Sunday 6 June 2010

essenwood essentials


Yesterday we were supposed to visit the I Heart Market, but since it had temporarily moved we decided to go to Essenwood Market instead, which was my first time there. It was a nice market, and it carried a lot of the same things that my three fave stores in the city (NSA Gallery, African Arts Centre, and Euphoria), alongside with lots of other different this and that's. I really didn't intend to buy anything, since my packing is nearly done and I don't have a lot of leftover space for more stuff, but of course I couldn't walk away from this adorable tiny Audrey Hepburn jewellery box. 30 rand it cost me, and I did get the smallest size, which should fit a small corner in my suitcase.



At first I walked away from the table that sold Hruki t-shirts, cos all of them have such good designs and I just couldn't decide which one I liked the most. But after we had a late breakfast at La Bella just next to the market, I went back and got this one, cos that was the one my mind went back to while I sipped my cappuccino. I also got another piece as a gift for someone, and I think, and hope, it will be much appreciated. The thing is, I'm not really a t-shirt person, but every now and then I'll make an exception, especially when I find a design as good as this one.



I love trees, in general, and the colours of the these particular trees are just great, and the small details, of which you can only see parts of here, just brings it all together. Check out the website for all the other great designs.

There were two highlights during the visit, but it didn't seem polite to take pictures, so I didn't. One was this quite eccentric older woman sitting by her table smoking, looking completely bored and pretty grumpy too, and guess what she was selling? Handmade Barbie clothes. The other thing that made us laugh our way all the way from the market to the car, was a sign that said "I'll draw your favorite pet for R50". Nothing funny about that really, except that the sign also had an example picture of a cat, and it looked so ridiculously funny! Not like a caricature, just a very bad drawing. I know, I know, it's very mean to laugh at someone's misfortunate un-talent, I usually don't, but this time there was just no stopping it. In fact, I'm chuckling even now, just thinking about it. You'd laugh too if you saw it, I promise.



So after admitting to being a rather mean person, I'll balance it with ending on a good note about support. I bought this cute bracelet at Nando's a few weeks back, and today I bought three more to give away. They cost 25 rand, and 1 dollar of that goes to the fight to end malaria in Africa, another part of the profit goes to the unemployed women who are making them, many of them HIV/AIDS survivors, and finally: it's a very pretty bracelet. So go to a Nando's, or get one from here, and do a good deed while getting yourself something nice. Nothing wrong with that combination.

As for Essenwood Market, I definitely think I'll go back next time I'm here, if for nothing else maybe by then I'll have decided on another Hruki t-shirt, and to get a bigger Audrey Hepburn box that I'll keep here, and not having to worry about packing it down.

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