Aloha oukou lovebugs-

Today was Kathy's birthday. I had mentioned in an earlier post that she is the housekeeper/groundskeeper here. I kind of got the vibe she doesn't have too many people around here and I wanted to do something nice so I baked her a cake last night! Needless to say, she was totally appreciative and floored even by the gesture. It's so easy to make someone's day. I guess that's all I need to make mine :)

Also, I've taken the task of starting a pinterest board here at Haiku Mill and have gone absolutely crazy with it. We got a phone call from TX today from a young lady who was inquiring about having a wedding here at the Mill because of what she saw on Pinterest. GO ME! Still a work in progress but it's coming...

What else. Hmm. Corine and I went out to a Mexican spot for a quick dinner. Anyone who has gone out with me on Cinco de Mayo needs to go to Las Pinatas in Maui. There are at least 35 (overkill) pinatas hanging from the ceilings and although it's not "real" Mexican as I was so 'privileged' to have in LA with Cam, it was still delicious. I said in an earlier post that food tastes better here for some reason and so I'm trying everything...this was no exception. I took every single sauce they had just to try it. Corine was cracking up watching me get every single sauce they had....promise I didn't put it all over everything! I even had some of a fish taco! Seriously, why doesn't food taste this good everywhere else? Organic may in fact not be a bunch of bologna like I had previously thought. My taste buds are going craaazy.

I wish this picture did justice to what I just saw. It really doesn't even come close.

She also introduced me to the best chocolate I have EVER had in my entire life. If you don't know, my favorite chocolates are the Kinder chocolates with the white chocolate on the inside and milk chocolate on the outside that almost look like KitKat's. Apparently the Macadamia nut is really big over here, and these chocolates are SLAMMIN'. I didn't even like Macadamia nuts until an hour ago. They're that good.

Oh. I've got a baby "Molly" story. As Corine and I were driving to run an errand before dinner (somewhere in Haiku so its super rural), we saw WILD peacocks. I was in passenger and she in driver and both of us were looking out opposite windows. I started pointing and going "BIRDS BIRDS BIRDS!" and Corine was screaming "OMG PEACOCKS! AHH PEACOCKS!" in extreme excitement. We literally laughed for maybe three full minutes while driving at our ridiculousness and excitement. Imagine two twenty-something young women looking out opposite windows and randomly seeing peacocks and simultaneously screaming. Ridiculous.

Tis all for now.

With warmest aloha,

MJ

ALSO. THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!! 700 VIEWS IN A WEEK?! (Okay, its really 642 right now but 700 by tomorrow!) Thanks Elton and Carlton for pushing me to start this blog! Since all of you are reading this and seem to be interested in my crappy writing and random life, I say you all come and visit. Come snuggle. I am an excellent cuddler if you like being kicked and punched in your sleep. See ya soon :)

Aloha!

Awesome and surprising news! I got a random text today saying that my picture is featured in Westchester Magazine! Curious as to where and why I was featured, I tweeted out and Westchester Magazine responded with a link. HA, social media at work. Anyways here's the link:

BOOM. 

Also, while I've been here I was contacted by a friend to be a "Leading L.A.D.I.E". Really excited and really honored to even be considered! 

As if news could get even better I FOUND A FRIEND! ....thanks to the wonderful, illustrious, beautiful and engaged Ashley Starks who started this team of young women at GW and called them the "Finest Fifteen". Basically, one of the "finest fifteen" live on Maui and surprisingly enough in the same town I am in. I'm way excited. The world really couldn't get any smaller. I'm in the middle of the Pacific on a tiny little island and I WOULD know someone who lives in the same exact town. I can already hear my sister saying "uncanny good fortune".

Also, thank you to Mrs. Franco for contacting her old friend in college and passing along his information. I have plans to meet up this weekend if all works out. Very excited. Thank you to the moon.

That's all for now. At work. 

