Hawaii Part 1

Aloha friends, Gracie here!

We just arrived to Honolulu, Hawaii on Friday! My Dad is in the military and his job required him to attend a conference in Hawaii so we thought we may as well visit him there. We have been to Oahu, Hawaii once before but just stayed there. This time around we are staying on the island of Maui. Here’s a bit about our days so far…

Day 1:
Our trip started on a seven hour flight from Tokyo to Honolulu. All three of us got sick from all the turbulence, which was surprising because I have been on TONS of planes and have never gotten motion sickness (maybe it was because we were in the last row). We met our Dad when we landed and mainly shopped.

Day 2:
The next day we took off on another plane and headed to Maui, this one being a quick 45 minutes. We drove to our condo and immediately got ready to go to the beach. The beach was lovely, with clear water, soft sand, and no stingrays! We didn’t bring the boogey boards so most of the time we were just body surfing and jumping the waves. The one terrible thing that happened was that when my dad threw my brother from his shoulders into the water, HIS WEDDING RING SLIPPED OFF!!! 0.0 We searched for it for about 15 minutes but the current was strong and we couldn’t find it.

Day 3:
We left the house at around noon to go explore the north part of the island. We drove for about two hours, but it started pouring rain and we didn’t have windows on the Jeep, so  we had to turn around. The weather was clear in the south and on the way back we stopped at a shave ice (aka snow cone) place. The reviews say it’s the best shave ice place in Hawaii. The snow cones were HUGE and we got a small (I can’t imagine how big the large would be). It was absolutely delicious too. Before we went back to the condo, we drove through a lava field which is a field of hardened lava, from a volcano that erupted sometime between 1500-1600. We went back to our room, ate lunch, grabbed our boogey boards, and headed back to the same beach from the day before. We stayed at the beach for a couple of hours, until we had to take my Dad to the airport so he could get back to work in Honolulu. He’s going to be there for a couple days and then flying back to Maui to join us for the rest of the time.

Day 4:
We left at around 1:00 pm to walk and go look at a beach that was famous for snorkeling but it turned out that the water was freezing (okay not really freezing, but it was cold-ish) and it was super windy so we decided to walk back and go somewhere else. We decided to go to the lava fields, also known as Ahihi-Kina’u. The lava field is where the last volcano eruption on Maui occurred. The lava hardened and kind of looks like dirt, but it’s all rocks. There is an area that you can walk around along the shore, but the rest of the preserve was closed off in 2008 because people were trampling in the area and destroying it.  

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for part two of my Maui trip!

Love, Gracie & Lulu

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Doughnut Time

Hiya friends, Lulu here.
On my recent trip to Australia I was modelling for my friend Zali and we got the most insanely amazing donuts ever! If you live in Australia, particularly on the Gold Coast then you need to try these donuts. They are incredible. The shop is called DOUGHNUT TIME so keep your eyes peeled! Oh, and if you’re  also a sugar addict like me, then I would definitely recommend following them on Instagram, they have a mouth watering feed ❤  Anywho, enough ranting on about donuts.
Audrey wears:
Dress // Tutu Du Monde
Shoes // Free by Cotton On
Socks // Gorman
Donuts // Donut TimeAll photos taken & edited by Zali Bartholomew.

Much love,
Gracie & Lulu

 

DIY hair dye

Hello my friends, it’s Gracie here!

Today I will be teaching you how to dye the tips of your hair yourself! To make the color you see in the picture above, I mixed a couple packs of cherry (red) Kool-Aid and a one pack of grape (purple) Kool-Aid. I added the purple, to make it a darker shade of red. Last time I did this, I used two reds and one blue, but we couldn’t find any blue Kool-Aid packets in Japan. There’s also this clever little table that shows what the mixing of various Kool-Aid colors looks like, when dying silk fabric.

A few important notes: Kool-Aid dying is harder to see in darker hair and some hair absorbs the Kool-Aid dye better than others. The Kool-Aid hair dye can last a really long time. Last time I did my hair, it lasted months, until my next hair cut and my ends (and the color) were trimmed. I have read that if you mix baking soda with boiling water and then dip your hair in baking soda/water mixture, it will remove the Kool-Aid color from your hair. Be sure to ask your parent(s) before dying your hair with Kool-Aid.

