Special update: What snail mail means to me

Hello my beloved followers! How are you doing? ♥
Today I'm gonna write a special post about snail mail, one of my hobbies since I was 15 and actually the main reason why I started blogging, hehe! It's something that means a lot right now and a hobby that I take very seriously, so I really feel like sharing and describing what snail mail means for me to you all (Plus, many people seemed to be very interesting in my point of view on snail mail, so I said "Why not?"). For me, penpal friendship is more than someone writing you a real letter. It's what you read in that letter, what this person is sharing with you! Haha well, I don't want to get too romantic at the beginning so let's start! Hope you enjoy this post :)


I have to say I don't really recall how did I get into this penpal world... But what I know is I've always been a very creative person. I've always loved doodling, scrapbooking and arts&crafts! As far as I can remember, I think it all started when a Korean penpal in the first penpal website I started visiting told me she wanted to exchange letters with me. Not emails, just old school letters! I said to myself "Oh well, I've never done something like this before, and sounds like a good idea! Let's give it a try!" I loved writing stories since I was a kid and the idea of writing a real letter to a stranger and getting to know her like that sounded cool to me. It worked for a few swaps, I was fascinated about those tinny little papers and polaroids she used to send me. Then she stopped writing for some reason... She must be busy, I thought by that time. 


Also I had another Japanese penpal who stopped writing as well. I had another one (Ayumi) who sent me the first postcard I have ever got (way before I started collecting postcards!). I still have it of course, it's from the Tower of Tokyo. But again, we lost contact... I really miss her I have to say, she was such a lovely girl to talk to and a great penpal!I emailed her not to long ago but it seems she might have closed that account because Hotmail said that address didn't exist. It's so sad when this things happen, but it's part of this snail mail world! :\

Later (around 2009?) my Chinese penpal from Interpals Xianxian asked me if I wanted to swap postcards. I had never considered it, as I wasn't used to swap postcards and such, but again  I gave it a try. That's how my obsession over postcards started :) I'm happy because I'm still in contact with Xianxian, we talk every once in a while on WeChat and Interpals, although we don't swap postcards anymore!

Almost 5 years later, I'm happy to say I still enjoy snail mail just like the first day. I love my penpals I have now, I love the things they send me and nothing's gonna change that :') Now, so you know how does it feel to have a penpal, let's check some pros and cons of this snail mail world I'm in...!

(PS: This is just based in my personal experience and point of view, I don't mean to offend anyone!).

Good things about snail mailing

-You learn to get to know people in a different way. Letters are a very personal thing, even more than emails I'd say! But there's a big difference: A letter is a small tiny package that someone has prepared specially for you, and only for you! He/she has taken his/her time to make it look cute and sent it so you can see it right there in your mailbox :) The feeling of making people this happy, it's just irreplaceable!

-Letter decorating is just addictive! <3 Specially now that I live in Korea, there are so different kinds of stickers, letter papers and washi (mask) tapes! I'm gonna take a ton of tiny things like this back home, haha. I love making my penpals happy! 

Decorating this envelope for Bianca, a new penpal from California (US)!

-You get surprises every once in a while :D Thanks to my penpals I've got adorable things like, special postcards, notebooks, agendas, stickers, bracelets, photos... Maybe that doesn't mean anything to you at all, but just the fact of getting something cute from someone else in the other side of the world make my heart melt! <3

Letter from my penpal Jennifer (from New Mexico, US), received in September. She wrote me a super cute & doddly letter instead of the average text one explaining her trip to Spain... And I loved it! <3

Beautiful giveaway I won last April from Yina, a blogger friend of mine from Dominican Republic. Everything looked so cute and adorable! :) 

Bad things about snail mailing

-It implies money. Haha, that's why many people don't want to get into it. Some of them just think it's a waste of time writing something in a paper when you can write it online for free. I respect that though, I can't pretend everyone shares the same opinion I have! :)

