Category: Personal

Maui for Toddlers – Wailea

In my last post, I talked about our stay in Kahului and Ka’anapali/Lahaina parts of the island.  In this post, I’ll talk about the Wailea part of our stay.

We stayed at the amazing Andaz Maui resort. This is one of the newest resorts in Wailea, having opened in the fall of 2013. I love that it is a smaller resort so it feels more intimate and the staff are all really friendly (only about 200 rooms!).

Andaz Maui Lobby
Lobby at the Andaz Maui

After being greeted with a lei upon arrival, we were upgraded to an ocean view room that was beautiful and modern. The room was all set with a crib when we arrived which was fantastic!  The room was big enough to hold the crib and still walk around but it wasn’t super spacious. As an extra special touch, they provided some baby bath products and a little rubber ducky! The only thing to note is that my room did not have a bathtub though it had an enormous rain shower and sprayer. I do know that some of the larger rooms have a deep tub, if you need that for your little ones. My little one is just fine with a shower so it wasn’t an issue for us.

Andaz Maui Ocean View Room
View from Our Andaz Maui Room
Andaz Maui Ocean View Room
Andaz Maui Ocean View King Room
Baby Bath Toiletries at the Andaz Maui
Baby Bath Toiletries at the Andaz Maui

There are 3 infinity pools and a larger one with a beach entry on one side (it gradually slopes down) and on the other wide there is a wide ledge that is 7″ deep. Both sides were great for toddlers! My daughter liked splashing on the ledge but she really loved playing in the main pool. I just had to keep reminding her that it was going to get deep as she was chasing her toys around.

Andaz Maui Beach Entry Pool
Andaz Maui Beach Entry Pool

The nice thing about having so many pools is that everyone seems to be able to find a spot. I was a little worried that we would be the only people with kids, by there were quite a few families hanging out by the big pool, leaving the infinity pools more peaceful for the adults to enjoy. There were also a few pool toys that the hotel staff brought out like boogie boards and noodles.  The only downside is that there are a lot of stairs to get down to the main pool since the resort is built into a hill and each pool is down a flight of stairs.

The beach does get a bit crowded because it isn’t super wide, but there still seemed like there was enough room for everyone to have a beach chair and umbrella.

We we brought a toddler floatie which she enjoyed playing in. We tried to get her to swim by reaching forward and kicking. She was able to propel herself forward that way. I think she’s still a little too small for the puddle jumpers (the recommended weight starts at 30lbs) but I bet by next year we can probably do the puddle jumper to try to get her to swim.

There is a kids club for kids 5-12 that is free during the day (9-3) but $30/hr from 3pm onwards. I saw them hanging out one of the mornings in the pool and they were having a blast with the staff member running the program.

The hotel has a few SUVs that it will use to take you anywhere in the Wailea resort area (and pick you up!).  There are some great restaurants in the Kihei area that are pretty affordable.  On the resort, the restaurant options are a little pricey.  We opted to eat lunch by the pool and then we went to Kihei for dinner a few nights and we splurged at Iron Chef Morimoto’s restaurant on two nights.

Bumbye Bar Poolside Dining at the Andaz Maui
Bumbye Bar Poolside Dining – Enough to share for a light lunch

We had only planned on eating there one night, but it was so delicious, we had to go back! 🙂  There were lots of kids at Morimoto’s when we were dining (we opted to eat early, at 5:30).  Just be aware that the kids options are pretty limited and quite pricey as there is no real kids menu–its just a few kid friendly options from the main menu.  My little one had Morimoto’s ramen chicken soup ($16) both nights and she devoured it.  The broth was AMAZING, but the parent in me wished there were some vegetables in the soup!  It was literally ramen, a little bit of chicken breast and soup.  They even made little trainer chopsticks (rubberbanded 2 chopsticks together with some paper in between) though my little one is still too young to use them.  It was a nice touch for younger guests who are still learning to use chopsticks!

Morimoto Maui
Morimoto Maui
Chirashi at Morimoto Maui
Chirashi at Morimoto Maui
Incredible sunsets at the Andaz Maui
Incredible sunsets at the Andaz Maui

Maui for Toddlers – Kahului, Ka’anapali and Lahaina

Aloha! We just came back from beautiful Maui. I wanted to do a few posts on Maui with a toddler as I had a really hard time finding information specifically aimed at the toddler set.

