Aroma Wellness Mysteries World

About Emma

Emma Brennan is an upbeat person who sees possibility in a challenge.  When she set her sights on creating a wellness spa, she planned everything down to the last detail: the colors of the wall; the items to stock in the gift shop; the menu to offer at the café. Emma loves to read but don’t wrangle her into a book club to read romance. Sure, she’s read the classics. To please her mother, she’s read all of Jane Austen’s books, after all, she’s named Emma.  Her parents are divorced. She is close to her do-gooder father, even though he travels the world and is rarely in Carmel. They keep in touch via texts and postcards. She loves her mother, but Kate Brennan—never Mother or Mom . . . only Kate—is not happy that Emma is launching her own business. This creates quite a conflict between the two. Kate wishes Emma would be a literature professor. Emma would rather be stung by a swarm of bees. While studying in Tibet, Emma learned not to take a fight head on.  Instead, she will counter an attack with a benign response. It does her soul good not to fight. It is probably the reason she has not completely alienated Kate.

About Emma’s business

In the Courtyard of Peace in Carmel-by-the-Sea, you will find Aroma Wellness Spa, Aroma Wellness Café, and the spa’s gift shop.  The three concerns surround a beautiful patio fitted with wrought iron furniture, plants, and a burbling fountain.  At the spa, a customer can get a facial, mani-pedi, or massage. A customer can also take a sound bath, which for the uninitiated, is a meditative, super-relaxing experience where attendees are awash in sound waves. Emma has plans to offer even more services as she continues to hire qualified staff. At the gift shop, one can purchase essential oils, candles, gemstones, crystals, bonsai trees, stress-reducing Baoding balls, and more. At the café, one can enjoy a healthy smoothie or muffins or dishes made with spices that are beneficial to one’s body. 

About Sierra, Emma’s cousin

Sierra, Emma’s cousin and her best bud over the years—they are as close as sisters—studied to become a chef, but she has been languishing as a sous-chef at a local vegan restaurant for a few years.  When Emma invites her to become her business partner, she leaps at the chance. Now she is in charge of the café. She’s not simply a health nut who wants to serve acai smoothies. She has excellent gastronomic skills which she will show off with a variety of dishes. Word of warning: though petite and vivacious, Sierra can be a tad bossy with Emma. Emma rolls with it. She adores her cousin.

About Carmel-by-the-Sea

Carmel-by-the-Sea, a town on the coast of California with a moderate climate, gorgeous rolling hills, lush valleys, and exquisite ocean coastline, is the perfect location for a wellness spa. It is an intensely spiritual place that radiates good vibes.  After the devastating 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, Carmel became a haven for artists, actors, and authors who wanted a colony where they could thrive as creative people. The town is pet-friendly. It also has some crazy citywide rules, like you can’t wear high heels without a permit, an odd law authored way back in October 1963 by the city attorney to defend the town from lawsuits resulting from the irregular pavement distorted by tree roots. Until recently, Carmel didn’t have any mailboxes or street addresses—everyone went to the post office to collect mail—but the Town Council has changed the concept and instigated that homes must have numbers on houses. It’s simply too hard to deliver packages without them.

In Emma’s own words

I am an eager reader, a meditation enthusiast, and someone who needs to roll the fitness dice in order to make myself exercise. Sure, I’ll take a long walk on the beach. Who wouldn’t? But run to perspire? I think not.  I love food. I have a penchant for caffeine, but please don’t tell my cousin that. As for how I live my life, I like to be positive as much as possible. In fact, I happen to be a positive-sayings nerd.  I post them everywhere.  One that has become my mantra is Believe you can.  Without perseverance, I never would have achieved anything.  But when I visualize a goal and I know it’s the right path to follow, I will attack it with vigor until I achieve that goal. Maybe I can inspire you to do the same.

Mantra:  Believe you can!