3 day sale at midori jewelry

carnivale

midori jewelry just kicked off an end of month sale with select pieces in the sale section marked down 50%. jewelry designer traci morinaga will also include a little gift with purchase from her twinkle collection for customers who order $50 (one pair of earrings) or $100 (one necklace or two pairs of earrings) worth of flair.

quantities are limited so hele over asap for the best selection.

• sale ends: thu, jul 31st
• fyi: note your twinkle selection in the memo box upon checkout

traci will also be at the made in hawaii festival next month and no/cal readers can stop by and say hello during midori's late august stops in bodega and oakland.

on the town with meleana

chinatown laifong

handbag designer meleana has added a design made for city living to her eponymous collection which is known for repurposing vintage fabric into ladylike accessories. aptly named after honolulu's vibrant chinatown neighborhood, the new design mixes vintage patterns with your pick of leather (brown or green) or, if you are feeling a bit more country, sturdy canvas fabric.

and, while the silhouettes may stay the same from season to season, there's only so much vintage yardage to go around making each meleana bag one of a limited edition.

chinatown canvas

holoholo

shop online or take a peek at the stockist list.

historic honolulu architecture tour

washington place

one of my favorite walks growing up was the one that took me from my mom's bishop square boutique to the state library along the pathway sandwiched between the capitol and iolani palace. i always stopped to say hello to the queen lili'uokalani statue and fought the urge to swing from the tendrils of the many banyan trees dotting the palace's backyard.

those saturday mornings spent in town gifted me with an appreciation of the graceful buildings that take you back to an earlier time, and, while doing a little research for a reader who inquired about mid-century modern homes on oahu (which i think would make a fabulous tour just in case an architecturally savvy reader is up to it), i recently discovered that the honolulu chapter of the american institute of architects (aia) offers kama'aina and visitors a walking tour of historic honolulu from an architect's perspective.

you'll wander the streets of town from the hawaii theatre to kawaiaha'o church picking up insights and anecdotes about the buildings along the way (juicy tidbit: the ywca building was designed by julia morgan, the country's preeminent female architect who squeezed in the project while working on hearst castle).

a map and bottled water are provided (but i say byo reusable bottle) so all you need to bring are comfy shoes made for walking and an enthusiasm for design. reservations are a must or, if a saturday tour doesn't fit into your schedule, self-guided tour booklets ($5) are available at aia's office. a custom tour may also be arranged for your group with advance notice.

• when: saturdays - 9a to 11:30a
• where: aia, 119 merchant street, suite 402
• tix: $10
• fyi: minimum four people

meet one of the aia's top guides over at the star-bulletin.

pau hana clicks

• it was a good week for emerging island designers with shannon hiramoto of machine machine and dan weaver both scoring feature ink in the local papers.

• drying laundry outdoors is so old school and making a comeback as the world gets a little bit greener. kat from our adventures in japan and rowena of rubber slippers in italy show readers the contraptions used to dry the wash in their homes away from hawaii.

• week seven of sytycd finds mark kanemura paired with comfort for hip hop and a foxtrot plus a solo!

have a happy weekend!

nina kuna designs

the lovely nina kuna recently dropped me a note about her new jewelry collection, and, after a peek, i was pleasantly surprised to discover that the self-taught designer only launched her line last winter.

originally based in nyc and sf, nina now calls maui home where, in between assignments as a freelance photographer, she composes her glamorous line of adornments featuring hand hammered shapes, interlinking strands of gold filled wire, and an array of findings from swarovski crystals to delicate sea shells.

nina's background in painting and drawing combined with her stint at parsons to study photography definitely brings an artist's eye to her designs which effortlessly balance color, shape and symmetry. the freshman collection has already caught the attention of macy's buyers and the editors of modern luxury hawai'i who have been captivated by the line's big city sophistication meets beach chic style.

lemon drop * heavy metal * crystal blue coral

the online shop is now open for business or stop by your neighborhood stockist to take a peek at the collection in person.

p.s. go on location with nina over at her blog.