Got lucky in Vegas!

Boy, did we get lucky in Vegas!

We just got home from the Las Vegas Furniture Market, where our first bit of luck was catching up with Arlene Horna, our Traditional Home magazine sweepstakes winner (you'll find that blog post right below this one).

We checked in at the Venetian, where Arlene is the HR manager. Of course we brought her the traditional Hawaiian goodies: Kona coffee toffee mac nuts, coconut and espresso cookies and dried mango. She was a happy woman! Reconnecting with Arlene was a great welcome after our red-eye flight.


Joining me on this trip were Caty, making her third trip to Vegas with me; CM's newest designer, Tonya; here's Arlene in the middle; and me and Kara, who's come to this awesome furniture and interior decor market with me so many times I've lost count.


Our first afternoon, we got to catch up with Susan Dickerson of Home Accents Today. Lucky for me, she interviewed me, and I found myself on the cover of the next morning's Home Accents market daily! It continues to amaze me how quickly they can turn that around!

And who were we there to shop for? Our lucky design clients! The Cathy's Marketplace design team is working on several residential projects, and we found great inspiration pieces ranging from rugs to furniture.



Lucky for you, we can report some exciting trends in interior decor: Lots of neon and bright, bold colors. Fresh white hues everywhere, from furniture to ceramics to lacquers.


Orange and blue are still strong, as are shades of purple, and we didn't see as much of the blue-and-chocolate combo that was popular a few years ago. Also continuing strong is the trend of mixing materials. Here are two examples: a wood-and-metal table and a metal-and-leather chair.


Bling, sparkle, glamour and fur are all still relevant, and Priscilla Presley is now joining in with her own line. Her showroom is a range of hues of purple, a rock 'n roll edge mixed with glamour and femininity. I actually thought she did a pretty good job and her showroom was intriguing.

Having been to Las Vegas Market for several years now, I'm seeing a sad trend: Fewer rooms with one-of-a-kind pieces. I guess many of the smaller vendors can't afford the time and cost to make the show, which means more of the same old. I mean, you do get to see new colors and styles, but I miss the awe and wonder that I felt five years ago, when there were so many more boutique vendors showcasing their new products and ideas.

Oh well, sign of the times, I guess. The only other negative was I didn't get a chance to have my Reuben sandwich from the Golden Nugget! We had some great dinners, like at Sushi Samba, where we let the waiter pick our menu, which was amazing.

Mainly the trip was all about walking and shopping, from 8 in the morning til 6 at night. You'll be seeing a lot of what we found in our upcoming projects as we beautify homes across Oahu. We'll keep you posted!

Winners all around: Traditional Home's Hawaii sweepstakes prize day!

Back in February, we were featured in Traditional Home's Hawaii sweepstakes for the magazine's readers. Besides flying over on Hawaiian Air and staying at the Ihilani Resort, one lucky winner got a package of personalized style tips and touring beautiful homes with us!

As much planning as we put into this day, it turned out to be as much a prize for us as it was for our winner.

When Arleen Horna of Las Vegas walked into Cathy's Marketplace last Friday, her smile lit up the showroom. She had such a bright, sunshiny personality that you couldn't help but smile with her! Her son George was supposed to come along, but unfortunately had gotten too much sun during his surf lessons the day before, so Arleen, Kara and I had a total girls' day.


We started out in the showroom with a one-on-one lesson on training your own eye for design. Arleen was a great student!

"I get it!" she said. "It makes so much sense—now I know what to do with my living room."

Let me tell you, that was music to my ears!


And we were off to the first stop on the road tour we had planned: Queen Emma's Summer Palace. The docents gave us a private tour showing what an authentic Hawaiian home looked like---a home for royalty, that is! It was so interesting to see Hawaiian artifacts that have been so faithfully preserved by the Daughters of Hawaii, who are so dedicated to keeping the queen's story and home and spirit alive, from the beautiful koa pieces to precious gifts from English and other royalty. It was definitely a tour worth taking, and I plan to take Nicki back there sometime soon.


