This past month has been intense with all the excitement of the World Cup — I know it’s been keeping me glued to ESPN and on the edge of my seat for many a game — but it all came to an end today with the World Cup Final, as Spain emerged as the victors over the Netherlands to become the World Cup 2010 Champions!
Congratulations to Spain! Holland did really well this World Cup too, but this time it just wasn’t in the cards…. Â (Although they did win for getting the most yellow cards in any game I’ve ever seen.) Congratulations to Paul the Octopus as well, the cephalopod who has gotten 8 out of 8 of his predictions this tournament right! He has become an international sensation of sorts. 🙂
Seeing this little octopus making “Breaking News” on CNN and causing such a stir this World Cup got me wondering if either of our very own pet chinchillas had any psychic abilities of his own. Here we are putting Diesel to the test this morning, shortly before the game:
Unfortunately, the only thing Diesel ended up proving was that he is not cut out to be a psychic chinchilla. 🙁 His quest for fame will have to be rewarded by some other means….
Tonight, I had the pleasure of seeing the beautiful, funny, and most incredibly talented Idina Menzel perform with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall!
I have been looking forward to this for a while now, since I have been a fan of Idina since her RENT days. She just has such a powerful stage presence and her voice is one of the most beautiful that I have ever heard. When I heard she was going to perform in San Francisco, I had to go. I dragged Dan along with me, and we were also joined by our lovely friends Sam, Uyen and Charissa! (Thanks for coming with us, ladies!) After a delicious dinner at Indigo, we headed over to Davies Symphony Hall for a truly memorable performance!
Idina sang a couple of her own songs that she has written and recorded, but also sang a number of her Broadway hits. She sang the RENT classic  No Day But Today beautifully, and it was breathtaking to hear her sing some of the Wicked songs she made so famous — I’m Not That Girl, For Good, and of course (my favorite!) Defying Gravity. She even slipped in a couple songs from the episodes she guest-starred in for Glee recently (Funny Girl and Lady Gaga’s Poker Face.) We were all in total awe of the Broadway powerhouse and uber-talented songstress that is Idina Menzel. It was one of the best live shows I have seen in a while, and I really hope that I can see her again sometime soon!
Some photos from the evening….
On the balcony of Davies Symphony Hall before the show.
We weren’t allowed to take any photos or footage during the actual concert, so this was my way of getting a photo with my Broadway idol….
I love you Idina! Please come back to San Francisco again soon!!!
::UPDATE:: I found a video on YouTube of one of the biggest highlights of the concert. She sang “For Good” from the musical Wicked unmiked and a cappella after thanking all of us for coming to see her. It really felt like she was singing to us; it took my breath away.
Some stats: Over the past year, we’ve had 5,938 visits. Our most popular blog post by far in terms of hits was the Celebrity Doppelganger post (What the random?), while the most commented post was the one about our S’mores Cupcakes. Maybe we should blog more often about celebrity lookalikes and baked goodies….
One thing we noticed is that the number of visitors is super disproportionate to the number of comments we receive. I will often hear, “Oh, I read your blog about this and that” from friends but am always surprised to hear it because we receive so few comments and I feel like nobody is reading this darn thing. If you stop by, let us know by leaving us some love!
Regardless, thank you to everyone who keeps up with our blog! We would not be as happy as we are without family and friends like you.
On Day Four of our Hawaii trip, we started the morning off with breakfast from Ted’s Bakery, a popular bakery in Haleiwa.
Ted's Bakery in Haleiwa. They are famous for their chocolate haupia cream pie!
We actually didn't try their famous pie, but we grabbed some yummy donuts to go.
We then drove down to Honolulu (yes, again) to go hiking at Manoa Falls. Since we couldn’t hike Diamond Head the previous day, we were evermore determined to make sure we went on this hike!
Starting our hike at Manoa Falls.
The whole trail was a rainforest with lush, towering trees.
This was my first time in a rainforest!
Me making my way up the trail with my umbrella - that's how wet and misty it was!
Dan under an archway of branches. Almost there!
Manoa Falls in all its glory.
I made it! It actually was not too bad of a hike at all. Easy even for me! haha*
Dan and I at Manoa Falls.
Dan illegally went past the barrier to go right by the falls... tsk tsk. Such a rebel.
