Smiggle me this...

I bumped into the Smiggle store while wandering around Sydney on our last day Down Under. It looked like Ikea met up with the office supply store. They fell in love, got married, had some offspring and named him Smiggle. In other, perhaps simpler words, it's Euro-design inspired office supplies. I wanted two of everything. I especially love my new stapler that (I think) resembles a whale. The eraser on this pink pencil could be a friend/neighbor/acquaintance ...or a lion.

tiny finds

This little pouch is made by Jessica Mckenzie of Pretty In Pink , (actually we found her at Paddington Market in Sydney). Darling fabric, super affordable goods- my girls picked these coin purses to bring home for Christmas gifts for their friends. After getting my eyes on the rad selection of fabrics she used, I spent some precious vacation hours fretting, and frustratedly searching (eventually giving up) for an awesome fabric store in Sydney where I would find some of the fabrics used in Pretty in Pink goods. But to no avail, perhaps the internet will cooperate when I'm ready to search again.

I have this thing for tiny goods... throw in felt and bright colors and I'm head over heels in love. So naturally, I couldn't just walk on by when I came across these ornaments from Shumba - I just had to bring a few home. More crafts from around the world can be found at Community Projects World Wide and Go Fair Trading. Not just for the Christmas tree, these 'lil cuties will be up in my house all year.

you can't spend every day at the beach...

...actually you can but, since our timing was perfect, (the market only takes place on Wednesday and Saturday)- we spent a day at Eumundi Market, (just inland from Noosa Heads in Queensland, Australia). Right up my alley, the day was a super treat for a craft lovin' gal like me, (sorry kids). Eumundi Market has been taking place for over 30 years, rain or shine, twice a week. The market now has about 500 vendors, and crazy huge crowd of shoppers.

Lots of worldwide crafts representing, but then Australia is very much a cultural melting pot. It was good to see so many clever, fair trade, sustainable goods.

There were rows and rows of delectable goodies, ohh I miss the Aussie mangos- my mouth is watering just looking at this picture.

Super cute booth, handmade lampshades in lovely fabrics- Seven Dandelions.

In an effort to get my life and blog back to running smoothly, after a long holiday. I'm going to commit to post all week about the sweet goods I picked up at Eumundi, stay posted ya'll.

To see more photos of the day-look here.

editing pictures

I just came across this picture I took on Lady Musgrave Island, southern end of the Great Barrier Reef about two weeks ago. Kind of painful to look at now that I'm back in winter. I think I'll print it and keep it under my pillow... I've been editing and uploading pictures to Flickr all day, trying to get organized and make a book of our trip to Australia. We have 4000+ pictures to sift through, I've got my work cut out for me.

unfortunate timing

How could my timing be so bad? We were almost Down Under for the Tour- but not quite.... I'm going to have to follow along at the Tour Down Under website or Versus. Lucky for me, I picked up the handy guide to the tour (you see here here) during our trip, with maps and info about every stage so I can follow along closely (you know, in all my free time...) and, Steve O gave me Lance's Up Close and Personal book yesterday for my birthday. This gal should be good to go.

The good news, you can tune in for coverage on Versus. Although, and let me be frank- there is really nothing like the feeling you get standing inches away from the peleton as it wooshes by, and seeing Lance Armstrong in person and on a bike is super rad.

back to reality

I'm back from a very wonderful family holiday- trying to get back in touch with reality. We spent many days in beautiful places, like Byron Bay, smack dab in the middle of Australian summertime.
I'm not going to lie to you- traveling with kids is hard work, as the Mum/travel coordinator/cook/laundress there is constantly someone or something that needs attending to. But there is nothing like the indescribable feeling of joy you get watching your kids pet kangaroos, surf non-stop (until dragged out of the water), snorkel with a sea turtle or just play happily with each other and whatever they have around them.
Now, it's back to real life, a hard pill to swallow. I'm not loving winter so far, and the smoggy mucky inversion we've got here in Utah. So, here's hoping for a storm to blow out the bad air and drop some fresh powder. Let's see if I can remember where all our ski gear is and how to use it.
I've got to go find that bottle of lotion, my new BFF, I feel like a fish out of water, or an alligator (with a great tan)...