Peaceful Morning Moments + Giveaway

New Delhi

My Park

My Morning

Before I head out for a busy day at work I stroll to my nearby park. This park is a sprawl of green in the center of Delhi. What a treat at 7am, the sun is up, yet some night coolness still remains. I and many others flood the paths, sit on the benches, do exercises and yoga. The birdsong, a flock of red whiskered bulbuls in particular, was magnificent. Sketch book in hand, I prowl the paths and lawns, enjoying all the familiar and endearing sights.

This morning I passed two yoga groups- the laughing yoga group, composed of all men- belly laughing, and then my favorite group, a group of middle aged women and men, in every sort of posture, at least half in a different rhythm, enjoying the stretch and breathe of early morning yoga in the park. Few rules, few following them, but all smiling serenely and enjoying the start of day.

Do you have a park that you love, a walk that you take,

or a morning ritual that you enjoy?

Tell me about it and you could the one selected to win a 50.00 gift certificate - for a beautiful treat that will be sure to put a smile on your face.

(please include your email address to contact you - or email me at aprilcornell@aprilcornellholdings.com to enter)

April

Feel Beautiful Live Beautiful Be Beautiful

We have a winner! Please join me in congratulating Koren - the winner of a $50.00 Gift Certificate to April Cornell Online.

Handmade Beauty at Gift Show

I am enjoying a wonderful day walking the floor at the New York Gift Show today. Lots of inspiration in the bright colors and handmade work from around the world.

Beautiful handmade Peruvian shawls - lots of embroidery - ohh la la! Lovely Nepalese fair trade products. Many hands make these beautiful things. Knitted toys, and lots of Christmas, buddhas and ganesh.

It's a treat to see so many hand-crafted treasures.

Relaxing is Contagious-Catch It From a Cat!

I often drag into the house after a busy day feeling distracted and a little tense. We've been running at such a fast pace around the office lately. We are about to launch a website exclusively for our Canadian customers, our new wholesale line is due, its almost time for the fall collection to debut, and we are organizing a tent sale. This is in addition to our daily routines with the online business and the retail store. We are a small team and we cover a lot of ground in a day.

My cats Puff and Smoke lead the leisurely life of well-fed house cats. They are always happy to see me. They could care less what went on at the office, and are only too eager to get me to sit down. When I settle down into the leather chair I painted over recently (Seriously, you should see it!), or the well-loved Victorian sofa in the reading room, the cats appear. They find a comfy spot close to me, curl into snug positions of repose, and go about what they do best - relaxing. 

It feels like when I relax, they laze even more. If they could talk I think they'd say this is their favorite time - reposing with me and being in the present moment. It's a pretty wonderful. They are diligent about it too. They'll remind me by meowing and walking through my legs until I join their beckoning to pause. If they were more amenable, I'd bring them to the office! We could all use the reminder to pause, breath in deep, and relax with friends.

What You Give the World

Think of everything you give the world, just by being you...

  Your actions,

    Your activities and decisions,

  Your one-by-one choices all collectively...

     Your personality,

  Your attitudes,

      and your morals.

This is what you give the world, And these are the forces that will change the world...

Keep on giving.

      

Dear friends,
Airport friends - we all have them - people we talk to intimately and animately for a brief period in transit between flights.
We share our travel stories, our personal information and in this limbo land the oridnary rules of formal social interaction do not exist.
Sometimes - the story of sombody that I have sat beside on a plane or in an airport restaurant - or even a woman I might meet in the airport bathroom - will stay with me. The humor of it or the seriousness of it. The glimpse into another life.
Retail is like that too. When I go into our stores I just feel like I attract people's stories.
Last Saturday I was in the store in Vermont and a woman from Georgia was buying a blouse. It was a blouse that we call the artist's blouse - a great style- long and tunic like in white with highlights of glints of metal sequins. Very artiste!
I told her - oh we call that the artist's blouse - immediately she told me that she was an artist - and then she told me about her husband dying recently of heart disease, and how she hadn't painted since he died. And she was travelling with a female friend whose husband had also died - and they both had a rough year and now she would get back to painting again - and she talked about losing oneself in painting. And that her and her friend were so enjoying travelling the back roads together. And that was our 10 minute retail conversation - and I really liked her and she liked me too - and we said bye and I thought -I just love my customers - and I love meeting people in my stores - and in other people's stores too. In that suspended time - when you feel yourself in a place of trust - with people who will understand you. It is very cool.
See you soon,
April