it is officially the christmas and holiday season, and i couldn’t be more excited!  the tree is up, some presents are wrapped, and my allergies are flaring up at my pine-scented candle.  ’tis the season.

such great memories from our group trip to new orleans this past summer!

a couple of years ago i started a tradition of purchasing ornaments from each place i travel.  unpacking the ornaments was so much fun this year after finally building up a little collection!  each ornament has a story, even if it’s just the story of trying to hunt one down (apparently christmas tree ornaments aren’t a big deal in africa – duh – so i had to fashion a key chain into an makeshift ornament).

this was originally a key chain that has now been transformed into some holiday cheer. cheers to south africa and safaris!

my favorite is probably the clay creation we found in carmel, california during our first anniversary road trip up the central california coast (spoiler alert: central california is the most beautiful part of the country; not sure why i haven’t written about it yet!).  the store personalized it for us by writing each city we visited during our trip on the stockings – so fun!

i love this ornament! it includes all (ok, most) of the places we visited on our first anniversary road trip: san luis obispo (SLO), cayucos, paso robles, big sur, carmel, and half moon bay.

see below for more photos of my favorites.  do you have any souvenirs you seek out while traveling?

ok, the truth is that my grandma gave me this ornament. but it’s one of my favorites because new york is one of my favorites, so it makes the post.

i bought this in sedona, arizona sometime between hiking giant red rocks and hugging trees while learning of the vortex. check it out.

this is the alamo from san antonio. #neverforget my husband and i went there on our second wedding anniversary (to san antonio, not the alamo specifically). san antonio is awesome – do go!

the newest addition to my collection: a mickey mouse hat! i went to orlando last week for training, and picked this cute guy up in epcot.