-(Rather than a bad thing, it's an advice): Don't do it if you don't have time. What I mean is, don't make your penpal wait needlessly. It is true that we all go through some moments when we don't have time to reply or write back. In that case, people should email their penpals to explain the situation! But quitting writing it's the worst thing you can do. Penpalling means having friends as well, and as friends we want to know when something's going on. It avoids lots of worries and bad thoughts, trust me! :\

-If you're not careful, you tend to lose contact with your penpals in one way or another. After those 5 years penpalling it has come a point where I'm not in touch with my first penpals anymore. They stopped writing at some point (even though I sent them messaged or I emailed them) and we just lost contact... And it hurts because you see they keep updating their stuff and you just wonder "Why isn't she replying to me?". But it's just how it is!

-It can be addictive, and by addictive I mean "saying yes too many penpals"...! That happened to me a few years ago and I just got crazy accepting new people that don't really wanted to be my friends (we don't really had much things in common), so I politely told them I had to quit writing them :\ My mistake, I know! Now I don't do that anymore, I have my list of beloved penpals I love with all my heart and they're all very special to me :)

-You send tons of non-replied letters... Just a waste of time, stationery and money that never will come back. But it's part of this penpal life I guess! We can't be too pessimistic about it ;)

Despite both good and bad things snail mail has, it's something you need to take seriously. You have to be 100% committed to reply to that special someone who took his/her time to write to you, and once you do it... You love it! Trust me, the feeling of getting home and receiving a letter from a friend it's too special to describe it with words. I enjoy writing to my friends and receiving news from them, and I'm happy I can fulfill my hobby in such a special and beautiful way. I'm proud of them and happy to say many of them I consider them my real friends :) I have a very nice and decent list of penpals, which you'll find in the right bottom bar of this blog. You want to get to know them?  I'm gonna introduce em to you all ;)

USA

Anna (Maryland): My boyfriend's best friend and my penpal bestie ♥ We just have too many things in common for not to be penpals haha! Future bridesmaid in my wedding as well hehehehehehe ♥♥ Love you my sailor senshi!

Michelle (Idaho): Met her almost two years ago, we've been in touch for a long time now :) She works at Starbucks and she's a very loyal penpal! (Although it seems her last letter got lost in the way :\). She reaaaally reminds me of Zooey Deschanel. And ah, she's a blogger too! ;)

Jennifer (New Mexico): I was her first penpal and I'm very proud of that haha! She visited my country last summer and she just loved it, so we usually talk about trips we've done recently or our favorite serie... Breaking Bad! Before flying to Korea she sent me a beautuful package with BrBa merchandising and omg, I felt so blessed! I'll repay her someday haha, that was just too good!

Yanill (Florida): My favorite and flawless American/Latina penpal!♥ We usually write each other in Spanglish haha, and I l love it! We both love vintage stationery, and she's always been a very sweet penpal (despite our letters have gotten lost on the way sometimes) >_< We never lose touch! 

Gaby (New York): What can I say...? I LOVE GABY! She's a super crafty and attentive penpal who I really look up to. I love sending her the most flawless stationery I have, and this winter I sent her a beautiful package from Korea full of cute stuff for her! ♥ Hope we can be in touch for a long long time!

Jenne (DC): American (raised in Thailand) penpal who I could talk for hours with :) I'm still waiting for her letter, hope I can get it on time!

Kimlee (Virginia): We started penpalling not so long ago but feels like ages now! :D Kimlee is super sweet, we're both very talkative and we have this kind of special connection that I love She sent me a special Xmas package to Spain, can't wait to get it >_< 

Piper (Massachusetts): She's an adorable penpal too! We met each other in summer on Tumblr and we've been in touch till now. She sent me a lovely Christmas package this time, and I can't wait to go back to Korea so I can send her sth back! ^_^ She loves manga, anime, Ghibli and food as much as I do! ♥♥

Canada

Robyn: We just did a letter swap so far (we started being penpals not so long ago), but she seems like a great girl to talk to! :) Can't wait to get to know her better as time goes by!

