Squirrel Stuff I Own: Ridiculous Squirrel Wallet

Is this even a wallet?  What do you call this?  It has slots for cards inside of it and that is my definition of a wallet so we're just going to go with that.

I bought a new handbag today (it has come to my attention that they are no longer called purses) and was thinking of upgrading my wallet while I was at it.  I was admiring some very conservative grown-up wallets when I pulled this one from the back of the pile.  I looked at it, thought about it, and immediately put it back on the shelf because it was ridiculous.  Then I kept looking at the adult wallets.  Then I realized that there was pretty much no way I could walk out of that store without purchasing this ridiculous thing.

RIDICULOUS I SAY.  I'm not sure if I'll feel gleeful or embarrassed the first time I have to get this out in public.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Vintage Squirrel Salt and Pepper Shakers

My friend E procured these little dudes for me and they are just delightful! 

They are supposed to be salt and pepper shakers, but I don't want to expose them to the horrors of the dining room table, so they've taken up residence on our bookshelf.  I love their little Disney eyes.  Sometimes I set them up so they look like they're kissing as a secret message to B, but I don't think he notices.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Know Your Rodent

I had to get drunk before I wrote this post because it was the only way to calm myself down enough to think clearly and write a few sentence fragments.

This book.  Received for Christmas.  So awesome.

I said, "Oh my God, this is so amazing!  I can't believe I don't already own this!"  Friend said, "I can't believe you didn't write it!"

On bedside table now.  Still exciting.  Not conducive to sleep.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Squinky

I think I may have mentioned before that B's nieces are very supportive of my love of squirrels. They love squirrels too, I think, but maybe they just act like they do to make me happy.

Over the holidays B and I came down with a really, really terrible stomach flu, which sidelined us both for a couple days. One of the nieces wrote me a sweet little note about how she was sorry I was sick. This cute little squinky squirrel accompanied the note. Apparently squinkies are a thing now with the younger set (I'm really not hip enough to know these things). They come in eggs and they are meant to be pencil toppers but I think most kids just collect them. They're pretty cute, and I've brought my squinky to work, where he sits atop my monitor and praises my work. My coworkers are jealous.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Christmas Squirrels

So I think I've mentioned in my blog before that B and I have a couple of nieces on his side. They're very cute, and are now all old enough to talk and chatter and say funny things and just generally be small, entertaining people. They are also enthusiastic supporters of my love for squirrels. When we lived near them back in the summer of 2009 they would frequently spot a squirrel out a car window or off the back deck and scream, "Auntie C! It's a skoo-werl!!! Do you see the skoo-werl!?!?!"

I have suggested to B that he would do well to adopt that level of enthusiasm for rodents, but so far his involvement is just patient support of my weirdness.

But I digress. The point is, often the children will acquire squirrel items for me (because they know I will love them) and happily give them to me.

This was part of our Christmas present this year! They're supposed to be ornaments, but the little threads to hold them to the tree fell off. One was for B (the green one, I think) and one was for me, but B promptly regifted his so I'm now the proud owner of both sparkly, magnificent little squirrels (with hats!). And of course the nieces were SO delighted to give them to me. I'm hoping that this will influence a lifelong love of rodents in all of them.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Cards

Well, this New York City Squirrel is back from her Christmas trip to the Midwest, and has returned with even more squirrel stuff. And yet I'm still struggling to catch up this blog with squirrel stuff acquired in early December!

I received a few squirrel-themed greeting cards, recently, this one is from my friend M, who found it in Iceland.

Cute, right? Here it is from a different angle, so you can see how it's built. I like how this one is a red squirrel, since most of my squirrel stuff is based on the grey squirrel.

And then my friend E picked up this beautiful card for me in South Africa, I believe.

I love it. I feel like it's the type of piece you could put in a frame and then build a decorating scheme around, if one was inclined to decorate around a rodent. And hey, if anyone in the world were to be inclined to decorate like that, wouldn't it be me?

Squirrel Stuff I Own: November 1995 National Geographic

So as I may have mentioned before, I got some good squirrel stuff for my birthday (most of it from my mother, it seems!). This one is particularly exciting.

What's that you say? "But Casey, what do fish have to do with squirrels?" Well, my little friends, behold the table of contents, what is that on page 98? An article titled "In Praise of Squirrels"?!?!

This is a great article. It was written by a woman who spends 78% of daylight hours observing her squirrel friends in her backyard. She has named them, and regularly feeds them and observes their interactions while eating. She feeds walnuts to her favorite one. She is living my dream.

Of course the article isn't just squirrel anecdotes; she beefs it up with lots of interesting facts about squirrels. And the pictures are wonderful!

Baby squirrels! Of course this magazine is from 1995, which is the most interesting part. There is an advertisement for Windows 95! And all the pictures of cars are clearly dated. It's fantastic on so many levels.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

Well, I had a birthday the other day. I share my birthday month with lots of cool people, including Britney Spears and Taylor Swift. (I'm sure there are others, but those are the two coolest people I can think of so I think I've proven my point.) It's the best month for a birthday.

