One of the best things about summer is the sudden rainshower.  It reminds me of childhood when we’d run through the puddles in our bare feet, splashing, twirling our umbrellas over our heads, the warm rain beading up on our raincoats…. Sometimes for us adults it gets a little harder to appreciate a storm (when we’re trying to have a decent barbeque for once and now the hot dog buns are soggy and the grill is leaking and someone knocked over the jello salad on the sprint into the garage…..) But when the storm happens on a day you’ve left the noise and cement of the city behind and gone into the world where nature is free to be as it was meant to be, the storm can really be beautiful. The rolling thunder and the enormous dark clouds put on an amazing show. Afterwards, there’s the beautiful stillness that immediately follows.  All the leaves and flowers have been washed clean and are glistening in the diffused low light left by the remaining clouds. There is only the sound of an occasional raindrop and a soft clean fresh smell of flowers. That’s when this picture below (left) was taken.  It’s hard to believe that this color occurs naturally and isn’t artificial.  From Color At Home “Green means life.  From a field of spring grass to the leaves of the mightiest oak, green is the most vital color in nature. As shady, quiet parks of a city offer escape, the perfect green room can offer sanctuary, a retreat. Simultaneously soothing and invigorating, green can do no less than restore your spirit. It may have more varied hues, values and characters than any other color, some of which are the most comfortable, usable and timeless tones in home design.” So if you’re considering a color for a room in your home, consider green.  It might be nice to have a room where you can kick off your shoes in the cool rain.  - Jennifer

If you were using Sunday's NY Times to cover your head from the rain this weekend, you might have noticed a pretty picture on one of the pages.  It seems that the 'Kate Moss' of our umbrella collection was featured in a pretty little photo shoot. Our Geo Zig - Zag behaved well and didn't trash her hotel room. Check out all the other umbrellas and rainwear that fit every mood and maybe you can go back to just reading the Times instead of holding it over your head and running between the raindrops. Thanks NY Times!  We heart New York!

It may be raining  - we can't avoid that - but a brightly colored umbrella could be the bright spot in your day and add spring to your step!  You know how the saying goes "April Showers..." you've got a whole month of this so skip those dull raincoats and soggy hats and check out some color!  If you were at home tucked under a blanket drinking tea and watching the Today Show then you saw the segment on rain wear that featured Echo's reversible cheetah lined cape!  Maybe you were flipping through the new issue of Real Simple and came across our rain hat! Or maybe you checked your email and you received a little note from us with a gift of 15% off on any rain wear shopping you need to do!  Either way, we've got you covered!  Here's to those May flowers!

Check out Echo's ruched rain coat in the April issue of Lucky Magazine!  Thanks Lucky!