Back from Hawaii

Hey all! Having some posting issues, so things are a bit out of sequence. I've figured out the problem, and it shouldn't happen again ... fingers crossed! 

Aloha! We're back and wow - what an amazing vacation. I never thought that Hawaii would exceed my expectations, but did it ever. I've selected a few pictures I thought you'd enjoy, but I have to say they don't, and I'm not sure that any I have seen, do the island of Kauai justice.

We took a beautiful and very well organized catamaran cruise with Holo Holo Charters while we were there, touring the Na Pali coast and snorkeling with the sea turtles. We also saw some gorgeous humpback whales and dolphins, and caught a beautiful sunrise.

We also took a fixed wing airplane ride with Wings Over Kauai. Our pilot was experienced and knowledgeable and kept us well at ease while he showed us the 70% of the island that can not be seen on foot or by boat. I even got to play co-pilot!

We certainly didn't spend as much time there as we should have, let alone wanted to. There is so much more to see of Kauai, and we will definitely be back at some point. Til' then however, we have a vault overflowing with memories and photos, photos I am currently pulling the best of for a photo book.

There are a few things that really came in handy on our trip: 

Most all of the photos you see here were taken with my Canon PowerShot camera. I also took nearly all of my Peru photos with this little camera! It's a powerhouse - super easy to frame a great photo - and it's lightweight and easy to pack and carry. If you're looking for a small camera that's perfect for travel, look no further. I'm super happy with mine!

This all natural and reef/ocean friendly sunscreen was a life saver. I mean that quite literally. I come from a long-line of skin cancer survivors and sadly, lost my maternal grandfather to skin cancer that spread onward. Protect yourself daily with sunscreen even if you're not as fair as I am, I beg of you! 

I packed this gorgeous straw tote in my luggage to carry towels, sunscreen, my camera, and the various gifts and souvenirs we bought while we were there and on our planned excursions. It was perfect! Super stylish and there was plenty of room. 

Speaking of souvenirs, and things we brought back: we took a tour of the Kauai coffee plantation where they farm more coffee than any other state in the country. We tried a variety of delicious coffee and coffee products, including their coffee flavored ice cream (of course). If you're a coffee drinker, or know someone who is, I HIGHLY recommend their coffee, which you can buy from them directly via Amazon.

There were few things I've seen in my life as beautiful than the island of Kauai. But I will say that having spent time snorkeling and scuba diving in the oceans around Kauai and Oahu, I have a sincere appreciation for our oceans. I never make political statements here, nor do I offer up advice that I don't follow myself. I've never been the greatest about recycling (I mean, I do my best) or thinking about what my small, daily, seemingly minuscule habits are doing to the big global picture. We flew JetBlue on the way home from LAX, and they provide free WiFi powered by Amazon, where you earn JetBlue points when you buy things in flight. It was the perfect time for me to lock in some purchases that I hope will help me be better to the planet and our oceans:

I bought this water bottle. Single use plastics are something that we have to stop using, and I've been terrible about it. But I'm dedicating myself to this small daily change. Instead of cases of water in single use water bottles, I'm using a Brita Filter and this metal canteen.

Stainless steel straws with cleaners. Nearly every place we ate or drank in Hawaii used paper straws. In fact, the only place with a plastic straw was the Lihue airport. I use metal straws at home, but I bought some for the office, as well as gifts that I'll attach to the little gifts we brought back with post cards of the ocean. I'm gently asking all of my friends, including you, to make small changes. I'm telling you - if you ever get the chance to swim with a sea turtle, you'll quit plastic straws. 

There's so much more we can do, but one step at a time, right? I found this National Geographic article to be very informative, so if you have some time and interest - check that out! Now, I'm off to play catch up on all the things I missed while I was away (the pitfall of a vacation). I hope you enjoy the photos, and find some usefulness in the Amazon links. 

Artsy Couture Canvas Photo Book Review

Many of you know that I went to Peru from late June to early July, even though I've yet to blog much about it. If you've been waiting, today is the day - and I'm even more excited to bring to you the very talented work and the craftsmanship of Artsy Couture products in conjunction with my trip pics. You'll see why in just a bit!

First, so many people have asked me "why Peru?" and the answer is easy: "have you ever seen the show, Ancient Aliens?" - seriously, I'm not kidding! Have you? Eight or nine years ago, they did a feature on Machu Picchu (in Peru) and all of their ancient astrological theorists weighed in on how in the world these massive rocks could be perched on a mountain side from quarries miles away, some requiring this 600-year old civilization to cross water. Some said it was an airport. There was one person who suggested that the stones were actually lifted there through magnetic waves. I spent that entire hour glued to the television. I couldn't fathom how such a place came to be, and it instantly took hold as the number one place on my list of places to see before I die.

So, when my best friend Michael reached out to me about going with him this summer, there was no way I was going to say no! I got my passport renewed, I bought a power cord converter, and a Canon PowerShot Elph hand-held camera.  

