Mailbox Monday

Okay, I snapped this one quick today! It's outside one of my favourite restaurants - The Vault - it used to be a bank (you can even sit in the old vault). I haven't seen a mailbox outside any of the other businesses in the area...so this just makes me love them even more! I definitely love this style (as you can probably tell).

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Thinking Outside of the (Mail)Box

I love mail. I love paper. I love lists. I love sticky notes. I love little notes.

And there are so many ways to share a few words with someone without needing a stamp or an envelope. At the end of November I went away for the weekend (without kids, without husband) but before I went, I left my hubby a number of sticky note reminders and other notes around the house. You know...things to remember about the kids, dinner possibilities, and other general messages but I also left one on the bed that said, "Enjoy having the whole bed to yourself" and one on the bathroom mirror that said, "I love you." It's been about two months since then and guess what...

it is a little wrinkled but it is still kicking around in the bathroom and that just makes me smile (with my whole face). It was fun to put them around the house and think about where my guy would see them and be surprised.

In other noteworthy news (and you just know that pun was intended) just this week I registered my girl for Kindergarten! That means packing a lunch and a backpack - oh perfect for little notes or pictures at least until we get the reading thing down! I really hope she loves school! I look forward to sharing in her adventures and sending her off with love!  I don't send notes with my hubby normally but we do send him mail and emails throughout his week (he doesn't have a lunch bag because he just takes a homemade or leftover meal from the freezer and a fork - although I have been known to tuck something in his bag or pocket). I also try to pop in during candy gram time (Christmas/Valentine's Day) and send one to his classroom (he has his Christmas one up on the fridge right now).

Now I was lucky enough to receive a little letter out of the mailbox last week! It was just lovely.

This typewriter sits on the hutch in our dining room. How nice to come home to this note from my beautiful sister-in-law! Opportunities are out there just waiting for you to seize them and spread some love. Lunch box notes, fridge notes (sticky notes, magnetic poetry), bus stops, doors (outside/inside), cubicles, pockets, bags/purses,  bathroom mirrors/shower doors (you can even write in soap and it will show up when it gets steamy), in a library book you are returning (just for fun)...a note by nature is just a few words but wow, what a few words can mean! Getting any ideas yet? I hope so!

680/1000 Four pieces dropped in the mailbox...

Mailbox Monday

Well...I missed last Monday (you may or may have not noticed). I was so excited that my husband's family (sister-in-law, brother-in-law & my beautiful nieces) was coming home from a two and half week trip to India - I was a little distracted! And along the travel theme I was searching through some photos today and came across this photo I took in Venice. Not for display purposes - this is actually someone's mailbox!

Gorgeous!

Okay, I also have to post this drool-worthy store window...oh a trip to Italy...

that would be lovely!

Seriously, who takes a photo of a paper store...I do! I do!

Have a great week!

Some People Care Too Much...

"Some people care too much, I think it's called love."

                                                                - Winnie the Pooh

What a sweet and wise bear.

I've been thinking about February 14th this week - scouring my house for supplies to make Valentines. I think I have it all figured out for this year...think Venn diagram. Fun!  Piper picked out hers at the grocery store the other day - Toy Story (making her Disney Mama proud). We were looking at the designs and she couldn't wait to tell me all about the different characters. This is going to be a fun year. And if you are dreading this upcoming day on the calendar I encourage you to look at my
previous posts about the good ol' 14th of Feb.

Valentine's Posts: 2013, 2011, 2010.

My daughter does have a penchant for wrapping things (mostly in my clean kitchen tea towels) and making cards (hmmmm....wonder where she gets it). This weekend she went to a birthday party for her friend Andy and this is the card she made (my husband jotted down her translation). This awesome photo was taken by Andy's Mom, Candice of Candice Wong Photography.

So Sweet!

She had a great time at the art party and also painted her entire face green (just like last year). I want to say...Creative Genius? She makes me laugh so often and I just burst with love for her too. She received some mail of her own last week and there were five great questions for her to answer...

1. If you had one super power what would it be?

2. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?

3. If your parents let you paint the house, what colour would you paint it?

4. What is your favourite season? Summer, spring, winter or fall?

5. If you could give your Mom one gift, what would it be?

Okay, first of all, I love that she is getting her own mail. And beyond the excitement, the time listening to me read it and the heartfelt message from one of her fun Aunties, it leads to a conversation for us to have about those questions...she has to really think and I learn a few things too.

Her Answers:

1. Love. To make everyone love their friends.

2. An apple or two.

3. Maybe pink, because it is my favourite colour.

4. Spring, because that is when we get to have cold ice cream and chill down 

from the sun (okay, so we might need to work on our seasons).

