"Things"

When I moved into my first apartment, I promised myself I wouldn't be the kind of person who collected "things" and made people admire them all over every surface in the house. Not unless there's a point to them, I told myself!

And, as you can probably imagine, that lasted about five minutes. So let me show you some of the "things" I put up on the new (almost level) shelves Mr. Nicholas and I just put up.

 

This shelf is in the hall (which is almost too small to call a hall). We have Pon and Zi, made by Ms Shannon of Sunflower Crochet, given to me by Nick (what a sweetie). The candle holder is from the room my Mom helped me put together during high school-- it was a safari theme (I felt so grown up!). The little bobble head Jack Skellington was a gift from Daddy when he went to Disneyland with his wife for a work thingy, the surfboard is Christmas gift to Nick from his Dad, and the shell is from his brother. 

This shelf is in the bathroom. The cherry scented spray and tin is from my coworkers last year. The amber spray is from Nick's brother, both perfumes are from my Oma, and the dog picture holder is from Daddy...I told him all I wanted for Christmas was a puppy, and he delivered! That silly photo of Mr. Nicholas was given to me by Nick's Mom. I'm sure he's happy it's prominently displayed!

 

The next three shelves are all in the kitchen. This one is closest to the oven (the glare is from unwashed dishes. Oh my.) Above the apron my Aunt gave me is a coffee press, coffee grinder, little Asian bowl (full of pecans!) and a clay-lined mug from Starbucks that changes color when you put hot water in it! (Cool, right?)

 

Three jars of pecans (from Nick's Mom-- so excited to use them for more yummy foods!) a silly toothpick holder that my Aunt gave me out of pity when she heard we didn't have any toothpicks, and a VW bus that came from Nick's Dad.

 

A birdhouse that I painted and shingled years ago and that sat in my Dad's house for awhile before he gave it back to me, a pie bird, a sewing awl from Alex (so cool-- it's for industrial strength materials) and a vase that Mom bought when she was putting on my high school graduation party (it was a glamerous/grown up theme). 

So I guess this just all goes to show that sometimes, when "things" have a story, it's not so bad to have them out!