A Review of the Monkeypod Kitchen at Ko'Olina

The hubby and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary earlier this month and we decided to celebrate it at Monkeypod at Ko'Olina. I love going back to Ko'Olina because that's where we got married, plus the place is gorgeous. The beach is gorgeous, the hotels are fabulous, and there are many nice restaurants where you can sit and have a super relaxing time. It's like being in a vacation 15 minutes from home! So, Monkeypod! What a peculiar name, right? I never thought this place would be so chic being called Monkeypod. But hey, Chef Merriman named it Monkeypod and that's certainly catchy and different.

Monkeypod specializes in fresh meals and by fresh, I mean fresh. They only serve local fish, local vegetables, Big Island grass-fed beef, virtually everything in their menu is grown here in Hawaii. Our server was extremely friendly and immediately explained to us how their items are organic and locally-grown. If you didn't know from visiting their website they're going to tell you once you sit down. All their appetizers sounded amazing. We tried the Raw Bar Mixed Plate which brings taco (octopus), ahi (tuna), and shrimp ceviche. It was pretty good, but kind of on the small side. The other appetizer we tried was the Pumpkin Patch Ravioli. WOW! That was amazing. That could be an entree all on its own. I really liked it, I thought it was delicious and original. 10 points! My hubby ordered the steak which, again, comes from the Big Island, and I had the ahi steak. I can't talk about the steak (all I can say is that he ate the whole thing - and it was a good size), but I can tell you about the Ahi Steak. It was PERFECTION. 5 stars. It was the BEST ahi I've ever had, cooked in the most perfect way.

Lastly, the drinks. Neither my hubby and I are beer drinkers, but they have more than 30 beers on tap, and serve all of the local beers from the islands. Their beer list includes beers from California all the way to Belgium. We stayed true to ourselves and ordered cocktails. I had a margarita which I thought was ok, and also had a sangria which was excellent. The hubby had a Mai Tai and it was served with some kind of cream on top. I've never seen a Mai Tai like that so points for originality. Overall we had a fantastic time, and they complimented us to dessert for our anniversary. They're just awesome!

I loved everything about this place and I'm so happy they're close to my house. They have happy hour from 3:00-5:30pm where their appetizers and drinks go 50% off, plus they have live music. This place is not to be missed if you're visiting Hawaii, and if you live in Hawaii, careful because you might get addicted. We didn't have reservations, but the place is huge (2 stories), so they have plenty of space.

For more information visit www.monkeypodkitchen.com. They also have a location in Wailea, Maui, which is their original location.

Have fun!

Pick Me Up

Today was one of those days where a lot of things went wrong. First thing this morning, I started working on my orders and soon realized that I needed to make a lipstick and an eyeshadow. I try to give myself a certain deadline for my orders, and I was pretty much at the end of that deadline for all of the orders I worked on today. So even though I still have to go to work to my full time job (which may a post for some other time) I make time to get all of this done.

I proceed to get everything ready, start printing labels, and I get some ingredients out to make a lipstick. I have made hundreds of lipsticks in the past, but today I was out of jojoba oil. I tend to substitute ingredients if I need to, so I decided to meadow foam seed oil, which I have used in the past as well. Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened today, but my lipstick did not work out. I don't know if I measured a tsp a tbsp, the matter is that everything I did was destroyed as soon as I pulled it out of the molds. What a disappointment! I had to contact my customer to let her know what happened and that I would need a couple of days. I'm a perfectionist at heart, but very much human and today I messed that up.

Next thing, I get to make my Lava Eyeshadow, that beautiful red shade many people love. Great! I get my mineral powder, my magnesium stearate, my red oxide, my red mica... everything I need. So simple, measure what I need and mix.... Until (and I don't even know what happened) I spill almost all of the eyeshadow I just made in my kitchen floor. Needless to say I was extremely upset, because at this point is 11am and I still haven't made it to my full time job, which means I'm working late on a Friday night. So after trying to calm myself down I find my vacuum cleaner, vacuum probably $100 dollars worth of eyeshadow from the floor, try to finish my second of three orders, get ready and go to work. I finally get here at 2:30pm, which means I have to work until 10:30pm. Thankfully, my job is flexible and they don't care at what time I come in as long as the job gets done. On the way to work I called my dad because I really needed to hear his voice, and it made me feel so much better to chat with him. He lives in Atlanta and I live in Hawaii so I miss him very very much.

It hasn't been the best day, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow and what comes with it. In the meantime well, smile.



