The Magical Land of Oz

After dutifully paying our respects at Pearl Harbor, we needed to lighten our spirits, and what better remedy than the sun and sands of Waikiki Beach? Conjure every image you've ever seen of Hawaii beaches and that's what it looked like. Absolutely breathtaking. Plus it was highly amusing to see the cross-section of locals, tourists, surfer dudes and luxury shoppers strolling down Kalakau Avenue. Speaking of which, in case you are unfamiliar with the area, Kalakau Avenue is to Honolulu what Rodea Drive is to Beverly Hills. Ohmygoodnessgracious. Having just come from the Memorial, we were more dressed for sighting seeing than we were for sunbathing, and oh the sights we saw! As we strolled up the block, I found myself quietly intoning "Gucci and Fendi and Hermes, oh my! Ferragamo, Marciano and Bally, oh my!" I could go on. And I did go on, until I came to a dead halt in front of Tori Richards. As my friends know I am wont to do, it was one of those moments where I was just minding my own business, walking along, taking in the sights and in mid-sentence talking to Mike when my head whipped around and all I could do was breath "Oooooooooh." There in the window of Tori Richards was the most gorgeous summer clutch I had ever laid eyes on. It was a long envelope size clutch made of a wicker weave with beautiful light-brown leather trim and gorgeous gold hardware. To die for. Poor Mike having witnessed this full-stop in front of store windows before just sighed and said, "Come on. Let's go in." 'And get this over with' I'm sure was the rest of what he was thinking, but to his credit he did not say that out loud.

So in we went. And there is where we met Celia. Celia, the salesgirl, is the embodiment of the Aloha Spirit. She was like part sales-girl and part hotel concierge. Not only did she ring up the bag for me, but she went out of her way to see if there was anything else she could help us with during our stay in Oahu. When we told her we were looking for a nice place on the beach to have dinner that night, she called her favorite restaurant and made reservations for us! What a sweetheart. And then she put on her tour guide hat and gave us instructions on how to get to the North Shore of the Island by way of the coastline so that we could see all the turtles and scope out the Dole Plantation. We didn't end up actually taking that drive, but we loved her all the same for being so helpful.