Family Is Everything

Every year, Memorial Day weekend my family (my mom's side- The Striplin's) and friends have a family reunion and golf tournament in loving memory of my Grandpa "Papa" - Jim Striplin. He had the best laugh. He passed when I was 10 (18 years ago) but to this day when I think of him I can hear it. On this special weekend every year we indulge in our fav good eats along Panama City Beach, FL (my hometown), the beautiful beaches, live family music + magic tricks and my absolute favorite, laughter.

My Mom has 5 Striplin siblings (my Grandpa and Grandma had 6 kids!) and there are 10 grandkids (I'm one of them). I love my cousins! It's hard to get all of us together at one time but we try our best- missing a few in these photos. Big family=big fun! A few of our favorite restaurants #goodeats that we make sure to enjoy during this fun-filled weekend on the Gulf Coast are Spinnaker, Captain Anderson's, Schooners & Hammer Head Fred's. Yum!

This year was the 18th Annual Jim Striplin Memorial Golf Tournament (my Uncle's Joey & Sam, and my oldest cousin Jimbob started it in 2001)- way to go guys! Each year since we have created new traditions and so many unforgettable memories are made. A new tradition was initiated this year- The Annual Putt Putt Tournament! Perfect for those like me who don't participate in the real Golf Tourney (maybe oneday)! My cousin's Holly, Whitney and I had a blast!

I made a video with some highlights from last year and this year! Watch down below and be ready for a lot of laughter (Papa would be proud) and a lot of family fun! Can't wait for next year fam!

Love, Light and Glam,

Keely

#panamacitybeach

Hawaiian Adventures | Part Two | #girlpower

Aloha again! I'm excited to share part two from my Hawaii trip with you. I was literally twirling with happiness from this trip, especially this part. #girlpower Before going to Hawaii I knew I wanted to reach out to some amazing photographers to work with for content on my new blog and I also thought it would be cool to work with some local entrepreneurial women and their brands/businesses. This trip taught me something, don't be afraid to ask, when you have an idea or feel inspired to do something- do it! I've always been the type that isn't afraid to ask but this endeavor in particular showed me the power we have at our finger tips in this generation. Social media is an amazing tool to connect with so many different people, places, things all over the world and we should use it. So happy that I did. I used hashtags, #honoluluphotographer, #honolulujewelry, #honoluluboutique etc. I reached out to different people and it led me to cross paths and create with a beautiful and talented group of women in Hawaii.

These fun & flirty photos were taken by the talented, Bailey Makaimoko (baileymakaimokuphoto.com) at the lovely Royal Hawaiian Hotel! I found this hotel on instagram and knew I wanted to shoot here instantly. Obviously because 1. it's pink 2. it's gorge! Turns out this is where my Mom stayed when she visited Honolulu over 30 years ago in the 80's. I had no idea! I definitely want to go back and stay here. I love the colorful, airy & effortless look of Bailey's photography. Follow her beautiful work on instagram @baileymakaimokuphoto.

Betty x Joe is a "happy boho, jungalow boutique" located in Kailua (Honolulu, County). The sweet owner Lynn was kind enough to open up her doors to us to create some beautiful content. The boutique not only offers trendy, island style clothing + locally made accessories, Lynn also offers a beautiful array of houseplants which gives the boutique such a wonderful vibe. You can shop the boutique online here shopbettyxjoe.com and follow along on instagram for new arrivals @bettyxjoe. We sure didn't leave without purchasing some goodies.

The beautiful jewels I'm wearing are from Yu|Mono Design. Each piece is handcrafted by Keiko in her home studio in Honolulu. I loved reading about the meaning behind her jewelry line on her site, where you can shop the pieces yumonodesign.com. Follow along @yumonodesign to see more of her beautiful designs to come. Big thanks to Keiko for connecting me with Lynn from @bettyxjoe & Thuy from @vi.vintage.co.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Thuy, the founder of Vi Vintage Co a new vintage company who's focus is to "give new life to vintage found in Hawaii." Torii loved these pants so much she purchased them. Shop unique vintage finds at vivintageco.etsy.com and follow along on instagram @vi.vintage.co.

Big thank you to Achlene for shooting the fabulous photos for this #girlpower collab! See more of her amazing photography work at achlenewong.com and follow her instgram @photosbyachlene. I love seeing the unique & vibrant shoots that she does!

Thank you again so much to all of these amazing women mentioned in this post. It was such a pleasure meeting all of you. Keep doing your thing because each one of you has so much to offer. It is an inspiration when women are creating and pursuing their passions on their own and even more so when we all come together to celebrate it. Can't wait to cross paths again. #GIRLPOWER

See behind the scenes of these fun shoots, meet the awesome women I got to collaborate with and more from part two of my trip in the vlog below!

Thank you for coming along and please ask any questions you have down below. I highly recommend visiting Honolulu and can't wait to go back again! More travels coming soon. :)

Love, Light and Glam,

Keely

Hawaiian Adventures | Part One

Aloha! I'm so excited to finally share more from my trip to Hawaii last month. It has been a while since I've created a "vlog" (video) and I am so glad I filmed while I was there so I could relive my trip and share it with you!

Day One

My friend Torii came with me and we had such an amazing time! Our first full day in #Honolulu we rented mopeds and cruised around the coastline. We stopped at Diamond Head mountain, saw the incredible views from Kahala lookout and found a little serene park with a secluded beach.

Day Two

We rented a car and got lucky with a free upgrade for a convertible #yes! Talk about a perfect day! We drove to #NorthShore (about 1.5 hours from Honolulu) and spent the day exploring there. We stopped at Sunrise Shack for a smoothie bowl, hit the beautiful beach and went to Waimea Valley for some local treats. Torii connected with Taimane (photographer) before our trip and we did our first shoot of the trip at Sharks Cove.

photography by Taimane Kini

We ended day two with the most gorgeous North Shore sunset (see it in the vlog below). This was definitely a bucket list trip full of adventure! I hope you enjoy the video and stay tuned for part two!

Love, Light and Glam,

Keely