Desperately Seeking Kate

I have recently returned from New York City. It is difficult to describe this magnificent city in only a few words. If you have had the opportunity to experience NYC, then you know exactly what I am talking about. If you haven't, I would suggest you grab a pen and add this destination to your "bucket list." I have thought about it over and over since my return on Sunday evening and I am not sure what it was exactly that mesmerized me but I think it is simply the energy, vibe and pulse of this place. I have wanted to visit New York since I was a child and dreamed of growing up to be an actress. My dad always said he would take me one day. After some glitches with my dad's health in the past year and my 40th birthday approaching, we decided to just do it......seize the day!

Dad and I in Central Park

On the Brooklyn Bridge

One of the many things I wished to accomplish in my short stay was to visit Kate's Paperie. It was recommended to me by Gary at Paper/Papier in Ottawa. I did a quick search online before I left and by Saturday morning, my dad and I were heading up West Broadway from Canal Street in search of 561 W. Broadway. When we reached the end of the street, we back tracked but we could not find Kate's Paperie. Finally, I went into a coffee shop and asked if anyone knew where this shop might be. One of the young men working behind the counter took out his Blackberry and discovered that this location no longer existed. The nearest one was in West Greenwich Village at 8 West 13th Street. So,we were off again and in less than 15 minutes, we found the tell tale logo for Kate's Paperie.

I was so excited to shop here and find some unique stationery. It was really the only shopping I was interested in doing in NYC. I panic in a clothing store but throw me into a stationery or shoe store, and I can be occupied for hours. After looking through cards, box sets, ribbons and NYC themed stationery, I came upon some very beautiful Christmas tree ornaments (which I cannot describe here as they will be gifts for my family members).

A couple of shots of the inside of Kate's Paperie.

I approached one of the young women who was working and asked if she could package the ornaments so that I could safely bring them home to Ottawa. She looked at me and said, "Are you from Ottawa? I'm from Ottawa!!!" To which I replied, "Yes, we are...sort of." Then she explained that she was actually from a small town outside of Ottawa which I probably hadn't heard of. It turns out she grew up in Fitzroy Harbour, a small community which is a mere 40-minute drive from our hometown of Cobden. What are the chances? I can only imagine how excited she was to see people from her home especially when her new home is shared with about 8 million people. She has been in NYC for the past year and a half studying acting......a common career choice for those living in NYC. I call that little encounter serendipity. I shared TLWR blog with Kaylah (the woman from Fitzroy Harbour) and her co-worker, whose name has escaped me, and asked them to pass it along to all of the letter writers in NYC.

Posing with Kate's Paperie staff . The woman to my right is from New Jersey and
the woman to my left is Kaylah, the Ottawa valley girl..........."Just a small town girl in the city lights.........."

If you happen to be in NYC and you want to check out Kate's Paperie, you can find them at four locations in Manhattan. And for those of you living outside of NYC or if a trip is not in your plans anytime soon, Kate's will ship internationally so feel free to browse the site and do some online shopping.

Next time I will do more research as I learned too late that there are many fine stationery shops in New York. This will not be my one and only trip to the "Big Apple" so I will have more chances to explore next time.

Killing Time with Another TLWR Giveaway

I have had a really great post written and sitting in my drafts for several days now. Why? As I mentioned, I went on my 3rd field trip last Thursday and because it involves Canada Post, I felt it was only appropriate to send the draft to one of the powers-that-be to give his seal of approval before posting it online. Turns out, he is a very busy man so I am patiently waiting to receive an email from him to let me know that the information is accurate and represents Canada Post in a positive light. In the meantime, I am throwing up these silly posts in an attempt to kill time while I wait.

I came upon another blog, "I Love Letters", that I am enjoying. This blog comes out of rural Australia and is easy to read and follow and has a very warm "feel" to it. 'Kaz' posts her address and welcomes letters. She promises to write back so if you feel like sending a letter to Australia, she's the one to send it to. I also came upon"A Postcard A Day." In her words: "I'm one of those people who has led a nomadic existence, and so did my parents. My father started collecting postcards as a way to continue this life at least in spirit when his wandering days were over. I'm continuing the collection and posting at least one, chosen more or less at random, each day." It's like taking a mini virtual vacation to places and times you may never have visited had it not been for this blog. Not only can you visit exotic places all over the world, many of the postcards are from long ago and due to the research that goes into each post, you feel like a time traveller. This is especially great for those of us who are home bound due to careers, commitments and children.

