Honestly, this is the most beautiful island …. let’s call it paradise.
Jurassic Park Luscious green forests Friendly locals Outdoor adventure galore Picture worthy sunsets Awe-mazing poke bowls Traffic Jams Crystal Clear Blue Water Big Waves Cleanliness Food Trucks Wild Chickens Outdoor Living Hiking with awe droping views!
Waikiki Beach also known as the most beautiful sunset on the island.
Simply put, this is how I would describe my time visiting Oahu, Hawaii.
Life is meant for the living and let me tell you that over here they are not afraid of taking risks. Before I get into the best of the best during our visit to Oahu, Hawaii…
A quick note…Oahu is insanely beautiful and there are many great outdoor activities to choose from. However, being that we also wanted some time to relax, enjoy the beach, swimming and some fun pool time with the kids, we did not explore the other Hawaiian islands. But I would definitely recommend at least visiting 2 of them because it is GORGEOUS especially if you’re not planning on coming back anytime soon….lordy lord those are long flights with kids….
I don’t always have time to eat… Is this you? Well, being a mom some days you just need a quickie, I mean a no brainer, throw everything in the blender/Vitamix and voilà! I am a big fan of healthy, nutritious meal in a cup, or in this case in…
”I don’t want to have kids because I want to travel”
This statement could not be any more wrong. Yet, I hear it soooooo often, and it’s the number one thing that gets us nervous when we usually think of traveling with young kids.
Do you squeak like a dolphin whenever you think ”well, I want to travel but….I have young kids”
What’s your story?
Did she tell you this?… scenario number 1
Are you one of those moms that socializes at mommy groups. You know the place where moms happily shares their mom undereye bags stories and secretly compares their child’s motor skills and natural abilities to the other ones. Then, a comment about our childless friends might slip into the conversations because honestly, we can all relate to this subject one way or another.
True story, one mom said that her ”friends without kids” would lovingly look at her kids and say” your kids are soo cute, ahhhh you should have more”. Then she replied: ”why don’t you have some then” , that’s when it happened…”no way, we want to travel, kids aren’t for us….but yours are sooo adorable!” Yep, that answer is becoming a natural pairing like salt & pepper, couples and traveling.
OR did she tell you this? ….scenario number 2
The instructor of the zipline told me that she was engaged. A very fit, petite, funny and late twenties, I’d bungee jump looking kinda women. As soon as she heard that we had left our 2 young kids at the airbnb with my parents so we could do an activity together, like fire burning her toes, she immediately added that ”I’m not ready for kids, I want to travel before any kids”
Yes, traveling before having babies launch out of you is great but don’t fall into the ”i’m doomed to stay at home or only visit relatives and friends” lifestyle if that is not your hearts desire.
Traveling with kids can be a wonderful experience if you let go of expectations and carry a well-packed mommy bag.
Imagine if you could take, let’s say a basic tshirt in your closet and create a dozen different looks around it….
…well you can and today I am giving you an example of how I wore 1 tshirt with black pants and styled it a few different ways.
Who doesn’t want to be able to make that tshirt go a long way by wearing it multiple ways ….yep no one will be telling you ” you’re wearing that again?” or ”don’t you ever wash your clothes…” because by wearing it with different things in your closet, no one will focus on that ONE piece but look at your overall style and say ”Wow, that looks good on you!”
This is your chance to have fun and stretch your creativity muscles a bit.
So today, I hope that you can get inspired to take one of your pieces or even the one that you are bored with and wear it differently.
This is the most common question I get asked What’s in style, what colors should I wear now, what are the trends this season?… This is important… …you should wear what you love, that being said, who doesn’t love to know what is going on and is trending. So driven…
This is my go-to 30 minute quick and easy, get the food on the table right now recipe.
The inspiration for this dish is from my hubby’s North African origins and one of his favorite dish. He always asks for a sauce with any and every meal, while I rather used to dislike them. Over the years, I have experimented with his cultural recipes and have made a lot of similar versions of this well known North African Shakshuka.
What is Shakshuka?
Shakshuka basically consists of a simple tomato sauce with spices, oignons, green peppers, sometimes adding merguez (sausage) but always adding a few eggs directly in the sauce to cook on top. It can easily be a breakfast dish with toast or a quick lunch but we usually have it for dinner.
Unlike other celebrated day of the year, Valentine’s Day inspired/themed baby clothing can be worn any day of the year.
