My Mug Obsession

I love to throw things away. Each time I had a hard week at school or just wanted to do a deep clean, I would go through everything I owned trying to find things I didn’t need any more. By the end of my purge I would typically have some items that needed to go to Goodwill. My Mom usually finds these things in the Goodwill pile and begs me to keep them or just resorts to hiding them from me. I am sure that one day I will get a huge box of things I tried to throw away.

When I lived in New Zealand I confronted this problem when it came to buying souvenirs. You know how people buy random little gadgets and then eventually throw them away or lose them? I didn’t want that. I looked hard and searched everywhere for a souvenir I would not toss in a year.

Kodie, my friend I was living with in New Zealand, bought me the cutest mug for my half birthday. (Isn’t she so nice?) It is green with sheep and hearts and kiwis…. I love that mug. It was the perfect souvenir because it was something I used and not a thingamajig that cluttered a shelf.

So, when I found myself in Mexico for Spring Break as a Sophomore I knew exactly what I would bring home. Since then I have collected two more mugs; one mug from Canada I just bought this summer and a mug from Washington DC that a dear friend, when learning about my obsession, bought me.

This tradition may become a little too much after I have over a dozen mismatched mugs in my home, but as for right now I am keeping it alive.

So drum roll please…..and here is my first mug from Europe:

I know he is a small little guy. But I spent two days walking around Bern trying to find him. He is the perfect image of Switzerland: confidently royal blue, small and unassuming, handcrafted in the country itself, and maybe a little bit boring. Stay tuned because in January after a Christmas in Germany I will have another mug to present.