Stationery of the Week at Penpal of the Week Blog

One of my favorite blogs for pen pal ads and stationery/snail mail topics, Penpal of the Week, just started an amazing feature called Stationery of the Week! Each week Julie, the genius who made the blog, ;-) posts a new stationery design each week that is for sale! You have one week to buy the stationery pad before it gets replaced with a new one next week. I think it's a great way to have an excellent variety of stationery. I've especially been loving the feature because lately it corresponds with the seasons! Last week was Santa Claus stationery and now up to Sunday Dec. 1st, is a snowmen design! I decided to get it to have some winter stationery to use for my pen pals in December and January. :-) Click on the link for info for this design:

http://penpaloftheweek.com/2013/11/25/stationery-of-the-week-4/

End of the Year 2013 Read-a-thon

I haven't posted in here in a while because of school, but I'm looking forward to focusing on reading challenges once more during my winter vacation. :-) It's going to be a great end of the year for my reading goals if I don't spend too much time online. ;-)

So my goal for this challenge is to read 3 books:

1.City of Bones - Cassandra Clare
2. Bittersweet - Sarah Ockler
3. Last Days of Summer - Steve Kluger

I'm going to try to read these books, but I might switch it for other books, depending on my mood. :-)

EDIT: I changed my goal to 3 books to make it more manageable. I've been busy sending out Christmas cards and going on errands so that has made me read less. :-( But I will really work on finishing this read-a-thon well. :-)

If you're like me, you probably have a lot of books that you've been planning to read! Why not join this read-a-thon and enjoy the books you've been meaning to read for a while? :-)

Sign up at http://networkedblogs.com/RvvoZ

RESULTS! : I did not do as well as I wanted to. It's been a busy time, but I did manage to finish most of City of Bones before the end of the challenge. Hopefully with my next read-a-thon it will be much better. :-)

Fall into Reading Read-a-Thon 2013

I'm happy about a new read-a-thon to join, this time for fall! School has started last week, and I already have a bunch of homework, but I don't want to neglect my reading hobby. <3

My goals:

Finish reading 3 books!

1. Prodigy - Marie Lu

2. Belle Epoque - Elizabeth Ross

3. The Healer's Apprentice - Melanie Dickerson

Link to sign up: http://bibliophilesisters.wordpress.com/fall-into-reading-read-a-thon/

UPDATE 11/27/13:

I didn't do well in this challenge at all! I think it's because that was the week when school started, and the homework load got crazy from the start! XD But I eventually read Prodigy and the Healer's Apprentice (both good ones). I haven't read Belle Epoque yet.

Labor Day Shopping

Last weekend I did some labor day shopping for stationery supplies at Michael's and Barnes & Noble. I'd like to share with you what I got. :-)

I love the Paris theme of these note cards and stationery! The stationery on the top is nice for list making or quick reminders, but it's so pretty that I'm planning to use it for writing to my pen pals. :-) Everything here was 50 cents each!

 I got crafting tape (washi tape) on sale for about $1.50. I've been wanting some new colorful tapes because most of the ones I have are black and white designs. The set came with another black one, though. XD The stationery on top came in a pack together for 80 cents. I love the vintage look of it. :-) The green floral note card pack was 80 cents and the red note cards were 50 cents. Sorry about the glare - it says "Sail Towards Your Dreams." :-)

I got this planner and note cards from Barnes & Noble. Thankfully I had a gift card and coupon because B&N is on the expensive side, although they do have some lovely stuff. :-) I love the planner - the inside is colorful with inspirational quotes and enough space to write in homework assignments. I got it for a fresh start for the fall quarter. :-) The note cards are made of recycled wood-free paper from India. The design with the flowers is really pretty. :-)

I hope your labor day weekend was great, too! <3

Incoming, Outoing, Stationery Swap, Stationery Order July/August

Been really into stationery lately! (Well, more than usual!) ;-) My kind friend, Cecilia from Germany, swapped some Kawaii stationery with me! I love everything, especially the Rilakumma one, Chip & Dale design, and the homemade envelope she made!

 

Julie from La Papierre ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaPapierre ) had a special offer on her blog: 8 free surprises along with my order! So... I couldn't resist ;-) I got two lovely letter sets and they came with these bonus goodies! I especially like the air mail labels - I can always use some of those. :-D

Here's some of my recent outgoing mail. Two postcards for Postcrossing, a letter for Yoshi from Austria, and a few note cards for a note card exchange that I'm participating in :-)

I recently had an unhappy mail box, but my friend Sherri, from North Carolina sent me a letter! It was a beautiful sight to see after days of no mail! :-)

Since then, I've gotten more mail! A lovely postcard of a castle from Clare in England, a note card from Sherri in Georgia who is part of the note card exchange with me :-) a letter from my dear friend Rhia is Canada, and a letter from my lovely friend Patty in Texas!

