Welcome Back and Happy Anniversary!

And... we're back.

I'm back...

Are we/I talking about my/our self in the first person now? To be determined.

So, this is my first post since my longer than expected hiatus. But, I'm back up and running with a new scanner that I have yet to catch on fire with a candle and that hasn't been dropped, both things that actually happened to my old Canon (R.I.P). We've also moved out of state and are living with husband's parents, so I don't have a proper office area, so I have to carry my desktop and printer around the house and set them up anytime I want to blog... fun!! So, I may blog less, but when I'm actually in the mood to set up a pop-up office I'm just planning on making as many posts as possible and just scheduling them out. 

So, for right now my weekly updates will be suspended, but I'll still be showcasing postcards just in a different fashion. Probably. I'm winging it. Along with not having a proper office area, I also have a 15 hour day 4x a week... so... yeah. Well, maybe I'll still do my weekly post on one of my days off, IDK. 

Okay, so this past week was my 3rd anniversary being married to Chris. For this anniversary he got really creative and actually made me happy mail!!! I was so thrilled. I was somewhat expecting vintage postcards for my anniversary, since... and this is a safe space to say this because my husband doesn't read my blog... when he went shopping I followed him on my iPhone and I saw his location in Phoebus which is where all the antique shops are and where I've bought vintage postcards in the past. However, I did not expect him to make my gift look like happy mail and really he could have bought anything there, he actually got some of my Christmas presents at local antique shops as well which were two vintage brooches and an art deco perfume dispenser. 

Chris and I on Thanksgiving.

So, here's what I got:

The Envelope

Most impressive is that Chris was able to find vintage Florida stuff up here in Virginia and even in our small town, or at least the small town next to our small city. Two of the cards that he got me were of Bok Tower. Bok Tower Gardens is really a place that I love and cherish in Florida. For those of you who don't know, I grew up in Florida and just left after 31 years. In September we moved up here to Virginia, but I still have some nostalgia for Florida. 

Anyways, if you ever go to Florida I highly recommend visiting Bok Tower, it's off the beaten path and a little expensive (like $20 per adult, which is a bit much in my opinion for a garden, but it's nice and really large), but it's well worth the experience. If I could describe to you the energy around the tower... it's so peaceful. When it's "singing" aka a guy is playing the carillon inside of it, it's the most peaceful thing. The tower is on top of a hill, overlooking Lake Wales, which is like true blue country. It's amazing.

Here we are at Bok Tower:

He also got me this old timey photobook featuring vintage postcards of Orlando and Winter Park, of course I lived in Orlando my whole life and I have also lived in Winter Park, which honestly is still Orlando, but you can't tell people in Winter Park that because they are very uppity about their Winter Park addresses. For those in the Snailmail Community a fun fact about Winter Park is that it's home to Rifle Paper Co., some of you may have bought stationary and postcards from them or may be familiar with their stamp for USPS's 'Love' series. Also, my friend Josie works there and she's awesome :) Side note: she has a really cute baby.

Front

Back

I just realized my husband left the price on... lol! $4 what a steal, way to go Chris!

Here's what the inside looks like:

It's actually very tiny and would fit inside a wallet. My wallet is too full of old receipts, so, unfortunately, no room for it in there. Also, I just wouldn't want to ruin it since it's vintage and fragile.

Oddly enough, I also have the postcard featured on the front which I ordered off eBay not too long ago. It is from Lake Eola, which is the most iconic Central Florida park.

Just for fun here's my old apartment in Winter Park:

Via Google Earth

Moving on, I also got these really really old postcards that aren't even in color they're so old. It's an old postcard book of Parisian cards. It's so fragile, I'm really hesitant to open it too much.

He also got me a vintage postcard of Centennial Fountain located at the aforementioned Lake Eola. 

The sad thing is, high-rise condos have since replaced those wonderful historic homes in the background. In fact, all of Lake Eola is now surrounded by high rises for various businesses and condominiums.

He also stuffed some lovely teacup earrings inside the envelope. Which match the kettle ones I have.

Awesome, so I have a lot of fun things in the works, including:

• some postcard maps of the view cards and lighthouse cards I've received.
• getting together an Instagram just for swaps.
• penpals.
• i'd like to start partnering with other mail blogs and social media accounts, so if you're interested let me know!
• music posts with songs with snailmail-y lyrics or themes.
• and more!

