Ciao ragazzi! Guess where I am right now, like RIGHT now? High up in the sky headed towards Salone del Mobile in Milan. Woohoo! There will be so much to see. Big brands putting their best foot forward in gorgeous locations, everyone who’s anyone in the world of design together in one city, emerging talent and best design schools visiting from all over the world… The electric atmosphere in the whole entire city. Achy feet, late nights, sore head from too much prosecco… Espresso, gelato, mozzarella di bufala, cotoletta alla milanese… Waaah!

…And so I leave you with these stunning images of the mesmerising light tunnel in Japan called ‘Winter Illuminations’. This event takes place each year at Nabana no Sato, a botanical garden on the island of Nagashima in Kuwana. This light show uses millions of sparkling LEDs, and it runs from early November through to end of March. Isn’t it just incredible? I thought it was the most fitting way to mark this silly season, and wish you a sparkling New Year and Extremely Happy Holidays…

Dearest, dearest readers! Guess what? Yellowtrace is going to be 3 years old tomorrow! Can you seriously believe it? I am honestly struggling with the concept… Today I would like to ask you for a little bit of your time in hope that you will help us improve the site for next year by completing our 2012 reader survey. As a reward for your efforts, you will be given the chance to win some incredible prizes. Since tomorrow is our 3rd birthday I thought it would be fitting to throw a little Yellow Party to celebrate this milestone! In honour of our signature colour, yellowtrace has partnered with 9 of our valued sponsors who are generously offering you the chance to win 13 fantastic prizes valued over $3,000 AUD! Totes amaze, no? Why don’t you move a little bit closer so I can tell you a bit more about the prizes…

Well, we finally did it! Post Gallery is live and ready for some action baby! Woot! We introduced it as an added feature for easier visual navigation through all the blog posts. It is also there to feed you an unhealthy dose of high-octane design inspiration. You can browse through the latest articles by looking at images without having to read the text, or focus your search around specific categories or months etc…

Dearest yellowtrace friends,

And so we meet again… I hope you’ve enjoyed all the posts during the last 5 weeks and that you haven’t missed me too much. Do tell! I thought it was only fair to give you a little update on what I’ve been up to, especially since many of you have been asking about our little ray of sunshine. So here goes…

Our baby boy arrived at 00:22am on 16th of April 2012. And just like that – everything changed. The world got bigger, hearts grew fuller and life meant more because he was in it. This is something I’ve often heard but never really understood… until now. His name is Luka (he lives on the second floor – and no, he wasn’t named after that song)…