MATERIALS

-Two to three Kool-aid packets, any color
-Four plastic sandwich- or quart-sized bags
-A cooking pot
-About 3 cups of water
-Four ponytail holders

1. First you need two to three packets of Kool-aid, there is: blue, red, purple, orange, and green.
2. Next you need a small pot and fill it about 1/4 of the way with water. Heat the water for until it’s quite hot, but not boiling.
3. Pour the Kool-Aid packets into the pot and mix until the powder has dissolved.
4. Put your hair into pigtails.
5. Pour some of the Kool-aid mixture  into one of the bags. You don’t want it too full, but you want enough liquid in the bag to coat your desired amount of hair. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE HOT LIQUID.
6. Dip your pigtail into the liquid in the bag and secure with a ponytail holder. This is a bit tricky but just do your best to secure the bag to your ponytail. You may also need to hold the bags up, so be prepared. For safe keeping, I put a second plastic bag under the first, in case the one bag leaked.
7. Repeat for the second pigtail.
8. Leave your hair in the Kool-Aid for 20-30 minutes.
9. Once the time is up, take your hair out of the Kool-Aid over a sink or bath tub. You want to be careful because the Kool-Aid can easily stain.
10. Take a shower to wash out the excess Kool-Aid. If the color is not as you like, you can always do it a second time.

 

Paper Wings

Christmas has passed, and twas a good one! This christmas I got the most magnificent dress from Paper Wings, given to me by my grandma. I absolutely love this dress and I adore everything Paper Wings makes! But, this post is not about how much I love Paper Wings. (even though I could easily write a whole post about how much I love this clothing brand!) It’s my first ever fashion post!

Audrey wears:
Dress: Paper Wings
Shorts: Coco & Ginger

Photos taken by: Rowe Timson, Edited by: Audrey

Thanks for sticking around! If you’d like to see more fashion posts like this one, be sure to let us know! [gracieandlulublog@gmail.com]

Love Gracie & Lulu

3 Ways to Spruce up a Boring Case!

Hello peeps! Lulu in the house!

Todayyy I will be sharing with you 3 easy ways to spruce up a boring iPhone or iPad case! My case is just a clear case and I was really tired of it being so boring so I came up with these easy ways to make your case look THAT much better!

So without further ado, lets get started!

#1 – Washi Tape

For this one you will need:
– At least 2 different types of washi tape
– Scissors

I decided to go for a diagonal look so for that you will need to unroll a little of the tape and hold it above the case to make sure you cut off more than you need. Once you have figured out the right amount needed, cut the tape and place it one the tape in a diagonal line. Push your finger firmly along the tape to get rid of air bubbles and cut off the access tape at the sides. Do the exact same for the next piece of tape directly underneath the first.

You don’t have to do it diagonally but I experimented a lot and I think diagonal looks the best!

#2 – Polaroid

For this idea you will need:
– A selection of polaroid photos that will fit nicely into your case
– A see-through case

Remove your case and place the polaroid on the back of your iPhone/iPad. Get the polaroid into the position desired then carefully place the case on your phone again without bumping the photograph.

#3 – Stickers

For this final DIY option you will need:
– A selection of stickers

Choose a few stickers and stick them onto your phone case. The simpler the better so I recommend not using too many and not using stickers that are really big.

Well I really hope you enjoyed this DIY. If you try one of these ideas be sure to email us a photo – gracieandlulublog@gmail.com – we would love to see!

Love Gracie & Lulu

5 Themes – Month 1

Hey guys!

Today we’ll be a doing something a bit different… We have 5 themes, Water, Pink, Food, Dog and Flowers and we both have to take a photo for each theme! We will do this every month so that makes this post – Month 1!

So without further ado, lets get straight to those photos! 😛

Water:

Gracie –

Lulu –

Pink:

Gracie –

Lulu –

Food:

Gracie –

Lulu –

Dog:

Gracie –

Lulu –

Flowers:

Gracie –

Lulu –

Thanks for sticking around!

Love Gracie & Lulu ❤

P.S if there is anything you would like us to blog about or blog more about feel free to contact us by emailing – gracieandlulublog@gmail.com – commenting or writing us on Instagram! xx

 

Kota Kinabalu, Borneo

Hiya peeps, Audrey here!

Recently as you may or may not know already… My family and I went to Borneo the day after Christmas and we cannot wait to go back!

We did lots of fun stuff even though we were only there for 4 days.

On our first day we went shopping at the best mall in town, IMAGO. For anyone who is confused and thinks Borneo is just a giant jungle then you’re wrong, Kota Kinabalu is one of the main cities in Borneo! It’s got everything from shopping malls to skyscrapers! It’s quite similar to Singapore except Kota Kinabalu is smaller. I liked Borneo more because although it had an awesome, huge city feel, it also has a really nice cultural aspect.Anyway back to the original topic, the first day we went shopping and ate lots of delicious (and unhealthy) FOOD! I got some really cute overalls from H&M, a mid drift and a cover for my mini Instax camera which I got from my nanna for Christmas!On our second day in Borneo we went to the Shang Ri La Rasa Ria which is a hotel that has an orang utan rehabilitation centre with lots of cute, adorable orang utans. The Rasa Ria rescues orang utans and nurtures them for four years, then once they are old enough they are sent on a 7 hour car ride to a big sanctuary.On our way back from the Rasa Ria we stopped at a beautiful Mosque. On our third day we decided to go ‘island hopping’…. BAD IDEA.In Bali there are a few islands nearby that we visit quite often, you usually go on quite a nice medium-ish sized boat and so I was expecting it to be like that… BUT OH NO IT WAS NOT. It was on a very small, poorly cared for speed boat thing. Don’t think I have a problem with small boats cause I don’t, I like them better than big ones but I had a problem with this particular boat ride! We all thought we were going to die, period. XDThe island itself was beautiful, with lots of greenery and crystal clear water. It really reminded me of America… Even though I’ve never been to America so therefore it cannot remind me of America but whatever right? We swam and snorkelled right off the beach for a couple of hours and then it was time to go. Our second boat driver was a little better but I still thought I was going to die!By the way, this was not our boat… Ours was much smaller!All photos of me, taken by Rowe Timson (my mum)

