Collectors Edition

“Be a Fruitloop in a world of Cheerios.” I saw this quote the other day and unfortunately, I don’t know who to give the credit to, but, I love the meaning. Be true to yourself and do what you want based on what brings YOU joy. You don’t have to read a million self-help books to understand that in order to be truly happy, you have to be authentic to yourself.

Something that makes me happy and my home authentic is collections. And boy do we enjoy collecting things. My brother’s wife once joked that we collect collections. We laughed it off, but after a long pause, we all grinned because it was kind of true.

My favorite collection has to be my keychains. It’s certainly my oldest, as I started collecting them when I was young whenever we traveled to a new place. My dad made me 3 peg boards and each peg has at least 1 keychain, some have 2 or 3, dangling from it. These are symbolic of the memories I made from the places I’ve visited or an accomplishment I’ve made (athletic events or life-changing moments like buying a house). Keychains used to be a cheap way of materializing a place, but now they are upwards of $15 each. It doesn’t stop me from purchasing, but kind of crazy!

Another fun collection of mine, is my Starbucks “You are Here” mugs. I’m sure you’ve seen these in your local Starbucks. These are gorgeous coffee cups with beautiful and colorful designs that capture what that city is best known for. I don’t know how many I have, but I love displaying them on my rustic coffee sign. I change them out every now and then to feature different places. I don’t have a favorite and please don’t make me choose.

My husband is an entirely different beast when it comes to collections. Hats. Stickers, especially Yeti ones. Unique or limited edition beer cans/bottles (don’t get me started). Mini football helmets. Ticket stubs. Growlers. Baseballs. Sports memorabilia. Specialty bourbons. His are really out of control, but I love it. These are special things which completely represent what brings him joy.

My family collects things as well. My brother enjoys magnets and shot glasses from different locations, my dad likes golf balls, my sister-in-law likes the mini Starbucks mugs, my brother-in-law also collects baseballs. My cousin puts different brewery stickers on his fridge, my mom collects those wooden signs with cute sayings on them for her kitchen. My other sister-in-law, the one who thought our collections were over-the-top, now collects mini wine glasses from the places she’s done tastings. I would ordinarily tease her about this, but we are all just happy she has a collection, too! Sometimes, we go to great lengths to find these treasures for our people so we can give them something to cherish from our adventure, too, and help add to their collections.

Some may argue that you should have to visit the place that your item is from in order to add it to your collection. I disagree. Mostly because it still contributes and gives life to your collection. It still tells a story. Most importantly, it holds great meaning every time you look at it and remember that someone thought of you enough on their trip to get you something they know you’ll love.

What do you collect?