travel : seaside, fl

this weekend, josh and i travelled with the dogs to seaside, florida for a development conference. i tagged along to enjoy the sun and sand. seaside is a new urbanism community that was beautifully master planned in the 80's and is the location of the filming for the truman show (love that movie!) growing up, my family visited the neighboring seagrove beach every year in august. in the offseason, seaside is shockingly quiet and calm. some evenings were chilly, but the weather was beautiful during the day. we ate great seafood, lots of snow cones, and walked for hours.

{seaside square's quaint post office}

{their first time on the beach at sunset}

{lobster rolls at the shrimp shack}

{all houses are painted in pastel shades, like this tiny pale pink one}

{hot pink dream house}

{breakfast tacos and mimosas at cowgirl kitchen}

{sundog books at seaside square. we stayed at the bookstore owner's rental home!}

{playtime at the beach}

{colorful walks through seaside side streets}

{pastel shutters}

{the best juice food truck}

{family walks with my guys}

{red tolix chairs at the artist's colony}

{seaside chapel in the community}

bye seaside! we miss you already.

madeline

travel : guide to paia, maui, hawaii

this week i want to share some of my travel photos from our trip to hawaii in november. with the ice and snow around the country, we are all needing to mentally be somewhere else today, somewhere warm! to celebrate finishing my husband's architectural exams and our third wedding anniversary, we booked a trip to maui in november. november is considered 'off season' on the islands; prices are lower, but the weather is perfect year round. we did a lot of research before leaving on where to stay on the island, the best beaches, and what to see. i would love to share.

upon landing, we could see the cloud shrouded peak of maui's volcano, haleakala. we planned to take our entire second day to travel the road to hana, a scenic road trip along the east coast of maui, popular for it's winding hairpin roads. we decided to stay in paia town, a small bohemian village near the maui airport (north coast) so we could start the next day bright and early for hana. we did not spend very much time in paia, but it charmed us with it's quaint character and friendly locals. i loved chatting with a girl on the beach who fell in love paia and bought a one way ticket; she moved there and never looked back! i only wish we could have had more time to explore.

STAY:

paia inn - we stayed here, and this boutique hotel won our hearts. paia town is a small, walkable downtown and this inn is right in the center. it was comfortable, small, and beautiful.

airbnb - there are great options for vacations rentals on the island. it is addicting to browse the homes for rent.

DO:

paia bay - this beach was right outside of the paia inn and we spent the morning watching the turtles and surfers. the turtles wash up on shore and they are bigger than i could have ever imagined!

car rental - we rented a jeep wrangler and it was the best decision we made! we chose a location close to the airport for easy pickup before hana.

SHOP:

mana foods - there are no large grocery stores once you get to the east coast, and there are also not many dining options in hana. it is a great idea to stop in to mana foods to get groceries if you plan to stay on the eastern side of the island. so glad we knew to do this. it is like the nicest whole foods you've ever been in; we bought hawaiian coffee, fresh local fruit and produce.

boutiques + art galleries - paia is full of artists and handmade crafts, which makes it a great place to walk around at night and window shop.

EAT+DRINK: 

charley's - we stopped in for breakfast to prepare for the long road trip to hana. there was an incredible bloody mary bar and we had to order the famous macadamia nut pancakes with coconut milk syrup. amazing!

mama's fish house - this restaurant is a must while you are there. although very popular and touristy, the service, dinner and drinks were perfect. it is a beautiful setting on the beach and we sipped mai tais and ate local ono fish while feeling jetlagged.

{surfers on paia bay}

{ginger plant flower}

{passionfruit etching}

{exploring at paia inn}

{colorful outdoor dining at paia inn}

{macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup at charley's}

{exotic fruits at mana foods grocery, rambutan?!}

{mai tais at mama's fish house}

i will be posting guides on hana and wailea this week. i hope you enjoyed the paia guide, and please post any questions you may have about your travels!

xoxo

madeline

travel : hawaii planning

i am so excited....we finally planned our much-needed vacation this year and our destination is...HAWAII!  we plan to go to maui and spend most of our time there. we want to experience both the western 'desert' side in wailea and eastern 'tropical' side of the island in hana.  my parents often tell me about how they visited maui when my mom was pregnant with me and now i will be returning again. it is hard for me not to plan a lot of things to do and see, but i know we both need time to recharge; so i will do my best not to type out an itinerary....

do you have any hawaii recommendations? i would love to hear what islands you recommend, where you stayed, beaches to visit, or any other tips you might have!

images kauai 1 / lanai 2 / maui 3

MADELINE