In a breezy, airy-fairy style that seems to be bringing with it a hint of patchouli oil, Jansen tells how she fell in love with Hawai'i the minute she stepped off the airplane at night and felt the velvety warm air and smelled flowers. She describes her journey of discovery about Hawaiian culture and history. She relates how all her dreams began to be realized after she met a "a nice Portuguese local boy." And she urges her readers to share her sense of daily awe and wonder at living here.

Treacly as this sounds, it's rather charming and clearly sincere. It's difficult not to admire someone who can so completely create and furnish their own life space.

And I must admit to a yearning for my watercolor pencils as I paged through the drawings. The book is meant to be the first in a series, with gardening and cooking books to come.