I was writing the latest article in our Makeover Style Tip Series for our website when I realized I was veering off course. The article was about how we solved the problem of two big-screen TVs on the same wall of the Agenas’ living room: One TV was for the adults, and one was for the four kids. There was no way of getting rid of one of the TVs. So what to do?

Well, that’s certainly straightforward enough. The problem was, I kept digressing into what other people with the same problem could do. Once I realized the problem, the solution was simple: blog about it!

To see how we solved the problem for the Agenas, you can check out the article at www.rsvpstyle.com. And if you have this problem but are not lucky enough to have friends who are glass artists and can create custom artwork to hide one of the TVs, read on.

You do not need to spend a lot of money or do any special con- struction. A more affordable option that would minimize one of the TVs would be to put it in a bookshelf or an entertainment center with doors. Or simply move it to an adjacent wall so that both are not viewed in the same plane.

If that’s not possible, even angling one TV in a corner and flanking it with plants would provide a different treatment that could also solve the dilemma.

The bottom line: If you need to have more than one TV in a room, be sure to give them different visual treatments. You’ll still be able to enjoy them without the distraction of a pair of TVs staring at you when you walk in.

More Gemini babies! James Brennan, our video producer, and Kara Wagner, our office manager, are also celebrating their birthdays this month, so we headed to Stuart Anderson’s Cattle Company in Pearl City.

James’ birthday wish had already come true: This restaurant has his absolute favorite sandwich in the world, their chicken, avocado and bacon sandwich. I swear, this guy is soon going to grow feathers! He eats nothing but chicken every time we’re with him.

We all ended up choosing the same thing, except for Lissa, who had to be the rebel and try the French dip. It was OK, but I would highly recommend that if you’re a chicken lover like James, this is the place you have to go and the sandwich you want is the amazing chicken, avocado and bacon!

Kara has the sweet tooth, so we let her pick the dessert. She was still contemplating what her birthday wish would be as they got ready to blow out the candles on their birthday cake/mud pie.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to sing Happy Birthday—the wait staff took care of that—because none of us can carry a tune. Thank you, wait staff! And oodles of happy birthday wishes to our very own James and Kara!

I’m sure this will come as no surprise to many of you, but I’m not a golfer. I don’t like the sun, I’m not athletic, and chasing a little white ball around for half the day is not my idea of fun. However, supporting good friends and a great cause and having some mojitos sounds like a party to me!

Last weekend, Kay Mukaigawa and Nelson Oyadomari of Primary Properties and Primary Residential Mortgage held their annual MDA golf tournament. Lissa and I attended last year as guests; this year we decided to sponsor one of the holes.

We were on the seventh hole—don’t ask me what green that is or whatever—but it was a nice, shady spot to serve up drinks … with style!

It was a hot afternoon, absolutely perfect for some nice, cool libations. We served up virgin mojitos and mango mojitos—yum! Cheers to Sommer Meyer, regional sales manager of Bacardi USA, for providing us with the amazing mojito mixers. All we had to do was get pitchers and mix a part of this with a part of that, squeeze in some fresh lime and mint, pour it over ice, and voila, we had our mojitos!

So when people came up to our table, we offered up drinks and asked them to hit the boogie button. When they hit it, it played Shake Your Groove Thing. We were having fun!

We even had Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona stop by our booth, one of the very few who passed on our mojitos! Maybe he had to work right after.

We had a great time getting to know the golfers and heckling them on their golf swings. But the highlight for me was when one of the teams came by and said, Hey, do any one of you want to hit for us? I was like Yeah! Lissa golfs! And I snapped this shot of her drive.

And although I’m no golfer, their appreciative wow must mean she’s pretty good!

Yay, party party party! Everyone’s special day comes around only once a year, right? And I certainly got maximum mileage out of mine! The next day, my dear friends Mary Lavoie and Brenda Chung threw me a birthday party at Mary’s house. About 25 people came by. It was great to see so many faces I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Food is so important, but I don’t seem to do a good job with photos … by the time I remember the camera, the food’s always half-gone. There was prosciutto with melon, caprese salad, osso bucco, a seafood pasta and a meatball pasta, all of it homemade. It was an Italian-themed dinner with one of my favorite desserts, tiramisu, and thank goodness Mary only put five candles on it! I don’t think it could have held the actual number.

Lissa and I had a chance to catch up with Deena Nichols, and although you’re not supposed to talk shop at a party, we couldn’t help it. The possibility of working with Macy’s on a corporate level? Too exciting!

I had a great time with my friends, and then it was time to blow out the candles and make a wish. My wish was that next year’s birthday comes much slower—they come way too fast these days!

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know that food is very important to RSVPstyle. Anyone’s birthday is an excuse to go out to lunch. Finally it’s my turn!

I just celebrated my birthday last week, and the decision on where to go was pretty easy. Back to the Counter: A, because I love burgers and don’t eat them very often, and B, because Nicki and Megan are on summer break and would be coming along too.

