Located on Park Street, Alameda's main shopping area, you'll find a cute store called Mints, which is filled with whimsical floral arrangements, gifts, and home decor. The owners are three young women: Canna, Dorothy (Dot), and Mei. Their gifts are wit and lots of talent. Having grown up in their mother's flower store in Hong Kong, after graduating they were not keen to pursue the floral business. I talked to Dot, the middle sister, who was the first one to return to her mother's trade. After working in the corporate world for a few years, she found herself missing the creativity of floral design and the scent of flowers wafting through the workplace, and opened Mints Flower in Alameda. Soon, elder sister Canna and younger sister Mei joined Dot as partners.

"We all missed working with our hands," the petite Dot told me. "Each of us fancy different designs: Canna favors the freestyle bouquets to elegant arrangements combined with urban chic. I was closest to my mother and learned to incorporate her favorite style, the traditional Japanese Ikebana. My younger sister loves funky touches and is finder and buyer of the novel gifts in our store. Most often our creations, however, are mix and matches."

Canna's husband is the important silent partner. A business executive during the week, he transforms himself into a fabulous photographer who captures the phenomenal designs of the threesome. His pictures of Mints' work are displayed in a small coffee table portfolio, or you can browse through their creations on their brand new website.

I love their work in which East meets West. The whimsical touches give a lightness and freshness to the design, such as the Japanese paper crane garland, the name tags tied on horsetail "chopsticks," and chains of stringed orchids. Colors and textures always are an important element.

Having an ethnic background themselves, they encourage their clients to incorporate their own. They prefer to work together with their clients to create a stunning table top design that expresses their individual style. Due to the sisters' fabulous work, Mints Flower is well known all over the Bay Area.