Hearts, Bows, Arrows, Sparkles, Red, Pink or White, these details and colors are always cute on babies anytime.
Let’s be honest, sometimes the style is so cute that you don’t want to risk it being sold out. However, I usually prefer to shop and wear later even a few Valentine’s Day inspired baby\toddler styles once the sales hits.
We all know that the cutest outfits are usually for the little girls but…
He knocked on my university dorm room, I was studying wearing the ugliest 10 years old joggers, you know, the ones you would never be caught dead in but are perfectly worn out and comfy. Even my family had tried to throw them out after doing the laundry…yep, it was bad. I shouldn’t have opened the door but I was curious, who in the world wanted to talk to me today, I was in my dorm room studying. It was him. I did not know him yet, nor did I know the love we would have, nor the emotions and pain we would experience together and apart.
If you had asked me when I was in high school, which guy I wanted to spend my life with, never in a million years would I have imagined him. I didn’t even know his country existed…Tunisia, (yep you can check the world map, I did, like I’m certain most of my family and friends have too) or knew nothing about his culture. So you can imagine the acceptance, understanding and growing pains we both endured along our path.
All this to say that sometimes you don’t really realize how you are living, until, you meet someone who is totally different then you who pushes you outside your comfort zone and makes you understand some important love lessons.
Never underestimate the power of a good hot chocolate.
Maybe you prefer chocolate only in your desserts, maybe on special occasions, maybe after every meal or if you are like me, then a good hot chocolate is oh soo good at any time from morning to evening.
So here a 3 hot chocolate recipes that will give your taste buds a party because deep down the thought of drinking a good one makes you smile.
Here are a few key pieces to take your winter style from looking like a Michelin snowman to ”oh, hey there good looking!” and that’s your inner voice doing the talking.
Most days it isn’t usually -20 degrees (or -4 Farenheit) like what we have been getting this week (which we basically need to look like walking hot dog to survive, hello puffy winter coat). HOWEVER, most days we can actually look pretty good rocking our winter clothing by simply adding a few key layering pieces.
‘’Mom,
where are all the kids?’’ My then 2 ½ year old son asked me as we did our
usual playground outing near our house.
Honestly, I
probably wouldn’t have given it a conscious thought if he hadn’t pointed this
fact with concern and a little disappointment.
‘’I don’t know’’ was the only and real answer I could tell him.
I could
have made up some excuses ‘’it’s nap time, it’s lunch time, the kids are at
school, the kids are on vacation or even maybe they went to another park…’’ But
what was the point.
It seems that kids and parents (who need to accompany their kids) are not that interested or too lazy to go outside.
So that is
when I started documenting every time we went to a playground last Fall up
until recently this Winter.
If you are like me, then Winter Wear is probably the most challenging season to dress colorfully while staying true to your own style. Wearing clothing that isn’t always, black, grey or any other popular dark shade sold in Winter can sometimes seem complicated. Let’s not even mention all the layers that keeps our fingers, neck, head and toes warm all the while looking good and feeling great can seem overwhelming and a mouthful!
Let alone wanting to look good without freezing or getting lost in what might feel like thousands layers of clothing, boots, gloves, hat, socks or tights.
But why should you care about wearing color?
Color has the power to boost your mood. I wrote about each color here.
So feeling inspired to wear brighter colors this winter, here is one color combo that is wonderful together…
These are my 2018 favorite baby & toddler items tried, tested and that get the Citrus Love stamp of approval!
Since there are so many products available these days, it really helps when parents share the ones that they truly love and that are totally worth it.
If you have been following me, then you know that I enjoy trying new brands and products. A few are now on repeat whenever my baby or toddler grows out of them. In this post, I am only sharing with you items that I truly love and that I would definitely recommend if you asked me to choose for you.
Another year has come and gone. The countdown and probably your holiday preparations have already started. I absolutely LOVE LOVE this time of year because we always plan something special either going to visit my family or a road trip with my love and little ones.
Another fun thing is reading or listening to some Favorite lists/items/products… so I thought this year I would share with you by category, some of my 2018 favorite items. So this week, I am featuring some of this years favorite fashion items.
I truly enjoy trying new things and we all know how beneficial and oh so simpler it is when an item receives a good review. In the spirit of the Holidays, I hope that this list will give you ideas, maybe for you, maybe as a gift, of items that I believe are worth it and that will last a few seasons.
