'Just another day in paradise..."

I'm dreaming of Hawaii... Warm sun. Grass skirts. Ukelele music.
It's been gray and foggy and drizzly for days. Ugh.. And I'm dismal, despondent, depressed and decaying. (And dramatic.) January and February are so ugly in Texas.
I've always wanted to move to Hawaii. I know it's a pipe dream, but it keeps me going in the dead of winter.. I know if I ever visit, I'll want to stay and have my stuff sent to me. Oh, what the heck, I'll buy all new stuff. Hawaii is sort of like tasting heaven. Paradise. I don't know... maybe it's not nearly as wonderful as in my dreams.
I first discovered Hawaii when I was young and saw photos of my great grandmother going over on a cruise ship in the late forties or early fifties. She had these cool Hawaiian dresses on and it all looked so fabulous. (I guess the only upside to Pearl Harbor was all the photos of how gorgeous Hawaii was, which started their heavy tourism.) Too, my parents went when I was in college, and loved it but wished they had gone when they were younger.

I want to stay at the Royal Hawaiian. The original mansion was built in 1901, and they built the hotel around it, opening in 1927, during the Roaring Twenties. Many movies have been filmed here, including 'Gidget Goes Hawaiian,' (what better reference!) And I want to do all the kitsch-y things like a luau and hula dance.
Maybe I'll just visit since it would be so expensive to live there that I couldn't actually enjoy it. I've heard the locals hate what tourism has done to the islands, yet now they are dependent upon it. And they resent outsiders moving there. I guess I would too if I was Hawaiian...
All I know is that when I think about Hawaii - it's the closest to what I think heaven will look like. Lately when I've been really stressed, I have a playlist on my iPod of old Hawaiian songs and it instantly lowers my blood pressure. I even have a replica of the old forties Hula lamps, and her hips jiggle. But then I'm a beach girl. Palm trees. Sand. Ocean. Aaaaaah. I also got the iPhone app with Live Cams, so I can look at Hawaiian beaches 24/7. And when I can't sleep at 3 am (like last night) I look at Australian beaches (since the Hawaiian ones are at night too.)

Someday I'll go to Hawaii...it's calling my name.
Until then... Aloha.