Kelly: She was my first penpal when I started taking this snail mail thing seriously, circa 2010. I'm glad we're still in contact, she's a very crafty penpal and despite she's gone MIA at the moment I can't wait till I get her next letter again :') ♥

Singapore

Corey: One of my best penpals too, super punctual and talkative. We always have things to talk about and we love talking to each other. Definitely the kind of person I'd like to have a coffee with in real life!

Vivien: One of my youngest penpals, very sweet, kind and talkative! ^_^ She got me a Starbucks tea tumbler for Christmas as she's been super busy doing an internship in China. Thank you sosososo much!

Faiza: We talked on Interpals in summer and we switched to letters when I moved to Korea. She's 6 years older than me so I love hearing from her and her projects as a graphic designer. 

Thailand

Ploi: Met on Interpals two summers ago now, feels like she's my sister from far away sometimes haha! I follow her on Instagram too so we both know about each other very often :) We swap letters very often and she's super punctual! We also swap little stickers, postcards and we talk about our boyfriends and our daily lives.

China

Judy: A very special penpal for me, we met on Intepals as well and we've been swapping letters and postcards for... Almost two years now? She's kind of busy with school sometimes so I don't get to hear about her that often >_<

Japan

Ai: A new Japanese penpal I just met. She loves Europe, specially Paris. We started writing to each other two months ago, and she's very patient with my Japanese haha. Thank you so much! ^_^

Hong Kong

Viola: One of my first penpals hen I started using Instagram to meet new snail mailers. I love her so much, we swap tea bags everytime but it's been a long time I haven't heard from her :( I need her back in my life, haha!

Russia

Nadya: A super kind girl, very sweet and punctual penpal! ♥ Met her on Interpals and we've been penpalling for almost two years now too ^_^ Very attentive, she's always sending me adorable Christmas cards or postcards from Voronezh (the region she comes from). We usually share anecdotes about our everyday lives or we talk about special traditions or holidays we have in our countries. 

Masha: Beautiful young married mommy who writes me every once in a while. She loves owls and floral stationery. Her letters are always beyond flawless! ♥

The Netherlands

Jennifer: We met on Instagram a long time ago, and even though she sends me letters from time to time it's always a pleasure reading them ^_^ She's visited my city and she's a very nice penpal, she's into arts and crafts and very good at it!

Finland

Dede: Probably the most adventurous person I have ever met, haha! Chinese born girl, she was raised in Vietnam and when she was a teenager she moved to Finland. She's studied in Austria, and now she's in Germany. Amazing, right? She's super nice and I'd love to meet her this summer when I go to Vietnam :)

UK

Nilafa: My Muslim/British penpal! ♥ I admire her so much and I love talking to her about our everyday lives and such! She's been through some problems recently so I haven't heard from her for al long time >: I miss her so much!

Ana: Spanish girl living in the UK! We have many things in common and we always have things to talk about :B She loves all the stationery I send her along with my letters! 

Shelley: She's still not my penpal but I sent her a special Christmas package last week :) We exchange emails once a week and we talk about our every day lives. Can't wait to get to know her by letters! ♥

Spain

Miranda: My 17 year-old penpal from homeland! I've known her for a long time now thanks to Instagram, but when I moved to Korea I decided it would be the best excuse to become penpals with her. Miranda loves reading (just like me) and she's a very good crafty penpal too! I wish I would be as good as her when I was her age ><

Sweden

Raquel: One of the most special penpals of mine, as it's the only penpal I write to in my native language (along with Spanish), Catalan. She's married with a Swedish man and they live happily together in Stockholm. I met her in real life last week and it was awesome! It's the first penpal of mine I meet in real life, she's super sweet! ♥ Hope we can be in touch for a long long time!

Australia

Flick: Someone I will never regret meeting :) Flick is an amazing and very creative penpal! We both love indie music and due to distances we don't get to know about each other super often... But it's always a pleasure getting her letters!

