Travel

I'm currently sitting here with baby girl swinging away in her swing. She's almost three months old and time is FLYING. It's taken awhile to get to the point where I have my hands free; I'm sure anyone with a cuddly newborn can relate (girlfriend does NOT like to be put down). But now that I have a few minutes to spare, I figured it was time for another blog post- laundry, dishes, and cleaning can wait right? So I'm going back to April 2022 today and sharing pictures from our Maui babymoon. 

We did a maternity shoot with Karma Hill and had a fantastic experience. At the time, I was about 21 weeks pregnant and just beginning to show. However, I really wanted to capture these moments of just the two of us before baby girl arrived. Looking back it's funny because I felt so big at the time. Our shoot was only supposed to last one hour, but the sunset was just SO good that our photographer extended our session to play around with the lighting at the end. She got some pretty cool shots of the sun going down <3 

When we found out we were pregnant, I knew I wanted to take one last 'big trip' while it was still easy! We had been trying to go to Maui several times between 2020-2022, but had to cancel due to covid. Thankfully the world was starting to feel more normal in spring of 2022, and we booked a somewhat last minute trip to our favorite island Maui.

Myles and I had both been to Maui for our honeymoon- see my post here for a review of probably my favorite hotel ever. We both love everything about the island- the food, the weather, the sunsets, the vibe. It really is paradise.

Being half way through my pregnancy, I knew I wanted a relaxing vacation without a lot of activities. The first trimester was ROUGH and I didn't know if the nausea would continue into the second trimester. Since we had been to Maui before, I knew we wouldn't be missing out on all the must-do's because we had done them before. On a side note, I highly recommend the sunrise over Haleakala, road to Hana, sunset cruise, helicopter ride, etc. 

We ended up splitting our trip into two parts, which I really recommend when visiting Maui! We spent five nights in Wailea at the Marriott Wailea Beach Resort and then ventured up north for four nights at a rental in Kapalua. 

Wailea is more of your typical resort vibe. All of the resorts are gorgeous and you really can't go wrong staying at any of them. The pool specifically at our hotel was AMAZING and adults only. We spent most of our days starting out with long morning walks (the beauty of the time difference means it's easier to get up for sunrise!), breakfast by the pool (there was a Starbucks on site!), several hours at the pool, naps, more walking, and then out to dinner. It was exactly what we needed.....

For the second part of our trip we stayed at this rental in the Kapalua Bay Villa complex. I can't recommend it enough for the value. It was very clean, spacious, and had an amazing view. While the weather wasn't the best in Kapalua the days we were there - rainy/cloudy on and off most days which is pretty typical for the area- we still had the best time. Kapalua is GORGEOUS. You truly feel like you're on a different island after leaving sunny Wailea. This was the part of the trip where we really relaxed/got into vacation mode. 

Days were spent on our lanai reading and napping. Nights were spent watching the sunset (the view from the Montage hotel is unreal), followed by dinner either in the area or venturing to Lahaina.

Maui is truly magical and one of my favorite places I've ever visited. If you're planning a trip, you HAVE to try the following restaurants:

• Mama's Fish House - a Maui institution, reservations have to be made several months in advance
• Monkeypod - try the kahlua pizza, truffle fries, and strawberry pie!
• Star Noodle
• Mill House- go for lunch, the view is amazing!
• Plantation House - go for brunch
• Tommy Bahama
• Any restaurant at the Four Seasons
• A'A Roots - best acai bowls!
• Flatbread Company
• Miso Phat - the BEST sushi ever, try the TNT roll

I shared a TON about our babymoon and also our honeymoon on my instagram @kimsyc. Everything is saved under my Stories permanently for reference. I also have several spreadsheets with our itinerary for those interested hahah (yes that's the Accountant in me...I LOVE making spreadsheets to plan our trips).

Anyways, baby girl is waking up so time to get back to mom duty. For those interested in my dress above, it's on sale for under $50 here (orig $148). It comes in several prints/solid colors as well. Runs true to size! I love this brand and also wore a dress from there for our engagement pics....remember this post?

