Sam's Sites Entry for the Embassy...

We had a fantastic holiday!

Firstly, I'd like to say it is well worth flying with Virgin Atlantic, even if it is just so you can watch the safety video. Or you could just have a look here: 



They were fantastic in both directions, and the plane wasn't really full which was also a bonus.  Little O got her own seat too, which was great for both her and us. It meant she had her own space and could watch the TV.

For more domestic travel there’s the train Amtrak (Remember to book at least 14 days in advance for the cheaper fares). Or maybe bus it to New York, we recently traveled with DC2NY and found it to be a really great service. It leaves from Dupont Circle, was only $25 each way and was clean and quiet, though I wouldn’t ever recommend traveling by bus to New York over Thanks Giving again. There’s also Vamoose and Bolt Bus amongst many others.

Something you might not have have thought of when researching your travel destination is looking at Flickr, by searching for your destination like New York, you can see the photographs that others have taken and perhaps get a good idea of what you might like to visit when you’re there. If you’re a hobby photographer too you might find some ideas to take some interesting and creative snaps of your own. Here's just one of the images I found by searching for New York, right.

We also discovered recently that you can purchase individually chapters of the Lonely Planet  guides so you could either print them out, or just read on your phone while you’re there. A great idea if you don’t want to be carrying a giant guide book with you wherever you’re going. Lonely Planet also have extra content available online for your travel research.

I think I may have given enough hints on where to find kids gifts so how about cards? Real Simple have some great ideas for ‘10 Joyful holiday cards’ in their ‘Daily Finds’ section.  You could also find Holiday decorating tips and ideas as well as recipes, gift and gift wrapping ideas too.

My favourite Mummy find of late is the Clementine Art Products. They have all natural soy crayons, and soy crayon rocks for little hands as well as modeling dough, paint, glue and markers. If only the rocks were a little larger Olive might not think they’re food. I found these at Whole Foods (Arlington), just $5.50 per packet, more expensive than regular crayons but far more kid friendly!

Little Olive was One recently so we spent a good deal of time looking for cute non-character related party things. I found a wonderful Australian company called Sambellina who have really lovely ‘simple, stylish party ware and stationary’. From there we found some wonderful  Australian websites with some fantastic birthday party ideas. The list includes - www.completepartyboxes.com.au, www.detailsdetails.com.au, www.pinkfrosting.com.au, www.twiggi.com.au, www.poshbox.net, www.thepartystudio.com.au and my favourite www.thepartyparlour.com.au

We also used a fantastic American site called Birthday Express. We had intended to buy some cheap and fun party ware for a little holiday party and found that it was great quality and wasn’t nearly as tacky as we’d hoped - a pleasant surprise really!  Who’d have thought that Pink Parisian Poodles and Eiffel Tower cups wouldn’t be all that tacky?

Daily Candy recently featured this website www.greenvalleychristmastrees.com in their daily newsletter. They actually deliver Christmas trees to your door. You pick the type (white pine, noble or Fraser fir) and size (up to nine feet); Green Valley packs it in a protective, moisture-resistant carton with a predrilled trunk and removal bag. Shipping is free, and prices max out at less than $250.  Good news for Mr H who now won’t have to carry the Christmas tree home from Whole Foods, better news for me because I can ‘accidentally’ order a bigger tree than we have agreed upon!

Babyccino (another daily email/blog) I love, ) had an article about where to find cookie cutters in London so here’s my pick for DC - www.williams-sonoma.com, www.surlatable.com, you can also find some on www.amazon.com - like this Kangaroo cookie cutter I found - a great idea for Australia day!

One last one a great product I’ve found recently is The Flip. It’s a HD video camera roughly the size of a mobile phone and the easiest piece of technology to use.  You can share videos simply and easily with just a few mouse clicks. I bought mine at www.giggle.com but it’s available at www.amazon.com. www.bestbuy.com, www.target.com, www.staples.com and many others.   You can also customise your Flip at www.theflip.com by designing your own, or uploading a photograph it’s completely up to you. I love it and I wouldn’t be without it now! It’s especially great for sharing short video clips of Olive with the Grandparents. The picture (right) links to a USA Today review of the product.

Well, that was a marathon entry!