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xo,

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen teamed up with Damien Hirst on a collection of backpacks. Photo: Getty Images/ via Just One Eye

Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen could never be considered frugal or conservative.  Most celebrites these days spend more money on a shopping spree than most people make in an entire year.  It just goes to show how wasteful the rich and famous have become.  In utterly ridiculous and distasteful celebrity news, the Olsen twins have announced that their ultra-exclusive brand The Row has outdone themselves in the ridiculously overpriced handbag game.  They previously were pricing the plain crocodile skin backpack for a cool $40,000 but now in their quest to be even more ridiculous, have teamed up with designer Damien Hirst to create a super limited edition of the bag priced at $55,000!!!  What the.....

Via MTV.com

The actresses-turned-CFDA winners have debuted a brand new capsule collection of super luxe backpacks in conjunction with Damien Hirst. The Row designers and the contemporary artist collaborated on nine different styles of the carryall, embellishing the label's signature black patent Nile crocodile leather backpack with Hirst's quirky-cool designs. It's an awesome concept, sure, but just like all the other swoon-worthy pieces from The Row, the bad news is, it's gonna cost you. A lot. If you thought the Olsens wouldn't dare to top the $39,000 price tag on their other (controversial) backpack, think again...because they totally went there. The limited-edition collection of bags is listed at online design store Just One Eye for "price upon request." We called, and it retails for a cool $55,000. Gulp.

Although a portion of the sales go to UNICEF, we're still wrapping our heads around the insane price tag, and here's the thing: as crazy costly as the bag is, there are people who will buy it— after all, the label's alligator backpack sold out last season. But just to put the money into perspective, with that $55,000, you could instead buy a couple of cars, approximately 110 new iPads, 3, 055 bottles of Deborah Lippmann nail polish....  So there you have it: the super expensive backpack just got even pricier, making even the most wallet-busting pieces from Alexander Wang, Mulberry, and more seem like pocket change. 

 Other than the ridiculous price, many of these limited edition (and in my humble opinion UGLY) bags are adorned with pill appliques... What is the point of that? It's in such poor taste to release anything that is condoning or promoting drug use.  Pills have, in recent years, become many a person's drug of choice even killing one of the Olsen's close friends Heath Leger who died from an overdose of pills in 2008.

I really don't understand how or why anyone would want to purchase these bags.  Even if they were gorgeous and didn't promote prescription drug abuse, they are SO expensive and ridiculously overpriced.  I'm not saying it's wrong for anyone to want or have something nice but $55,000 for a purse?  That is beyond expensive.  That is more for 1 bag than so many people make in one year.  They justify the price by saying a "portion" goes to UNICEF yet they omit how large that portion going to charity is.  Whoever purchases these bags would benefit greatly from visiting a homeless shelter or visiting people left devastated by natural disasters or disease.  That money could go to so many other wonderful and helpful causes instead of an ugly handbag that is adorned with prescription drugs.

I personally could never spend a large amount of money on a handbag or shoes, it's just not my style.  I would rather spend my money on my son's tuition or on photography gear.  I just don't understand frivoloty of spending thousands of dollars on handbags like these.  What do you think? Worth it?  Not worth it?  I think it's so not worth it and such a bad message to send. Why adorn handbags with prescription drugs? What's the purpose in that?

Give me your feedback and take a look at these overpriced $55,000 bags after the jump.

Monday is but a few hours away and I'm sitting here dreading the upcoming work day.  The "day job" takes so much time and energy out of me but I don't mind it.  I just sometimes wish that I had a job that I loved or that I could spend more of my time with my son or doing the things I enjoy so much like photographing or blogging.  I'm just thankful to have a good job to be honest, especially in this economy...  Wouldn't it just be lovely if we could all do something we love for work?  To do something that I have passion for, to be creative all day and get paid for it, boy oh boy how I would love that! I rarely get the chance to be creative in my day to day life. 

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The Aloha Friday Blog Hop is more than a "Friday" hop, it's a way to share aloha and friendship to our fellow bloggers all weekend long!!  I consider this particular blog hop to be more of a weekend hop because Fridays are so hectic that a lot of people function on what we like to call "Hawaiian Time" here in Hawai'i which means they link up on Saturday or sometimes even Sunday which is just fine and dandy with me!  That's why I keep it open from Friday through Monday because I sincerely believe, the more the merrier!! 
This week we wanted to add a little something extra special to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...
Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ... Hannah from Thirsty World Designs. Hannah is a postcard enthusiast who occasionally allows her cat to take over the blog (so cute and adorable!). She blogs about recipes and restaurants, art and travel stories. Want a little taste of her blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing:

A Post from Einstein (the cat, not the scientist!) All the Fun of the Fair

If you're not already a follower than you definitely should be! Now, let's link up and start spreading that Aloha shall we?

On this busy, busy day I decided to share a simple photo of my son Alaka'i in his Iron Man costume at our church celebration for Hallow Him (on Halloween). This simple photo took forever to edit because I didn't have a real backdrop so I masked out his and 84 other people's photo background and added a digital background. Not easy but way easier on the eyes than the mess that was originally in the background!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday. I'm utterly swamped at my "day job" but I have lots of new and exciting posts that will be going up in the next couple of days!! Lots of photos, reviews and more!!

