Quick video of the Grand Wailea Pool

This is just a quick vid snippet while I was relaxing by one of the Grand Wailea Pools...it was cloudy that day..but super hot when the sun would poke out.

A Collection of Hawaiian Palm Trees

Since I was fighting the flu bug while staying at the Grand Wailea..I found myself looking up a lot from my laying down and resting by the pool position. So I snapped pics of the palm trees. Enjoy....









Jonara Blu Maui
Jonara Blu Maui's Etsy Shop

Tropical Garden Flowers

These are flowers I captured along my walk from our hotel room to the pool area.

Red Ginger I learned something new...I thought these were called Torch Ginger..to me it looks like a torch of fire..esp in this picture..the way the sun shines on the top of the flower lighting it up. However when I looked up Torch Ginger in Wiki...I found torch ginger looks like this



Heliconia



Bird of Paradise



This was a really cool bromeliad...it had growing in the middle what looked like soft grass with a couple of tiny little pink flowers on top.



I believe this is Shell Ginger



can you find the star fruit? on one of the walk ways fruit trees line the path. Different citrus fruits as well as star fruit, cherry guava and these little red tomato looking things (on a tree) that aren't very good. I forget what they are called.

The Pools at The Grand Wailea

These are just a few shots of the swimming pools at the Grand Wailea

This top picture is where the waterslides let out. There is another to the right..the smaller slide. A lot of hotels on the island have revamped thier pool areas and added waterslides, but still none are as fun as the one at The Grand Wailea. This one snakes back and fourth so many times you expect it to end around each turn but it keeps going! You pick up a lot of speed, so much that your body goes up the sides a little.

In between the two waterslide outlets is a water elevator. It takes people up to the small slide, or you can continue to go on to the other pools that all conect by mini slides and eventually take you to the rapids. When the water lets out for the water elevator the rock in the middle of this picture goes off like a volcano...a water volcano.



Here is the view from the rope bridge. You can take this into the caves for a shortcut through the pools rather then having to go all the way around. From here you can see part of the rapids and the beautiful torch ginger growing everywhere.



Here is another view above the rapids.



And this is in the caves...part of it opens up to a pool that you can get to from the other side by swimming through a waterfall. Across this pool is a jacuzzi. Around the other side of the cave accessible from another pool is the swim up bar



Here is the pool the rapids let out into. At the end of the pool is a wide rapids slide.


Here is a view from the other direction that I found online. It's a lot of fun!

Pictures of the beautiful tropical flowers from a walk through the garden grounds soon to come :)

Our Favorite Hotel on Maui - The Grand Wailea

This weekend our little family of 3 stayed at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa. It was our 20th anniversary and we saved to do something special. We hadn't stayed there in close to 10 years.

It's the funnest hotel on the island as the pools are amazing. We have a few favorites here on the island, others may have a fun waterslide..and even better rooms, but nothing beats the pools and waterslides at the Grand.

I'll be posting pictures of our stay there over the next few days. It's a photographers dream..it's so beautiful there. I had my new point and shoot and so had a lot of fun. I actually got really sick the first night 101 fever..so I was a bit loopy but some of my pics turned out pretty nice considering. It's hard to take a bad picture of such a pretty place.

After you are greeted by the valet and lei greeter ..you are greeted by this friendly bronze mermaid. She is straight ahead as you walk in waiting for people to toss coins into her shell. I came back and took this pic later in the day so the shade is on the mermaid and it didn't turn out so well.



These bronze hula dancers are to the right..the boys are to the left but I forgot to get a picture.



Orchids line many of the walkways as well as clear blue waterways or Koi ponds. This was on the left side of the hotel and a different entrance then the grand front entrance. It's for self parking and still very beautiful. If you get your car back from the valet by 6:30 (valet closes at 7:00)and tell them you want to self park..you will save yourself 20.00 a day for the overnight valet parking. Your room key opens up the self parking area.



Here is when we first arrived to our room..hubby snapped a pic of my son Cameron and I on our balcony. We get a discount for being Kama'aina or a resident of Hawaii..so of course they give us the lowest room type and not the best view. I never care because I'm there to enjoy the pools. However we got a free room upgrade to an ocean view on the 6th floor once they found out it was our 20th anniversary ;)


This is the most dramatic of the pools. It's the adult area..no kids under 18 allowed. Also referred to by the staff as the 'sun worshiper pool' as there are no umbrellas over there for shade...only the 300 dollar a day cabanas.

Swimming in this pool makes you feel like you are breaking the rules and getting into a fountain lol! It's only, I believe, 3 feet deep and it has the huge and very beautiful step fountain running into it. It's actually entitled the Hibiscus Pool as it has a giant mosaic tile Hibiscus flower along the bottom of its 4,850-square-feet. The Hibiscus flower is made from over 630,000 pieces of Mexican glass mosaic tile. The entire pool contains over 2.2 million individual tiles and features two Jacuzzis. It's very impressive.



Just above the step waterfall are these happy little dolphins.



