There's no place like home! Pickle and I were grateful to be able to make the trip back for the holidays this year. While we've been really fortunate to see our families for my sister's wedding in Mexico and our own wedding in Hawai'i this year, this was the first time we made it back to the continental U.S. since moving to Sydney. We were able to see Pickle's entire family in Kansas City and my parents and sis & brother-in-law in their new home in Texas. |
But not before we enjoyed a strategically placed layover in Honolulu! It was a great idea in theory, but in practice, we will definitely need to stay overnight next time. The Hawai'i lover in me wanted to maximize our time in my favorite place on Earth, but the penny-pincher in me didn't want to spring for a pricey hotel room only to lose time with our families, so I proposed a 14-hour layover. To be fair, Pickle was skeptical, but, ever the supportive partner, he got on board...to his detriment. Pickle has a terrible time sleeping on planes - like, just miserable. To plan ahead, he always tries to get as much sleep as possible before flying. Well, there was obviously no way we were going to be able to make it through a full day in Sydney, leaving around 6pm, flying 9.5 hours to Honolulu, galavanting around the island for 14 hours before hopping on a 7.5-hour flight to Dallas, adding a 2-hour layover before another 1.5 hour flight to Kansas City...if we wake up around 8:30am the day we leave, that's a total of 44 hours. SO, I proposed a sure-fire way to set Pickle up for sleep success on the plane. We stayed up late the night before our departure and woke up early, ensuring we were really tired by the time we got on the plane. Then, we took (mild, over-the-counter) sleeping pills. Also, we bought the adorable neck pillow and sleeping mask (pictured above), but mostly because they were cute. Luckily, we received little comfort packs from Jetstar with items like socks, a sleeping mask, lip balm, hand cream, blankets, etc. My favorite item was the earplugs - I've never used them before, but between those and my sleeping mask, I shut out the world and was out like a light. Poor Pickle wasn't so lucky. He ended up drugged, exhausted and awake as his head bobbled around most of the flight :( He was a trooper though, and he managed to sneak in several naps as we travelled around Oahu.
We got a cute little, red Fiat to cruise around the island. Our first stop (after Wal-Mart for beach towels and sunscreen) was Leonard's Malasadamobile, the food truck that brings Leonard's Bakery's famous malasadas to the masses. We tracked it down and ordered an Original, Li Hing (sweet and sour sugar), Dobash (chocolate filling) and Haupia (light coconut filling). We received another haupia instead of the chocolate by mistake, but they were all delicious. We scarfed them down with an American Starbucks coffee in the red holiday cup. Just to consolidate all of the food finds for the day, we (of course) hit up Foodland for lunch for poke bowls (which, per tradition, we ate in the parking lot), and we stopped by my favorite shave ice place, Waiola, for some sweet treats. Pickle had a sundae with milk ice and chocolate syrup, and I had the azuki bowl with milk ice, azuki beans and mochi balls.
Our main goal was to head up to North Shore to catch the last day of the Billabong Pipe Masters at Banzai Pipeline. We just happened to land on Oahu for the final day of this competition, which is the last of the Vans Triple Crown and the end of the WSL Men's World Tour. Because of the sharp reef, pipeline is one of the most dangerous waves on the planet. It's known as the Holy Grail of waves, and it was so cool to be able to watch professionals take it on. I've never been to Hawai'i in the winter before, which is when the waves are high, so I was stoked to get to witness this event. My photos don't do it justice at all - you can see, there were professionals out with HUGE telescopic lenses to catch the action. We made in time for the final heat, where Adriano De Souza took the win. Pickle enjoyed the surfing too, for a little while, and then slathered on the sunscreen and caught some Zzzzz's for a bit ;)
After Pipeline, we stuffed ourselves silly with poke at Foodland and then drove down to the Valley of the Temples. The drive into the Ko'olau Mountains is awe-inspiring. You travel quickly from a bright, sunshiney, happy island paradise to a misty, ominous drive back to a time that seems to pre-date humankind's rule of the planet . It's a very cool experience. The Valley of the Temples was uncrowded and serene. We drove up through various memorial sites and burial markers, passing a gang of cats who seemed to be the only (living) inhabitants of the area, and on to the Byodo-In Temple. This was nap time #2 for Pickle, where he reclined his seat for 20 minutes and caught up on some sleep while I looked through the photos I'd taken on my camera and kept watch for security. The temple is a non-practicing Buddhist temple and is a smaller-scale replica of the over 950-year-old Byodo-in Temple, a United Nations World Heritage Site in Uji, Japan. It was a beautiful site at the foot of the lush, green mountains and looked like some ancient structure that had been re-discovered.
