ALOHA!...the finale

I know it's taken forever to finish, but here it is...

February 2, 2009 Day 5:

Happy Ground Hog Day everybody!...whatever that means. :) This morning we walked one last time on to Waikiki Beach. It’s pretty peaceful…and there are no waves in sight.

We hit McDonald’s for breakfast. One super cool thing about the value meals in Hawaii come with FRESH PINEAPPLE. Um…YUM! :)

While driving through the town we saw President Obama’s High School. That’s pretty cool…if I do say so myself.

The mission for today was to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Oahu. Mission accomplished! Please enjoy the pictures. :)

• Here we learned about and interacted with the people of Hawaii, Samoa, Maori New Zealand (Aotearoa), Fiji, Tahiti, the Marquesas and Tonga.

the tree Elvis sang in in Blue Hawaii :)

• Watched Hawaii’s only canoe pageant
  

it was raining :)

• And Enjoyed their world-famous evening show, Horizons: Where the Sea Meets the Sky

sorry for the blurry-ness but the NO FLASH policy was in full effect lol

By the end of the evening it was super windy and cold. (I know weird right) We made it to the Laie Inn…and yep you guessed it…crashed. :)

February 3,2009 Day 6 (aka my last Day in Hawaii):

This was a lazy morning in the hotel room with muffins and juice in bed as we watched Cash Cab on the TV the palm trees blow in the cloudy wind through the window. It was a good morning. :)

We left North Shore…for the last time. We stopped along the road for one last ocean view.

Back in Kailua, Stephanie and I had lunch at Buzz’s where I ordered at blue cheese burger that came out with no blue cheese. No worries though, it was now FREE! Love how stuff just works out!

Quick stop at Longs (like Walgreens…but not, according to the locals) to buy some “gifts” for half the price…Stephanie ROCKS!!! But we already knew this. :)

I made my second purchase of luggage…after the return of the super expensive (but cute) stuff. (yes responsibility does jump in every now and then)

I dropped Stephanie off at her apartment and said goodbye. I was off solo towards Waikiki in search of the ALOHA Gas Station where I had rented my car 6 days ago. I found it and called a taxi. There was a ton of traffic…during rush hour…of course. But that was okay because I was entertained by the crazy Samoan taxi driver lady. Lol I made it to the airport with time to spare. :)

Currently I am at the airport bar…having my last vodka/pineapple and mango coconut shrimp.

All in all, the trip was almost completely perfect…really, nothing could be better than being with Stephanie in Hawaii!

ALOHA!!!

I Gave It My Best Shot!

So Wednesday night was kind of RIDICULOUS!!! ...in a good way. :)

As you may know (because I bugged you constantly about it) I was one of the five finalists for the Mavericks/Coca Cola/House of Blues Rock the House contest. Thanks to your votes...I won the opportunity to sing at the Dallas Mavericks vs San Antonio Spurs Game on March 4th at the American Airlines Center.

*Interesting side note...it was Noche Latina, and therefore the teams were wearing jerseys that said Los Mavs y Los Spurs.


Anyways, roughly 24 hours before the game I was notified that I would be singing Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot. I've never sang this song...especially not in front of 21 THOUSAND people.

I had a brief rehearsal in my truck in the parking lot of Dave & Busters (that's where were had planned to have dinner) that consisted of my ipod, Momma and cousin Kellie...I learned the words and was ready to go. The next 24 hours of anticipation was kinda brutal. I wasn't really nervous just really excited. Yeah this sounds kinda silly and crazy...but you have to know that I grew up performing and have missed it a ton...so when i was given this opportunity I had to go for it. Carpe Diem!!!

Instead of my normal routine of trying to hacky sack it up with the guys after dinner...I was on the dock at the AAC, earphones in ears, playing the track over and over and over again. I work with AMAZING people and the amount of positivity, "break a leg," and "knock em dead," etc. wishes I heard made me feel super special. Thanks to all of you for that.

Before the game started I met my Momma and sister, Brenda, on the concourse for one last run through...yeah I have very little shame...or fear for that matter. :)

I'm quite certain that my heart rate was off the charts by the time tipoff came around. Oh yeah, did I mention I happened to also be working the game that night. I was running replays for the in-arena show. I would be singing at the end of the 1st quarter. There was approximately 3 minutes left on the clock so I RAN (I don't run) to the other side of the court and had about a minute to spare before it was "show time". The next 3 minutes were a complete blur.

