reduce, reuse...

Upcycle.

 And a sweet little giveaway that means the whole big world to me.

We've had growing and planting on our minds in this little house of ours ever since that Charlie came home one day not so long ago and announced he would be an aquaponic farmer.  You see he'd had his eye on aquaponics for a while and well, he's been in need of a good "man" project for like, ever and so when we were at the Hawaii State Food and Farm Fair this summer, well, he came away with even more pamphlets on the subject then any one fair attendee should be allowed and so now on our back deck we have really, truly a beautiful little garden growing exclusively in cinders with water that is recycled in a little ecosystem of fish and plants and microscopic life forms, it all feels a bit too Star Treky for me.

I on the other hand came away from the fair with this...

This sweet little guy is an origami pot made from folded newspaper.  The Kokua Hawaii Foundation had the sweetest little table set up for fair goers to make little pots and plant little seeds.  

I followed these beautifully simple directions here and I loved it so much I made a little series of pots to put on my kitchen counter.  I have this strange little habit of saving the roots of little herbs like green onion and cilantro when I'm cooking and promising my husband and myself and the little roots too that I will plant them outside and grow my own herbs for cooking, you know 'cause that would be neat.  And then of course I watch them over the next few days shrivel up and never quite make it off of the window sill I first set them on.  So now into the pots they'll go and when they're ready they'll go right into the ground, pots and all.  Genius, I know.

And this, this is pure sweetness...

Dee of Rising Tide Yoga in South Port, North Carolina, who also happens to be my mother in law, friend and great supporter, is giving one Local Sugar Hawaii reader a Yoga Mat from Lotus Body AND a set of Yoga Blocks.  

You can enter this giveaway by following her blog here, where you'll find a wealth of information on yoga and all aspects of living life well.

For extra entries you can tweet about the giveaway and follow me on Facebook or Pinterest.

Leave a comment below for each entry, and...

Good luck to ya.

live sweet, 

n 

Stacy Donaldson you are our yoga set winner-- whoo hoo!

on living...

Like you're dying.

And other lessons I seem so perfectly programmed to forget.

Our neighbor passed away recently.  
Really, I might not have ever known except for the small traffic jam on our two lane country highway as family and friends gathered to scatter her ashes in the ocean across from the only place I've ever known her to dwell.  It was a bit surreal the finding out that she had passed.  She was, to me, one of those friendly faces glimpsed quickly during a morning stroll through the neighborhood.  I just kind of thought she'd always be there,  waving her "hellos" from the second house from the corner, ya know?  
And now she's not... there. 
My heart aches for her family.  And while it's not my time of sadness to stand in, and while I'll try not to stay in it longer than just a bit more I think I'll try to remember, at the very least until I forget, that life is a fleeting moment. And I think the next time Sean wants mommy to sit and feed the "peapops" with him, well, I think I just might sit a little longer.

live sweet, 

n 

I heard this song yesterday and my heart sighed.

Join me, if you please, for a sweet link up with friends.

breakfast in...

A snap.

Oh we sure have gotten on with the business of getting on with school, and life after summer, in these parts.  We've been at it for nearly a month now here in Hawaii.  Our days have been filling up fast and our mornings have been hurried at best.  But that's okay, ya know, 'cause there's something about the beginning of school that means that fall is on it's way which means that Christmas isn't so very far behind and then, well, you know, the beat goes on... 

Here's a sweet little morning fave of ours that makes for a protein packed start to the day. 

Not so "Mc." muffins

1 English Muffin

1 egg

1 slice of cheese

1 slice of turkey or other meat

butter (optional)

Crack egg into a small microwave proof bowl and pierce the yolk, cover with paper towel and microwave on high, (about 40 seconds).  -- Seriously guys, this will give you a poached like egg just like you get at that Mc. place, except better.  Place cheese and turkey on warm egg.  Toast English muffin and butter lightly if desired. Slide egg, cheese and turkey onto one half of muffin and top with other half. 

It's a ridiculous "recipe" I know.  I mean, is it really even a recipe at all guys?  Probably... not so much.  But boy, oh boy is it good and geesh does it make a difference some days to have a warm healthy breakfast in place of our standard bowl of cereal.

