Collection 30: Jared Stuff.

You know what rules? I don't have to blog about a collection tomorrow. I really started out this month with high blog energy and hopes that this would make me love blogging more. I still love blogging, but I really wish I had not felt forced into blogging every day. I know no one told me to sign up for NaBloPoMo. I know I could have just blogged about whatever I wanted and not worried about it. Overall I'm glad I did it, but I'm tired of blogging about collections.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Appalachian Football playoff game against E. Washington University. And then I'm going to Mom's on Sunday to go through Christmas stuff and pick out stuff I want to take home with me. For the first time in years, I'm really into Christmas this year. Maybe it's the fact that with Jared living with me, I really feel like I'm going to have a family at home for Christmas. I need to decorate more, so it's a good thing my mommy is giving me stuff!


On to my last collection. By the way I have a few more I thought of too, but I won't go into that.

Here we have my Jared collection. When we started dating and I realized it could last a while, I kept mementos of our dates and stuff. I still do, but obviously not as much since he lives with me. I have movie tickets, baseball game tickets, concert tickets, mini golf cards, the birthday and love cards, a beercap from the first time I saw him throw up, a necklace from an arcade in Pigeon Forge, and a whole lot of sweet little notes from Jared.



Scorecard from the one time I beat him at mini-golf (guess who tore it up!)






Yippee!!! Done!!!

Collection #28: Maps

Yes, maps. As a person holding a degree in Geography, I'm apparently expected to know where everything on the planet is. Unfortunately, I do not. In fact, I suck the worst at Jeopardy when the category is Geography. I only took 2 regional geography classes in college and they were North Carolina Geography and Latin American Geography. I can tell you most of the capital cities in South America, but I can't tell you where the hell Korea is.

This is why I collect maps. And atlases. They are always fun to look at, especially if they are old. I LOVE antique maps. Too bad I don't have any. Those suckers can get uberexpensive. (Look at the price HERE if you don't believe me) So I just stick to my National Geographic Maps. I have a lot. I keep them in my map table with map drawers, that my Mom gave me for Christmas last year. Like so:




When I was in college, I wallpapered my living room with maps. They were cool.
I wish I had a picture to show you of this, but I do not. At least not on Flickr.


Here is the map hanging up in my spare bedroom:


I need to hang up more, but I'm too lazy.

Collections 24, 25 and 26

Is it December yet?

Here a few collections to make up for lost blogging.

Musical Instruments:

Trumpet


Harmonica (note: please ignore bruises)


Guitar


Clarinet.

I also have a keyboard, a small steel drum, a few other small musical instruments. I've always been into music and at one time I planned on being a band director. Then that fell through.. I need to practice more.


DVDs (A collection that is somewhat popular.. I'm sure you have one too)






We have a lot. And we have much more than that too, scattered in various places around the house.

And another obvious collection that a lot of people have, boardgames. I have a few. And I really want more. Like Apples to Apples. Or Scene it.



Yay!

For those of you who were wondering what the hell I did to my face, let's just say I learned a very important lesson about drinking, walking, and talking on the phone.

Collection 22: Mullet Pictures

As a Thanksgiving Treat for you, I present, Mullets. Mullets are the coolest hair style ever. I love taking pictures of them if I can. It's risky, but it's a thrill. It's my extreme sport.

Here's the best one I've got a picture of:


Click HERE to see all of my mullet pics.

And here's a picture of me as a youngun where it appears I may have a mullet myself:

Collection 21: Star Stuff

I've always been a big fan of anything to do with stars. I love the shape, and I also love astronomy, even though I'm no good at it. When I was 19, I decided to get a tattoo and what I decided on was a star:


Then that's when everybody decided to start buying me star stuff. I'm perfectly okay with this. I have a really pretty star mobile (which is sadly not hung up right now). I have tons of little star knickknacks. My apartment in college had several of those bags of neon stars hung up on my bedroom ceiling. Stars are just pretty and they always will be.

A few examples:




My favorite necklace:

(cubic zirconia :)

Yep.

Collection 20: Spottie Dottie Stuff

When I was in 9th grade, I had a close friend who was all into Hello Kitty and collected Hello Kitty Stuff. Soon after, a mutual friend started collecting the little frog character (from Hello Kitty) and his stuff. Then it was determined that all our little group would choose different characters and collect that junk. I was given Spottie Dottie:


So I bought the sticker book, the notebooks, the little lunchbox and various other pink things. I had a lot of them but rarely used them and a few months ago I decluttered my storage closet and gave most of it away to Goodwill, or just threw it away. I'm too old for a pink dalmation.

