"If your house caught on fire and you could only save one thing, what would you save?"

We've all heard this icebreaker.  I found myself pondering it this week when I almost set the house on fire.  I failed to read the label on the spray can of vegetable oil and sprayed it on a hot pan on our gas stove.  Flames erupted, but settled quickly - THANK GOODNESS.  No damage was done, and I'm glad I learned vegetable oil from a spray can is highly flammable when sprayed at the flame!

It's my goal to have a house full of things I would like to save.  For instance, I've started a tradition of getting some type of art or print in each city I visit.  I studied abroad in Cambridge at Downing College after my first year of law school.  During that time, I went to Barcelona for the weekend with friends.  There, I impulsively purchased an inexpensive stainglassish print on the street and framed it when I got home:

I loved it and wished I would have purchased something similar in all the cities I visited that summer.  I vowed I would do that in the future.  Not long after, David and I visited Park City, Utah, with friends.  I bought this picture of bald eagles that I love:

On our honeymoon, we went to the beautiful island called Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.  There, I bought this map of the BVI and had it framed:

My interest in collecting meaningful wall decor has expanded past my travels.  I have recently reframed a cross-stitched picture my grandmother willed to me.  I think it's the most beautiful thing I own:

For Christmas last year, David gave me a Walter Anderson print.  Walter Anderson is a famous Mississippi artist, and I adore this print:

My Uncle Kirk is talented in countless ways, and painting is one of them.  For my birthday when I was a child, he painted this for me.  It's just one of many thoughtful things he's done for me:

Lastly, my parents gave us a framed print of City Grocery for a wedding gift.  City Grocery is a famous restaurant in Oxford.  It's where David and I met, and I love that I have a reminder of that day on my wall!

We're lucky to have a great frame shop in Jackson - Neblett's, and they framed almost every print above.  They frame quickly and offer a large selection of frames at reasonable prices. 

So that's our meaningful wall decor so far.  My goal is for our home to reflect who we are, and I think collecting artwork and prints when we travel is a good and fun way to do that.