Hope I have the chance to meet all my snail mail penpals in real life someday. But until then, mail will keep doing that job for us!

Hope  you guys liked this post, and sorry if it's too long haha! What about you, though? What does snail mail mean to you? :)
I'll be more than happy to hear back from you! Please feel free to leave comments if you want, hehe! ♥



CL

Summer! Summer goodies + July snail mail update

What does "summer" mean to you? What comes up to your head when you hear the word "summer"? I'd say summer is definitely the best season of the year! Even though you get bitten by mosquitoes all the time, the heat is sticky and unpleasant and everything else... Most of us are also on holidays, we have time to sleep and relax, we can go to the beach with friends, we can enjoy a refreshing beverage in a café... It's just, great! So I just made a list of things that I automatically relate with summer. Do we share any of these? :)

One of the reasons why I also like summer it's (obviously) because it's my birthday! XD This year I got really nice stuff from my family and friends... :

 I finally got a Macbook Air, yay! :) I payed half of it and my parents payed the other half (it wasn't a bad deal after all!). Also I bought myself a new purse (fluor red, my favorite color!) and a floral/Brit-style travel documents folder  <:

 My penpal bestie Anna sent me this Estée Lauder Mad Men blush (I don't use make-up, but I swear to God once I move to Korea I'll start using it, haha!) and Raquel sent me this postcard-shaped bag with tons of postcards on it ^_^ Finally, I bought myself a travel notebook in Natura to write about my upcoming adventures in Asia ♥

Finally Mariona got me a pair of Hello Kitty pajama pants, Esther made a homemade pink purse for me, and my aunt got me a Kath Kidston MacBook case!

Yay, I'm becoming a KH collector recently, haha XD I have her wallpaper...

Also on my phone...

A notebook Anna sent me...

Her theme on Chrome... lol!

I'm so glad I have these friends, really ^_^ They mean so much to me they don't even know <3 Thanks buddies!

Now time for a snail mail update! As I said before, I'm cutting off with penpalling temporarily since I'll be moving to Seoul in a week, so I don't want my incoming to get lost in the way and everything else. But I still have some stuff I got recently that I want to share with you all:

Corey from Singapore told me about his trip to the Philippines, and she also sent me a keychain from there ^_^ 

I wrote Kelly's reply on my way back to Paris It's always nice hearing about her, we just turned our first year penpalling!  

Reika as always, wrote the whole letter in Japanese :) So happy to have a native speaker who you can practice the language with! ♥♥♥

Nilafa is my newest penpal from the UK <: This is her first letter, hope I get her back very soon! Hope we can get close as time goes by. 

My sweetest and loyal Michelle from Idaho (US) told me she just got hired by Starbucks! I envy her so much, omg... T_T'' ♥♥♥

Postcards from Dasvini in Malaysia and Mel from Singapore 

Stinky Tofu postcard from Wang Ting and Spring Festival postcard from Nye, both from China :D 

My last postcard from Miyuki (Japan) until I'm settled in Korea, Matryoshka postcard from Yaroslava (Russia): My favourites! ♥♥ And beautiful postcard from Emma (Indonesia) ^_^

And this is all by now, buddies! I might update this very soon, since I have some plans in mind with my friends and family this weekend. Hope you keep reading my blog and please, don't hesitate to comment or give me some feedback! I'll be more than pleased to reply you:)

Warm hugs from,

CL

Middle May Snail mail Update

I barely have time to be on Internet these days because of all the schoolwork I need to do, also I'm very very mad because Nikon Service and Repair told me I need to pay 318€ for my baby's reparation, so I guess I'll just sell a kidney and a piece of my spinal so I can pay it (?) Meh, whatever! I always feel like I rant way too much in here lol

Before you all die of boredom I'm gonna update this with my most recent incoming :)

 Today I was walking around the street and I just fell in love with these Barcelona polaroid postcards I saw <3 I bought six and I'm gonna send em to Kelly and Jenne, whose envelopes were ready to go till I found something cute to send them. Aren't they aborable? ♥

