sweet nothings - take one

avoid the last minute valentine's scramble with a few hi + lo gift ideas for your sweetheart!

1 - the toast team has re-released their much loved apple of my eye snack filled with mini heart shaped sugar cookies from hokulani bake shop.

2 - spoil the man in your life with sig zane's pua makalae pullover aloha shirt.

3 - you can't buy love, but your sweetie will surely think of you every time she opens her luxe ha'ano'u leather wallet from sig zane.

4 -  at $1 a pop, individually wrapped heart shaped candles stocked in the toast shop are an unexpected and budget friendly love note for all your bff's.

weekly sales sheet

pacific home kicks off its first warehouse sale of the year today! furniture will be under $99 so get to the ph warehouse early for the best selection.

• when: fri, feb 1st - sun, feb 3rd
• where: 420 ward ave (behind the shop)

time to scoop up one of the pretty dresses designed by roberta oaks. click over to the online shop to save 50% on remaining stock from the fall 07 collection.

kicks/hi is getting an early start on spring cleaning which means selected sneaks are 50% to 80% off.

• when: fri, feb 1st - sun, feb 3rd
• where: kicks/hi - ward + makaloa

be sure to stop by the social wahines booth during the cool kailua nights block party on saturday night. there will be food, music, shopping, carnival rides & more to help the windward side raise money for castle medical center's chemo unit & ho'ola cancer exercise wellness program.

• when: sat, feb 2nd - 4p to 9:30p
• where: uluniu & aulike streets, kailua

lost in translation

with the writers strike lingering on and on, your favorite tv shows have certainly been pulled off the air by now and replaced by an infinite number of reality programs. on the bright side, the craft of storytelling will once again capture viewers' imaginations with tonight's season premiere of lost! if you need to play catch up or refresh your memory, there are quite a few options floating around online, but the 8:15 recap is by far the most time efficient (and amusing) way to go.

of course, only 8 episodes of the 16 ordered by the network are in the can so, unless the strike ends soon, consider yourself warned that a most unwelcome cliffhanger may be on the horizon sooner than expected.

building salvation

yay! re-use hawaii, a non-profit which a friend recently co-founded as a way to bring sustainable deconstruction to the islands has been getting some much deserved buzz lately. it just may be the first organization of its kind in hawaii offering a much needed alternative to sending vast amounts of construction waste to hawaii's ever shrinking landfills.

if you're not familiar with the process, after a site inspection, the re-use hawaii team breaks down a structure in a way that allows as much of the building materials as possible to be reused or recycled. salvaged materials can be purchased by the public at a fraction of the cost of buying virgin products thus reducing the impact of projects made from secondhand lumber, etc. by conserving energy and natural resources.

[after all, trees don't magically transform themselves into 2x4's. it takes a significant amount of manpower and machines (and lots of water and energy) to get it from the forest to your neighborhood home center.]

of course, not everyone has a building waiting to be deconstructed but re-use hawaii is definitely a
resource that should be on the radar of all island architects, contractors & designers for future clients concerned about the impact their projects will have on the local environment. and, if a different kind of green makes your world go round, you will be happy to know that donated materials are also eligible for a tax deduction.

take a peek behind the scenes via the rh project gallery.

the art of lunch

warm goat cheese & nalo green salad * filet mignon sandwich

a museum may not be the first place that pops into your mind when lunchtime rolls around, but the ambiance cannot be beat and more often than not good eats are on the menu. my fella and i stopped by the pavilion café at the academy of arts after wandering through the ossipoff exhibit to sample the contemporary mediterranean menu, and were delighted to find a lovely open air setting overlooking a courtyard with a very zen-like wall of water.

the menu focuses on locally grown ingredients and we eventually settled on the very generous big island goat cheese & nalo green salad (plated with homemade focaccia) and the filet mignon sandwich (which my fella declared to be one of his favorite meals). to top it off, our waiter recommended the chocolate pot de creme, said to be a favorite of café patrons. to sum it up in a few words: dense spoonfuls of chocolatey goodness. yum! and the little artful cup that accompanied dessert was, in all its rustic handmade glory, a lesson in presentation.

dreamy pot de creme

although reservations are recommended, my fella and i were seated without a problem even though the museum was packed with people enjoying the arts during bank of hawaii sunday. since the café is only open for lunch tue through sat (11:30a to 1:30p), it's possible not too many people realize the cafe is open on the third sunday of the month.

and, fyi, the entrance fee is waived for café patrons stopping by to do lunch only.

take a peek at the menu before you go.