This is what I know:
I know I got out on the court and saw some of my favorite familar faces.
I know there was a sea of Mavs and Spurs fans in front of me.
I know Chris Arnold introduced us both.
I know the other contestant sang.
I know I was handed the mic and at THAT moment there was this rush/high/something that went through my being.

I'm pretty sure I sang and I felt pretty good, great about it. :)

The crowd was deciding factor of who won. But you can judge for yourself if you'd like...

I did not win.

But that wasn't really the point of it all. I just wanted to get out there and "Rock it!" Mission Accomplished. (to me anyway...and as we know this is MY blog and really MY opinion is all that matters) ;)

The bit was over and off I RAN (I repeat, I don't run) back to the replay room, and with an awesome round of applause from my co-workers...we were back to work. The final score was Los Mavs 107 Los Spurs 102. Awesome game and most needed win!

It was a noche to remember.



*here is the entire contest if you're interested:

much love

Carolina Is Trying to Get to Vegas Baby!!!

Carolina Is Trying to Get to Vegas Baby!!! 1:18pm
Hey Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Dudes and Chicks, Kittens and Punks, Family & Friends!!!

The Dallas Mavericks are hosting a contest with Coca Cola and the House of Blues called Rock the House and the grand prize is this ---->

One (1) year supply of Coca Cola products
Two (2) tickets to a TBD concert at House of Blues Las Vegas
Hotel accommodations for two (2) nights in Las Vegas
Roundtrip airfare for two (2) to Las Vegas
$150 in spending money

All contestants had to submit a video singing a favorite karaoke song...Please go here ------>

http://www.nba.com/mavericks/sponsorship/rockthehouse_vote.html

and VOTE FOR ME!

My fabulous camera-chica, Stephanie, helped me do this. (no offense to any of the AWESOME cameramen I know) :) The song is Mr. Brightside by The Killers. Go ahead and laugh…I don’t mind in the least…especially if it gets me to Vegas Baby!!! ;) The video is completely ridiculous. I'm sure that I will be getting alot of crap over the years to come, but it's VEGAS BABY!!! so go ahead and laugh and hopefully, be entertained as well.

Even if I don't get to Vegas, still might get the chance to sing at the Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs game on March 4th...so that's pretty sweet anyways!!

VOTE

If you're in a super rush, you don't even have to watch the videos...just vote for me...#1 :) How easy is that?


VOTE

I love you all...and if you don't feel the same you probably already deleted this when you saw the subject! ;)

much love,

Carolina

One last thing...If you could forward this to...um...EVERYONE YOU KNOW :) ...that'd be GREAT!!!!

ALOHA!... Part 3

February 1, 2009 Day 4:

First of I’d like to say I have the most amazing Momma and God Mother, Carol…due to me not having direct deposit, my funding during the trip went kinda haywire…but where there’s a will there’s a way…And man do we have so WILL!!!

I woke up to the sun shining…it’s warm and wonderful! It’s also SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! Whoo hoo?? HA! No, it’s cool.

*Quick back story…I tend to take vacation during either January or February due to the fact the NBA and NHL teams have their All-Star Breaks somewhere around then and therefore, I usually have a couple of more days where there’s no games. This was also the perfect excuse to boycott/leave the country during Valentine’s Day. (Which I am SUPER cool with.) But the last couple of years I’ve “escaped” during Super Bowl time…last year I had a blast watching it en espanol in Costa Rica!

So although our plan was to try surfing again, plans changed. Because of the time difference, the game would be starting right around lunch time. So we decided to head to Senor Frogs. Yes, once again we played tourist. It was fun. We had this Criss Angel-look-a-like waiter named Nick from Delaware.

And thus we were entertained for the never several hours! :)

*One of my favorite places in Nassau is Senor Frogs to Just. Have. Fun. The one in Waikiki is still in America…and therefore, under the laws of America. Watching “kids” between the ages of 18-21 have a crazy good time does not happen here. We made our own fun. And it was all good. Just warning ya…not every Senor Frogs is the same. :)

Anyways, we headed back to the hotel for a MUCH NEEDED nap.

We woke up around 8 p.m. and then mayhem ensued!!! My fabulous camera-chica, Stephanie, and I made a video. Not just any video though. I’m trying to win a trip to Vegas, courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks. The goal was to “Rock the House” (of Blues) by karaoke-ing it up. Here’s what was submitted. The song is Mr. Brightside by The Killers. Go ahead and laugh…I don’t mind in the least…especially if it gets me to Vegas Baby!!! ;)

*Someday I’ll post the “blooper reel”…it’s way more entertaining…well to me and Steph anyways. ;)

After a quick shower, we got all dolled up and headed back out on the town in search of dinner...with some cool stuff along the way.

