COUNTDOWN: June 4 at 8 p.m.!

Hey guys, I know I've been MIA for too long, and I do feel bad about that. It's because we've been wrapping up our TV special.

The Agenas' living room is DONE, absolutely final-mentally 100% totally totally DONE! They love it, the show sponsors who came to our open house loved it, and wow, do I love it!

We've been burning the midnight oil in post-production, so my schedule hasn't gotten any easier. Last night we were phone-conferencing about edits till past 1 a.m., and I am so fried.

But I just wanted to let you know that the countdown has begun! The show airs exactly four weeks from today, so mark your calendars for a transformation you'll have to see to believe:

THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 8 p.m. on KITV! YIPPEE!!!

You gotta love live TV!

So yesterday’s my KITV day, and I’m at the studio bright and early as usual, all set to share a real family’s story about their living room, when oh-oh! A technical glitch pops up that threatens to derail my plans.

As you know, we’re running a $30,000 Style My Room contest along with The Honolulu Advertiser. Every week we’re giving away a runner-up prize, and this week’s winners are the Cadelinia family of Hawaii Kai. Their cream-colored living room carpet had turned more dirt-colored after years of traffic from two active kids, lots of friends and their pet Golden Retriever. They want to make over their living room from the floor up. I’d emailed photos of the room to KITV to flash on the screen during my segment.

Well, as I’m getting miked up just before going on the air, morning co-host Mahealani Richardson asks if I have any photos. They never got my email! My heart just about stopped! I’m a very visual person, and I was counting on those photos to help viewers picture a dramatic before-and-after effect.

Mahealani asked, can you still do the segment? Sure! I said. At least I brought samples of the fabulous European wood flooring that the Cadelinias won from EuroFloor—we’ll just roll with it!

We start the segment, and while I’m on the air, a cameraman notices, lying by my handbag, an 8x10 picture. It’s a printout of the Cadelinias’ living room that I was using to focus my thoughts while I was waiting. He picks it up and starts creeping toward us on the set, just out of camera range.

If you were watching, you probably didn’t notice that while I’m talking, my eyes momentarily dart to the right. Then you hear Mahealani say—quite naturally like the pro she is—oh! Is this a picture of the room you’re talking about? And the camera pans to that printout she’s holding, which is of course grainy and not as clear as what was supposed to flash on screen, but at least viewers could finally see what we were talking about!

My husband Darrell told me later he watched the whole thing and couldn’t tell anything was out of the ordinary. So no one was the wiser—thanks to that cameraman and Mahealani for a smooth save!

To see those actual photos and read the Cadelinias’ whole story, click on Contest in the navigation bar at the top of this page. And if you want to watch that KITV segment for yourself, it’ll be up on our homepage next Tuesday!

Quiz: Budget buy or designer splurge?

It was that time again, planning for what to talk about on my next KITV home style segment. I always try to make it fun, interesting and informative—but what am I going to talk about next? As I was getting dressed to go out to dinner the other night, inspiration hit me—literally as I pulled it over my head.

I paired my designer black jacket, bought on sale at Escada (no, that’s not an oxymoron, and I can’t mention the price because my husband reads this blog!) with my bling-ed out sequin silver tank top that was $12.99 from Walmart. That was it—budget buys and designer splurges! There’s a time and place for both.

So I decided to do something fun and a little different. I wanted to put Mahealani and Dan to the test. After the last few months of my teaching segments with them on Wednesday mornings, I wanted to see if they and the viewing audience could pick out the home décor budget buys from the designer splurges. And come to find out, Dan did better than Mahealani did—but you know what? That’s no surprise, because he always seems to do better when it comes to my pop quizzes!

Now it’s your turn. Can you pick out the budget buys from the designer splurges?

This is going to be a lot harder for you, because Dan and Mahealani were able to touch and really get a sense of these objects.

I started off by saying that every room can stand to have a little touch of black. It accents the other colors and lends drama. Black accent pillows are a great way to do that. Looking at the four pillows, which two do you think are the budget buys, and which would you splurge on?

The first has a dusky gold fabric and a soft black velvet design. It can be contemporary, eclectic and all in all fabulous. The next one is retro-inspired, black and white with beautiful flowers and Swarovski crystals for luxurious embellishment. The next one is striped black and bronze, with gold bamboo as an opulent accent. Finally, a subtle yet elegant island pillow of black and ivory with beautiful monsteras adding a decorative accent.

