What The Hell Are You Doing Here?!

So, it finally happened. After four of Chris' friends came and visited him and his parents already booked to visit us here in June, I was getting really depressed with no one coming to visit for me. But then it happened - MY TWIN SISTER CAME AND STAYED WITH US FOR TWO 1/2 WEEKS!!!!! YAY!!!!

Let me tell you that it was all kept a surprise! Obviously my parents and fiance were in on it, but no one else. So when she appeared on our doorstep - after Chris picked her up from the airport - you could've imagined my surprise and some shock. Because I'm telling you, I had dreams about her coming here, honestly! I thought that Chris and my parents would surprise me with her.... and they did! When I saw her, I literally just stood there and ask "What the hell are you doing here?!" lol It was priceless.

For those who don't know, my twin sister and I are super close and have been our entire lives. You really don't understand the bond of a twin unless you have one. It's amazing to go through life with someone your same age, going through the same experiences but having different views on everything. Yea, you may think, "we'll I have a friend who I grew up with since we were like 6 and we're like sisters/brothers." Well, it's not the same.

We've ALWAYS done everything together! So me moving here with Chris was a really big deal for both of us. We would no longer be just a 10-15 min drive away to meet up for coffee; couldn't have our family lunch and dinners together; couldn't go to Mass and teach Sunday School together; have double dates or sister shopping sprees. We would now be Skyping every week; having to catch up and rely on text messaging (yea, we pretty much text every day). But honestly, it's like nothing has changed. I am always going to be there for her and she is always going to be there for me.

When she came here, it was like nothing changed. We laughed about stupid things together, had seriously talks about life, my wedding, our future, our jobs (and hopefully jobs in the future!). I think Chris and I exhausted her, lol! Her first weekend here, we took her to Hana and camped out. This isn't something you can really put into words. Hana is an experience. It stimulates EVERY ONE of your senses from the beauty of the waterfalls, to the smells of the fresh fruit and flowers at every stop to the sound of birds and the ocean. It's just an amazing experience and I am so glad we got Marina to be a part of it.

That Sunday, we took her to one of our favorite towns, Lahaina. The best place to get swimsuits and "surfer style clothes." With stores like Volcom, Billabong, Roxy, Hurley, Quicksilver you wont leave Lahaina with out SOMETHING! Of course, we took her to Cool Cat's to have "one of the best burgers on Maui." I don't think we dissapointed her!

The next couple of days, she came to work with me at The Grande Wailea Resort and Spa. Yes, my sister was in town, but I still had to work. But what I place to work. Marina got to relax on several of the best beaches in the world. Honestly, the beaches here in Maui have been voted number 1 several years in a row. She loved it and she even got to see her first couple of whales!

We also had a chance to cook dinner together, how we used to cook with our mom. We cooked Marina's famous French Onion Chicken, our Taco Tuesday and Honey Mustard Tilapia. It brought back a lot of great memories and we had so much fun doing it together. We wouldn't know how to cook if it wasn't for our wonderful mother!

On my days off, I took her to another great beach, Napili Bay. Yea, we spent about 5 hours on the beach that day, with a nice lunch on the beach and just time relaxing in the sun and playing in the water. We shopped at the mall (both malls here, that's right we only have two malls on the island. And they aren't anything like the Galleria. Oh, how I miss you!), bought all kinds of souvenirs and gifts.
Shopping is something we love doing.... what girl doesn't?!

One thing for sure, you can't come to Maui and not go snorkeling. I didn't work till 4 on the weekend before she left so that Saturday we went snorkeling over by Makena. Granted it was a little cold, yes, I can be a baby about snorleing in cold water, but we still had a great time. And we even saw some turtles! Marina screamed (even with her snorkel and mask on) her head off the first time she saw the turtles. She scared Chris a little, lol! We also saw lots of coral and fish. It was great! That day we also took her to 808 Deli. One of Chris and my favorite lunch places to eat. She loved it!

That Sunday, I worked all day (boo!) so Chris was great and took her snorkeling again at a stop on the way to Lahaina. They didn't see any turtles (I'm the good luck charm) but still had a good time. They went shopping some more in Lahaina and they ate lunch at Da Kitchen. A pretty authentic place here, Da Kitchen is not my favorite, but they liked it. That night, I was writing a restaurant review for 808 Bistro so we went there for dinner. The food was delicious and we all even got to eat for free. A Maui Cordon Bleu, Mahi Mahi and a New York steak - not too bad!

I was off the last two days she was here, so of course that meant more time to act like beach bums. I also took her to Paia. Another one of our favorite little "hippie" towns. Cute little shops, a great gelato place and happy hour cocktails. Another great day!

Her last day was on Tuesday, April 6. We finally didn't have to take Chris to work. It's a little bit of a challenge having one car here, but we're working on it :) We slept in a little, watched Beverly Hills 90210 (yes, we did and we're not afraid to admit it). I made her homemade breakfast tacos and fruit. Next, time to get some beach time in before she left. We spent the next couple of hours at Kamoale 1 and the water felt great! She had some packing left to do so I went to grab us some lunch at another one of our favorite places to eat, Coconuts. She loved her Blackened Mahi Fish burger and my Mahi Ceasar Salad was so fresh.

Time to go to the airport: I couldn't believe it had been two weeks already. We did so many things and experience so much. All in all, we had an amazing time and wont ever forget it. I think we both needed it. We missed each other a lot! Coming up, I know she is going to be super busy with the family she nannies for and I am going to be slammed at the hotel for summer. So it was much needed and well deserved. Even though we gave Chris a hard time "having to deal with us two" he had a great time with us and spending some time with his soon-to-be-sister-in-law. Which by the way, she also helped me with wedding stuff! I don't think we would've had time to do anything else if we wanted to.

Another great thing (see, there were too many) all three of us went to a really nice Easter mass together. I love going to church every Sunday and it was even better to be able to spend that time with my fiance and sister.

That's all for the adventure we spent the past two weeks doing. Stay tune for the next things we'll encounter while living on the beautiful island of Maui.