I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to go to Hawaii each year with family. We were blessed with hot weather all week and I tried to soak it all in since I don't know when I will be back on the Big Island. I wasn't planning to blog, but after the trip I of course had a thousand photos in my camera roll so I thought I would share some with you! All photos (except the underwater shots) were taken on my iPhone.

Flying over clouds!

A good view of the lava plains, this was shot from the plane as we were about to land.

Papaya with lime - my favorite thing to have for breakfast.

A typical lunch - sushi and wine.

Sunset at Hapuna Beach.

Some underwater shots.

We stumbled upon the Pololu Valley lookout point last year, and nicknamed it the "lord of the rings" place. We were hoping to hike this down to the black sand beach but it didn't happen for us this year!

Rope swings at Puako Beach.

Marley, the resident hotel cat. Sweet as can be!

Sunset at Mauna Kea Beach.

Turtle Point. Didn't see any turtles this year at Turtle Point, but we did spot one at Puako!

Till next time, Hawaii.

For those of you who don't know (and are not Parks and Rec fans - you are missing out btw), Galentine's Day is celebrated the day before Valentine's Day and it is a day to celebrate those special girlfriends in your life. I wanted to have a special drink for this year's Galentine's and this is what I came up with. I love this cocktail because it's delicious and so easy to make, and do you see how pretty it is? It's so pretty. And it smells amazing.

What you will need:

St. Germain
Sparkling Rosé
Blood Orange
Sage (for garnish)
Lavender (for garnish)

Directions:

Add 1 oz. of St. Germain to glass
Top off with chilled sparkling rosé (around 4 oz. depending on glass)
Add squeezed blood orange juice
Garnish with trimmed fresh sage and fresh or dried lavender

St. Germain is a really tasty elderflower liqueur, that has a very sweet and floral taste. It reminds me of lychee, if you are familiar with that flavor. The blood orange adds a nice citrus kick and also enhances the color of the cocktail, and I love having the sage and lavender as a garnish to add an olfactory experience to the drink (so fancy, I know).