Happy Back to School.

live sweet, 

n 

i love...

Him.

That Charlie, of mine, he paddles out in the early morn before work, before the other three bodies in this house even begin to stir.  I'm thinking he finds himself out there, in just the slightest of ways, ya know?  With the ocean beneath him and the sun rising and stretching itself out 'til it fills the sky overhead completely.

I think I'd be a bit jealous of his morning rendezvous with the sun, it being a standing date and all... but in truth I'm so very busy stretching and filling the half of the bed he's left empty, ya know, after the initial sigh over his being gone.  

But weekends, oh weekends are for stretching out as long and wide as we can and for filling the days together with sweetness.

If you'd like you can enter this week's giveaway here.  And if you can't wait you can use localsugar10off to get ten percent off of any purchase at Shabby Apple all month long.

And...

Happy Weekend too.

live sweet, 

n

Well, and then there's this, as if that Charlie and his love affair with the ocean needed any sort of explaining...

an apple a day...

We have the most amazing giveaway this week from Shabby Apple.  A fifty dollar gift card to their sweet vintage inspired online boutique.

I could lose myself on this site, ya know.  Their simply elegant styles and stunning photos can really have a girl dreaming of the sweetest things in life. 

This giveaway is open to all Local Sugar Hawaii followers with a U.S. address.  To enter like Shabby Apple on facebook here.  Visit their site here and then come back and tell me all about your favorite item in a comment below.  And for an extra entry you can join the ride on facebook or follow me on Pinterest.  Leave a comment for each entry so I can be sure to include them.  

And good luck to ya.

live sweet, 

n

And then there's this... 

Join me, if you please, for a link up with the very sweetest of friends.

I am...

I am

 ...sitting here typing whilst a thousand different thoughts run wild through my mind.

 ...wondering if I am the only person in this whole wide world who has ever, EVER wondered why we don't have seat belts on school buses-- see I'm telling ya, these thoughts, they're running... wild.

 ...stealing all my kisses from the cutest little curly haired two year old boy.  Bounce... bounce... bounce go the curls when he runs and thump... thump... thump beats my heart with love.

...giggling at that same little cutie who has taken to performing his words:  "look a daw- fah". A what Sean? "daw-fah" (dolphin) "ahh-a-ahh-ahh!" Oh.

...dreaming great-big-huge beautiful dreams and am finding my two hands so frustratingly small. sigh.

...learning that budgets don't always "budge".

...is making this little something here my theme song for a bit. 

...hoping that "little something" there will echo in my mind and still the thoughts, you know, when they get too wildly unkind.

...thinking, maybe you're up to something sweet today and would love to hear all about it...

live sweet, 

n

pardon the flakiness...

No, we aren't baking a pie but I sure do seem to be layering on the flakiness around here like, as if, my pastry lovin' life depended on it.  And if you've noticed the lack of posts and general "flaking off" that's been going on around these parts, well, I hope, maybe, just perhaps, you'll consider my sincerely heartfelt excuse as some sort of amends...

You see I've been running here there and everywhere in the real world getting stuff together for our new line of earth friendly accessories and while I don't have any make up posts for you I do hope you'll accept this exciting news I'm about to hit ya with as, well, a sort of "I'm sorry" and "I won't ever, EVER be so very flaky... ever... again"...  

And, if you follow me on Facebook I do hope you'll play along and feign that you are so awesomely shocked when I tell ya...

Local Sugar Hawaii is now one of the newest, and probably the tiniest of all, members of 1% for The Planet.  1% is a big commitment for little 'ole us but I think we can do it you guys-- I think we can make a commitment as a little business to do small things with big huge love, don't ya think? 

And...

I approached Costco this week, big bulky Costco to see if we could take their cardboard scraps and use them to create beautiful things... and they said "YES"-- isn't that beautiful?  Just really, truly beautiful?!

So here's a bit about our accessories line.  But first, I was talking to a friend earlier this week about how I shut people out when I am going through challenges, how I turn inward, probably out of fear and a bit out of consideration, I so don't want to burden anyone else, and well, how I need to stop it.  So, deep breath, here's a bit about what I've been working on 'cause if we really are on this ride together, well, let's ride...

