Maui Wowie

Brian and I just got back from a five-day trip to Maui. It was everything that a Hawaiian vacation is supposed to be--warm weather, cold drinks, cruisin', beaches, and lots of food. Our favorite dining experience was at a sushi bar called Koiso. They had really fresh fish and the best uni I've ever tasted. It may be because I like uni more every time I have it, but I think it's mostly because these little guys were freshly plucked off the nearby ocean floors. Second fave goes to the ahi poke from this little place called Eskimo Candy. What is poke? It's cubes of fresh ahi tuna in a soy sauce-based mixture. This place has a few varieties, including a Wasabi Poke with sesame seeds and green onions, and a Spicy Tuna Poke with tobiko and a creamy sauce. I am already in withdrawl!

Our five days there passed more slowly than I had expected, but I could easily have stayed longer. Some non-culinary highlights: learning how to surf, whale watching, and driving (or rather, being a passenger on) the road to Hana.

Game Plan

Brian and I are both engineers, but we'd both agree that he is more "engineer-y" than I. He likes to have a plan letting him know exactly what's happening now and what's happening next. Since I enlisted his help on this project, I decided to compile a plan for him, broken down in phases, subject to change.

Phase 1 - Throw out/donate unwanted items; organize
Phase 2 - Pack up everything into boxes
Phase 3 - Area B: move boxes to staging area 1; scrape off popcorn ceiling; refinish ceiling; prime and paint walls; install hardwood floors and molding; wash windows
Phase 4 - Area A: move boxes to staging area 2; scrape off popcorn ceiling; refinish ceiling; prime and paint walls; install hardwood floors and molding; wash windows
Phase 5 - Install finishes (lighting, switch plates)
Phase 6 - Purchase and assemble furniture: IKEA PAX closet system, EXPEDIT shelves, and more
Phase 7 - Load up closets and shelves
Phase 8 - Hang decorations

Floor plan of room:

Cleaning...Still

Last night my wonderful boyfriend Brian came over and got me to clean my room some more. I really needed his help because I had reached a point where I threw away the most obviously unnecessary items, but a large pile of old toys had settled in the middle of my room and refused to budge. I sifted through them again and finally mustered up the strength to say goodbye to my McDonald's toys, Sailor Moon cards, and other dusty friends. By the end of the night we had filled a box to the brim with trinkets. And I must say, I won't be missing any of it. I can't even remember half of what went in to that box!

The next step after throwing everything out: packing everything up so I can scrape off the popcorn ceiling...and it will happen sooner than I had thought. Brian suggested working on one part of the room at a time, so that means we just have to move everything to one side of the room (or "staging area") and then scrape and paint the other side. My original plan was to haul everything out and work on a completely empty room, but Brian's plan is much less daunting.

Here are some "before" pictures--I took them a couple weeks ago:





My room looks a lot better than this right now, really! I've gotten rid of several pieces of furniture (thank you Craigslist) and a lot of the clutter is gone. One more round of tossing stuff out and I think it will be on to the ceiling and walls!