Then just beyond that is this long water way with fountains all the way down. There is a spot to walk out into the middle of it...you can kind of see it at the end..it puts you close to the dolphins but still in the middle of the fountains. As well as the spot I was standing at is another one that puts you in the middle of the waterway after the fountains stop though. All awesome places to take pictures at.



And last picture for today...one of me and my hubby on the second day.(Yay! Happy 20th anniversary to us!) This is dead center of the hotel, we were standing to the side of the mermaid pool. There is a big canoe there too and beyond that is a classy bar area that livens up in the evening. You can usually hear live piano music playing..but it was under renovation right now so we didn't get to enjoy that. The picture is a little blurry..kinda how I felt since I was so sick :\ I felt bad bringing cooties there..but what do you do? They wouldn't let me cancel. And man what a place to rest!



Stay tuned! More pictures to come!



Jonara Blu Maui
Jonara Blu Maui's Etsy Shop

More pictures from our walk

Here are more pictures from our walk the other day with my new little Sony Cybershot


red oleander



This is who we went to visit on our walk



We still have lots of jacaranda trees in bloom..I love how they leave purple 'snow' on the ground :)



here is some vibrant bouganvilla peeking through our neighbors fence

My new brochure! almost...

After a day of frustration I finally figured out how to make myself a brochure. It seems my computer does not have Microsoft Office Publisher or from what I hear it would have not been so difficult. All I wanted was one that folded the sheet of brochure paper in half..simple. What I ended up doing was make each 1/2 page in photoshop and then save as a jpeg. Then I found a template through Avery for a greeting card. Then I opened it in Word and shot my 4 pages of pictures into it. Finally!

Here are the results...hopefully once I get the hang of this I can come up with something better..but this was just put together late tonight after a day of just trying to figure out the whole template ordeal.






I did a test print print on regular paper of the two inside pages and it looked great. Then I put in the glossy brochure paper..made to sure to swith paper type to glossy...it printed out a mess! Ink everywhere! I did just change the blue ink..but this looks black. I'm printing a bunch of sheets that say just 'clean me' since I'm not really sure how to wipe it off. It seems to be getting less and less. I'm probably doing it all wrong lol! Oh and the color is way different in the picture on the glossy paper then on the regular paper. Whats that all about? seems like they are missing a hue...

I wanted these brochures ready for this weekend. My family and I will be staying at the Grand Wailea Spa and Resort for our 20th anniversary. I wanted to visit some of the shops in Wailea while I was there and introduce my jewelry.

A Walk Through our Neighborhood

Yesterday my son and I took a longer walk then usual. We've been really wimpy about our walks and only have been taking them up and down our short double cultesac street. But today we got an earlier start and headed down to my friends house to drop off something she needed.

I got a new point and shoot (Sony Cybershot DSC-S750)for my anniversary present so my son took it along and got some nice snapshots

This is one of our flowering trees that line some of the neighborhood streets..the flowers are awesome


This is a giant batch of bamboo growing by a neighbors house. It sounds so awesome in the wind..I can just imagine how calming it must be at night while going to sleep



and this is another one of those flowering trees with a palm tree behind it. The sky was so blue..the colors were amazing in person. I think my little camera captured things pretty good though yeah?

Getting married at the beach?

Photograph by Aihara Visuals


Maui is the choice location for many couples with dreams of tying the knot in one of the most romantic settings possible. What better backdrop could you ask for than the beautiful ocean and its waves against a clear blue sky...majestic lava rock formations and soft warm sand at your feet?

Brides of many tastes come to get married on our island. Some wear nontraditional more 'island style' casual gowns while others prefer to dress to a "T"...risking it all for romance.

Photograph by Aihara Visuals

But what about jewelry?

Jonara Blu Maui offers an alternative idea in beach bridal jewelry perfect for every taste. Our island-themed jewelry is both beachy-natural and romantically-classic. It focuses on the organic appeal of freshwater pearls and shells often with hints of Swarovski crystals that sparkle amazingly in the sun. The resulting look goes perfectly with all styles of wedding gowns because it ties in with the natural serenity of the ocean as well as the beauty and romance of the occasion.





Anklets are the perfect choice for fancying up those bare wedding feet.


Our favorite style of beach wedding necklaces are those we create on silk. These are hand-knotted with a very small amount of space in between each set of beads. This creates an 'island look' that is more organic than the solid strung necklace...yet it is still very dressy and classy.







And let's not forget the beach bridesmaid...



Let us help complete your beach wedding experience with the perfect accessories. You'll walk away with something very special that can continue to be enjoyed for years to come...

Photograph by Aihara Visuals



Island Inspired Beach Bride Jewelry by Jonara Blu Maui

Lure of the Ocean - Maui Pearl Jewelry

A beautiful mother of pearl shell with hints of champagne/tan coloring hangs from the center of a shimmering mix of Swarovski crystals, tan freshwater rice pearls and freshwater coin pearls dyed a mocha sand tone. These coins are a very nice quality, smooth and lustrous with a shimmer that pics up so many colors in the sunlight. Each are hand knotted on tan silk cord.

For more information check this piece out here