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!  

The Tree House Cafe

Years ago when my kids were very young my mom came to visit and help us with the boys. One night during her stay she insisted that Graham and I go out to dinner alone and enjoy ourselves. We headed to downtown Carmel with no particular destination in mind, eventually finding ourselves at a cozy Italian restaurant. We had every intention of staying out for a few hours enjoying the peace, quiet, and adult conversation; but, as parents of a toddler and a baby, we were completely out of dating and relaxing practice. We ordered wine, we ordered appetizers, we ordered entrees, and we even selected a dessert to share. What was so remarkable about this night and why I remember it so well is because even with our ‘free hall pass’ our recent parenting experience had conditioned us to gulp our wine, inhale our food and talk asfastaswecan – we were back home in 45 minutes!

Fast forward to today when my girlfriend Kim suggested we go to the Tree House Café on San Carlos for lunch. As we were walking up to the restaurant, now new owners and a different menu, I instantly remembered when Graham and I had been here all those years ago. What I liked the first time I was here and what I liked coming back, is the way this property is nestled among the trees…yeah, yeah, kind of the duh factor with the restaurant now being called The Tree House Café.

The Tree House Café has this wonderful area for casual outside dining. The inside dining area is lovely too; however, even though it was a little bit breezy and there was a slight nip in the air, we opted to sit outside on the deck patio at a great corner table right next to a heat lamp. The staff was very friendly and welcoming (it does help that Kim has been here a few times and they recognize her!) With quite an extensive menu including Middle Eastern, Greek, Thai, Russian, Italian, Spanish, and American options, we decided to share a hummus appetizer and the eggplant moussaka.

I did learn that at one time or another, both of the owners had lived on San Carlos Street, and when they saw that this particular space became available, they decided to partner and create the Tree House Café. One of the owners has another restaurant (at least one, possibly more) in town and I think they previously had a Thai restaurant in Pacific Grove – so they know what they’re doing.

The food, the ambiance and the company all blended perfectly for a fun and enjoyable belated birthday lunch (and thank you Kim for treating!).

Carmel Office Supply & Business Center

As a Capricorn, I love organization. I don’t always achieve the everything-perfectly-in-its-place bliss that I want, but I do try to strive towards keeping things neat, tidy, and orderly. For the past 12-18 months we’ve been purging like crazy at home and trying to reduce the amount of paper we keep and the files we have in the cabinet. This strategy is working for us at home, but at work I have signed copies of agreements, pay stubs, invoices, and other documents that need to be organized and filed. Electronic is great but some things need the good old fashion put it in a drawer and keep it (hmm, for how long???) strategy.

Unfortunately we don’t have a supply closet at the office and I needed file folders to start organizing the piles that have been accumulating on my desk. I’ve put off this task for a while thinking I was going to head over the hill to Staples or Office Depot; however, I had the time and I wanted to get my desk cleaned up today. On a whim, I Googled ‘office supply stores in Carmel’ and found a store less than 2 blocks from my office!

The Carmel Office Supply & Business Center is located in the ‘Court of the Fountains’ NW of Mission Street and 7^th Avenue. Years ago when Tammy owned Mantra, this space was part of her hair and product salon. Now the space has been divided, Mantra is smaller and owned by someone else, and the ‘new’ area is home to a shipping, mailboxes, notary, gifts, cards, and everyday office supply store. I met the owners, Al and Natalie, and felt good that I made the decision to shop local and support their business. The place is comfortably packed with lots and lots of stuff and when I asked Natalie about file folders she knew right where they were and showed me my options. This is Carmel so I was expecting to pay double what I would at Office Depot; yet, I found the prices very reasonable: $3.11 for 12 manila file folders. They also had a big box of 150 file folders in stock; however, I want to try to keep the amount of files to a minimum if possible. The great news is it’s just a few blocks away if I need to go back and get more.

Surf n Sand

I don’t play the lottery very much and I actually try to time getting tickets on days when I feel lucky. And when I do get a ticket, I’m convinced it is the winning ticket. I have it all planned out how I’m going to ‘work’ my winnings: investments, college for the boys, remodeling, etc. I don’t anticipate any drastic life-style changes; however, life will be more interesting with a nice nest egg in the bank.

The few times I’ve purchased lottery tickets I got them from Safeway at the mouth of the valley. And…well…um…I haven’t won anything so I’m thinking it’s a sign that I need to change my strategy and try someplace different, thus today’s stop: Surf n Sand.

There is something about this place that I absolutely love. It starts out with the business name and the sign. I’m a beach girl at heart so the words ‘surf’ and ‘sand’ instantly trigger happy memories. Combine that with the words ‘general store’ and it creates feelings of small town nostalgia. As far as a general store, Surf n Sand carries a hodgepodge of snack items, sundries, gift wrap, and other odds and ends. In addition, Surf n Sand is a liquor store that has really evolved in to premier wine, liquor and beer shop with one side of the store dedicated to wine tastings - complete with a bar and a small seating area. I love that this store has been around since 1950 and they are still serving locals and tourists today.

I think the lottery gives a kick-back to the business that sells the winning lottery ticket, I wonder how they will plan to use the money!

Surf n Sand is located at 6^th & Junipero.

Chase

One of the things I have found most surprising about working in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea is how much of a city atmosphere this 1-mile village exudes. My office is located on the corner of Mission and Ocean, upstairs, in the old dairy building. With the weather so warm lately, I’ve had my window open from the moment I arrive in the morning until I head out in the afternoon. I really get the triple sensory experience from my window: I can hear the city sounds, I can smell amazing aromas from the nearby restaurants (especially on the days they roast garlic!), and I have a panoramic view which includes Devendorf Park, the Ocean Avenue promenade, Tiffany’s and the plaza shops, and when I walk to the other windows I can see the shops on the south side of Ocean Ave.

Walking around I have come to appreciate that although small, this city basically offers what any other major city offers. On my walks (and from my window!) I see workers transporting paintings and works of art from one location to another, I see this cute Italian guy delivering fresh baked bread, I hear the bus sound system spewing the different stops it is going to make, I hear trucks shifting gears and idling in front of stores, I see housekeepers from the hotels changing shifts, I hear the tourists trying to decide where to go, I hear dogs barking and kids squealing, I see taxi’s picking up and dropping off people, I see people parking illegally and then I see the ‘meter maid’ writing tickets, I see people walking around with groceries and dry cleaning, I see people with boutique bags hanging from their arms and shoulders, I see people on bikes and babies in strollers, I see people dressed up, people wearing work out clothes, and people that are clearly heading to the beach, I see business owners sweeping the leaves in front of their stores, I see landscape workers trimming trees and watering plants, I see maintenance workers emptying trash cans, and I occasionally (but very very rarely) see a homeless person. 

Even though today’s visit doesn’t rank high on the interesting scale, it’s still part of the fabric of this city so I wanted to include it: Chase Bank. Chase Bank is located on San Carlos and 6^th Street. As one of the team members for Operation Padre (a fundraising effort for Carmel High School’s new multi-sport athletic complex) I deposit the donations in the athletic boosters account at the bank. The atmosphere inside the bank is quite nice, it’s a large open space with lots of windows, a couple of comfortable looking chairs in front of a fire that is always burning, cubical offices for interacting with customers, and pleasant tellers that keep mini dog biscuits at their stations for all people that bring their four-legged friends with them to the bank.

There are only a couple of banks in Carmel-by-the-Sea and I almost always see someone I know in Chase…hmm, actually now that I think about it, most of the people I see in the bank are people I have met on my walkabout! I’m not really sure what the rules are for taking pictures inside the bank so I just took a couple of shots from the outside.