Okay, now that I've thought about it I have a lot of good friends who also have birthdays in December and they are awesome too, but there are too many to name and I don't want to start playing favorites here. But you know you who are.

My mother gave me this book for my birthday this year.

I am way excited about it. First, because it has both a tree squirrel and a ground squirrel on the cover. Two types of squirrels! On the cover! Also it is by Dave Sedaris who is always good for a laugh. It occurs to me that I probably should've read this book before posting about it, but I haven't because I'm saving it for my Christmas travel. I'm pretty sure it will be funny, though, so let's just go with that.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Stamps

I went to the post office today to buy stamps for my Christmas cards, and recalled that I had completely forgotten to post about an excellent gift I received in the mail almost two months ago.

Squirrel stamps! (And a raccoon, a creature which seems cute in children's books but is actually completely terrifying in real life, or at least terrifying where I'm from because they're larger than most second graders, but we'll let that slide.)

You may be surprised to learn, despite my love of collecting (or squirreling, as I like to call it) that I do not collect stamps. This isn't to say that I don't appreciate stamps. I did just purchase beautiful angel stamps for my Christmas cards, and I'm a little giddy about them but my short attention span will ensure that I forget about them entirely in 48 hours. Stamps just don't have the consistent draw required for me to start a collection.

But squirrel stamps? Those are unforgettable. And so cute! Thanks very much to C and D who found these at a craft fair of some sort, thought to themselves, "Gee, don't I know somebody who loves squirrels?" and were thoughtful enough to send them to New York City to join my collection of squirrel items. You guys are awesome.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Holographic Squirrel Bookmark

I received a new squirrel item from my mother last week and it is VERY exciting.

Now, to you the picture above may seem blurry, but to me it seems awesome. Do you know why? Because not only is this a squirrel bookmark, it is a HOLOGRAPHIC squirrel bookmark! (I'm assuming that that is why the picture is blurry, and not because my ability to take pictures of bookmarks is substandard. I've never tried to take a picture of a holographic thing before so I didn't really know what to expect.)

This bookmark is so cool. If you angle it upward, the squirrel appears to be munching on the nut. But if you angle it down...

Well then it looks like the squirrel is checking out his surroundings! I'm sorry these pictures are a little lame, but trust me, the bookmark is awesome. I even brought it to work the day after I received it so I could show it to all my coworkers. (They were probably less impressed than I was, but they're nice enough that they put up with antics and told me it was a very cool bookmark.)

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Ephemera

Just wanted to note that I've received multiple squirrel cards in the mail so far in 2010. This first one came from my friend A, along with that awesome pair of squirrel earrings.

He looks a little drunk, doesn't he? Like he hollowed out that nut to hold his Nutty Brown Ale.

The second card is actually a postcard, and comes from my friend M of the swings blog fame.

Dear Lord, that is a fat squirrel! I don't think I've ever seen a squirrel so obese in the real world! If I did I would undoubtedly try to catch it and make it my friend.

Squirrel Stuff I Don't Own: Awesome Squirrel Bag

So I have a friend R who lives here in the city, and it turns out that she has a special gift. The gift of attracting squirrel lovers to her! Not only am I friends with her, it turns out she has another friend, L, who also loves squirrels and collects squirrel items!

Hi, L! We should be friends!

Anyway, R emailed the other day to tell me about this friend, and she attached a wonderous picture of a wonderous object owned by L, a squirrel bag!

Now THAT, my friends, is a bushy tail done right! I love the styling of this squirrel, he's very slightly anime, and almost cat-like. And how often do you see squirrel objects with a bounding squirrel? Not frequently! The vast majority of my squirrel stuff is a squirrel sitting on its haunches eating a nut. Which makes a wonderful profile, for sure, but this squirrel bag really captures the essence of squirrel, the crazy energy and cuteness that makes me love them so.

Addendum: L wanted me to mention that this bag is made by Bolsa Bonita. I just went to their website and they have a whole variety of these squirrel bags in different colors! Aaaahh! I may have to get one of my own!

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Earrings

So I obtained this new squirrel item an embarrassingly long time ago, and it took me forever to post about it, in large part because of the new job, but also because getting a decent picture was a bit difficult.

Yes, these are my new squirrel earrings! My friend A sent them to me, and I just about shat my pants when I opened the package!

THEY ARE CARRYING TINY ACORNS, PEOPLE. IS THIS NOT AMAZING?!?!

I'm clearly still a little overexcited about them. This is my first piece of squirrel jewelry and I'm wearing them right now. It's the perfect squirrel accessory because, unlike a squirrel shirt or squirrel tattoo, these earrings don't scream, "Hey! I'm a crazy person!" No, these are tasteful and small and every once in a while someone might notice and think, "Wait, is that girl wearing squirrel earrings? And are they carring TINY ACORNS? Wow, how awesome is she! I should make friends with her and buy her lots of beer!"

So thank you A, for giving me the gift of tiny acorns and beer.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: The World of the Gray Squirrel

I received this beautiful vintage book (copyright 1973) from my friend M on New Year's Eve at around 9 PM. It was a wonderful way to end 2009 and ring in 2010! As M had predicted, I pretty much stopped paying attention to my friends the moment he handed this over.