Mosaic wall of the visitors center...

Pretty Hibiscus...

Probably the Coolest Apple Store Ever!...

We ended up at Doraku Sushi.

This place is owned by the son of Behinhana…so we thought hey, lets check it out.

After the awesome food, once again we were exhausted…so back to the room it was…good night! :)

ALOHA!...Part 2

January 31, 2009 Day 3:

It’s another beautiful day in Kailua. Portuguese sausage rolls and chocolate croissants from Elvin’s Bakery for breakfast. (yum)

So no days have been really planned out. It’s just kinda go with whatever we feel like doing at the moment. Today we decided to head to Waikiki Beach.

After finding a (temporary) parking spot, we were ready to hit the beach! Man there’s a lot of people out today…duh Carolina, it’s a Saturday. Lol Anyways, we get to a stand on the beach with a rack o surfboards and that’s where we met Zack from Peru.


Zack would be our surf instructor for the next hour. This took a little coaxing to get Steph to join me (as this was her first time) but she soon realized it was totally worth it! :)



After the super brief “pop-up” lesson on the sand…we were off and running…errr, make that paddling! ;) The hard part of surfing is not the actual “standing on water” part…it’s the paddling…and we will still feel the pain in the days to come. But I gotta say, it hurts sooo good! :)

The waves today were tiny but it was still great. Steph even got up on her first try! Please enjoy the slideshow…yeah there’s about a hundred pics…you don’t have to look at them all. :)

We had such a good time (and workout). Did I mention…surfer boys are never a bad thing to look at. ;)



*only one casualty occurred…I somehow stepped on something (Steph thing urchin) and it won’t come out of my LEFT foot…must stop and get Neosporin and band-aids STAT!

Then we “ran like the wind” back to the car, as it began to rain…not cuz we were afraid of getting wet, but because we were afraid of getting a ticket or the car towed…trust me, if it was gonna happen to anyone…it would most definitely happen to us. We made it back to the car (with the meter flashing ZERO) and decided lunch would be good.

On to the Hard Rock Café Honolulu we went! (yes I know it’s “touristy” but we’ve already been through this in the New York and Vegas postings…get over it, I dig it!) lol


We had a great lunch and yummy drinks…and had fun conversations with the waitress, merch guy, and the manager…Stephanie talked him in to giving us the kama'aina discount (locals’ discount)…um awesome. :)



We left Honolulu and headed back to Kailua. Along the way we stopped and took in the sights.





There was a railing and then this...




past the chicken and pigeons was this...



I could soooo watch the water all day long with no worries. :)

We then decided to another couple of hours before the sun started to set back at Lani Kai beach. The plan was to enjoy the peacefulness like we did the morning before. Well that didn’t exactly happen. There was a group of about 4 or 5 little boys playing something that looked like either pirates or knights…either way, they had swords. :) They were cute but slightly less than silent. But then we had the pleasure (or misfortune) of watching the “1,2,3 Girls.” This group of about 6 girls decided it was necessary to have pictures of them on the beach jumping (at the count of 3). A couple of pictures would have been sufficient, I’m quite certain, but NO they kept on for at least 30 minutes. Oh yeah, we mocked them (we even thought about running and jumping in to get in a shot)…but we weren’t the only ones. Lol Slightly annoying, but still, I was on a beach, and all was right in the world. :)



After a slight issue of being locked out of the apartment, I decided that we would head back to Waikiki and get a room for the night…we were still pumped from surfing earlier and want to do it again tomorrow.

***Guess who else is NOT COOL…hotels.com. The phone operators have no clue what about what they’re talking about. Still waiting on a refund from their idocracy. Give your money to someone else.***

But whatever, we got a room and cleaned up and made our way down to “the strip” about 2 blocks over. Warn out and tired but once again hungry. So you can totally laugh at this I don’t mind…we ended up at that traditional Hawaiian eatery known as The Cheesecake Factory.



HA! Yeah I know there’s one in Dallas, and no I’ve never been there, and no there's no palm trees in front of the one in Dallas.

It was good and they had a live band complete with ukulele. :)

Whoo hoo! I made it to midnight tonight. Yay…and good night! ;)