The plan is simple.  

To do meaningful work that gives back to our community every step of the way.  

We will purchase used t-shirts from local charities, turn those t-shirts into fashion accessories to be sold locally and globally, sell them and then give back to our community through programs like 1% For The Planet. 

Phew.  I did it.  I shared.  That wasn't so very hard.  You all are just too darn sweet for that to be hard and I'm not sure why that took so long, that getting it out there.

So there ya have it.  I hope you'll keep an eye out for our etsy store opening September first and I hope you'll check out 1% here.  But, mostly... I hope you feel empowered to take on challenges that might seem bigger than you are right now, but that I have no doubt your sweet soul can handle, and I hope you'll tell me all about them too.  

And...

Happy Weekend.

live sweet, 

n

life, lately...

August is a hot month in Hawaii.

Hot in the hot AND muggy sense, in the "if there were EVER a month to not spend in paradise"... well, this would be it.  

But we manage, ya know?  In paradise.

We engage in a kinda silly game of hide and seek with the sun.  Hiding in our little home during the hottest hours of the day and then quickly running out to seek the last few bits of sunlight before they disappear behind the Ko'olau Mountains for what, I can only imagine, must be the most beautiful sunsets stretched out across Waikiki Beach.

Life, lately... life is good.

live sweet, 

n

I think if we played our little hide and seek game to this little song right here, well, I bet it'd be more sweet and less silly.

Do you know Cris Cab's voice?  Do you love it as much as I do?

And then there's this... this is pure sweetness...

Join me, if you please for a sweet little link up with friends.

about this walk...

we're on together, you and me... we.

We don't go this way alone, ya know?  It may feel that way at times, like no one else could possibly know how hard the road or how cruel the challenges that seem so uniquely ours.  Between you and me and every other living soul is a shared journey, and I am truly honored to be here, this go-round with you.

I'm off to watch our Tyty play a game of baseball and learn a bit more about what it means to be a part of a team, to take swings and make hits that sometimes serve no other purpose than to help get your teammates a bit further along.  

And as we settle in to enjoy our weekend and to get ready for the new week this is a story we will keep in our souls.  If ever there were a story worthy of taking up a bit of soul space, I think this would be it.  

If you'd like, you can learn more about Spencer West and his climb to the top of Kilimanjaro this summer in support of Free The Children's sustainable water initiative here.

You can enter this week's giveaway here and see who won last week's beach bag giveaway here.

And... Happy Weekend too!

live sweet, 

n

teach the children well...

I've got back to school on my mind, ya know, like so many of you I'm sure.  
Ty has actually been in school for a week and a half now... sigh... oh, that summer sure did fly by.  But I have to say I do look forward to the starting up of school and the beginning, again, of a time set aside so specifically for learning and growing and measuring the days that make up a year by recesses and other sweet school traditions.  Our Tyty is in the fourth grade this year and already seems to have decided he loves his teacher whose reward based curriculum seems to have him engaged and empowered as a learner.  

So, of course... we're happy, because our big boy is happy and because it seems that, somehow, we have stumbled upon a gem of a teacher who has with years of experience, struck a delicate balance between meeting the requirements of an increasingly standards driven school system and with infusing her classroom and the lives of her students with the boundless creativity that seems to make learning relevant.  

That's no easy task, right?  

I recently received a copy, two actually, of Mission Possible by Eva Moskowitz and Arin Lavinia and it has me thinking again about the teachers I've encountered along my educational journey and the teachers Ty will encounter along his.  Mission Possible takes a closer look at the incredibly successful New York City charter schools featured in the documentary Waiting For Superman.  Having seen the documentary I was eager to read the book and to hopefully gain more insight into how the featured schools achieved such remarkable success.

Sometimes I wonder how teachers like Ty's do it, how they find the time and the motivation to go the extra mile, to infuse their work with creativity and the beautiful innovation that in turn inspires their students.  It seems so often teachers are not set up, by our society, to rise as other professionals might be.  We seem so very concerned with ensuring all teachers are rewarded with job security that we neglect to allow for the regular rewarding of teachers based on job performance, as many other professionals so often are.  