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So if you've been following along on my honeymoon recap (part 1 and part 2), I think it's pretty clear we loved our stay at the Four Seasons Wailea. Everything about this hotel was top notch, from the service, to the amenities, to the food. You name it, and the Four Seasons staff probably will be one step ahead of you.....

Today I thought I'd highlight some of my favorite parts of the hotel, as well as share a video of our room at the end! I did a TON of research prior to our honeymoon to figure out where we should stay. There really are so many great resorts to chose from in Maui, and I think I debated staying in West vs. South Maui for probably weeks..... Ultimately, I kept coming back to the Four Seasons because it met all of our criteria. Turns out, it far exceeded all criteria!

I know hotels in Maui aren't cheap, but I scored an amazing deal booking our stay through WhataHotel.com. I definitely was a little skeptical as a first time user, but turns out booking through this preferred partner website was such a breeze. We received a ton of perks, since it's ultimately like booking through a travel agent without the hassle. For our stay, we received free breakfast (which is normally like $40/person), a $50 daily credit plus an additional $100 on top, as well as a free room upgrade! The perks definitely paid off, and we used our daily credits for drinks and a few meals.

Basically,  we felt like the Four Seasons was worth every penny and here's why:

The best of the best:

Friendliest staff that goes above and beyond. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with leis, fresh lavender towels, and cold water. Check in was a breeze. We booked a garden view room, but were immediately upgraded two levels to an ocean view room for free! We were then given the option to upgrade to an ocean view prime room for a steal; naturally we took it. We ended up savings hundreds and have zero regrets.....

Beautiful pools. There are a few pools at the hotel including my favorite, an adults only pool for privacy. Throughout the day the staff brought out snacks including popsicles, frozen grapes, and muffins, as well as ice cold water. There's sunscreen available for free to use as well.

The food is AMAZING, especially for a hotel. We had dinner at Ferraro's and Duo, as well as lunch at Ferraro's more times then I can count. There's also another restaurant, Spago, which I'm dying to try on our next visit. Breakfast too was amazing with so many options. Basically, you won't go hungry during your stay here. Myles and I both agreed that we had some of our best meals of our two week honeymoon at the hotel!

Myles' breakfast one morning..... turkey bacon, bacon, chicken sausage, prosciutto ha!

Rooms were large and very modern. Our room was basically a dream and what I would love our future town home to look like. The bathroom even had a speaker in it, so we could listen to music while getting ready.

Our ocean view room also had a balcony that over looked a beautiful garden below. It was super private, and we loved watching the sun come up in the morning.

The views. The Four Season is located right on Wailea Beach. There truly never was a bad view from anywhere in the hotel....

The ambience. The grounds themselves were stunning, with flowers everywhere. Add an open air lobby, beautiful pathways, and this hotel couldn't have been any more colorful or vibrant. I felt like every time we went out to explore we'd find a new hidden part of the hotel!

Location! We loved the location in relation to the other hotels in Wailea. We were able to walk to the Shops at Wailea, as well as home from Monkeypod a few nights. They also have a shuttle that'll take you throughout Wailea at no cost.

And just for fun, here's a tour of our room. I think it pretty much speaks for itself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsNSMAeYp_A

Our stay at the Four Seasons Wailea was truly a 5 star hotel experience that I'll never forget. Thank you to the staff for making our first few days in Hawaii so memorable. Until next time 😉

I'd love to hear where ya'll went on your honeymoon?!? Or if you've ever been to Maui!

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I'm back today with part two of our Maui honeymoon! Be sure to check out part one here. We stayed at the Four Seasons for five nights, and definitely took advantage of the time to relax while enjoying time spent at the pool, beach, and eating delicious meals. It was so nice to kick back without too much on the itinerary outside of our sunrise at Haleakala.

But nonetheless there's still a lot to share, so here's a little breakdown of what we did do (or should I say ate, we did a lot of eating ha!)

