Shake, Rattle, and ROLL!

That's right, earthquake! And boy did it really roll. As a California native, I have to admit the rolling ones are much easier to handle than the sharp, jerky ones. Today's quake struck at 11:42am, 5.8 magnitude, centered in Chino Hills. Sounds like no major damage anywhere, but it was a long one, probably about 15 seconds, and I stood in my hallway doorjamb and watched my TV sway, fingers crossed that our expensive flat screen would hold up on our cheap Ikea TV stand. Scott and I are moving in 2 weeks, so I guess this is SoCal's sweet goodbye to us...

update: quake has been down-graded to a 5.4, and has been described as your "garden variety" earthquake...whatever that means

Snorkeling

We did a lot of snorkeling in Maui, and Scott took hundreds of pictures of the fish using our new underwater camera. I have no idea what we will ever do with so many fish pictures, but Scott and his brother Jeff are really into tropical fish, so they atleast had fun looking through them. I really don't want to bore my blog readers with a slideshow of fish specimans, so I am posting only 1 fish picture...just imagine this little guy a hundred times over in different colors, stripes, and sizes =)

Zipline Maui!

One of our trips in Maui was to a zipline course. I picked this trip, Scott picked a snorkeling cruise (more on that later). Ziplining is about as extreme as I will go...you will NEVER see me on a bungee or leaping from a plane. I was thrilled enough being harnessed and connected via a pulley system to a cable that spanned a canyon.
We set out in a van with our fellow zipliners to our base camp. At the camp, we received our designer harnesses and fashionable helmets. Then we were off to the course. We piled back into the van, and four-wheeled up to the first zipline (it was so bumpy that we had to wear our helmets in the van!). At the first line, our guides gave us a quick how-to, and then we were off!

Our guides hooked us up to the line, and all we had to do was walk down the stairs a few steps and we would start ziplining. At the other end, there is a ramp for landing (and a guide to help us!). It is quite a rush and I was a little nervous on the first one to even look around =)
We had a total of 8 runs, and on each zipline they taught us something new to do, like run and jump instead of inching down the stairs, and learning to steer the pulley so you can turn and see the ocean. I never caught on to the steering thing and approached many landings backwards...thank goodness the guides were there to straighten me out! We hiked between each zipline, and took in beautiful views of the ocean and the hills and canyons behind Lahaina Town. The last zipline was a whopping 1100 feet long, and by then I was over my nerves and able to enjoy the ride =)

Wedding Photos!!!

The pictures are here!!!! Click HERE to see them...

Maui through food

One of the reasons Scott and I chose Maui for our honeymoon was the restaurant scene on the island. Maui has some great Hawaiian Regional Cuisine chefs. Basically, there are 2 types of cuisine in Hawaii (well, actually 3 if you count American food too). There is Hawaiian food, which is native Hawaiian food you get at luaus ( poi, roast pig, lomi-lomi), which is a mix of Hawaiian, Polynesian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spam. The fine dining establishments tend to stay away from this cuisine, but there are many local places, especially in Honolulu, where you can find good plate lunches (meat, rice, and potato salad). Now in the 1990s a few chefs decided that Hawaii needed a fine dining scene, so they "invented" a new style of cooking called Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, and it is delicious!! To be considered Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, the food must come from the islands. For example, locally caught fish vs. Alaskan halibut, Kula Farm beets vs. shipped from the mainland. Hawaii has been the front runner of local eating for years now, and now the mainland is finally catching up. Needless to say, Scott and I were totally spoiled our whole trip, knowing exactly what dairy our goat cheese came from (Surfing Goat), to the slopes where the lamb was raised (Haleakala). I was really thrown for a loop when we returned to California and the restaurant menu did not specify where the greens in my salad were grown!
So here's some of our meals we enjoyed on our Hawaiian honeymoon.

At Lahaina Grill. I had Lion Paw Scallops, celery root mash, local asparagus, pancetta chips, champagne-pomegranate buerre blanc sauce....Scott had pink snapper, garlic mashed potatoes, Dungenous crab, tomato confit...my scallops were one of my favorite dishes of the trip!

Mama's Fish House. This place was amazing, set in a private cove and decorated with an almost kitschy Hawaiian theme. People travel from far for this place (we drove 45 min. to have lunch here). They are known for their FRESH fish (take a look at the menu, you know EXACTLY where it is from!) They were a bit pricey though, a cup of coffee cost $10!!
Merriman's Kapalua. This restaurant opened a week before we ate there. Peter Merriman is our favorite Hawaiian chef, and we ate at his flagship restaurant on the big island 4 years ago, and it is still one of our most memorable meals together. We didn't even know he was opening a place on Maui, a server at a place by our hotel told us, we called them up and canceled our Spago reservations to eat here instead. It was well worth it, and we would have eaten here every night if we could!!! Scott's sashimi....ahi poke with sesame oil and local hamichi with citrus julienne, served with carmel soy sauce. My salad: Kula Farms heirloom beets, this was the best salad I have ever had, so simple and fresh. The amuse bouche was a pineapple gazpacho, my third favorite dish of the trip...Scott needs to reproduce it at home for me! And the view was amazing, the restaurant is on a point overlooking the ocean and Molokai...anyone going to Maui has to eat here!!

