Horseback Riding in Waipio Valley

Mom was kind enough to take us on an excursion to the other side of the island - the Hilo side. This is the side of the island that gets much more rain (200 inches annually versus 20 annually in Kona) and is also near where my Dad bought his land to build his Hawaiian home. It's about a two hour drive from one side to the other, so we were up really early to get to our horseback riding session at 9:00 a.m. Thankfully we didn't get lost and we arrived on time with no issues and only one pee pit stop (that's unusual with a car full of girls).

We had to wear long pants, so I grabbed my suspender leggings and BEVERLY THRILLS tank top from Love Culture. So thankful to wear New Rocks. They worked out perfectly for horseback riding since it was mandatory to wear closed-toe shoes. 

When we arrived at the ranch and parked our car, there was a friendly tiny cat that came up and demanded petting. He even jumped right up into the car.

Mom and Eden cracking and snacking on macadamia nuts from the ranch.

A funny sign. As I mentioned previously, many jobs don't pay minimum wage and the employees get paid in tips only.

I managed to get a close-up of one of the dreaded zipper spiders. Now you see why I am afraid of them…so scary!

When everyone on our tour had arrived, we piled into a four wheel drive van and headed down into Waipio Valley. In order to get into the valley, it is mandatory to drive a 4WD vehicle and go through a checkpoint where they make sure you know what you are getting into. The descent into the valley is extremely steep and the road to get down is a windy, one-way affair that is simply terrifying. Down in the valley, all of the land is privately owned. The people have no electricity and live off of the land. If they want food, they grow it and harvest it. If they want to shower/wash their hands/drink fresh water, they generally catch rainwater. What a very different way of living than what we on the mainland are used to.

The van drove through rivers to get all the way to the bottom of the valley where the horses were penned.

The DEAD END sign cracked me up. It made the perilous drive all the more hilarious. (Ok, Ok, so it was only perilous in my head. I'm 100% sure those guides knew exactly what they were doing and have made that drive millions of times.)

The van was parked and we hopped on out. I dropped my sunglasses and the lens popped out, so I had no shades for the entire ride. :(

All the horses started coming out of the pen. My horse is the white one. 

Mom mounting her horse. 

Eden introducing herself to her horse, who was named George. All the other horses had hard to pronounce Hawaiian names, but Eden's horse was just plain old George. She said he was a doofy horse.

Eden mounted her horse and the guide was checking to make sure everything looked good before he let her loose.

Me on my horse. He was the only white one and I was one of the last people to mount. His name meant Scab or Scar in English, but I can't remember the Hawaiian word for it. He was the leader of the pack and got grumpy when any of the other horses tried to pass him up.

One of the streams we crossed on horseback.

The view from atop my horse.

View from horseback down in the valley. It's easy to see how far down were were based on the height and scale of the mountain.

Only at the beginning of the ride was there another person in front of me. Mom and Eden got separated from me and I basically had the entire ride to just look around and take the scenery in. As I said, my horse was at the front and I got to listen to all the things the guide in front of me said and didn't have to talk to anybody else. For an introvert like myself, it was paradise. Hahaha. Although I wouldn't have minded being close enough to Eden and Mom to have a conversation with them.

The guide picked me a pumpkin cherry. It tasted sour and not like a pumpkin or a cherry. Also, my gel manicure held up well the entire trip. 

Very long waterfall.

Me and Eden on our horses.  The horses look kind of sleepy. Maybe because it was very near the end of the ride and they were just thinking about it being their lunch time.

All of us girls on our horses.

I loved horseback riding. It was my favorite activity by far.

This was a wild horse that came up to the van on our drive back up the mountain. 

We made it safely back up the mountain and our next stop was a restaurant to get some Portuguese donuts for Eden.

Up next - the botanical gardens!

Outfit of the Day - Black and White Graphics

I got back from Hawaii on Monday and I can't stress how thankful I am to be home in California. I'm not a tropical girl at heart. Although visiting an island can be fun, I much prefer the coastline of California over the humid clime of Hawaii. I've got a ton of posts coming up about all the cool things I did with my mom and sister as soon as I sort through my photos and get some film developed.

Anyways, today's post is nothing special - just an outfit update with a bit of makeup stuff as well. Being in Hawaii for the last 9 days meant skipping makeup and wearing lots of bathing suits and sandals, so I was thrilled to be back in my trusty New Rock boots once more…although they did come to the beach with me a few days!

Tee - Love Culture; Garter belt - Foreplay; Boots - New Rock

It was a slouchy graphic tee and striped garter belt kind of day. I'm wearing a black malachite crystal necklace my sister gave me in Hawaii, although it's not clearly visible in the picture. I've also mastered the thrashed curled pigtails with my extensions and I was able to tease my hair once more since being out of the Hawaiian humidity.

Brows - Makeup Forever aqua brow paint in ash brown (#25); Liner - Revlon liquid; Shadow - an old Tokidoki shimmery neutral tone; Lashes - Ardell demi-pixies invisi-band

I've not worn any makeup other than a bit of mascara for over a week, so I was actually happy to paint on my brows and apply some falsies! I went with a boring single-winged liquid liner, even though I generally do two wings just to be a bit out of the box makeup-wise. I also put on some light and natural-looking falsies just because I missed being dolled up!