After our visit to the temple, we swung by the original Waiola Shave ice, and headed back to the airport so Pickle could take nap #3 before boarding our next flight. Just 11 hours later, we landed in Kansas City! Tasks 1 and 2 were an extended nap (for Pickle) and a shower! We spent the evening catching up with Pickle's brother, Jason, our sis-in-law, Heather, and niece, Lillian. The following day, we grabbed lunch and headed over to Pickle's parents house for a great afternoon visit before hitting the Plaza to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday. The Plaza was beautiful, sparkling with lights for the holiday season. We had dinner at Houston's restaurant for the occasion, and it was amazing! My mother-in-law made one of her unique, cut-and-paste photo cards (she makes these custom cards with scanned photos and goofy images from the WWW that she prints, cuts out, and pastes together - they are seriously collectors items and are usually hilarious!) This was one of my favorites, as she found old photo strip pictures of herself and my father-in-law and used them for the front of the card - so cool. She'd asked me to create a photo collage mug for him so she could give it to him for a b-day present (we share an obsession with photos). It was a really nice evening to celebrate a wonderful person!
The next day was the big Hanukkah bash! Jason and Lillian spent the day prepping the kugel (the whole house smelled like you wanted to take a bite out of it!) while Pickle and I hit up some Target stores (yes, several Target stores, because you just can't get enough Target). Hanukkah is always at Pickle's aunt Laurie and uncle Vic's house, and it's always a blast! This year, there was an augmented theme, as Diane, my mother-in-law, had created a Hawai'i/Hanukkah hybrid! She went all out for Hawaiian Hanukkah, buying leis, table decorations, floral banners and even bought different types of Hawaiian macadamia nuts for the party...and when I say she bought Hawaiian mac nuts, I don't mean she went to the local grocery and bought Mauna Loa nuts...she actually ordered them and had them shipped from the ABC stores in Hawai'i! She is the sweetest - and the queen of online shopping! We even had an augmented playlist for our traditional sing-along this year, as Pickle's aunt Pam has been learning the ukulele...
The food was crazy good, as always. Pickle's uncle Vic makes a magical brisket and latkes with applesauce (and sour cream, for those who swing that way). The presents were abundant (thanks to my mother-in-law, who I believe is the patron saint of Hanukkah), and the gift exchange was a blast. We play the game where everyone draws a number and when it's your turn, you can either open a new gift or steal one from someone else. This year I stole a hoodie, Hanukkah socks, a beanie and candle from Pickle (who wouldn't have lost it if he'd been more willing to share the hoodie!) ;) Pickle was pretty pleased to capture a Pentatonix CD though that came with a pair of bluetooth headphones. Pickle's parents bought us a our first menorah since we got married this year - the shamash (middle candle that is used to light the others) is a table and umbrella and the 8 candle holders are beach chairs - so perfect! Diane also bought us the most unique and beautiful handmade wedding gift - a bowl with our names and wedding date stamped onto it with two little love birds perched on the rim. I love them! My father-in-law, Warren, who would surely medal in bargain hunting in any shopping Olympics, hunts deals all year to accumulate a Bag-o-Bargains for both of his sons and daughters-in-law...this is such an awesome tradition. He leaves the tags on so we can see what a steal he got on the merchandise and how many times it's been marked down - and it is seriously impressive. It's always so much fun unpacking our loot from the plastic shopping bags and reaping the rewards of Warren's retail victories!
While we have lots of lovely family photos from Hanukkah, I am a big fan of the silliness :) Here are some highlights in pics from this year's gathering...
My Kansas City visit ended the day after Hanukkah, as we wrapped up our Bag-o-Bargains fun and I said my goodbyes before departing for the airport. Since we had such limited time, we decided that in addition to visiting both families together, we would each spend some extended time with our respective fams. We had Hanukkah with the Sickels, spent Christmas apart, and celebrated New Year's Eve with the Smiths. Pickel got in a lot of quality time during his stay in K.C., and managed to tick a lot of items off of his American To-Do list as well. Here's his list along with photographic evidence of achievements...
