An Island Girl

Most bloggers will admire, and perhaps envy, a good layout. In my opinion the best one out there is Kailani's An Island Life. No contest. Her layout is so great that if her content consisted entirely of the causes and treatments of toe fungus, I would still visit regularly. But wouldn't you know it, Kailani is a wonderful blogger, and perhaps more involved with the blogging community at large, on a personal level, than anyone else I know of. She's also begun writing reviews for props and pans, a great blog dedicated to sincere product reviews.

I was really excited when Kailani agreed to be interviewed. I packed a suitcase right away, imagining sitting with her on a pristine beach, drinking fruity drinks and talking blogs. I didn't really stress too much about hauling my unimaginative wardrobe (and I use that word in the loosest possible sense) to Hawaii. I figured dressing realistically would just make me look more like a local.

So off I went to the airport, and when I found my gate I was surprised to find a flight attendant waiting there just for me. What service! I thought, I am definitely using this airline from now on and recommending it to all of my friends.

"Are you going to show me to my seat?" I asked.

She gave me a funny look and laughed. "No Marie, it's me! Kailani!"

So I didn't get to go to Hawaii. But we did have fruity drinks at the bar while we talked, though hers were virgin as she was only taking a brief rest between flights.

ML- I understand that you once had to scrap your blog and start over again due to stalker issues. Can you tell us about that?

K- I'm still not absolutely sure how he found me but I believe it could be because I posted a photo on my blog with the same photo that was published in our local newspaper. Or it could have been that my hosting 1account wasn't private. In any case, he got my phone number and started calling at all hours of the day. I decided to totally delete the old blog and start again. I also told him that my BIL is a police officer and that they would start tracking the calls. After that, the calls stopped. So far, so good.

ML- Creepy. I guess that's why so many bloggers use pseudonyms. You recently had Lasik surgery. Was it worth it?

K- It's probably one of the best investments I've ever made with DH's money! He said I could choose between implants or LASIK and I still think I made the right choice.Guess what he was hoping for? The only thing you may want to think about if you're already in your mid-40s is that having LASIK will almost ensure that you'll need reading glasses immediately. Even so, it's so nice to wake up in the morning and not have to ask my daughter what time it is.

ML- Hehe! Personally I'd go for a little lift, after I pack my uterus off to Boca Raton. You do a lot of giveaways on your blog. A lot of bloggers would like to do vendor giveaways but aren't sure how to go about it. How did you establish relationships with the vendors you work with?

K- Some of them I've contacted personally, others have contacted me. It's always a good idea to wait until you have a solid readership base so that the vendors will see this as a win-win situation.

ML- Sometimes you post about strange or scary events on flights you or someone you know worked on. What is the strangest thing you've ever witnessed on a flight?

K- When you confine 300+ total strangers in tight quarters for over 5 hours, something is bound to happen. I once had a man take "it" out and pee in the aisle, I had a passenger pass away on a flight and a whole bunch of gawkers kept trying to take pictures, there was a man with dementia who thought he was on a train and tried to get off. The one that takes the cake happened to DH. He had a passenger who took off all his clothes during the flight and tried to get to the door. DH had to actually tackle him in the aisle. He said the guy's butt was in his face so he had to elbow him in the back to get him down. Yuck!

ML- You make no secret that you love living in Hawaii (and who could blame you?). Is there anything you don't like about it?

K- Like with every place else, there are good and bad things about living here. I don't really care for the high price of shipping my online purchases. Sometimes the shipping cost is more than the actual product. Then there's not being able to go on a road trip to another state. You would only end up driving in a circle. But seriously, being on an island is really scary when natural disasters happen. You feel so isolated and cut off from the rest of the world.

ML- I noticed you are also a fan of Reese's peanut butter cups. I've been wondering why the mini cups taste so much better than the big ones. What's your take on it?

K- I think it has to do with the ratio of chocolate to peanut butter. Or it could be that it's bite size and much more convenient to eat. I could eat a whole bag in one sitting! Not that I've ever done that before.

ML- Oh no! Me neither! Who'd do such a thing? ~snigger~

At that moment Kailani was paged and had to return to her duties. Someday I will get to Hawaii. Someday. In the meantime I'll get my fix at An Island Life.

Subscribe to Memarie Lane

Stumble It!