A Trip to New Jersey

I took a road trip to New Jersey once. It was a long time ago when my step mom lived there for a short stint due to work responsibilities. My husband had a class in Wrentham, MA so I flew to Boston with him. We rented a car and drove another 30 miles or so to our destination. While he was in his class during the day, I would drive around exploring places. On my own, I drove to Providence, Rhode Island and to Cambridge University and all over here and there.

When my husband's classes were completed we decided to finish out our trip by driving to New Jersey to visit my step mom. To get there we had to drive through Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. That was quite an experience. I thought I knew what tall buildings were considering how often I had been to L.A. Well, I didn't know shit. The buildings in New York were overwhelming and it was almost terrifying driving through it at first. We survived going across the Washington bridge in congested traffic and we made it to New Jersey in just a few short hours. No problem! Garfield, New Jersey. That's where my step-mom was living at the time. Why am I writing all of this? Because I needed something to lead in to the pen pal letter I just wrote. It's going on its own journey to New Jersey. That's why.

Write on!

Pen Pal Letter Out the Door.

Little by little, I'm catching up on correspondence starting with my most recently received letters. I figure I'm so far behind on the rest, that it will be better to reply to those who have most recently sent me mail. Then I won't get behind on those letters.  Seriously, I'm behind in some letters by a year.

Letter going to South Carolina in a handmade envelope, adorned with vintage stamps.

Hopefully, I will get another letter or two written by the end of tonight.

Sealed With Wax

Hello and good evening.  I can't recall the last time I received a letter sealed with wax, but today was one of those days.  Not only is the letter sealed with pretty wax, but the envelope has some colorful drawings on it that are so adorably cute. The letter comes from a fellow blogger who also loves mail. I am more than happy to link you to her blog, but first I want to make sure it's all right with her before doing so.

Notice that it comes from South Carolina. I love the south.

So cute. I wish I had a talent for drawing. I really do.

Update:  Here is a link to the sender's blog.

Today's outgoing mail

Hello. I planned on writing this post early this morning but as usual, procrastination took hold of me. I'm sure some of you can relate to that. Ha ha.  Well, here's the mail I sent out today. One Postcrossing and one pen pal letter.

This image of the Cumberland River in downtown Nashville is headed to Russia.

I write: Dear Olesya, I live in Las VEgas, Nevada but I really love Nashville, Tennessee. Sometimes I can see and hear spirits. I belong to a group where we practice giving each other readings. Wishing you all the best. <3 JarieLyn

A letter on the way to Rachel in Illinois.

It's a hot one here, but I'm not complaining. I feel very fortunate to have the sun shine down upon me.

Have a great evening.

Smile!!!!!

What a gorgeous day it is. It's only 10:00 a.m. and my husband and I have already been down on the Las Vegas Strip photographing people and architecture with some other camera buddies. Can you believe I made it out of bed at 3:45 this morning? I am NOT a morning person, but it sure does feel good to have been so productive already. Our group also had a huge breakfast at The Peppermill. Excellent food I must say, but gigantic portions. Too much for me.

Smile! Here's some outgoing postcards and a letter to brighten someone's day. Enjoy the visual.

This happy guy is going to Germany.

I write: Hi Kathleen!  I live in Las Vegas. Today, my friend and I drove to the mountains and had a picnic and went for a hike. I absolutely love the smell of the pine trees. Have a beautiul life. Remember to stop and smell the roses. <3 JarieLyn

This is a condolence letter to a person I've never written to before. Her boyfriend died suddenly and unexpectedly at the young age of 24. My heart goes out to her.

This one is traveling to Japan.

I write: Hello Reiko, I am 50 years old woman living in Las Vegas, Nevada with my husband. Summer is here and it's hot but I love it. It's currently 104'F outside but I am relaing inside with the air conditioner on. I love my life. <3 Wishing you lots of joy. JarieLyn

Elvis is in the building!

