online picture show

hanalei fence : belle etoile designs

one of my favorite pastimes is gazing at the array of point of views possible with a single camera click. a glance at a beautifully composed shot of something yummy or beautiful or far away always makes me happy.

whenever home, curiosity inevitably finds me in a gallery or gift shop to scout the souvenirs currently on offer only to leave disappointed at the lack of affordably priced options beyond the abundant inventory of turtles, dolphins, and wave after glassy wave.

so, for etsy day, i thought it would be fun to post a peek of how a handful of travelers to hawaii, cameras in tow, captured their island destination through a different lens . . . be it a dreamy beach scene or a high flying moment.

enjoy!

maui county fair : honeytree photography

dancing flowers : william dohman

mojito sun : bueller

p.s. have a favorite shot to share? drop me a note for a chance to have your photograph featured on h|h.

{update: lots of enthusiasm for the photo project, however i must kindly request that you provide a link to your website or flickr page. no attachments, please. mahalo!}

tex message

i promised to share a few favorite finds from my last trip home and realized that a month has whizzed by with nary a mention. like any good local girl, many happy moments have been spent waiting in line for freshly fried malasadas with most of my sugar rolled moments (hold the cinnamon and fancy fillings, please) compliments of leonard's which is, imho, the gold standard.

it was only on a trip to the big island a few years ago that my fella and i discovered the delicious dough fried up at the tex drive-in. where leonard's version is light and airy (making it easy to justify many, many bites), tex offers up a denser delight sturdy enough that any leftovers will miraculously hold up until the next day (although you may want to warm it up and sprinkle a little sugar on top).

a piping hot tex malasada is one of the perks of kicking it on the hamakua coast which is home to tex's only outpost (in honoka'a off hwy 19). we typically take our order to go and savor the sugary treats while soaking up the breathtaking views from our rustic rental cottage overlooking the waipio valley.

next time you find yourself on the big island make your way to tex's and sample the sugar rush for yourself.

• where: 45-690 pakalana street, honoka'a

bon appétit!

kilauea confidential

birth of the unreckoning

since my fella is a fan of both lava and local boy slash la-based artist edwin ushiro, i suspect he will be coveting edwin's latest piece, birth of the unreckoning, which paper tiger has just released as a limited edition print.

the offering to madame pele, inspired by the whispered tales of big island sightings of the goddess of fire, sports a reasonable price tag ($100) considering its size (12x12) and that edwin has signed and numbered each print.

of course, with only 25 prints to go around you best hele over to paper tiger's online shop for a chance to add one to your personal gallery.

new year's toast

congrats to jeremy & michelle, the design team behind toast, who have recently added shopkeepers to their growing resumé with the opening of their kaimuki showroom. fans will find one stop shopping stocked with all the goodies featured on h|h mixed with more delightful finds.

word is we can expect lots of new surprises in 2009 including this just released orange love fruit to celebrate the year of the ox!

• where: 3434 waialae avenue, kaimuki
• shop hours: m/w/f/sat - 12p to 6p

p.s. click here to take a peek inside the shop.

social wahines 2.0

danielle from social wahines recently sent along word that the group's new beta website has launched with the addition of an online social networking feature. it's like an über-exclusive facebook, an online pa'ina to meet new peeps and a way to help biz-minded island girls expand their empires.

the new features mean that sw is switching to paid memberships so, if you are already a member, you will need to re-establish your account to access all the good stuff including monthly networking events (at a discounted rate) plus member-only deals, message boards & much more.

annual memberships go for $65, however, to celebrate the new website, social wahines is offering h|h readers an introductory membership deal. it's on a sliding scale so the sooner you hele over and sign up, the more you save:

• $45 membership ($20 savings)
  secret code: swnov
  expires: sun, nov 30th

• $55 membership ($10 savings)
  secret code: swdec
  expires: wed, dec 31st

click rewind to learn more about social wahines.

p.s. once you register, please join the new h|h group on sw!