Welcome to Spring! Today’s Inspiring Living episode celebrates Spring perfectly as our guests include Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine Editor-In-Chief John Roark and Interior Designer and my lovely wife, Isabel Dellinger Candelaria.  We talk about the Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine Garden Tour coming up this Saturday, April 17. You can get your tickets by clicking the link below, you will not want to miss this as we have a fabulous Candelaria Design home with Gardens by Refined Gardens on the tour!

We also discuss the fabulous feature we have in this month’s Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine showcasing a Candelaria Design ~ Earth and Images home that is one of our favorites, click here to view the article.

Give our podcast a listen, give us a subscribe and review for a chance to win a custom Candelaria Design Pasta Machine! For more on this and other episodes, including photos and links, visit our website's Podcast Page: www.candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast

www.phgmag.com/phg-events 

This week's podcast episode features beloved Chef Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco, Panne Bianco and Tratto. This episode features his story from his early days in the Bronx to working his way to the West Coast and ultimately Phoenix where he quickly ascended the culinary ladder becoming a renowned chef not only known for his pizza making skills, which are now world renowned, but also for his culinary skills of bringing locally sourced ingredients to the table at his wonderful restaurant Tratto, which is one of Isabel and my favorites.

Chris has a wonderful book called Bianco - Pizza, Pasta, and Other Food I Like  which is a staple in my kitchen for sure. Chris is definitely outspoken and is never afraid to say what is on his mind which is something we all love about him. He is honest, hard-working, passionate about his craft, a true artist, a thinker, and most definitely epitomizes Inspiring Living.

I encourage you to enjoy this podcast and visit all of his dining venues as they all offer a unique experience and menu.

For photos, links and more on Chris and out other podcast episodes, visit our Podcast page at: www.candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

This week's guest is someone I have been collaborating on projects for almost 40 years, and has become a very close friend, Walter Spitz. Walter is the Founder, Principal and Senior Designer of Creative Designs in Lighting, an architectural lighting firm who has been specializing in "lighting for that special look" for over 40 years.

Walter began at a large lighting showroom in Phoenix as a teenager and developed a “theatrical eye” by designing for the stage, first while in school, then went on to light professional performances. This experience, combined with a growing fascination in lighting, led him to study at Banff Center of Fine Arts under Laszio Funtek. Walter has gone on to become an award-winning lighting designer, recognized across the country as a residential lighting expert.

For more info and photos on this episode, as well as our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: www.candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

Today's episode of Inspiring Living features Richard van Gilse, President and CEO of  Arizona based Facings of America, which is a family owned local business with a global offering of finely curated tile and stone from around the world.

Facings of America was started by Richard's father in 1967 and Richard is now taking the business to the next level with two beautiful showrooms, the original showroom on Indian School Rd and 27th Street and their new Scottsdale showroom located at 16421 North 90th Street.

In this episode Richard talks about how the family business started and then how he developed his love of business growing up here in Arizona; from his days at St. Mary's High School then on to ASU and finally into the family business.

We discuss how Richard has grown the business, some of the new products they curate from around the world and some of the hot trends in materials and surfaces. We also talk about how the pandemic affected their operations and sourcing and delivering products.

Richard offers a good perspective and insight into how he finds his balance between running a business with two locations and maintaining a happy family life, along with his love of travel, golf, and cooking.

For more info and photos on this episode, as well as our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: https://www.candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

Today's episode features world renowned luxury cabinet designer, Christopher Peacock, based in New York City. Since the launch of Christopher Peacock Cabinetry in 1992, he now has showrooms across America and worldwide, as his commitment to quality and design is apparent in his products and service.

In this episode Christopher will talk about his upbringing and start in London, England, and how he made it here to the States where he took his life lessons and skills and turned them into a highly recognized brand in our industry. We chat about how the pandemic has impacted his company and the industry overall, his design process, some of his high-profile clients and projects, and life in general. 
https://peacockhome.com/

For photos and more on Christopher and our other episodes, visit our Podcast Page: candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

This week’s guest is Organic Chef Jennifer Johnson.  Jennifer graduated culinary school over 20 years ago while working for a corporate engineering firm and in 2015 decided to break away and start an organic, farm to table catering company, Witnessing Nature In Food. Today she’s a leader in healthy organic dining experiences, recognized as a Platinum Level Phoenix Green Business Leader & City of Scottsdale Environmental Quality Award Winner. Her services include catering for corporate events and weddings, providing lunches for local schools, meal prep/plans for individuals and families, and teaching via cooking classes and her blog.

Mark & Tiffany Candelaria talk to Jennifer all about the food supply we find in stores, what costs and standards are required by farmer’s produce to be certified organic, why eating fresh, organic, local food is so important and how to make delicious meals. We also discuss our favorite local chefs, restaurants, farmers markets, their travels, and favorite cooking shows.

Give it a listen and stay tuned for our virtual cooking class in late March where we will have Jennifer come to our kitchen and teach us more about organic cooking and healthy recipes!
www.witnessingnature.net/home.html 

For more info and photos on this episode, as well as our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: https://www.candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

In today’s episode, Mark speaks with Jason Barlow, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona and Chris Owen, former Banking Executive turned Real Estate Agent and Chairman of the Board at Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona. Habitat is celebrating their 35th year in the Valley of the Sun and have now built more than 1,160 homes and renovated or repaired thousands more since 1985. “As long as God continues to bless us with amazing volunteers and generous sponsors like you, we will continue to grow our efforts,” says Barlow. 

