Postcards from the Heart

When you're on vacation do you take the time to send postcards anymore?  Are postcards still popular?  When I was a kid, postcards were very popular.  Any time we went on vacation we always sent a postcard to our grandparents.  When I went to summer camp I always sent postcards to my parents and my sisters.  And whenever my grandparents took a trip, they always sent me postcards from their travels.  In fact, I still have a lot of my old postcards saved in my scrapbook and my favorite one is from my grandmother when she was in Germany. 

It's interesting to look at a postcard that was sent to me over 40 years ago.  I can close my eyes and picture my grandma standing half the world away and searching through the postcards, trying to find just the right one to mail to me.   It's so nostalgic to sit and look at her handwriting on the card and run my fingers across it.  It's like reaching back across the years and holding grandma's hand. 

Here's the cool things that I like about postcards...

• The enticing photo on the front.  So many great shots of faraway places, historic sites, interesting people or animals.  The possibilities are endless and they are like mini advertisements.

• The back of the postcard always has an informative description about the photo on the front.  I can't begin to tell you how many places I've wanted to visit based on a postcard photo and description.  I always read the description and I get mad when the post office date stamp runs over onto it.

• The message from the person who sent it.  Just the fact that someone thought about me enough to take the time to send a postcard makes me happy. 
• They are relatively inexpensive to buy and send.  It's such a personal touch and a lot more fun than an email.

My sweet friend Diane, over at Lavender Dreams knows how much I enjoy postcards.  One of my dreams is to one day hike a section of the Appalachian Trail and it's on my bucket list.  Over the summer Diane mailed me a postcard from the Appalachian Trail.  I still have it propped up against the computer in my office so I can look at it everyday and remember my dream.

Yesterday I wasn't having a good day.  Let's just say that a badly clogged drain pipe flooded 2 bathrooms and a hallway.  I'll spare you the gross details but I will say - Big mess!  Once the system was rodded out and everything was cleaned spotless, I sat down and started to go through my mail.  Peeking out at me between the bills and sparkling like a little gem was a colorful postcard from Diane about The Blue Ridge Parkway, along with a charming little note.  It immediately brought a smile to my face and lifted my spirits.  It was like Diane reached across the miles and gave me a little hug.  Her timing couldn't have been more perfect!  Thank you Diane.

The next time you're on vacation you might want to stop and grab a postcard or two to send off.  Who knows, you may open someone's eyes to a new horizon.  Postcards are such a great way to brighten someone's day and just let them know that you were thinking about them.   It's  a fun way to send a hug.

Cosmetic Bag from Diane's Dream Designs

Whenever possible I like to call on my creative blogger friends to design gifts for me.  After all, they make great things and I like to give them some business when I can.

Many of you are familiar with Diane over at Lavender Dreams.  If you're not, then go over and visit her blog because it's full of interesting and fun posts.  Diane creates a beautiful line of bags - wristlets, cosmetic bags, purses, totes, and shopping bags and sells them through her blog called Diane's Dream Designs.

So anyway, Chablis had a birthday coming up and I had an idea for a cosmetics bag.  I wrote to Diane and asked her if she would design one that was black, with a leopard print ruffle and inner lining.  Diane didn't think it would be a problem and I am so happy with what she did.  So is Chablis, who loved it!

It's technically a cosmetics bag, but today we went out for the day and Chablis threw her sunglasses, tissue, chapstick, contac's case and wallet into it.  She declared it the perfect size bag to use when a regular purse is too large.

I fully agree with her.  Please visit Diane's Dream Designs.  I bet you'll find something you like too!

Today I'm hooking up with Sunny Simple Life!

Lavender Dreams & Sunshine Bliss

A few weeks ago Diane over at Lavender Dreams had a give away featuring jewelry made by Shanti over at Sunshine Bliss.  And I was one of the lucky winners!

I received this beautiful, and right up my alley, blue bracelet that is accented with a tiny turtle and seahorse.  It's made of recycled sea glass colored beads and lead free turtle and seahorse dangles.  The leather cord is a pretty blue and feels nice and sturdy.  It's also accented with a wave button.

When I received the package from Shanti, this is how it was wrapped....

Here's a few more photo's showing off the bracelet....

It lays exactly where I like it to fall on my wrist and it matches nicely with my silver bangle that I never take off and my blue ring.  It's a winner!!

Shanti has a FB page and an Etsy shop.  She has a wide variety of jewelry and I particularly liked the combination of blue and frosted blue beads that are in the bracelet I won.  Please check out her shop.

Many thanks again to Diane and Shanti for having such a fun give away!

No Spend February

Yesterday I was over at "Sunny Simple Life"  where Elaine posted the results of her self-imposed "No Spend January." What a FAB idea!  She challenged herself to not spend money while she was out and about, except for food, toiletries or medicine.  She did surprisingly good.

I am an impulse buyer.  I am horrible about buying I stuff I don't really need.  When I'm at Walmart I always stroll down the "discount" aisle to see what bargains I can snag (that I usually don't need tho.)  I am also terrible about grabbing stuff off the shelves that are alongside the check out counters - a candy bar, a lint roller, magazines.....OMG - I am a sucker for magazines....

But my biggest fall down is I-Tunes.  I know, it doesn't really qualify as an out and about kind of place, but it's so easy to go online and buy songs and apps.  I am an I-Tunes addict and I need an intervention!  Somebody help me!

Therefore, I am embracing the challenge and posing it to myself for the month of February.  I know, I am kind of cheating since it is the shortest month of the year, but I figure it's better than nothing.  LOL!  So, no unnecessary spending and no I-Tunes for one month for me.

Also of interest is that Diane over at "Welcome to Lavender Dreams"  is linking up with Sunny Simple Life and 3 other bloggers and they've started a Thrifty Living 2012 Series.  The downturn in our economy is hurting a lot more people than I realized.  I was under the mistaken notion that we (meaning me personally) are some of the few who are suffering with this crappy economy and no snow situation.  (when you plow snow for a living, no snow equates to NO income.)  But the replies on the Thrifty Living Series Comments sections have made me realize that a lot more than a few of the people in this country are struggling.  Many of us have to tighten our belts these days.  Ouch!

I was appalled when I read first hand how many people are out of work, lost their health insurance, lost their pensions, are drowning in medical bills, or lost their homes.  Some of them have lost a combination of those things all at once.  Yikes!  So many people are earning less, however gas prices are crazy high, food costs are up, insurance rates keep going up, taxes are up.   Seems like everything is up except income.

My personal favorite is how I've been putting our heat on 60 at night to save money and then the Gas Company (because their earnings were down - oh Boo Hoo for them)  just decided to raise their rates.  Nice - Not!  And, I recently asked my mortgage company to refinance my loan to let me take advantage of a much lower rate.  They refused.  So I just went and re-financed at a new mortgage company.  I'm saving almost
$ 400.00/ month on my mortgage.    Believe me, I did a happy dance the day the new mortgage went through.  Did someone say Snap??  I'm following the Thrifty Living Series with a notebook and pen and I am taking notes and will be applying their thrifty tips to our lives.

So does anyone else out there want to hop onto the "No Spend February" challenge?  It starts tomorrow if you're interested.   We can compare notes on March 1st.  And I promise I won't head over to I-Tunes and buy anything before midnight tonight....  I am wincing, but I'm determined to do this.

(google pictures)