Well, hello again

Garrett Nudd

Garrett Nudd

So this happened! I never expected to stay away so long, really. But you know how these things go. I had a grand plan of returning post-wedding with a honeymoon glow and a sharpened pencil. There were plans for letter-lovely gift guides (gift guides are my ultimate guilty pleasure) and holiday cards, oh my.

But then the reality of being out-of-office for three weeks took over. And there were presents to wrap and champagne to drink and winter doldrums to combat… the list goes on. But I am back. And so delighted to be penning letters again. Know someone who needs a proper letter? Email or tweet me!

hurricane Irene + letter update

No matter where you live it’s probably hard to ignore the news of Hurricane Irene. She bustled in last night while I slept. Thankfully my street is in ship shape. We have power and due to careful preparations, I have enough snacks + wine to keep me content for days, phew. I know not everyone fared so well, so my thoughts go out to those of you beginning the recovery phase.

Since the MTA shut down yesterday at noon, I’ve been holed up at home. After a clean sweep and five loads of laundry I curled up for a little movie time. I boldly choose Beaches, and sobbed through more than half of the film. I had forgotten how much I adore Hillary and CC. The best part of course, is their letters. I love that they span the friendship and help to create such a loyal bond between the girls. Letters are just the best!

And speaking of letters, I know I am terrifically behind on my posts. Please forgive me. I hope to have all of June up for you before bed time. And July + August are soon to follow. OH, how I’ve missed you all!

 

first aid first

(shutterstock)

Oh friends, I have all these letters to post for you! And instead, my brilliant plans were foiled by a site migration.

I think I got a little ahead of myself here. I’m taking a web design class and ambitiously decided to pack up and move from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. There are so many things I want to do with this little space and I was finding it awfully tricky with the .com limitations.

Well, smooth sailing it was not. I hit a few bumps in the road which is why I’ve been down and out. Pout.

Today I attempted some blog first aid followed by tender cooing (read:begging) to my host. And after nine hours and a few curses, we’re back. Well, sort of anyway. I’m still working on the “redesign” behind the scenes and am getting myself better acquainted with plug ins and such. Hello learning curve! But I’m hoping, in two weeks time, magic will happen: poof! a shinny new design with more features! I promise letters much sooner than that.

I so appreciate your support and sympathetic emails. I had really hoped for a better magic show with no awkward pauses or transitional phases. Can you ever forgive me?

And now friends, I must pour a gimlet to recover.

 

I really did think of you…

often in fact. And now that we’ve caught up on business, I wanted to share some letter worthy moments from the last few weeks.

Firstly, I joined the Letter Writers Alliance. Yes, I am very official. It’s an organization dedicated to keeping the art of letter writing alive. Amen! If you like letters, join here. Membership includes official stationery, free downloads and special treats. Best of all, they’ll set you up with a real live pen-pal!

Next, I got the most fabulous postcard from my very cheeky friend Alex. A little post-wedding correspondence from William and Catherine:

Dearest Lauren,

We were most disappointed that you were unable to attend our glorious celebration of matrimony. Catherine darling looked smashing and Pippa’s bum stole the show. It was quite outrageous. We hope to see you around the palace soon.

Regards,

Kate + William

It has a perma-place in my kitchen. Royal correspondence is the best kind you know.

And to top it all off, I discovered a charming shop in Nolita. Thomas Sires is beautifully curated to say the least, but these letter-loving knickers stole my heart. Ring up the shop for your very own pair of colorful mail!

Okay friends, that’s all for today. See you here tomorrow (really!). xo

I blame Micke.

A few of you especially thoughtful readers have asked after my whereabouts (this month, OMG). I did not deflect to Paris, or run out of stamps as guessed. I was assembling Micke.

Okay, that isn’t the whole truth. But his assembly took much longer than expected.

During my annual spring clean, it was decided I needed a better stationery storage system. I discovered this little buddy at ikea and thought it to be a perfect fit. The top three drawers offer ample space for stamps, ink-pads, pens, letter openers, stickers, etc. And the bottom drawer is a hanging filing cabinet, allowing me to organize cards by theme: birthday, congratulations, thank you. Perfect, right?

Well let’s just say Micke and I had a little tussle. I won in the end, but there were moments that just weren’t pretty friends. Ikea has this uncanny ability to make you feel like the biggest idiot/failure in thirty short instructional sketches. I have since regained my composure and am quite enjoying my new storehouse on wheels.

But I digress, sincere apologies for playing hooky for so many days. It was never my intention, but real life stuff got in the way (like the eight loads of laundry I just finished). I’m back now and I so thank you for sticking with me. A lot of letters are headed your way, starting now!