The Casa Way

Author: mbacasa

  • Maui – Fairmont Kea Lani Hotel – Review

    Maui – Fairmont Kea Lani Hotel – Review

    My husband and I were lucky enough to take an adult-only trip to Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui in May 2022. We missed our kids but we needed some adult time. I’m not sure my kids would be able to handle the 12-hour flight there or the 24+ hour trip home (thanks to some delayed flights).

    The Fairmont was a beautiful 30-minute drive from the Maui airport. Our driver showed us some great places to visit on our trip there and even took some back roads so we could start our site seeing right away.

    Fairmont Kea Lani Hotel sign as you pull in the driveway.

    When you pull up you are greeted with some beautiful leis. The open-air lobby looks over the breathtaking property. The hotel is on a hill so the lobby is much higher than the beach. The lobby is even higher than the gift shop and restaurants. There was quite a bit of climbing and elevator riding in this hotel. This is not a complaint at all, but if stairs and hills are something you avoid, this isn’t the hotel for you.

    Our room was even better than we had imagined from the pictures online. We were only on level 2 and we had a great view of the pool and the beach. The room has a full living room with a desk and couch, a foyer, a huge bathroom with a stand-up shower, a tub, a private area for the toilet and multiple entrances, a large balcony that felt more like a patio, and a large bedroom. There were many times that my husband and I would circle around missing each other.

    Image of the view from our beach chairs.

    The beach was a little torn up while we were there. In order to sit on the beach you had to sit pretty far back and there wasn’t much seating. We were nervous to go in the water with the big waves so we mostly hung up on a grassy area. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed sitting high up on the hill, away from the beach, away from the pool. The view was amazing, and there was lots of privacy since the chairs were far away from other groups. We had a nice table for our drinks and the waitress came regularly to see if we needed anything.

    View of the hotel and pool area behind us while sitting on the hillside.

    We have been to Aruba, Mexico, Bahamas, Bermuda, and Florida, but the views from this hillside just blew away the normal view of the ocean that you get at those other places. It made the long flight worth it.

    The adult only pool and swim up bar area.

    After two days of barely moving from our hillside chairs, we ventured up to the adult pool and swim-up bar. The pool is up the hill and pretty secluded. It was easy to lose a few hours of swimming and enjoying drinks before dinner.

    Fairmont Kea Lani has some of the best-rated restaurants in Maui. We ate at two of them. You can read my review of them here.

    We appreciated that the hotel had a free car service to nearby locations. We used it a few times to go shopping and have dinner. It was easy to grab a ride out of the hotel and to get a ride back you simply called the hotel and asked for them to get you. We never waited more than ten minutes. We did walk to a nearby state park one day and called for a ride home but they said that we were out of their range so we had to Uber back. It wasn’t a big deal but there were not many Ubers at the time so we waited a while to be picked up and we were hot, tired, and very thirsty.

    The walking path near Fairmont Kea Lani.

    We loved starting our day with a long walk. If you go to the right out of the hotel, there is a long touristy path that hugs the shoreline. We saw lots of people out running and walking that path every day. It was a great way to start the day. If you head to the left, you go to a more hidden back road. This was by far my favorite place to walk. There was no one else – at all. There were all little hidden beaches along the way and amazing private homes. The streets were lined with crowing rosters that were not afraid of us at all. Each turn brought new surprises and new views.

    Breakfast was either an incredible buffet or a small gift shop with a few breakfast options. We basically split it up every other day since we couldn’t handle two days in a row of that buffet, but the options in the gift shop were very limited.

    There wasn’t much nightlife at the hotel. I’m assuming that everyone went to bed after dinner. A few of us had drinks each night at the lobby bar and one night there was someone playing piano. If you are looking for some real nightlife, you should head to town.

    The canoe on the beach and the waves breaking behind it.

    This isn’t the type of hotel that has activity directors running games of bingo or water aerobics. The days were long and peaceful. The one activity that they recommended on property was a cultural canoe ride. It is free for guests but if you cancel they do charge you. The waves were very rough and I’m not sure we should have been out there on that canoe – but I wasn’t going to miss this experience so we tried it even after the guide told us we could easily flip this canoe. The experience was nice but it was really hard work. You have to lift up this incredibly heavy canoe and run it in the water. Then when they say to, you have to paddle exactly like they say, and most importantly, don’t lean to the right or you will flip the boat.

    There was a craft fair one night in the lobby but I don’t remember any other activity happening at all. We made sure to book excursions for some fun and adventure since we knew we were not doing more than relaxing and eating at the hotel. You can read more about our riding, boating, and biking adventures here.

    Picture of the hotel grounds at night from the hotel balcony.

    We are so thankful for this wonderful experience in Maui, and we hope to visit again one day!