In the meantime, I was psyched to finally see my sis and brother-in-laws' house (which was, by the way, AMAZING!!!!) They just had it built this past year, moved in about 3 months ago, and have done a TON of work decorating and customizing their new digs. And It. Is. Beautiful!! I'm SO happy for them - and I'm pretty pumped for myself that I get to visit ;) Not only had they furnished and decorated all of the rooms, but they even decked it out for Christmas, including two full-size trees, one for their downstairs living room and another for their upstairs! They've been working their bums off the past few months, and it was SO apparent when we walked in! I wish I'd taken photos with my camera while I was there, but my sis sent me these from her phone...
Once of the first places we went was to Gruene in New Braunfels, Texas. It was such a cute and quaint area! They had this entire neighborhood of dwarf-sized Southern mansions. It was so crazy. We thought maybe it was a high-end retirement community, but we were told there were no age restrictions on who could live there. I wish I had photos - it was pretty cool. I did take some shots around the shopping village though. There were lots of very bedazzle-y hats, boots, jewelry, etc. and some fun vintage stuff and Texas goodies at the General Store. I snagged some Mexican cola and spicy ginger beer at a gelato and soup shop, and we ate out on an expansive deck overlooking the Guadalupe river at a beautiful restaurant called the Gristmill.
Before our visit, I noted that I REALLY wanted a Cuban sandwich when I came back to the states. My sis and I both separately found Ocho and their acclaimed Cubano. We went, we saw, and we ate it up! The restaurant itself was one of my favorites that we went to - I loved the style and the colors and the view was great!
Another culinary find was Lüke's, where we were served free beignets before our meal. These beignets were legit - better than Cafe Du Monde, no contest! My sis ordered some stone fruit compote (which was delish), but I couldn't wait and just sopped up the warm local honey with mine. I just drooled on my keyboard a little... We were there for the brunch. Not really the whole menu, but one specific dish that Kerry and Brad had already trialed - the chicken friend Bandera quail with Belgian waffles, Texas pecan butter and local honey. The quail was definitely the best part, only because after those beignets, even the most amazing waffle is going to be a distance runner-up.
Christmas morning came and began with morning selfies for some reason :) With all of the traveling costs (and all that Kerry and Brad bought in preparation for our arrival...new pillows, linens, towels, etc.; we basically all received gift baskets with every luxury toiletry item you could think of, including adorable fuzzy animal socks for my mom and I, and they bought heaps of groceries for our stay, including endless Pirate Booty cheesy poofs for me), we didn't do gifts. My mom has always bought Clinique makeup though, and, since we were kids, she's always given us the free makeup bags filled with samples at the holidays. It's turned into a fun tradition, and she didn't skip it this year. We had our traditional orange-glazed cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. My sis and I made her mind-blowing monkey bread recipe. We spent the day chilling and watched Christmas movies in our jammies. We called Mimi and Skyped with my dad's side of the family, who were gathered at my Uncle Chris and Aunt Christine's house.
Pickle arrived after some drama with the weather (he was delayed at K.C. because the power went out, then his flight to Houston was diverted to San Antonio due to storms. They were supposed to refuel and fly back to Houston (so he could then fly back to San Antonio), but, luckily, they sat on the runway for so long, they eventually just had everyone de-board the plane. Pickle and I provided Christmas pudding from Oz, which we had to save until Pickle arrived because he "wanted to see everyone's reaction" (he is not a fan and is baffled that anyone could truly like, and not simply, tolerate, the dessert). It's supposedly "40% fruit and a dash of brandy", but by our analysis, it's 70% fruit, 28% brandy and 2% unknown binding ingredient. No one liked it - not even my dad, who will eat pretty much anything. Once Pickle arrived, I gave him his Christmas present. I had brought our marriage license and all of my necessary documents and officially changed my last name once got to Texas (not something you can do easily from Australia), so I surprised him with a copy of my new Social Security Card receipt in his Christmas card, and I made him his favorite cake. He always told me about his favorite cake that his grandma Sickel used to make for him, so I made it once as a birthday surprise when we were living in Ohio. I can't make it in Australia, unfortunately because we don't have all the ingredients, but the Texas version turned out to be pretty successful! After Pickle arrived, we also received our "First Married Christmas" ornaments from my parents too - they are great keepsakes! Pickle and I also received a "World Traveller" ornament and Ohio ornament, and Kerry and Brad got a Texas boot and new house ornament to start our collections.