Stay tuned for lots of posts on Hawaii! Nine days is a lot of time to accumulate photos and stories. And you better believe I've got some stories to share. Hint - they involve multiple car crashes.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - I've Got More Issues Than Vogue

Graphic muscle tank - Love Culture; Chiffon jacket - thrifted; Garter belt - eBay; Boots - New Rock

One of my favorite chain stores to shop at is closing! Noooo! Love Culture is closing its stores for now at least, and have been running a "store closing" sale, so I made one last trip to the mall a few days ago and picked up some tops for about $10 each. One is the graphic muscle tank I sported today that reads: "MORE ISSUES THAN VOGUE."

I got my tape in extensions out the other day and I'm back to my beloved clip-ins. Less maintenance and they match my hair color perfectly instead of being off by a tone. BONUS: my bangs are long enough to not be swept back in a headband all the time! Granted, I'm still wearing a headband because I'm used to it and it's sort of in my comfort zone at the moment, but soon enough my bangs will be long enough to frame my face, which is my goal.

Kyle's in Arizona visiting his sister who is having a baby tonight! I'll be an aunt and he'll be an uncle. So I'm left to my own devices this week. We'll see what kind of antics I get up to. I'm guessing it's fun times with girl friends and practicing my cooking.

Here'a s few more pictures just because I liked what came of my shoot today.

A better view of my vertical striped garter skirt. It's one of met favorites and I own a whole drawer full.

I was being snarky. I'd much rather flip you off than flash a peace sign…hahaha

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - Bats and Boots

Tank top - Love Culture, Chiffon jacket - thrifted, Bat pantyhose - Lip Service, Boots - New Rock

Another day, another outfit.

It's still super hot in town, so I'm still dressing in lots of chiffon and thin leg wear.

Today I tried out some brand new bat hosiery from Lip Service. They came straight out of the package this morning. I got them on sale for around $6 - now I just have to try not to rip them.

Bats and boots - what a great combo :)

I've been finding lots of great stuff at the thrift stores lately - that's where I picked up my oversized chiffon "jacket" or kimono. It's great for covering up on a hot summer day. It will also be a great piece to have in my luggage when I head to Hawaii in August since I'm not super comfortable wearing bathing suits on their own.

I'm also still sporting headbands to sweep back my bangs, although they're now long enough to make a small bump or pouf in front, so I'm making progress. Still gotta grab me some good beach extensions though. Can't wait to have beach wave hair in Hawaii.

Until next time!

Outfit of the Day - Feather Print, Off the Shoulder, and Thrifted!

Top - Thrifted/Second Hand; Tights/Bottoms - D.I.Y.; Headband - Forever 21; Boots - New Rock

For anyone who doesn't know, when I'm not busy listing my own items online to sell, I work at an adorable little consignment shop in Midtown Sacramento called French Cuff Consignment.  It's owned by a mother-daughter team and I love being part of that family atmosphere. I'm thankful that both my bosses encourage my creativity when it comes to wearing what I want and also give me quite a bit of independence. So although I only work two days a week taking care of their website and eBay listings, I pretty much love going to work because it's an occasion for me to get dressed up.

This was my outfit for today - something light and simple enough that I wouldn't end up overheating, but still cute enough that I feel it justifies documenting.

The focal point of my outfit today was a cute Xhilaration blouse (for those of you that don't know, Xhilaration is a Target brand - damn do they have some cute stuff sometimes!) with a feather print. As if buying it from Target wasn't cheap enough, I didn't even have to pay full price because I got it at the Thrift store for an astounding two dollars! I love the oversized fit because I can wear it off the shoulder and show off my razor blade and praying mantis tattoos (which I got complimented on twice today).

I was pretty rushed this morning, so I went with my usual tank dress, ripped pantyhose, and lace garter belt layered underneath my blouse coupled with my trusty New Rock Reactor boots in patent leather. I have seriously worn those boots practically every day for the last seven years of my life, so don't be surprised when you see a lot more of them.

Left Hand - spiked heart ring from Etsy and stainless steel curb chain wrap bracelet; Right Hand - Razorblade cuff from Love Culture, stainless steel razor blade ring from eBay, sterling silver curb chain ring, "Ugli" printed sterling silver band from Etsy

No outfit is complete in my world without a lot of accessories - mainly jewelry. I've got two rings that I wear every day (Tiffany wedding ring and sterling silver curb chain ring), but with six more fingers to decorate (I don't count thumbs because thumb rings just get in my way), my ring collection is really quite extensive.

My statement ring for the day was the heart spiked number from Etsy. Although I don't remember who I bought it from, I love to wear it because it's so heavy. It makes me feel like a total badass and I love it.

I've also got a thing for razor blades, which is why I have both a ring and a matching bracelet. I stumbled across the bracelet at Love Culture of all places, and it was on sale for only $2, so naturally I bought two of them.

If fashion and accessories are not your thing, I also included my kitten Lazlo…you can be sure this blog will feature my cats as often as possible and in as many random places as possible.

Thanks for reading!