Tuesday, September 7, 2010

PandAmonium

----------------

{Ailuropoda melanoleuca}  Giant Pandas.

Growing up I liked these black and white bears.  They're cute, cuddly-looking, fierce creatures.  Also, who doesn't love a bambo-a-tarian?  It totally helps the environment.

So when Thai Shan the panda was born the day Mike and I visited the National Zoo for the first time ever since moving to DC, I was ecstatic.  I knew baby pandas are the size of a butter stick, so it made sense that the cub's nickname was such.

Mike and I continued to visit Thai Shan when we found ourselves at the zoo.  I swear that bear hardly made it outside.  Still, we saw it, waved at it, and pretended to talk to it (or maybe we really talked to it, but we're totally sane).

Then the fateful day came to send Thai Shan back to China.  Did you know ALL pandas are on loan from China?  That's a strange deal if you really stop to think about it.  New York City's not asking for any rats back.  I guess rats aren't as adorable.
Maybe it's an adorable-factor.
The fact that they are endangered doesn't help extend their stay.

Back on topic...
So Fed-Ex gets the box ready for Thai Shan, China gets excited to up their panda numbers, and DC prepares the farewell.
Simultaneously Mike prepared his proposal to ask me to spend our lives together!
 
What ensued after Mike popped The Question, I call PandAmonium.
Panda'monium because the amount of panda stuff that found it's way into our home was astounding.

Don't get me wrong, I like the bears.
And my youngest niece will be dressed as a baby panda at our wedding (cute, cute, cute!).

But here's a fraction of our collection:

1.  Personalized panda mugs, a gift from the National Zoo in celebration of our engagement. (They also gave us a bottle of champagne!  Not too shabby, eh?)

2.  Pandora Panda charm! My mom bought this for me for my bracelet.  I love this one.  It's sweet and cute and carries such special meaning.

3.  Matching panda shirts, a gift from Mike's dad and stepmom.

4.  A stuffed panda, also from the National Zoo.  Penny Lane tried to get in the shot.  I love that my cat is black and white like a panda.

Do you have any collections that sprung themselves on you?


{All photos by: Yours Truly, Me}

6 comments:

  1. My husband and I were bear fans when we dated. I still try to find cards with bears on them for special occasions. One of my 5 favorite names is Barrett (pronounced bear-it).

    However, one of my sons went to a school where the Panda was the mascot. I was a bit disgruntled. Most schools try to pick mascots that show strength, courage, honor, determination, fighters - but all a Panda does all day long is eat bamboo and poop. I wanted more inspiration out of a mascot than that!

    Have a great day! (BTW the polar bear exhibit at our zoo if my FAV!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. awwwww i love it! My hs sweetheart's nickname for me was panda bear...he was grizzly bear. i dunno how it happened lol. i love the charm and the stuffed panda tho sooo cute!

    ReplyDelete
  3. how cute is this!!!!

    What started as a joke between me and my sister in law has sadly given us both a ton of hannah montana momentos neither of us wish to posess hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  4. Well, the panda's make sense, and you're a teacher so expect more once student's parents find out.

    I say this because my Grandma was an elementary school teacher and I inherited her owls. There are SO many owls in this house,... and now people buy them for me! Keychains, necklaces, shirts,... it just is.

    And I did NOT know that China rented out Pandas. wtf?

    But finally - Pennylane is still my favorite cat ever. That pic proves it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd forgotten my once-upon-a-time love of Pandas. I used to have a collection myself...although I can't recall much of the details...but there was a mug.

    I have a collection of stray cats that come to eat twice a day. That's about it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cute! Do you guys actually wear the T-shirts at the same time? You guys are hard core Panda peeps.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails