2011 Pele Award Winner!

This weekend I had the humbling honor of accepting the Special Judge’s Award for Design at the 2011 American Advertising Federation (AAF Hawaii Chapter) Pele Awards for our “Best of Maui 2010 in 3D” special issue. This was really exciting because it was a top honor (right under Best Of Show) at the awards, and also because it was completely unexpected and surprising due to the amazing amount (and quality) of work in the show this year. In our category—Complete Publication Design—we received an Award Of Merit (Bronze), losing to the Best Of Show winner Clifford Cheng of Voice Design for Hawaii Skindiver Magazine. A big thanks goes out to our team at MauiTime for all the hard work on this issue, as well as Brad Parker for his amazing illustration work.

You can read the story from the Honolulu Star Advertiser here. Or read the MauiNow.com news story here. Or see the Coverjunkie.com post about it here.

You can also watch a video from the ceremony—including a message from the Head Design Judge Stefan Bucher of 344 Design—here.

Designed by Chris Skiles

Artwork by Brad Parker

On a side note: We made a whole weekend out of going to the ceremony because it was on Oahu. We have been on Maui for almost 2 years and hadn't visited any other island so it seemed like the perfect time. We were kind of missing the big city life BTW. We stayed in Waikiki; didn't rent a car; walked everywhere; visited the Honolulu Zoo(sooo much fun!); did a lot of shopping because that is one of the things Maui likes; ate some really good food (Wolfgang Puck Express; Epic Restaurant, local places and of course Chili's) and of course had our share of libations :) We had a great time and Christopher winning the Special Judges Award meant so much!

A Little Frustrated

When I saw I had a flare up of psoriasis on my face a couple of days ago, I got a little frustrated.

About 2 weeks ago I came down with a really bad sinus infection. My doctor gave me cough medicine and I was on antibiotics for 10 days. It's been proven that having an infection or getting sick can cause a flare up-hence the lower immune system in people with psoriasis.

Well, that's exactly what happened. After I actually started to feel better, I saw a flare up on my face along the hairline and actually a little flare up in my belly button. For the life of me, I couldn't think of what happened. Because I wasn't particularly stressed. Then I put two and two together.

For the couple of days where I was feeling really bad, I didn't do my normal routine of washing my face, day and night. When I started to wash my face again, I saw an immediate change in my psoriasis on my face. It was really weird. I've never seen my face wash work that well and didn't even know it would work with my psoriasis. So here it is, boys and girls, the face wash that worked for me:

Neutrogena Rapid Clear Foaming Scrub and Clean and Clear Morning Glow Moisturizer. I use the scrub at night and then in the morning. Then I use the moisturizer just in the morning after the scrub.

I wanted a new face wash before my wedding. And I have been using this ever since. That was about 6 months ago, and besides the flare up since my infection, I haven't had one on my face (knock on wood).

I'm not saying this will work for everyone. But we get on sites like these to share, listen, talk about what is and what isn't working for us. This face wash has given me some peace at keeping my face clean and psoriasis free.

Now, I have to find a solution for my scalp... back to the drawing board lol


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I'm a Wen Girl!

I am now officially obsessed with the Wen Hair Care system! It's hard for me to find shampoo/conditioner/styling serum that I like and is sensitive enough for me, especially since I have psoriasis on my head. Hard shampoo or anything besides TGel just makes it worse. When I saw the commercial for Wen Hair care I was a little apprehensive.

I always am with things that you order like that. But what got me about the Wen Hair Care system was that it's just a cleansing conditioner- that's all! You don't have to worry about shampoo, then the conditioner then the leave in conditioner. It's great! After my first rinse with the conditioner, my hair felt so soft and actually manageable. It didn't feel dry. That was such a big thing for me. It also came with the mint treatment you use only every other two weeks to give your hair a treat; the style serum stick where you only apply it to your midshaft and ends- makes such a difference and only apply to dry, styled hair; and then the Sweet Almond Style cream, which is super light and only needs to be applied to wet hair.

It has cut my blow dry time in half because now I can just wait for my hair to dry naturally, which is a lot better for your hair and it's still easier to style. The conditioner brings back all the moisture and life back into your hair thanks to the damage all your other shampoo has done. Seriously the best $30 I have ever spent. They were running a special for TV viewers....hehe!!!!

Tired of changing your shampoo every 3-6 months? Want a hair care system that will change all of that? Try Wen Care System
It will be totally worth it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

CHRISTOPHER TURNS 29 ON MAUI!