  • Maui – Food Finds – Lineage Review

    Maui – Food Finds – Lineage Review

    My husband and I were lucky enough to take a trip to Hawaii in May 2022. We LOVED it. I have a few posts about Maui – beaches, boats, bikes, and more. This post is all about our favorite food spots.

    First of all, did you know that you can literally just stop on the side of the road and find fresh fruits? There are hundreds of wild avocado trees in Maui. You won’t get in trouble for picking a single avocado to take back to your room and enjoy. There are lots of other wild-growing fruits. We even passed some fruit stands that let you leave money and take whatever fruit you want. This fruit is nothing like the mass-produced mainland fruit. It is a must try!

    Beyond the roadside snacking, the food is pricy but delicious! We didn’t have a meal there that we were not raving about for days. First was Lineage. This small restaurant is hidden in an outdoor mall. I was tempted to skip it since I couldn’t believe that a mall would have anything other than an Olive Garden type chain restaurant – but this was different!

    We ordered the fried half chicken. If you asked us, there was no other option. I don’t even remember what else they served because we knew this was the best option. Every table around us also ordered the friend half chicken. We all finished every last piece of chicken. On a regular day, I wouldn’t dare order chicken on the bone, or fried chicken. This was different. This was magical.

    Our server was beyond friendly, happy to fill our wine glasses, and shared stories about all the menu options that we questioned. The location was great. We took a shuttle to the mall, but we were able to walk home to the Fairmont Hotel in about 20 minutes.

    There was a small convenience store right next to the restaurant with fresh fruit, pre-made food, souvenirs (way cheaper than the one at The Fairmont), and of course, alcohol. We stocked up before our walk home.

  • Fast, easy, heathy, yummy salads.

    Fast, easy, heathy, yummy salads.

    Salads are so healthy. Raw veggies and fruits are the best food for us. Trying to get enough of them in each day can be difficult. Salads tend to be the easiest way to hit those veggie goals. Unfortunately, the wrong salad can also be very high in fat and sugar. Here are some of my favorite fast, easy, and “mostly” healthy salads.

    Grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, tomato, and cucumber over romaine. Well, that is the recipe. There you go! My go-to dressing for this one is balsamic. I like to grab pre-made grilled chicken from my local food store to make it even easier. If I skip the store-bought chicken, then we will make a few days’ worths of grilled chicken. I like a dry, thin, grilled chicken with McCormick’s seasoning.

    Another easy salad is grilled chicken, dried cranberries, goat cheese and mixed greens. My favorite salad dressing for this classic is a raspberry vinaigrette. Again, if you have the pre-made grilled chicken, your dinner can be done in less than a few minutes.

    Who could forget Mexican Chicken Salad?! Whatever you order at Chipotle, that is what you include! For me, grilled chicken, romaine, corn, black beans, shredded cheese, and avacado. I like good ranch dressing for a salad like this, although, I know it isn’t the healthiest choice!

    Sick of grilled chicken? No problem! Try a chef salad! Romaine, turkey, ham, cheese (maybe two types – I like a yellow American and a hint of fresh mozzarella), artichokes, red onion, and olives. (Unless you can’t stand olives, like my picky husband). My salad dressing pick would be plain old oil and vinegar for this one. No cooking, no prepping, no cleanup. For me, it doesn’t get any better!

    Hexclad is my favority pan for grilling chicken indoors. If you get the pan hot, get the oil hot, and then add the chicken, you will see a great sear on your chicken , amazing flavor, and much safer than that terrible teflon!) affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3VqLH9a

  • Non Toxic Help for Pimples

    My daughter is a pre-teen and, like most of her friends, is struggling to keep her skin clear. At such a young age, I would prefer to keep her away from any harsh chemicals or medicine. Luckily, we have found a great solution!

    I know when I was a kid I tried so many products from the pharmacy shelves. Today, it seems like doctors are quick to prescribe even stronger medicines for such young kids. If you read the side effects of these drugs, it will scare you. Go ahead, google Accutane side effects. If at all possible to control breakouts without such strong medicine, why not?

    To be honest, my daughter doesn’t have severe acne, just typically pre-teen breakouts. I can’t say how our non-toxic treatment would work on a very severe case. Just like anything else, it might work for some, and not for others.

    So what is it? Well, my favorite magical answer to what seems like almost everything…Coconut oil! The good kind – organic, virgin coconut oil. We get ours at Costco since we use it for everything, we need the mega size.

    The routine in our house is every night is, brush teeth, wash face, apply coconut oil, and go to bed. You would think that the greasy oil would cause breakouts, but nope! It actually dries up any pimples – usually in one to two days. Turns out that the science behind it is that it contains lauric acid. The lauric acid actually kills any bacteria in the pimples while moisturizing the rest of your face.

    Listen, I’m no doctor. Please don’t take medical advice from me! This is what my family does. It works for us. It won’t work for all. But if even just a handful of people can avoid toxic medicine for their daughters and use this simple solution because of this post, I’ll be happy!

