Happy Tuesday and happy first day of October, dear readers! I hope you are well and are having a lovely week (or as lovely as can be had given the government shutdown here in the United States). The fall quarter has started on our campus and I’m back from vacation into the craziness that is fall on a college campus. But luckily I actually like fall quarter, the enthusiasm of the new students, and the beginning of it feeling like fall in the Bay Area. However, it is hard to let go of the laid back feel of summer. So in honor of the ending of summer, I’m sharing a few photos from my recent trip and a video that should put a smile on your face this Tuesday.

I recently spent just over a week in Kauai. My first trip ever to Hawaii and it was amazing, so I had to share some photos.

The hiking was fantastic. This photo below is from right before we started on a difficult hike to do part of the Alaka’i Swamp Trail.

And the sunsets were as beautiful as everyone said they would be.

Finally I leave you with Sara Bareilles’ Brave video:

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. I’ll be back on Friday with more. Allons-y!