It was our first time to Maui and we stayed a night by the airport since we got in late at night and wanted to get our little one to bed as soon as possible. There is a Courtyard by Marriott hotel that is about 3 min away from the airport. They offer a free airport pickup on arrival in a private hotel van.  I had called ahead and asked for a crib/pack and it was all set in our room when we arrived which was great.

Courtyard by Marriott Kahului
Courtyard by Marriott Kahului
Courtyard by Marriott Kahului
Courtyard by Marriott Kahului

The hotel is in a great location, right across the street from Costco and Kmart if you need to pick up some essentials that you’ve forgotten. Costco also has some great fresh poke. The Limu one was especially delicious!  There is also a Walmart and Target nearby but not within walking distance. Both the Kmart and Costco had rash guards, swim suits and sand/water toys if you forgot your own or didn’t have space in your luggage!

Costco Kahului Fresh Poke
Costco Kahului Fresh Poke

After we picked up our rental car, we headed to the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa (aka the Sheraton at Black Rock) in Ka’anapali. The resort is enormous with over 500 hotel rooms. We were upgraded to a beautiful ocean view room on the 5th floor in tower 2. The room was definitely large enough for a crib.

Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa
Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa
Sheraton Ocean View Room
Sheraton Ocean View Room
Ocean View Room at Sunset
Ocean View Room at Sunset

On the side of the pool nearest to tower 2 (by the lawn), there is a great little section which is only knee deep, meaning that my 2.5 year old could stand and play without worry that it would get too deep. It’s not too big so it can get crowded if there are a lot of kids playing. You can see in the picture below that there is a barrier between the shallow section and the rest of the pool so the kids can’t wander off to deeper waters unknowingly.  The Sheraton can also provide a microwave for $30 (for your entire stay) if you need to heat up food for your kids.

Toddler Pool at the Sheraton Maui
Toddler Pool at the Sheraton Maui

The beach at the Sheraton is nice and wide, though it was a little windy when we were there.  We had fun digging in the sand and flying a Frozen themed kite we bought at Kmart.  For a $3 kite, it worked really well!!! My husband got the hang of it really quickly and was able to fly it quite high!  The Sheraton had beach chairs for rental for around $40 for the day.  We knew we would only be there an hour at most, so we brought our own beach mat to sit on.

The town of Lahaina has a nice long pedestrian stretch of stores and restaurants along Front Street.  There is a giant banyan tree park at one end of Front Street.  I read that it is over 150 years old and is the oldest banyan tree on Maui.  My little one loved chasing the pigeons around the branches.  It was a little tricky trying to make sure she didn’t run off, since the branches are only tall enough for little toddlers!

Banyan Tree Park Lahaina
Banyan Tree Park, Lahaina

While we were there, it happened to be Prince Kuhio’s birthday celebration and there was a free festival in the park with entertainment and vendors.  We watched an incredibly talented family consisting of a singing/drumming Father and 4 dancing kids.  My little one loved watching the kids dance!  There was also some food for purchase and lots of handmade arts and crafts items for sale in the park.

Kaniala Masoe and his beautiful keiki dancing Ulupalakua #PKF2015 #Lahaina #Maui #Hawaii

A video posted by Daryl Fujiwara (@sfdhawaii) on

Altuzarra for Target starting September 14th!

Has it really been a month dear friends?  I sincerely apologize for the lengthy absence but things have just been SO hectic for us at home. August is family birthday month so the whole month gets consumed by party planning and execution!

I recently read about Altuzarra for Target and it seems like another exciting designer Target collab.  The entire lookbook has now been released on the Target website here.  Take note that some items will be online exclusives at Target.com, some items will also be available on net-a-porter.com (for shipping worldwide!) and some items will be available in store.

Here are a few of my picks.

Altuzarra for Target Look 1
Altuzarra for Target Look 1

I *love* swiss dot fabric and the collection uses it extensively! This dress looks really pretty and I really like the wide belt.  I’m thinking even if the dress doesn’t fit my petite frame, I will pick up the belt since I’m in need of a cute wide belt.

Altuzarra for Target Look 23
Altuzarra for Target Look 23

The blouse under this jacket uses the swiss dot fabric again and I’m a sucker for a cute blouse using swiss dot!  I will definitely be picking up the bow neck blouse.  The blazer has an adorable peplum back but I find it hard to shop for blazers that fit so I’ll have to probably order it and decide once I try it on.

