to croc or not to croc? that is the question

A few weeks ago, my sister invited me to go to Hawaii with her and mom. A family trip of sorts. I have always wanted to go to Hawaii but haven't had the chance or the funds to go. But my sister got a really great resort package deal that included the flight from Cali and, honestly, I HAD to say yes! How could I say no to a trip to Hawaii that actually factored into my budget?

Since we booked everything, I've been preparing for the trip. Big welcome at the airport with leis? Check. Multiple swimsuits? Check. Cute cover-ups? Check. Flip flops for the beach? Check. Cute dresses for going out? Check. Cute sandals for going out? Check. Comfy shoes for the hike to the top of Diamond Head? Uhhh...

No.

For those of you who aren't familiar, Diamond Head is one of the volcanos in Hawaii. Apparently, when you get to the top, you get a breathtaking view of the island. Here's a breathtaking view of Diamond Head from the Pacific.

Source: wikipedia.org

The Diamond Head Trail is just under 2 miles long one way. From what I read, the trail can be steep at times and even unpaved. Moreover, according to a hiking enthusiast friend of mine, volcanic rock can be unsteady and sharp. This probably means that I can't walk this trail with plan ol' flip flops.

Naturally, this gives me the perfect excuse to buy some shoes. My sister suggested that I just buy some Tevas, but I know that if I do buy them, I will never wear them again after the trip. I'm not a Teva kind of girl. I want a shoe that is incredibly comfortable but has some traction.

This leaves me with two options: sneakers or Crocs. And because I hate socks with a passion, especially because I will be on holiday at a tropical locale, I'm actually leaning towards the Crocs.

I know. The horror. Trust, I know Crocs are ugly. In fact, under any other circumstances, I would not consider buying any. But I read some shoe reviews on Amazon and Endless and someone said that they specifically bought Crocs to go to Hawaii and they wore them to hike Diamond Head and that they were perfect.

So blog peeps, I have a request. Please save me from buying Crocs. There's gotta be a cute shoe out there that's super comfy and not ugly and with enough traction to go on walks in the wilderness. Perhaps some of you have gone to Diamond Head and can advise me on what to wear on my feet.

Any feedback is appreciated. Even if it's just "I hate Crocs."

an OC girl living in denver?

I've been in Denver for the last few days, finally getting back into
town yesterday. It was a whirlwind trip with lots of stuff to do and
see. Jesse, who gets sent to Denver frequently for work, asked me to
meet him there on his latest work trip so that he could show me
around. He's really enjoyed the Denver metropolitan area and was
excited to show me all the cool stuff.

Little did I know that Jesse was trying to convince me to move there
with him someday. Jesse, who has lived in various parts of the state
of Virginia his whole life, is kinda over living here and wants to try
something new. Me? Well, I've already been there, done that when I
moved here from Cali. Although we don't anticipate moving there any
time soon (we're going to wait until we can sell the condo and not
lose any money on it), I'm not entirely opposed to it. It's a nice
city. The views are awesome. And apparently the cost of living is
way cheaper than here (but then again, so are a lot of other places).

But if I'm going to move West, I might as well move back to Cali.

We'll see. Anything can happen and I want to keep an open mind about it.

And now, scenes from Denver:

We went to the Rockies' opening day at Coors Field








We also went to Roosevelt National Forest and Estes Park




SHEEP!!!


And we went to RoMo (what the National Park Service calls Rocky
Mountain National Park)





ELKS!!!


there's a lake under all of that snow and ice:


And we went up Lookout Mountain and saw Buffalo Bill's grave




And we went to Red Rocks




And we saw fossils at Dinosaur Ridge


All in all, Denver was nice. And as much as I talk about how I hate
DC sometimes, I can't imagine leaving it now. I finally found a job
that is perfect for me. It took me so long to find it. And I can't
imagine walking away from it any time soon (unless we run out of
funding, in which case, I have no choice but to leave).

So maybe someday, Denver. But not now. Or soon. I'm not done with DC yet.