With warmest aloha,

MJ

 

Aloha-

 

I'm going to try to explain this as best as I can:

 

 I'm sitting here doing a little bit of work and I just had a random flashback of the photographer from that dinner at Lumeria this past weekend. What came to my mind was him explaining his annual visits to Maui as his "sense checks"...meaning that whenever he returned to Maui he felt as if all five of his sense were activated. First of all, that is awesome coming from a huge photographer. Secondly, wow. I remember he gave me an example of city life using New York. He said, "In New York City, you focus more on your sense of sight and hearing. You don't use your sense of smell as much at all." He basically said that here in Maui you are aware of all of your senses and it's heightened because it is such a natural almost untouched environment. At any given point I can hear the ocean, hear the wind through the trees, smell the flowers, the food seems to taste better here (not sure why but it does.. I'm trying EVERYTHING), and don't start me on what I see. It's unreal. Almost ethereal.  Obviously you use all of your senses all of the time, but I really liked the way he put it into perspective for me. I've been struggling to explain what it is that has been captivating me here. I guess its just all of my senses.

With warmest aloha,

MJ

ps. shouldn't this blog be called MollyonMaui instead of MollyinMaui? ...woops.

pps. what is this on my photobooth? Shoutout to the photoshoot I had no idea was going on in my room last summer! ehem. This was the most recent picture below. That's what you get! xoxo

 

Aloha po,

This place is magical. 

I just got back from dinner with Sylvia at this local restaurant called Colleen's maybe ten minutes ago and I have a really cute story to tell you guys! So Sylvia and I went to dinner to let our hair down and just kick it after the work day. We shared this GIANT salad (woo, again be proud of me) and penne ala vodka with chicken as well a lemon bar for dessert and a couple of beers. When we asked for our check, the waitress came over and had told us that a gentleman had paid for our entire bill! Apparently he comes into Colleen's once a week and chooses a different table to pay for their entire meal to "pay it forward". HOW FREAKING CUTE!!!! I try my best to be conscience of paying it forward but this gentleman made my entire day and I am so happy! 

How lucky am I? As my little, more athletic, wittier, prettier and shorter sister would say: it must be my uncanny good fortune.

Oh, and here is a picture of the volcano as promised. Haleakala in all its majestic glory. Seriously, you have to see it in person to understand how breathtaking it is. I can't wait to go hiking! We are going to go hiking in the volcano crater (!!!!!!) and hopefully even see the seven sacred pools. I die. This life is too good.

Lastly, there was a photoshoot for the Mill at work today. Some Japanese people came in and set up the whole thing. Snap Snap. WHO'S SEEIN ME?!

Seriously. I'm so happy.

With warmest aloha,

MJ

Alohaaaaa friends,

I guess I'm on step 4? I already got burnt a bit on Sunday so it should turn into tan pretty soon...

With warmest aloha,

MJ

Aloha kakahiaka :)

Quick post. Yesterday was my second day EVER stand up paddling and I went for about two miles in a downwind by myself (Sylvia and Cassandra dropped me off at a location and I just followed the coast)! I only fell off once but I also sat down and paddled a lot of the time until I saw road....then I stood up really quickly and tried to show off. HAHA. 

Anyways, I got to our  meet up location maybe 30-40 minutes before Cassandra and Sylvia did so I messed around and tanned on the board (aka drifted into ocean, woke up and paddled myself back really quickly as to not drift out into the Tahitian express). Started to get a little windy so I got some resistance and a pretty decent workout in. Had a really good time. Very reflective and insanely beautiful to be out there by myself. 

IM A PRO.

Also, some random guys had asked me how long I had been paddleboarding. They didn't believe it was only my second time! Either I'm that good (quite possible lol) or they wanted to get a good look at the tall, beautiful, mixed goddess [aka me] in the red leopard print bikini. I'm going with the former. :)

With warmest aloha,

MJ

 

Aloha.

Quick post. Excellent evening. Tried fish. EVERYONE SHOULD BE SO PROUD OF ME!!! 

...and it tasted absolutely deeeelicious. I literally exclaimed "Oh my God, this tastes like chicken!" at the table. It was a filet of monchong with some sort of ginger, soy and sesame. Garnished with green beans, carrots, purple/blue and yellow potatoes. Honestly, I haven't had a better meal. Count me in for Pa'ia Fish Market, Chef!

