New KITV appearances, right from the showroom!

It's been absolutely crazy these last few weeks, renovating and filling the Cathy's Marketplace showroom while organizing a grand opening gala on-site for 400 people. I mean, phew! And now that we're officially open for business, I've finally been able to pick up my homestyle segments on the KITV morning news show again.


There have been some big changes here as well. First, I'm on Sunday mornings now, every Sunday morning instead of every other week, and my segment will air twice: Once at 6:15 and again at 7:15 a.m.

Second, every segment is videotaped right in the showroom. If you've already been by to check us out, you know that means I'll have at my disposal literally scores of furniture pieces, accessories, wall colors, rugs, lamps, throws and unique accents. No more lugging around a few props to spread on a table. My new homestyle tips will be able to illustrate so many more style ideas using the whole array of real-size, real-life pieces!

The first airs this Sunday, May 15 on the morning show with Jodi Leong and Paul Drewes. I met Jodi at the showroom and she is a blast! We hit it off right away.

So please tune in for or Tivo my new homestyle segments every Sunday on KITV, and please tell your friends!

High five!

Cathy: We did it! What a relief—our contest went live this past weekend and Lissa and I had been holding our breath along with everyone else in the office. She’s here with me and we’re doing a joint blog. Just think, with all the glitches that could have happened—

Lissa: It’s cool to see a contest coming to reality. Remember six months ago when it was just an idea? We were having a meeting in this conference room and James came up with the idea of doing a makeover contest, but one that was different.

Cathy: Well of course James—he’s our video director and the only guy we work so closely with—it all has to come back to him! He said not only do a makeover, it should turn into a TV show. We started brainstorming and one thing led to another, and we came up with the concept that it shouldn’t be just a makeover, the homeowner should be involved!

Lissa: And then as we started plotting out the contest and how it was going to work, Mari was on board to conceptualize the ideas for the website—

Cathy: What’s great about Mari, our editor, is not only does she put words in our mouth, she also puts a lot of food in our mouth! She’s a foodie, and we like that!

Lissa: And all the work that went into the look of the contest, all the ads, that was Katie, our graphic designer.

Cathy: But I have to say, the MVPs of this whole process have to be—

Lissa: Bigger Bird Creative.

Cathy: Absolutely. Annie and Aaron are our web developers and Bigger Bird at http://www.biggerbird.com/ is their company. They’re responsible for the look and functionality of our website. This contest was a whole new ballgame. It’s a whole new functionality—

Lissa: And making sure it was easy for people to enter, looked visually pleasing, going back and forth as the rules were being approved by lawyers from two companies, making sure every page was easy to navigate and user-friendly, right down to the wire!

The contest launched at midnight last Sunday, and last Saturday was amazing, let me tell you, the whole day a bunch of us—Annie, Aaron, James, Mari, Kara, Melissa and I—we were working the whole day doing last-minute touch-ups, proofing, banging out our test system and making sure it all worked, til just about midnight.

Cathy: And amazingly, everybody came through on deadline! Needless to say, it was a huge group effort.

But you know what I’m excited about, Lise? I’m excited about finding a winner. Actually finding lots of winners, because we have the seven weekly winners and the final Grand Prize winner. Seeing the entries that have come in so far, it’s heartwarming because people are saying they really want to learn.

Lissa: And you get to help them spend $30,000!

Cathy: I can do that!

Lissa: That’s going to be a heck of a living room.

Cathy: I can’t do it for everyone, but I can do it for the winners, and it’s going to be documented on TV and that’s how everybody will learn.

Lissa: Yeah, you can’t go to everybody’s house, but with the TV show at the end you’ll sort of be going into everybody’s living rooms.

Cathy: I’m relieved, I’m happy, and really excited about helping some Hawaii homeowners. We wouldn’t be able to do this without The Honolulu Advertiser promoting this contest and really getting the word out.

Lissa: And making that great full-page ad—

Cathy: And also KITV for agreeing to air the program in June.
It’s been a tremendous team effort, so I just wanted to give credit where it’s justly due and let you meet some of the people who don’t get the recognition, but who play such a huge role behind the scenes.