After the hike, we were definitely hungry for some lunch, so we drove into the more commercial area of Honolulu to get some food.
Driving through Honolulu.
We went to Goma Tei Ramen Restaurant in Ala Moana Mall.
I had shoyu char siu ramen. YUM!!!
The hubby got spicy miso ramen. Also very good! The ramen definitely hit the spot.
After lunch, we headed over to Waikiki to Ty Gurney Surf School. Located in the heart of Waikiki, right by the beach, the surf school is one of the clients at our web design company. We recently launched their site at the end of the last year, and they were so generous as to offer Dan and I complimentary surf lessons when I told them that I was going to be in town on vacation. The owner, Ty Gurney, has given lessons to the likes of Cameron Diaz, Adam Sandler, and Ray Liotta. Pretty awesome!
Arriving at Ty Gurney Surf School and Board Shop.
Some of the apparel we recently designed for the surf school.
More of our designs on display.
With Hollie, the manager of the surf school. Thanks for the surf lessons!
We unfortunately didn’t get to get any photos of ourselves surfing, but it was an exhilarating experience! Dan and I had both never surfed before, but it was really fun! (I was able to stand up on my board and actually surf!) I got exhausted pretty quickly, though, and called it quits after about forty minutes. Dan was a trooper and stayed out on the waves in Waikiki Beach for a good hour and a half. The surf lessons were definitely one of the highlights of our time in Oahu. 🙂
After the surf lessons, we headed over to Waiola Shave Ice again for a refreshing afternoon snack. We’d already gone once on Day One, but it was so good that we just couldn’t stay away.
Dan at Waiola Shave Ice (again).
He got shaved ice with azuki beans and mochi pieces.
This time, I ordered strawberry and lychee flavored shave ice. Soooo good!
We then drove up to check out the Pali Lookout, where you can take in a breathtaking view of the sweeping landscapes, that seem to stretch up the whole Windward side of the island. You can get a view of the lush vegetation and tropical rainforests of Windward Oahu.
Dan at the Pali Lookout.
The left side of our view.
Central line of sight from the lookout.
The right side of our view.
For the late afternoon, we drove to Lanikai Beach in Kailua to just spread out our beach towels and relax by the beach.
Making our way to Lanikai Beach.
Dan walking along the beach.
A man fishing at Lanikai Beach.
We were pretty pooped after the surf lessons!
Dan attempting to snorkel at Lanikai Beach.
...while I was passed out.
Dan taking photos of me while I was napping.
I eventually woke up to dip my feet in the water.
Lanikai Beach was so beautiful! It made me giddy... haha*
An afternoon in paradise.
After a couple hours at the beach, Dan and I drove back to Honolulu to get some dinner. We took our friend Bryan’s recommendation and ate at Ono Hawaiian Food. (Not to be confused with the California chain Ono Hawaiian BBQ… this is the real deal, canoe-style Hawaiian food!) It was a hole-in-the-wall type of place, but had a line and there was a significant wait before we could get a table.
Storefront of Ono Hawaiian Food
We got the the laulau plate with kalua pig. Everything was good! The only dish I was not a particularly huge fan of was the poi. haha*
Big thanks to Bryan for the recommendation! I’m so glad we consulted people who were from Hawaii before going — we were able to eat some really good food while we were there! 🙂
If you know me, you know there’s always room in my tummy for dessert, so we drove over to Bubbies, an ice cream place known for their mochi ice cream.
Arriving at Bubbies in Honolulu.
Look at all those flavors!
We tried (clockwise, from top) the green tea, chocolate peanut butter, guava, passionfruit, lychee, and sakura flavors.
Dan's favorite was the guava mochi ice cream. Thanks Tarrin for the recommendation!
All of the flavors we tried were awesome — my favorites were the lychee and green tea! After we finished our dessert, we drove back up to the Turtle Bay. Our last full day in Honolulu was pretty tiring but definitely memorable and a lot of fun. 😀
We went on a three-day, two-night camping trip with the in-laws at Yosemite this past weekend. Saw some gorgeous sights and it was nice immersing ourselves in nature.
Probably would not pick the same weekend ever again to go camping though — some moments were a bit stressful with all the people and cars in the park.
Hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Independence Day!
