I’m truly enjoying Postcrossing and today I’m going to give you 3 reasons why I think you should give it a try.

But first, a photo of the 3 postcards I received on Tuesday because it’s the perfect segue into reason number 1:

1. You will receive gorgeous postcards. Just look at those! The tulips made me swoon and the note on the back is about Women’s Day in Russia and how tulips are everywhere. The one from Italy is full of fun facts about the country and the one with the embroidery is also from Russia and the sender loves to embroider. I have also received handmade postcards (not my favorite, I will admit), oversized postcards, pictures of scenery from all over the world, and lovely notes.
2. It gives you a good excuse to buy and collect postcards. When I signed up for Postcrossing I bought a pack of Greetings from Massachusetts postcards on Amazon but since then I have visited New York City as well as a few special areas of Massachusetts and I have had so much fun selecting and purchasing postcards with the thought of sending them to another country. Many postcrossers ask for specific types of photos and now that I am amassing a small collection it’s getting easier to match the postcards I have to the interests of the person I am sending them to. I’m also now getting my own collection of cards from other countries. My initial thought was to put them in a journal but then I realized I wouldn’t be able to enjoy both the picture on the front and the words on the back so I gave up on that idea. Right now I just have them in a stack on the bookcase in our den but I need another plan and I’m open to suggestions.
3. Your world view will grow in a quick and easy way. I’m not interested in having a pen pal or sending long letters to anyone but a postcard is so easy! The space is limited and there’s no commitment to extended communication with the person you send it to – it’s a one and done exchange. The return on sending a postcard, though, is that you will then get a postcard back and it will be from somewhere other than your own country. I have only received 8 postcards so far but I have learned about Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Italy, Canada and the Netherlands. And when I say I have learned about those countries what I really mean is that I have learned a small thing about a person who lives there. I think that’s an incredible way to connect with another culture and to also see how much we truly all have in common. I have heard from crafters and readers, mothers and grandmothers, and I think it’s amazing that we have common interests.

I tried Postcrossing because of Kym and Margene and I’m hoping maybe my experience will inspire you to start, too.

If you wrote a post for today please include your link below and thanks, as always, for joining us.

You know what’s happening this Sunday night? The Oscars! And I’m pretty sure you all know how much I love the movies and the Academy Awards since I gush about it every year around this time. As is our tradition, Dale and I have seen all of the Best Picture nominees as well as a majority of the Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress. Today I’m going to break down these three categories. For Best Picture I am sharing the movies in order of my most to least favorite. And for the Actor/Actress and Supporting Actor/Actress I’m sharing who I think should win but this one is quite subjective since I haven’t seen all of the performances in these categories. Please note – these are not predictions – just a list of my personal favorites.

Best Picture

• Green Book
• A Star is Born
• BlacKkKlansman
• Vice
• Bohemian Rhapsody
• The Favourite
• Black Panther
• Roma

Best Actor/Actress

• Lady Gaga
• Rami Malek

Best Supporting Actor/Actress

• Rachel Weisz
• Mahershala Ali

We’ll find out on Sunday night how it all plays out. It should be an interesting event without a host . . . I’m just hoping for great fashion and fun night of television.

If you wrote a post for today please include your link below.

Let’s get right to business this week, shall we? I’ve got three things making me happy and I’m excited to share them with you.

Thing 1: It’s Valentine’s Day and that means I’ll be making cream puffs. It’s a family tradition that you can read about here. And also, hooray for Valentine’s Day! It’s a day to celebrate love . . . all kinds and any kinds of love. And by that I mean romantic love, of course, but also the love between friends, the love of a parent and child, the love of a pet. All I’m saying is love is love and it’s a day to celebrate that.

Thing 2: Vacation! That’s right, next week is February school vacation week around here and that means Dale and I are off on an adventure. I’m calling it The Off-Season East-West Tour of Massachusetts. Why a tour of Massachusetts, you ask? Because I don’t like the idea of flying in February. Listen, I’m mature enough to know that I’m immature enough to not handle the cancellation of a flight to somewhere warm. Plus, I want a new dining room floor more than I want a tropical vacation right now. So, we’re going on a mini road trip for part of next week, revisiting some places and also going to new places we’ve always meant to visit. Sometimes it’s fun to be a tourist in your own backyard.

Thing 3: A new car! We traded in Dale’s aging Forrester and got me a brand new Outback. It’s black with black interior (which is what I actually wanted 3 years ago when I leased my current Outback but they made me such a deal on the red one I couldn’t pass it up.) and her name is Veronica . . . as in Veronica Lodge. She’s sharp and sexy (well, as sexy as a little glorified station wagon can be) and loaded with lots of bells and whistles. I think our road trip next week will be a fantastic opportunity to get to know her. And yes, I know you want photos but it was dark when we picked her up last night. They are coming, I promise.

And those are 3 things making me happy today. I hope you’re having a terrific Thursday and I wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day! If you wrote a post for today I hope you’ll include your link below.