Monthly Archives: April 2012

Hifi Style

Posted on by
Reply

Being a member of the Hawaii Fashion Incubator (Hifi) gives me cool opportunities to meet great people and discover new designers in Hawaii’s fashion industry. Recently, I had the pleasure of holding down the Hifi fort (aka Hifi Coop)  and hung out with one of my favorite local jewelry designers, Amber Chesbro of Salty Girl Jewelry.  Very cool!!

My Hifi Style

For my first day at the new Hifi Coop since the grand opening, I wanted a look that was something special, something that embodied the spirt of Hifi… diverse, welcoming, and very aloha.

Hifi Style: Umee Island Dress, Maria Sharapova by Cole Haan sandals, turquoise silver bracelet from a cool shop on the San Antonio River Walk, leather belt I got from an Italian friend in Los Angeles back in 2005, and 3.1 Phillip Lim bag.

While at the Hifi Coop boutique, I found an adorable pareo from ‘new to me’ designer Maui Thing that happened to be a perfect compliment to my look, so I had to buy it!  I absolutely love the color and can totally see myself using this as a scarf or beach cover-up. Score!

My Hifi Style with Maui Thing Pareo

You’ll probably see me lingering around the new Hifi Coop in Ward Warehouse (2nd floor above T&C surf) at least once a month. Hope to see you there soon…

from Hawaii with love,

Napa, In a Serious Way

Posted on by
Reply

My hubby and I have been going to Napa religiously since 2006 and have explored an embarrassing number of wineries in California’s wine country.  In the last few years, we’ve been skipping Napa and Sonoma valley and heading further north to Dry Creek for a less commercial experience, you know, the way Napa used to be.  Last week, we headed back to Napa, but this trip was different, serious, intimidating, and exciting  - we were tagging along with a major wine-buff.

We flexed our wine-tasting muscle and visited 7 wineries in one day, compared with our usual limit of 3.  We visited Chappellet, Nichelini, ZD, Hope and Grace, Sullivan, Alpha Omega, and Peju.  We swirled, sniffed, tasted, assessed, and dumped countless glasses of wine… it was a tough day.

For those of you interested in the wine and the wineries, keep a close watch on our friend Greg Barlin’s blog and he will fill you in on all the details.  For a few non-wine tasting related highlights:

1969 Cab in Chappellet’s Library

Meet Stickers, Nichelini’s winery cat

Beautiful Tulips at Peju

from Hawaii with love,

The Ala Wai Glow

Posted on by
Reply

The Ala Wai Canal is usually my running trail but last weekend, it served as the setting for the Umee Spring / Summer 2012 collection campaign photo shoot.

Our team was super cool and included a new addition:  Joe Chilton from WE Media Services.  Joe is all about videography, but he showed us that he can rock the camera in stills too!

Joe Chilton from WE Media Services, aka the wedding videography dude.

Flint Tearney and Lauryn Inouye keeping things cool during the shoot.

On the Ala Wai Canal edge.

We got pretty close to the edge and even though none of us fell in the Ala Wai, we think the looks from the shoot are glowing, but in a non-toxic sort of way. ;)

Over the next several months, we will leisurely (cuz that’s how we do things in Hawaii) release the collection through our digital store, www.umee-brand.com.

from Hawaii with love,