Come in to Maui Thing for Maui’s own, Roselani ice cream cups! Right now we have yummy haupia flavor, we’ll have more flavors coming soon! Stay tuned for another blog post about Roselani, local ice cream made right here in Wailuku…

3 years! Huge mahalo to everyone that has supported us for the past 3 years. We are so blessed to be a part of such a special community :) Here’s our 3 year bash! Complete with our fashion show of the latest Summer line, and Willie K. live!

In celebration of the grand opening of Boze Kapoi’s PRIDE INK, Ekolu will be playing live this First Friday on the Maui Thing stage! Ekolu, a homegrown Maui band, got their start at Brown Bags to Stardom at Baldwin High School in 1995. With hits like “Just One Night,” and ” Shores of Waiehu,” all of us have grown to love the band and their laid back vibes. We’re stoked to have these 3-time Na Hoku Hanohano award winners play for us on Market Street!!!

First Friday was a blast, opening the festivities was Hi Riz from the Big Island!

Then Ekolu was up, and they jammed! Market Street was buzzing with people! Mahalo Ekolu!

I started writing this blog post a few times..describing Lily, calling her the “Sweetest 16″, trying to put her voice into text. None of them seemed to bode well enough for her upcoming performance at the Maui Thing stage after seeing her live a few weeks ago. So I decided to go with technology and just embed a youtube video of her into the post! Like they say, “a picture speaks a thousand words.”…and in this case, a video speaks a million. Lily’s voice is inexplainable. She’s a 16 year old Maui girl living in Kuau with the voice of a spectacular soul singer. Think Ella Fitzgerald meets today’s Adele. She’s classy but hip. Edgy yet local. Simple and beautiful. She’s the cover story in the current issue of On Maui! Magazine, with the likes of Willie Nelson, Michael Buble and her producer, Bob Rock praising her talent. Check out this quick preview of her singing with Toby Couture..then come see them LIVE this First Friday on the Maui Thing stage. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket and chill :)

thanks to Jennifer Rosenblad for the photo!

Mina won Best in Show! Isn’t she creative? She used amazing colors!

At this past First Friday, we announced the winners of our Chinese New Year art contest! February 3, 2011 marked Chinese New Year: The Year of the Rabbit. The Rabbit is gentle and known for survival. The rabbit flourishes in a world of predators by being alert, quick, peaceful, productive, attentive and aware. The rabbit uses its intuition to steadily, persistently steer itself in the right direction, thus leading to success. This was learned from the Tortoise in their fabled great race. This year success should be measured by simple things. Success could be found in a re-invented or re-discovered YOU. Be open-minded and alert to these opportunities. Listen to yourself and be open to being inspired.

With these values in mind, we held our annual Chinese New Year art contest, opened to all the public schools on the island. Every child receives a small prize, 2 winners in each grade got to choose a Maui Thing tshirt and got a bunch of art supplies donated from Ben Franklin! This year we got over 300 entries! The entries were judged by Sidney Yee’s Kaunoa art class, who also has pieces on exhibit at Maui Thing. Make sure to stop by the store to check out all the amazing work from the elementary and senior students! They will be on display for the month! Congrats to the winners, and thanks to all the teachers and students who help make this happen!

The winners announced at First Friday!

Be sure to stop by the store this month to check out all the creative entries!

It’s Sunday, 1:31 am and I just got home from Paia. Not my normal weekend routine and I should be sleeping right now but I am still feeling the love and positive vibes of The Freeradicals Projekt. It all started at the January Wailuku First Friday event. MOTH played at the Maui Thing stage on behalf of Maui’s Time’s anniversary and they killed it. I was hesitant after looking at some online footage but goes to show that you can’t judge a band by it’s youtube video. Moth was in fact, incredibly creative and super talented. During the night a polite young hipster, “Ami” approached me about playing at First Friday and hopefully at the Maui Thing stage. He proceeded to explain that the band was brand spanking new and the sound so fresh that it was a little hard to describe. “Well what is it like?” I asked. “…Hmmm sort of hip hop with some funk and jazz…” I was intrigued and took Ami up on his offer to see them at Charley’s the following Saturday. Now normally I would drag my more youthful associates for a couple of reasons: 1. They make me feel like I fit in a little better and 2. They can stay up later. Unfortunately no one was available so I had to resort to plan B. “The Housewives of Wailuku” — my 40 something mom’s who are always dying to have a reason to ditch the hubby and kids. 8:15 pm and we’re out to Paia for an 11pm lead act.

After my 2nd margarita from Milagro’s at 9:30 pm, I’m ready to call it a night, or take a cat nap. I hold steady as Charlie’s is just around the corner. I love the Paia crowd and vibe. Happy, content, free spirited and super fit. Damn I feel fat. Regardless, we settle in at Charley’s and get ready for FRP. I order a diet beer. Let me premise this critique by my music history. Not that I ever took a music history class but please know that Grand Master Flash came to the forefront when I was in the 7th grade. I grew up with YO MTV RAPS and owning albums by the Sugar Hill Gang and Run DMC… the classics. I also lived in LA and was exposed to the raw likes of A Tribe Called Quest and Jungle Brothers. Not to mention a fortunate experience with Ella Fitzgerald’s last concert at the Hollywood Bowl. I’m trying to justify my coolness in the hip hop world even though I’m an old fart. Now, the FRP, my type of music. One of those fusion groups, combining the roots of jazz and funk with crazy hip hop beats. Throw in some soulful live vocals, a killer emcee, sax and guitar and you have The Freeradicals Projekt. They reminded me of The Brand New Heavies or The Fugees. They played mostly originals I believe which were all fresh. One Marvin Gay cover was performed which literally gave my chicken skin.

The Freeradicals Projekt will be playing at the Maui Thing stage on the First Friday of April. Don’t miss it!