  • My Coconut Oil Obsessions

    My Coconut Oil Obsessions

    Most of us know that there are hundreds of ways to use coconut oil. I have tried many of them. The oddest one to me is “oil pulling.” This is where you take a spoonful of coconut oil and sort of swish and pull it around your mouth for 10 minutes, then spit it out. It should whiten your teeth and get rid of toxins. I just can’t get motivated enough for that one.

    My favorite uses for coconut oil are on my skin, on my furniture, and on my leather boots. It is so simple, inexpensive, and more effective than anything else. On my tables, I use cloth or towel and just rub it right on My wooden tables soak it in and they look like new. I do need to go back with a dry rag and get up any extra otherwise there will be visible greasy streaks.

    After not having shoe polish for my husband before a work event, I substituted coconut oil and was thrilled with the results. My boots and my husbands leather shoes look like new after I give them a good coating. Lighter brown shoes will turn a little bit darker from the oil and can have a wet look until it dries. If you dont mind a slightly darker shade, I highly recommend it. Black shoes and boots do the best as they come out shiny and new looking!

    I saved the best for last. SKIN CARE! I am not a fan of additives and chemicals on my skin. We use all fragrance-free detergents and I stay away from perfume-filled lotions. Coconut oil has been amazing on my skin. It can get greasy if you put too much on, so start slow. The best part is that even though it is moisturizing your skin, it will also dry up pimples! It is like magic.

    I would love to hear the ways others use coconut oil and how they have liked it.

    Here is my affiate link for a wonderful, trusted brand of Coconut oil. Remeber, using my links is the only way I can make money to keep blogging about my favorite products. I wouldn’t recomend them if i didn’t 100% trust them. Affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3LJFDp4

  • Clothes shopping made easy.

    Clothes shopping made easy.

    I have struggled my whole life to find clothes that were in my price range and look good on me. I am 5’8″ with a 33″ inseam. Pants off the rack do not come in a 33″ inseam so most of the time I have to special order pants. I would also be overwhelmed by just how many options there were in the store, and didn’t know how to put outfits together. Even when I found some items, typically, by the time I got home, I changed my mind and added them to the return pile.

    Once I became a mom, I felt like it was even more difficult. My shape had changed, the young stores seemed too young for me, and the mature stores seemed too old for me. Not only that, but as a working mom, my free time to walk around the mall for hours was long gone. Online shopping worked sometimes, but was really hit or miss.

    I started a monthly subscription through StitchFix a few years ago. I was able to take a few quizzes online that showed my personal style. I was surprised when the first box came and I kept all 5 pieces for under $150. Not only that, but I had gotten my first pair of new work pants in two years. The best part was that I didnt have to do anything. I didnt have to look endessly online or waste 2 hours in a department store. Some fancy algorithum decided exactly what would work for me. (Technically StitchFix says that a personal stylist picks out your clothes, but I find that hard to believe.)

    Years later, I now have both my kids signed up for their own StitchFix boxes, and I get mine ever three months. It is a nice way to get me ready for upcoming seasons. My kids love getting a box as well.

    If you are interested in giving StitchFix a chance, my code will get you $25 off your first order. Click here for $25 off your first order.

  • The best idea before deciding to get a puppy.

    The best idea before deciding to get a puppy.

    Like many kids, my daughter had been begging for a dog for years. Well, with two working parents and an empty house from 8-5:30 every day, there was a simple answer. However, after realizing that pandemic life was not going to end quickly, and my husband’s job moved him permanently home, the answer wasn’t so simple anymore. My daughter’s detailed PowerPoint presentations about how our family desperately needed a dog actually started having an impact on our point of view on getting a puppy.

    Our family is a typical busy household with two working parents, young kids in school and sports, and between friends and family, it seems like there are constant visitors. Trying to imagine how a dog would fit in our already crazy life seemed overwhelming. Who would feed the dog, walk the dog, and play with the dog? Would my house be a safe place for a dog? Do our friends have allergies to dogs? The list went on and on.

    As a promise (and an attempt to push off getting a dog) we got two hamsters for the girls. These things had to be far easier to take care of than a dog, and I thought it would help make the girls realize how much work an animal is. This didn’t go as planned. If anything, it completely backfired. The girls kept pointing out that the hamsters don’t compare to a dog and they just didn’t want to play with them as much. They really were not even that much work. My kids were happy to feed them and give them water but cleaning the cage was really more than they could handle so even if they offered, they knew I was going to have to do it myself. To make matters worse, one hamster has aggression issues and started eating the other one, so we had to get a separate cage to keep them safely apart. Now I was cleaning two smelly cages of rodents that I definitely didn’t want in my house, and we were no clearer on if a dog was a good idea for our family.

