Flowers. Flowers. Flowers.

The earth laughs in flowers. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Flowers are sunshine, food, and medicine to the soul. (Luther Burbank)

Just living is not enough...one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower. (Hans Christian Anderson)

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things around us. (Iris Murdoch)

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. (Emma Goldman)

I must have flowers, always, and always. (Claude Monet)

Yes. Yes. Yes. All of these are true.  I just love flowers.  I love them so much.  They make me SO happy.  And the wonderful thing about India?  There are flowers all around me.  Flowering trees.  Flowers being sold outside the temple.  Flower petals used in rangoli.  Fresh flowers used to decorate for all special events.  Flowers braided into hair.  Flower shops on every other corner.  It is glorious.  In fact, as I write there are branches of jasmine starting to wilt in old wine bottles on my kitchen table.  But OH! the fragrance is still so divine that I am going to hold on to them as long as I can!

I like to surround myself with things that make me happy, so every once in a Monday I bring flowers to the office.  Generally, the shop on the corner by my office has brightly colored gerber daisies.  Pretty, but also pretty run-of-the-mill.  Once, they had gorgeous tiger-lily-esque wildflowers.  Took my breath away, and I bought them out.  But today - OH!

Today I had a big day.  I didn't only want flowers in my office - I NEEDED flowers in my office.  So I stopped at the corner shop and THIS MADE MY STOMACH BURST INTO A MILLION PIECES AND MY HEART EXPLODE:

(GASP) Oh these flowers are so beautiful!  I exclaimed.  Thank you Madam, he replied.  I want them all!  I told him.  I have two Snapple bottles and I need them as full as I can get them!  

He started in on his work, smiling to himself as I continued to exhort the glorious flowers.  Oh! I am so happy! I said.  I'm glad Madam, he replied.  I took out my phone to take a picture.  I may or may not have jumped up and down.  He handed me a HUGE bunch of flowers wrapped in newspaper; I handed him cash.  And headed down the street with a smile on my face even huger than the bouquet.

The best part?  I got to arrange them.  If starting off my day finding these flowers wasn't joy enough, I also got to trim them and arrange them in our humble little vases.  Get my hands dirty, if you will.  OH! It made me so happy.

Not to mention that we get to have these on our desks all week long!!!!!!  Oh so happy!

No Nasties!

I spent today doing a fun little photo shoot for an awesome organic, fair-trade t-shirt company called No Nasties.  IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!  I'm generally the girl behind the camera, so it was fun to be the one being photographed for a change...I was even attacked by a goat!

I confess that the fair-trade and organic movement is something I have been aware of for a while, and it was always a lifestyle that I admired but - like many people - looked forward to living when I was "grown up" and could afford it.   When I first came to India in 2010, however, I worked with academic programs at an NGO and the opportunities I had with them allowed me to experience firsthand the importance of organic and fair trade food and products. I researched farmer suicides on the ground in Kerala and interacted with child labourers in northern Karnataka.  I spent a day on an incredible organic farm with an amazing man who has been fighting against multinational seed companies for the majority of his life.  These experiences made the movement personal; I was led to do more research and to learn even more about why fair trade and organic is the best route for me, the land, the animals, the farmers, and - last but certainly not least - the people involved in production.  While I can't say that I live a completely fair-trade, green, and clean life, I do my best to make informed decisions about the food I buy, the products I use, and the clothes I wear.

Here's my challenge to you: explore organic and fair-trade for yourself!  No Nasties does a great job of telling the story behind the importance of organic and fair trade and how you can help.

And here's my shameless plug: if you're into ethical fashion, check out No Nasties.  If you're not into ethical fashion but you're into t-shirts, check out No Nasties.  You just might find yourself into ethical fashion quite soon :)  Are they asking me to do this? No way, Jose.  I just love companies like No Nasties that are passionate about what they do, passionate about people, passionate about making change...and passionate about cute clothes!