Back-To-School

One of life's ambitions was to go to school --forever and die with millions of dollars in student loans.  Alas, they capped student loans and my plan was thwarted.  Still, every year when we are flooded with back to school ads, I become nostalgic.

I just love pencils.  So in the spirit of back-to-school, I got some new pencils.

These pencils come from a cool design group in Nashville called Hester & Cook.   They make wonderful kitchen paper and now they make uber-cool pencils.

The pencils have zippy names.  Old Hickory is a red carpenter's pencil.  Bridge is a round small circumference pencil for keeping score at your bridge game, or simply writing lovely thank-you notes. The West End is nice fat, first-grade style pencil.  All in all there is a size and shape to fit any hand or writing task.

So why let kids have all the fun!  Find yourself some cool, new pencils.

Field Notes

Yesterday was a zippy day at the Shirley Post Office. Well, for me, anyway. It was cold and rainy and very blah!!! Then I got my mail and found I had TWO Birthday presents... and my birthday was LAST month. So it was zippy and surprising.

The first present and the one I will address today was from my friend Ann. She and I share a common fetish... office supplies. We love office supplies. I will walk past 50 shoe stores to find a great little office supply shop. As for shoes, I have 25 pairs of Converse 'Chucks", which in and of itself might be a bit of a fetish and as for office supplies, those little office supply places have been DECIMATED by the big guys and you know who they are...but I digress...

Anyway... there is this great little on-line office supply place that I adore...

Field Notes.

Every season they have a special COLORS Subscription where they make the utilitarian brown Field Notes pads into COLORED ones. These subscriptions are, out of my price range, which is why I was sooooo happy to get a subscription for my birthday (THANK YOU again, Ann.)

So imagine my delight yesterday when a big old cardboard envelope arrived with a Field Notes return address. I carefully opened it and a barrage of office supplies came tumbling out, including....


Two packets of SUNSHINE, the spring color neatly enclosed in two envelopes with the zippyest of string closures that I love. They are getting hard to find because one can no longer send string enclosure envelopes or anything else with string through the postal service. Which I personally believe SUCKS, as there is nothing more fun than receiving a package bound up in lovely waxed twine... but I digress... and I know those big old sorters eat the string and it gums up the works and all that, but still....

Here are the Sunshine booklets with their pale, graph paper interior...


In addition, there were two regular packages of Field Notes including a three pack with plain, graph and lined paper for all your writing needs.


This is great you say, but what shall write in these notebooks with??? Not a problem! Out came a pen and a lovely raw cedar pencil complete with an eraser and yes, AND, a rubber band to keep everything in place.




In addition, there was a Field Notes button and since it was spring, a tiny bag of Marigold seeds for my planting enjoyment. What a wonderful present!

I am off to make notes...