Perhaps you have me confused with another exotic beauty I responded. I was speaking with a bit of puzzlement to the technician at my mammogram who was verifying the run of the mill questions on my form from previous years. Somewhere during my last check up two years ago a zealous someone had listed my ethnicity as Spanish, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Philipino. Yikes, sounds like a stunning mixture, but oh-so-not me. Two years prior to that, I had listed myself as I usually do, as  Hawaiian. That is true. Hawaii’s many nationalities and ethnicities have blended and mixed over the years to produce limitless combinations of gorgeous women and men that the above mentioned mix was not uncommon. It just was was not my particular stew-concoction. I began to wonder if that unknown someone two years previous had THOUGHT I looked like a dark skinned exotica therefore I WAS or at least should be listed as such. Or was she just confusing me with another patient. The answer to that question will remain a mystery. But now I will be alerted to paying attention to the mundania that should not always be taken as fact. And, for the rest of the day I tried to see myself as a beautiful if mysteriously mixed ethnic lovely, gliding through life as if it were her (my) gracious gift. It was fun.

We are getting ready for this weekend’s craft fair. The last big craft fair of the season is The Pacific Handcrafters Guild showing at Thomas Square. There is still a bit of sewing to be completed before tomorrow albeit not too much as sales at the past couple of fairs have been steady but not overwhelming. We have also sold a number of Hawaiian hardwood rice paddles and kitchen pot stirring sticks so we have been working on getting the inventory up to speed.

There was a time when this Christmas craft fair put on by the Guild was the premier event of the season with over 100 artisans and thousands of customers happily browsing and buying. Alas, times have changed but the entrepreneurial spirit inherent in us crafters and artisans have made us rose colored glassed amnesiacs. Therefore I continue to stitch without too much bitch. I have a couple of tablerunners to complete along with a few sets of placemats. I have also been working on napkins this week. Time was in the not too distant past that would find us all madly creating and filling inventory after the wild Sauturday rush. Late into the wee morning hours we would work to replenish our handmade gems that had flown out of our booth during that first Saturday madness. Sniff, those were the days. Now, it’s sometimes a nail biter hoping to ‘make booth’, meaning recoup your intial outlay for booth expenses. So good luck to all us handcrafters out there in Hawaii. Shoppers and the shopping atmosphere has changed. More Big-Boxers fewer artisans with the stamina or talent or optimism to keep on truckin’. And a whole generation of folks who don’t give a rip…never did never will– about the skill and love that goes into a hand finished creation. I need to end this session of grumbling so that I can redirect my thoughts to the positive and recognize my personal joy in creating.

Hope to see you this Saturday or Sunday December 5 & 6 at Thomas Square for the annual Pacific Handcrafters Guild Christmas Craft Faire.

We closed the lei shop on Monday. With the help of our reliable friends and family, we had the shop thoroughly cleared and cleaned by Thursday. That is a story of course in itself  of which in due time I shall retell. What I will say now however, is that our landlord LR is an AWFUL person.

Baby Sister Dear meanwhile was experiencing the complete and total transition point; finalizing the closure of the business one day then celebrating a milestone birthday the next day. And C.E.L.E.B.R.A.T.E!!! she did! Talk about embracing change…!

Hauoli la Hanau Baby Sister Dear. You Rock.

Meanwhile, I started looking for a job the next day, Friday. A week later I had submitted an application and got a call back a couple of days later. OK let me horn-toot here—the call back was the next day. A formal interview was scheduled a few days subsequent and yeow, I’m hired and my 1st day was this past Sunday. Granted it’s a seasonal hire sales position(with a discount-yay), but I want a job not a career. I am just tickled.

I already have a trade remember. I am a seamstress.

Our Lei Shop is closing today…sob.

Po’ohala Lei and Flowers, the last of the Hawaiian owned lei shops in Chinatown Hawaii is shuttering the business. It has been a family owned business for 27 years. It has been a tough couple of weeks as our customers have been stopping in to say their farewells. Emotional for all.

These are photos of our windows displaying our stunning fresh Hawaiian sewn lei.

There are still a few left this morning. We invite you in to share our little bit of Aloha.

 Aloha… happy to report, we still have a lot of

No such thing as Monday Blues when you work in a lei shop. How could that ever be possible when surrounded by these beautiful and fragrant lei. At Po’ohala Lei and Flowers on Beretania St. in Downtown Honolulu Chinatown, today’s offerings will chase away any blahs or blues you may have. How fortunate to have another fresh ilima to twine with the heady pikake bud. If your sweetie prefers a non scented but stunning lei, adorn your special someone with this scarlet double or rope rose. This red rose bud beauty will last for days. Among the many lei shops in Hawaii, Po’ohala is the only one offering these  strands of rose, pikake and pakalana artfully twined and heavenly scented. Today we sewed them in both pink and red roses. After I have worn a lei with roses in it for a couple of days, I cut the string then remove and float the roses in pretty bowls of water and place them in different parts of my house for an extra pick-me-up of loveliness. All these lei are appropriate for both men and women…and no, in Hawaii giving and wearing  of lei are not hobbled by gender boundaries…and YES, another reason “lucky we live Hawaii”. Ahh, too many choices. Which lei will you choose?

