Monday, November 7, 2011

My Magnets

My son can come up with some pretty great ideas. I was talking about my blog regarding the refrigerator and my magnets and he suggested I put something like that in my book. And as it so happens, I was coming up to a scene where I could do just that! So I put in a scene where the main character has a refrigerator covered with magnets - courtesy of his mother!

It also gave me the idea to post some pictures of my magnets (yes, I must be desperate finding stuff to blog about).

As you can tell from the black background, I've moved my magnets. This group are the magnets I've collected from various Hard Rock Cafes. I don't always eat at the restaurant, but if the city I'm visiting has one, I stop in to buy the magnet. Except for Pittsburgh. I ate there before I started my collection. But I'll be back in February (to see the Penguins play) and I'll pick up my magnet then!

As with the Hard Rock Cafes, I also collect magnets from Bubba Gump Shrimp. I love those restaurants and will be able to add to my collection this December, because I believe there's one in Charleston, SC (which is where we'll be leaving on our cruise).

My husband is a big fan of aquariums, and I enjoy going to some of them. My favorite is the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. If you're ever in the area, it's a must see! The biggest surprise for me was the Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I really didn't expect to see so much there.

On the front of my fridge, I have the lists of states we have lived in since my marriage, in the order we lived in them (along with some Pittsburgh stuff!). And that magnet on the left, under Arizona, is so true!!

As I moved the magnets from the old fridge to the new, I was able to group them around and left a lot of the older calendar ones behind (still on the old fridge). I'm sure eventually I'll fill this one up. There's definitely more space to work with!

It's fun collecting magnets. As a souvenir, they are cheap and portable (and unlike t-shirts, I can't outgrow them). 

I haven't collected magnets all that long (maybe 15 years - and when I've been married almost 32, well, it's not all that long!). It actually started when we could afford to take actual vacations. I used to collect t-shirts, but they wear out (and take up lots more room).

So, what do you collect as souvenirs? Do you display them?

16 comments:

Maria Zannini said...

What a fun collection! I could see them set inside slim shadowboxes and used as art.

I collect dogs--mostly ceramic, but also wood and metal. I also collect antique wood boxes. I scatter them throughout the house.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Maria, I guess if I didn't have the ability to display my magnets on the refrigerator like I do, shadow boxes might work. I just don't know where I'd put them (I'm horrible with knick-knacks). Of course, my husband suggested he paint a wall with metallic paint. That might be kind of cool, too!
Thanks for sharing.

DL Hammons said...

I collect pins...from Hard Rock! For now I'm displaying them on a cork board at work, but when I get more I'll move them back home.

:)

Anne Gallagher said...

I have pics on my fridge, and some magnets, but not as many as you. We don't vacation. I'm more of stay at the home pool type mom.

Anonymous said...

I like your magnets. They look so interesting on the fridge, and it's this instant memory key of all the places you've been. What a great idea!

I collect frogs. Any flat surface in my house has at least one frog on it (usually more than one) and a couple of walls have frog pictures, and both upstairs bathrooms have a frog motif. Strangely they go quite well with the dragons and wizards my husband collects. :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Hey DL! I don't know what it is about Hard Rock, but I love collecting their stuff (I like eating there, too). My daughter collects the shot glasses.

Anne, nothing wrong with being the stay at home type of person. Did it for many years when the kids were young.

Thanks for coming by!

Stacy McKitrick said...

Hi Melissa! So nice to see you (and I'm still waiting on your work to come my way - hint hint).

I could easily collect lots of things. My daughter is into penguins and I love them, my mom is into cats, and I love those, too. Monkeys frogs, gosh, there's just so many cute things! Knowing my dusting abilities (lacking), it's best I stick to magnets!

LD Masterson said...

Very cool magnet collection. I'm a theater bluff so I collect Playbills and programs but I don't display them.

LD Masterson said...

Oops - make that theater buff. (Just washed my hands and can't do a thing with them.)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Linda, maybe a theatre bluff is someone who bluffs about the theatre! Maybe one day you'll be able to frame your playbills and display them on the wall. I think that would look cool.

Jennette Marie Powell said...

Stacy, your magnet collection is amazing! Bubba Gump...mmmm!

We collect anything with Rottweilers ( plus have two real ones) - plates, blankets, ornaments, calendars, a clock, a lamp - I even have a Rottweiler jacket. Danbury Mint loves us LOL.

Stacy McKitrick said...

Thanks, Jennette.
Yeah, Danbury Mint loves us, too. I have enough Pittsburgh Steeler Christmas ornaments that they may have to have their own tree!

Jemi Fraser said...

Love those! We have magnets on the fridge too, but nothing like these!! I love snowmen - have a bazillion of them out during the Christmas season. :)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Hi Jemi. I guess it's getting close to the time you can pull out all those snowmen. I can't believe it's that time of year again. Thanks for commenting.

Becke Davis said...

Great minds think alike. I just posted some pix of my refrigerator magnets on Facebook a week or two ago! (Yours are displayed a whole lot more neatly than mine!)

Stacy McKitrick said...

Becke, the only reason they are neat are because I transferred them from my old refrigerator. I'm sure as I add to the collection, I'll ferry some around and they won't look as organized!