Till the next one,
Stay Beautiful

Bedroom Decor: Update Your Look

I've been wanting to change my bedroom, but I don't want to paint walls or do anything messy. So I'm leaning toward a change of decor and these are some of the things I have been considering:

Wall Stencil: I think a nice stencil is a great way to refresh the look of a bedroom without the mess of paint. I have my eye on this one from 3rd Ave Shore:



It is so pretty! This whole shop has wonderful stencil with a beach-Hawaii theme. They were one of the first shops I ever favorited on Etsy.




Unusual Art: A piece of art that it's simply unusual and original it's a great addition to your bedroom. I'm loving this piece from Pecan Workshop. It's stunning!





New Comforter: Spice up the look by getting new bedding. I have had my comforter for more years than I'd like to admit, and I only alternate it when it's wash day. Although it could be a pricey purchase, overstock.com has a lot of not-so-expensive options for bedding. I'm liking this one which has a coral reef theme and goes great with my already blue walls.



A Reminder: Many of us have so many responsibilities that we find it hard to unwind our thoughts even when we are trying to fall asleep. The bedroom should be a sanctuary for relaxation, and having a physical object as reminder could be a powerful tool. This sign can be found on Studio Liscious on Etsy.





I hope you enjoy these items. If you do please visit their stores and leave me a comment.

Stay beautiful,

Eva

Counting My Blessings

Over four years ago I decided to take charge of my life and my happiness. After much given thought and just a lingering sense of sadness I asked my then husband for a divorce. I think as humans we are uncomfortable with such action, as you know someone's feelings are going to get hurt and is not easy, no matter how prepared you think you are or how many times you have rehearsed the words inside your head. As predicted, it wasn't pretty. There were many back and forth moments, many "we can work this out, let's go to marriage counseling", let's take a vacation -things were tried, but the heart was no longer in it. It's hard to explain how one gets to that point. Every person gets married madly in love (or so I hope) but that spark is not easy to keep when you feel like you are with the wrong person; someone with values and expectations that are completely different from yours, or someone who has become very different than the person you thought you loved. In either case, and right now it doesn't seem to matter, the fact that I was living every day of my life in sadness didn't sit well with me and I had to start mending my life, starting with the first part I could identify, which was my failed marriage.


After the divorce paperwork was started, filed, accepted, and signed months later -divorcing takes so much longer than getting married- I found myself single again and thought I would be single for a while and I would just take care of myself. But life had a different plan for me. A set of events happened to me and placed me in the best ride of my life. I was standing at a food court on the Army base where I was stationed, I remember perfectly, it was about noon. I was walking by Charley's Grilled Subs and I saw this man and I was just mesmerized. I'd been in the military for so long and I was used to be around attractive men in uniform, but something about this man in a firefighter uniform just struck me. It struck me so much I tried to find him on MySpace. I had no luck with my search of "firefighter" near "96858" so I had pretty much given up when I thought to look for the word "fire." I found one person under that search: A young man who was 22 at the time, and whom I knew wasn't the person I saw at the food court. In my curiosity for seeing more of his pictures I added him to my friends and it wasn't long until we began communicating via email and he invited me out.

I went out with "MySpace guy" with apprehension due to his age; I was 28 at the time and not really interested in dating a 22-year-old. But he was so sweet, so kind, I continued seeing him every day and the more time I spent with him, the less I wanted to be away from him. One thing that made me fall head over heels for him was the feeling and knowledge that he accepted me for who I was, he's never judged me for any reason, and he supports every decision I make. He's my friend and I have learned true love with him. I pray that we have a long life together and can see each other grow old. He is the most amazing husband and father and every day I feel I'm more in love than the day before -I did not know that was possible, but it is, and it's amazing! I'm so proud he is the father of my children and I'm so thankful that the mysterious man in the food court led me to him. Thanks babe for the happiness you bring and for the beautiful family we've made together.

I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be this way, that's why every day I count my blessings!

Stay beautiful,
Eva

Lipstick vs Lipstick... who wins?

