2012: a year of gratitude

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away - Maya Angelou  
What a year this was! Thanks to all of you, 2012 was filled with many breath taking moments that I will never forget. It was a year filled with meeting new friends, reconnecting with "old" ones, exploring new ideas, trying new things, and overcoming challenges and fears.  I have been blessed to work with so many inspirational and talented people last year.  Please know that if I worked with you in 2012, you have honestly and sincerely touched my heart.  2012 was a year that I will not soon forget.

“Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.” - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
One morning as we pulled into my son's school, he said "We're at school so early. (He loves getting to school early.) Wow, thank you mom!"  I drove to work that morning with a huge silly grin on my face, but it paled in comparison to the smile that had been imprinted on my heart.  Those three words were so powerful, it made my whole day...and it made me realize the importance of not just feeling gratitude but also expressing it.

So,  in this blog, I would like to say thank you to all of you, my friends new and old who were there for me in 2012...There are so many of you that I can't list everyone, but please know that if we crossed paths, I am grateful for you!

• Very extra special thanks, though, goes to Denise Park, Angela Choy, and Valerie Kubota for truly being my support system in 2012. 
• Thank you Leah Fukuyama, Lori Furoyama, Lana Nakamura, Tina Koike, and Les Kwock for being such good friends to me.  
• Thank you Nathalie Kim, Keoki Kim, Brice Kurihara, Tia Morales, Laura Grace D'Angeli, Kristina Lum, and Jasmine Nip for always supporting and promoting Bliss throughout the entire year!  

“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”  - Joseph Campbell  
In 2012, I am so grateful for all of the amazing opportunities and experiences.  One of the highlights of my year was being able to coordinate efforts to allow our customers to give back to worthy community organizations.

• In April, Bliss customers donated over $200 and two cases of children's books to Read to Me International through our Spring shopping event.
• Bliss customers donated over $1100 and 5 bags of career clothes to the YWCA of Oahu during our spectacular standing room only Soul Beautiful event at the Venue in July. Special thank you to the models, make up artists, photographers, silent auction prize donors, Bliss volunteers, Francesco Valenti of the Venue, the YWCA of Oahu, and a huge thank you to Shari & Brittnie Aguilar and Blank Canvas for their amazing performance. 

The largest Bliss event last year was our Fall Fashion shows at the Hawaii Women's Expo in September.  I am so grateful to the amazing talents that came together to put on this series of fabulous shows. Our clothes were also featured in a live segment on KHON with Manolo Morales for the second year in a row.  Thank you to all of the phenomenal models, make up artists, hair stylists, photographers, interns, dressers, and booth workers. Over 50 people gave up a part or their whole :) weekend to make these shows a success.  Special thanks to the creative team of Nathalie Kim, Angela Choy, Leah Fukuyama, & Keoki Kim for making this show happen.  Thank you also to Shannon Nii for always being there to help Bliss!

Bliss was also blessed to sponsor and style some amazing women including a fashion show for Hope Chapel West Oahu, Miss Asia Honolulu Jasmine Nip as she competed in the National Miss Asian America pageant in San Francisco, and the contestants and titleholders for the Miss Hawaii Junior High school Collegiate America pageant. Thank you to Leah Beamon from Norwood, North Carolina of the blog Life as Leah who also styled a few of our pieces for two of her fashion and style blogs.   

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me...Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful - that's what matters to me. - Steve Jobs 
In October, I was so honored to be a part of a very exciting fundraiser for the YWCA of Oahu.  Co-chairing Downtown Decadence: Persimmon & Posh allowed me to meet extraordinary women, grow as a person and as a professional, and get out of my comfort zone by being interviewed live on Melissa Chang's blog, KITV, and KHON. Thank you to Bo Tanaka, Marissa Fong, Samantha Neyland, Inga Schlingmann, Morgan Clark, Tia Morales, MUA Kaylee Simili, Brice Kurihara of BK Photo, Kimberly Miyazawa Frank, Noriko Namiki, Carmille Lim, Ian Murphy, JJ Dentel, Julie Zimmerman, Joe Ho of Mystical Sounds, Melissa Chang, and of course my co-chair, Valerie Kubota!

In December, Bliss, along with Darin Hajime of Darin Hajime Company and Valerie Kubota of A Little bit of Everything, launched Chari-tees, a line of women's tees with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the YWCA of Oahu.  We were blessed to sell out of tees in 3 days!  Thank you to Darin Hajime, aka Genius Darin, for your creative genius work on this project.  Look for more styles in early Spring of 2013!

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. -Oprah Winfrey. I love January!  The first month of the year always brings me feelings of hope, empowerment, and inspiration!  I, like everyone else, am feeling hopeful that 2013 is going to be the best year ever! I challenge all of you to turn 2013 into your biggest adventure.  Live the life of your dreams starting today.