treasures.

When we saw Eliza at the airport, she was really quiet at first, and then started giving us the sweetest hugs. Ten days is a long time. Her voice seemed so much higher than I remembered, and almost a little distant. It even took me a minute to register that this was my little girl in my arms- we missed her so much!

Apparently, she did really well while we were gone. My mother-in-law is so good with her, and Eliza hardly ever got upset. (So says Nancy, which might just be a really nice way of making me feel better about abandoning my child!) ) She had a lot of fun while were gone, going to the park and the beach, and exploring the city with Nancy.

These are a few of the souvenirs we managed to shove into our tiny suitcase. Not all of them, because I couldn't grab Sam's new jeans and shoes before he wore them to work this day. And, because I don't want to give away too any birthday gifts for the next few months.

Eliza was excited out of her mind about her presents. We got her a little ballerina mouse that lives in an over-sized matchbox, a French board book with moving parts, plenty of Swedish fish, and... the tiny red clogs! I saw these in a window in Gamla Stan Stockholm and knew I just had to get them for Eliza. I even got myself a pair of red clogs to semi-match. Eliza could hardly handle her emotions. Matching shoes, plus they were red, plus they were tiny! And, they had buckles! She clonked around the house in these all day. Until she started getting frustrated that they didn't fit. (They won't actually fit her until she's like six years old!) So, unfortunately, the red clogs have been packed away because Eliza always has a meltdown when she sees them.

We also packed plenty of caramels from Pärlans, and Kardemummasocker from Rosendals Trädgard to appease my longing for all of the sweet things we ate.

The silver pieces were all dug out from the piles of antique silver at the Paris Flea Market, along with the golden stork embroidery scissors. Also, the Jeux Nouveaux box! I am such a sucker for boxes- for treasures and secrets and nice things that belong in boxes. So, when I saw this hand-painted box at the flea, I circled the place for a couple of hours before I convinced myself I needed to have it. It was hardly even smaller than my suitcase, and by some miracle, we were able to get it home with us. 

The soaps were from La Maison du Savon de Marseille in Amboise, and their scent was a pleasant greeting when I opened my suitcase at home. The fashion sketch was from my mom for Mother's Day- I bought it from a man with a little booth on the Seine River in Paris. And, those Egoïste magazine are just a fraction of the design publications that Sam brought home. 

One of my favorite parts about traveling is coming home and carefully unwrapping each and every treasure that we've purchased. I was proud of us because we didn't over do it. We each selected a few things that had some meaning to us. 

It's been so much fun sifting through these photos and finally writing a few words about this trip. For awhile it felt like it didn't actually happen! What a beautiful adventure...