Well I hope you enjoyed your whirlwind trip to Kota Kinabalu! Don’t forget to stay tuned for more posts to come!

Love Gracie & Lulu

Walk Around the Neighborhood

Hey ladies and gents, Gracie here!

Today I’ll be writing about my walk through our neighborhood with my adorable little pup, Charley! We saw lots of plants (which I absolutely love) and all the houses with Christmas decor (sorry, I’m a a bit late on sharing Christmas stuff )! Our neighborhood is a lovely little place with good friends, nice people, and great hiking trails to explore. We live right in front of a park that we nicknamed “The Ninja Park” because it reminds us of the American Ninja Warrior T.V. show. Our house is very efficient and…very compact.
Now onto the walk…

One thing about Japan is that almost everyone air dries their clothes by hanging them outside of their home or apartment. We see clothes hanging outside everywhere we go,
Here is the view walking down our ‘big’ hill, which is VERY hard to bike up. Trust me, I know XD .

Along one of the main streets right outside our neighborhood is a ton of shops, which all have to fit in their own tiny space. Quite often, the family lives above their shop. Japan doesn’t have much room so everything has to fit together, however and wherever it can.
 These, are a vegetable called daikon. Before I moved to Japan I had never seen a daikon before in my life. They are like giant white carrots and are very popular in Japan.

While we were on our walk, we came across a temple and decided to go in and have a look. All temples in Japan begin with a tori gate. The photo below shows one of the pillars of the tori gate.

One of Japan’s top modes of transportation is their train system. There is a train station in almost every city. Our closest train station is the Hagashi Zushi Station.

Right outside of our train station, in a small fenced-off grassy area, we discovered a bunch of large, wooden boards with trick art images on them, so of coarse we decided to take a picture. 🙂


Something I find very funny (and awesome) about Japan is that there are vending machines EVERYWHERE. One time we were walking on a hiking trail and we saw a vending machine just to the side of the trail, where there was nothing else around.
If you didn’t already know, I LOVE PLANTS!!! And the Japanese seem to love their plants and decorations too, as you can see!
Everyone in Japan is very polite and respectful, so all around the neighborhood are signs reminding you to not leave your dog poop there.
Thank you everybody for reading. I hope you enjoyed the tour around my Zushi neighborhood!!!
Love, Gracie and Lulu ❤

DIY Seashell Wall-Hanger

Hey guys! Audrey here ✌️

Welcome to another blog post which is going to be about how to make your own seashell wall-hanger! I’ve always wanted to make one of these but there’s not much driftwood in Bali but I was lucky enough to find some while on Nusa Penida. I guess this is really easy and doesn’t exactly need a DIY so here’s some wall hanger inspiration! XD

Without further a due, lets get started!

YOU WILL NEED:

+ Driftwood

+ Felt and other craft materials

+ A shell

+ Some string, ribbon or even wool

+ Scissors

+ Needle & thread

Start by making a little braid or whatever you would like to tie onto the top for the wall-hanger to hang.

Next, create any sort of decorations to hang off of your wall-hanger. I threaded pompoms and beads for mine and on my other decorations I cut out little shapes with the felt and added them to the end of the beads.

Get your seashell and tie a ribbon through it and attach it to the driftwood.

Well it’s as easy as that! Now you have this adorable little wall-hanger to make your room look so much cooler!

Until next time folks!

Love Gracie & Lulu ❤

The Farmers Market

Hey guys! It’s Lulu!

Todayyyyy…. I will be talking about the Green School Farmer’s Market every 2nd Friday! If you read my last post titled “B A R C” you might know what I’m talking about.

My friend Charis and I have been fundraising for a charity called Barc which helps Bali dogs.

Anywho, we went to this market and we had a stall there selling homemade dog treats (that we made ourselves and packaged ourselves as well!), t-shirts, collars, dog toys and many other things. Our goal was to raise $50 but we ended up raising 3 times that amount! We earned $150!

We are going back next Friday to sell more stuff and hopefully raise even MORE  money for Barc.

Well I hope you enjoyed this post and stay tuned for more posts!

Love Gracie & Lulu