Great job, team! High fives all around!

Ho ho ho!

The holidays are here, and that means it’s time to think about gift-giving! It was also time for me to think about what to do for my KITV segment this week. I decided to share some great gift ideas for the home.

I showed up on the set bright and early as usual at 6 a.m. with a few surprises for Mahealani and Dan. I decided we should be a little festive—it is the season, isn’t it? So I brought cute reindeer ears for Mahealani and me and a surprise hat for Dan!

I started out by showing them a recent discovery. For those who still have shoeboxes full of photos or collections of photo CDs and memory cards, why not turn those precious memories into a special, one-of-a-kind book for Christmas? Wouldn’t this be a great gift for grandparents, or for a family reunion? I found these at a local company, Valenti Print Group. Their custom photo books start at around $30—affordable, practical, memorable, and it looks beautiful on the coffee table!

Next, if you want to splurge and really do something special for someone, how about an antique Chinese wedding basket? This is an Asian accessory that adds an understated yet sophisticated flair to any Island-Asian room. As a gift, you just open it up and place some potpourri inside, and you have a gift basket—easy, beautiful, fabulous! I found both at C.S. Wo: basket for $75 and the gorgeous potpourri for less than $25.

Something a bit more affordable? I love the whimsy of these cupped hands holding tea lights. A fun accessory for a powder room, foyer or even your desk. It’s perfect for the holidays because you could display them with some scented or holiday colored candles, but the piece itself is not holiday-themed, so can be used throughout the year. And it’s only $33 from HomeWorld.

Finally, a really amazing gift that’ll be available for the first time in bookstores: RSVPstyle’s affordable Starter Set! Wow, what a great idea (hee-hee)! It’s $69, three how-to DVDs and a training guide book with fun lessons and tips on home design and décor on any budget. It could save you thousands in mistakes you’ll avoid, plus add value to your home. It’ll be available at Borders from next Wednesday, and in other bookstores shortly after.

The segment wrapped up with my final gift: the holiday hat on Dan’s head, which magically came to life! For a full appreciation of what I’m talking about, you have to check out the video at http://www.rsvpstyle.com/. It was hilarious! People on the set couldn’t stop laughing once the cameras stopped rolling.

We had a ball, another fun segment. Hope I gave you some special gift ideas for the homestyler you love!

Good morning—we’re on the air!

I feel like I’ve found a new home. Today’s segment on KITV4 Island Television News This Morning was my very first regular appearance as their new homestyle expert. Everyone from the cameraman to, of course, Mahealani Richardson and Dan Meisenzahl is so much fun! How in the world they can be like that at 4 a.m., which is when a lot of them get in, is beyond me!

Kara and I arrived at the station at 6:15 for my 6:45 segment

Kara is definitely NOT a morning person, so I really appreciated her coming along to take some of these behind-the-scene photos so that I could share them with you.

We arrived at the station to the sound of music, literally. Seven-time Hoku award winner Hoku Zuttermeister was performing. And then we said hello to Dan and Mahealani. I had butterflies in my stomach, as I always do before I do a workshop or go live on TV, and there was Kara sticking a camera in my face, saying, ‘So how do you feel?’

So I did a little clip with her before I got miked up. That’s when Ben Gutierrez, the weatherman, came up behind me and scared me half to death, and I actually screamed on video. So, as I’m having butterflies and sort of whispering so as not to disturb what’s going on, here comes Ben and makes me even more nervous!

If you think I wasn’t really scared, take a look at the clip!

Just like the first time I was on the show, Mahealani puts me right at ease, and rascal Dan comes up to shake my hand just to get more mug time. It was a really fun chance to share what RSVPstyle’s all about, as we start this journey of training their viewers’ eyes for design and décor. In this first interview I wanted to share just exactly what is RSVPstyle because from here on out, every other Wednesday, I’m going to be teaching their viewers how to work with their spaces, just as we do at RSVPstyle.

So if you missed it, here’s the clip, and shortly we’ll be getting it onto our press page as well.

It was a lot of fun, so don’t miss my next segment on Wednesday, July 16. Stay tuned—it’s going to be a lot of fun!