Outgoing Mail – Apr 30

Eight letters going out today.

2 to the UK (Debbie and Cameron)
2 to Canada (Jaynny and Amber)
2 to Germany (Nika and Renate)
1 to Bulgaria (Anelia)
1 to the Netherlands (Jocintha) 

Incoming Mail from Rachel

Mail haul today included eight greetings from pen pal Rachel. Wow!
Four letters, three postcards and one puzzle postcard.
Fun to put together and a pleasure to read, the puzzle card takes the win here!

Thank you Rachie! You made my day 🙂

First Pinch Me Package

Mmmm…. Gevalia Mocha Latte. My first Pinch Me package.

This was delicious but I probably wouldn’t buy it at the grocery store. Even though I love sweet things, this drink was super sweet and there are a lot of different (probably not too healthy) ingredients. It was a treat for me — and of course, a lovely surprise in my mailbox 🙂

On Tuesday I’ll be going back to Canada and unfortunately Pinch Me only exists in USA. Thank you to Amber in Kitchener who posted about https://www.samplesource.com/. Check out her finds here. She got some pretty sweet samples. Thanks for sharing. I just registered!

Hope to get some lovely free gifts at my door soon.

Liebster Award Nomination from Elle

Exciting news! I have been nominated by Elle at HeyJayel for a Liebster award!
Thank you so much for thinking of me!

What is a liebster? A liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome. The purpose of the award to nominate up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers, learn more about them and be part of the connected online community. Sounds good to me! 🙂 Thank you Elle, for the nomination.

If you are nominated and interested in participating, here is the process:

• Post the award on your blog
• Thank the blogger who presented the award to you and link back to their blog
•  Share 11 things about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions given to you by the person that nominated you
• Nominate 11 bloggers who have less than 200 followers
• Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer
• Notify your nominees by posting your nomination on their blog.

HERE WE GO…

Eleven Things About Me:

• I am an educator, writer and humanitarian.
• My brother is eight years younger than me.
• I failed the pig dissection in high school science class.
• Favourite food? Kimchi.
• Harriet the Spy was my favourite book as a child.
• Although I don’t have a “life plan” right now, I consider myself an optimist.
• One teacher at my high school said I wouldn’t go far in life.
• Another teacher wrote “don’t forget about this school when you’re rich and famous” on a screenplay writing assignment that I submitted.
• My favourite movie is “Goodfellas”.
• I love playing with children: painting, dancing, singing, etc. Because I’m a kid at heart, my job never feels like work.
• Someday I’d love to open a coffee shop that sells stationery.

Answering Elle’s Questionnaire:

1. What do you like most about your hometown?
My favourite thing about Toronto is it’s diversity. So many interesting people and such variety makes it a wonderfully cultured place to live.

2. Which song best describes your life right now?
The Lumineers – Ho Hey

3.  What is your favourite late night/ midnight snack?
I try not to eat late at night but when I do it’s straight for the cookies. This is why I don’t buy cookies anymore. Or if I’m watching a movie, chips. Definitely chips.

4. What is your weirdest quirk?
I put an X through each day that goes by on my calendar. Maybe that’s not weird to other organized people out there, but it annoyed the heck out of my former coworker.

5. Which superhero/Disney princess did you want to be when you were younger?
Belle was my favourite Disney princess. I liked that she had a huge library in her castle and that she was always reading, but I wasn’t the princess type. When I was young I wanted to be able to communicate with “Ghostwriter“. If you were a kid in the 90s you might know what I’m talking about.

6. Do you have a catchphrase? If yes what is it?
“Aiiigo” 아이고 , which means “Oh my!…” in Korean.

7. What’s the funniest/weirdest nickname ever given to you?
Angry bird.

8. Tell me one thing that people don’t know about you?
I was once issued a lawsuit for a million dollars.

9. Has something happened to you that you didn’t believe would ever happen to you?
A few years ago I met a homeless woman who lived in McDonalds. We became friends. She had no family and few friends, but we met every Wednesday morning. We talked about culture, education, politics, love and life. She passed away last year. She told me that I was her angel and that I was the only family she had left. Now, I am writing a book about our friendship and what she taught me.

10. If you could call yourself another name, what would you name yourself?
I’m stumped. I don’t think I’d change my name even if I could.

11. Who do you admire most in the whole world?
My mother.

My Nominees:

This part is the most difficult for me. Because I am new here, I don’t have eleven people to nominate so I will start with one and add on as time goes by.

1. Emma at Em’s Den

2. Amber at Amber in Kitchener

3. Em at polkadotparadiso

4. Kimberly at kimberlyah

5. Lydia at snailswithmail

6. Annett at Knetty Craft

7. Debbie at Mailmaker

8. Kelly at My Personal Thoughts

9.

10.

11.

I have read that the award must be presented as a widget

in pink: for those who haven’t fully completed the process,

or green: once the process is complete.

