Uncle Santa Sam

I am home in B.C for the holidays and I received a call from Hawaii on Wednesday that made my day. Uncle ‘Santa’ Sam called to tell me my article about him in Makai Ocean Lifestyle Magazine was published. He was getting calls from people seeing his face on the cover and telling him how much they liked it. Most importantly, I am happy that Sam loves it. I could hear him smiling through the phone…

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Mele Kalikimaka

I love Hawaii. And I love Christmas. But Christmas IN Hawaii is, well, weird. Ok, maybe not weird, but it’s definitely different when you grew up somewhere like, oh let’s say CANADA. I can never seem to get that feeling here. You know – that warm fuzzy holiday feeling that suddenly creeps up on you and you can’t help but bask in all of its giddiness. I think the feeling only comes when the temperature drops below…

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95 Bottles of Wine on the Wall: DIY- Recycled Bottle Vases

Maybe it’s because decorating is another creative outlet, or perhaps I’ve just been watching too much HGTV, but for whatever reason, I’ve taken on the task of decorating the venue for the John Kelly Awards for the last three years.  I just have a lot of fun with it and I try to up the ante every year with fresh ideas.  Waimea is a challenging place to decorate – it’s a large open air pavilion…

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Watchin’ the Tide Roll Away

I snapped this photo on the weekend at Keiki Beach on the North Shore. I love it. Just some old friends “watchin’ the tide roll away…wastin’ time.” I love their chairs, the blue ocean backdrop and the pure bliss conveyed in doing absolutely nothing.

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Ocean Love: The 2011 John Kelly Environmental Awards Party

This past weekend the Surfrider Foundation’s Oahu Chapter held its 9th Annual John Kelly Environmental Achievement Awards on the North Shore at Waimea Valley. I am proud to be involved in organizing this fun event that honors environmental leaders who follow in the footsteps of pioneer surf environmentalist John Kelly. Kelly started the grassroots group Save Our Surf in the 1960’s (Surfrider’s predecessor in many ways) that was responsible for protecting the coastlines from destructive…

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