Miss Time Postcards

This week, I received some new postcards in the mail! I don't often purchase new postcards to send out to others, but I recently ordered a few sets off of Wish. This one is a set of 30 called Miss Time Today's Special. I really love this type of art where it just shows a girl going about her regular daily life.

Here are some of my favorites from my new collection! I'm excited to continue sending these out to people because they are so cute! I've already sent some of these out (along with several others) for the North American August Round Robin on the Postcrossing Forum.

Vintage Florida Postcards

Greetings from Orlando, Florida!

I received some vintage Florida postcards in the mail. I purchased them off eBay and I am so happy with them, they bring me so much joy! Being an (almost) native Floridian- I've lived here since I was a baby, but I was born in Georgia- I have an obsession with all things Old Florida. If I could go back in time, I'd love to see how my state was "in the old days". Even my memories of growing up here in the 80s and 90s are so different then how Florida looks now. There's been so much development. My old elementary school Waterbridge Elementary was surrounded by cow pastures and now there's so many neighborhoods and hotels (the school is in the shadow of Sea World) that it's one of the busiest parts of the city.

Anyways, enough reminiscing, some of the coolest things about these cards are that some of these places I've actually visited.

Downtown Orlando:

Downtown looks quite different now, but some of the historic buildings still remain. Downtown is just such a lovely place, I once heard Orlando was voted as having one of the most beautiful Downtown areas in the nation... which likely lends to our motto "The City Beautiful".

Lake Eola:

Citizens of Orlando are obsessed with Lake Eola, it's a symbol of our city. It's a gathering place and popular for it's fountain, swans, farmer's market, and all-around lovely atmosphere in the center of Downtown. My grandmother would take me here as a child to play on the playground, we have a picnic with KFC chicken. Now, I bring my children to Lake Eola to play on the playground and feed the swans.

Bok Tower and Gardens:

My husband and I just visited Bok Tower and Gardens- famous for it's Singing Tower- a few weeks ago. It was such a lovely place. The tower has the most astounding presence. It's has the ambiance of a spiritual place and seems esoteric in some way. I can't describe it, but you get the feelings that there is or was more going on here. My husband noticed much of the symbolism in the tower art are similar to symbolism used by "secret societies" like the Masons or occult groups.

Here's some pictures of our trip:

Old School House, St. Augustine:

I first visited St. Augustine when I was in 4th grade and on a field trip. Fourth grade is when we learned Florida History. St. Augustine is a wonderful place, it so historic and all-around wonderful. It's also a very affordable day trip for those living in Orlando. I've walked past the Old School House several times (in St. Augustine... it's ALL walking) and I've been inside a couple times.

Mead Botanical Garden:

Mead Botanical Gardens is honestly nothing too special. It's a cool place though, since it's a garden and it's free... but there's not much more to it other than just being a garden and there's not too much to the gardens either. Pretty standard, but again free, and enough to wear out children walking around.

The other cards which I received are for places in Florida I haven't yet visited, my favorite one is this home in Coral Gables. I collect postcards of homes and this one is so Florida! This looks like so many older homes in Florida.

There's also postcards from two hotels, I'm not sure if they are still around, or if maybe the hotels were turned into something else. Both are in Panama City.

This one is for a place called Monkey Jungle near Miami:

Sarasota Jungle Gardens in Sarasota:

Some of them are just miscellaneous:

A few of them are written and stamped, I wish I could read the handwriting better. Most are just short messages, The message on the back of the Hotel Marie postcard in Panama City has an interesting message, it makes me wonder so much about the people who wrote these postcards. The Hotel Marie one was sent to Miss Joyce Kennedy in Brooklyn, New York.

It says, "Hi Honey I am reading your letters at lest once a day. They can sure make me feel good. We're supposed to go out deep sea fishing tomorrow on the Gulf. Maybe my luck will change and I'll catch something. How are all the studies coming along? Tell me do you still remember the date of your first date? (That ought to keep you busy) Love Tommy."

He underline 'love'... however it appears Miss Joyce Kennedy was in Kings County Hospital according to the address. I wonder what the relationship of these two people?

This has really made a little obsessed with vintage postcards, especially old Florida ones. If you want to see some more of my vintage postcards, I have a Collection on Flickr.

Warm Wishes,

Amanda