Thank you

My father always praised me for writing thank you cards. I do love a good one. I think we have hired the past couple of people who have bothered to send one to us after their final interviews. It just makes good sense.

Few people take the time to do this anymore. It's easier to send an e-note or put together a mass mail. A phone call is nice, but an ecru card in the mail says "Wow, I really appreciate the thought you gave to this/gave to me and it made me happy/truly thankful." Even if it's a crappy candle holder. It's the right thing to do.

A recent NPR: All Things Considered piece focused on this topic, and gives etiquette guidelines to potential thank-you card writers. My favorite:

"Don't use lateness in writing as an excuse not to write. If you're still sending thank-you notes after your first wedding anniversary, keep writing."

I well remember the one person who I gave a wedding gift to and who never wrote me a thank you card. She stiffed a few of us, and we were pissed. It was one of the first things I thought about each time I saw her in the years after her wedding. I'll spare you the other thoughts that subsequently entered my mind.

Views from the show

A view of the doorway leading to the main floor.
On the stairs outside of the show. I was a pussy and didn't take many pictures inside. Fear that some security gaurd was going to shake me down for my Mrs. Grossman's stash. That's right -- stickers.
Doreen mulls on what designs we will come up with first over a ridiculously expensive salad. This was a last resort meal after we were foiled by the crepe people. Damn you crepe people. This was also after talking to the onion woman and then realizing we needed to start doing food and wine work ...

About the show

The Stationery Show last month kicked much ass.

People loved the name. Loved the pinkness. Loved that we were just starting out. Loved to chat about their experiences. Gave us beautiful hand glittered cards. Were all shapes, ages, sizes, sexes and races.

They gave us hope.

So, while we work on our pet projects, Doreen and I are going to work on turning this blog into a repository for all things correspondence: exploring the beauty of mail, notes, cards and letters. If you are reading this -- you probably already can embrace part of it -- but you may not realize how much it means to get personal mail. In these days of tons of junk mail (mostly Victoria's Secret catalogs) that clutter my tiny mailbox every day, it still makes my heart smile to see a new letter from Jessamy, or a card from Lauren or Jenny, or a funny from JenK. It's the best. Plain and simple.

I recently e-reconnected with a boy I haven't seen since I was in 7th grade. He fights for environmental rights in one of the PacNW towns where everyone is GREEN and when they go on vacation they decide to do it biking in Finland for a month -- in the rain. He told me that he stays in touch with some of our elementary school friends -- even sending birthday cards each year with one of them that he hasn't seen in 12 years. He's 30. He's been sending this male friend cards since he was a teenager. Maybe a tad sentimental and good about keeping in touch -- but all the same. That may have given me more hope that all the 600 booths full of letter press, tiny buttons, funky fonts and colors in the Javitz Center.

Cards rule!