apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i'm sorta sad...i don't have anything from those days...i moved to chicago on a plane...so it was a matter of whatever i could fit into my suitcase. i have letters/photos from my husband in college (left the ex-boyfriend letters/photos at home as i didn't feel like bringing their bad vibe into my newlywed home) but nothing fun to display. wedding photos i guess...fun, but you can only put so many of those up...

A can of Bahamas Goombay Punch soda that a pal brought back from his Spring Break trip 1990. We were h.s. juniors and I've never opened the can.

I love that first picture! Great post, Jessica!

When I graduated from high school, all the seniors got a pint glass with our school logo, our class song, motto, etc. (Yeah I know giving 18 year olds pint glasses is a little dumb sounding.) Anyway, I still have it and can't seem to part with it. It holds my change collection.

Interesting. I've purged many things over the years: and except for one thing, haven't kept anything "for display" based on its "snuggle to my heart" factor. I keep things only because they're either beautiful (to me) or useful. That said, there's tones of non-display crap I can still get rid of!

Oh--the exception? What else? A Raggedy Anne doll my absentee father gave me when I was ten. She's not exactly on display, but tucked discreetly into a bookshelf behind my bedroom door.

After many years of living out of a knapsack, there's not much left from my younger self.

The exceptions would be an oval black granite (?) beach rock from the Maine coast that my first true love gave me. And a beautiful tiny (1" dia.) tatted doily made from crimson silk from a friend that sits on top of the rock.

Goombay Punch! We got so tired of drinking that when we were kids, but it was all the local vending machines stocked regularly. No matter what button we pushed, out would come Goombay Punch. Which tastes better unopened.

I don't have anything from high school except a couple of good friends. I do have a horribly ugly old green tweed La-Z-Boy that I got from my father after my grandmother passed away. It's in a corner of my bedroom, under a slip cover that doesn't really do the trick. She rocked me to sleep in that chair when I was little and had the flu, my baby brother when he was born, me when I found out my parents were getting divorced, and on many other occasions. I've had boyfriends try to talk me into getting rid of it, but I just can't. On that note, I would love someone to show me how to recover it. I'll never get rid of that chair.

A paper doll Porky the Pig on my fridge that my brother colored about 6 years ago. But, for older: a tiny wooden box my mom made as a girl that's filled with sand dollars, a big wooden box that my dad made as a boy, a big wooden box my boyfriend's grandfather made--as a boy (man, see the pattern...)a collection of little mahogany elephants my dad brought back from Africa about 15 years ago.

What else...a pair of my dad's old shoes that sit on a closet shelf where I can see them every day. A teddy bear a friend gave me in college when I needed a hug. Had been given to her as a child. His name is Charlie the Traveling Bear--he's been around the world.

Hmmm...I feel nice now.