It was another long day for the crew at Aloha Tower Marketplace.  Jennifer and I went to KHNL News 8 to do a segment with Kristine Uyeno….and had to be there by 5 a.m! Good thing we got there a little early; Kristine needed some wardrobe tape and Crystal Pancipanci, ever the good stylist, had some with her.  (Flack tip to newbies: Make sure you know exactly where KHNL’s news studio is and how to get there in the dark.)

Chris Hughes from KQMQ (a.k.a. 93.1 The Zone) showed up and was telling me all about his work out at the Hawaii Athletic Club earlier that day. He could barely raise his arms above shoulder height!

Then Christa, our sales guru from KQMQ, came by and asked Chris how his day was.  I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to post this photo from Angela Elbern.

Many of you were yelling at me offline about getting some photos up.  I gotta be honest, I was working backstage so I didn’t really get a chance to take many good photos!  A lot of you were following me on Twitter, though, so you know what went on, blow by blow as it happened.  Here are some highlights, courtesy of Christa Wittmier:

Overall, it was a nice event and we had a lot of really nice people! I even saw my classmates, Melba Balicanta and Junedale Nakachi (sorry ladies, I don’t know your married names) who happened to come by to check it out and shop.  Big thanks to Cindy Chang of CMC Medi-Spa for bringing the aromatherapy samples–I needed that!

See you all at the next First Fashion Friday!

p.s. Big Mahalo to Jennifer Lieu (at right) who put the event together! Welcome to the wacky world of divas!

p.p.s. Are any of you on Twitter?  Follow me! I’m @Melissa808

OK, I’m pushing Kristi’s tour photos back one more time to tell you about our live broadcast with Jai Cunningham of KHON this morning. We’re promoting First Fashion Friday at Aloha Tower Marketplace happening this week, and there are a lot of elements to show on camera.

Manolo is on vacation, so Jai has been filling in for him on the live spots. This was my first time working with Jai, and it was really interesting. Did you know that he’s originally from Alabama and went to an all-boys’ boarding school with a strict dress code? That’s partly why he is so spiffily dressed on camera all the time….not just for the visual, but because that’s what he is used to. OK, that’s not ALL we learned about Jai, but that was pretty good trivia.  If you haven’t worked with him yet, he’s very easygoing and easy to work with!

Our first shot at 6:30 was promoting the fitness aspect of First Fashion Friday. As mentioned previously, we are offering a free fitness makeover: just listen to KQMQ this week for details or send an email with a photo to info@alohatower.com and tell us why you deserve to win. Chris Hughes, one of the DJs at the station, came to talk about his fitness goals and pump the makeover contest.

As you can see, Chris is interested in bulking up and gaining more muscle definition, especially developing his upper body strength. Jai turned to me and said, “And Melissa, you…..er, are probably like most of us….” And I said, “Yes! I need to lose weight.” My boss Scott texted me immediately to say, “So what’s Jai trying to tell you?”  ha ha!

The rest of the segments focused on celebrity stylist Crystal Pancipanci, who will be one of our fashion panelists on Friday, giving us a preview of fall trends. She’s worked with the Baraquio sisters, Rachel Ray, and Valerie Bertinelli, as well as many local celebs.  Last year she gave KQMQ jocks Chanel Mokepuha and Devon Nekoba a makeover (after which I stole all of Chanel’s clothes for myself). Today she worked with Miss Aloha Tower Kaili Hussey and Miss Teen Aloha Tower Steisha Sheather, and not only talked about trends for fall but how to effectively put trendy outfits together.  Heck, I learned three things just standing there listening her think out loud and she didn’t even realize it!

I’d tell you more about what I learned from Crystal with regard to dressing myself, but you need to hear it on your own!  Just come to our free event on Friday, August 1, from 6 to 8 p.m. Crystal, along with Alyson Helwagen of LeiChic.com, will talk about tips and trends for fall.

Ah, but this is a “flack like me” entry, isn’t it?  Here are some tips from today’s live broadcast:

1.  If you’re doing a broadcast anywhere in the harbor, you need to get the necessary permission to access the area(s) ahead of time.

2.  It helps to draw a map so you can communicate to the cameraman (George Cabral!) exactly where the Live Van should park.

3.  Be prepared to be on camera, in case people don’t show up.  Today I brought a change of clothes in case people didn’t show up for the Fitness Segment, and was ready to improvise for fitness moves.

4.  As always, bring extra props.  I lugged two sets of dumbells up to the second floor while wearing heels! But they were necessary props so we could demonstrate some simple moves on camera. I picked the nicest looking dumbells so they’d pick up the light. I think we also had a couple of extra outfits as backup, in case we ended up with an extra segment to talk…and we did.

See you on Friday!

p.s. big mahalo to Jennifer Lieu, who was running around with the camera and getting all the clothes set up just right. And for getting George some coffee.  And for shushing housekeeping as only a Pushy Chinese Broad can do!

All right, it’s time to tell you how to win that fitness makeover.  You know how I have been talking about First Fashion Friday coming up on August 1?  Well, to kick off the events, the Hawaii Athletic Club in Aloha Tower Marketplace is offering a free fitness makeover to a lucky participant.

Interested makeover candidates should email info@alohatower.com with a photo and a short narrative on why they should win the fitness makeover by July 30. Finalists will be selected before August 1; the winner will undergo a fitness program until the finale on October 3.

You can also listen to KQMQ to call in to win, but I think this is harder to achieve! In any case, you’ll be doing a fitness makeover like their DJs: Today, Miss Chanel joined the challenge along with me and Chris Hughes.  As you can see, they have different fitness goals, and we figure you do, too.

I cannot stress enough that whoever wins this, has to stick with the program or it won’t work!

Even if you don’t try to enter to win the makeover, come to our free events anyway! The first one is on August 1 at 6 p.m. Learn fashion and beauty tips from a panel comprised of Alyson Helwagen of LeiChic.com and celebrity stylist Crystal Pancipanci; and a fashion show presented by Shane Takeshita of iCandi Hawaii.

Be watching www.alohatower.com/fff.html to see what direction our online magazine takes you this year! All right, time to go shop.

Yayyyy I’ve finally found people to take part in a fitness challenge with me!  As we get ready for our upcoming First Fashion Friday on August 1, the team at KQMQ and the Hawaii Athletic Club  agreed to give away a free fitness makeover to a lucky listener and a lucky web reader.

I’m not going to put the details here (yet) but keep listening to KQMQ or visit www.alohatower.com/fff.html in about a week to find out how you can win.

 Meanwhile: two of the jocks, Miss Chanel and Chris Hughes, are going to join the challenge, too.  We brought Chris in to do a fitness assessment and check his body fat (which is non-existent).

As you can see by the size of his arms vs. Ray Sagum’s arms, Chris’ goal is to increase his upper body strength and definition.

Our sales rep, Christa Wittmier, got so into it that she measured her body fat, as well. I’m not going to post their stats here, but will discreetly leave it to them to post in the comments if they wish.

Anyone else up for the challenge?? Maybe you can win a free three-month makeover, if you want to kick-start your fitness quotient. Just listen to KQMQ or visit my website!