Good morning all you amazing people in the world. Today is a great day because for once, I woke up early. Normally, I'd just be waking up at this time. (8:45 a.m.) I got out of bed at 6:00 o'clock this morning, bursting with energy. It must be all the juicing I've been doing. Yay. It feels good to be among the normal people who actually have to get up early to go to work. (not that I work, but you know what I mean).

I received a fantastic pen pal letter recently from a wonderful person. She always uses such quality stationery. I hadn't heard from her in awhile so it definitely put a lift in my mood. Check it out.

She also sent me the two postcards you see in the photo as well. But that's not all.

I am a HUGE Elvis Presley fan. 

Some of you may know that I spent my honeymoon in Tennessee specifically to see Graceland.

 It was a dream come true.

So when I saw this inside the envelope too, I was ecstatic.

Elvis was such a goodlooking, sexy, hunk of a man. Oh, sorry. On with the mail.

It looks like a postcard but it's actually an envelope. It is absolutely  amazing and I love it.

Thank you, Rachel. You're a peach, so sweet. I will treasure this for as long as I live.

My dear readers, what are some of your favorite items that you have received from pen pals?

I'm curious to know.

Have a fabulous day my friends. I look forward to your comments.

Incoming Mail

Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the week because of the activities I'm involved with. I hope you all are having a wonderful day so far. Here's the incoming mail that I recieved yesterday.


******************************************************************************

It's nearly 11:00 p.m. and I am frustrated to say the least. I have made several attempts to add photos from my phone to no avail. For some reason they're not showing up in the que in the photo section. Now, I have to add them the old fashion way by downloading photos from my phone to my computer and then adding them to the post via upload.

******************************************************************************

My latest Rumpus Letter. I love receiving these in the mail. The writer of this letter lives in New York. It was a good letter. It's so interesting to read how other people's minds work.

Two Postcrossings. The cat is from Russia and the sender writes: Hello! My name is Konstantin. I'm from Moscow. I'm 5 Y.O. I have 1 cat. His name Timosha. Happy Postcrossing.

The London Bridge is from Taiwan. The sender writes: Hi JarieLyn! My name is Sandy. I'm from Taiwan. Nice to meet you. I'm sending you a postcard again because you haven't received my postcard yet. I don't know why, so I send you a postcard again. Hope you'l love this card Take care. :)
(I did receive her original card about a week ago)

I had a busy day. Wish I could have posted this earlier while I was actually working on it during the day. Goodnight my friends or good morning to those of you living in countries that are just waking up.

Empty Inside

Hi Ya'll. It's been a rainy day here in Las Vegas and I am loving it. It's perfect for catching up on blogs, making homemade soup, and watching black and white movies on TV. Oh how sweet it is. I hope you all are having a wonderful day full of things you love.

Awhile back I received a handmade envelope from an unfamiliar person. I was so excited to get it. when I opened the envelope, it was empty. I'm not sure if it was intentional or somehow lost its contents in the mail. (maybe someone meant it to be mail art) Forgive me for not knowing who it's from. If you are reading this blog post and it's from you, can you please let me know if I received it the way you meant or if something is missing. I do love the paper that was used to make the envelope. The return address says it's from Jennifer.

Pen Pal Letter Out The Door And Postcrossings Out

Good evening gorgeous readers and bloggers. Even though my days are basically the same whether it's a weekday or a workday, I still relish the weekends. It has such a different vibe. I have my camera club tonight and our guest speaker, Parish Kohanim from Atlanta, Georgia will command a full house. I'm looking forward to hearing his story and seeing some of his work.

I feel accomplished that I got one letter written today. I feel so proud of myself.

This is going to a phenomenal pen pal who writes the best letters ever and loves to create art. It's cold where this person currently resides. Hopefully, this colorful letter will bring some warmth to her door. Yeah, you know it's for you even though I'm not putting your name here. I don't know why I'm not but I am.

This postcard is going to Finland.

