Hi. My name is Kelli. And I'm a paper ephemera addict.
I have dozens of boxes stashed away, filled to the brim with scraps and bits and nonesense that I just can't bear to part with (even though I think the hubbers says he will never, EVER move them again) . The past few days I've been sifting through, amazed at the utter random-ocity of my collection.'
So naturally, I thought I'd share some of that with you.
Receipts, tickets, sugar packets, maps, a phone card, kinder egg leavin's - from Italy, London and Paris. No little detail was too mundane to overlook. Even the sugar seemed happier across the pond.
A high school friend and I used to swap plain folders during the classes we had together, and create complicated doodles for each other. We've since lost touch, but I kept my folders. I wonder if she has hers?
I buy old postcards at flea markets. Boring postcards. I love 'em. (Don't judge me.)
Train tickets from a summer class I took in Orvieto, Italy. Yeah, I went shopping in Florence. A lot.
One of the first photos I've ever taken with a manual SLR. High school beginning photo class!
A random polaroid from freshman year in college. I dont' know who this is, why I shot it or why I've since KEPT it, but there it is. But I do recognize that as the tangled mess of cords beneath my desk.
A page from a scrapbook I have virtually no memory of compiling. I recognize (vaguely) everything inside, but WHEN did I make this?? Creepy.
This is the stuff that makes me really happy. Each little scrap is a memory (if only a partial, fuzzy one....). It probably makes me a weirdo, but I'm comfortable with that. It's my freak flag, and I'll fly it proudly. : P
{ do you keep these kinds of things? }
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Posted by
kelli g. { bug miscellany }
It's been a little bit since I posted one of these, AND I just had a super world-travely friend confess she'd NEVER been to Canada. As she's a resident North America, I just cannot fathom this.
Last August, the hubbers and I took a ride on the
Clipper, and spent two days in Victoria, B.C.
We stayed at the Empress Hotel, a gorgeous hotel that is a landmark in its own right. We didn't experience the legendary tea service (somehow I just can't imagine my hubbers and delicate bone china both surviving it), but we did peek in.
This is where I, in turn, must confess something: I can be a really bad tourist. When it comes to documenting my trip through photographs, I tend to focus on the weird little moments, and miss out on the bigger picture. It makes for an odd recap, but it's what really defines a trip to me.
Here are some of my favorites from our neighbor to the north.
We spent a lot of time just wandering the streets, finding shenanigans to get into. It was a gloriously sunny day, and even though we still haven't adjusted to 65 degrees being considered 'summer weather,' we enjoyed ourselves.
(It was funny, though, to be clearly the most bundled up folks in town. Fleeces and wool jackets were our staples, while everyone else seemed to enjoy sundresses and shorts. Maybe one day this will be us...)
We visited the
Royal British Columbia Museum, which was filled with all sorts of amazing artifacts and curiosities. One could easily lose themselves here for hours on end.
My favorite was the outdoor Totem Pole garden.
It was a short trip, but a memorable one. My first adventure in British Columbia, but certainly, definitely, posi-lutely not my last!
(i mean,
i gotta go back to
get some more to
die for ice cream!)
{ where are you adventuring this summer? }
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Posted by
kelli g. { bug miscellany }
Well late, late, late again to the blogosphere today, but better late than never, right?
I've spent the last few hours (yep, hours) working on a new treasury. Here in the States, a holiday called Memorial Day falls this weekend, and I thought I'd do a treasury in its honor. Click the link for a closer look.
Memorial Day is a patriotic holiday, usually marked by BBQs, block parties and three day weekends (!). It's foundation was to honor and memorialize the loss of life suffered by military service members in the line of duty, but seems better known today as the unofficial beginning of summer, and crazy retail sales incentives.
I love all these things that typically accompany this weekend, but it feels wrong these days, not pausing to think, thank and remember. And as silly as it is, making this treasury made me quietly contemplate what Memorial Day really means.
I am extremely, endlessly, miraculously lucky that at the end of each tour, the hubbers came home safe to me. I hope so very much that someday soon, spouses and families of military service members will no longer have to say these goodbyes, and wonder...
Anyway, I know in the midst of the shopping and BBQing and three-day-off-ing, I will be thinking about those families that weren't as fortunate as I, and remembering those soldiers, airmen, sailors and marines who aren't here today.
{ peace. }
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Posted by
kelli g. { bug miscellany }
An explanation for my blogosphere absence:
...we went to Chicago for the weekend!
We attended the lovely wedding of a very dear, old friend. I just adore the colors the bride picked out -- a deep teal, and a sunny yellow!
It was a beautiful occasion, and we are so happy for the both of them.
We got our groove on....
...and then had a lovely stroll around the city.
Millenium Park had a lot of cool things I'd never seen before. My favorites were the 'Crown Fountain' by Jaume Plensa (above).....
.....and the 'bean' sculpture by Anish Kapoor. (No one calls it by it's real name, 'Cloud Gate.' It's just referred to as 'the bean.')
I call this one 'self portrait.'
{ to the happy couple! }
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Posted by
kelli g. { bug miscellany }
One of the things that I have been most fortunate of in my life, is that I have had a lot of opportunity to travel. Now, with a mortgage to pay, and adult (ick!) responsibilities to handle, I rely more and more on my memories of my adventures. I recently read a post on
the joy rebel diaries that posed the question: 'what place speaks to you?' I enjoyed pondering all the different places I've been, but the first to pop into my head was Budapest, Hungary.
As with all things in life, there's always the sour that accompanies the sweet. The reason I decided to visit Budapest was because the hubbers was deployed to Iraq, while I was left alone at our home in Germany. And so I was lucky enough to see this beautiful ancient city, but alas, I had to see it without him.
But don't be sad, dear readers -- I had a wonderful time.
And I saw many amazing things...
...and ate the most exquisite goulash...
...and, oh yes, the wine was pretty good too.
A neat little story that's stuck with me -- inside Hungarian parliament, there are these cigar holders lining the windows just outside of the debate floor. Politicians would rest their cigars here, to proceed inside to vote, orate, etc. A particularly intense debate would be remembered by the extinguished cigars at session's end.
I don't think this is the practice any longer, but I love that the holders remain in place.
I loved my time in Hungary, and if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend visiting. It's so different, in many ways, from the rest of Europe, and has over a thousand years of rich history to explore. I know I have better photos somewhere, so one day I may have to do a follow up to truly do it justice.
But for now:
a gratuitous picture of chickens.
{ élvez! }
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Posted by
kelli g. { bug miscellany }
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