So I will present the pink award on my blog and hopefully after nominating ten other lovely people I can show the green one! I’m keeping my eye out for sweet bloggers out there 😉

Eleven Questions for my Nominees:

1. What do you expect your life to look like in 2029?

2. If you could have dinner with a historical figure who would it be and why?

3. What is the most interesting/strangest food you’ve ever eaten?

4. Tell about a nice thing that you’ve done for someone recently.

5. If you could go back to a moment in your past when would it be?

6.  What items are in your bag, purse, backpack or briefcase?

7. What cosmetic, fashion accessory or item makes you feel like a million bucks?

8. What happened on your worst date?

9.  Who is your favourite artist (singer, author etc.)?

10. Ice cream in a cone or a cup?

11. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be?

Thanks for reading. I’ll be back to nominate more liebsters soon!
Congratulations to those who have been nominated!
Stay sweet, my friends!

Seoul Education Postcard

When I was living in Korea I visited the Seoul Education Museum. As an educator I found it fascinating, but for some reason the mock 1960s classroom gave off such a creepy vibe. Aside from having a panic attack, I was overjoyed by the vintage school supplies, stationery and the history of it all!

Above: The boy asks his classmate if she wants to go to the Education Museum. She replies by saying sure! Simple words and a simple design… but so sweet!

If you’re in the Samchongdong area in Seoul, check it out!

Don’t Worry, be Happy

Last month I stumbled into a coffee shop and, aside from things you’d normally find in a cafe, there were baking supplies, pieces of artwork and little trinkets. One stood out at me; it was a little doll-like figure attached to a piece of cardboard. The packaging said “Worry Doll” and claimed it’ll “take your worries away.” It seemed like some kind of voodoo doll at first, but then I turned it over.

On the backside it read: “People from a land far away believe that before you go to bed at night you tell your worries to your doll, place the doll under your pillow, when you wake in the morning your worries are gone.” Instantly I thought of a friend who I wanted to buy it for. When I looked at the price I was shocked. $17!?!

I decided to put the doll down and walk away… I could make my own “Worry Doll”. So today I finally found some time to DIY Worry Doll my morning. This is how it turned out.

The friend who I will send this to is starting a new job half way across the world. Although she has been there before it will be a new experience and with new experiences come lots of worry. Don’t worry, be happy! Hope this worry doll comforts her along her journey.

Mon Cher Amis

 Why hello there smiling bear! I initially bought this stationery set to send to my friend in Ottawa who is just obsessed with cute polar bears… (I sent it to her a long time ago and I have one set left now!!) I wouldn’t say that bears are my favourite animal but I think that this little guy would make anyone happy, don’t you?

Mes cher amis, keep on snail mailing!

Letter Writing Club in Vancouver

“The Regional Assembly of Text” is a stationery shop located in Vancouver. What struck me about this shop is that they have a letter writing club. I bet the owners, Brandy and Rebecca, like to send and receive letters just as much as you do!

They have an invite on their website: “Join us in Vancouver the first Thursday of every month at 7pm. No need to sign up ahead of time. Everyone welcome. No cost. Supplies provided.” I am drawn by this work station. All of these typewriters and stationery supplies? What a dream.

I will definitely be joining this club when I move to Vancouver at the end of the year.

 

Sent Postcards from USA & Korea

Here are a few cards that I’ve sent in the past. I bought the one of the Korean woman from a palace in downtown Seoul. The poem is also written in English on the inside. It’s a folding card and it’s scented with a scratch-n-sniff perfumed seal.

Love sending out snail mail! Let me know if you’d like to receive a greeting from me 🙂

Our Visit to Moab

My boyfriend, Kiuk, and I spent three days in Moab. We visited Dead Horse Point State Park, Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park. The greatest stop was at False Kiva, a truly remarkable class II archaeological site. Here are some photos of our travels along with more information about False Kiva at the very end.

Mesa Arch

Wilson Arch

Dead Horse Point

   Petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock

A kiva is a room used by modern Puebloans for religious rituals. They call this one (below) the false Kiva because the circle of rocks is of unknown origin, not the kiva itself. Yes, ancient peoples lived here.

Why did we decided to come to False Kiva? Twenty years ago Kiuk bought a large framed photo of this very scene. It is still hanging in his room back in Korea. He’s always dreamed of coming here. The view was absolutely spectacular. Hopefully, in twenty years we will have the opportunity to visit again. We wrote this little story in a comment book on site. 

Initially, I didn’t want to come because it’s a rough hike, there are no signs or indications on the map. The reason False Kiva’s whereabouts aren’t offered easily is because, since it’s a class II archeological site and people have somewhat destroyed parts of the kiva, the park does not want it to become a tourist spot. Which I agree with in a sense, yet on the other hand it’s a glorious site and people should witness the beauty.

I am glad I followed Kiuk’s lead on this one! We had such a great time 🙂

For information on how to get to this spot ask the park rangers at the “Island In the Sky” Information centre located in Canyonlands.