Should mention dinner company was phenomenal. Sylvia invited Corine and I out to dinner at her friends brand new yoga retreat up country...maybe fifteen of the most influential people on the island right now. Jokes aside I was with: a notable German fashion photographer, his Japanese model wife, a creative director of sorts for the entire retreat, a marketing guru/owner of the retreat, a CFO of a pretty major real estate firm, a few others who I didn't have the opportunity to speak to (sit down dinner people, I'm trying), and of course Sylvia, Corine and myself.

AMAZING.

With warmest aloha, 

MJ

Aloha friends!

Before you start reading, click this link and make it a tab and listen to it while you read. I'm blogging to it:  Mood Setter. BOOM.

Im going to try not to write a lot and just post loads of pictures with little blurbs. So this morning we went PADDLE BOARDING! Basically you stand up on a surfboard looking thing (called a paddleboard lol) with a paddle and go places. It was my first time so we went maybe a mile, potentially two. Normally they go about 5-8 so they were just getting me acclimated. Tomorrow we are going again, so maybe I'll get up to 3-4 miles! 

Sidenote: I was way excited when I fell in (which is not good lol) because it was my first time FALLING into the Pacific. Sue me, I'm corny. Deal with it. I'm loving my life right now.

 

We went to Lipoa Road in Kihei. 
Sylvia (my boss) is on the left, Corine is on the far right, and right next to me is Sylvia's friend Cassandra.

Me and Kathy! She's the groundskeeper/gardener/lilikoi & mango juice maker :) Awesome, awesome, awesome character.

Terrible form, but hey...it's new for me.

From Maui you can see a few of the islands. From where we were paddleboarding we were able to see Lanai, Molokini, as well as a lot of Maui.

Corine and I

One of my friends told me that Maui has almost EVERY ecosystem in the world. Mountains, Volcano, Desert, Jungle, Agricultural, etc. I am determined to see them all. So incredible to think that a small little island has everything. Anyways, here's a little bit of what I was able to snap while on my way to Kihei...

 Desert in Kihei!

 Most of Kihei is desert. There are irrigation systems under the ground that account for the little sprouts of green that show up, but naturally it would all be desert. They only get about 3-5 inches of rain a year! Apparently there are other parts of Maui that have cactus and such as well.

 Corine driving. Hey girl, HAY.

These are the West Maui Mountains...they're beautiful.


Haleakala is the volcano on the island. I seriously thought it was the mountain the whole time and kept asking "Where is the volcano? I must see it". SERIOUSLY, what a fail. Its literally on my left everyday. Maybe tomorrow I'll manage to snap a picture. I'm seriously ridiculous.

Does this view get old? Mountains in the back. Ho'okipa Beach on the right.

This is the drive from our house... There's something so pure about everything here. Its just SO beautiful. I can't figure out any other way to say it.


Also, just a HUGE shoutout to all of my friends keeping in touch with me! And thank you Jared for the Hawaiian reggae- I love it.

I can really understand now how people just come to visit and stay forever on this island or fall in love and never return ::hi Jordan::.  EB, if it so happens that I go "From the first few days of unfamiliarity to the hubby and 4 kids living on the side of a volcano in 2033", I hope you make a multi-million dollar movie out of it and give me at least 5% royalties. THANKS.
Hopefully you'll all see me in December!

With warmest aloha,
MJ

ALOHA.

THIS IS IN CAPS CAUSE IM FREAKING OUT. THERE ARE GECKOS EVERYWHERE. okay, enough caps cause that could get seriously annoying to the eyes, but I am pretty much yelling. 

I thought I was over my gecko fear (or at least that I could deal with it because they are literally everywhere), but obviously I cannot and I am writing this post in the chandelier kitchen with my feet up because I know there are geckos crawling somewhere. This is a message in distress so pardon my incorrect grammar, terrible writing, etc. 

