Letter Writing for the Modern Age

Looking at WhitePeach's post and the adorable Post Pockets (which I hope I WILL be receiving in the mail quite soon) - I was inspired to write about one of my favorite things - stationary. To me there is nothing nicer than receiving a card in the mail from someone - except sending one to someone! I can spend hours browsing through card stores in search of the perfect cards for the people I care about.  This however, is a luxury that I don't have now that I am working. 

Enter - JackCards - both a card lover and card hater's dream. Jack Cards not only solves the problem of forgetting birthdays & important dates (hence card haters) but it solves the problem of not having enough time to spend hours in the Hallmark store. All you have to do is enter your friends and families birthday & address and browse through the hundreds of cards on the site. There is a card for everyone and every possible occasion, and it even reminds you of when someone's birthday is coming up so you know it's time to pick out their card! 

You can be a nerd like me and pick out cards for everyone who has a birthday coming up in the next 3 months and then order them all at once or just order one at a time. But either way you choose to do it - one card at a time of 20 -  you have the added fun bonus of received the cards pre-addressed and stamped at your door two weeks before the event. Just sign, seal and stick it in the mailbox. 

This is truly letter writing for the modern age. Easy, Fun & a great use of technology. Now when am I going to come up with a great idea like this? 

More great finds from my homeland

Algonquin, clean air, poutine...just a few of my favourite things about Canada. Now I can add one more to the list: thesouvenirshop.ca

The brainchild of Motherbrand, a design firm dedicated to preserving Canada's culture, and Toronto's art-haven Gladstone Hotel, Souvenir Shop tackles the oft-tacky world of souvenirs by offering a fresh take on Canadian mementos.

Some of the things on my wishlist (and btw, how cool is the drag-and-purchase feature?!):

Ani+Lumigrane's Maplemap hanging lamp - winner of the Best Collection Award during IDS08 and more importantly, winner of my fluttering heart.

Laura Henneber's Post Pockets - genius transparent postcard sleeve...Chiffon Cupcake might be getting one of these in the mail...

Cynthia Hathaway's Souvenirs Revisited:Bear - what a disarming piece that artfully blends humour, environmental caution, and beauty.

Annie Lum's recycled laptop sleeve - functional nostalgia--I love it.

Stepping back to step forward

Inspiration comes from anywhere--this we know. For me, it's typically fashion-related; the way a hemline falls, a combination of patterns, or a well-placed and off-beat accessory--these things can ignite my imagination. But today, inspiration struck from the unlikeliest of places: an argument.

As ChiffonCupcake said, I'm out West studying for a few months. Amid my melancholy stupor at the thought of leaving CC, I managed to get my act together long enough to find a sublet for my room--or so I thought.

To spare you (and myself) the long and painful story: I got ripped off. Subtenant moved in. Subtenant did not pay. I spent weeks trading angry emails and phone calls, lost hours worth of sleep, and worst of all, wasted far too much of my precious study time. Instead of focusing on my textbooks, I focused on getting this woman to pay.

Exhausted and distraught, I called my mother. I explained to her how exploited I felt and I pleaded for her to help me plot my next scheme.

My mother, bless her heart, calmy said, "Don't be Hillary Clinton."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Don't be Hillary Clinton," she repeated. "What's the bigger picture, here? What is your main objective? I think it's for you to get the best education--and right now, you're not getting it because you're too busy chasing after a lost cause. In fact, you're wasting time, energy, and money trying to get this woman, who is clearly not going to pay you, to pay you."

And she was right. I was just like Hillary. Hillary was too busy trying to win the nomination that she kept pouring money and resources into a campaign destined to fail, even jeopardizing the unity of the Democratic Party in the process. Though it was clear to many that Barack was going to clinch the nomination, Hillary was too entrenched in the trenches to see it herself.

In my case, it was about recognizing that, and I'm paraphrasing here, "A crazy bitch will always be a crazy bitch", and knowing when to direct my energies elsewhere. I should have cut my losses. Should have looked for the bigger picture.

And so here I am, inspired to share this perspective with you: sometimes, you have to step back to step forward.

Way Out West - the start of Lovdore

The story is short and sweet. Two best friends from the big apple have to say goodbye for a few months while one goes off to change the world. They exchange cards. One, who is fond of mixing words together to form the proper sentiment, decided that love and adore were words that described the friendship best. However, neither of these words quite worked on their own, so she combined them into "lovdore". 

After they discussed the word later, they both decided that this was the perfect name for the blog they had been dying to create for months, and so it was. Lovdore.

We hope to spark something for others out there as our friendship has for the two of us. It might be about fashion. It could be about the latest place we visited in the city that we recommend as a must. It could be about our latest baking experience - but whatever the post, we hope it is something that will add a little something special to your day.

We also look to this blog as a growing process. By combining our thoughts and things we love in one place, maybe it will plant a seed that someday grows into something much bigger.