When I was 8 years old I wouldn’t leave home without a briefcase (yes, an actual briefcase that clicked open and had pockets for things like calculators and pencils and legal pads) filled with pens and pencils and paper. I probably had a stapler.
What 8-year-old leaves home without a stapler? I mean, COME ON.
These days 97% of my work is done on a computer. So why do I need 15 pencil cups?
Basically, each cup has a story. Let’s just go front row, left to right in this picture.
Left: Blue and green Glassybaby. I bought this during my trip to Seattle for the Garden Bloggers Fling. My friend Mary Ann just LOVED Glassybaby cups/candle holders/vessels. When I look at it, it reminds me of my trip and of my friend.
Second from left: One Direction plastic cup. Gardening was my hobby and I turned it into my job. Paddleboarding was my hobby and I turned it into my job. While it *seems* like being One Direction’s PR mouthpiece is my job to anyone who knows me, it is, in fact, not. My husband gave me this cup one Valentine’s Day. He bought out the 1D clearance pile at Target or something. Of course, Harry Styles, because he is my #fluffybunnymuffin, is always turned toward me. This cup reminds me that I picked a good one. No, not Harry Styles, but my husband, who indulges my weird hobbies and whims.
Center: Recycled wood pencil holder with George Eliot quote. I got this on a trip to New York City (probably my favorite place in the WORLD to visit). It is from the New York Public Library. My husband and I went on a trip around Christmas and I dragged him around the city nonstop. I love remembering that trip, even if I can’t ever take him back there in December again. (Too many people.)
Second from right: Kentucky Derby mint julep glass. I was legitimately obsessed with horses (along with paper and pencils) as a kid. The BEST BIRTHDAY EVER was when my parents took me to the Kentucky Derby. I wore a navy and red pinstriped blazer because WHAT 14-YEAR-OLD DOESN’T HAVE A RED AND NAVY PINSTRIPED BLAZER? Sea Hero, a gray horse, won that year. My grandpa Elzer would always bet on the grays. My dad let me eat the ice from the mint julep. Don’t tell anyone.
Right: Bucket list mug. I gave this to my husband and took it back because he let it sit in the box for a week. I mean, I needed another pencil cup. Got this on another trip to NYC. I put an autoresponder on my email and didn’t check it for four days. DO YOU KNOW HOW LIBERATING THAT WAS? The cup says “My bucket list is pretty short but my f*&k it list keeps growing.” Honestly, it’s a good reminder that, at the end of the day, a lot of things can wait.
Why do I have 15 pencil cups?
Because they remind me where I started. They’re useful knicknacks. They give me a place to put my pencil collection from C.W. Pencils. They remind me where I want to go: someone who works hard, but also gets to travel and see new things.
My bucket list is pretty short but my F&%k it list is pretty long.