I saw a baby gecko (maybe 2 inches big) on my bed and literally screamed, freaked out, texted my "besties!" group [hay, its ya girl scared of geckos], and ran out of the room. Since it is a Friday and I only got here Tuesday and have no friends I am chillin alone in the pretty kitchen watching HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF GECKOS ROAM AROUND. Its literally maybe 7:45 pm and pitch black outside. In my wildest nightmares, I wouldn't be watching this. Well, things could be horribly worse but since I have a flair for dramatics we can just roll with this.

Anyways, I texted a bunch of people while I was freaking out and I think my favorite text I sent was: 

"where is my Hawaiian Polynesian The Rock looking boyfriend to help me and be the gecko police? SERIOUSLY I AM A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS"

I also called my father aka "daddygoogle" ...he knows all... and he told me the geckos would NOT get me. All of my friends told me this as well, but coming from my father it is more legitimate as he knows all and literally kept me calm for ten minutes. Thanks Dad...HI!

 I guess I'm just not used to 'island sounds'. The mangos and lilikoi from the trees fall and hit the roof before the ground, the geckos chirp, they crawl places and STAY and freak me the hell out, the wind blows and its way loud, its pitch black...things are just different than life at home. I'll learn to like it. I mean I guess this is the price for living in paradise?

Buuut seriously...HELP. Send aid. Send mosquito netting (I totally cant afford it if peanut butter is $9). Send something. 

with love. with warmest aloha, 

MJ

aloha :)

Yesterday, Corine (one of the event planners here who just happened to perform on Cirque du Soliel for SIX years and is absolutely out-of-this-world beautiful) took me out "downtown". Let's just say its cute. We also went to Macy's and they actually had this section of the store..see picture. Hawaiian print is real, folks.

Anyways, I also dipped my toes in the Pacific for the FIRST TIME!!! oh wassup its ya girl in the pacific. 

'tis all. Today is Friday so maybe I'll have something good to post later but tomorrow I'm going PADDLEBOARDING. beat that suckas. 

with warmest aloha, 

 MJ

Aloha oukou reading this post!

I was kindly reminded by my friend Seth (Hi, remember that house party this past summer? Hope Argentina is spectacular. Miss you!) that I forgot to post why exactly I moved here to Maui for a few months and what exactly I am going to be up to while I'm here. SOO, for all you readers I am going to fill you in...

Five or six weeks ago I found this INCREDIBLE opportunity (while googling and researching) doing destination wedding planning in Maui at the Haiku Mill. Then 3.5 weeks ago I found out I got offered a three (Hi Sarah, I'm staying 4, I know) month long position as a "stagiaire" and gave my two weeks notice for my job in NY. And three days ago, I got here. BOOM. That's the story, that's how it happened, and no one can say that I'm not spontaneous now.

Anyways, go to www.haikumill.com to REALLY see what it looks like over here because I can't do it justice. I'm living in a huge mansion estate on a remodeled sugar cane field. There are trees, greenery, and shrubs everywhere. The sun is strong, the breeze is ever present and the smell of the island is completely intoxicating. There are banana plants and mango trees and all kinds of fruits and flowers growing on the property. I look to my left and I see the mountains. I look to my right and see the water...rather Ho'okipa Beach which is one of the most coveted beaches to do windsurfing. I will be trying that. The Mill, where the weddings happen, is an open airy plaza and to the right of it is a small sugar cane house where the brides get ready. I think the best way to describe it would probably be "enchanting". There's also the main estate where I am staying in my own corridor with a bedroom, walk in closet, desk, bathroom, hallway, outdoor shower and indoor bathroom. If you've never showered outside in the middle of paradise, I suggest you do. It's EVERYTHING. I have a door to seperate myself from the main house and one that is connected to my bedroom if I want to go outside. I literally could write a novel on the rest of the house but I'll spare you all and just say "it's divine". There's a chandelier in the kitchen...you can imagine the rest of the house. Everything is white or ivory and french inspired antiques are everywhere. I'm literally living in the middle of paradise in a mansion. FML. :) The owner, Sylvia is one of the most genuine women I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She is out of this world beautiful and has such a pure heart. She paddle boards all the time and I think we are going to do that this Saturday! That's her below. That's her surfboard and oar for paddleboarding while she was in Venice. What a life.