Kara and Melissa are out of town, but Mari and Marie joined Lissa, me and the kids, and off we went to Kahala Mall. The burger was huge, as usual, but yummy, and yes, I did finish the whole thing.

Mari and Marie split a beef burger with blue cheese and cranberries as well as the special of the month, an ahi burger with greens and a wasabi aioli—a little too artsy-fartsy for me! Bacon, mushroom and cheese I think are all a true burger need.

Instead of my usual diet Coke, I decided to go with their mango mojito because we’d be making mojitos of our own in a few days. It was light, refreshing and yummy—the citrus taste went well with the ranch dripping off my bacon and cheese!

I got some great gifts, birthday kisses and a full tummy. What more could a birthday girl ask for?

Finally, the day is here! It’s our long anticipated living room makeover show! But as beautiful as it is, the star is not the living room. It’s the quiet yet effective father of four, Chris Agena, and his bubbly and organized wife, Jo Ann.

Chris and Jo Ann are a totally typical Hawaii couple. He’s a postal worker, she’s a schoolteacher, and they’ve never been in front of a TV camera in their life. They’re the focus of the show: they learn the basic RSVPstyle design principles and transform their living room—with a little help from me—but their four kids manage to steal the show every time they’re on camera. >wink wink< That’s why we kept their air time to a minimum.

With only seven weeks to design, remodel, decorate and film the entire grueling process, Chris and Jo Ann quickly learned the ropes of video production. They got used to the pose—being photographed displaying everything on their hands, feet and backs—so that when shooting of one scene continued on different days, they could show up wearing the exact same things. After the first day, Jo Ann learned to let us know whenever there was a shine on her nose, and I’d get out my compact and give her a quick touchup.

The first time we filmed their confessionals, we had them stand on top of apple crates to get the best angle. After that, Chris was always ready with those crates. Was he a great man about the house! If the crew couldn’t get around to doing something, whether it was touching up paint, screwing in light bulbs, even sewing—yes, I repeat, sewing—the curtains for his dining room, Chris was ready to volunteer.

Jo Ann kept her cell phone on standby and was always ready to field family emergencies, whether it was her mom calling about a sick uncle, or a message from the kids. In between takes, there she was, checking up on the kids and other relatives and still managing to run her household.

And although we spent little time with them on camera, we sure got to know the Agena kids pretty well, and boy, are they charmers and stars in their own right! Their friends have been telling them they’ve seen them on TV and in the newspaper, and now they’ll get their primetime TV debut!

One of my favorite moments was on the final day of filming, when we took this picture for a newspaper ad. I yelled, OK, everybody put your arms out! Chris, Jo Ann, Matthew and Caleb were at one end; at the other, I held Sarah’s hand. Little Noah, who always seems to have a special little smile for me, slyly pushed Sarah’s hand out of mine so that he could hold my hand instead. When Sarah said hey! and grabbed my hand back, I held both their hands in mine. It was a perfect way to keep the peace, get the shot and end the show—and it’s still a charmer of a memory for me.

Yes, the Agenas truly are stars, and they are ready for their hour in prime time!

Today was Melissa’s last day of work as a single woman. She and Taio will be getting married next week Saturday. So Lissa, who’s just back from her trip, and I decided to take her out to lunch. (Kara is away on a trip—boy, did she miss out! Oh well, more food for us!)

We headed out to one of our favorite places, Maile’s Thai Bistro in Hawaii Kai. Melissa and Taio are going off to Thailand for their honeymoon, so what better place could we choose?

By the time we got there, we were famished. The waiter brought us our water, and before he even placed the menus down, we told him what we wanted: green curry with shrimp, pad khi mao—a moist, delicious rice noodle with chicken and basil in a spicy shoyu sauce—and ong choy with beef, and of course, sticky rice: two orders!

The food was delicious! And we always do this, we meant to take pictures of each dish, but we were almost halfway done when we realized we had forgotten the pictures!

Everything was half-gone, but we scooped samples onto one plate so you could get a glimpse of what we enjoyed.

As old married women, we gave Melissa some advice on her upcoming nuptials: most important, do all the work and get all the headaches out of the way, so on the actual day she can actually enjoy her moment.

And then it was time for her gifts. I had gotten Melissa these really cute, white, almost eyelet-looking designer pajamas from Bedhead. Melissa is such a beachy girl, and they say some stars in L.A. wear them as beach cover-ups. The line was featured on Oprah’s favorites show, and I do love it. And I gave her some fun and naughty bath bombs and things like that. Lissa gave her a beautiful Murano glass heart pendant necklace and some earrings.

Even though it was just the two of us, we still had to follow tradition and make her wear her wrappings. Not enough for a dress, so we had to settle for just dressing her head. We made a veil and enjoyed a few laughs before devouring our dessert, the apple banana tapioca and mango sticky rice.

