Kahala Mall, Makapu Lighthouse Hike

Today was about planning for the wedding. Debbie, Greg's mom, and I sat discussing the many details over coffee before deciding to go into Honolulu in search of baskets for the centerpieces and welcome gifts for the families traveling from the mainland. After driving through the maze of streets in the downtown area, we finally came to a side street where this little hole-in-the-wall shop was packed from floor to ceiling with every kind of basket imaginable. Being a basket weaver myself, I was in heaven! We found exactly what we needed and moved on to our next task.

Shopping for clothing is a tough job to begin with, but shopping for a mother-of-the-bride dress is just absolute torture. I don't pretend to know the first thing about fashion, my idea of the perfect outfit is shorts, T-shirt, and sneakers. It's all about comfort, and if it looks good, then that's an added benefit, but not totally essential.

My job today was to find something suitable for the wedding. Getting dragged, kicking and screaming into the Kahala Mall to look for dresses would have proved to be embarrassing for my family, so I went peacefully. My younger daughter, Suzanne, attempted to bribe me with Sees chocolate on the way in, but I saw right through her plan, I knew this wasn't going to be pretty. I devoured the chocolate, of course, and followed the clan through the entrance to the dress shop. Everyone spread out searching for the perfect dress for me as I gravitated toward the back of the store, away from all the frilly ones. Lacy and frilly are just way off of my radar screen, as are old and frumpy. Understand that I have but one dress to my name, and it's a little black one at that. I know what I like and what I will wear... it's a very short list.

After five long minutes of looking through several racks, a couple of possibilities popped into view. One was fairly colorful, and although it may have worked, too many colors combined with an overload of freckles just doesn't cut it. That left one other choice, a deep ocean blue and teal number -simple, light and airy, didn't show too many bulges. Done, sold.

Tonight, a hike up the Makapu Lighthouse trail at sunset was a great stress-reliever after the pain of shopping. The views from the top are totally breathtaking, from the craggy cliffs straight down to the beaches and tide pools below. As the parting sunlight kissed my face, I felt human again.