Mele Kalikimaka

..ok so I know "Merry Christmas" isn't appropriate but every time I think of Hawaii I think of Bing Crosby singing that song in the background while Chevy Chase daydreams about his pool in the movie Christmas Vacation! "Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day.....that's the island greeting that we send to you from the land where palm trees swaaaaayy...."

Weird. I know. Deal with it.

So my 42 hours in Hawaii was interesting. It's never smooth sailing when I'm involved.

At first, I thought I was having a stroke of good luck. I left the house 15 minutes earlier than scheduled (which, by the way, was 4:30 am). I was surrounded by 2 year olds (the row in front beside and behind...oh and a baby- baby 2 or 3 rows up) that were actually really quiet and cute. ALL of my luggage made it, a cab was empty and waiting when I walked out to the taxi booth and my room was ready when I got to the hotel (3 hours before the "check-in" time). Who's winning now Charlie Sheen?!?

I immediately unloaded luggage, grabbed my camera and sunglasses, and headed across the street to the beach to take some pics and grab lunch by the water. I headed down the beach about 100 yards from the hotel and then it happened.

My flip flop broke.

I only brought 1 pair. The other shoes I'd brought aren't "walk around beach friendly". I was closer to an ABC Store than the hotel so I figured I'd pop in, buy another pair, and keep on rockin' cause I'm a roll with the punches kind of gal. ABC stores are like a Hawaiian gift shop meets Walgreens. And they. are. everywhere!! (think: Duane Reade or Starbucks in NYC kinda everywhere)

When the not-so-trusty flip flop broke, I was walking along the beach just close enough so the waves brushed over my feet. When I bent over to take the broken shoe off (because hobbling around with a broken flippy floppy was not an option) the mother of all waves decided to roll in and soaked the bottom 1/3 of my brand new Nordy's dress. (Did I mention it was über thin and part of it is cream colored??) And no, I wasn't wearing a swimsuit underneath.

I was mortified. Then I realized I had on more clothes than...oh....everyone else on the beach and decided to own my new disheveled look. 10 Minutes later I'd purchased a $7.00 pair of flip flops and the dress was dry, so I decided to walk down Kalakaua Ave. which it turns out is like Waikiki beach's Rodeo Dr.

I'm 4 blocks in to my window shopping, literally standing in a hallway between Marc Jacobs and Céline drooling over the amazing bags that I will never be able to afford....and.....yep. You guessed it.

My damn flip flop broke.

The brand new (albeit- cheap) flip flops I have been wearing for 45 minutes at this point, friggin' broke.

Except this time there wasn't an ABC across the street. I was surrounded by Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Marc Jacobs, Céline, Coach and a security guard who found my plight humorous. I officially went from $7.99 flip flops to $799.00 designer shoes. I personally think God was telling me to make an investment purchase, but I'm sure my husband would say God was treating me to a lesson in humility.

So I attempted to walk back down the street towards the hotel looking for the next gift/surf shop in hopes of some non-designer priced sandals. Lo and behold another ABC. The man at the cash register wasn't down with my "I just bought these crap flip flops and they broke" story, possibly because I am a moron and threw the receipt away with my 1st pair of broken shoes outside the first ABC store I was in 4 or so blocks down the street.  You're killin' me smalls!!

By this point I'd given up hope of grabbing lunch at a cute Hawaiian eatery, there would be no catch of the day, no salad topped with local fruits...I picked up some fries from the McD's across from my hotel on my deflated walk back in my 3rd pair of shoes for the day.

Luckily the rest of the trip went well. We had an nice event, met some wonderful alumni (who by the way like bringing gifts, one of which was this fresh Hawaiian bread with blueberries and cream cheese that I couldn't stop eating) and got to hang out with some fun people from a few different departments on campus.

Next time I head to the islands - I'll be sure to bring extra beachwear.