What I Buy Wednesday

I didn't buy anything this past week as I was catching up form our trip to Portugal and getting ready for the Bridal luncheon. I did buy the flowers for that. 

So, I thought I would share the "souvenirs" I brought home from Portugal. I really don't like to use the word "souvenirs" as it makes me think if kitsch--you know, trinkets and key chains. Well, speaking of key chains, I did try to get Butch to buy himself one. It had the name "Emanuel" on it. We have NEVER seen that. Obviously, it's a European name. His mother was from Austria. He didn't want to do it because: A. He doesn't need a key chain and B. He's not 10 years old and wants one with his name on it!

Okay, on to what I bought.

There's a lot of color here! I bought quite a few pashminas that are going to be gifts. 

I was enthralled by the tiles everywhere--streets, outside of buildings, inside of buildings, floors--you name it and it was tiled. I couldn't resist the trivet as it incorporated the tiles and cork (another big thing in Portugal. You can get cork shoes, purses--just anything--in stores that only sell cork products). There are potholders under the trivet. I do like to get things that are practical and I actually needed the potholders. 

You can see my Starbucks mug in the back--for my collection. There's a tiny trolley car Christmas ornament next to it. I bought that little tidbit tray because I loved all the different tiles on it. The spoon rest came from a local artist in Coimbra. Now I want to call your attention to that stack on sardines. I had no idea that sardines were such a big thing in Portugal. There are stores every where that are dedicated to sardines and fishy pates. 

They are so colorful. The labels are really pretty. BUT---if you buy sardines in the fancy stores with these fancy labels, they are upwards of 6 Euros per can!! 

We love sardines, but were happy to find them in the little market near our hotel for under 1 Euro---more like our prices. On our rainy day, we decided that we'd rather have a picnic in our hotel room. We stopped at the market and bought sardines, cheese, fruit and crackers. (We love to do this when we are traveling. We eat out so much, it's nice to have something a little lighter.) We brought home several cans to give to the "boys."

The only other thing I would have liked to get were some "tile" earrings. There were so many choices. But when it came right down to it, they were either too big or too small for my taste.