Not only is this book about squirrels, it's also OLD. And I adore old books. I love the black-and-white pictures, the old-fashioned vocabulary, the strange diction. Sure, this book is only 37 years old, it's not exactly an antique. But the world was a different place in 1973, and so was our study of squirrels. The introductory chapter in this book brings up squirrel hunting multiple times, and the authors themselves appear to have hunted squirrels for fun. There is also a large section devoted to distinguishing an adolescent squirrel from a fully-grown adult. I certainly learned some new things about a squirrel's pelage as it matures.

While this book is not nearly as useful as my other squirrel book, I'm still a big fan. This is my bedtime reading for the next few weeks, as I'm working my way through the chapters about squirrels in the different seasons.

Thanks, M!

Squirrel Stuff I Own: 2010 Squirrel Calendar

Well, this is a timely post!

My wonderful B has once again purchased a squirrel calendar for me.

Please realize that this purchase is very meaningful. When he buys me a squirrel calendar, not only does he shell out money for a bunch of squirrel pictures, he also commits to looking at them every day for the rest of the coming year. Because he lives with me, poor thing. Nobody is as affected by my squirrel habit as he is, and I appreciate his undying love and support.

And I just want to note that I noticed that every single picture in this calendar was taken by the same person. There is somebody out there who is making a living by taking pictures of squirrels. I must become his protege.

Should old squirrels be forgot,

and never brought to mind?

Should old squirrels be forgot,

and auld lang syne?

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Knit Squirrel

I know I mentioned before that I recently learned how to knit (this is not a knitting blog!) and that I learned this new skill from my friend L, who has been knitting for years and makes some really fantastic stuff. I asked her to knit me a squirrel friend, and this is what recently appeared in my arms.

Please note his adorable fatness! The stuffing has settled near his hips, giving him delightful little love handles and he is just oh so squirrely! I am also a fan of his perfectly white little belly! He was in our living room for a while, but had to be moved to make way for my nativity set. Now he perches atop our dresser, snuggling with the Haverford black squirrel, and watches us as we sleep. Sigh... he is just the cutest thing.

Thanks, L!

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Haverford Arboretum Squirrel Shirt

My friend E's family is very supportive of my squirrel habit. In fact, they're responsible for supplying two of my favorite squirrel items in my collection, and now have added one more to the pile.

You may recall Haverford being mentioned on this blog previously. Their mascot is the black squirrel, and I already have a beautiful plush black squirrel from their store. Well, E's father was at Haverford the other day and saw this awesome shirt with a cartoon squirrel and acorn. (Side note: Nothing tickles me like when a squirrel is depicted with an acorn. It's adorable, and reminds me that it isn't exactly normal for all squirrels to carry around bits of moldy pizza, which is what most squirrels around here seem to eat.)

This shirt is now a beloved part of my collection, and I intend to wear it around the house and to bed (because nothing screams "sexy!" like a squirrel shirt, and I know B will agree).

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Ornament

This is a good time of year for my squirrel collection. People have been paying attention, and my collection has grown quite a bit. I have at least four new items to highlight in my Squirrel Stuff I Own series! Quite amazing. This year's first gift, a squirrel Christmas ornament.

This is from our nieces M and H. You may recall that I lived with some of our nieces over the summer, and they were all quite supportive of my little squirrel obsession. Nevertheless, I was surprised to open a squirrel Christmas ornament on Christmas morning. Surprised, and thrilled! I stuck him as close to the top of the tree as I possibly could (we still don't have a tree topper) and he sits there now and observes my every move. I sure do love that little rodent.

Thanks, M and H!

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Beanie Baby Chipmunk

It's amazing the things you find when you come home and actually take the time to examine the contents of your room. I have a giant shelf full of stuffed animals, and for the first time I looked up at that shelf and thought to myself, "Hey, maybe there's a squirrel in there somewhere."

Like most children of the 90s I was not safe from the Beanie Baby craze and I have at least ten of them, as does my sister and mother. I mean, they are cute, but they sure didn't turn out to be the investment that 8-year-old Casey had hoped they would be. Oh well, I was still happy to find this guy. His little black and white stripes are so charming and so almost accurate. Perhaps this was even the first squirrel item I purchased as a young not-yet-blossoming squirrel lover?

And yes, chipmunks are a type of squirrel. In fact, they are a ground squirrel, much like prairie dogs. Look it up if you don't believe me.

Squirrel Stuff I Own: Squirrel Tote Bag

My most recent squirrel acquisition happens to be an awesome tote bag, lovingly purchased for me by my sister-in-law.

I was quite excited to receive this, as I don't actually have a good tote bag; I accidentally put my favorite one in storage when we moved out of our apartment. I think this one might become my new favorite, though. It's a really nice size and has an interior pocket for things like money. I told Brandon that I was going to bring this on our honeymoon and he seemed to think that was a good idea.

Isn't it cool how people sometimes randomly buy you squirrel stuff?