these happen to be from our trip to new york, but i actually have quite an extensive collection of shopping bags.

i've collected them for years. some i might keep just temporarily but others will stay with me for awhile. some of my favorite bags right now are from mackenzie-childs and anthropologie. but i have some sentimentals from shops in south america. i think i've always been a bit of a collector. i remember once while traveling with my family as a kid, my very wise mother talked me into collecting squares of toilet tissue from various bathrooms along the way...or keeping my dad's souvenir swizzle sticks from flights he had taken. right now i've slowed down the acquiring just a bit, but not without at least once a month, while frequenting my favorite estate sale at a local antique store, adding a perfect piece of china to my collection of mismatched china. or really unusual bracelets. and old children's books, particularly really lovely reading textbooks. maybe really great kate spade bags. my rule is now that i must be able to incorporate my new find into an already existing collection. unless perhaps it's a piece of bunnykins baby dishes, which i think would look really lovely in a brand new stack in my kitchen...