Day Three:

Our morning started with a 90 minute walk along the beach. The sunrise was once again insane, notice a theme yet? Every morning spent in Wailea truly was a treat...

The Wailea Beach path is a great way to start the day. It's about 1.5 mile path that lines some of Wailea's most beautiful hotels such as the Andaz, Grand Wailea, Marriott, and our hotel the Four Seasons! I told Myles we need to come back and test them all out 😉

After another delicious breakfast of omelets, pancakes, bacon, and way too much pineapple we snagged spots at the adult only pool for the rest of the day. Probably the only con of our hotel was the pool chair situation, but luckily there were enough chairs for everyone....

The adults only spot is so peaceful. There's an infinity pool that looks out over the Pacific, and a swim up bar that makes the most delicious drinks. The drink above was some sort of lemonade, but our favorite was a blackberry mojito that was to die for. Extra strong of course 😉

Somehow we managed to get ourselves up for lunch and decided to try out Ferraro's, since we enjoyed our dinner so much the night before. Oh my gosh this was the best decision we ever made because lunch was phenomenal. As well as the view...

I had the crab avocado toast and ya'll..... this was the most epic avocado toast I've ever had in my life. Which is saying a lot. The most delicious crunchy bread, topped with lump crab meat, probably an entire avocado, cherry tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil. Food heaven. Myles had a mahi mahi sandwich which I think he had two more times during our stay, ha!

At this point I was convinced there was no way any meal could top the ones we'd had so far in our trip. But once again, I was wrong! We tried out Miso Phat for dinner and it was the best sushi of my life.....

We first discovered Miso Phat when watching an episode of Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. Immediately we knew that we had to add this to our list, specifically the famous TNT roll....

Miso Phat was about a ten minute drive from our hotel and tucked in a little strip mall. Don't let the outside fool you, this food was outstanding!

We ordered a few rolls, but the star was of course the TNT roll- 'Shrimp Tempura and Crab roll topped with Ahi Poke and served with Unagi sauce and Agave Honey. So big you could explode!'

I've never tasted poke like this in my life, and it's safe to say no sushi will ever live up to this roll again. Do yourself a favor, add Miso Phat to your must try list when visiting Maui. You won't regret it!

Day Four:

By the fourth day we were finally getting into somewhat of a routine, but still waking up before the sunrise. This morning walk might have been my favorite of the entire trip.....the sky was purple and pink, no filter needed!

We ended up sitting in the main pool area on this day to switch things up. At one point Myles left and came back with two coconuts. Apparently they were cracking them open further up by the pool, and it really doesn't get much more fresh than that. Yum!

We spent the rest of the day reading, napping, eating delicious acai bowls, and ordering room service later on. Figured we had to try it out at least once while on our trip 😉 Naturally we ordered chips, salsa, and guac which they set up on our balcony....

As if we hadn't eaten enough, we decided to try the all you can seafood night at our hotel restaurant Duo. I can't believe I didn't snap any pictures, I think I was probably too busy feasting......We had unlimited lobster, shrimp, crab legs, crab claws, and every other seafood imaginable. Highlight was definitely the lobster. Between the two of us, I think we at like ten!

I wore an off the shoulder striped high low dress from Forever 21 and it was so perfect for the occasion. Stretchy and light weight, plus the perfect amount of flow. Forever 21 really came through as far as honeymoon attire!

Day Five:

This was our last full day at the Four Seasons, so we took advantage of all of our favorite things starting with another sunrise walk....

Cotton candy skies for days.....

Crab avocado toast (again)....

Shopping at the Shops at Wailea. I was lucky enough to pick out my birthday present a little early. Thanks Myles <3

Followed by an early dinner at Monkeypod. Mai tais, pizza, fries, and of course strawberry pie.

We rang in my birthday - east time time- while listening to a band play Somewhere Over the Rainbow at dinner. It truly was a dream.

Followed by another beautiful sunset. I really couldn't think of a better way to kick off my birthday than celebrating with my husband in Maui!

