Om Rhythms

Lately I’ve been going to the post office a lot and I’m trying to incorporate my walkabout with my errands, it’s a nice way to get work done and see more of the town. Depending on the weather, I usually walk on the side of the street with the most sunshine. Today I headed south of Mission and since their door was wide open and they had a cute dress in the doorway, I decided to pop in to Om Rhythms.

Om Rhythms specialized in ethnic influenced clothing for women, ethnic bags and scarfs, unique gifts, and handicrafts from Nepal, India, Tibet and Indonesia. The store space is quite large with half of the space dedicated to fashion type items and the other half has more of a meditative vibe with statues and brass bowls.

This shop is a treat for the senses. The incense scent in the store is a quite lovely aroma, the Hindu-esque music is almost trance-like and relaxing, and the colors and textures of the merchandise are wonderful to see and touch.

The Secret Garden

Back in January I visited Pilgrim’s Way (see blog post on January 14^th). As I noted in my blog, I completely missed the Secret Garden. So today on my way back from the post office I decided to check it out and I’m so glad that I did. Pure enchantment!

This by far has to be one of my favorite discoveries. I’ve always known there were lots of hidden courtyards and mysterious passageways, but until now I have never taken the time to seek them out. What a surprise. This passageway is very clearly marked and welcoming. I entered the Secret Garden from Dolores with zero expectations. The pathway is fairly narrow with a nice selection of plants, succulents, and garden-type knick-knacks (think engraved rocks, small statues, etc.). I took my time and strolled along the path taking in the relaxing ambiance and was completely surprised when the pathway opened up and I happened upon the greenhouse-esque gift shop in the middle of the alley. It was hard not to feel like I had made some amazing secret discovery. From gardening gifts to scented candles, from books to plants, this shop has a little of bit of everything.

After browsing around the shop I continued along the pathway and exited on San Carlos Street. I completely felt like a little kid that just had an amazing adventure – it was so unexpected and left me feeling a little bit giddy. I’m actually looking forward to out-of-town friends and family to visit so I can recommend this mini adventure.    

93921 Post Office

Since the homes and business in downtown Carmel don’t have street numbers, PO Boxes are very coveted and hard to come by at the downtown 93921 post office. I remember hearing about this when we moved to the area over 17 years ago – but I never really thought about it too much since I’ve always had an at home mail box.

The Carmel By The Sea post office is always a buzz with people going in and out, sorting their mail at the counter height tables, or standing in line to send mail or pick up packages. It’s quite a social scene – which is slightly unusual considering this is a post office for goodness sakes.

Hard to imagine, but somehow even the post office in Carmel oozes with charm! With so many mail and shipping stores these days it’s nice to take a step back in time and see the (still very operational) quaint, brass mail boxes with the dial locks and small glass window.

Pamplemousse

I can still remember my French name from my high school French class: Jacqueline. It was in French class that I was introduced to my favorite chocolate: Lindt Lindor…which is actually pretty funny since it was my French teacher that got me hooked on Swiss chocolate. And for some reason I had two favorite French words in high school that I always tried to fit in to sentences: sac à dos (backpack) and pamplemousse (grapefruit) –I just liked the way those two words rolled off my tongue.

I love grapefruit! I share a pink grapefruit everyday with my husband. On days that I work, I peel the grapefruit in the morning, section it in half, pack my half up for lunch and leave Graham’s half for him in the refrigerator. Even my kids love grapefruit! We go through a 10 lb Costco bag of grapefruit a week. So, with a shop name like Pamplemousse, I knew I was going to love this place.

Pamplemousse is in a prime location on Ocean Avenue with great windows for displaying a lovely selection of women’s clothing and apparel. Currently on one of the mannequins is a super cute pink and black shift dress that has a hip yet sophisticated look – it’s the perfect dress for bringing people in to the store to see more. In addition to some great dresses, Pamplemousse has jewelry, clutches, and a lovely selection of skinny jeans.

From their website, Pamplemousse is “A chic boutique with a Euro feel, featuring freshly squeezed fashions from New York, LA, and abroad.” There are some really fun pieces in this store that would be perfect for date night…I really need to start going out more so I can have a reason to splurge on some of these great outfits!

Eco Carmel

I’m fairly good when it comes to being ‘green’. I recycle, I reuse, and I reduce most of the time – but there is always room for improvement and I could be a lot better. That said, and slight sidebar for a moment, now that I walk to work most days, it’s fantastic how long I can go between filling up the gas tank in my car…I got in the car over the weekend and it was still ¾ of the way full. Love that!

We have made the transition from buying cases of water from Costco to using reusable bottles we fill with water from home, we almost always use reusable bags when we grocery shop at Trader Joes (but for some reason we aren’t very good at using our reusable bags at Safeway), we refill our liquid soap containers instead of buying lots of individual soaps (I do kind of miss the fun smelling soaps from Bath and Body Works), we make coffee at home and put it in reusable to-go mugs (ummm, but we’re far from perfect and still get plenty of coffee from coffee shops!). While I’m glad my family and I are making little steps to reduce our carbon footprint, holy cow we could (and admittedly probably should) do a lot more.

Today’s stop was a wonderful exploration in ways to live a greener and more energy efficient life. Eco Carmel is located on San Carlos between 7^th and 8^th. My first impression upon entering the store was how great it smelled. On a table near the center of the store is a display of beeswax candles. These candles are made using pure essential oil with 100% beeswax and the scents are amazing.

This shop has a wonderful general merchandise store feel – there is a little bit of everything and yet it all works well together. There are sections of eco friendly paints and stains, hardware items and fixtures, bedding and textiles, baby clothes, pet supplies, garden tools, composting barrels, and so much more. The owner, Kristi, was working when we popped in to look around. Kristi has a great eye for selecting the right items for the store and is extremely knowledgeable about all the merchandise.

After visiting the store I looked it up online and was surprised to learn that ‘Eco Carmel is housed within the Stonehouse Terrace, a courtyard shopping and office area owned by [Kristi’s] family since the early 1930’s; originally it was [her] grandparents home.’

The scent of the store was so pleasant that I bought the lemongrass and clove votive candle – and I’ve been burning it while typing this blog posting. It’s my new inspiration scent!