So, while I wait, why not have another awesome GIVEAWAY? No matter where you are in the world, you can win this GIVEAWAY. This time, TLWR is giving away a  Letter Writing Kit. Not only will you receive a package with all things you need for letter writing but a part of the gift will be personalized stationery courtesy of Inky Design of Ottawa, ON, Canada. To be eligible, you must be a follower of The Letter Writing Revolution blog and then all you have to do is leave a comment below to enter. Comment once per day if you wish until Wednesday, October 20th when the winner will be randomly selected and announced. I recently received personalized stationery from Inky Design and it is beautiful and classy! The winner will email me their address and before long you will receive a gift of all things stationery! This GIVEAWAY will be mailed to you wherever you may be.

On a final note, I recently made a decision to take a sabbatical from Facebook. I have never been into Twitter but I have found Facebook has slowly started to take control over my time. Reminds me of the way I used to have the odd cigarette and before long I was a pack-a-day smoker. I created a profile on Facebook about three years ago and now it is a habit that I check into several times per day. Gotta know if Karen P. is happy/sad/constipated/hungover, etc.or whether or not Janet L. is eating a bagel/bored or on her way to work. Seriously. When I actually thought about it, I realized that aside from the cool links and photos, I really waste a heck of a lot of time on there. I know, I know, I really could control my urges more and only allow myself 30-minutes per day on Facebook but I am an all-or-nothing kind of a gal and so I decided to just have a leave of absence and go "cold turkey" just as I did with my smoking habit 12 years ago. So far, so good. It's been 48 hours and aside from a handful of panicked comments, I haven't received any FB messages and I feel free. I have also accomplished a lot in the last couple of days as I am not getting distracted and losing pockets of time on Facebook. My sister said something to the effect of, "It will be interesting to see who your "friends" are when you're not so easily accessible on Facebook."

Sorry...couldn't resist.

I guess it's the false sense of connection that I get from Facebook and the weirdness I feel when I run into someone who I haven't seen in two years and they ask me about something I did a month ago. When I look at them with that twisted/confused look, they reply, "Oh, I read it on Facebook." That creeps me out and I think I want to return to real connection like phone calls and handwritten letters. This cartoon  was posted in the comments at Good Mail Day. Made me laugh.

One last thing..........
The other day, I asked a friend (during a chat on, you guessed it,  Facebook) for his snail mail address as I wanted to send a birthday invitation to his son for our daughter's birthday. A few minutes later, I received an email from him with his email address in the body of the message. Huh? I replied and explained that I needed his street address and postal code as I wanted to mail an invitation. His reply, "Oh! Weird. Paper. I remember that. We'll have to find our mailbox!"

Yep, time for a revolution. A Letter Writing Revolution.

Soup Making and Letter Writing

I was supposed to go to a parent's group this morning in Ottawa but I bailed.....again. This group was created for the parents who have children who are a part of Roger's House. Roger's House (not to be mistaken for Ronald MacDonald House) is the only pediatric palliative care home in Ontario. They also provide support and relief for families with children who have significant special needs. We are one of those families. The parent support group is offered monthly and I have had full intention of attending in the past but things always come up and I cancel. It is to the point where I think the facilitators are beginning to wonder if I dream up last minute excuses to avoid attending. This is not the case. The main issue is that we live an hour and a half from the centre and so driving all the way to Ottawa and back again for a support group leaves much to be desired. I am sorry but that is the honest to goodness truth. If I lived in the city, I would attend each month but that isn't the case.