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To be honest, one of the reasons I was dying to visit Maui was to watch the sunrise over Haleakala. It was definitely a bucket list item, and it more than lived up to the hype. It was pretty epic.

Since this was one of my favorite parts of our honeymoon, I felt like it warranted it's own post. I did a good amount of research to make sure we were fully prepared for our morning adventure, and hopefully this will help ya'll out if you're making the trip!

Our morning started bright and early - 2:30 AM! I highly recommend taking advantage of any jet lag and doing this sunrise adventure the first morning of your trip. 2:30 AM really felt like 8:30 east coast, so it wasn't TOO difficult to roll out of bed. As crazy as it sounds.....

We gave ourselves plenty of time to get to the summit just in case there was any traffic. I'd say if you're coming from Wailea or South Maui it's best to leave about two hours for travel time, and at least 30 minutes before the sun actually comes up. The ETA for the sunrise on the day we went was about 5:30, and we arrived a little before 5:00 which was perfect!

The Four Seasons definitely helped us out majorly the morning of our trip. Not only did they have coffee and muffins set out so that we could load up on snacks prior to the drive up, they also packed our jeep with blankets, ginger chews, and water bottles. All proved to be crucial!

Haleakala is over 10,000 feet above sea level, so it was COLD at the top. Trust me on this one, bring a sweatshirt/jacket, scarf, pants, etc. I even underestimated the temperature and was thankful to have our blankets to wrap around us. It was definitely below freezing....

Also to note, there isn't anywhere to stop once you get to the national park. Make sure to have water and snacks because it really is a long morning. The drive itself was slightly scary, and I was more than happy that Myles was the driver. Picture one lane roads, twisting and turning on the edge of a mountain...in the dark. Once again, ginger chews for the WIN!

I will say though, as nervous as I was I couldn't get over how beautiful the sky was driving up the mountain. I've never seen so many stars in my life....

Unfortunately, we didn't arrive early enough to park at the top summit. Apparently people get there hours prior to secure a space- how crazy is that? We ended up parking at the visitor's center and walked about 1/4 mile to a more secluded overlook. Which was perfect.

Also, make sure to reserve a ticket to visit the summit before your trip. I booked ours a few weeks in advance, since they tend to sell out fast. The ticket costs about a dollar or so, but it's the only way you can enter the park. Without a ticket, you won't be able to gain access to the park and that would be such a bummer!

The sky starts putting on a show at least thirty minutes prior to the sunrise itself. Dark blue, deep orange, red, and yellow......it was so beautiful. Hard to believe Maui is just below those clouds and the rest of the world was asleep....

As the sun started to peak over the clouds, I think everyone around us was mesmerized. It truly was one of the most beautiful sights I'd ever seen. We tried to capture a little bit in the video below- can you hear the chanting and the music in the background?

The pictures once again don't even do the sunrise any justice. It was one of those moments that didn't even feel like real life. I think it's safe to say we knew our time in Maui was going to be a good one after this morning....

It was so hard to get back in the car after soaking up our time above the clouds. But nonetheless, we were ready for breakfast and to take on our day!

The trip down from Haleakala was so pretty. Since we drove up in the dark, we had no idea what was around us. Now that it was light, we could see everything and Maui below! I tried to video a little bit of our drive, but I definitely need to practice using the video feature on my DSLR. Still, I think this gives a cool picture of how high up we truly were.

 

We arrived back at our hotel around 8:00, after making a few stops. I highly recommend adding the sunrise at Haleakala to your bucket list. This was a morning I'll never forget <3

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I'm SO excited for today's post! After sharing a little bit about our honeymoon on Instagram, I figured it was time to dive into the details of our time in Hawaii. Selfishly, I'm really just day dreaming about going back......

Our honeymoon was amazing and better then I could have even imagined. In order to maximize our time, especially because a flight to Hawaii from the east coast is quite the trip, we chose to spend two weeks in paradise. We visited Maui and Kauai and loved each island for different reasons, which I'll talk about more later.

