If I had a factory...

There's nothing more obnoxious then falling in love with a product, whether that's a beverage or food item, a cosmetic treat or a TV program and then all of the sudden not being able to find it anymore. I have a particular knack for sending products that I fancy into a pit of non existence. Which makes me wonder, do I have really bad taste? Or is it just the nature of this earth to "no longer produce" products that Megan likes so much?

Here's my current list of items that I really wish were still around:

1. Mary Kay lip gloss: Rewind to 1986, my mom used to get this lip gloss from Mary Kay: light pink tube with a gold lid, small fuzzy brush applicator and the most incredible smell. They say that our memories can be triggered more by an aroma then anything else, and I totally believe it. That's how I'd know if this lip gloss ever came back into production and was available to me again. It smells exactly like the Strawberry Shortcake doll I used to have as a little kid: pink and fruity with a hint of plastic.

2. Tab energy drink: When I was living on my own in my early 20's I was working 2 jobs, dating lots o' boys, going to school full-time, going out on weekends (and the occasional weeknight) and fully enjoying life aka not getting as much sleep as a growing girl needs. That's why this delightfully fruity, carbonated, pink beverage came in so handy. It was milder then Red Bull and gave me enough of a buzz to get where I needed to go and do what I needed to do. Plus, it was in a super cute, skinny pink can. I knew it was doomed though when it started to show up only on the shelves of Food 4 Less at 50% off.

3. Great Steak and Potato Company: The food court at the mall rarely holds culinary treasures, but the Great Steak & Potato Co. was my exception to that rule. They made this chicken teriyaki sandwich that absolutely rocked. Accompanied with their delicious fries and an iced tea, it was the perfect fuel for a shopping spree. So imagine my shock when I was heading up to their counter this last December, wallet in hand, looking down at my phone as I was texting the friend I was meeting and walked, literally, into a wall. Shocked and slightly embarrassed I glanced up and sure enough, no more counter, no more sign, just a plastered wall stating that this space was now available for rent. Major, major boo.

4. Trailer blurb in E! News weekend wrap-up blog: This actually reveals a bit too much about my obsession with pop culture, but whatevs. E! News is an app I have on my phone and every Saturday they post an article called "Weekend Wrap-up" and it contains a bunch of different blurbs about the major stories of the week, summaries of shows, etc. My favorite blurb was super short, it just mentioned all the new movie trailers that had come out that week and whether or not they did their movies justice. You all know that previews are one of the best things about going to the movies, so I'd always go from this blurb to YouTube and check out the new snippets. Only bummer is that now, for whatever reason, they no longer put that information in the article. Lame.

5. Jennifer Love Hewitt spin off: I'm not a Jennifer Love Hewitt fan, and I never watched "Party of Five", but for whatever reason I got caught up in her spin-off show from PO5: "Time of Your Life". It had a great story line, her blank head tilt stare thing she does in every movie ever didn't bug me and Jonathan Schaech was yummy. Of course it got cancelled before even finishing the first season.

6. Chocolate lasagna from Olive Garden: One of my favorite flavors is amaretto and Olive Garden used to have this dessert that was layer upon layer of moist chocolate cake alternating with creamy amaretto frosting and then topped with a thicker layer of frosting and chocolate chunks. In a word: divine. In three words: no longer available.

So today at the mall when the adorable MAC sales guy came up and asked what he could help with and I handed him my almost empty container of my favorite shade of lipglass and he said, "Oooooh, let me check and make sure we have this because I know they're getting ready to stop production of this color" (*sigh*), I didn't fuss or throw a temper tantrum, I just bought every single one they had in stock.

Maui

Best taste of the islands: It’s a tie between the sliced pineapple served with a cinnamon sour cream sauce at The Plantation House for brunch and the shaved ice from Local Boys. The latter was juiced up with three flavors of my choice, and my second time there I chose tiger’s blood, blue vanilla and cherry made fully complete with a scoop of vanilla ice cream under the ice and a generous helping of this sweet cream stuff poured on top. Unreal. And yes, both of these tasty treats were better than my filet from Ruth’s Chris on our girls night out.

Best moment of “I’m so happy you’re my friend”: A chat in the bathroom about the difficulties of motherhood that ended up with me getting teary and Shayna coming over and giving me one of those genuine hugs where you don’t feel like you have to let go right away.

Best purchase: My new sunglasses that looked so cute on Erin that I had to get them. And she was inspired to get hers cause they looked so good on Shayna. We all live in different states so it’s totally ok to be triplets.

Best unexpected treat: How good I slept the first night there. Our room didn’t have AC so we slept with the sliding door open and the ceiling fan on and the breeze combined with the sound of ocean waves was incredibly relaxing. The perfect temperature. So perfect that I snored to the point of depleting the night of sleep for my poor husband. Sorry, babe.

Best regular sighting: A tie between flowers that look so beautiful it should be illegal to pick them and my husband with his super tan skin in his daily uniform of shorts, a tank, flip flops and a hat. Yum.

What I’ll check out the next time I go back: That gazebo restaurant whose line was waaaaaay too long for us to wait with the kiddos, all the lovely places in and around Kihei that my brother and sister-in-law told me about, and ocean water deeper than 3 feet…although that last one isn’t a definite.