The point of that long-winded introduction is that instead of going to Ottawa and attending the group, I decided at 6am that I was staying home. Not only did I stay home but I made a pot of Carrot Coconut Soup and I was also going to try my hand at mail art. And that's it. I needed this day "off" and at home. After I got the soup going, I was side-tracked and thought today, this perfect and glorious autumn day, would be a great day to thoroughly clean my office. This left little time for the mail art and I ended up sheepishly wandering over to the local pharmacy and choosing four standard postcards of a Canadian fall scene. Had I gone to the city, I would have dropped by Paper/Papier and bought some beautiful and unique stationery. The thing is, I was anxious to get my first five postcards mailed out through Postcrossing. Postcrossing is another website I unearthed that is very cool. Basically, you create a simple profile.......very easy even for those of you who panic at the word "profile." Next, you click on the button that says, "Send postcard." You are then given a random address of someone in the world and access to their limited profile. You then send them a postcard. It is important that you also write the Postcard ID # onto the card which is sent to you when you get the address. When they receive it, they register the ID # onto the website and then your address will be randomly given to someone who wants to send a postcard. Not sure if I have explained this very well. Some of the women I sent cards out to today have sent and received close to 1000 postcards! I am looking forward to receiving some postcards in the mail from all of the world. I sent postcards to the U.S.A, Italy, Germany, Finland and Spain. And all of this fun is free!

I suppose I can now share my Carrot Coconut Recipe for those who also enjoy cooking.

1. Saute a large chopped onion, 5 large cloves of garlic (or more) and about 3 Tbsp. of fresh, grated ginger in oil in a large pot. Saute until onions soften.

2. Add six cups of carrots, chopped roughly.

3. Add one chopped (small cubes) yam (sweet potato). Cover with vegetable broth until all veggies are just covered. Add a teaspoon or two of curry.

4. Bring to a boil and then let simmer on medium for two hours until vegetables are very soft.
5. Transfer to a large bowl and then use a scoop/measuring cup to transfer portions to a food processor for puree-ing. Wash out the pot so there are no bits left over when you add the pureed soup back into it.

6. Once the pureed soup is back in the pot, add one can of coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen brand).

7. Now, serve yourself a bowl and write a letter or a postcard!

Sweet Child of Mine

I was teaching a prenatal class in Ottawa yesterday to six expectant couples. During the morning break I was sharing The Letter Writing Revolution with them. One mom-to-be asked, "Do thank you notes count?" to which I replied "Sort of but not quite." I chatted enthusiastically about my blog and about the lost art of letter writing. I asked if any of them had every written love letters to their partners and in response I received some shoulder shrugging. I talked about my Letter to a Soldier post and of course, the post on Love Letters. One of the dads-to-be promptly added the url for my blog into his Blackberry and announced that he was going to write me a letter. I am expecting him to. I don't take statements about letter writing lightly.

I think that when I return next week to teach their second and final prenatal class, I am going to suggest they start a project to not only contribute to the revolution but to also enhance their relationship with their unborn child. I am going to recommend that they start by writing a love letter to their unborn baby. When I was pregnant with our daughter, I kept a pregnancy journal which kept track of the many details of those 40 weeks + 5 days that I would have otherwise forgotten.

Photo by Marlys Symingon

My husband wrote a letter to our unborn baby who we lovingly referred to as Cletus the Fetus. Here is an excerpt from that letter:

Dear Cletus;

"Okay, okay....I know that you probably think that we are pretty weird for calling you "Cletus" but it was kind of funny at first and it has become somewhat familiar over the last few months. I am writing this to you to let you know what all was going on in my life while I eagerly waited to meet you. Both you mother and I (that still sounds weird to say) have a feeling that you are a boy. It probably does not help that your nickname is a boy's name but for the record we really do not have a preference either way. For me, I really like the idea of having a son to do all of those father/son things together but I also really like the idea of Daddy's Little Girl, as well...........

.......I am not sure how I am going to be as a father but right now I am not the best at saying mushy stuff but I hope to get a little better with it as time goes on. I have never been very good at expressing myself but I will give it a valiant effort, just bear with me, okay? You haven't even arrived yet but you have turned our lives upside down. Every spare moment I am thinking of you and how much I want to meet you. All of the sudden I notice every baby and wonder what you will look like. Will you have more hair than them or be bald as a cue ball? Mind you, with the amount of heartburn your mother is having you had better have a full head of hair (it is an old wives tale). Will you be a happy baby? Will you have chubby little cheeks? Will you have your mother's stunning blue eyes? I mentioned before how deeply in love I am with your mother. I thought that it was not possible to love anyone more deeply until I heard about you. I know that it is probably a cliche but I honestly would make any sacrifice for you without any hesitation and I have not even met you yet! Anyway, I could go on forever and not get any closer to explaining how much you have brought to our lives already. I know you will teach us many things about love and life and hopefully we will teach you what it means to be loved and how to love.