I constantly play ideas is my head of how to get my lipsticks more creamy, more full of color, more long-lasting, you imagine it and I'm thinking it. I can get pretty obsessive about my lipstick formulas which leads to impulse purchases of ingredients even though I have perfectly fine ingredients at home to make lipsticks.
I was reading a blog today and they had listed all of the ingredients in a MAC lipstick. As I was reading down the list, I'm just like, whoa! Who needs so many ingredients? I still don't understand why so many ingredients are used in a lipstick when only a handful are needed. So here's that list:

MAC Satin Lipstick
Castor Oil	A vegetable oil
Trioctyldodecyl Citrate	An emulsifier to make the ingredients blend together
Glyceryl Triacetyl Hydroxystearate	A blend of fats and oils used to make the product more emollient and lubricating
Candelilla Wax	A vegetable wax
Octyldodecanol	An emulsifier and thickener
Silica	A mineral used to thicken
Jojoba Oil	A vegetable oil
Beeswax	An animal-derived wax
Sesame Oil	A vegetable oil
Ozokerite	A petroleum based wax
Carnauba Wax	A vegetable wax
Cetyl Ricinoleate	Made from oils and sugars, it improves the consistency
Microcrystalline Wax	A petroleum based wax
Ascorbyl Palmitate	A vitamin C type antioxidant
Tocopherol	A vitamin E type preservative/antioxidant
Vanillin	Flavoring additive (vanilla flavor)

As you can see a very looong list of ingredients for a mix of wax, oil, and color. My lipsticks look more like this:

Castor oil
Meadowfoam seed oil
Jojoba oil
Avocado butter
Candelilla wax
Carnauba wax
Mica
Vitamin E (tocopherol)
Sorbic acid

Given, some of my lipsticks contain other ingredients such as isoeicosane which is a hydrocarbon that allows a lipstick to feel creamy without being shiny. According to the Environmental Working Group and Cosmetic Safety Database this ingredients is safe, and I would not put it in my products without checking their database first. I don't include anything questionable in my handmade cosmetics. I offer different products for different types of customers and their preferences, though my focus has always been to stay as natural as possible. Sometimes if you want a POP of color you have to use different ingredients!

Do you ever pay attention to the ingredients in your lipstick? Leave me your comments or thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Visit my website or Etsy store to learn more about my products.

Stay beautiful,
Eva

The Post Office Did It Again!

I feel like I need to take some time and write about the increase of postage that happened in January 27th. I owe it to my many international customers, who may, or may not could happen to read this blog. So, the U.S. Postal Service increased their rates dramatically last January. You may notice at my Etsy store that international shipping prices have increased to $6.99. This is almost the same as some of my products! I know it sucks, it totally does. Paying seven dollars for shipping a 3 or 4 oz item is not something I agree with, but unfortunately I have to use the US Postal Service as it is the cheapest service from Hawaii. I know they Post Office has their money problems, but this is really hurting business that ship internationally. The increase was about two dollars, approximately 40% increase.

My prices did not increase to offset the shipping -I simply added the seven dollars separately and I just want you guys to know why the increase is seen. I'm still offering all orders over $50 go with free shipping (domestic and international) and this will not change, at least not for now. I also still have the offer for orders over $20 go with a free eyeshadow of choice. I love my customers and love to spoil them as much as I can! Money is tight as my business is still a baby, but I'm very excited about the future and about all the things I get to do to get to my "future" as an independent cosmetics company.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Please visit my website and don't forget the 20% off sale at my Etsy store ends tomorrow.

Stay beautiful!
Eva

The Chinese New Year celebration is in high apogee right now. The upcoming year will be the year of the snake. Even though the snake is not the favorite animal of many, it's said that those born on the year of the snake are thoughtful and wise. Hmm, ok, doesn't sound exactly like a snake, but hey, I think it's cool that we can think of ourselves related to these animals, and maybe carry a little amulet with us for good luck.

 I live in Hawaii so I'm surrounded by a very strong Chinese culture everywhere I go. I love going to Chinatown every year and see the lion dances, and most importantly, "feed" the lion some money for good luck. I've always said I was born into the wrong culture and have always been drawn like a magnet to Asian cultures. It's so mystical to me. Every time I look at my husband and kids I just find them so interesting! It never gets old :) My children have Chinese, Filipino, and Hawaiian genes, and of course Puerto Rican! They are beautiful, and of course as their mom I think they're the most beautiful kids in the world!! (I hope they don't hate me when they're 15 for writing this :).

Do you celebrate the Chinese New Year? It's a wonderful holiday, I'm so glad I live somewhere where it's very-well celebrated. If you need a gorgeous and different shade for your Chinese New Year party try Plum Rum Lipstick, a magenta-purple shade that will get you many compliments for sure!

Sooo pretty! Thank you for visiting and reading. Visit my website at www.dehandmadecosmetics.com