​My mister and I are were overdue for vacation. Sure. we spent all of 2011 in Germany but it wasn't vacation. Since we got married last February, we haven't boarded a plane and have spent all of our time in LA.

Our 1 year anniversary was creeping up and our loving moms generously gifted to us a vacation in Hawaii as our anniversary / belated honeymoon. We're so blessed and thankful.

After barely packing, we boarded the plane and we knew that was it. We were leaving LA to escape it all. No stress about prints, clients, work, traffic and the other daily ghosts that follow us in a normal day. ​

​Off the plane and in tropical landscapes the place grew on us quick. We ate, lounged, ate some more, lay lazy in hammocks on the beach. We even went horseback riding in North Shore, saw whales from a catamaran and earned our Hawaiian Tropic tans. Everyday, I started the day by eating a chocolate covered macadamia and thought in my head "it's vacation!" 

Hawaii never loses it's tropical charm. It's an easy escape and you can't help but fall into the island ways.

My brother got married! I'm so happy for him and his new wife!

My mister and I stretched out the weekend and drove up to San Francisco. Did I mention that we decided to take our new dog with us? I didn't want to, but he did. Our car is now full of dog hair after having a pooch in there for about 10 hours! Ick!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Having the dog with us made us pullover more often but it was for the better. We did a mini hike through a trail of tall grasses to a body of water. During our stay there, we put on our fancy shoes for the wedding.,I got see my nieces for the first time in 4 years in flower girl dresses, we made a pit stop to Four Barrel Coffee and shopped the thrift stores along Valencia Street, we had Korean BBQ in Oakland with my mom-in-law with our friends and their three adorable daughters. 

We could've done more activities to see the city, but we weren't there for the city; we were there just to relish in the company of family and friends. ​ I love that city. There are so many dimensions to it and no matter how often I go I always seem to discover something new.