Did you know I love postal mail? I come home everyday and open my mail box, allowing my breath to catch as I turn my key with anticipation that I’ll discover something sent with love and care carrying the unique penmanship of its sender. More days than not I am fortunate to fill my hands with a cache of magazines, letters and when I’m really lucky checks. Odds are I send more cards than your grandmother does. If you ever looked through my wallet the chances are high you would find some stamps. Some may call me old-fashioned, others would just say I have an old soul but I have always been nostalgic for the ways of the past. And mail, day-by-day, becomes increasingly archaic.
For a while I’d been trying to come up with a way to amplify the usage of the Unites States Postal Service beyond my own weekly mailings. My best audience is still right here on the Culinary Librarian, so I figured it would be smart to work out a giveaway that somehow include the post office. If you’ll remember from my last giveaway I took up embossing recently and have been making my own stationary ever since. Going one step beyond just giving away homemade cards which might be slipped under doors or place in a loved ones suitcase I have decided to give away stationary AND stamps for the next year in hopes it will start an organic chain reaction of everyone sending each other notes, letters, baked goods, sonnets, and so on and so fourth! I’m really hoping enough of you share my intense fondness for the act of sending mail and get on board. If things go really well in the first few months I will happily give away more than one set of stationary and stamps a month… Let’s start the Postal Revitalization!!!
March 2013 marks the first month of the Postal Revitalization. To begin I will be giving away a set of sassy postcards from Good Food Jobs along with thirty-three cent postcard stamps! I’m talking postcards that declare in big bold lettering “BRING HOME THE BACON” – who wouldn’t want to find bacon in their mail box?!
Since their inception I have been a huge fan and supporter of Good Food Jobs. One day it lead me to a part-time job with them as a scout. Taylor and Dorothy are truly fabulous, passionate people who luckily enough are in charge of the one-and-only Good Food Jobs. Beyond being a place to search for or post excellent opportunities in food, the site is a stupendous resource for the food-loving community. Not only is it possible to see what jobs are currently available in the food world it is also a place to learn about what is even possible when imagining making a living off a love of food. The Gastrognomes Blog profiles the movers and shakers, the leaders and bakers in the food community. Their newsletter provides a mid-week boost for its recipients to keep seeking out their dream food jobs, encouraging ways to network and grow within the food community and also announcing anything exciting coming up for GFJ on the whole. It is so much more than a job searching/posting website.
Currently they are in the midst of a slew of their own giveaways and unveiling of new tools to make finding your dream job easier in addition to being their everyday awesome. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter and watch Facebook and Twitter for the upcoming giveaways.
Now let’s get down to business:
The Prize:
Each month I will pose a question and then from the respondents I will randomly pick one winner* who will be mailed the stationary set and stamps. Leave your response in the comments section of this post, or if the comments aren’t working for you, email me your response with the post title as the subject of your email (theculinarylibrarian[at]gmail.com). Please feel free to share the giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn – anywhere! Send snail mail out letting your friend know to enter or keep an eye out for the following month’s giveaway – let’s really aim to breath some life into the USPS!!!
Question Number One:
Which of these do you find to be most romantic:
a hand-written letter,
a bouquet of flowers delivered to work,
an unexpected present from an online store, or,
a care package full of your favorite treats?
* - After 2 weeks I will choose and announce the winner on The Culinary Librarian. The winner will need to email me the address they would like me to send the stationary and stamps within 48 hours. If the winner doesn’t respond I will choose a new, random recipient and announce the new winner on blog.
15 comments:
A handwritten letter - but I wouldn't mind a present or care package. I'm not a cut flower girl - I love flowers outside - but not on life support in a vase. :-) Good luck with your USPS rehab!
I love this idea, its so unbelievably clever! Technology is good but putting your personal touch on anything is better! I've always enjoyed reading historical love letters and poetry. There was a time in my own life where I sent many letters, cards, and care packages to my furry rescue friends, my brother in Japan, family to far from our home, a lost love in the army and unknown soldiers fighting for my freedom. So to answer you question, the most romantic out of the four for me would be a handwritten letter. You have inspired me Culinary Librarian, and I thank you!
I love a well put together care package and I love sending them even more!
I would love the hand written letter from the heart.
I think that the most romantic gift I ever received was a carefully crafted care package, but there's nothing like a good love letter!
My favorite is definitely flowers at work (or just brought home to me) - I've always felt that was the ultimate little thing that a guy could do for his lady to say "I'm thinking of you" and I know these really make you happy!
p/s/ - I also LOVE getting mail :-)
I'm definitely a fan of the hand-written letter! There's nothing I look forward to more when I get home than a hand-written letter among all the pre-approved credit card offers and other junk mail.
I love getting emails as well, but letters are so much more tangible in comparison.
I have another reason to love letters as well; my father, and employee of the post office, is just two years away from retirement, and the possibility that he may lose his job is very real. Thanks for trying to keep the post office alive, it's certainly increasingly nostalgic, but it's also a way to support a family!
P.S. I love the apple stamps, I have a collection and I'd love to make them a part of it... hope I win, and good luck to everyone else! :D
Oops, I forgot to leave my email address in case I win... it's brandon@theyummybits.com thanks!
Care Package for sure! My then crush, now husband once sent me a message in a bottle of mementos from my home state while I was away for a summer. He sent the package in a two liter bottle. It won me over!
A hand-written letter, although I wouldn't a scoff at any of the options!
A care package full of your favorite treats.
Food is such an intimate and personal aspect of our lives. So few people know our very favorite things to eat; those items which make us nostalgiac, those which we so rarely allow ourselves to indulge in, those which cause revery.
It makes one smile to sort through the hand selected package, item by item, not only for the food items themselves, but because the other person noticed, and remembered.
While I'd love a good care package, For romance, I'd say a handwritten letter. The love of my life first clued me into her feelings with a handwritten letter and a package of Sardinian biscotti. It was left outside my door the morning of my leaving the country, saying I shouldn't live my life without trying the real thing. We had previously made a dish that was supposed to contain Sardinian biscotti but had to substitute.
I'd absolutely love cozying up on the couch with a piping hot cup of licorice tea and a love letter. Sharing your fondness and love for someone in a hand written love letter is such a beautiful thing. A lost part of romance that, in my opinion, should definitely be exercised more.
Hand-written letters are hard to beat. The sentiment, the prose, the nostalgia... As someone who's grown up in the age of the "i luv u" text, letters are an exciting, almost antiquated way of showing someone how much you care.
smacosborne@gmail.com
My best friend has been trying to keep the postal system alive as well. I guess I'll go with hand written letters as most romantic.
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