I would so love to hear your thoughts on teachers and how to set them up to be most successful as you get ready for the back to school season.

And...

If you'd like, you can enter to win a copy of Mission Possible by leaving a comment below.  If you'd like to keep up with the authors you can do so on twitter here or facebook here.

live sweet, 

n

This post is sponsored by Mission Possible.  I was compensated for writing this post.  The opinions expressed are so totally my own.

on you, taking this walk with me...

Thank you.

I feel as though there are so many things stirring in my mind these days that I'm afraid sometimes those that are most important are lost in a jumble of thoughts and good intentions.  

I have been working night and day to bring about a line of accessories that reflects the fun and beauty that we are creating here and I hope that when it's ready, well, I hope that you will like it.  And mostly, I hope that you will forgive me my awfully sad efforts at responding to comments, and also, I'm hoping that Charlie will forgive me the mess that our living room has become, you know, soon, when it all comes together.  It will all come together won't it?

There's this little song right here that seems to be keeping me company these days, maybe, just perhaps, you'll hear what you need in it too..

And if you'd like to link up with the very sweetest of friends, please do join us.

And mostly... thank you.  For allowing me to be just who I am and for honoring me with your company, on this walk through these sweet moments in our lives.

live sweet, 

n

hanging an oxford comma...

On these last days of summer.

They were long and lazy, fast and hurried, and they were good, those summer days. And we snuck in just a few more sweet moments and hung them on the long run on sentence of memories that this summer has become.  Unnecessary, perhaps, but sweet still to pause one last time before summer's end, like an oxford comma eagerly hanging on.  

And so the boys and I, and our family friends spent the weekend camping in historic Kahana Bay where we watched both the moon and the sun rise over the Pacific and wondered about the days ahead for just a bit, but where, mostly, we engaged in the sweetest sort of living, for just a moment, you know, the very shortest of pauses really, before the days shorten and life moves on and fall moves in. 

The sun.

Kahana Bay.

A teensy tinsy fishy and Sean.

A tent with a view.

And this.  A sort of melodic comma, a pause... Unnecessary, perhaps, but maybe, if you play it in the background of your living today, you'll find yourself standing still, for a moment.  

A sort of looking back before falling forward into the days ahead.

live sweet,

n

what's in your beach bag kimberly...

It's that time, guys...  

To look into one more beach bag from one more sweet blogger and to then giveaway a Victoria's Secret Beach Bag filled with beach essentials.

Without further adieu a sweet trendy girl who like so many of us is also a bit of a night owl...

Hi Local Sugar readers! I'm Kimberly from A Night Owl, and I'm so excited to be a part of this fun Beach Bag series and giveaway with Nicole! I blog from sunny Arizona, not too close to the beach, but there are plenty of pools and waterpark fun to be had to escape the heat! So here's what you'd typically find in my beach bag...

{1} Sunnies :: sunglasses are a must! I'm a big fan of Rayban aviators.
{2} Hair Ties :: I have a ton of naturally curly hair, so keeping it under wraps with hair ties is necessary!
{3} Sandals :: cute and comfy fit the bill.
{4} Infusium :: especially if you're hitting the pool with all it's chlorine, leave-in conditioner is a great before and after treatment to keep your hair moisturized! It's also great to keep frizzies at bay, if you struggle with that type of thing!
{5} Sunscreen :: hands down necessary. No matter your skin tone. Let's stay healthy, ladies!
{6} Bling :: I always keep it cheap, simple but cute. I don't leave the house without earrings.
{7} Tankini :: tankinis are my swimsuit of choice. I've never been a bikini gal, but like the convenience of the two-piece.
{8} Sarong :: I'm a curvy, pear-shaped momma! Love the cute cover-up of a good sarong.
{9} The Bag :: of course you have to have a cute bag to keep it all in! I'm a big fan of straw totes and that natural look lately. Just feels beachy.

So that's it! Thanks Nicole for letting me share. Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations Christina of Spilled Milkshake, you are our winner.

under a blue...

Hawaiian moon.

We took the boys out one evening this week to swim in the Pacific ocean as the moon rose overhead.  Sigh.  This weekend we'll sleep and wake on that very same beach... with friends, in tents... and with the ocean humming gentle lullabies in the background.  Sigh, sweet sweet sighs.  These are the days, aren't they, the ones that make for a real sort of living.

