Friday, February 11, 2011

One Year Later: Inside my 2010 Winter Olympics Box of Stuff



by Lisa Ovens

Well, there it is...my 2010 Winter Olympics Box of  Stuff.  If you are wondering why...please read the column below as an introduction. As you can see, Lisa's Big O stuff  didn't all fit inside. Locating more Olympic stuff in the far reaches of hockeyandhighheels.com's headquarters just didn't fit into the plan, so I strategically placed two: the Holland Heineken House Hat, and one of the many Petro Canada Olympic glasses that I own.



There it is, dumped out onto my 2010 Winter Olympics fleece blanket that conveniently folds up into a small pillow. That 's one item of Olympic stuff that's been frequently used. Some things that aren't used at all...


These pins...


and...



These other...


Trinkets...




I have a small army of CBC buttons that are in the plastic bag in the bottom corner of the above photo. Those were relatively easy to come by: every time I walked by the CBC's studio I was given one. Don't worry, at the third pin I was protesting, but those cheery "street team people" would have none of it!



Here you can see more of the paper items, like my Olympic visitor guide, some ticket stubs, various torch relay and hockey game cheering accessories, an Olympic scratch and win (I won $30), an un-chewed pack of Exel gum, and a wrist band and a server's note pad from Holland Heineken House. And speaking of Heineken...look at the hat...


A fabulous hat when you are in a Holland Heineken House and there's an Olympics going on in the background. And, being the hat person I am, I must admit, I have not worn the hat since Feb.19, 2010, the night my friends and I tore it up at Holland Heineken House. In my travels since the Olympics have ended, I have yet to see anyone else wearing this hat. And you know a few of those babies sold - there were only $15.00!

I do like knowing I have the newspaper with Canada's first Gold win on home soil featured on the cover (bottom right corner)...



That was a thrill for us Canucks, eh? So was claiming as our own, the hottest winter accessory in recent years...the red Olympic mittens.

I was just at the Hudson's Bay downtown store on Thursday, and they have the new look mittens available...



...and they also have the original mittens, but only for those with small hands.

Oh those mittens! I know I wasn't the only one running around for those. They sold out every day! But I finally hit it on the right day during the last week of the Olympics; had to pick up a pair for my good friend, and fellow hockey writer, Jan Snyder, down there in Houston, Texas. She got them for Christmas. She told me she took them to the NHL's 2011 Winter Classic featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.  Apparently they kept her brother-in-law's hands warm, because he was one of those guys that arrived unprepared for what turned out to be a chilly evening.

As for my pair...never worn. But hey, there's always Sochi 2014!

So, everyone, as we'll be bombarded with Vancouver 2010 memories from the local media this coming week, don't forget to drag out you 2010 Winter Olympic Box of Stuff and show the souvenirs, the trinkets and the occasional piece of crap some love.

Oh yeah...Happy Hockey Day in Canada!

Piece of crap item not shown above: a flimsy, black ball cap advertising Parmesan cheese. Oh yes. You know you waited in line at the Italian House for that puppy, admit it! ;o)

2 comments:

Cass said...

You got the mittens. I am so jealous!

L.A. Ovens said...

Cass, you know I met a guy at a book signing I did during the Olmpics, and he told me he bought 80 pairs of the mittens! No wonder we had a tough time buying mittens some days :o)