fashionista's market does denim

if you adhere to the philosophy that you can never have too many jeans in your closet, head to town for the big denim event being thrown by fashionista's market this weekend.

labels like joe's jeans, true religion and frankie b are yours for the taking but you best arrive early to grab the hottest styles. a few things to remember - only little purses get through the door so leave your big bad it bag at home, and, if you plan on trying stuff on, wear your best unmentionables to avoid embarrassment in the communal dressing room.

details, details, details:

• when: sat, nov 11th & sun, nov 12th
• hours: 10a to 2p
• where: japanese cultural center
• admission: $7 (register online to score the $3 fm member discount)

kauai caffeine fix

despite the fact the i am quite possibly one of the few people on earth who don't drink coffee, one thing i know is that coffee lovers everywhere swoon when you gift them with a bag of coffee from hawaii. the big island typically gets all the glory but did you know that coffee farms also exist on the other islands? in fact, kauai was the first island in hawaii to establish a commercial coffee farm way back in 1836.

kauai also happens to be home to the blair estate which grows 100% organic coffee on their farm north of kapaa. you really get to understand life on a coffee farm on their super informative website, but if you want to see the journey from coffee bean to cup of joe firsthand, the owners also welcome the public to take a tour of the family owned farm.

of course, if you can't get yourself over to kauai you can still savor blair estate coffee (and chocolate covered beans, and guava jam, and lilikoi butter . . . yum!) via their online shop where the beans patiently wait to be freshly roasted until the order button is clicked.

global warming

aloha clock

tropical style typically leans towards palm trees and a gratuitous use of raffia that i venture to guess is used more to recreate the islands in other parts of the world more than i have ever seen used in hawaii (outside of waikiki).

so i was delighted to find that europe is doing modern tropical style right from the pop worthy aloha clock designed in the netherlands to jenny wilkinson's cheeky wall decor straight from the uk.

pineapple wallpaper-by-numbers

octopus hide & seek paint-by-numbers

yep, paint-by-number is making a comeback in a big way and now you can tap into your inner artiste with retrolicious wallpaper-by-numbers in the oh so tropical pineapple design. yes, it's a wee ironic to surround yourself in a virtual pineapple field especially if you have a parent who worked at the cannery during their summer breaks (aka the ultimate guilt trip for 80's era island teens).

it's your choice whether to paint it to match your decor or leave it be in all its paint-by-number wonder. and, for those of you who love to dive into the great unknown, you also have the option of wrapping a room in a sea worthy border depicting life underwater in all its glory.

art school confidential

the conversation + twinkie

the longer i stare at nicole holi's the conversation print the more questions pop into my mind. who are they? why have animal heads been superimposed on their bodies? where would they shop if they stepped off the canvas? and the eternal art question . . . what does it mean? yep, this is definitely not your parents art but yet another exciting etsy find.

nicole (aka nikoart at her etsy shop) is a true emerging artist from the big island and a recent
uh manoa art grad who, in the process of getting her degree, received many accolades for her unique p.o.v. in addition to working in mixed media, she is also crafting plush toys like twinkie who i wouldn't be surprised to find in the pages of where the wild things are.

there are not that many venues in the islands for emerging artists like nicole to show their goods so i encourage you to stop by her etsy shop which gives artists & crafters an alternative way to make a living while following their dreams.

happy election day

just a friendly reminder to get out and vote today!