After that, it was back to the office, back to work, and then it was time for Melissa to fly off. The next time we see her, she’ll be Mrs. Melissa Shipman!

Phew! Post-production work on our TV special is almost done, but I'm still slaving away in sunny Honolulu. Why would that be?

Well, take a look at what business partner Lissa's been up to these last few weeks:

Does this look fair to you? That's right, she's smiling away and sipping a luscious sangria right there on the beach. Would you like to guess where in the world she is?

What was that? Did you happen to say Sorrento? As in Sorrento on the beautiful Italian coast? Well, you're absolutely right.

Lissa's been on a Mediterranean cruise with her mom, Carol. It's just the two of them, no worries in the world. Not the best timing, work-wise (when is it ever?), but how many of us ever get the chance to take a grown-up trip with just our mom, or just our dad? This trip will make lifetime memories for both of them, and I'm truly happy they're getting to spend this quality time together.

Meanwhile, here's a glimpse of what's been arriving in my inbox every few days:

Carol waving from the ship off Mykonos

Lissa finds great texture in Pompeii!

... and a victim of the big volcanic eruption there.

Gaudi's Holy Family Church in Barcelona

Carol prays at the church of Prince Rainier and Princess Grace in Monaco

This is the breakfast scene Lissa and Carol have to endure every morning

Poor Lissa! She says she's having a hard time keeping up with all the tours every day, and the food! She says it's fantastic, and she's having a hard time keeping up with that, too!

But seriously, if you see this, I know you and your mom are having a great time. Come back refreshed, because I am beat!

Hey guys, I know I've been MIA for too long, and I do feel bad about that. It's because we've been wrapping up our TV special.

The Agenas' living room is DONE, absolutely final-mentally 100% totally totally DONE! They love it, the show sponsors who came to our open house loved it, and wow, do I love it!

We've been burning the midnight oil in post-production, so my schedule hasn't gotten any easier. Last night we were phone-conferencing about edits till past 1 a.m., and I am so fried.

But I just wanted to let you know that the countdown has begun! The show airs exactly four weeks from today, so mark your calendars for a transformation you'll have to see to believe:

THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 8 p.m. on KITV! YIPPEE!!!

Acting and being on TV may seem glamorous to some, but not to me. Not after the experience I’ve had filming our how-to DVD series and this upcoming $30,000 Style My Room TV show. Don’t get me wrong, it can be fun and exciting but it’s also a lot of work and takes a REALLY long time. And for a person like me who doesn’t like to wait around and wants everything done yesterday, it’s difficult to hurry up and wait.

 

Here’s what I mean.

 

We had an on location shoot for our Style My Room Makeover show at American Carpet One a few days ago. Call time was 8 a.m., that’s when the crew needs to show up. It generally takes about an hour-and-a-half to set up the lights—you don’t want shadows on faces and people looking green under commercial fluorescent lights, right? So while that’s happening, it’s time for us to get miked up, do a sound check and have our coffee and donuts.

 

 

This is also a good time to look over my lines. There are no cue cards, no teleprompters, so I can’t remember word for word what’s on the script. At the same time, I’m trying to be spontaneous and make the Agenas, our fantastic Style My Room Contest winners, comfortable on camera. At the end of the take, sometimes I can’t remember what I said! That’s why we have an assistant producer who makes sure I’ve covered the important ideas. After all, the show chronicles the Agenas as they learn how to decorate their own home and the show needs to unfold in a way that makes sense so our viewers can learn along with them.

 

 

Then we do a run through of the scene so that both cameramen and the lighting guys know how to block the shot. Blocking is where the director lets everyone know where their marks are, including the Agenas, me and the cameramen. We do a couple of dry runs and then it’s action.

 

 

WHOOPS! Not so fast! Someone hears a popping sound in someone’s mic, or the lighting isn’t quite right or the battery on that camera just went dead. You get the drift? It all adds up to being a long day.

 

But you know, this is the nature of the business and that’s partly why major motion pictures can cost over a hundred million dollars.

 

Fortunately, we have a great crew to work with, starting from the top with our director James Brennan, our two camera guys, the grip and the lighting guys, the sound guy…you’d be amazed at the number of people on board for this shoot. Everybody gets along and has a lot of fun. It’s a family environment and we’re all working toward a common goal—to get the show over with! Just kidding! To turn out a really great show, I mean.

 

 

Location shoots like this one at American Carpet One are a little more difficult because we’re mindful that we’re in a place of business. Customers are coming in, phone calls are being made, business is going on as usual. Every distraction adds to the delay, but everyone at American Carpet One was so easy to work with and so accommodating that it wasn’t that bad at all.

 

Our day ended right on time, just before five o’clock. We filmed two sequences—our flooring and window treatment segments—and a little teaser tip for our website. And by five sharp we had cleaned up and were ready to go. It’s a wrap!  …until our next shoot!