I was hoping to get some advice on good day trips from Quito for tomorrow. I've been in Quito several times before so I've seen some "basics" (Mitad del Mundo, Otavalo, Papallacta). A work-thing just got cancelled and I would like to just take a bus somewhere tomorrow... maybe a nice little town with a market?

Maybe you could try Machachi. It's about an hour and a half from Quito on the road to Latacunga. On your way to or from you could stop at Cafe de la Vaca. They have some really yummy food.

Maachachi has a large fruit and vegetable market in one area and another not so impressive maarket for second hand clothes etc quite a walk away. It does have a park with a huge cob of corn monument in it. I laughed when I saw it because here in Australia we have the giant banana, prawn, sheep etc and it's all quite tacky and I thought Ecuador especially Machachi wouldn't be into that kind of thing so it was quite funny. However the bus ride around the town was interesting - we were off to a friends mini farm so that's how I saw all these things .There weren't many tourists in Machachi and yo might prefer to go somewhere like Guayallabamba (for the zoo and yummy Helado de Rosalia) or Cayambe (nice cheeses etc and market) for the day.
