office supplies | kimberly ah

Comcast has a promotion going on for the rest of April offering TV Japan for free right. TV Japan a mix of all sorts of Japanese programming–news, soap operas, game shows, talk shows, sports shows, and children’s programming. It feels like mostly news and kids stuff during the day, but at night, I’ve found a couple of travel shows with subtitles that are really fun. Even though Japanese class is over, I really can only understand about 1% of what’s going on during any given program. But I still keep TV Japan on all day when we have it because immersion is fun and you just never know what kind of crazy thing you will see. One of my favorite little “shorts” is a stop motion with these blue and white blocks of clumsy clay with hilarious little voices. The clay guys walk on screen with indentations of office supplies and (I assume…) proceed to ask each other how they happened upon that shape. (Perhaps, since it’s a program for children, the audience is supposed to guess the shape? “Can you guess children…and thirty somethings in America?”) Then, each clay is shown in a flashback, happening upon an object. The music during the flashbacks is my favorite part of the show. The clay must have really bad eyes because he always trips over the object. When the clay stands up, the object is stuck to him. And then the object falls right off. Back in real time, the blue clay finishes his story and it’s the white clay’s turn. (Cue the flashback music.) The white clay tripped over a pencil and onto… (Can you guess???)…a magnet!

It’s really riveting TV!

Tagged I *heart* Japan, Japan, office supplies

Apr 01 2015

13 Comments

celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail

Write On In April…

Just when I thought I couldn’t handle another month-long letter writing challenge…well, here I go again. I heard about the Write On Campaign on Instagram a few weeks ago and I signed up for a free kit, so now I’m obligated, right?

In all honestly, I’m really looking forward to April, which is actually the “official” National Letter Writing Month. I’m looking forward to getting back into the daily habit of writing and catching up on my growing mail pile. And, I just found my original welcome note from the Letter Writers Alliance. March 29th marked my five year anniversary as a member of LWA. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than writing letters!

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail

Mar 31 2015

1 Comment

celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Going Postal Birthday Gifts

A certain mail-lover had a birthday last week and Naoto really hit it out of the ballpark (or should I say the post office?) with my gifts. He went with a postal theme and shopped on Etsy for some ideas and ended up choosing an upcycled mail bag purse, a postman rubber stamp, and an envelope necklace. I was thrilled with everything! The purse is made from an upcycled old Dutch mail bag. He ordered it from the Stiksel in the Netherlands and gave it to me with the idea that I could make it into a traveling mail pack. I love this idea, but I will probably carry it as a purse sometimes, too. I love that it has a “patina” and it’s the perfect size for both mail supplies and daily trips to the store. The next gift was a mailman rubber stamp from Pictureshow. Isn’t he dreamy? He reminds me of John if John was a mail carrier in the 1950s. Look at that overflowing mailbag of letters! It stamps like a dream and I love how detailed the image is. Here he is on a new Postcard Race. (By the way, I’m still doing some postcard testing…updates coming soon!) And last but not least, Naoto gave me an envelope necklace from MonyArt. The envelope charm is kind of rustic looking and I’ve been wearing it every day.

I love a good theme gift…way to go, Naoto!

In addition to the mail stuff, Naoto came home with a stunning bouquet of flowers. Those orchids…sigh…I’m reminded that spring weather is around the corner (even though it snowed seven inches on my birthday eve!)

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, vintage

Mar 30 2015

7 Comments

adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, thrifted, vintage

New Vintage Stationery

vintage souvenir stationery, Abraham Lincoln and Yellowstone My parents came up for a visit this weekend and they brought me a few vintage treats including these fantastic old souvenir stationery sets. The Yellowstone is almost full but sadly the Abraham Lincoln one has one sheet left of each design. I’ve never been to Yellowstone, so I’d feel like a cheater using this stationery, but I think using it for a nature lover would be acceptable, right? (This stationery seems like a good enough reason as any to bump Yellowstone up on my travel wish list.) I have been to Springfield, the state capitol of Illinois, several times so these Lincoln landmarks are all familiar old friends from school trips and family trips of my childhood. I think every child who grew up in Illinois has rubbed Lincoln’s nose at least once. Since there’s only one sheet left of each of these designs, I probably won’t be writing letters on this stationery, but maybe I could use them in a mini-scrapbook of my next trip to Springfield? (First I have to get Naoto on board with a mini road trip!)