Here's a quick overview of how I'm going to break down all honeymoon posts. Once all are up, I'll make sure to link back. I hope this series will be helpful for anyone planning a honeymoon, especially those going to Hawaii. Can I tag along? JK

Our Hawaii Honeymoon:

Maui:

• Floral Kimono in Hawaii
• Maui Pt 1
• Haleakala Sunrise
• Maui Pt 2 
• Four Seasons Wailea Review
• Maui Pt 3 (Mama's Fish House and Road to Hana)
• Hotel Wailea Review

Kauai

• Kauai
• Waimea Canyon
• Marriott Kauai Review
• St. Regis Kauai Review

Today I'll be sharing our first days in Maui. We stayed at the Four Seasons Wailea and it was hands down the best hotel.

Day One:

We had a long day, but  were so excited we didn't even care! Our flight left Richmond at 5:00 AM, and we had a quick layover at Dallas Fort Worth. Before we knew it, we were landing in Maui a little after 12:00 PM (Hawaii time).

At this point we were starving, but  still had to pick up our rental car at Avis. Note to those traveling to Maui, have one person grab the luggage and another grab the car. Doing this would have saved us over an hour!

We rented a jeep for the week, and while I loved it for the most part I wish we'd gotten a four door. Trying to fit all of our luggage in the trunk was really interesting to say the least....

After a quick drive from the airport, we made it to our hotel! Check in was a breeze and we were upgraded to a lovely room with a view. More to come on that.....

At this point it was around 3 pm and we were ready for dinner (hello time change!), so we made a quick loop of the hotel just to check it out before catching a shuttle to one of our favorite restaurants.....

Monkeypod! We knew we had to kick off our honeymoon at this restaurant, which was one of our favorites a few years back when we visited Oahu- I think we went three times in a week? Monkeypod has an awesome happy hour with discounts on their famous mai tai's and $10 pizzas. Sold!

The pork and pineapple pizza was to die for, as well as the mai tai's which were made with pineapple foam on the top. However, the star was definitely the strawberry pie which we finished in about 30 seconds....Needless to say after a few drinks and delicious food we were stuffed, but determined to catch our first sunset before an early bed time. Jet lag is no joke.

The sunsets in Hawaii are some of the best in the world, I'm convinced. These pictures don't even do it justice. Such a perfect end to our first day in paradise....

Day Two:

We had a lovely wake up at 2:30 AM, which thankfully was more like 7:30 east coast time. Once again jet lag for the win! Today's plan was to watch the sunrise over Haleakala, approximately 10,000 feet above sea level. I heard that it was COLD at the top, but I don't think I was really prepared......

The two hours driving in the dark was worth it for this view......I think Myles and I were both speechless...

I'll be sharing more about our trip to Haleakala on another post, but needless to say it was one of my favorite parts of our trip. Myles and I felt like we'd accomplished so much and it was only like 8:00 by the time we got back to our hotel. Which meant- breakfast!

Our hotel rate included free breakfast everyday and it was amazing. I think we both agreed it was the best hotel breakfast we'd ever had..... Plus the views couldn't be beat!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool, which was SO needed after weeks of wedding planning. The weather and temperature were pure perfection...

Floral Tunic (on sale for $11) / Tote

After some time in the sun, we got ready for one of my favorite dinners of the trip which happened to be at our hotel- Ferraro's! We made reservations almost two months prior to make sure we had a good seat for the sunset, so definitely plan in advance if you want to eat here. Tables fill up quick and now I understand why!

I wore this jumpsuit which I'm obsessed with! It's only $25 but the material is really good and lightweight. I ended up wearing it again later on in the trip - whoops!

The view from our table was insane. There's nothing more romantic than watching the sunset over the Pacific, while eating the most delicious lobster gnocchi. Still dreaming about it to this day.........

Finally, if there's one takeaway to get from this post, it's to eat at Ferraro's in Maui. Order the gnocchi. You won't regret it!

 

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