So, take care, little one. We are anxiously awaiting your arrival but take your time and just come when you are ready. Know that you will be greeted by two very nervous but very loving parents that promise to always be there for you."

Love Dad

My husband with our daughter, Meredith (2004)

I may share this letter with my class and then gently encourage them to spend an evening each writing a letter to their baby.........their hopes and fears, their excitement and their wishes, what is going on in the world as they write, what their dreams are for the birth and the weeks after and of course, their feelings towards this baby that is still on the inside. Then, I am going to ask them to write a letter every year on the eve of or on a day close to their child's birth day. Imagine when the child is older and receives a box of letters that have been written over the years out of love for them......the first one being written even before they were born.

If you are expecting a baby and reading this, perhaps this is something you can consider. If you know someone who is pregnant, an interesting shower gift would be to give them a decorative box, beautiful pens and paper to begin a tradition of writing letters to their child. These letters can be given at the child's 18th birthday or graduation or for Christmas one year. As they get older, the letter can be written in the days leading up to the birthday and they can receive it as one of their gifts. This can be an annual tradition of receiving a handwritten letter from one or both of their parents. This inexpensive gift would be far more valuable then anything you could buy in a store. Guaranteed.

TLWR News of the Week

Friday has arrived in a flash and I want to share with all of you some of the cool things happening at The Letter Writing Revolution headquarters.

First off, I have been pumping out letters like a mad woman in the last couple of weeks and there are more to write today. Keep an eye on your mailboxes and you, too, will find a letter from me.....if you are a part of the Challenge. Secondly, I have not only been writing letters but receiving them as well which is like waking a dormant part of myself. I walk to our post office and get this joyful feeling when I spy an envelope that isn't a bill or junk mail. As TLWR grows, so does the number of letters I receive. It is a great bonus of being head of a revolution like this one.

The third highlight of the week was when I received an email from a blog follower who happened to come across my blog through various links. She requested a letter from me as a part of the challenge. She is following from Kentucky, USA. Very cool that the revolution is reaching places beyond my friends and relatives home addresses :-)

The fourth highlight of the week was when I checked my Blog Stats last night and discovered that in this week alone, this blog has been viewed from all over Canada and the U.S.A but also viewed from far away places like the Netherlands, Germany, Vietnam, Afghanistan and India. How awesome is that??? Maybe "my" soldier that I wrote to did receive my letter and is now checking out the blog.

And finally, last but not least, I arrived home yesterday to an email from Jen over at Pen and Prosper urging me to check out her blog post. She had chosen four bookmark-worthy blogs and TLWR was one of them! I am pretty thrilled about that as it is a huge compliment to have my blog admired by someone I have only met recently online AND to have this blog exposed to more people. Every little bit helps the revolution to grow. Thanks, Jen!

Oh, wait......one more highlight of the week........my mom just showed up with a little gift for me of a roll of Canadian stamps (60 of them!!) to help out with my letter writing. Thanks, mom!!

On that note, wherever you may be, have a wonderful weekend and find some time to write at least one letter to make someone's day! And as always, if you haven't become a follower, please do so and please also share this blog with your friends and family. Who knows? Maybe they will be inspired to write YOU a letter.

You Found a Pen Pal....Now What?

As mentioned in a previous post, I had about 12 pen pals when I was a kid. I had pen pals from all over the world. You didn't think twice about sending your exact mailing address, a photo of yourself and details about your life to an address found on the back page of an Archie Digest. When I was around 11 or so, I was matched up with a girl from the UK through Girl Guides of Canada. She became my most dedicated pen pal and we even met a couple of times first as teens and again when she travelled to Canada on her honeymoon. Although we still managed to send one another the odd Christmas card, we have reconnected on Facebook. I can still, to this day, recite her entire snail mail address from memory. That demonstrates just how many letters I wrote to her. Our letters contained the latest gossip on school, our families, our heart throbs and most importantly, the band Wham!