Have you seen any souvenir stationery lately? It seems like the best kinds of souvenirs (stationery, handkerchiefs, plates) are all things of things of the past now.

Tagged adventures, office supplies, parents, snail mail, thrifting, vintage

Mar 27 2015

4 Comments

cocktails, crafty adventures, homemaking

Hasegawa Happy Hour Menu

In a sign that I *may* have too much time on my hands (or that I was avoiding doing something productive), I typed up a menu for our Hasegawa Happy Hours. And when I say “typed” I mean typed on the typewriter because that’s how I roll. I know a menu seems weird and excessive, but honestly, if I didn’t have a set cocktail planned for our HHH guests, I was looking through my archives for suggestions. This way, I have all of my favorites in one place. I typed the menu on a piece of 8.5×11 card stock scored and folded the long way. It’s very simply “formatted” since it was done on the typewriter and it’s spring-centric, which means I can type up another one for summer (ooh, for balcony cocktails! I can’t wait!) I have a section for “Think Spring” cocktails, which are coincidentally all gin-based. (Eagle eyes will notice that I messed up on the Vieux Mot and typed the wrong ingredients. Womp, womp.)Then there’s a section for “Cozy Nights” that includes mostly whiskey cocktails, perfect for right about now when it’s damp and cold outside. In the “Deliciously Bitter” section, I have a small list of bitter cocktails. I’ve added several bitter liqueurs to my collection this year and these four are tasty winners. And, on a removable tiny business card, I typed up two Hasegawa originals, the CAP Cocktail and Pining for the Queen. It’s harder to keep those ingredients readily on hand around here, so I like to be able to remove the card if we don’t have any pomegranate juice or rosemary in the house.

We tested the menu out last weekend when we had friends over for a little sushi-making party. It worked like a charm!

Tagged cocktails, crafts, diy, office supplies, washi tape

Mar 06 2015

2 Comments

Letter Month, snail mail

Final Thoughts on Letter Month 2015

It felt weird not to write a letter on Sunday and not to have anything to mail on Monday. On Saturday when I checked my mailbox, I only found junk mail, so my inbox is officially empty, my letter ledger is turned to a fresh new page and my stationery is all organized and ready for action. I’m not feeling the same burn-out I’ve felt after previous Letter Month attempts. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because I sent more postcards than usual, maybe because I didn’t write much in January, maybe because it’s been snowy and cold and letter writing is the perfect indoor activity and a much-needed break from technology. Whatever reason, it feels good to be done but it feels sad to have an empty mailbox. I hope I can continue responding in a timely manner–it feels good to have a nice flow of new mail on my desk instead of the same letters languishing for weeks.

My totals for the month:

36 letters/cards
8 postcards
4 international letters/postcards
3 packages
51 total mailings

I also visited seven blue boxes, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s six more than I normally visit. Mostly, I drop my letters into our lobby box or into the blue box near work. I visited six other mailboxes, and four of those were mailboxes I’d never used before. Now that spring is on the horizon, I hope I’ll get out more to mail from some more blue boxes around Forest Park. I’m also making up a rubber stamp that says FEED YOUR MAILBOX as a good reminder to frequent those blue boxes.

How did your Letter Month go? Did you achieve your personal goals?

Tagged forest park, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Mar 02 2015

5 Comments

Letter Month, snail mail

Letter Month 2015 Week 4

Letter Month is OVER! Week four started out pretty weak, but I finished strong–replying to every letter I’ve received during the month (and some lingering in my inbox from January!) I relied on my lobby box, but also visited the mailbox by work, the River Forest snorkel box, a new-to-me box by Penny’s Noodles in Oak Park and one in Chicago’s Wicker Park on a ramen date with Donovan. She and I walked for blocks looking for a mailbox…it’s nice to hang out with someone who is willing to hunt for a blue box with me.

