Last Monday, a surprise snowstorm — unexpected in an otherwise mild winter — created this view from our living room window:
Clara couldn’t resist heading outside to play:
Fast forward about a week, and our view looks a lot different now:
Clara’s sporting a very different outfit these days:
True to our anniversary resolution, we slipped away to Maui to celebrate finishing our book, our upcoming five-year anniversary in July, birthdays (I turn 30 in March and John already celebrated his in November), and just about any other excuse to celebrate. Clara has been picking up new four-syllable words like escalator, helicopter, and anemone — a pretty great souvenir. This is actually our first real vacation flight since our 2007 honeymoon in Alaska, and it’s the first time in the 4.5 years of blogging that we’ve announced a week off.
We know — gasp!
We’ll still share a photo or quick update now and then during the week, and we scheduled a few posts before we left, including some small kitchen progress. We also arranged a giveaway valued at nearly $500 that will go up soon (timing might be a bit off since we’re five hours behind our usual schedule here in Hawaii). Mostly, though, our aim is to relax, unplug, show Clara a great time, and enjoy the week.
We’ll be back with regular home improvement posts next Monday, and we’ll pop in occasionally while we’re away. Please forgive us if we’re slower to reply to comments. We’re excited to return refreshed and inspired to tackle projects like installing cork floors in the kitchen, renovating three untouched bathrooms, building a walk-out deck, converting a carport into a garage, adding crown molding and wainscoting, overhauling the sunroom, redoing the playroom, and several other big projects we mention often (yes, we even talk about them here in Maui).
Because Clara traveled with us, we’ll share details soon about how she handled the trip and adjusted to the time change — maybe next week on Young House Life. Quarantine rules required that Burger stay home, so he’s being doted on by house-sitters: friends and family are taking turns staying with him while we’re gone. Of course we call and check in with him at least twice a day. Maybe he’ll even inspire our house guests to lay some cork flooring while they’re there — he’s a persuasive little chihuahua, after all.
If you’re a Maui local or fellow traveler, please say hello if you spot us doing the full dorky-tourist routine. Look for the girl with legs so pasty they almost look blue — that’ll be me.
And yes, my skirt is twisted about three inches too far to the right. I can’t be the only one who battles skirt-spin, can I?