I have three DSLR cameras that I love. But they're heavy, and cumbersome, and even in auto mode take a long time to frame the shot, sometimes meaning you just miss it. I didn't want to miss out on any of the great photography opportunities in Peru, so I invested a small amount in this camera and I am going to tell you - if you're traveling, do yourself a favor and grab one too! 

Peru was amazing! I mean, it was better than amazing. Except for the food. Not bad, just not great. But the people, and the atmosphere, and the scenery was more than wonderful enough to eclipse any memory of blase food. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the trip: 

And of course, Machu Picchu: 

There are so many photos. So many! Over 2,000! And many of them were really gorgeous, totally print worthy. But I'm not the kind of person who has pictures of my travels on the walls or in frames. I don't keep photo albums around, they're cumbersome and so much work. Of course, when someone hears you've been to Machu Picchu the first thing they ask is if you have pictures, so I had to find a way to both keep a firm memory of my trip handy and be able to show all of my friends the beautiful things I saw and would definitely go back to see again. Enter Artsy Couture! 

Now seriously, listen close. If you travel and want a better way to keep your travel memories at hand for yourself and to show others, this is going to change your life! I'm not kidding. 

Artsy Couture is an online professional photo lab. They create effortlessly elegant products with your photos. Everything from large stretched canvases to family greeting cards to save the dates. They also have a luxury leather bound photo album with printed pages and canvas photo books in super large format, perfect as coffee table books! 

Now, tell the truth! How many of you don't have coffee table books? None of you! We all have them. Whether it's the latest or one one of our old favorite interior design books , travel books, or history books - we all decorate and live with them daily. Now, Artsy Couture makes it possible to have your very own coffee table book with their large format 11x14 print canvas cover book, starting at $49.99. Whether you want the photos to be of your travels, your interior design work, or your family and friends, the possibilities are endless and the final result is gorgeous. 

Eeeek! The cover of my Peru Coffee Table Book

I uploaded the 2,022 photos I took in Peru to their website. This took a long time, and honestly, was a bad idea. While I HIGHLY recommend their product, I will say that it is important that you take the time to pick the best of the best photos you want printed in your photo book. They have a program that will let you know if your photo isn't high enough in resolution to print well, but they do not proof read your text, or look for photos that aren't clear due to photographer error. And let's face it, we get excited and have shaky hands, and there are gonna be a few unclear photos in those 2,000! So learn from me - only upload photos you have reviewed and want to have printed! It'll save you time, and you'll be happier with the finished product.

Artsy Couture does an amazing job of making sure that the books are luxuriously and professionally finished from cover to cover. My book ended up with 247 pages. It's a big boy! There are more than 500 images in the book, all taken by me while in Peru. I mean, it's fascinating right? That you can author and print your own book in such a short amount of time? 

As I sat with the book, turning page after beautiful page, it was like experiencing the trip all over again! Artsy Couture lets you take the drivers seat in the creation of the book. You supply all content, and you can choose your desired layout. Above, photos I took at Museo de Larco in Lima are laid out with one full page picture next to two pictures that share a page.

And here, two full page photos, the left the ruins of Ollantaytambo and right the streets of Cusco. As with any trip, you have photos you love and photos you like. Having the ability to choose your layout with their user friendly website makes it possible to use them all - giving those you love full page billing.

You can even have one glorious photo take up two pages with their full layout option. Here, my first view of Machu Picchu opens up to an impressive 14x22 poster sized image.

Machu Picchu is a magical place, honestly. There's no way you can take a bad photo. But I was still quite impressed with the pictures I took, especially printed so beautifully by Artsy Couture on this high end heavy paper.

So much of what you see in Peru is richly colored. Above, the alpaca yarn dyed with all natural dyes made up of plants and bugs. I was so worried that the printing of these vivid colors would dull how vibrant they were in person. Not at all a problem with Artsy Couture. Each photo was as beautiful printed as it was on the monitor. 

Even photos of rushing water came out crisp and clear, like the ones here of the Alcamayo waterfall in Aguas Calientes. Here are a few more spreads from the book:

One page after another after another, I was more and more impressed with the beautiful work of Artsy Couture. They allowed me to print what has become not only a glorious coffee table book, but a constant reminder of such a wonderful, magical trip that I can share with everyone I know - without the need of a monitor, or the potential of losing pictures from a big and bulky photo album where every photo is exactly the same size. Every person I've shown this book to has asked "where did you have this printed?" Everyone is impressed by the beauty and luxuriousness of it.

Even the small amount of text I had printed on the last page was done clearly and beautifully. Not only was my trip to Peru one of lasting impression, I have this amazing photo book from Artsy Couture to keep it at my finger tips for the rest of my life.

Tyler and I have planned a trip with our good friends to Costa Rica in April of 2019, and I will definitely be using Artsy Couture to print a book of those pictures as well! If you're interested in all of their wonderful products for your own photos, give them a look. And use this code to get 20% off of your first order!