19 01, 2019

Souvenir Saturday: Money, Money, Money

By |January 19th, 2019|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Years ago I did a Girl's Trip to Las Vegas. I remember we hit up every casino for whatever their "Player's Card" free stuff was. On Freemont Street, at Binion's I won a printed photo of myself "licking" a million dollar pile of money because I panicked and couldn't think of a good pose. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.

12 12, 2016

Museum Monday: What Lies Beneath the Smithsonian

By |December 12th, 2016|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

When I was little I dreamed of being an archeologist, a paleontologist, a museum curator, or a librarian. I loved learning about old things and collecting them. While I ended up on a different career path, museums still fascinate me. I've been lucky to be a member of my local Natural History museum, and they've had a few behind the scenes nights to see their collection storage area. But check out these photos from the Smithsonian museums in DC! Its amazing as these are just a small portion of the collection! Entomology Collection Anthropological Collection

16 04, 2016

Souvenir Saturday: Las Vegas Snow Globe

By |April 16th, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , |1 Comment

I like this snow globe from Las Vegas, as it has all the major "sights" from Luxor, NY NY, Paris, and more. The base brings back the Vegas motif with cards, chips, dice, and coins. Read about the History of Snow Globes or view a Buying Guide to find the perfect Snow Globe on your next vacation. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.

16 05, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Mustache Shot Glass

By |May 16th, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I have a wide collection of shot glasses, but most of mine are functional. This is one of my only kitchy shot glass, from The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas. It is in the shape of a Gondolier, the people who guide the small boats in venice. I picked this up after riding the gondola in the hotel. Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.

21 02, 2015

Souvenir Saturday: Bismuth

By |February 21st, 2015|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

When I was little I had a rock and fossil collection. I was obsessed with dinosaurs that my mother would hide rocks, small fossils, and minerals in the dirt and then allow me to dig and find them. At some point I lost the collection in a move. So when I went to the National Museum of Natural History I decided to add to that lost collection. It took me ages to decide what type of rock or fossil was I going to get in the gift shop. I had seen photos of Bismuth on reddit and found its geometric

5 04, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Shot Glasses

By |April 5th, 2014|Categories: Buying Guide, History, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

A Brief Un-History of the Shot Glass Shot Glasses have become a common souvenir staple the world round. It surprised me to learn that there really isn’t any idea on who first created the shot glass and what their initial purpose was for. There are actually so many stories and legends on why they were created and how they got their name, ranging from the plausible to outright legends. What can be said is that in 1940’s the first use of the term “Shot Glass” was printed in the New York Times in reference to a standard measurement of alcohol.

8 03, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Its Smaller on the Outside

By |March 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

I was on my last afternoon in Ireland, and had a lot of euro coins left over. Knowing that my bank won't exchange coins, was buying random souvenirs as gifts. One of the last items I bought was a small county flag of Dublin, Ireland. I had seen them around while traveling and they reminded me of the flags of the different contrade of Siena. But when I returned home and open the package, I found that this 7 euro flag, was not a small flag.  But it was actually the size of a traditional flag (about the size of a

22 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: Volcano Snow Globe

By |February 22nd, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |2 Comments

My latest snow globe souvenir is a unique find. While on my last full day in Costa Rica, my group asked our tour leader Randy where the best place to buy souvenirs was. He knew that we would be getting into San Jose really late and since most of us had an early flight the next day would not be able to get anything. So on the way back Randy had the van stop at a large and fancy store. He said it was usually frequented by the all-inclusive hotels and so would have the best selection of souvenirs, however

8 02, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: My First Snow Globe

By |February 8th, 2014|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

As I often travel during the colder, wetter, and snowier months, snow globes make a great souvenir for me to capture the memory of my travel experiences. It was New Year’s Day 2006 and I was standing under the awning of a small little shop right on the edge of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. I was with my mother and we were waiting for my father and little sister to return so we could board the vaporetto back to our hotel. It was alternating between rain and snow that day, and so we ducked into the shop to

25 01, 2014

Souvenir Saturday: A Buying Guide for Snow Globes

By |January 25th, 2014|Categories: Buying Guide, Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Last time we talked about the history of snow globes. Today I wanted to share some things to keep in mind when purchasing a snow globe as a souvenir: Glass or Plastic: This is really a personal preference but I find most of the plastic snow globes to appear very tacky, so I prefer glass snow globes. However, glass does pose the challenge of transporting a fragile object during the trip, as well as the flight home. It is a good idea is to ask if the merchant has the original packaging or has a way to wrap up the