Altuzarra for Target Look 14
Altuzarra for Target Look 14

The purple orchid dress is so pretty!  I think the material will make the dress special or will turn it into a dud.  Can’t wait to see it in person and decide.

Shopping tips for Target designer collaborations

I’ve only shopped 1 other really highly anticipated Target designer collaborations (the 3.1 Phillip Lim collection) and here are my best tips based on my shopping experience.

  1. The collection will launch sometime after midnight online.  Don’t expect the items to instantly show up at midnight!  Target’s website got really bogged down with all the traffic from that previous sale and was a bit buggy and took a little while to update.
  2. Check Twitter for the official hashtag #AltuzarraForTarget.  A few links to items were posted on Twitter before I could find them on the official designer splash page.
  3. Click through the category page (e.g. Handbags or Shoes) instead of the official designer splash page.
  4. Target imposed limits on how many items each person was allowed to purchase.  In this case, it was 5 items from the line and 3 of the same item.  So if you’re planning to purchase many items, you’ll need to split your orders up.
  5. Make sure your credit card information on file is correct to help speed up checkout since items can disappear from your cart at any time!

Are you excited about this Target designer collab?  Has anything in particular caught your eye?

Styling My Family for Professional Photos

My husband and I have decided that we will do family photos every so often now that we have a baby.  Since it is quite an investment in both time and money to have professional portraits taken, I like to plan out what we are all going to wear so that we look stylish and coordinated.

Anthropologie Rosado Sheath
Anthropologie Rosado Sheath

I found this dress on Anthropologie and I *love* how it looks on me.  I think the colors are beautiful and the cut is very flattering. I purchased it in petites and it seems to be the perfect length for my 5’0 tall frame.  Now that I have my dress, I need to figure out what to dress my husband and daughter in.

I was thinking I might put my daughter in the Little Me dress I got her at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.

Little Me Ponte Dress
Little Me Ponte Dress

I think the Navy color will look good against my dress, but I’m wondering if she will stand out enough? I want her to be the center of attention, not me.  I am wondering if the white and pink colorblocking will help enough?  Hmm…

I also have to figure out what to put my husband in.  I love the way Calvin Klein slim shirts look on him.  We bought him some roll-cuff ones last year and he wore those in our photos.  He suggested wearing the same one again but I think we actually need a dark blue one.

Calvin Klein Shirt
Calvin Klein End on End Slub Shirt

I am thinking something like this, but in a dark blue. I couldn’t find any on the Macys.com site but I am sure if I go into the store they will have something.  As an added bonus, Macys is having a Men’s private sale in store starting Thursday with 25% off your purchase of over $100.  I am wondering if coupons will stack on top of this deal.  Macy’s doesn’t usually let you use 2 coupons, but I will ask if the 25% off the total purchase counts as a coupon or not.

Nordstrom Anniversary Haul & Reviews

By now most of my Anniversary items have all arrived and I have had time to try them on and decide which ones are the keepers and which ones will go back.

I did my Anniversary shopping both in store and online, though mostly online since my daytime hours are rather busy trying to balance work and being a mom!

I wanted to show off a few of my sale highlights.

Pleione Mixed Media Tunic Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
Pleione Mixed Media Tunic

I loved the Pleione Mixed Media tunic.  It is pretty generously sized but I love the relaxed look.  It comes in a ton of colors and in both regular and petite sizing.  I have it in this purple color as well as the pink and I think the pink is a little too bright.  I am going to exchange it for a grey which I think will be more my style.

Ted Baker London Belted Flare Cashmere Blend Coat
Ted Baker London Belted Flare Cashmere Blend Coat

I love this Ted Baker London coat, but it is rather pricey so I’m debating with myself on whether or not I need another wool coat when I already have 2.  Hmmm… This one is dressier than any my other coats.  I love that it isn’t too heavy and is super soft.  The coat runs a bit small.  I typically wear a size 0 but I found the 0 to be quite snug and I had a little bit of trouble doing up the buttons at the waist.

Chloe K Lace Inset Top Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
Chloe K Lace Inset Top

I tried this top in store and it ran super duper small, but once I sized up I thought it was very cute.  Be careful not to go too large though, as the lace cutouts on the side might be too revealing!

What did you get at the sale?  Did you find a ton of great stuff like me, or was it a bust?