The need for housing has become more essential than ever given the pandemic and hot real estate market here in Phoenix, and Habitat for Humanity fills this need for many locals struggling to afford housing. Since the outbreak, 12 new homes have been completed and their five Habitat ReStores have reopened for business along with their offices. The Habitat Central AZ team is currently planning the construction of 46 new homes through next Spring, and hundreds of other homes will be repaired or renovated.

In a past podcast episode, we recorded on-site of a Habitat home build where we interviewed Jason Barlow, a few volunteers and even the man who was going to be inhabiting this new house! He was there helping out as well and his joy was so apparent and touching and he had a sense of pride as he got to help build the house as well. Definitely go back and give that episode page a view as there are some great photos and a great podcast interview: candelariadesign.com/podcast-content/habitat  

There are so many ways to get involved with this organization and all of the wonderful ways they make an impact on so many lives by building homes, visit their website for more info!

https://habitatcaz.org/ 

https://www.instagram.com/habitatcaz/ 

https://www.facebook.com/HabitatCAZ/ 

https://twitter.com/HabitatC 

youtube.com/user/HabitatCAZ/videos

For more on this episode and all our our podcast episodes, visit our Podcast Page: candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

Today’s podcast episode features two fabulous ladies who help run local nonprofit, Elevate Phoenix: Dalila A. Gamper and Jazmine Hall. Dalila started as a teacher with Elevate back  in 2009 and is now the Executive Director and Jazmine, who was actually one of Dalila's student's while in high school, has become the Development Director for Elevate Phoenix! Candelaria Design has been involved the past few years as a mentor and has attended and sponsored some events since being introduced to Elevate through our client, PGA Pro, Tom Lehman.

Targeting individual students, Elevate Phoenix provides curriculum and support to aid students at risk of dropping out of school, through meaningful mentorships, relationships, opportunities and experiences that shape students into the young adults we know they can be. Elevate employs a holistic approach to meet each child’s needs, which means full-time salaried teacher-mentors, year-round programming, cross-age mentoring and a long-term relational approach in four areas: accredited classes, mentoring, reading & literacy, and graduation and post-secondary plans. Elevate serves roughly 4500 students per year who achieve a 98% graduation rate with 100% of the students having post secondary plans.

Join us in growing their programs across the entire Phoenix Union High School District, consider joining as a mentor or guest speaker, or donate and receive an Arizona tax credit up to $400 for single filers and $800 for married/joint filers. Their mission and their success rate are absolutely amazing and we have been so grateful to see firsthand how together we can make a difference in these children's lives and in our community.

https://elevatephoenix.org/  

elevatephoenix.org/the-arizona-tax-credit/

For photos and more on this and our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

Today's podcast features Catherine Anaya, a name you may recognize from the local news in the past. Catherine is a  journalist, motivational speaker, media personality with 25+ years as a TV news anchor, event host and emcee, co-hosts a weekly radio show and is the founder of multimedia company, 4Hearts Media LLC. 

She describes her journey from college at USC, to her first job as a news anchor in Texas, to Channel 12 in Phoenix in 1992, then back to LA for four years, then finally wound up back in Phoenix where she worked as an anchor for Channel 5 news for 12 years and an award-winning columnist.

Mark & Catherine discuss the balance they've had to find while juggling their work, passions, family and health and why it's important to "step off the hamster wheel"  and reflect on your past accomplishments, failures, lessons, etc. Catherine discusses the hard decision to step away from her lifetime of anchoring and what it was like to transition into a new path for her future, and the exciting things she's been involved with since!

Connect with Catherine: 

4Hearts Media 

www.catherineanaya.com

sisterhoodofsuperwomen.com/

thelatslegacyfoundation.org 

youtube.com/user/CatherineAnaya/featured 

For photos and more on this and our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast 

This episode of Inspiring Living features one of our dear friends from Umbria, Italy, Elizabeth Wholey. We met Elizabeth many years ago during our Candelaria Design Tour Italy adventures and she has been our on-site chef and host for over ten years now when we stay at her Farmhouses while in Umbria.

This is Elizabeth's third appearance on our podcast and she gives us an update on how things are going there in Italy with the whole Covid-19 Pandemic. It is very interesting to get her perspective on how Italy has been dealing with the pandemic, especially over the course of the recent holidays, and shares her thoughts on how this might play out over the course of 2021.

We have scheduled our 2021 Candelaria Design Tour Italy thinking and hoping we might be able to pull it off this year. This will be our 16th Tour Italy over the last 20 years, so you do not want to miss being a part of this experience and get to meet Elizabeth for yourself. Our dates are set for September 15th - 29th starting in Florence, a week in Umbria and Tuscany, and finishing with a stay at the Villa d'Este on Lake Como.  Click on the link for more info on our tours: https://www.candelariadesign.com/sign-upitaly2020

Follow Elizabeth on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/elizabethwholey/
Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.wholey
Elizabeth is also an amazing chef and has written a wonderful book about the cuisine and culture of Umbria: https://www.altabella.com/sustenance__an_italian_culinary_guidebook

For photos and more on this and our other episodes, visit our Podcast's webpage: candelariadesign.com/inspiring-living-podcast