Monday, January 13, 2014

Ginger Mail: Review and Giveaway!

Specialty subscription services have come a long way since Clark Griswald got a subscription to the Jelly of the Month Club as a Christmas gift from his boss. (Please tell me you all know what I'm talking about. If not, click here.)

Anyway... the more that we communicate electronically, the more fun it is to get something in the mail that's not a bill or a catalog (or, in my case, mail that is actually supposed to be for my neighbor.) And if you like to get mail and you like to send mail (or if you scrapbook, or if you think you really should send more mail, or if you always put off buying greeting cards until the last minute, or if you just like paper...) Ginger Mail by Ginger P Designs is for you! Every six weeks, subscribers get a package stuffed with greeting cards, stationary, and other paper-y fabulousness (I made up that last part of the description myself, but they're welcome to use it in their marketing if they want to.) It only costs $15 per six weeks, and when you consider that one greeting card in the store can cost you more than $5, this is a really great deal! Each mailing revolves around a specific theme and has a card that tells you a little more about each item. You can sign up for one mailing, for a whole year, or for something in between.

When Ginger P Designs asked if I'd be interested in doing a review and giveaway of their new Ginger Mail service, I said, um, definitely yes. (Except I maybe said it more eloquently than that. Hopefully.) Because A- I never remember to buy cards or stationary for any event, ever, B - shopping for greeting cards with a toddler is not fun, and C- Dan and I sponsor three kids through Compassion International, and the only things we can mail to them (besides letters) are items made of paper, so I'm always on the lookout for awesome paper things I can mail to them.

The December Ginger Mail package showed up in this fun envelope:


And contained all of this exciting, paper-y goodness:

Greeting cards, gift tags, a December and January calendar,
a recipe for candied pecans (Ginger's mom's own recipe,) and a note pad.
My favorite thing in the package was this adorable little note pad:

"Making a list and checking it twice"
Everything in the envelope was well-made and really elegant; there weren't any throw-away items. I'm planning to use the little December calendar for a scrapbook page...


...and we already used some of the greeting cards (I told you I never remember to buy greeting cards.)

Ginger P Designs also has an Etsy shop, and when I went to check it out in order to write this post, I realized that I'd already shopped there, because almost a year ago, I purchased this card from Ginger P Designs to give to Dan for Valentine's Day:

"I am so glad we're stuck with each other for the rest of our lives!"
(Perfect for a man who's not particularly mushy.)

You can buy a Ginger Mail subscription for yourself or for someone else, and then you're guaranteed to get something in the mail that's not boring. And one lucky reader will win the newest packet of Ginger Mail for your very own! Enter below! (For the blog comment entry option, make sure you check out the Ginger P Designs Etsy shop and then comment letting me know which item in the shop is your favorite.)

Open to US residents, 18+

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

A letter to my son, at 22 and a half months

On January 3, I got back from an eleven-day trip visiting various family members in three different cities. You haven't heard from me since then because I had a sick toddler who was trapped in the house because of the weather, and I've been recovering from traveling. Believe me when I tell you that I have some stories coming about our trip... especially because the first part of it was me flying alone with a toddler. Oh, man... there will be stories. But first, this is a letter I started at 5:30am ish the morning we left to come home. Lucas had a pretty bad cough for most of our trip, and he woke himself and me up at 4:15am with a coughing fit, and then couldn't/wouldn't go back to sleep. Dan was sleeping on a mattress on the floor, so I brought Lucas into bed with me, and we talked. For an hour. I was sleep deprived and not looking forward to a day of traveling and had a slight cold, but I actually ended up kind of enjoying it. So... here's what I was thinking while talking to my toddler in what should've been the middle of the night.


This picture was not taken the morning I wrote this letter. But you probably already figured that out.

Dear Lucas,

It's too early to be awake, and the first thoughts I'm having with my eyes still closed are "Please, please let him go back to sleep" followed closely by "Please, please don't let him throw up from coughing... again." Yesterday I was able to prolong a too-short nap by bringing you into bed with me, where you slept cuddled up against me for another two hours. But this morning that plan doesn't work. You are awake, and you want to talk.

You were such an early talker, and now you know so many words. Words that you want to use all the time. You narrate everything you're doing, prefacing each statement with your own pronunciation of your name: Ducas. As you wiggle happily in bed with me, you keep up a running commentary. "Ducas Mama sleeping!" (Even though we clearly aren't. Heads on the pillow is enough for you.) "Sleeping 'gether! Pillow! Blanket!" After you get tired of being still, you move all around the bed, cautioning yourself with "Careful, Ducas! Careful, Ducas!" every time you get too close to the edge.

You say "hungry-gy?" And when I tell you, no, it's not time to eat, it's time to sleep, you respond with, "Yep! Why?" (I'm pretty sure you don't actually know what why means yet, but it doesn't stop you from repeating the phrase "what? why?" on a regular basis.) You decide that the only way you can be comfortable is if your arms are around my neck and your entire torso is on my face, and when you pull on the headboard and then declare it to be "heavy," I am too muffled for you to hear me shush you.

And around 4:45 when I've finally given up on getting any more sleep before the alarm goes off at 5:20, it occurs to me that the older ladies who say "enjoy every moment" (in a tone that indicates that they've definitely forgotten what it feels like to be vomited on) might be on to something. Because - although you will hopefully not always wake me up at ridiculous hours - you will also outgrow the desire to be held in my arms for hours on end. And right now, before the sun or any well-rested human is awake, I can hold you as close as I want for as long as I want. Right now, I am your favorite person who ever lived. And when I remember that this is fleeting, I can enjoy it in spite of the lack of sleep.

I love you, "Ducas." I'm so glad I'm your mommy. But I think I should warn you that between how much you talk and how much I talk, there's a good chance that we might drive your daddy crazy.

Love,
Mommy


Feel free to click here out of sympathy for my lack of sleep.
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