One day, we decided to head out to Fredericksburg wine country. Kerry picked out a winery (there were SO many!) for us to check out. We went to Grape Creek Vineyards. The grounds were really pretty. Pickle and I know next to nothing about wine, but we went for the "sweet" list. Pickle had Cabernet Blanc, for which it was noted that "the nuances of wild berries, loganberries, strawberries and hints of honeysuckle are unmistakable". I had Muscat Canelli, a "dessert-style" wine (all I needed to see). It was noted that "this sensual and exotic wine exhibits strong aromas of lemon grass and orange zest and pairs well with fresh fruits, fruit sorbets and lemon tarts". I don't know about all that, but I didn't have breakfast and my little glass of wine left my extremities a little tingly and my eyelids pretty heavy! After our winery experience, we went in to town for lunch and to check out the shops. They had all kinds of trinket shops and boutiques, including some candy stores, and my mom was tickled to find a chocolate covered frozen banana at one of the fudge shops that brought her back to her childhood.
Another very cool place we visited was Pearl Brewery. It's not just one brewery, but an entire area of shops and restaurants. We put our name in for lunch at Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery and then hit up Bakery Lorraine for a box of macaron appetizers to share. The brewing company where we ate was a stunning building with a beautiful hotel attached to it. We wandered around awhile after eating just looking at all of the interesting nooks. After browsing around the shops a bit, we ended our day at Lick, a fun and funky ice cream shop. I've tried some out-of-the-orindary ice cream flavors before - some hits and some misses. All the flavors we ordered at Lick were hits! Pickle had the coconut peppermint patty and plum jam and gin cake, and orange chocolate. I had the roasted beets and fresh mint, goat cheese, thyme and honey, and the dark chocolate with olive oil and sea salt.
One of my favorite places we visited was El Mercado. The historic market square was bright and colorful and full of interesting things to look at and eat. The first time we went, they had singers performing, caricature artists and vendors outside selling their wares. We went back so Pickle could experience it too and visited the indoor shops. They sell everything from piñatas, Christmas ornaments and lawn decorations to jewelry, pottery and accordions. My very favorite items were the calacas - the skeleton figures used to celebrate Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. I bought an awesome shadow box with calacas and an alter as a souvenir from our trip.
One of my other favorite places was the Riverwalk. We went down in the evening and it was such a cool vibe with the colorful umbrellas and the Christmas lights reflecting in the river from the trees and the tour boats. We went to take my mom out for her celebratory retirement dinner, as she just completed 27 years with the government!! We went for Italian at Zocca at the Westin and had them surprise her with a special dessert of tiramisu and chocolate covered strawberries. Afterwards, we took my parents to Howl at the Moon piano bar. They really enjoyed it, and they even took their Jell-O shots we bought them ;)
We rang in the New Year with...you guessed it...food and family! It was great :) Kerry and Brad provided fun photo props, so we had a good time with those. Then we prepared and destroyed a smorgasbord of shrimp cups, spinach rolls (both my requests), strawberry pretzel salad and meatballs (both Pickle's requests...well, the meatballs were supposed to be my mom's meatloaf, but he missed dinner the night he arrived when we'd planned to have his special meatloaf night, so his meal was repurposed a bit), guacamole, and buffalo chicken dip. My mom made her homemade hot fudge (not too sweet and super thick) for ice cream sundaes too! We had a typically hilarious and inappropriate Smith family game night, playing the Game of Things in which one person draws a card with a prompt like "Things you should never text", everyone writes and answer, and you go around trying to guess who wrote what. We all dragged my sweet mom down to our level, making her say horrible things when she was the reader (though eventually she started writing them of her own volition) and laughed until we cried.
All week long, we'd passed stand after stand of Fireworks in every neighborhood, and at midnight, we walked outside and watched them all explode. It was amazing - like the every house in the city was hosting a professional fireworks display...things went on for over a half hour at this pace!
It was a memorable trip home and had a fantastic time with our families. 2015 has been a pretty amazing year for us. We celebrated the new year in Sydney, Australia after having just moved across the world to become residents of a foreign country. We started new jobs and found a new car and apartment across from the beach. We've been all over Sydney, exploring different cultures through food and art (and encountering interesting animals). We travelled to Mexico for Kerry and Brad's beautiful resort wedding and made lasting memories with new family. We planned an amazing adventure in Hawai'i to celebrate our own marriage and then stayed for an action-packed honeymoon of our dreams. We wrapped up the year with family at the holidays, and we're starting 2016 out as The Sickels! 2015 has been a whirlwind of a year, and I am SO grateful for all that we've experienced. Wishing you a bright and optimistic start to 2016 and much happiness on your upcoming adventures!