Souvenirs

Souvenirs, mementos, keepsakes, trinkets. Whatever you call them, most of us collect them. When I was a little girl my best friend used to collect spoons from all the places her parents took her. She had a little German wooden spoon collector case. Yup, that exists. Her grandparents would buys spoons on their trips and send them to her as well.

I admired her collection. How each one was the same but completely different. Some were silver, others some alloy. One had a miniature picture of a bear another had Mount Rushmore carved into the handle. You used to be able to find tokens like these in little gift shops or gas stations sometimes.

I admired her collection so much that I decided I was going to collect something too. I started with thimbles – I have no idea why, I don’t even know how to sew. Then my fascination shifted onto rocks and later, cliche t-shirts. But as I grew older these items had no function, took up too much room or became harder and harder to find, so I stopped collecting any of just one particular thing.

Then, one day when I was looking through some old souvenirs, I found a deck of cards I had bought in Paris. It sparked the idea to start collection playing cards instead. They were functional, cheap, and each have different artwork and designs.

So over the last few years, I’ve grabbed a deck of cards at some place or another along the way. I am actually surprised at how relatively easy it is to find them. But my favorite deck by far is my Guinness playing cards from Dublin. There’s a great story behind that trip, and I’m a sucker for the very cute and cheeky old time Guinness ads – which are on every face card.

I’m also quite fond of Alcatraz‘s inmate slang deck which has prison terms on the cards, and the Santorini one just because of the sunsets that cover them - sigh. I obviously don’t always get to pick up these souvenirs when I go somewhere ( cough Palm Springs & Moab cough) but maybe that’s because I sort of forgot about them.

But we recently played a card game, and it reminded me how much I loved hunting these down and the memories they invoked. So this year I promise to bring them back. I might even order some of places I missed (is that allowed?) But I’m heading of to Seattle in a couple weeks, and you can trust me I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

*Also, I’ve been testing out my new lens with these close ups! I still have a lot to learn, but I’m loving these short field of depth shots. Any tips?

DIY Home Decor

diy geometric wreath by vintage revival | diy ladder by a merry mishap | diy marble tray by almost makes perfect |
galaxy face art via a beautiful mess | diy ikea hack stickwood headboard by sugar & cloth | diy copper wall hanging by smitten studio | diy rope coil baskets by the red thread | diy metal base coffee table by almost makes perfect |
diy giant marquee letter sign by vintage revival

Are you the crafty type? I used to be. If I wasn’t painting, drawing, or photographing something, I was usually building something out of scissors, glue and paper. I loved collaging clippings from magazines or newspapers together to make something total different. Those were my original moodboards. I would also try my hand at necklaces, bracelets, trinkets, or photo frames. I even went on a ceramic painting kick, ha! So 70′s.

But as I grew older, the common representation of crafting became too cutesy, had over-the-top graphics, or was completely useless. So I’ve been loving this new cleaner, more functional, trend in crafts and DIY lately. Heck I even made my own clean and modern inspired diy gold geometric mobile once.

And even though the tour of my home made my home look complete, I still feel like it’s a work in progress. So I’ve been gathering some DIY home decor that fits my taste. I’d love to put little plants in these rope coil baskets, make this coffee table with Rus, or hang this amazing diy copper wall hanging by smitten studio in my living room. So I wanna know, are you crafty too?

Part V : Slow Down

My last piece of advice about living abroad comes from a saying I heard everywhere in Spain. Mañana‎, mañana‎. It literally translates to “tomorrow, tomorrow.”  You would use it if you had a paper to write and your friends wanted to go out instead, you could just say, “Ah, mañana‎, mañana‎ – I’ll do it tomorrow.”  It’s a really great way to procrastinate something you don’t want to do.

But it’s really more than that at the same time.

More after the break…

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Learning New Things

One of the best parts about being with my guy is that he has a wealth of knowledge completely outside my comfort zone. Want to know how to build acres of property fences? Ask him. Don’t know what a worn down brake looks like? Ask him. Have you never listened to country music in your life? He can rectify that.

We know we’re complete opposites but I like to think for as much of a headache that can be sometimes, it’s also one of the funnest reasons to be together. This past week proved it again. We woke up to some gorgeous weather, and he decided that was the day I was going to learn how to hit some golf balls – which I’ve never done before!

He’d bought me some clubs for Christmas but I was still reserved about it all. I was prepared to feel absolute frustration at my inability to hit anything. But instead, I actually hit some really good ones and had a lot of fun.

I give full credit to him for being such a great teacher and totally patient with me. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably have never thought to try golfing. Lately, I’m really grateful that I have someone who’s always teaching me new things in all kinds of ways.

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Besides learning new things, this week I’m appreciating… catching up with old friends and making summer plans!  ◊  thin mints & trefoils  ◊  free suite tickets to a Nugget’s game  ◊ booking a ticket to Seattle for a last minute vacation  ◊  being able to go on solo adventures and try new food   ◊  trivia nights with co-workers  ◊  my kitten’s little paws  ◊  delicious scottish breakfast tea from a friend  ◊  sharing a giant tiki drink with old friends  ◊  cheesy cheesy fondue (from this recipe)  ◊  looking forward to a book club with Rachel  ◊  and being able to reflect on difficult times in my life with positivity and appreciation.

Seattle Bound

image by kevin russ

Last year I regretted not traveling more. Even though I did get to visit Moab and Palm Springs, it felt a little quick and close to home. So this year I made a promise to myself to really get out there and travel more this year. Weekend trips to here, long trips waaaay over there, ya know – what we all want. So when the agency I worked at told me I had to use my earned vacation before the end of March I was in a mad scramble to find a place to go that was cheap(er) and where I had never been.

After looking in the warmer places, which were too pricey, I convinced Rus to go to Seattle with me for a long weekend. I’ve been to Portland, when it was warm and beautiful, but I’ve never been to Seattle. So we bought our tickets last night and are going at the end of March. We know it’s gonna be rainy, and we’re preparing ourselves to eat lots of delicious foods.

We were thinking of staying in Capital Hill while we’re there. And we’re gonna check out Pike’s Place Market, the Space Needle, take an Underground Tour and maybe even take a day trip to the National Park. But we would love to hear your thoughts on where we should go, and where to eat while we’re there!