collecting - and bringing stuff home

there's nothing like the beach that gets my collector's gene going. i drag home everything from shells and stones to driftwood and bones. it is almost getting embarrassing and slightly ridiculous how much beach stuff i have on display. everywhere.

i think i passed the gene on to J. he finds all kind of things at the beach. sometimes shells, sometimes stones. but mostly his favorite objects are made of plastic. like an old bottle, a washed up flip flop, an arm from a doll, or plastic spoons.

we went to the wild beach saturday and by the time we left he had made himself a fine little collection. and honestly, who am i to tell him what is "right" and what is "wrong" to collect? even washed up plastic spoons can be pretty cool, no?

and when we are on the subject of collecting: i went to ikea the other day with my mom. i intended to by some fabric. by the time we got to the fabric i had already collected a zillion other small items. which i didn't know i needed, but right there, in ikea, i realized that obviously i did. you know, needed hyacinths, pale colored coffee cups, a pot holder for the hyacinth, and quite a few other things.

what's the deal with ikea? how do they do it? is it some sort of subliminal thing? oh, and by the way, the fabric was sold out. of course. now i'll have to go back in two weeks, but i will make it my goal to go in, pick it up and get out before they get to play any brain washing tricks on me. wish me luck.