Next stop: lunch! The Plumeria Cafe at the Kahala Hotel was decked out in Christmas splendor, while the terrace upstairs was full of Christmas trees and gingerbread houses. The scene brought to life what we had started learning in the showroom, how layering and repetition of colors and textures bring a space together.

Over lunch we learned what Arleen's job is. It's a perfect fit for this total people person: She's a trainer in the human resources department at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas!

Our all-girls' lunch was fun, but I wanted to give Arleen a sense of top-of-the-line home style, Hawaii-style! We turned to a dear friend, Jeff Fox of Kahala Associates, who was so quick to respond when we made our request, it's no wonder his clients love him.


Here's a link to his listing in Diamond Head so you can see what Arleen saw: a $7.6 million oceanfront estate with the most incredible panoramic views. The pictures don't do it justice. You have to hear the ocean and smell its scent---it was just incredible.


Jeff's other listing, a $2.695 million Portlock property, was not oceanfront but also had great ocean views. Here's the link.


By then it was time for Arleen to head back to the Ihilani. We were a little behind schedule, so Arleen would face full traffic on her drive back across the island and I fully expected her to get in her car and take off. But she's such a sweetheart, she stayed and chatted and did a little Christmas shopping in the showroom.


Our good-bye was a little emotional for the both of us. For Arleen the trip to Hawaii was a dream come true. She told me she's been wanting to come here since she was a little girl. She's going to take what she saw and learned back with her and remember it her whole life. Her time with us truly touched her.

It was a great day all around. Arleen got her prize, but Kara and I got so much back from Arleen's happiness and enthusiasm, we felt like we got a gift too! We are so glad we got to spend the day with this wonderful lady, and we wish her all the best.

Off and running

After traveling about 30 hours and on only five hours of sleep, Darrell, Nicki, my mom and dad and I awoke in Athens with lots of energy and ready for our first adventure. With only a few minutes to spare, we jumped onto the first tour bus of the day to see the sights of Athens.

First stop, the Olympic Stadium, home of the first modern Olympics. Nicki was excited to pass me the baton. This mother-daughter duo won the design team relay race!

At the Temple of Zeus. the God of all Gods (my dad thought that was his title!).

This is the last photo of mom and me smiling before our long hot trek up to the Acropolis. It felt like it was over 120 but it was probably just over 100 degrees.

The Parthenon... aaaaahhhhh-mazing! How did they build this thousands of years ago?

During our tour among the thousands of people on top of the Acropolis, we ran into Keoni, Kara and Keri. The girls were so happy to find each other.

After getting lost in Plaka with Joseph and Carolyn, we discovered this quaint street.

Greek dinner show, a la Paradise Cove luau in Hawaii.

I hope everybody back home has made it through all that rain we've been hearing about! I'll be back later with more photos...

Birthday cake .... again ?!

More Gemini babies! James Brennan, our video producer, and Kara Wagner, our office manager, are also celebrating their birthdays this month, so we headed to Stuart Anderson’s Cattle Company in Pearl City.

James’ birthday wish had already come true: This restaurant has his absolute favorite sandwich in the world, their chicken, avocado and bacon sandwich. I swear, this guy is soon going to grow feathers! He eats nothing but chicken every time we’re with him.



We all ended up choosing the same thing, except for Lissa, who had to be the rebel and try the French dip. It was OK, but I would highly recommend that if you’re a chicken lover like James, this is the place you have to go and the sandwich you want is the amazing chicken, avocado and bacon!


Kara has the sweet tooth, so we let her pick the dessert. She was still contemplating what her birthday wish would be as they got ready to blow out the candles on their birthday cake/mud pie.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to sing Happy Birthday—the wait staff took care of that—because none of us can carry a tune. Thank you, wait staff! And oodles of happy birthday wishes to our very own James and Kara!