Happy Easter and Passover to everyone. We are looking forward to a wonderful Easter weekend with my family here at Casa Candelaria. Leg of lamb on my new Traeger grill has all the makings of a savory Easter supper!

So – we have been quite busy. Lot’s of amazing projects we have just permitted and will be breaking ground along with several new projects on the boards. My team is cranking and we are so excited with everything happening for Team Candelaria.

Looking forward, this Tuesday at 8pm on the DIY Network we will be featured on Behind the Build : HGTV Smart Home 2017 and then again on Wednesday at 8pm on HGTV. The sweepstakes are underway to win this home so please enter each day at your chance of winning this amazing Candelaria Design home.  http://www.hgtv.com/design/hgtv-smart-home/sweepstakes?c1=AUDX_GA_Smart-Home-2017_HGTV-Brand_Grand-Prize&c2=Google&c3=HGTV-Brand&c4=hgtv%20sweepstakes Its fun to see the ads now on HGTV and the Food Network.

This Tuesday, we will be watching the premiere at a Candelaria Design remodel we did with the HGTV Smart Home 2017 builder, Jim Audiss of Eagle Luxury Properties, http://eagleluxuryproperties.com and realtor, Chris Karas of the Karas Group. http://www.thekarasgroup.com . We may have a surprise visit by HGTV and Food Network CEO, Ken Lowe, and so I will be ready whipping up my classic Candelaria Paella. Stay tuned for this one!

We also want to thank Nick May and The Chaise Lounge for featuring Isabel and I on their weekly podcast you can find on Itunes. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chaise-lounge-interior-design/id926201491?mt=2&i=1000384340810 We enjoyed the interview and you will get a good sense on how Isabel and I met and how we work together and some of the fun projects and trips we have underway.

Add to that a big thank you to Scottsdale Modern Luxury Magazine and their feature on our inaugural Candelaria Design Tour Spain. http://digital.modernluxury.com/publication/?i=397917&ver=html5&p=152#"{\"page\":152,\"issue_id\":397917" We had our Pre-Tour dinner at Casa Candelaria Thursday night where our travelers met for the first time as a group. We are so fortunate to have so many repeat travelers from our Tour Italy that we already have great energy and momentum heading into this trip. We depart on June 6th for San Sebastian’ and will finish the trip in Barcelona. Stay tuned right here and on Facebook to follow our first adventure and journey through Spain.

We are also getting ready for the big Prom Gala in support of Gigi’s Playhouse on April 28th at Wingate Ranch in Scottsdale! We are so proud to be a part of this organization and have been a part of the design and creation of Gigi’s Playhouse. Orchestrated and created by our good friend and client, Jennifer Gage, Gigi’s Playhouse is a one-of-a-kind achievement center for individuals with down syndrome and their families providing therapeutic and educational programs right here in Scottsdale, AZ. Isabel and I will be the guest chairs for the event and this Gala will be a total blast and I invite you all to come and have a fun evening with us! Those that donate $2500 will get an invite to a VIP dinner I will be preparing in a private Candelaria Design home. https://gigisplayhouse.org/phoenix/gala/

On April 7th my wife Isabel and I along with builders and our good friends, Rod and Kim Cullum, hosted the BluePrints and Blue Jeans fund raiser for the Habitat for Humanity right at our Village of Mountain Shadows Project in Paradise Valley. What a fun evening. My daughter, Isabella and I prepared our signature Candelaria Paella. The event was a total success and we raised a record amount for the Central Arizona Habitat for Humanity. Thank you everyone for the fantastic turnout!  http://habitatcaz.org/news-and-events/events/

This last Tuesday and Wednesday, Project Architect, Meredith Thomson, builder John Schultz of Schultz Development, http://www.schultzdevelopment.org and I traveled to Greenwich, CT to meet with Christopher Peacock and his team as we are collaborating on a fabulous home here in Paradise Valley. http://peacockhome.com/home. This home is going to be a marquis home for sure and we are excited at the skill and expertise that is coming together to create this Candelaria Design masterpiece.

Now let’s throw a wedding in a couple weekends ago as our Tim Mathewson married his fiance’ Amber at the Candelaria Design El Chorro on April 1st. What a lovely ceremony and Isabel and I were proud to say we were in Florence, Italy with the two on our Candelaria Design Tour Italy, when he proposed. We wish them both all the best!!!

We also want to thank the Arizona Big Media and Ranking Arizona and all of our followers who voted us number one for Residential Architects for 2016. We have been first 6 out of 7 of the last years and this made it two in a row again! Please vote for us in 2017! http://azbigmedia.com/vote-ranking-arizona

In the midst of all this, Isabel and I snuck off to Oregon, for a little wine exploration and a nice little romantic getaway. While there, I was blessed to reconnect with my classmate from elementary and junior high school from back in Northglenn, CO, Steve Hammond. Steve and I were always the two best artists in school and we had reconnected on Facebook but not since 1974 had we seen each other. We had a fantastic dinner with our wives, Isabel and Laura, in Portland at Nostrana which was fabulous if you are ever in Portland. http://nostrana.com  Of course I ended up in architecture and Steve is a principal of an amazing advertising and graphics art company, H2RAgency in Oregon. http://h2ragency.com His work is fantastic and get ready for some collaborations in the future now that we have reunited. Oregon is of course, beautiful, and Isabel and I had a fun time in Portland, then exploring the wine country, doing some antiquing and sourcing at the Aurora Mills Architectural Salvage and enjoying some quiet time along the Oregon coastline. http://auroramills.com

Our first Candelaria Design Tour Spain is SOLD OUT but we do have some room for some travelers for our September 2017 Tour Italy. This trip will be amazing and we will be finishing in Venice so you do not want to miss this! http://www.candelariadesign.com/tour-italy

Ok, meanwhile plenty going on with our clients, projects, cooking and travel. In two weeks, Isabel and I will head to Highpoint, NC for the Market there and of course some good Carolina barbecue and time with our good friends at The Design Network. We are in full production on Season Three of SKETCH. You can binge watch the first two seasons right here…. https://www.thedesignnetwork.com/series/sketch/

Thanks again for viewing our blog and supporting Candelaria Design! Again Happy Easter and Passover from us all.