Credit

What? Yes. Apparently I never grew out of that childhood habit of picking things off the ground and hiding them away in my pockets for future endeavors. I walk to work every day so I pretty regularly find 'treasures' worth keeping.

1. Coins larger than a nickel
They add up, yo. Also - then I'll have something to give to all the people who hang out at the bus stop by my office, constantly hitting me up for change. "Here ya go! I picked up $1.35 in dimes and nickels on my way here!"

2. Feathers
And sometimes? I maaaay have been known to put them in my hair. Yes. Feel free to puke in your mouths and resist the urge to tell me I'm going to get fleas/hepatitis/gangrene.

3. Pretty Leaves
Again, for hair accessories or pressing between the pages of books. Or I forget about them and my cat chews on them and gets leaf bits all over the sofa.

4. Notes
I live a few blocks from a school, so occasionally I'll get lucky with a note all full of I's dotted with hearts or detailing exactly why "Ashley is a total biotch"

5. Photos
These are gold mines - the occasional rejects from a set of vacation photos are the best I've found, and a few awkward school photos. Set against that awful blue backdrop, brace-filled smiles.

6. Foreign Language Newspapers
I work in Chinatown so really, almost every newspaper is a foreign langauge newpaper. But I love to wrap presents in Chinese script and look at all the pictures of places that I haven't been (yet)

7. Lottery Tickets
Any winning ones yet? No.

8. Anything Shiny
Because, apparently, I'm a magpie.

Am I totally insane? Do you pick up treasures off the ground?

Posted by Sarah Von

Sara Rose started Chatterbox to expel the stuff that runs through her brain at a thousand miles an hour. She loves writing, cooking, reading, and of course lists!

1. I'd have sex. Ok, a lot more of it anyways. It would be awe inspiring, the amount of naughty bedroom antics that would occur here, nightly.
2. I'd go for daily walks. Maybe I'd work out more. I'd stop reading stuff about how important it is to get off my butt for at least 60 minutes a day and do so.
3. I would talk on the phone again. Or maybe I'd hang out with people again. Remember when NOBODY instant messaged or texted? You'd call someone up or you'd go over and see them. People stopped by each other's houses for coffee and a chat. For real. Isn't that amazing!
4. I would stop pretending to work when really, I'm looking at funny stuff online. In the days before internet, I was only on my computer to do things like write. In my introduction to the internet, I never emailed or blogged or looked up random garbage, but rather I would research, check my bank account, and oh yeah, write.
5. I'd try two new recipes a week out of the gazillion cookbooks I already own instead of looking up new and bizarre recipes online.
6. I would read more. Ok, so this is a bit of a stretch since I already try to read a book a week and I have subscriptions to more magazines than you can imagine. But I do remember when my evenings used to center around making a wonderful dinner, cleaning up, going for a walk, and then settling in with a mug of tea, my journal, and my book. I'd read and write until the wee hours of the am.
7. I wouldn't have so many headaches. This I am sure of.
8. I would have to find my husband a new career. Poor guy. He's freelancing, building websites, designing software, and 99% of what he does, what he needs, etc., is on the internet. It's his whole other universe. What would he do instead?
9. I'm sure I wouldn't write every day. Maybe I would. Sometimes I wonder whether the internet really does help my creative process or if it just hinders it. But there would be days where instead of writing, I'd be doing other stuff. Going places, seeing things. Maybe I would be writing fewer useless things?
10. I would eat less. Obviously with the advent of things like cable, dvr, the internet, video games, etc., people sit on their bums a lot more. We also sit on our bums doing these things while we eat. We eat with total lack of conscience and pay no attention to whats going in our mouths, how much is going in, whether we really want it or not, and whether we're even hungry. We basically eat for something to do. Not appealing.

Posted by The Naked Redhead

Ice cream cones--Sure, eating ice cream out of a dish is less messy, but getting my favorite ice cream (with sprinkles!) makes me feel carefree and happy.

Giggling at the word "duty"--...or other such nonsense. I apologize, I know that immature humor or laughter at silly words is ridiculous, but boy, I sure don't want to grow out of it. Harboring a little bit of the 7th grader in me has made many a boring meeting fly by gracefully.

Playing in my bare feet--Just last week, my nephews and I played basketball in the driveway, sans foot wear. I loved the sound of their little (and now not-so-little, with my oldest nephew turning fourteen today!) feet slapping on the asphalt. And oh, how lovely the grass feels on naked toes.

Bugs Bunny--Just the other day, I heard Dave Chappelle credit Bugs Bunny as one of his comedic heroes. The cartoons might be oldies, but yes, they are still goodies. The Rabbit of Seville? Classic. AND, it still makes me belly laugh to this day. (Haha, the link is in Spanish!)

Feeling pretty in a dress--Ok, ok, I used to HATE dresses when I was a little girl, but now that I'm older, I'm finding my inner princess...and IT'S AWESOME. On days when I'm feeling "blah", I simply have to throw on a dress to feel just a bit better.

What won't you "grow out of"?

• Running through Newspaper This deceptively simple game was a firm favourite from ages 4 through 7, and surprisingly enough involved running through a piece of newspaper which two people were holding. It was like breaking through the ribbon at the end of a race, only more fun!
  
  
• Murder in the Dark Best with a big group of people and a very big room. I wonder if the adults were ever concerned by the blood curdling screams which ensued?
  
  
• Water Fights Especailly if they had advance planning and involved teams, water balloons, water guns and a little bit of treachery!
  
  
• The Chocolate Game One of the best birthday games ever, participants took turns rolling a dice. If you rolled a six you had to dress up in an assortment of clothes, then start eating a block  of chocolate using a knife and fork until the next person rolled a six. The funny clothes, the excitement, the chocolate - what more could you want?
  
  
• Anything involving a trampoline Although the injury potential was high any games on the trampoline had an equally high fun factor!
  
  
• Hide & Seek Usually one of the best games, apart from the time a nest of bumble bees was unintentionally involved (not recommended)
  

Posted by The Naked Redhead

photo

1. I'll be able to eat and buy Greek yogurt whenever I want to. Not just for special birthday breakfasts, you $5 tub!
2. I'll own a car that was made in this decade. No more luggage racks on the trunks of 1994 Ford Tempos for me.
3. I'll own matching bra and panty sets instead of pretending that my black bra from Target matches with everything.
4. I'll stay in hostels and with friends because I want to not because the trip is otherwise out of my price range.
5. My entire closet will be filled with those cedar hangers. I find the mixing of multi-colored plastic hangers and wire hangers unethical and jarring to my delicate senses.
   
   How will you know you've finally made it?

Posted by Sarah Von

• Going on random adventures. So many options to consider!
• Sleeping in of course! Though I try to be out of bed by 10.00am or it feels like the day is almost over. Most of the time anyway...
• Catching up with friends, preferably in a situation involving good food and/or drink
• Having brunch at the cafe by the pier and ordering French toast, which tastes even better when you have a view of the sea
• Visiting markets. Now that the weather is warming up here, the local French farmers market will be starting up again. I can't wait to check it out!
• Being crafty. I always seem to have a few things on the go (what a surprise!) and never seem to find the time to work on all the little projects during the week.