I write: YOU ARE fabulous! Dear Sirkku, last night's full moon was amazing. I put all of my cyrstals in a bowl and set them outside on a tree branch so that the energy from the moon could charge them up. I left them out there until the next morning. Do something every day that nourishes yoour soul. <3 JarieLyn

This one is going to Czech Republic.

I write: Helo Tereza, warmest greetings from Las Vegas, NV. I used to do a lot of sewing and crafting when I lived in California. I once made some roller shades for my living room that turned out really nice, and some curtains for my step-dad's law office. Those were probably my favorite fabric creations to date. Now I mostly do mail art and doodling. It relaxes me. Someday I will teach myself to knit or crochet. Have a wonderful day. :)  <3 JarieLyn

This is traveling to Malaysia.

I write: Hello Kelsie, I live in Las Vegas, Nevada but I thought you might like this card from Florida. Disney World is located in Orlando, Florida, but I've never been there. Wishing you all the best. <3 JarieLyn

This one is traveling to Japan.

I write:  Hello Sakia, I used to love to ride motorcycles when I was younger. We lived out in the boonies and it was my favorite thing to do. My dad and my brother raced motorcycles and we enjoyed going to the races. Keep on riding but be safe. Have fun whatever you do. <3 JarieLyn.

Have an awesome weekend everyone. Hopefully, I get some more mail out this weekend.

More lovely mail in my mailbox

It's a gorgeous day here in Vegas. The weather is perfect, warm with clear skies. I love the different aromas drifting in the air as I'm outside. I just breathe it in and smile and acknowledge how grateful I am to experience such awesomeness. I am also so thankful that I keep getting good mail. Here's the latest incoming correspondence.

A letter from L. R. in Georgia. I've always adored Minnie Mouse. This made me smile. The thing I love about snail mail is the variety of papers that my pen pals choose. It's never boring.

Another lovely postcard from my sister. This one is from Albania. Of course she beat the card back to the states by more than a week.

Look at the cute stamp she used. It's so cute.

This is an official Postcrossing from Germany.

The sender writes: Hello JarieLyn! Best greetings from North Germany with a card from Potsdam where I went last week on holidays. I work in Denmark as a teacher. Best Wishes. Christina.

I have some postcards ready to go out but I haven't photographed or scanned them yet.

I hope you all are having a fabulous day. May you all be blessed with the perfect for your area.

Until next time...........

Clearly, not the norm

Hello my lovely peeps. I've been in such a creative mood lately. Every day I wake up and I want to create art. The only downside to that is that I can't really draw details or paint details. (well, sometimes I do okay) But I keep slapping some watercolors on some pages because I love how the colors look. It makes me feel cheerful. I never know what it is that I want to do but I feel guided to just create. And so I do. I don't have an art journal per se' but when I'm creating it feels like I'm making a visual piece for a journal.  The other day I was creating and I decided I would write a pen pal letter on my pages and send it in a clear postcard sleeve. This is clearly stepping outside of my normal box.  But, I wanted to make my letter stand out, be different, and at the same time spread some colorful cheer across the country for the postal workers and for my dear friend to whom it's written.

The computer screen does not show how colorful this really is.  The only disadvantage to sending a letter this way is that if you use vintage stamps like I did, they don't stick very well to the plastic. I had to secure the edges with packing tape, leaving the body of the stamp alone so that the post office can postmark the stamps. And of course, you know that everyone who sees this envelope during its journey will try to read what it says. So, if you're a private person or you have some juicy secret to share, than I suggest leaving that for the middle pages so no one can intrude upon your privacy.  Of course, you could always cover up the writing with stickers and washi tape.

On the last piece of painted paper I wrote a couple of quotes. This is the back of the envelope. You know, it still makes it fun, but again, I'm not revealing any secrets to the universe. Yeah, the good stuff is in between. Don't you wish you could read it all?  

So make some art, write a letter on it and send it in a clear envelope so you can share your creation with the postal workers.  I used a 5 x 7 postcard sleeve for the envelope.

Have a fun and creative day!