Next are the throws. Throws are a great way to add texture and warmth to a sofa, a chair or even the foot of a bed. So which of the three do you think is the budget buy? The first is a luxurious taupe chenille throw with crocheted pattern and soft fringes. It has a beautiful shimmer and texture. Next is a light chocolate-colored faux fur throw that’s lined with a suede backing. Then we have a chestnut-colored soft bamboo throw, organic, great for the environment and for any room. It’s super soft and silky.

Finally, the silk orchid arrangements. The first one sits in a clay pot with artificial moss cascading down, and there are three sprays of blossoms. The second is in a resin striped canister with moss globes as accents and also three sprays of blossoms.

So what do you think? Can you tell which is the budget buy and which is the splurge? Post your answers here, then check my next blog for the answers and a peek at the receipts!

Behind the Scenes: KITV, false eyelashes and a happy girl

How do these newscasters do it? They have to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed so early in the morning. On the other hand, I’m still recovering from Wednesday’s segment on KITV. Here’s the story.

Every other Wednesday, I’m on KITV’s morning show with Mahealani Richardson and Dan Meisenzahl, giving home style tips. I’m on at 6:45, so I try to get there at 6. Translation: I need to be up by 5, because it takes me a long time to guzzle my coffee and put on these impossible false eyelashes, which I don’t quite have the hang of yet.

Anyone who knows me knows I love makeup. I’ve been hooked since I was 13 years old and discovered strawberry Lip Smackers. But for TV, you have to spackle a lot more on just to look like your normal self. For me that means eyes that look like Tammy Faye.

This week I had to wake up at 4:30 because my daughter Nicki wanted to go in with me. She was starting school the next day, so this would be her last opportunity to see Mommy on TV. I got up extra early to get myself ready and feed her breakfast.

We arrived at the station a little after 6 and waited in the wings while Mahealani did the newscast. Nicki was enthralled. She’s such a performer that she can’t wait to be on TV someday. To Nicki’s disappointment, Dan was not there. He was away on assignment. She loves Dan! But don’t tell Mahealani that!

When it was my time to get set up, I laid out my area rugs, and Nicki my helpful assistant snapped some great behind-the-scenes photos.

My topic for the day was shopping with focus, and focusing on how to find the right area rug. Here are a couple of tips:

Tip #1: If you have a sofa you need to tie into, take a cushion from the sofa when you go shopping—you’ll save yourself a lot of guess work. I used a sample of a dark green fabric.

Tip #2: Don’t go for the obvious tie-in and look for a green area rug. Find one that has some green as its secondary or accent color. This way, the sofa will not get lost: instead, it will accentuate the green in the rug and your room will begin to feel much more pulled together.

Tip #3: Don’t let your patterns fight with each other! If there is a lot of pattern on your sofa, tone it down in the rug. By the same token, if you want a fabulous statement rug with lots of color and interesting designs, top it with a more understated sofa. Let one or the other have top billing.

Before you knew it, the segment was over. Boy, do five minutes go by fast when you’re trying to get all that information in. Mahealani was great enough to call Nicki in at the end for a little face time, so she got bragging rights to share at school.

We were out of there by 7. Mission accomplished: I got to share a few tips, give my daughter a thrill, and finally take my Tammy Faye eyes off!

For more tips from Cathy Lee logon to http://www.rsvpstyle.com/.

Introducing the newest regular on KITV Morning News...

If you were standing next to me right now, you would be able to feel the energy exuding from my body. I am so excited! And as you probably know by now, when I get excited I use my hands a lot, so I’ll try to keep my hands down when I tell you that you are the first to know that as of next week Wednesday, July 2, Yours Truly is going to debut as the regular homestyle expert for KITV 4 Island Television News This Morning with Mahealani Richardson and Dan Meisenzahl. AAAAAAHHH!! I’m so excited!

I was on the show a few months ago (here's the clip in case you missed it: http://www.rsvpstyle.com/about/press). I had an absolute ball with Mahealani and Dan, and they told me they’d love to have me back. I said, Great! When?

Now I’ve got a regular slot sometime between 6:15 and 6:45 every other Wednesday morning. I’m going to be sharing tips with their viewers on how to add more style to their spaces.

They’re excited about it, we’re excited about it, and I hope you’ll be tuning in to watch! So tell your friends, wish me luck and I’ll see you bright and early next Wednesday morning!