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.

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

Summer Starfish Earrings

Fun summer earrings with turquoise and copper starfish charms.
Available here


Jonara Blu Maui - Fresh and Funky Beaded Jewelry with an Island Twist!

Cane fields and ocean

Just the view as we drove down the volcano towards the drag races in Kihei yesterday




Jonara Blu Maui
Jonara Blu Maui's Etsy Shop

The different stages of a king protea flower...

I took these at the Kula Lavender Farm. I didn't get one though with it all the way open...still these are so pretty and I think it's so cute how they start out as a little ball and change their shape so much as they grow.

Jonara Blu Maui- Fresh and Funky Beaded Jewelry with an Island Twist - Island Wedding Jewelry - Beach Themed Jewelry - Maui Pearl Jewelry - Beach Brides and Bridesmaids

Picnic Upcountry Maui

On Saturday my mom was watching my nephews while my sis at Aihara Visuals had a wedding photoshoot..so we decided to take the boys up for a picnic near the Lavender Farm here in upcountry Maui.

We sat out in a huge feild of grass and wild flowers...bee's and yes dried cow patties lol! Not too bad..you just had to watch out. It was really an amazing place to enjoy lunch..



The view was something else..as you sit up there you feel like you are on top of the world. It's still been hazy though from the volcanic action on the Big Island..so my pictures aren't that great...



cows...hence the cow patties..I do see a fence there though..maybe some are escape artists ;-)



The road through here up to Haleakala National Park is super windy..back and forth, back and forth...as you can see here onGoogle Maps The blue pinned spot is where the Lavender Farm is..we had our picnic in the middle of the second curvy spot up.



it woudl be so much fun on a motorcycle..we saw a few enjoying the ride



Jonara Blu Maui Fresh and Funky beaded jewelry with an island twist
beach wedding jewelry hand crafted on the island of Maui, Hawaii
www.jonarablumaui.com
my etsy shop

New Unconventional Bridal Necklace

I have wanted to make some bridal jewelry using more of an off white colored pearl for some time, however I have had a problem finding that color of pearl..esp in coin pearls. Any ivory color I get in other shapes is so similar to white and with how small they are it's hard to tell a difference. Ivory is hard to find to in the all the shapes and sizes I want to work with. It's nice to have different shapes and sizes to add texture and design to a pieces. So I decided to mix some white and ivory and to put them with some tan silk cord and some golden shadow colored Swarovski crystals. It may not be for the conventional bride..but then most of my bridal jewelry isn't.

Here is the result..the little bit of tan coloring mixed it helps to take away from that conventional 'all white' look...perfect for a beach wedding...




This necklace is available here

Visit Jonara Blu Maui for more beach wedding jewelry.