Oh, they also had a Sports Illustrated Swim shoot here in 2008. Bite me.

I'm already in love. Seriously, how could you not be?

With warmest aloha,

MJ

Aloha (again)

Forgot to say I went to the grocery store yesterday and things actually are *incredibly* expensive over here. $9 for PEANUT BUTTER. Called my mother from the grocery store (hi mom) and she said "don't eat". Hopefully I'll come back super skinny in time for my birthday (Sarah go work out lol).

After the grocery store, Sylvia took me on a little tour of Makawao which is this old kind of cool cowboy town with tons of remodeled sugar cane houses.  Really interesting place. Sweet little "one of a kind" shops and restaurants.

As we were driving up to Makawao we saw some of the mountains. ABSOLUTELY spectacular...and then I broke into the pineapple field.

With warmest aloha,

MJ

Aloha kakahiaka!

 

It's about 830am here and I'm a little early in the office, trying to get organized before everyone else arrives. I figured I'd let you know what happened last night because I already have a "Molly" story. I'll keep it quick...

Basically, as I was going to go to sleep I looked in the left upper corner of my room and saw a GECKO (you have to imagine you are me for this to work/be hilarious). Obviously its late and I cant scream like a chicken with my head cut off so I run out of the room knees high and hands covering my mouth, hair looking crazy and contacts in still. I have a little corridor in the main house so I run into the living room which is right next to my little home. The living room is beautiful and french inspired and all white and absolutely not for really "living". I'm in my little sleep shorts and a crop (what I wear to sleep) but not really in any position to be seen my the people I work with on my FIRST day at all so this situation has all become quite problematic for me over a five inch little gecko. I decide I'm a punk and that I'm absolutely NOT going to sleep in the gecko room but rather I'm going to pass out on the couch with my contacts on as well as all my clothes and just hope that Sylvia (the owner of HM, and in essence my boss) doesn't see me passed out on the couch. Actually, it was about 5am in NY and I was blowing up everyone's phone trying to figure out what I should do about this gecko. So I'm lying on this beautiful couch I'm not sure if anyone actually sits on and I hear her above me (I'm in her part of the house) and I quietly call out "Sylviaaaa" and shock the hell out of her. The whole house is dark and obviously she wasn't expecting anyone to be awake. And she leans over the balcony corridor and asks me whats up. I tell her my little gecko story and she basically assures me the gecko wont get me and I am fine and they are everywhere. This OBVIOUSLY does not put my mind at ease that these lizards are all over the house and island. I decide after a while I can handle the gecko because all they do is crawl on walls and it wont hurt me (being I am at least 500x their size) and I finally drift off into sleep. I wake up and the gecko is gone! I looked all over my bathroom and room and living area and actually just told Sylvia and Stephanie (an event planner here) what happened. We all laughed, but I am still afraid of geckos. The end.

That's the living room. See me in the mirror? Hi!

Aloha makamaka!

Today was my first day working at the beautiful Haiku Mill on Maui. I'm already completely enamored by the beauty, old school elegance and Hawaiian hospitality that the Mill seems to radiate. There are actually no words that can begin to explain how incredible and magical this place is. Pua Le'a means "blossoming passion" in Hawaiian, I guess I'll leave it at that since I'm a horrible writer...

 Woke up early- walked around outside just because. SO BEAUTIFUL.

Took a break at work and walked to the Mill. Even during the daytime its SO beautiful.

With warmest aloha,
 MJ
 

Aloha beautiful people!

Landed yesterday. The absolute first thing I did when I landed (besides getting "lei-ed") was go to the beach. It was windy by the water so pardon my hair...also I was on a plane for 5.5 hours.

Sylvia, the owner of the Haiku Mill, presented me with a tuberose lei. The smell is so intoxicating and absolutely divine. I intend on capturing this scent essence and wearing it everyday. Anyways, I'm here.

With sincerest aloha,

MJ