Incoming Postcards and a Letter

Hello out there. Who? You! I went to bed fairly early last night and yet I woke up very late. I'm off to a rough start this morning but yesterday's mail was a smile maker.  First, a pen pal letter I received.

 

From my pal Margie.

 

 

This Postcrossing comes from Ukraine.

The sender writes: Spring- a time of love, a new life, the most beautiful flowers. You-JARIELYN R. embody the most wonderful quality of spring: sunny smile, unpredictable spring thunderstorm, tenderness and freshness of the first leaves. Happy spring! greetings from Ukraine. Sveta.

 

Aren't those words the most thoughtful you've ever read on a postcard?  If that doesn't make you smile I don't know what will. It sure made my day. :)

 

 

My guardian angel I mean, a postcrossing from the Netherlands.

The sender writes: Translation text of the front: May the angel of consolation give you power when you are hurt by the loss. (author: Marinus van den Berg)  Dear JarieLyn, I have found a card with an angel for you! I am a writer of children books and a painter as well. I've also made a painting of an angel. You can see it. www.miekevanhooft.nl/schilderijen   Best wishes! Meike

 

I looked at her website and her paintings are very colorful and nice. They kind of have a whimsical feel to them. I like them a lot and wouldn't mind hanging one in my house to remind me to play.

 

 

A Postcrossing from Finland.

The sender doesn't speak English so she only signed her name, Elsa.

 

 

A Postcrossing from the Netherlands.

The sender writes: Hi. Famous Dutch illustration with snow! We had none this winter so far- so I guess we ? have to do it. Greetings from Amsterdam. Happy Postcrossing.

 

I love the scene depicted in the above card. It makes me think of an old black and white movie.

 

 

A Postcrossing from Isle of Man.

The sender writes: Hello JarieLyn- Snail Mail card for you from Isle of Man. Since you live in the desert, I thought I'd send you a card that deals with water! All the best to you, Patrick.

 

This card does look refreshing. And I never knew there was a country called Isle of Man. I love Postcrossing.  The people I get to meet and the little things they share are really special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Postcrosser, R

Hello R, Happy New Year from Las Vegas, Nevada.

I am 49 years old and live with my husband. Life is good and I feel extremely blessed. I have everything I need. I still have a few dreams though such as moving to beautiful Tennessee.

"I have never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful. I hope you always find a reason to smile."

Wishing you much happiness, ~JarieLyn~

My blog was a bit stale so I thought I'd switch it up a bit by sharing with all of my readers exactly what I say on my Postcrossings.  This particular postcard is going to the country of Latvia.  The recipient likes soccer, football stadiums, pin-up girls and erotic art. I do have a few semi-erotic art postcards by Giani Versace but they are mostly of men and the ones of the women are really colorful and nice so for now, I'm keeping those for myself. I don't have any pin-up girls or soccer, however I just happened to have this one postcard of the Pasadena Rose Bowl which was in a gift package I received  for Christmas.

I hope to continue with this format in regards to the Postcrossings only.

Hopefully, it won't be repetitive. I do try to write something different on every card I send, but sometimes I know I repeat myself. I hope you all will like this new format.  Feedback is always welcome.

It's the first day of a brand new year and I feel great.

I had some ups and downs in 2013 but for the most part, it was a great year.

I stepped outside my comfort zone and did some things I'd never done before.

I stretched myself both physically and mentally and I am better for it.

I signed up for all kinds of classes and workshops and I have learned a lot.

I'm still evolving and growing into the person I was meant to be and I am having fun getting there.

2013 was a practice round for what lies ahead.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will manifest so much more in 2014.

I am ready to embrace the challenges that will make me a better person.

My connection to my higher self is growing stronger which is opening my heart wider than ever.

I have so many things I wish to accomplish but mostly I want to be true to myself.

This blog is mainly about the mail I send and receive, but it means so much more than that.

It's about spirtual connection, human connection and nourishing my soul.

I hope to bring more authenticity to my posts. 