Collection 19: Beck pictures

So from the first time I heard the song "Loser" by Beck, I was hooked. That was when I was 12. I was immediately in love with him, and his long hair and flannel shirts. For me, he was the most amazing musician that ever lived. All through middle school and high school I thought of him every day and dreamed of when I would meet him and be his wife. I bought subscriptions to Rolling Stone and Spin magazines just in the hopes of catching articles about him. I would sit in front of MTV for hours and recorded any smidgen of him that they were nice enough to play.

Up until age 18 I collected every single magazine cut out of him and taped them into my "Beck book". This was a giant notebook I found and turned into a tribute of my favorite musician. I had/have a lot! I still have the notebook, even though I am no longer obsessed with him. Once I got into college, my musical taste changed somewhat and I don't listen much anymore. But I still appreciate his genius.

Here are some pictures of this notebook (where I also keep my autographs and pictures of Daniel Johns and Gavin Rossdale).





When I was 14, I was lucky enough to see him in concert. It still ranks in my top 3 concerts of all time. Especially since I almost met him and he actually looked at me from inside his tourbus, and when I requested they stop to give me an autograph, he mouthed "I'm sorry" to me. aaah.... I still keep the pick I got from the concert in my wallet..

Collection 18: Shot Glasses

Okay first off, I know that the last post is titled Collection 7 instead of 17. I was really really really tired last night and it shows. I'm leaving it.

Here is a collection I didn't really intend to have, it just sort of happened. Shot Glasses are one of those things that you can really give to anybody who drinks alcohol. They are always appreciated but not really used that much. I really only use mine when I throw parties, which is rarely now. But I still have them. Some of them are Jared's. Most were presents. I like them all for different reasons. Click on the picture of them all below to look at it in flickr, where there are notes for each one.

Collection 16: Boys' Digits.

Yep, phone numbers. Cute (sometimes even not cute) boys are something I have always appreciated. Anytime in my life that a boy has given me his phone number, I have kept it, and stapled or taped it into my journal. I've had the same journal since 10th grade (1997). I sometimes go 2 years without writing in it, then I'll write 10 pages in it. I'm off center like that. I picked it up the other night to take pictures of the digits for this post. It was then that I realized I had not written in it since 2005. That means there is not one mention of Jared. Don't get me wrong, I have written myself a few pages of journal entries about Jared, but they've been on notebook paper or whatever I had with me at the time. So I took those papers and put them in my journal, and then wrote a few pages about Jared. Now I only have 4 pages left in the journal I've had since 1997. Ten years of life.

Anywho I've collected quite a few phone numbers over the years. At least, I think I've got a lot. Stapled in the back of the journal are all the random boys' numbers. There are other numbers stapled throughout the book, where I've talked about certain boys. But rather than risk you seeing any of my atrocious handwriting, I'm just going to show you the ones in the back. :)











Most of them I never called ;D

Halfway Done! Collection #15: Autographs

This is my hardest earned collection. I have a story for almost every one. When I was in high school I went to a LOT of concerts, including 4 Weenie Roasts, 2 Ozzfests, and Woodstock 99. My first (real) concert was Aerosmith in 7th grade, and since then I been to see a lot of bands. Over 200, I'd say. My favorite thing to do is get autographs, if I can. My brother has more than me maybe, but mine are mostly from people I like. I don't know if any of these will ever be worth anything, but they are worth something to me :).

You can click on them to see them bigger.

Brandon Flowers and the bassist from the Killers:

He is super hot, and worth the 2 hour wait after the show. And the 6 hour drive to Myrtle Beach to see them at the House of Blues. Also there we got
Louis XIV:


more...

Gravity Kills, Faith No More, and Our Lady Peace:

By the way, Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace is really hot. And Nice.
From a Weenie Roast.

Fred from Cowboy Mouth:

It says, "To Allison <3 Fred". Also a very nice guy. From a Great Guiness Toast in Downtown Charlotte.

Athenaeum and Athenaeum:

They are a localish band who I saw 5 times in high school and college. They are all cool except Grey Brewster. He's an ass. Good thing they kicked him out.

Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day:
Yippee! One of my faves. Green Day was my absolute favorite band in Middle School. And I was in love with Billie Joe. I saw them at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte when I was 15 and they were everything I ever wanted in a rock show. I even crowd surfed! I didn't really get to know if Billie Joe was nice or not, but he is cute.

Far Too Jones, Jolene, and Athenaeum again:

I honestly don't remember the first two bands, but these are all from a Weenie Roast.

Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Better than Ezra, and Cracker:

I really like all three of these bands! They all seemed very nice! From a Weenie Roast, and the Great Guiness Toast, all in Charlotte.

Lead singer of Semisonic, Lead singer of The Refreshments, and Soulfly:

Semisonic sang that song "I Know who I want to take me home". That guy was cool, he drew the mustache on George Washington. The lead singer of the Refreshments (who sang the Bandidos song that you don't know, but I love) was hot and I kissed him on the cheek. Soulfly consists of some ex members of Sepultura, a South American Metal band. They were hardcore.