If the Scent-a-rama (although shouldn’t it be scent-a-roma?) ever becomes an app, today’s download would send you to teen heaven. Today’s Saturday selection at Po’ohala Lei & Flowers is a lei lovers delight. This photo does not do justice to these superb lei. Made today is the rare ilima twined with a single strand of pikake. We (remember I help out here at the lei shop) also made pikake strands, pakalana whose season is winding to a close, and awapuhi ke’oke’o in the Micronesian style. Can you imagine the delighted look on the face of your special someone when you present this skillfully crafted rope pikake? Just peeking below the rope pikake is the awapuhi in our inimitable feather style and right below the feather ginger is the purple crown flower a favorite of Queen Liliu’okalani. We give this lei a spicy hint of scent by twining it with a single strand of pakalana. Oh so sweet these lei. Come by the shop on Beretania St. between Smith and Maunakea in lovely downtown Honolulu right in Chinatown, our Hawaii. Or ring up. 537-3011. Served with Aloha.

On the bright side–I scored a goal. On the dark side–we got beat by a team that showed little sportmanship in seemingly boorish behavior by racking up the score. Our regular goalie was at a tournament in Australia so 3 fairly inexperienced volunteers (thank you, thank you) took their  respective turns in the goal box. We were also missing 6 regular team players. For future reference  ladies, let me tell you how it is done. After it becomes apparent that scoring in a situation like this is as easy as say, brushing your teeth, you then should start rotating players into different positions. For instance; move your forwards into the fullback line, let your fullbacks have a run at being a forward, bring your goalie out to play on the field, put people that usually don’t play the keeper position in to experience the goal box. Mix it up.  Start passing to those gals that usually don’t get a chance at a lot of ball handling. Really! It is disconcerting and should be totally unnecessary to tell folks that. But there you go. Sportsmanship is not dead. It just needs to be taught. Remember, it’s called Playing a Game.

Take a look at today’s featured lei at Po’ohala Lei & Flowers. Wow! such unique and lovely offerings. The red rose and tuberose crafted in the rope style pictured on the top has both the long lasting beauty of the rose coupled with the sweet scent of the tuberose. This lei is candy to the eyes and senses. More selections for today include the rare and valued hala ula and a tightly woven Micronesian style ginger in yellow-I beleive that we are the only lei shop of the many lei shops in Hawaii to make this style lei in awapuhi melemele. Look! Po’ohala Lei has created the much desired rope pikake and a rope pink rose. Come buy, you know they won’t last long.

Po’ohala Lei & Flowers located in the ever interesting Downtown Chinatown, Honolulu, Hawaii. 69 N Beretania St. Phone 537-3011

These are only 500 buttons from my stash of 500,000. And yes, somehow I am managing to let them go at the YARDage Sale tomorrow. Lots and lots of fun fabric and notions and other craftiness goodies to be had. Maybe even a couple of industrial sewing machines too-an industrial Singer straight stitch and a comercial serger(or is it surger). Hawaiian quilts and koa boxes will be for sale, as will be baskets for your projects or gift giving solutions along with thread in a myriad of colors, hard to find bullion trim and yards and yards desireable brush fringe. Let me not forget 4 ply cording in alluring colors. The banana bread however, is sure to be snatched up quickly.

See you at PO’OHALA LEI & FLOWERS                                                                      this SATURDAY 9/26 from 5-8pm and SUNDAY 9/27 from 9am-3pm                                  69 N Beretania St. between Smith and Maunakea in beautiful Downtown Honolulu smack on the edge of Chinatown, Hawaii

What do you do when you have too much fabric, notions, crafty stuff, beautiful Hawaiian-made quilts, buttons, quilting squares of every size, spools of thread in a rainbow of colors, feathers(what I am doing with feathers, I don’t know, but I have yet to start that unique project after 15 years so I’m giving them up), fat quarters, fabric, fabric, FABRIC, stuffing stuff and abandoned projects in all stages? You have a YARDage Sale. Not just for women only as we’ll have koa boxes and handmade knives for sale also. I haven’t seen these gift items yet, but I’m intrigued to see the craftwork of the knives. Home baked banana bread with pecans will be available too, so we’ll have something to slice that banana bread with, but get there early as I have tasted them and they are ono.

Where: PO’OHALA LEI & FLOWERS- 69 N Beretania St. between Smith and Maunakea in lovely Downtown Chinatown, Honolulu, Hawaii

When: SATURDAY  5-8pm  &   SUNDAY  9am-3pm

Time to gather your costume fixings for Halloween and it is never ever too early to plan for those Christmas or anytime gift-making-giving. Excuse me, but did I mention FABRIC, FABRIC, NOTIONS, BUTTONS, THREAD, FABRIC  and more crafty CRAFTS? See you there and don’t be a quilting square. Corny, I know but I can’t help it. I have spent much of the past two and a half weeks sorting through a ton o’ stuff resulting in yardage and notions in piles of complementary colored chaos. Really, only the thread looked cool. Crazy making to be sure.