Hong Kong, Here We Come!

We are gearing up for our annual trip to Hong Kong for the 4th annual Evolution Asia Yoga Conference. In addition to Evolution, this year we will also be a part of Sassy Hong Kong's Souk in the City.

This year's Evolution conference will be from May 14 through May 17. This year's theme is "Rise to a new decade of green." We'll be there to support green living with our bamboo collection, organics, and signature items. If have time for a break we look forward to taking classes with Dhamra Mittra, Govinda Kai, Sean Corne, and many many more notable yoga teachers.

When the conference is over, Sassy Hong Kong will be hosting their Souk in the City event on May 19. "Souk" is a type of middle eastern marketplace, and this "Sassy" event is the ultimate girls' shopping night out. We wouldn't miss it for the world.

If you just happen to be in Hong Kong, please do come by to one or both of these great events and say hi!

Satya Jewelry Trunkshow

May 7th-9th, 2010

Mother's Day gifts for the hip mOM!

Debuting in our boutique for the first time, beautiful and inspirational adornments by Satya Jewelry. Enjoy 15% OFF your Satya purchases at this special event!

Trunkshow opens Friday night, 4pm-7pm. Enjoy cocktails & adornments while you take first pick at these special offerings. Sale continues Saturday-Sunday, 10am-5pm.

Bring your mom, your friends or the doting daddy!

Lily Lotus Boutique

1127 12th Avenue

Honolulu, Hawaii

96816

www.lilylotus.com

*For more information on the event, please contact us at 808.735.3400

Earth Day Everyday at Lily Lotus

This April 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. The first Earth Day in 1970 was imbued by a passionate desire to save our dying planet. Forty years later, we are still here and evermore realize the importance of eco-living, not just to save our planet, but also to sustain a healthy, happy way of life.

1970 Earth Day Poster

To show our support of the planet we've put a commitment box up in the store, sponsored by the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and Kanu Hawaii. We all ask you to make a few commitments to the planet this year, be it reusing water bottles, recycling, or walking and taking the bus in lieu of driving. For filling out a commitment card we will give you 10% off your entire purchase until April 22 (one per customer please).

Ways to support Hawaii's eco-Logical lifestyle

Ride The Bus, walk, or ride a bike instead of driving.

Buy local produce from farmer's markets whenever you can.

Use eco-friendly reusable water bottles instead of buying disposable water bottles.

Sigg 1 Liter bottle "Make Love Not Landfill"

Use reusable shopping bags at the grocery store.

Envirosax "Animal Planet" Collection

If you miss us at the boutique we hope to see you at the Kokua Festival. In order to help you make your commitments, we'll be selling eco-friendly products at the event as well as some of our signature Lily Lotus items.

Please read this information about some of the companies we collaborate with or help sponsor:

Kokua Hawaii Foundation

Kokua is a non-profit organization that supports environmental education in schools and communities in Hawaii. Please join us for this year's Kokua Festival, sponsored by Jack Johnson and the Kokua Foundation.

Kanu Hawaii

Kanu Hawaii is a non-profit organization that strives to support Hawaii's local economy, environment and community through social networking and participation in community events.

The Y-Catalog

A catalog dedicated to contributing to global relief campaigns and non-profit organizations. $1.08 of each Lily Lotus item purchased from the Y-Catalog will go towards Kokua Hawaii Foundation.

Anniversary Weekend Sale Event

Wow, time flies when your having fun! Our second year anniversary is already right around the corner. Lily Lotus started out as a small Hawaii yoga-inspired business. It's been a fun and worthwhile journey thus far, from our meager beginnings toting our wears in the trunk of a car from yoga studio to yoga studio to the second year anniversary of our flagship boutique.

Help us celebrate Friday April 9th to Sunday April 11th by enjoying up to 30% off Lily Lotus Brand clothing, and up to 50% off our sale rack items. If you come to the boutique wearing Lily Lotus you'll get a free gift with purchase. We hope to see you there!