And mostly, I hope to bring a little bit of joy to you, whoever you are and wherever you may be.

Happy New Year My Friends.

I love you all, and I wish every single one of you success, prosperity, peace and happiness.

~JarieLyn~

A Dog From Germany

Good Morning!

I woke up with the nagging feeling that I had to do something today but couldn't remember what. And then it hit me. I need to buy a new AC charger for my phone because mine took a shit about a week ago. I'm getting tired of having to go out to the garage to hook my phone into the car charger.
Also, I'm still on the hunt for a good pair of sandals. I need lots of cushion in the ball of the foot and it's not easy finding a good pair of shoes. Even the most expensive designer shoes are lacking comfort.  Oh well........we'll see what happens as the day goes on.

Let's move on to the mail. After all that's the main reason for this blog.  Representing the title of this post is a wonderful Postcrossing I received from Germany.

 

It's a terrific artist rendition of a dog and I love it.

The sender writes:

Dear JarieLyn,

I like blogging too and I do it every day.

I show my drawings of the day.

In Berlin you can see all day art and you don't ever finish to see art of Berlin.

Today I want to draw a landscape from {Alaska?}.

I like that.

I wish you a great day.

Enjoy it.

S

 

 

An official Postcrossing from the Netherlands.

Instead of a postcard the sender sent me a notecard.

 

 

A nice vintage reproduction.

The sender writes:

Hello JarieLyn,

Hi, how are you doing?

I like to travel.

In March I had a lovely vacation in the southwest of the USA.

My husband and I did a road trip thru California, Arizona and Nevada.

We visited San Diego, Phoenix, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley and Santa Barbara.

It was great!

Shelly

 

 

A letter from Lynn M.

 

 

I only sent out one package.

 

 

This is for Mariska in the Netherlands.

Today is her birthday so she will be receiving my package after the fact.

Happy Birthday Mariska!

 

That's it for now but I plan on sending out quite a bit of mail in the next few days.

Stay tuned and stay cool.

 

 

 



Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

Although I acknowledge and believe in what Easter represents, I don't go to church on this day.

I believe in God and a higher power, however, I am not a follower of organized religion.

I have my own relationship with GOD and tIhat's all that matters to me.

I could get into a lengthy discussion about this but I won't because this is a lighthearted blog.

 

So, feast your eyes on some yummy treats of the mail kind.

 

incoming:

 

 

Oops, this first picture isn't mail.

It's my beloved Sasha a few weeks before her passing.

It makes me feel good so I wanted to post it.

 

 

A wonderful letter from Lynn B.

Her letters always make me laugh.

 

 

She also enclosed this miniature card with a note written inside.

It was very thoughtful and kind.

 

 

2013 PC Swap #12.

This is a vintage postcard from Italy.

The sender doesn't live in Italy nor was it sent from there.

 

 

Adventures of the Traveling Postcard.

This one originated in Minnesota and so far has traveled to Germany, Utah and to Nevada.

It's such a cute card.

I wish I could keep it for myself but I must forward it on to the next destination wherever that may be.

 

 

Simple Postcards Swap #2

cute card.

 

 

A lengthy letter form Kari.

I enjoyed very much.

 

 

A postcard from Elena, who I sent a postcard to during LetterMo.

This is her reply.

She tells me that this is a decoration near a restaurant.

So cool.

 

 

A Postcrossing from Germany.

The sender writes:

Hi JarieLyn, I'm Christina 25 years old and come from Germany.

On this card you can see by beautigul town Olsberg.

Happy Postcrossing!

 

Outgoing:

 

 

An official Postcrossing on its way to Poland.

 

 

This is week 4 for the RR.

It's on its way to the Netherlands.

 

 

A Letter for a pen pal.

 

 

This is for a postcard swap.

I forgot to take a photo of the postcard.

 

 

A letter for a pen pal.

 

So that wraps up the mail for the week.

Happy Easter and Happy Week-end.

 

I'm off to get ready for endermologie, my favorite thing on Sunday.