What a better place to spend your 29th birthday than on Maui! I surprised Chris with a weekend stay out at The Westin in Lahaina. We have stayed there previously and loved it, so I knew he was going to have a great time.

We both took Friday off—it was great not having to get up and do anything. I made homemade, breakfast tacos with fresh fruit for him to start the day and then we did a little bit of shopping to start our weekend. We headed towards Lahaina, stopped at Cilantro's—Maui's fresh Mexican food—Chris' favorite— for lunch. Time to check into the hotel!

With a special help from the PR director there, we got a Beach Bell Tower, Deluxe Ocean King room—it was amazing! Spacious room, ocean and Black Rock view for great whale watching from our room, flat-screen TV and the most amazing, comfortable bed you have ever laid on. Seriously, they are known for their beds—you can even purchase them they are that good. We were in heaven.

But the weather was not heaven. The forecast all weekend said it was going to be overcast and rainy. Thanks a lot! But we were determined not to let that get us down. The complimentary (and surprise to Chris) champagne and birthday cake that greeted us at 5 made our rainy day look a little brighter. We got our swimsuits on and went to the hot tub. Yes, it was rainy, but it felt good to be in the hot tub. Happy hour at the lobby bar, then off to Hula Grill for more drinks and dinner. Birthday night numero uno- sucessful!!

Weather the next day was the exact same, crap-tastic weather. Which I of course wasn't excited about because I had surprise, surf lessons set up for Chris and I. We still went, HAD A BLAST! and yes, we both caught some pretty decent ones. We totally rocked it. But honestly, I don't think I could do the whole surfer girl thing because 1- paddling is half of the work and that's way harder than you think 2- those board are heavy! and 3- the waves and having a wipe out freak the sh#^ out of me. I'll take lying on the beach any day and Chris could boogie board all day. Then I also had lunch set up for us at 'Ono Bar and Grill. I had the grilled chicken and mushroom ciabiatta sandwich—the chicken was sliced thin and juicy and the grilled mushroom and aioli sauce brought the entire sandwich together. I am craving it as we speak. Chris, of course, had the fish tacos. Fish was white and flaky and their special sauce hit the spot. It was now some shopping and hot tub time before dinner.

Chris chose to have dinner at Maui Brew Co. Definitely a mans-mans restaurant. Homemade brews, upscale burgers, adult mac and cheese, pizza and more brews. Chris had their jambalaya filled to the bowls brim with juicy shrimp, sausage and chicken mixed with tender rice. I

had the adult mac and cheese (my body craves cardio now!) with sausage, Gouda cheese and mushrooms. We finished dinner off with drinks at LuLu's. Funny story—there was a girl who was celebrating her 21st birthday that night and Chris bought her a shot since they had the same birthday lol! Birthday day/night numero dos—super successful!

You would think the weather would be different the next day? Nope! So, what do you do on Maui when it's raining all weekend?? You go shopping. And boy did we. We went to Whaler's Village Shopping Center and had a blast. Clothes, luggage, cookies, and more clothes. We have a blast s

hopping together and getting each other's opinions on what we choose. We also choose what we think the other would wear. We're right, most of the time! It was just fun to get out of the rain for a little while. We also visited and got our learn on at the Whale Museum.

Now, the sun was finally out! Thanks Sun, for coming out the DAY we check out. We still managed to get a couple of hours and drink time by the pool before we checked out and headed home. But of course, we didn't get enough Vitamin D the whole weekend, so we laid out by our pool and soaked up some more rays. It was great! We didn't want our weekend to be over.

In a nutshell, I think he had a blast and so did I. It was much needed. Though I say that about all the weekends we spend together, it's true. I think it's so important to get away from everything once in a while. Even if you can't afford to take a weekend trip, make it a stay-at-home weekend with your significant other, close friends, family, no computers, phones, and just stay in and watch movies or go outside and spend some time together. We get so wrapped out in everything we do during the week, that sometimes we forget to take the break our mind, body and spirit needs—needs to recuperate from the week, reconnect with ourselves and each other and refresh from the daily stresses.

When was the last time you had a weekend or day that you had time to recuperate, reconnect and refresh? Make it a priority one time, and you'll make sure it's part of your life for the rest of your life.

i love you Chris Skiles and I'm glad I was able to be apart of your 29th birthday and make it so special! Here's to many more together!