Experience our revamped website AND receive a FREE GIFT!

Lily Lotus is proud to announce the launch of our revamped website and user friendly webstore.

We've updated our webstore to make shopping as close to being in the boutique as possible. To do so we've added a zoom feature and expanded our online color options.

There's also tons of new jewelry on the site from local designers Maya Papaya, Justine and Maui Mari, as well as internationally acclaimed designers like Sonja Picard and Double Happiness. Also available are a plethora of gift items, stationery, and candles.

In appreciation for your continued support we're giving the first 10 webstore purchases a free Lily Lotus travel candle tin in our most popular scent, Asian Lychee Blossom.

Mahalo everyone for making our journey so much fun! Happy shopping!

Thanks for the Press!

Wow, we are totally awed and completely flattered to be featured in so many great magazines this month.

First we'd like to give a warm mahalo to the Honolulu Magazine for featuring Lily Lotus for 'Best Yoga Clothes' in their 2010 "Best of Honolulu" edition. (readers please note a small correction to our address listed in Honolulu Magazine. We are on 12th Avenue, not 11th).


Second, we're so pleased to see Lily Lotus has popped up in the international yoga scene as well. Japan's Yogini Magazine is featuring some of our most popular designs, including the chakra roll pant.

photo courtesy of tokyo-yogawear.jp

photo courtesy of tokyo-yogawear.jp

Last, but most certainly not least, thanks to Yoga + Joyful Living Magazine for using a Lily Lotus Kaftan in one of your featured articles.

Thanks Yoga Paws!

We're so honored that we're featured on Yoga Paws latest how-to promo video.

Check out our Live Happy organic shirt from a few seasons ago!

And, in case you were wondering, we're expecting a replenishment of our Paws supply this month. They're great for the gym, travel and for the beginning yoga practitioner who isn't sure about investing in a mat.

Thanks, Yoga Paws :).

February Jewelry Sale & New Arrivals

Valentines Day is right around the corner and love is in the air, so we've discounted all of our jewelry to 20% off until February 14th. This is just in time to introduce our newest line, Viv & Ingrid. All of other brands will be on sale too: Maya Papaya, Double Happiness, Jewelry by Justine, Katrina Cordova, Maui Mari, Vanilla Moon, and more.

Also new in the boutique is Hardtail Forever. We brought in some slit back capris, tie dye camis, and gorgeous new white gauze palazzos. They are a must see!

I Love Yoga patchwork beater tanks and caps are also in stock. Each piece is one of a kind with different patches.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we've got Waste Not eco-papers with cute designs like Indian elephants and lotuses and Tea Forte Heart Boxes.

San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference

Ah, we made it safely back to Hawaiian shores from the San Francisco Yoga Journal Conference. It was the busiest Yoga Journal Conference we've retailed at, which is surprising considering the current economy. It was also one of the best conferences we've been to. People seemed to be sincere and full of gratitude. We saw old friends and new faces. Some other cool news is that one of our Kaftans from last Winter is in the latest issue of Yoga + Joyful Living

Our booth before set-up with two suitcases FULL of Lily Lotus!

After set-up (whew!)

This happy customer has been holding on to this wrap from two years ago! It's so awesome to see people wearing Lily Lotus at the conference.

Another satisfied customer rocking a Buddha long sleeve from last Christmas

Wearing items from our newest collection

That's our Kaftan in Yoga + Joyful Living!

Thanks everyone who came by to say "namaste." See you in Estes Park!

Jai Ganesha!

Philosopher's Guild Ganesh finger puppet

I find myself drawn to elephants of all kinds--cartoon elephants, cute elephants, Ganesh, Babar--I could go on forever. Elephants have long been known as the memory-keepers of the wild. In fact, the saying, "memory like an elephant" has a lot of truth to it. Elephants have excellent long term memories that aid survival. This could be because their brains are bigger than any other land animal. In fact, elephants are known to make music and art. They also have human emotional characteristics like grieving and compassion.

