I Wonder What I Collect?

As a child I never collected anything.  I never collected stamps, coins, or vintage Barbie dolls.  Sure, I had a few Cabbage Patch Kids and more than my fair share of Barbies, but I never truly collected anything.

As I got older, I dreamt of collecting stamps on my passport, but money and time never seemed to allow that to happen.  I still dream of adding stamps to my passport.  I would love to collect beautiful pieces of silver or crystal, but my budget does not really allow for that.  I have always loved those cute little sugar spoons, but I do not really have anywhere to display them.  Superman and I have a pretty healthy collection of wine, but we do not show it off.  It mostly sits in boxes in our mudroom waiting for us to dig through them on a Friday or Saturday night.  We talk about where we got each bottle and the fun we had at each winery.  I treasure that little collection but it is not all mine.

I got to thinking about what I collect as an adult.  I have always loved Rudolph and I do collect ornaments, figurines, snow globes, etc. with his likeness on them.  I only display them during the Christmas season and I get made fun of quite a bit for my Rudolph "obsession" -- I would like to go on record and say it is not an obsession.  It is simply a love for a character that made me feel like I was not so alone in my being different.  Mostly now I just think he is cute.

Now I mostly collect Vera Bradley bags.  Stop laughing.  I know, I know.  Some people think they are ugly.  I just think they are so much fun.  I love being able to pick out a patterned bag to match or clash with my outfit or to pick up my mood on a rainy day.  I mean, how can you be down when you look over and see a fun pink pattern next to you?  It sounds ridiculous, but these bags just make me smile.  They are a small indulgence that I allow myself.  It really is one of the only things that I do all for myself these days.  My collection has grown over the last three or four years and I store them all in my closet so I can get to them easily.  I love seeing them every morning as I get dressed and I feel like I spread a little sunshine into the world when I carry them.