shangri la

shangri la courtyard + playhouse

since i have a curious fascination in seeing how the other half lives, i am ever the sucker for historic home tours like hearst castle. imagine my delight when the doris duke estate, a.k.a. shangri la (isn't that one of the most evocative names?), was opened to the public a few years ago.

the estate is just not something you would expect to find in hawaii which makes it all the more fabulous. the morrocan vibe is something that really should be experienced in person and anyone with an interest in art, architecture & design would enjoy exploring the diamond head estate on the guided tour offered by the honolulu academy of arts.

aloha rag

 

one of hawaii's most stylish boutiques has got to be aloha rag (as seen in lucky & vogue) which caters to the fashionistas on the island. you'll find everything from chloe and balenciega to loomstate organic denim and l.a.m.b. (the only place in town to score gwen stefani's designs). i'm particularly fond of this tee from martin margiela.

if you can't get to the shop on kapiolani blvd. (street level in that brown & glass building by ala moana. you know the one.), you can shop online (don't forget to check out the sale section . . . shhh!).

north shore soap factory

a few years ago, we headed up to the north shore to check out the goodies at the country market. one of the vendors had a table filled with soap and since the fella needed to stock up we spent a good 10 minutes sniffing each bar and trying to decide which ones to bring back to the mainland with us.

the soap maker was really friendly and explained the benefits of all the ingredients. this was back in the day when we thought all soap was made the same (we know better now). it was some seriously good soap and even though we've been home quite a few times since then we never had a chance to get back to the north shore on market day.

imagine my delight when i discovered that the north shore soap factory is now online. they have outgrown their original soap shack and now call the historic waialua sugar mill home. their product line has expanded to more bath goodies and now you can stop by their soap factory for a visit when you're on the north shore.

c is for cookie

honolulu cookie company + good kine cookie co.

if you have been craving chocolate dipped shortbread cookies from the honolulu cookie company you will be happy to know that online ordering is now available! these were included in the goodie bags that we gave to friends who flew in from the mainland for our wedding and everybody loved them.

with ono flavors like chocolate macadamia, white chocolate kona coffee & lilikoi mango . . . who can resist? even better, if you stop by their shop at ward warehouse you can sample all the different flavors (this is either a blessing or a curse since the more cookies you try, the more you end up buying).

and, in other cookie news, the good kine cookie co. recently opened to rave reviews of their handmade iced cookies in shapes reminiscent of the islands like aloha shirts, pineapples, leis, etc. they can even personalize the cookie to celebrate a special occasion.

one of their founders is pastry chef abigail langlas who made the very yummy & very beautiful cakes for our wedding so i'm pretty sure the cookies will be just as onolicious. good kine cookie co. has a shop at restaurant row, a kiosk at ala moana, and online ordering (yay!).

now if somebody would just open up a cupcake bakery so i could savor cupcake sized portions of dobash & guava chiffon cake the next time i'm home!

{update | dec 2009: please note good kine cookie co. officially became hokulani bake shop after this was posted}