BRACE FACE

I have an explanation as to why I posted a life size picture of myself in shades from my photo booth. First of all, this is how I look in the morning...not so bad looking, huh? I'll tell you my beauty secret if you read on. I really just wanted to post a picture of myself with braces so I can have it to compare in two years...you may not have noticed cause they're the clear ones. Thank goodness! For those who have known me for decades you're probably wondering why is she wearing braces again? Well, as you know when we get older, we form wrinkles, our teeth shifts, and gravity takes her hold on other parts of our body:) Having fallen to the beauty myth, I chose to get braces to get a bit of my youth back and also this may be a last resort to lose my baby weight. Also, MJ and Lela have told me that braces were all the rage at school. I can sometimes be a slave to what's fashionable. Sor far, I've been hit on all the time by a very cute young man. My son, MJ, tells me all the time how cute and young I look:) Ok, back to my beauty secret to flawless and glowing complexion....Proactive does not really work for me, but I found something else that supermodels use----RETOUCHING!!!!! It's incredible. I just wanted to erase a couple of pesty pimples and got so carried away I almost took my nose off and would have looked like one of the Jacksons. The shades were to hide my morning baggy eyes, but had I known about retouching I would not have worn them. Gosh do I wish I had skin like this in reality.

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

Oh oh! Here comes trouble! Kayley officially became a walker last night. She's been taking a couple of steps by herself, but she walked the span of our bedroom closet hallway which is a good ten steps. It's a bittersweet milestone. I know I can't keep her a baby forever, but can't she just wait a few more months? I should have pushed her down harder every time she tried to walk!!! With that face, she can walk all over me:) Here she posed in front of the computer and was so delighted to see herself staring back.

CHRIS FARLEY OR MATT FOLEY?

One of our favorite family comedian is SNL's Chris Farley. It's a tradegy for us that we will only be watching his old movies and SNL skits. So as a tribute to Chris, Tui dresses up as Matt Foley of SNL. His dream is to be the King Elvis Presley, but I think there's a weight requirement to be the King. Don't get me wrong, cause I think my baby's got the looks and all...I thought Tui was adorable as Farley. These beautiful ladies, especially Lan, are Tui's colleagues from Greenberg.

BEAUTY SECRET

Who says socks can only be used on your feet? Lela shows us that socks can be used from head to toe! Socks can keep your toes warm as well as your head. She comfortably sleeps through the night with these socks on. I wish I had pictures of her the morning after with her beautiful curls. This picture is a couple of years old, but she still will endure the smell and the pain of her socks for those special occassions.

PARTY WITH THE STARS

I apologize if these photos are too provocative for those of you who are more sensitive to the sight of the human body....I figure it could not be that inappropriate since this was a private concert for a bunch of lawyers and hi-tech professionals. The funny thing about this concert was that everyone was too busy mingling and eating that when the Pussy Cat Dolls started performing I was one of the few fans waiting for them in front of the stage. Could you believe some lawyer or computer geek next to me asked who these girls were? The guy needs to get out of his briefs or something. Tui and I enjoyed the chance to party somewhat like the stars. My favorite part of being at the concert was the delicious hourves dourves that endlessly came around. The wait staff and bartenders were very nice:) The Pussy Cat Dolls were great performers, but Snoop Dogg was alright. His dad's got more moves than him. He should have been a comedian rather than a rapper. A funny comment he said to the audience was when he asked a bunch of lawyers which one of them would bail him out of jail if he got arrested for smoking pot during his performance. Apparently, he was supposed to stay sober for the show, but he obviously did not listen. I got the butt end of his smoke thrown right at me.

PORKY PIG

I can't seem to get enough of that "ALOHA SPIRIT" so every year I've been bringing it to life in our backyard. I love luaus, cause luaus mean lots of food, and I love lots of food. Always feeling that we might not have enough food for our family and friends, I make sure to prepare two whole pigs. One is prepared imu style cooked in hot rocks in the ground and the other one is spit-fire roasted for hours. I know it looks barbaric skewering a whole pig and roasting it over an open flame in our backyard, but do you think your other meats just magically cook themselves?

My favorite luau was at my baby shower...yes you heard me correctly. My baby shower at my own house....I threw myself my own baby shower. Why? Maybe it's cause I'm so narcisstic and full of myself or maybe it's cause I did not want to impose on my friends. It's just the way I am. I'm more comfortable to do things for friends than to have them do anything for me. The best part of the shower was to shower all my family and friends with fresh leis from the island. I had quite a scare with my leis not arriving on time. My first shipment of leis got confiscated by the department of agriculture due to "foreign pests" in the flowers. I think they just wanted the leis for their own luau party! Thanks to my brother's girlfriend, Libby, everything worked out better than planned. I got another shipment of leis the day of the luau shower and they were mostly the more elaborate leis since he sold out of the smaller leis from the first shipment.

Everyone makes it possible to have such a great luau. The Hinganos and Lela does an amazing Hawaiian dance performance. My nieces are such cute server girls. Vonkey is the sweetest bartender...just flirt with him and he will give you drinks on the rocks and crack open a fresh coconut for you. My family acting as my set up, cooking, and cleaning crew are wonderful. Without them, I could not have these luaus or any parties. LET'S LUAU!

CHRISTMAS IN PARADISE

ALOHA!!! Christmas of '06 I decided I did not want to be at our home during the holiday, because last year proved to be rather sad and depressing without my parents enjoying Christmas with us. I just did not want to celebrate Christmas our traditional way with lots of gifts under the tree, cause it reminds me of my parents and how they happily watched for hours as their grandchildren ripped open mounds of gifts. Our gifts to each other that year was our family trip to Kauai. Kayley had just turned three months and did very well on the plane ride and in Hawaii. The humid weather in Hawaii did her eczema face a favor. Hawaii has a very special and magical way of making everything and everyone beautiful and happy.

We had an exciting and relaxing Christmas vacation. My sister Keo and niece Rosaline ventured out of their own island to join us. Funny how my sister has traveled the world, but have never visited the other islands of Hawaii. My baby brother Vonkey and favorite uncle to the kids also met up with us. For Christmas, he flew to the island, home to his girlfriend Liberty, to give her a special present...himself:) They met and romanced in paradise. While the boys went deep sea fishing, us girls lounged by the pool and beach all day. They managed to catch a big tuna, but paid so much just to let it go. And believe it or not, Santa Claus even stopped by, but he forgot Kayley. Well, that's what happens when you don't write Santa a letter.

It was a very special Christmas for all of us. It brought us closer together and showed us that you don't need gifts to make you happy...all you need is each other, and being in paradise like the beautiful garden isle of Kauai is always an icing on the cake. It is so green and serene. It's the perfect island to go relax and unwind.

It's not the best place for the greatest selection of cuisine. We found some great local dives. Eggbert's serves the best local breakfast. It's a must when you are in Hawaii to have their shave ice, especially up at North Shore. They are the best compared to our mainland shaved ice. There's so much exotic flavors to choose, but I always go for the lycee and mango. If you have time to wait and enjoy a beautifully delicously prepared meal, you should definitely check out Roy's. Roy's is on almost all of the Hawaiian islands as well as lots of major cities in the mainland. His Hawaiian fusion cuisine, especially the butterfish, is absolutely divine! You have to make room for Roy's signature dessert--chocolate souffle. Contrary to what you might think, it won't cost you an arm and a leg to dine there. You could order their prefixed 3 course menu, which includes the souffle, for about $30. I will pay for your meal if you did not enjoy Roy's cusine....and Mr. Yamaguchi did not pay me to say that!!! MAHALO!!!