Ganesh burnout tee (available in the boutique or on the webstore)

Yet my love affair with elephants has its roots in Indian culture, home of Ganesh. There are little Ganeshas lurking all over Lily Lotus, and the gentle beast symbolizes a lot more than I had initially thought. Ganesh, the patron saint of yoga studios is well-known as the destroyer of obstacles.

NEW "waste not" stationery (coming soon!)

But what about his accouterment? Ganesh carries a few things in those four arms of his. He is typically shown holding sweets in one hand that symbolize the sweetness of enlightenment. Needless to say, Ganesh has a sweet tooth! In another hand he carries a noose that isn't for strangling, but for pulling his admirers closer to him, no matter how far away they may be. Sometimes he is shown with a conch shell. It's sound reminds him of his fellow elephants and makes him smile. His large belly symbolizes prosperity and abundance and his large ears hear the cries of the needy all over the universe.

With all this goodness, how could anyone not love an elephant?

Inspired Living

Every season we're creating new tanks, tees, and bottoms with symbols we find inspirational in our daily lives. As a result, we get a lot of customers who aren't really sure about what it all means. To help out our customers and the random blog-reader, we're giving short, succinct definitions of some of the beautiful designs in our boutique.

First, why lotuses? And why "Lily Lotus"? It's pretty simple really -- we love lotuses! Although Lily Lotus as a brand was inspired by the Yin and Yang of life. Lilies are inherently feminine, and lotuses bridge the gap between the feminine and the masculine. We hope this imparts a feeling of strength and beauty in everything we do.

While you certainly don't need a shirt to embody the meanings behind these symbols, we like to wear them as simple reminders of what's important in life.

Below is a list of a couple of our best selling designs. Look forward to weekly updates on what it all means.

OM blossom long sleeve burnout tee

OM

Om is one of our most widely used designs, used on tanks, tees, and bottoms. In short, om represents the divine and by chanting om you chant the sound of the Universe.

our logo!

Lotuses

Lotuses, aside from our own personal interpretation, signify purity and divinity. They also symbolize the soul's progress from materialism to enlightenment, since lotuses are born in the muck, eventually becoming beautiful flowers.

Hamsa burnout tank

Hamsa

The Hamsa has been called the Hand of God. It protects anyone who wears it. It is said to bestow health, happiness and good fortune to the wearer.

Purposefully Beautiful

A good practice during the New Year's holiday is to reflect on the past and make good intentions for the future, so that we may let go of what is outdated and make room for whatever good awaits us. Everyone has a different ritual to ring in the New Year. Some of us toast with friends and relatives, while others clean house. Yet almost everyone makes affirmations of health and wellness at the beginning of every year. We at Lily Lotus support all healing modalities and are always looking for ways to bring that awareness into the walls of our boutique. In addition to practicing yoga, meditation, and sustainability, we're fortunate enough to be blessed with an abundance of local jewelry designers, each of whom uses a variety of healing gemstones. This month, Jewelry by Justine is offering 2 black Tahitian pearl necklaces--one with labradorite and the other with smoky quartz. Refer to our gem guide below to see how wearing these pieces will help you be purposefully beautiful. We have many types of gems and jewels available at the store. Come by, and we will be happy to help you pick a piece that will help bring you beautifully and purposefully into the new year!

Pearl: Pearl helps the wearer achieve advancing states of wisdom while helping to receive spiritual guidance. Pearls are known as symbols of purity and innocence. Pearls are maternal in nature and therefore aid in childbearing and fertility.

Labradorite: Labradorite protects the wearers aura, keeping it clear from outside influences. It's also helps us use our intuition in practical ways. It is also said to improve faith and reliance on oneself.

Smoky Quartz: Smoky Quartz is grounding and helps to dissolve negative energy and therefore acts as a protector to the wearer. It allows positive energy to come through the wearer while helping with depression, stress, and nightmares. It can be useful in aiding PMS.