Happy Wednesday!

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This week we wanted to add a little something extra special to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!!  What do  you have to do to enter?  Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!!  No extra forms or hassle, just link up!  Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...
Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ... Katie from Life in the Simple Lane!! Katie's blog mission is to spread her message of simplicity to the far corners of the world. If something is worth doing at all it is worth doing simply :) Want a little taste of her ideas? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing: Simple Beauty Tips for Moms on the Run - invaluable, even if you're not a mom! Timesaving Tips - clever stuff here people. If you're not already a follower than you definitely should be! Now, let's link up and start spreading that Aloha shall we?

xoxo,

Aloha,

I don't know about you, but I've been feeling utterly drained of all energy lately.  I don't know if it's just because the holidays are approaching and preparing for it is both stressful and time consuming, or if it's the fact that I've been working the equivalent of 5 jobs pretty much every single day.  Let me switch gears here and go in reverse a bit to explain a bit..

Ok so I know all you moms out there (and dads too) can empathize with me on how exhausting it is to be a parent. I found the graphic above on Pinterest and found it both funny and true.  Children have this endless supply of energy that I wish I could tap in to.  As I sit here and yawn while I drink my second cup of coffee, just thinking about the plans for the day involving my son makes me want to run to my bed and curl up and sleep.


I've found there are several levels of being tired and drained and then you reach a level of utter exhaustion where you just feel completely wiped out.  That's where I'm at right now as I type this blog post.  Exhausted.  The dictionary defines it as:

ex·haus·tion

noun /igˈzôsCHən/  exhaustions, plural A state of extreme physical or mental fatigue - he was pale with exhaustion

Can I just say that I miss having all the energy I used to have?  I'm 30 now and I can feel the energy progressively becoming less and less available.  Perhaps it's because I don't get enough rest lately but I think with age, comes further energy depletion which is why it's so important to eat healthy and exercise to try to retain as much energy as possible.

So about the 5 jobs thing...whether you're a working parent or not, you have one main job...being a parent.  Job #1....parenthood, is the hardest and most important job you'll ever have.  How you parent your child greatly affects the outcome of a human beings life and the world so you wanna make sure you do your best.  Being a single mom is my #1 job because I do it alone with my boy and I wouldn't trade him for anything.  I think it's easier now that he's older because he can clean up after himself and he can help with chores.  He's almost 11 and he's been a great help to me.

Job #2 is my "day job" in which I work as the Assistant Vice President to a corporation and though it is both stressful and time consuming, it pays my bills and my awesome bosses allow me the flexibility to still be there for my son and retazin gainful employment. The fact that I can leave the office at 2 pm to pick up my son and continue my reports and paperwork from my home office is such a blessing. The only downside to that is because I leave work at that time, I have a ton of catch up work to do at my home office which keeps me up late but it's so worth it.

Job #3 is being an aunt/babysitter to my two nieces, 2 years old and 5 years old, respectively. I pick the 5 year old up from school before I get my son and I watch all three of them until around 7 pm when my brother and his wife get off of work. I've been doing that for about a month now and boy oh boy did I forget how high maintenance a toddler is!!  They are like walking tornadoes creating messes as they go and she and her big sister are always taking each other's toys so I have to diplomatically help them resolve their issues all while cleaning up after them, helping my son and oldest niece do homework, taking them out for some fresh air, feeding them dinner and bathing them.  Man, even writing about it exhausts me!! Keep in mind all this is done while getting work calls and doing emails and sending proposals on my laptop.

Job #4 is running this wonderful website.  For quite awhile, jobs #1-3 monopolized so much of my time that I was neglecting What Jean Likes and just doing the Aloha Friday Blog Hop.  I've been working super hard and not only redesigning my page (to speed up loading time and make it look pretty) but also to provide content and share all the things I like, love and enjoy with all of you!!

Job #5 is kind of like two additional jobs in one but I'll just list it in the same category.  That's being a photographer. I spend my weekends when I'm not doing the "day job" stuff taking photos and then editing them.  Keep in mind that I primarily am a landscape photographer so I "chase the light" and drive all over the beautiful island of O'ahu to find something new and gorgeous to photograph.  I'm so lucky to live in a place with summer year round because there's always something to photograph.  I must confess that I sometimes long for cold winters or the rich reds and oranges that fall leaves bring.  So with photography comes the taking photos and the editing photos. I think though taking photos is challenging because you want to get it right in camera, the editing is much more time consuming.  I have to admit that I should be photographing my son and nieces more although when I watch them I get so caught up in everything else that photographing them slips my mind.

You know what though? I wouldn't trade the stress, multi-tasking and exhaustion for all the money or quiet time in the world.  I am so blessed and thankful for all that I do have.  It's wonderful to have the job, opportunity and family to cause my exhaustion. My life would be dreadful and dull without all those little energy suckers.  So if you wondered what I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving, it's all the blessings that God has given me in the forms of the jobs, people and tasks that leave me utterly exhausted. :)

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