My totals for the week:

12 letters/cards
1 postcards
1 international postcard
0 packages
14 Total mailings

It feels good to finish strong and not burnt out…but more on that later this week!

Tagged crafts, forest park, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Feb 27 2015

3 Comments

in my library, Letter Month, Mail Reads, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Mail Reads: The First Book of Letter Writing

Out of the blue one day, long, long ago, I received a package from my online friend Holly. Inside was this fantastic children’s book, The First Book of Letter Writing by Helen Jacobson & Florence Mischel. The delightful illustrations were done by Lászlo Roth. Published in 1957, it covers everything the mid-century child needed to know about letter writing: how to write a letter, how to address the envelope, proper penmanship, writing celebrities, thank you notes, condolence notes, stationery, postage and more. The book originally came with a book of stamps to get the letter writing started! Just like yesterday’s book, some of the book reads as a time capsule of children’s correspondence in the fifties. I didn’t realize there were rules for children’s stationery: “boys always use a single, unfolded sheet of paper” while “girls may use folded stationery.” But most of the book is still helpful in its teachings of letter structure and helping children to learn that their letters should be a mix of news and questions for the recipient. I think it would still be a great introduction to letter writing. Receiving this book–which is a technically a “destroyed” library book–made me both happy and sad. Of course I am thrilled that Holly found it and thought of me and sent it my way. I will treasure it forever. But I’m sad because this book about letter writing isn’t out there in a library for a child to discover. Maybe checking out a book like this would inspire a new generation of letter writers. In my personal book collection, it has a very limited reach…how sad! But thankfully it was rescued from the dumpster, right?!

I just requested a bunch of letter writing books from the library, so hopefully in the coming weeks, I’ll have more books to share. It will be nice to keep the spirit of Letter Month going a little longer, right?

Tagged books, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Feb 26 2015

1 Comment

in my library, Letter Month, Mail Reads, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Mail Reads: The Etiquette of Letter Writing

My friend Peggy gave me this tiny book, (A Desk Book on) The Etiquette of Letter Writing, last summer. It was published by Eaton, Crane & Pike Company in 1927. It is a tiny guide that outlines the basic social rules regarding correspondence. The book comes from a time when married women signed their correspondence Mrs. Husband’s First & Last Name and when wives mailed handwritten invitations to dinner parties and responses came mailed back with handwritten notes. I grew up during a time when party invitations were mailed, but dinner invitations were offered with a phone call. Nowadays, we are lucky if we get a wedding invitation in the mail. Most invitations are offered through emails and texts. (I’m guilty of this too.) Think of the planning it would take to choose a date, write out your invitations, mail them, wait for responses and prepare for your party. You would have to have the proper-sized stationery (blind embossed with your family crest, of course!) ready to write out and respond to all of your invitations! While I am glad that we have fewer rules dictating our modern day correspondence, I really miss the days of real paper invitations. (I also miss the days of the R.S.V.P. but I can’t even talk about this or I’ll get ranty. This is a funny op-ed about the dying art of R.S.V.P.s.)Do you have simple, monogrammed stationery for everyday use (the initials “being placed in the left corner, of course”)? I’ve tried to limit myself when buying frivolous stationery with hopes that I could save up for some stunning engraved notecards. But there are too many good options out there and I like having a variety of paper and notecards to choose from. Still…think of how classy a gorgeously engraved monogram would be.
I love the suggestions for closing a letter: Cordially, Faithfully, Affectionately, Devotedly. When did we get stuck writing Sincerely over and over again at the end of our correspondence when there are so many other wonderful options?

I enjoy having this little gem on my desk to peruse and daydream about the formal days of visiting cards, handwritten invitation acceptances, summer home stationery, and family crests. Thank you, Peggy, for knowing me so well.

P.S. If you’d like to see a few more pages from the book, Donovan wrote a post for the Letter Writers Alliance blog here.

Tagged office supplies, snail mail, vintage