- Squashed pennies. I don't buy the crappy ones in rest stops, where the choice is a Bible verse or an American flag, but I will buy pretty much any other one that I see. I like them to be mementos of an occasion, so if we're somewhere in particular (and let's face it, we usually are, if there are squashed pennies to be had), I want the location to be on the penny. In fact, even though I know it's ridiculous, I still regret the choice I made when we were in Petrified Forest National Park. They had an ugly Petrified Forest option or a nice Painted Desert option (the Painted Desert being part of Petrified Forest National Park), and I went for the ugly Petrified Forest option because that was, after all, the name of the park. But then we actually went through the park and I loved the Painted Desert way more than the Petrified Forest, and in fact remember it as one of the absolute best parts of the trip, and we even have a framed family photo taken with the Painted Desert in the background hanging in our hallway, and I wish I had gotten the Painted Desert penny. Oh well. Live and learn, right? And maybe I should look at this as an excuse to go back someday.
- Monopoly sets. Not just any, of course. I like them when they are meaningful or fun in some way. So, I have Toulouse Monopoly and Chicago Monopoly (Chicago is one of my favorite towns) and Millennium Monopoly and Retro Monopoly. I would love Denver Monopoly but I don't think it exists. Of the editions that do exist, I most covet National Parks Monopoly. So gorgeous.
- Beanie babies. I don't collect these anymore (the craze is so ten years ago, am I right?) but my mom owns a toy store, and I worked there during the height of the fad, and I ended up with quite a few of them myself. And I still have pretty much all of them. One thing that made me happy was that when they came out with the line of Zodiac beanie babies, the rat (which is the sign of 1984, when I was born) was purple. CHECK! I will definitely be holding on to that one for a long time.
- Photo frames and albums. Call me old-fashioned, but I still print photos. Not every photo we take, not by a long shot, but the shots I especially like. And I put them in albums and I frame some of our favorites. So whenever I see a frame or album that I like (though I've stopped doing this since we implemented the spending freeze), I buy it. Even if I don't use it right away, eventually I will. And I always do. Right now I have one unused frame and one unused album. That's as low as I like my reserves to get, really. So I guess I better hope that Torsten's company makes a sale soon, huh?
- One thing I would like to collect: pitchers. My mom collects these, and they are beautiful AND useful, and a great gift idea for her. My dad got her a beautiful flowered Tiffany pitcher a few years ago, and I'm thinking now that I'm an adult I should start collecting something lovely and grown up like pitchers that give people an excuse to buy you really nice things. And pitchers ARE useful, and we don't have nearly enough, though we do have one that we registered for and received as a wedding gift that I love love love.
New Recipe: Greek Penne Pasta
-
This recipe sounded delicious to me when I came across it, and it turned
out that it was. Also, I've reached the point with cooking where I can make
a few ...
14 years ago
My dad has collected squashed pennies for years. The kind you grind out and I obsessively get them for him whenever we go somewhere. I can't help it.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to collect tea pots. The bad part about collecting is that unless it's squished pennies, it takes up so much room.
There isn't a Denver Monopoly game but there IS a Denver Broncos one: http://www.boardgames.com/debrmo.html
ReplyDeleteoh and I collect shot glasses from everywhere I've been. I have a display case for them and they sometimes get used too.
ReplyDeleteI am generally not a collector. As a kid, I liked pigs, so people always got me stuff with pigs on it, and the clutter became kind of overwhelming, so now I try to avoid it.
ReplyDeleteWe recently started buying Christmas ornaments as souvenirs from the places we travel. We don't want a lot of knickknacks around every day, but this way once a year we can get them out and remember our travels fondly. So I guess I collect Christmas ornaments.
Hmm...what do I collect? I'm really not sure. I used to "collect" handbags and have quite the selection, but stopped doing that a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteThose are all fun things to collect! I don't think I collect anything really. Do handbags and shoes count?
ReplyDeleteDude! My MIL works for Ty, so I can hook you up with the Beanie Babies. :)
ReplyDeleteI collect antique skeleton keys. I only have three of them because apparently my standards are stringent. ;)
In the last year or two, I've gotten rid of stuff I collected during college (lighthouses and angels.)
Jason collects antique pipes.
I love that spotty pitcher. Although I am a Brit and did not know what "pitcher" meant until I looked at the picture and then I was like "ahhh, jugs!"
ReplyDeleteI collect books. I'm not sure if that counts but its the only thing really.
I don't collect anything.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do with all the pennies?
i collect postcards from everywhere i visit. it started when i worked at usairways and was traveling to at least 1 new place a month, and i aspired to "wallpapering" my cube with postcards of everywhere i went. they're not up in my cube anymore, but i still collect them and put them in a photo album :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm still not sure I know what squashed pennies are, even after reading your description over and over. I'm dense, what can I say?!?
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I really collect is programs to theater shows we've seen. Chicago and New York dominate. Other than that, I don't like collections in my own home - they tend to crowd my sense of minimal. =)
I collect postcards. I used to collect shot glasses, and I still have a few favorites but I got rid of the rest of the collection. I kind of collect mugs, except I'm trying to keep the collection as small as possible, which makes it seem not like a collection. I collect good baby names!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I collected EVERYTHING - postcards, candles, pogs. Now I collect Hard Rock Cafe Shot glasses (I actually have a list in my wallet of the ones I don't have!), rubber duckies, and I've started collecting state magnets (in the shape of the state.)
ReplyDeleteI collect postcards, both from the places I've visited and from the places others have visited - if I know someone is going on a trip, I request that they send a postcard from where they visit so I can get the card AND the postmark :-)
ReplyDeleteI also collect vintage travel posters (that collection started when I went to Ireland 12 years ago and my mum got me a set of the railroad posters)and vintage farming posters (my uncle and aunt own a ranch and have lots of cool old posters and crates from local farmers).
Half empty bottles of body lotion
ReplyDeleteOh, the squashed penny collection sounds great. I actually don't collect anything. This makes me feel silly around friends who discuss their collections and then ask me what I collect, but it makes moving very easy :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends collects pink depression-era glass and it's a lovely collection. Growing up, a friend's mom collected mugs and they lined shelves around their den. It was pretty neat to look at them, all from different places.
And I'm laughing at the half empty bottles of lotion answer above. That is a collection I've amassed and purged over time myself!
ReplyDeleteI still like to print photos and organize them into albums, too. I think it's important, somehow, to have that touchable copy.
ReplyDeleteAs for collecting, I'm no collector. I'm a discarder. I have one collection, sort of by accident, of those little sand castles that you pick up at tourist traps. I love them because they remind me of the ocean.
When I was in high school, I crosstitched a Monopoly board. I have it framed, so it can be put on a table and used as a gameboard. The problem? I can't find anyone who wants to play Monopoly with me.
ReplyDeleteI'm not much of a collector, unless you count books :) I like nice things but I'm quite fastidious about throwing out old junk. And I don't really do ornaments. We have some that were gifts but mostly our decorations are photos and shelves and shelves of books. When I get the rest of my book collection from my dad's attic there won't be space left for anything else!
ReplyDelete