Kim from Cali (USA) and Chiaki from Hiroshima in Japan

Ash from Taiwan (left), Djuli from the Netherlands (top) and Denise from Singapore (bottom)

Hayal from Turkey and Vuong from Vietnam (YAY, MY 3rd POSTCARD FROM VIETNAM ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥)

Bianca from Tokyo, Japan and Nastya from Ukraine 

Ruth-Anne from Arizona (US) Thanks deary! I love that kawaii stationery she always uses ♥

I'm always afraid that Nadya's letters from Russia don't get me on time (Sigh, I don't trust Russian post! D: ) but yes, I got it this time ^_^ She sent me some floral stickers as well, thank you so much! I know you read me haha, so I give you a shoutout! ;) ♥

I'm always happy to get Dede's letters ^-^ ♥She might come to Barcelona soon, I'd love to meet her tbh ;_; (She would be the first penpal I have ever met in real life!) Let's see how things work out, though!

So, what about me? As you might have assumed, I'm in my exam season already (that means exams&projects till the 5th June! x_x) Ugh, I can't wait to finish them all. The good side of it is, I feel like it passes quickly! So yeah, good luck to you all and let's be positive! Summer vacation in a month, yayayayayay! Cheer up everyone ;)

Love and hugs,

CL ♥

Middle March Snail mail Update

Guys, this is probably the best snail mail package I've never received. And when I say it it's because I mean it. Just take a look at those piece of papers/masterpieces, please...♥

"Why everything's so beautiful?!" you might be wondering. And my answer is simple: My kawaiiest Anna Zhang sent me a letter ♥♥♥ Sigh, isn't it perfect and precious? sdtyuilokjmhngf she got that colorful stationery in London, she came back from her European trip to the city & Madrid one month ago. She told me she loved it, yay ♥ I don't know how am I supposed to make it up for this perfect package, really ;_; But I will! Haha kidding, her letter is ready to go soon, I just need some time to buy some little somethings and it'll be ready to send :) And as always, thanks a bunch Anna! ♥

I finally got Christin's letter after a few months ^_^ We lost contact around Halloween, it seems she didn't get my last letter for some reason so I messaged her >_< So happy we're in touch again, yay! ♥

 Viola's letters usually take way too long to get to each other (3 weeks aprox? x_x), but when they arrive, it's totally worth it. This time she sent me the letter itself, a lovely note pad from Snoopy, a small notepad and a pamphlet of Disneyland Hong Kong (OMG I'd love to go *-* I haven't even been to the closest we have which is in Paris)~ It seems she loved the bubble bath I sent her last time ^^ ♥

Ploi's letter arrived ripped on top :\ Most of times customs open it just to check, but this time the keychain she had sent me had disappeared! ú_u I'm so sad... Also the letter arrived pinched and in very bad conditions, I hate when this happens! Anyway, I'm happy I got her letter anyway, she's one of my "oldest" penpals and it's always a pleasure hearing from her :) ♥

 I also got some postcards this week :) The first is King Ludwig II from Germany. Thanks Tanja!

Also Yunji from Korea and Gabriela from Panamá surprised me with their postcards ^_^ Yunji definitely knows my postcard taste, I love this "sakura" vintage card ♥♥♥♥

Finally Nikki from Cali sent me another parcel. I'll need to pay it back somehow but I need my time to save up and find cute stuff >_< 

(PS. Sorry for the super bad quality pics, my only SD card can't be read and I need to buy a new one asap x_x)

She definitely knows how much I love Reeses and Hello Kitty haha. She sent me another plushie so... One more in my collection ^_^ Aren't they cute? 

 Yes, I also told her my love for Reeses... u///////u *ashamed*

Obviously she sent me a letter with the parcel ^_^ I'll reply the letter first and then I'll prepare something cute for her. I'm not in my best financial moment (even though I realized I got a 1200€ scholarship for my exchange program) it's still not enough! So yeah, I should control this lovely but not so cheap hobby of mine >_<

Byebye you all! Cheer up, good weather will be here soon ;) ♥

Love,

CL

Middle March snail mail update, some ups and downs too...

