Our day in the sun

I’m sure this will come as no surprise to many of you, but I’m not a golfer. I don’t like the sun, I’m not athletic, and chasing a little white ball around for half the day is not my idea of fun. However, supporting good friends and a great cause and having some mojitos sounds like a party to me!

Last weekend, Kay Mukaigawa and Nelson Oyadomari of Primary Properties and Primary Residential Mortgage held their annual MDA golf tournament. Lissa and I attended last year as guests; this year we decided to sponsor one of the holes.

We were on the seventh hole—don’t ask me what green that is or whatever—but it was a nice, shady spot to serve up drinks … with style!

It was a hot afternoon, absolutely perfect for some nice, cool libations. We served up virgin mojitos and mango mojitos—yum! Cheers to Sommer Meyer, regional sales manager of Bacardi USA, for providing us with the amazing mojito mixers. All we had to do was get pitchers and mix a part of this with a part of that, squeeze in some fresh lime and mint, pour it over ice, and voila, we had our mojitos!

So when people came up to our table, we offered up drinks and asked them to hit the boogie button. When they hit it, it played Shake Your Groove Thing. We were having fun!

We even had Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona stop by our booth, one of the very few who passed on our mojitos! Maybe he had to work right after.

We had a great time getting to know the golfers and heckling them on their golf swings. But the highlight for me was when one of the teams came by and said, Hey, do any one of you want to hit for us? I was like Yeah! Lissa golfs! And I snapped this shot of her drive.

And although I’m no golfer, their appreciative wow must mean she’s pretty good!

Time to cut loose!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a planner. My Halloween plans have been in place for a long time. After weeks of insane hours leading up to our big workshop last weekend, the big girls would work a well-deserved short day and then pick up our little girls from school. We had a party to go to and Nicki and I had our costumes weeks ago—we were going to be matching Skull Fairies, with black dresses, wings, skulls and bones around our necks and daggers dripping with blood. (No, I'm not that creative, we bought these at Price Busters!)

But Halloween came a little early! Lissa, Kara, Melissa and I were working when we got a call from Kay of Primary Properties inviting us to their Halloween party. Tough decision: work? Or eat, play and dress up? Quick thinking: no meetings, no deadlines. It took us all of 30 seconds to shut down the computers.

Give me a break, it usually take me days, if not weeks to plan one costume, and now I had to think of four. Lissa ran home to get her devil costume from last year, and I went to my daughter's bedroom for inspiration. I found her Hannah Montana wig and her Barbie guitar from a few Christmases ago. Then I dug up my old high school cheerleader uniform and pompoms for Melissa, and took out my skull necklace and wings for Kara to go with a wig that Lissa brought.

An hour later, devilish diva Lissa, radical rocker Kara, cutesy cheerleader Melissa and Hannah Montana Lee were getting lots of laughs and comments as we walked toward Primary Properties’ offices, and we cracked up everyone there too. But what we were all eyeing were the sweet treats. They had all kinds, lots homemade, like the ghost cookies and the red velvet spider cupcakes. They were all ghoulishly good!

Can you believe that Oprah herself was there to interview me?! But that darn Madonna kept trying to steal my limelight!

It was a hilarious, spur-of-the-moment day, but the best part was when we picked up our girls from school. Even in the drive-by pickup line, they could see their moms were different. Their eyes got big as saucers as they took in the wigs, bright makeup and costumes. Lesson of the day: Halloween’s not just for kids!

Here’s hoping all of you out there had a Happy Halloween!

Have you missed me?

I know I've been MIA from my blog lately, but it's not because I haven't been working. In fact, Lissa, Kara, Melissa and I have been working waaay too much! All that hard work paid off this past Saturday at our Invitation to Design workshop at the Dole Cannery Ballrooms. I am sooo tired and so glad it's over. It could not have gone any better!

To my amazement, there were 75 people standing in line before the doors opened at 8:15. We set up for 320 attendees, and we even had to bring in another table. In today’s economy, we were thrilled that so many people decided to spend most of their Saturday and their hard-earned money to attend.

I always start my workshops by sharing a little about my background. For the first time, I shared a few photos from my childhood in Pearl City. I wanted everyone to see the not-so-stylish home that I grew up in. From the boar head hanging in the living room to the Korean lacquer furniture to the water buffalo carving from the Philippines, yes, it was a very eclectic home...but not in a good way. (Sorry Mom and Dad!)

The energy from the audience was amazing—everyone really seemed focused and ready to learn. Early on I talked about putting textures and patterns together, then gave people a chance to work with their tables to try their hand at it. It was great to see how excited and involved everyone was. But that involvement is always heightened when there’s a prize on the line.

I am a total believer in games. I think that learning should always be fun, and adults love to play too! They key is to create a game that can be a fun learning experience. The first table to successfully put together their dream space with the materials at their fingertips—color fan decks, books of fabrics, samples of granite, carpet and wood flooring—plus complete a mock ‘mortgage application’ would win. The winning table was loaded with guys from American Carpet One! Each received a $100 gift certificate from Honolulu Lights.

Just before lunch, I introduced our presenting sponsors, Amy Kunz from The Honolulu Advertiser and Nelson Oyadomari from Primary Residential Mortgage. They were both so great to work with. Not to mention, they are both a lot of fun! Amy left her husband home to babysit so she could come with her mom. Nelson, who is such a clown, came up on stage dressed all in black except for a red napkin hanging out of his pocket—he said it was his pop of accent color!

The final part of the day was a segment on staging a home. We had a lot of Realtors and their clients there. As I was asking the audience questions, most everyone was responding...and with the right answers. I always love this part. I call it the part when the light bulb goes off—it's the moment when people realize that they are learning, and it does make sense, and they are really getting it, and maybe they can learn to decorate after all!

When the workshop was over, there was a line of people waiting to talk with me and give me a hug. That was when I really felt that all the hard work was worth it. Everyone was so sweet and their thanks so sincere. I was really touched. It made me feel special. It almost made me want to do another workshop...NOT!

Next: Moments that will make you say ‘Awww…’: the human side of the day.

You asked for it, you got it—another workshop!

We’ve just confirmed the date and location for our next big Invitation to Design workshop: Saturday, October 25 at the Dole Cannery Ballroom. As always, it’s going to be an action-packed full day of learning with lots of fun thrown in!

Like our past big workshops, this one will be more of an introduction to design and decorating for those who want to learn how to incorporate color, texture and style into their spaces. But also, in this economy, we’ve had lots of requests to teach about staging. Those who have homes languishing on the market can learn how to spruce them up quickly and affordably to get them sold. So it’ll be great for homeowners and sellers and Realtors alike.

We already have our presenting sponsor on board. Primary Residential Mortgage is a great company headed by Nelson Oyadomari. I’m looking forward to working with them and seeing you at our next workshop—stay tuned to this website for details!