Thanksgiving in Maui, Hawaii

Some people find it unfathomable that one could spend a holiday away from traditions or normal routine.
I actually am one of those people – to a point.
The only holiday I’ve spent away from family is Thanksgiving (and I’ve done it twice).
The first time I was studying abroad in Europe in 2011 and we had Thanksgiving in Ireland, making tacos.
This second time though (yupp last week) I was in Hawaii.

Here is my thought process: if I’m going to spend a super important grateful holiday away from those that I love, it better be in some spectacular place right?
Don’t worry – a ton of Facetiming and picture-sending happened throughout the week, but this trip just gave me so much more for which to be thankful.

Apart from the extremely long plane rides, taking a full 24 hours to get there, it was one of the most spectacular trips I think I’ve ever been on.
I had this huge plan to catch up on work, and capture a couple sessions, and basically readjust my mojo.
But I actually did none of that.
My laptop stayed off in my bag.
My phone was only out for emergencies and pictures.
And my skin thanked me for showing it some sun.

It went from a trip I was highly anticipating business-wise to one I didn’t realize I needed personal-wise.
Ending point: I splurged on myself.

Allllllllll of this is thanks to one of my second shooters (who now has her own rocking business!).
She booked her own wedding down there & I basically finagled my way onto her ticket to “help” her out!
Even though I knew she could kill it on her own.
I could make a joke and say I trained her well, but all I really ever did was cheer her on.
Her own creative eye stems from nothing I taught her, but allllll I am grateful to know.

She made ME feel confident in front of the camera – and I could not be more grateful for that.
I took pictures in the water, in a bathing suit, and felt more like myself than I had in years.

Either way, I’m going to stop blabbering now and just show you tons of pictures, because that is really why you are here! 🙂 // xo Mariss

 


Day 1 Sunrise:


This I like to call: Lizzie finally puts her feet in the Pacific Ocean 


A walk down Kaanapali Beach

We had dinner by the water for the first night!
THE FRESH FISH JUST MELTED IN YOUR MOUTH! gaaaah!


Then we decided to drive the Road to Hana! For those of you who do not know what this is, it’s a winding road with over 600-hairpin-turns and more than 100 stops along the way. Giving you hikes to explore, waterfalls to see, and beaches to experience. The total time it is supposed to take you is probably 10-12 hours, but we didn’t have alllll day so we did the first couple stops exploring as much as we could!

Second Evening: LUAU styyyyle! 🙂 

While on the Road to Hana, being super girlie, we found this adorable boutique store where I bought this dress and had Lizzie help me out with some new headshots 🙂

This was also the day of Lizzie’s wedding – which we ended by checking into the Marriott Ocean Club – with the most spectacular view from our porch!

Early mornings happened every single day, because these sunrises were like paintings! SO dang beautiful. This time Lizzie and I both had photos taken 🙂

The following images were taken by Lizzie, but edited by me!

We enjoyed our last day by doing absolutely nothing! Just enjoying the beach and that salty ocean breeze 🙂

Yeah, basically It was ONE GORGEOUS trip, and I highly recommend Maui to anyone looking into visiting Hawaii!

Stay longer than we did though. You won’t want to come home after just 4 full days!

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