Top 10 Things You Can Go Get Right Now

My friend Annie and I have a semi-new tradition to Skype and make top 10 lists together at least once a week. Tonight while she was baby-sitting her 9-year-old sister Ellen joined us. Our topic was "Top 10 Things You Can Go Get Right Now." We all wrote down our lists and then went and gathered the objects. 

We then took turns sharing our items and telling the story behind them. It was a giant show and tell.

1. Graduation quilt- My mom is a talented quilter and this is one of my very favorites she has made for me.

2. Moleskine journal- I started this during staff training this summer and for the whole time I was at camp I wrote at least a sentence a day, usually more, but at least one sentence. It's filled with lists I wrote with Shelby, love tank notes from camp and the reunion, top 10 lists, and more writings from this semester.

3. Sarah Mooney mug- She painted and then sent me this mug one year for my birthday. I'm obsessed with it.

4. Waffle in a bag- I held onto it last April for a YL food fight but then it just stayed in my car for awhile. Then it was in Sar's car all summer. Now it gets hidden and passed back and forth between us. It's fun I promise.

5. Blue bowl and bracelets- There is a chapter in "Cold Tangerines" about pennies and Shauna saves them all in a blue bowl. The summer I lived with Mindy I found these blue bowls for each of us to collect our pennies in. This bowl is now also the landing spot for all of my old friendship bracelets.

6. Visit sign- One of my favorite things in our apartment is the visitor sign. It's pretty self-explanatory. Visitors. Sign. It.

7. Casey's painting- My friend Casey is a talented artist. I've been lucky enough to get a couple of her pieces. I love this one.

8. 1st FBC sweatshirt- At the beginning of my first year teaching I had the idea to start a club to make friendship bracelets. I didn't know if anyone would join or if I even could make such a club. The FBC is now one of my favorite things and has helped me build great relationships with so many students in my school.

9. Overall shorts- I really miss wearing these about once a week at camp.

10. Dom and Allison vase- Last year on my birthday Dom and Allison spent part of their snow day crafting me this. I was thrilled when they unveiled this collaged newspaper tissue paper creation.

Annie's items included her leg brace, love tanks, Annie buttons, her dog Bell, plastic watch, colored letter envelopes, quotable calender, Teton cabin picture, and her Converse with a trust bead on it.

Ellen's items included a special ice-cream eating cup, soccer trophies, her 7 poem, 2 blankets, a golden retriever poem, a "heritage" doll, a stuffed dog, and her pearl necklace.