TA-DA! This is the late letter I received from Kelly :) Kelly was one of the first penpals I started writing letters with, back in 2011 I think! She's Canadian with Cantonese origins, and she's a lovely person to talk to :) We lost contact last year since our letters were getting lost all the time, and after one year without saying a word, she sent me a letter <3 Isn't she cute? <3 Thanks so much Kelly, hope we can be penpals for a long long time! 

 I got Grace's letter last week. She's going to Australia in April, yay ^_^ So we'll re-take the snail mail contact once she's back to Taiwan. In the meantime, she's gonna send me postcards from Aus :D

My deary Anna is in Spain rn ;_; <3 She's in Madrid specifically, I wish I could meet her for a few hours or something! But no *sigh* ;_; Last week I sent her letter back, so it'll be ready once she goes back home after her Spring Break. She's travelling around Europe with a friend at the moment, they visited London till yesterday and today they're in Madrid ^_^ Hope they're both having a great time in the capital!

Flickr from Australia never disappoints me. I can't describe how excited I am when I get her letters ;_; They always look so quaint and vintage...! <3 I really envy her scrapbooking/arts n' crafts skills :) Hope I can send her something legit this time! Thanks for the letter, doll <3

 Jennifer sent me her second letter, yay! I liked the paper and the decorations. She's a really well-known blogger and both blogs are awesome :) She's going to Amsterdam soon and she promised me a postcard! Haha, can't wait to get it! Her letter back is ready to send next week.

This is my first letter from Kelsie from Washington (US)! She promised me to write more next time haha, hope so :D Her letter is sent already!

Last but not least, I got those two postcards from China (left) and Japan (right)~ I love how vintage this add postcard looks, and the macarons and the meido are just adorable ^^ Thanks Han and Anne! <3

Speaking of other things, nothing much happened in my life recently. Actually I've been kind of down those past few weeks, I don't really know why. Also I've been sick, then I got better and then I got sick again. I don't know what's wrong with me =_= Glad we don't have exams yet! (I have Japanese exams of course, but that's every week). Plus, I didn't get to pass the CPE mock, and my teacher doesn't reccomend me to pass it. I'm afraid to tell my parents tbh, they've been pretty pushy about it and I always feel like I'm disappointing them. They want me to get as much language certificates as I can, but I don't see why they're in a hurry. That's what my teacher asked, in fact "Why you need it now? You're trying to pass the highest Eng exam in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages... And you need it now, with 20 years? Why don't you just take your time?".

 The thing is, my parents will never understand. They've always been pushy when it comes to grades, it's good to see they haven't been very pushy about my uni marks (which they're still good), but they think I could alwys do it better in English. I mean, of course I could, but I CAN'T! There's no way that I can pass that exam, actually NO ONE in my class did. NO ONE. I know that's not an excuse, but I think they don't know how eager and impatient they're being with me. They can't pretend me to get the last certificate in a year when most of English native speakers wouldn't be able to pass it either. I still don't know what to do, but honestly (I think that's kind of cruel but) I can't wait until I move to Korea, so they can see how bad they're gonna miss me. 

I feel bad I haven't been with my buds lately. I feel like I'm abandoning them a little bit, but I can't help it. Everytime I'm down I always prefer to close in on myself, I've never felt comfortable talking about my own stuff. I'm being stupid, because I know they want to help me somehow and stuff, but I just... No. I just hope this week passes quickly and Spring Break comes soon, so I can relax and start smiling again.

Anyway, that is all for this week. I felt like I had to update this but as you can see I'm not going through my best moment (sorry about this last two paragraphs, I didn't mean to write a whining post or anything, but I really had to vent). I wish you all a happy March. We all have to be positive though, spring will be here soon! :')

Love,

CL