Sit Down and Write 4

I'm not much of a writer, but I have so many stories and story ideas floating around in my head - they're so vivid, almost like a movie, that I absolutely have to write it down and bring my characters' stories to life on paper. I feel like my characters exist on their own and I didn't create them... I discovered them. :-) I don't normally show my stories to others, they're part of a persona project of mine, but I will tell you this: my stories revolve around a powerful family who is beautiful, intellectual, sophisticated, but cursed. That's all I'm going to say. :-)

During this challenge I'm going to devote at least 500 words a day for my story writing. I'm mainly a letter writer but I suppose this blog is appropriate for this kind of challenge, too, especially because the host of this challenge also hosts reading challenges. :-)

I'll chart my progress daily (or frequently!)!

Week 1

Monday: I wrote 1068 words! Really surpassed my goal for today! It was just too much to write once I was in the middle of it. :-) The Write or Die online app is really useful!

Tuesday: Today I wrote 663 words, and the 20 minutes went by quickly. I feel like the scene played out well in my mind, although the dialogue is a bit on the cheesy side. I just want to get it all out and then edit it eventually when I'm all finished

Wednesday: I wrote 587 words. I kinda didn't want to stop, but I have to because I want to go to bed soon. I have a headache and haven't been getting enough sleep lately. But the story stopped at a really awkward but interesting part. :-) 

Thursday: I wrote 656 words. I don't recall what I wrote on this day, but I know it went well. Editing this project will be interesting in the end!

Friday: Internet was down so I didn't get to use the Write or Die online app, but I did write 655 words using Microsoft Word. Successful! Further establishing the background of one of the characters' family.

Saturday: All went well. I wrote 640 words before midnight. XD I really like the transition of the characters talking about what they wanted to do with their lives, then moving on to a character's dream sequences, and then the character waking up in the middle of the night. I can hardly believe that I have one more day of the challenge tomorrow! Time went by fast :-)

EDIT: Oh my... I didn't realize that this is a 2 week challenge. XD I was all ready to end tomorrow! Bwa ha! Now my story will be even more nearing completion by the end of the 2nd week! I wonder if it will be halfway done?

Sunday: I honestly didn't feel like writing today, but I did it anyway and I'm glad. :-) I wrote 589 words and left it at that.

Week 2

Monday: Wrote 648 words. Not bad considering it's a lazy Labor Day holiday for me. I'm interested in seeing which direction the story will take next.

Tuesday: 594 words this time around. I'm dead tired and almost completely forgot about writing today. I should put it into my planner so it's one less thing to worry about. :-)

Wednesday: 578 words for today. The story is flowing smoothly enough.

Thursday: 590 words today! Finished around 11:11 p.m. (don't remember what I wished for, ha ha!)

Friday: Had a fever the previous night, so today I rested a lot and completely forgot about writing. :-(

Saturday: Wasn't exactly in the mood to write today either, especially after getting sick. I was really tired

Sunday: I didn't get to write today either.

RESULTS: I did great until I fizzled out at the end after getting sick. XD But overall I think I was pretty successful. :-) I wrote a lot more than I thought I would!

Throwing Letters Away

Today I spent 2 - 3 hours throwing away old pen pal letters. For many years I resisted doing this, because I believe that hand-written letters are precious and much more special than e-mails and text messages. My mother kept telling me for years that I should throw away my letters. And finally I see the wisdom in doing so. I've been keeping letters from many pen pals who no longer write to me, even pen pals from my childhood who I had forgotten about until I sorted through their letters today. I kept letters from pen pals who wrote short replies, including one page replies written on memo sheet-sized paper. I kept letters from a girl who manipulated me and made me feel like dirt even though I considered her a best friend. Now I see that throwing away these letters gives me a sense of closure. I am moving on with my life and getting to know new pen pals. More letters come to my mail box each week. I have too much junk and I don't have room to store all my letters, as cool as that would be. Of course I am still keeping some old letters, especially the really special, thoughtful letters that were written to me. But now I see it's a good idea to get rid of letters from pen pals who no longer write to me, pen pals who are toxic people, and pen pals who write very short letters. I must admit I had to throw away some letters from a good pen pal of mine, but only because I had way too many from her, all written on notebook paper. I've been writing to her for years :-) Her words are in my heart, though, and I'm still keeping her latest letters.

What about you? How do you feel about throwing old letters? Do you think all letters should be saved, or is it okay to throw some away?