Since this is a revolution and I am working really hard to revitalize this lost art, I am handwriting letters each day. Now I could cheat and send out postcards or greeting cards but I am determined to write every single person who responded to TLWR Challenge with a letter written on sheets of paper. It seems more difficult to write a letter to a stranger now that I am no longer a child. I try to think of what might be interesting to someone else and then I am reminded that simply reading someone's thoughts, comments, observations might be interesting enough. "Christine" commented on my last post that perhaps part of the reluctance to write a letter is simply not knowing where to start or what to write. I get that. I am rarely at a loss for words in a conversation but I have been surprised at the pauses in writing that occur when writing to a new pen pal. But, and this is important, I have also discovered that the more letters I write, the easier the words flow and the less cramped my hand gets. We really don't write anymore.....letters or otherwise. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

Some of you are interested in pen pals and I have managed to create some pen pals between your children. I haven't quite figured out how I am going to match up some of my Followers who would like a pen pal. There are some interesting websites out there for pen pals like "Inmate Pen Pals" "Sexy African Pen Pals" and a few others that would not be appropriate for this blog. I don't recommend you share your mailing address online at one of these sites. You might get a whole lot more than a letter on your doorstep!

Sometimes a pen pal relationship can blossom with someone who you are acquainted with but maybe you really don't "know" that well......a distant relative, a childhood friend, someone you have met only once but 'clicked' with. I have become pen pals with a woman who was a childhood friend of my husband's mother. My husband's mother passed away 26 years ago but 'Joan' has always stayed in touch with their family. She and I have been writing back and forth recently and I love getting her letters. Think about who you can send a letter to and just see where it goes.

If you're really stuck, I present the following steps to help get you started. These were copied directly from the website eHow: How To Do Just About Everything when I typed in a search for "How To Write the First Letter to a Pen Pal":

Step 1
Share your information. Break the ice by telling your pen pal a little about yourself. Start with the basics: name, age, occupation. Write about what you like to do or what's on your mind that day. Sharing your information will encourage your pen pal to share his information with you and will begin to develop your friendship.

Step 2
Ask questions. Write questions for your pen pal to answer in her next letter. This will help you get to know her and probably get you a faster response. Weave your questions into the letter by telling her something you like to do and then asking if she's ever tried it.

Step 3
Solicit advice. You may share a situation with your pen pal and then ask what he might do in your situation. You don't have to take his advice, but it will give you some clues about his personality. Also, discussing real-world issues will further develop your friendship.

Step 4
Be consistent. Ultimately, it takes time to get to know someone. It takes even more time to get to know a pen pal because you only have the information she writes in her letters. Make a point of writing to your pen pal frequently. Over time, you can become great friends with this person you've never seen before.

Tomorrow's post will be updates and interesting tid bits of TLWR this week.

The "45 Letters in 45 Days" Challenge

If you're new to this Blog, please read the very first post to understand what The Letter Writing Revolution is all about: http://theletterwritingrevolution.blogspot.com/2010/06/one-of-these-days-im-gonna-sit-down-and.html

You might assume I live alone (with about twenty cats) and have a lot of time on my hands when you read my next brilliant idea.......
As of today, I see that I have 45 followers and I thought it might be fun (or maybe completely insane) to challenge myself to 45 letters in 45 days. This means that each follower would have to send me an email with your snail mail address so that I may write you a letter. This is assuming that the followers are actually "following" this blog on a regular basis.  Of course, you can always opt out of assisting me in my challenge (party pooper!).

How hard can it be? I will set aside 20 minutes per day to handwrite a letter. Each letter will be original and will be mailed the same day that it is written. You are not obligated to write me back but I suspect some of you have yet to experience the thrill of getting a handwritten letter. Maybe you used to write letters because you were actually alive before email and texting existed but perhaps it has been a long while since someone sat down and wrote YOU a letter. I would like to offer you this wonderful experience. It would be my absolute pleasure to spend time writing to YOU and mailing YOU a letter.....the old-fashioned way.

This is a free, no-obligation offer.

For those of you who do not know me personally, I will use your mailing address for letter writing ONLY. I am not into scams or stalking or anything of that sort. Perhaps you would like me to write a letter to your child.....just specify when you email me your address. I am happy to surprise your child with a letter. Just make sure you tell me how old they are so that it is age-appropriate.

So, for the next couple of weeks, I will be collecting snail mail addresses and I hope to receive all 45 addresses of my followers. I will begin the "45 Letters in 45 Days" Challenge on July 25th. Please forward your snail mail address to keonjulie@hotmail.com and put in the subject line: TLWR

You will receive a letter from me by early August..............I promise.
Thank you to my follower from Switzerland who surprised me with a delightful letter!!!