weekly sales sheet

butterfly lei * tsang + mirai pink sakura

jessica's traveling boutique stops by the wedding café's ward outpost with the latest style finds from l.a. enjoy $5 mini manicures from ho'onani spa while you shop.

• when: sat, mar 15th - 10a to 2p
• where: wedding café, ward warehouse
• fyi: cash & checks only for clothing purchases

cupcake boutique re-opens this weekend in their new spot over at ward warehouse with an early easter party filled with keiki fun, prize drawings, and a jewelry trunk show featuring local designers vanilla moon and tsang & mirai (20% off).

• when: sat, mar 15th - 10a to 2p
• where: cupcake boutique, ward warehouse

send along cheerful easter tidings via hawaiian lei company's exquisite floral creations and enjoy 10% off your order.

• secret code: spring08
• expires: mon, mar 31st

my baby our baby

because sometimes someone else captures your little one's rapturous moment with a noodle.

continuing on with more good things for your keiki, check out my baby our baby, a hawaii/sf-based internet start up that recently rolled out a community photo sharing service starring the little one in your life. the service was created by ray hernandez & beau lebens who combined their considerable tech experience after fielding repeated requests from friends and family to create slick websites for their new arrivals.

the result of all their hard work: my baby our baby - one part flickr, one part blog, and a cool shortcut to create a virtual scrapbook for parents (plus invited friends and 'ohana) to share photos snapped via the various forms of digital paraphernalia which have become so essential to modern life. everyone in your group can upload photos snapped on their camera or cell phone, jot down the back story of the moment, and parents can keep their peeps posted on all the latest firsts from baby hq.

and, if privacy is a concern, you'll be happy to learn that your baby book can be set up to be viewed by invitation-only. there's even a handy rss feed to alert everyone in your circle when there's a keiki update. you'll have a bit more time to spend with the wee center(s) of your attention (no more mass emails to your entire address book), and friends are given a chance to opt-in to digital peeks of life with baby (because, truth be told, your accountant may not be quite so enamored of learning every single cute-to-you wonder done by your little one).

the service is free and, eventually, ray & beau plan to extend mbob's offerings to include customized photo albums and other personalized goodies.

take a tour and tell your friends!

{via cheap places to eat in oahu hawaii - ray's sweetie's foodie blog}

organic keiki

organic flower onesie + paisley shorts

after living in sf where she first became acquainted with the growing green movement, regan ranoa decided it was time to move back home and find a way to make the eco lifestyle more accessible in the islands. along the way, she worked on an organic farm on the big island where lessons such as how the pesticides used in conventional farming can affect the 'aina for generations to come resonated with her newfound mission.

she left the big island with a renewed purpose that she was on the right path, and as fate would have it, learned of a maui mother who was selling her company catering to the islands' smallest kama'aina. along with her mom, regan took over organic keiki, moved it to kailua, and nurtured its possibilities of bringing non-toxic & sustainable playthings and garments made of organic fibers to island parents who shared their concerns about leaving a healthy planet to hawaii's children.

baby caterpillar * foundling * yamuna organics blanket

organic keiki is also one of only a handful of spots in the islands where parents can stock up on gdiapers, a flushable & compostable alternative in the disposable versus cloth diapers debate.

the mother and daughter team also have a passion for buying local and stock island made goods like sweet island baby mei tei carriers, handmade blankets from yamuna organics, and debra mack jewelry for moms. and, noting the lack of organic togs made for island keiki, plans are in the works to launch an in-house clothing collection for little ones later this year.

one thing to keep in mind is that all orders are shipped via usps and currently pick up is not available for oahu residents, however this weekend brings the first of two chances to go organic in person during the green living expo at the blaisdell (free admission). and, if you have your tix to next month's kokua festival, be sure to stop by organic keiki's booth in the kokua village and say hello!

kokua festival ticket auction

if you missed your chance at tickets for next month's kokua festival, you have two opportunities to score a seat at the sold out show(s). the kokua hawaii foundation and dave matthews have both put concert tickets on the auction block (the former via ticketmaster and the latter via dm's official charity auction website) with all the proceeds from the winning bids to be donated to the kokua hawaii foundation.

the khf auction has 25 packages (a pair of tix plus an autographed copy of jack johnson's sleep through the static and assorted festival merchandise) listed for both the sat & sun shows. four pairs of tickets in the orchestra pit are available over at the dmb website.

be sure to read all the fine print before bidding!

• dave matthews auction (ends fri, mar 14th)
• kokua hawaii auction (ends fri, mar 21st)

chinatown boardroom

since its doors opened last year, and after many failed attempts, my trip home over the holidays finally presented a chance to step inside the chinatown boardroom. with a row of candy colored custom surfboards and rotating art exhibits featuring emerging island artists, the small space packs a restrained yet visual punch reflecting the style of its thirtysomething owners eric (resident surfboard shaper) & jackie walden.

the space is reminiscent of something you would expect to find in sf or seattle with everything from street art to surf photography mixed with artist designed tees (jewelry lovers take note: tucked away in a corner is a glass case filled with the delicate creations of local designers justine jones and rona marie). the result is a fresh and youthful vibe that was missing in the neighborhood's gallery scene.

be sure to stop by on the third thursday of the month when chinatown boardroom hosts the surf discussion series. next up: living the dream (mar 20th).

• where: 1160 nu'uanu avenue
• hours: tue to sat, 11a to 4p

{update | oct 2012: alas, chinatown boardroom closed its doors earlier this year. mahalo eric & jackie for creating such a wonderful space for local artists and designers. good luck on your next adventure!}