Vanilla Ice:

Saw him on his metal comeback tour at Tremont. I gave him a hug and he smelled like pot. This was after his big Christian coming out on VH1.

AJ Poppoff from Lit, and Daniel Johns from Silverchair:

Daniel Johns used to be one of the hottest men alive (click here) and I made my brother and his friend drive all the way down to Atlanta with me to see them. Then, I made them wait with me 3 hours after the show (in the cold). There were 50 people there waiting and he only signed 5 autographs. I'm a lucky girl, especially since he touched my hand.

Linkin Park:

Anybody want? I'm not really big fans, but they're okay. From an Ozzfest.

And one of my faves, Bloodhound Gang:

Who couldn't love the guys who brought us "The Bad Touch" (the discovery channel), "Kiss Me Where it Smells Funny" and "Why is Everybody Always Pickin on Me"?
From a Weenie Roast.

I have more, and no pictures..

Are you jealous? Probably not.

Collection #14: Shoes.

I LOVE shoes. Everytime I buy a new pair of shoes, I want to treat them like a baby. I want to wear them everywhere... I love cute shoes. I love pretty shoes. Sometimes I love ugly shoes. I really really love cute cheap shoes. As much of a shoe lover as I am, I still refuse to spend more than $30.00 on one pair. I would really like a pair of Rainbow Flip Flops, but I don't want to pay $40 for a pair of flip flops. I try to limit myself to only buying around 6 pairs a year. But if I find a good deal, it's on. On like Donkey Kong. I have some pairs of shoes that I've had since high school. When I went to my mom's house 2 weeks ago, I found a pair of shoes in the closet that my mom had bought me to wear to my 8th grade end of year band concert. I only wore them that once and then put them back in the box. Guess what? They still fit. And they are awesome. Some of my cool Converse One-Stars still fit, too. I still have my senior prom shoes. Pretty shoes just make me feel good inside.

These are my favorite shoes, which I bought last year at JC Penny's (for $18.00-75%off!!!):


High School Prom shoes:

By the way, don't look at this in large size. You'll see my serious need of a pedicure.

Most of my shoes (which I laid out all pretty for ya:



You know what I don't get? How can boys live with only 4 or 5 pairs of shoes?

Doesn't make sense.

Collection 13: Candles

Now I know there are many many people out there who can say they collect candles. When I was 13ish, I collected weird candles. I loved any kind of candle that wasn't the "norm". I had a candle shaped like a poodle, and a few shaped like eyeballs. I had one of those hands that melt red blood. I had several different fruit candles, and even a Beethoven candle. I don't have those anymore, I'm sure they either melted or my mother threw them away. Nowadays, I just have normal candles. But I have a lot! I believe we have close to 40 here in the house and outside. And everyone of them has been lit at least once. They say it's bad luck to have an unburnt wick in the house. Who knows.

Here is my current favorite, the one Jared gave me as a birthday present. It is Rose Petals from Yankee Candle Co.

Collection #12: Hats

This is by far my favorite collection. Hats make me happy. The best place to find yummy hats is thrift stores. I have a lot, and I love them all. Why? Hats are like a mini disguise that doesn't take much effort. You can say so many things with different hats. I took pictures of myself wearing all my favorites, and the facial expressions just wrote themselves. That's what makes hats great.

Let's see if this thinggy works:



Click the picture for fun slideshow goodness.

Collection #9: Buccaneers Stuff.

Yes, this collection goes along with the football cards and the pirate stuff, but it is different. Obviously, my favorite NFL team is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Why? Because I am Floridian, I was born in Bradenton, Florida. This is near Tampa. While we lived in Florida, the Bucs were my family's favorite team.

Once we moved to NC, they cheered for the Redskins mostly (my mother has always been a Skins fan, and the Bucs sucked at that point). I wasn't really caring either way since I didn't really like football anyways. Then in high school I realized the awesomeness of football (marching band, woo!) and picked up the old Buccaneers because they were my original team. Plus, my older brother was pulling for them.

Well since then, I've developed into quite the Buccaneers fan and therefore collect stuff. I have the football cards, a cool snowglobe, a dammit doll (that Katie and Andrea gave me), a bobblehead, numerous shirts and hats, and lots of other fun things.

My Joe Jurevicius Superbowl bobblehead is my favorite item. He is broken, but as long as you don't touch him, you don't know. I love that because I got it off ebay right after they won the superbowl. It has him, and a big Superbowl ring, and the final game score on the bottom.

Here:


PS that picture thinggy you see with the "40" is from the game my brother and I went to, where we were on the front row at Panthers stadium. Woo! Click here to see! Also here!


Here is my flag that Brad gave me, which hangs in my pirate bathroom:



By the way, Dane Cook was awesome!!