Rehearsal, Wedding

OK, so I don't have any pictures on my camera of the rehearsal, wine tasting, rehearsal dinner, or wedding. So I am going to skip pictures on this post. I know everyone has already seen Devon's pictures and blurbs about the big day anyway. Of course though, I will post my photographer's link when those pics are ready!
But here is a quick summary of it all:
I held a LOVELY ribbon bouquet made by my Auntie Anne for the rehearsal, it had ribbons trailing to the ground. After the rehearsal, the wedding party headed to the barrel room at Murrieta's Well where we had a private wine tasting. The wine host, unfortunately, was a history buff and proceeded to recite Livermore's complete history prior to pouring any wine (enough all ready!!!!). But once the wine started flowing, all was good. My grandpa brought a special bottle for the tasting, a 1973 Chauteau something (can't remember and the bottle is at my parent's house). Here is the story of the bottle: My mom and dad gave this bottle of wine to my grandpa in 1975. After my mother passed away, my grandpa decided to keep the wine and open it on either my or my brother Jason's wedding day (whichever came first). I'm sure my grandpa sweated a bit worrying about the wine's age as neither Jason nor I got married for awhile. So we were full on expecting this wine to have already passed it's prime when we opened it, but it was MARVELOUS. I think it may have tasted even better maybe 5-10 years ago, but it definitely still had good flavor, and it was so special to share it with our friends and family.
After wine tasting, we headed off to Casa Orozco Mexican Restaurant and feasted on Mexican food and pitcher upon pitcher of margaritas. There were many toasts, my favorite one was short and sweet straight from the heart from my dear cousin Julianna. Everyone had a blast, and I headed home for the night while the rest of the party continued at the hotel.
The wedding day was next. Neither Scott or I were nervous, everything went off without a hitch, and it was PERFECT!!! I walked down the aisle to a subtle version of "Someday My Prince Will Come", and Scott and I danced to "Waste"(a Phish song) covered by Dave Matthews. I danced with my dad to "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. Appetiezers included heirloom tomato bruschetta, seared ahi, and smoked chicken salad brioches. Everyone ate a double cut smoked pork chop with Brentwood peach chutney, polenta, and garden chard. The cake was a buttercream chiffon cake with creme brulee filling with fresh strawberries. After dinner, everyone danced...the DJ even commented that she could have played anything and this crowd would have danced! My high school friend Nina caught the bouquet. It really was perfect, and I made sure not to let the time pass to quickly and partied the night away on the dance floor =)

Dinner at Pam's

Our dear friend Pam (the mother of my childhood friend and neighbor Haley), invited us to her home prior to our wedding for a celebration of our choice. Scott and I chose to have a dinner with our parents and siblings hosted by Pam. Now Pam is quite an entertainer...she works in the restaurant industry, and loves to cook...we were in store for a gourmet night of fun!
My parents, brothers Jason and Max, Scott's mom and siblings Jeff and Kelly all met up at Pam's house, greeted by tuna and beef tar tar and wonton chips. We were also served BBQ pork with hot mustard and cheesy gruyere puffs (mmmm...panko-crusted deep fried gruyere cheese!) during cocktail hour. Dinner consisted of 4 courses: pan seared scallop on a bed of corn and cotija cheese (served on a scallop shell), celery remoulade with mango, beef wellington, and I can't quite remember exactly what dessert was, but it involved chocolate, strawberries, and an awesome coffee creme anglaise. So that's just a quick summary of the food portion of the evening, now onto drinks!
My dad played the role of bartender for cocktail hour, and Pam kept our wine glasses full throughout dinner (to the point where you have no idea how much you have drank!) But the highlight of the night was definitely the suck and blows. You have GOT to try these! Basically, it is a plastic tube open on both ends that you fill with homemade jello (you know, the kind with vodka in it). Now two people take the tube in their mouths, and then you just do what it is called, one person sucks and the other blows! Scott and I both took turns sucking and blowing, then Jeff and Kelly sucked and blowed (blew??), and then Kelly and Jason took a turn sucking and blowing. Great party fun...you can purchase at www.suckandblow.com

Scott couldn't stop laughing!
Brother & sister...a little disturbing??
Kelly is ready to blow!

Needless to say, we all had fun, broke a few glasses, and rumor has it that it took Pam 3 days to clean up!

Next post: rehearsal!

Holly McCarthy here...

I'm back! Scott and I returned from Maui on Sunday, then jetted off to Napa Valley for a night to prolong the honeymoon before returning to the real world. Although once we did return, my parents took us to see Stevie Wonder, so we really can't complain...
I just want to drop a note on my blog to let everyone know to be on the look out for many new posts...starting with our pre-wedding family dinner at our friend Pam's house to the rehearsal dinner, to the big day, and on to Maui. I have waaay to many photos to download, so keep checking back!
By the way...my wedding day was a dream come true, everything was perfect, and as far as I could tell, EVERYONE had a ball! Check out devon's blog for pics...