5. Something special.

Send some little people in your life mail - you won't regret it! It will mean more than you think it will. Heck, use the questions above to start a dialogue or send them a Valentine or a knock, knock joke! And if you are lucky...they will send something back to you (and something magical will have started).

676/1000 Up by 5!

Where Does a Word of Thanks Lead...

Don't know if any of you accepted my challenge of sending a thank you note for good customer service but after posting that blog I sat down and wrote mine! Before I put pen to paper I sat and thought about my past interactions with Dan at the grocery store - he has always been helpful, pleasant, and geniune. And what makes him so great is that he is consistently this way (maybe I've missed him on his bad days or maybe he doesn't have bad days - either way, he's great). I addressed the note to the manager because I feel/felt like Dan should be recognized for what he does day in, and day out.

As I was writing my note I started to think that perhaps this type of mail is the best kind of mail I can send. Sure it's nice when friends and family members notice what you do and congratulate you on a job well done, but a stranger? An unbiased party? That is a whole different ball game isn't it? Somehow it is more legitimate (especially to your boss anyway). So I encourage you to try it.

Indeed!

Of course, you don't need to send mail to do this either. You can simply pipe up when you encounter great service or pop by the customer service desk and chat with the manager. Or simply start handing out compliments to strangers. I remember I was standing in line and the lady in front of me had a brightly coloured pedicure. I can't remember what the line was for but it seemed to be a bit of a wait. Anyway, I leaned in and said, "I love the colour of your toes." She gushed in return, obviously thrilled to let me know that her daughter and her had gone together and she had let her daughter pick out the colour (she was maybe even a little unsure about the bright colour). My comment had clearly made her day. A small observation. A few words off the tongue. And you know what, the exchange made my day too.

Are you looking for more/any ideas of mail to send? How about a thank you for a recent gift - traditional note or maybe a photo of you using, wearing, eating the gift (whatever happens to work). Manage to snap some great family photos over the holiday or have a few favourites - send them off to friends and family for the fridge (it seems we print fewer and fewer photos in this digital age). Send a Happy New Year card! A Have Your Best Year Ever card! An I Look Forward to Seeing More of You in 2014 card! Have some fun this January through the post. If you are snowed in, iced in or just choosing to stay cosy inside it's a great time to get creative.

Here are a couple of thank you photos I should send to my Sister-In-Law and her awesome family for one of the coolest/best Christmas presents my kids received this year (and homemade to boot)!

The Piper and Sam Show!

Oh my... is she ever at home
on a stage (or tv for that matter).

671/1000 14 fun pieces going out on this rainy Saturday! Inching my way to 700 and ever closer to my goal of a thousand paper letters! Woohoo!

Mailbox Monday

Okay, so this probably looks a little like "Advent Calendar Monday" doesn't it? But I had to share this amazing advent calendar I received in December from a beautiful friend (who clearly gets me)! Such a lovely selection of teas and I thought about her with each cup and shared some with friends too! Tea, friends, Advent - these are wonderful things.

And now let the New Year begin!

Happy Monday everyone - I've been thinking about you all!

Today There Are Many Possibilities

We really enjoyed Christmas with lots of visits and time with family and friends. There was even some snow in December (and that doesn't always happen here on the west coast).

Snow Angel!

Out with the old...that is what we have been up to at our house - purging, cleaning, organizing and then doing it again. Still a few areas I'd like to tackle but pretty happy with how we did. The clutter tends to weigh on me and I don't always notice or realize it for a while and then suddenly creativity stifled, inspiration impossible...only stuff in the way. So feeling good about a clean desk again (and closet!). It's funny how turning a piece of furniture a different way gives one a whole new perspective on a room. I know I wasn't the only one doing this...good for you (if you did it too).

It's a brand new year - fresh and full of possibilities! Is this the year I finish my thousand paper letter challenge? I certainly feel close. Is this the year I write a book and get it published? Maybe. Is this the year I open my own stationery store? Oh that would be a dream. So full of potential...I love a new year and 2014 certainly has a nice ring to it.

I've been writing and sending since my last post (December 16) so I have some good numbers to add to my count - cards, postcards, photos, and gifts have gone and are going out in the mail! I love looking through a pile of cards/letters/postcards ready to go - makes me feel happy.

657/1000 with 19 glorious pieces of mail.

I've finally had the wherewithal to notice the name tag on a really nice fellow that works at my local grocery store, so it is on my list to send his manager a letter to compliment his great and consistent customer service (does this make you think of anyone you could do the same for - so easy! I'm challenging you all to write a note/thank you/letter about someone who is really good at their job - tell the boss!). I'd love to know if you do it.