I hope you have all sorts of plans for living well this weekend. I hope they will lead you to a myriad of unexpected moments filled with the sweetest joy.

We'll be peeking into one last beach bag tomorrow from this beautiful blogger right here.  And, we'll be giving away our beach bag filled to overflowing with the very sweetest of beach essentials; details here.  

And happy weekend to ya too.

live sweet,

n

a sweet recipe...

For these last days of summer.

Isn't the abundance of fruits and berries just the most beautiful sign that summer is upon us?  And I do so think it sad when it becomes clear, by the downsizing of the berry section at the supermarket, that the season is ending.

Here's a sweet little recipe for strawberry bread that may be just enough to hold onto the last berries of the season a bit longer.  And, also this recipe works great with frozen strawberries so if you are hunkering for a bit of summer even in the months ahead, well, this may be just the thing to whisk you back to these long days in the sun.

Strawberry Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

4 cups strawberries 

cut into small pieces and gently mashed

or

2 10 ounce packages of frozen strawberries

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons cinnamon

3 eggs

1 1/4 cup oil

1/4cup nuts

Preheat oven to 350

Prepare to 9x5 inch loaf pans by spraying with non stick spray and lightly coating with flour.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.

Mix wet ingredients together.

Pour into well and stir together to dampen all ingredients.

Fold in the chopped nuts.  

Bake at 350 for one hour

I sure do hope you are enjoying these last days of summer.  I think I might have had just enough of this sweet season, perhaps, and will look forward to those fall days filled to bursting with holiday hustle and bustle... maybe, just perhaps...

live sweet,

n

@isanyonethere...

And also, how @Ifoundmyself2Nite at the local mall buying a smart phone and smartly riding the choo choo train.

So, of course it's wordless Wednesday and I oh so appropriately have like a gazillion words bouncing around in my head about life and opening up a little line of sweetness and twitter, tweets and trending-- what the?! 

Little Seanzy and I were doing a quick, I'm outta instant coffee and there's a twitter party I've rsvp'd for that starts at noon and geesh those tweets sure would flow a whole lot more freely with a freshly mixed, and by mixed I mean I take a heaping tablespoon of chunky freeze dried coffee grindish stuff in a cup and mix it up and call it awesome and they really should consider selling this stuff at Starbucks, but oh wait they do, 'cause you know... the awesomeness.  

So, off we went to get some more instant coffee and splenda.  And, well, turns out Costco is like my very own land of the lotus eaters, if in a "why get one roll of paper towels when you could have like a whole little house full" and you really do need forty new dish sponges and a truck load of cherries, yeah, cherries would be good. 

So there I was spending way too long in Costco and coming out with way too much and oh where had the time gone.  And I rushed home and on my way home called that Charlie, he's so stinkin' patient and fiegns concern so wonderfully.  So I called to say if I had a smart phone I wouldn't have to go home to sit in front of the computer and type out my tweets and how am I any sort of a social media anything without a data package, (that there was my attempt at nerd-- which Charlie only, sort of, half bought).  And I then reiterated how very much it was cramping my style, the not having a smartphone from which to attend twitter parties and such .  And then I rushed into the house, Seanzy in tow, logged on to the twitter thingy with the hashtag thingy provided and contributed this...

Local Sugar Hawaii ‏@localsugarhi

#HealthyKids I am so excited we're here to talk healthy kids... thanks for having me @clevergirlscoll

ANNND... cue the crickets.

Turns out just because Hawaii is in the Pacific doesn't mean we are in the Pacific time zone and also, it seems a smart phone can't make up for being dumb and well, we'll see about that 'cause I have a new smart little phone sitting in front of me right this very second and so who's less than smart now?  Except there's a little light blinking on it and this could be important guys, but I'm not willing to ask Charlie about it 'cause he really is only allowed one eye ball rolling opp a day. 

Here's a little something that made the night worth the day-- Seanzy and I took our new smart phone for a choo choo train ride around the mall.  Smart, right?  

live sweet,

n

Join me, if you please, for a sweet link up with smart friends.