    After 2.5 years of hamster life, we were finally hamster free. The girls were clear on how much they helped with the hamsters (weekly food checks hardly seemed like much to me, but that didn’t keep them from bragging). After the terrible hamster decision, we finally had a good idea that would actually help us figure out if a dog was going to be good for our family.

    We decided to start by fostering dogs for a local organization that needed help. The girls learned quickly how much work a dog was. Our first few times were only a few days or a weekend, but then we had a german shepherd for 5 months. This dog stole our hearts. My girls would nap on the floor next to her, they would play endlessly with her, they would try to show her new tricks, at dinner they would tell me stories all about her day, and they would take endless pictures of her around the house. They didn’t provide much care for her, they couldn’t walk her without me, it was easier to feed her myself than constantly ask them if they fed her.

    We learned exactly what life with a dog was like while we had her. If it was too much for us, we knew we only had a few months, so the commitment wasn’t as scary.

  • Uncomplicated Weight Loss

    Uncomplicated Weight Loss

    Why is it that when someone wants to lose weight that it seems like there is endless conflicting research on how to do it? It is almost like the internet gods want us to be overwhelmed and confused so we give up and keep struggling with weight loss.

    After years of pinning complicated weight loss plans, recipes, and motivational quotes, I turned it all off and followed my common sense. Eat a reasonable amount of healthy foods and cut out the crap. That might not be what I eventually name this diet when I decide to make a cookbook.

    Garlic Truffle Oil Fries @ MonkeyPod, Maui

    What to cut?
    The crap! Sugary anything, baked goods, fried food, second helpings. It is amazing how I can think I’m eating healthy and unsure why I wasn’t losing weight until I looked back and realized that we had a work celebration with a cake on Tuesday, then Wednesday my daughter got a 100% on a test so we took her for ice cream, and Friday we ordered in and decided to get the mozzarella sticks and garlic knots. Well, there goes any hope of weight loss. To be honest, just cutting ALL the crap make a big difference.

    Quick & Easy Sauteed Broccoli

    What to eat?
    What is a balanced diet? Who knows anymore? Eggs – good or bad? Milk – good or bad? Whole wheat – friend or foe? Corn? Meat? Carbs? What we all know is that we don’t eat enough veggies. If we could load up on veggies we couldn’t go wrong. Limiting the rest is a good place to start. Instead of a chicken sandwich with a side of fries, I think we can all agree that a grilled chicken salad with cucumber and tomatoes is going to be better. Instead of a bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel – let’s grab a spinach egg bake.

    Spinach & Feta Egg Bake

    Does it have to be difficult?
    I wouldn’t call eating healthy to lose weight – “difficult”. It just requires some work. If you are willing to put in a little work in the beginning, the benefits will be worth it. Unfortunately, when it comes to food, the easy way out can often be the unhealthiest. I don’t exactly meal prep in pretty jars for the entire week, but I will make extra grilled chicken every time we make it. I will make enough eggs for the week instead of just one meal. It doesn’t feel like a meal prep session because I’m just making more of each meal when I make it.

    Follow my journey, my meal plan, and some of my favorite recipes.

  • Life (is better) with a dog.

    Life (is better) with a dog.

    Yes. We finally gave in to getting a dog, but only after years of my daughter begging and a few trial runs that you can read about here: https://thecasaway.wordpress.com/category/dog-lovers/.

    We love the thought of dog rescue but for our local New Jersey rescues, we didn’t qualify. We had a young child, we worked out of the home during the day (pre-covid when we were applying), and we didn’t have a fence. So – we started looking at breeders. Thinking of all the possible breeds we knew we wanted a large dog. I grew up with a Bichon Frise and he was stubborn, had high anxiety, and was expensive to keep groomed.

    What Breed?
    German Shepherds? Pros. Awesome dogs! Very loyal, beautiful, smart, easy to train. Cons. Some can be vocal, they can be scary to young kids, and they can be protective of their “person”. With young kids in our house all the time for play dates, it wasn’t the right breed for us.

    Labrador Retriever? Pros. Fun, happy, easy to train, and one of the most popular breeds for good reason. Cons. If you like big dogs there are not any true cons here.

    Yellow lab and Golden Reteiver chewing two bones next to eachother.

    Golden Retriever? Pros. Loving, friendly, goofy, and easy to train. Cons. Lots of long dog hair and needs lots of attention.

    We didn’t have much debate here. We grew up watching Full House and we know that Comet was the ultimate family pet. We bought a Rumba and brought home the Golden!

    They are NEEDY! Our dog, Logan, misses us so much while we sleep that he actually whines/cries every morning when we wake up. He is always by our side. He prefers to be pet at all times. He has brought our family so much joy, and we couldn’t picture life without him. We foster dogs regularly and I can say all the breeds we have watched are amazing in their own way.