mom had created for me. They were the exact mason jars we talked about with lemons and really pretty dainty white flowers (we will be using different flowers in our actual centerpieces) but  I couldn’t believe how good they looked in real life! I am so visualize  so I was so grateful she took the time to make them…check, check, check!

That night her, Deni and I went out for a few drinks to talk story and catch up on all the latest and greatest. They had so many questions and I had so many stories! When we finally got back to my parents Deni and I were  beyond anxious to see my dress so we made my mom get it out. The excitement was overwhelming and my heart just melted, this was the dress I would get married in! Deni couldn’t stand the  anticipation one more second and requested I try it on. My mother was dead against it. In the end the dress bag won because I could not get it untied! Needless to say the night was filled with lots of uncontrollable laughter.

The next morning I woke up early excited and unable to go back to sleep. Today was the day I was having my first makeup trial with Tiffany and going to try on my dress!!  This was the first time I would be trying on the dress since I bought it with my sister Ashley (I haven’t blogged that story yet for several reasons, but it truly is a classic!) Tiffany was scheduled to come over at 9am so I decide to get up and get moving. My Dad was already up, and Deni had spent the night so of course he started to cook us breakfast. We had really awesome egg omelets (any food that man touches turns to deliciousness). My sister was also on her way over and I was thrilled ( I really couldn’t wait to see her). Once all the girls were there Tiffany started to work her MAC magic! I had sent her a few styles of make-up that I had in mind and she played around with them. Deni had of course come back with mimosas so we happily drank those and chatted while Tiff made me pretty. Deni also made me the smallest and cutest bouquet of flowers to take with me to my fitting. My mom also paid for my wedding makeup which was so thoughtful and unexpected, and one less thing for me to worry about on the day of! Once Tiff was done getting me pretty we headed out since my fitting was at 1pm. We stopped by my sisters to grab her veil (something borrowed) and her slip (another borrowed) thank god for sisters! Once we arrived to the fitting the lady quickly hurried me into the back to ensure they got started. They book these appointments back to back and time is of the essences, I of course didn’t mind since I was just as eager to get that baby on!

Unfortunately, this is the part when I have tell you that you will have to wait until after August 25^th to hear about all the wonderful details of this amazing dress (and believe me they are good!) Colt too is on this blog and I don’t want to give him even one inclination of how amazing my Vera truly is. I so wish I could go into detail right now about the one comment my sister made as soon as she saw me in it, or how Deni couldn’t stop smiling about how it was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen in real life, or how my mom couldn’t stop crying (although this was good practice for her “pretty” cry for the wedding) good job Mom! So with all that being said I really can’t wait for Colt to lay his beautiful eyes on me when I walk into that chapel and for all of you to see the dress in all its natural glory!

Who would have thought a fitting would last 2 hours! Whew had we worked up an appetite and some serious anxiety. We got in the car and headed straight to Ala Moana to California pizza kitchen and had an amazing lunch! My sister had also booked us a room at the Waikiki Beach Marriott to go with our amazing girl weekend. So we went to check in and relax before dinner. The room was awesome and I passed out within minutes (I was totally rocked from my fitting) my sister of course took full advantage and snapped a really pretty picture of me sleeping. I woke up to her laughing her ass off in the bed next to me and a really embarrassing picture of me on facebook (thanks sis) good thing she made it up to me fairly quickly and took me for a sister/sister pedicure. It was so relaxing and fun to just catch up with my bestest friend. After our pedis we met my mom, dad and Deni back at the hotel and went to dinner. We were all pretty beat from the long day so we headed back to the hotel and crashed. It was really such a fun and memorable day. Thank you sissy for being so thoughtful and planning such a perfect weekend, and thank you Mom and Deni for being present and taking part in all the fun.

Sunday we got up and did a late mother’s day celebration breakfast at Dukes (our favorite) it was an awesome breakfast and it was so nice to have the four of us back together in one spot. We talked about the wedding week agenda and about all the fun details (my Dad didn’t think they were that fun and expressed how “tired” he already was) this of course made me laugh hysterically since it was coming from the man who has known me all my life. I mean come on, I celebrate my birthday for a whole week why wouldn’t I do the same for my wedding?

It was such a great weekend and it’s always so hard to say goodbye, Oahu truly is home. So as I sit here and board my flight back to Maui I have the sweetest little girl traveling in front of me. She has been announcing everything that is going on from the second she sat down (she also has the cutest little Minnie mouse voice) “Wheeee we are on a plane!” “ohhh we are moving!” (pilot comes on intercom) “whoaaa (her eyes open real wide) do you hear that?” “1..2…3… Blast off” “wheeee  we are flying” “woahhhh clouds”  “I loveeeeeeee planes” “oh look its Maui” I couldn’t help but just put my head back and smile.

What a wonderful life, a hui ho Oahu.