I’m a card freak, to put it bluntly. I buy cards for pretty much every occasion, and I think everyone should.

Yesterday, after a $20 Hallmark run, I got the idea for this blog, and I hope to shed some light on this often overlooked practice.

I think the obsession began with my grandma and my mom, both card nuts. My grandma would send me a card almost every week when I was in college, usually with $5 for coffee, or a paper clipping of something exciting happening in the City, or a joke or story she wrote. I lived for those cards. My roommate and I would have the best time wondering what kind it would be. For holidays we’d even hang them up and decorate our dorm room.

She always found the most amazing and creative ones. Sometimes they were inspirational, sometimes funny, sometimes downright weird, but it was awesome going to my little gold mail box and finding one inside. My grandma would even sign crazy names to the card and  return address, so when I received a card from Cindy Lou Who on Christmas, or Michael Myers on Halloween, I knew just who it was from. I actually still have pretty much all of those cards tucked away in a box, and when I want a good cry, or some motivation, I go through them.

I save a lot of my cards. I don’t know if this is a little bit of a hoarding thing or not, but I like to go back and read them, or use them for scrapbooks. I took every card I got for my wedding and cut them up and used them for our wedding scrapbook; and then I cut out everyone’s messages from inside the cards and added them to the book. People put time and effort into those cards, they aren’t meant to be read once and then tossed!

Plus, you can get mushy in cards and say things you can’t say in real life. I’m not the most comfortable with talking about feelings, but I can sure write how I feel. You can be totally silly with cards, too. My husband and some of his family started this ridiculous game where they buy each other cards that have nothing to do with the occasion at hand. For example, my brother-in-law will be receiving a card that says: “It’s fun to be 9” for his upcoming 31st birthday.

I don’t just buy cards, I buy Hallmark cards. I have a Gold Crown Card, I spend a lot of money, and “yes, I do want my gold seals!” Do you even have to ask? There’s something about placing that little sticker on the envelope that makes it that much more special. I do care to send the very best, and you should, too.

If you’re not a card person, surprise someone today and send them one. Who doesn’t like getting a card in the mail? We don’t have a lot of mystery left in life , so why not add some spice to someone’s day?

As a writer, my friend bought me the most amazing birthday card ever a few years back. It will literally never be topped. Check it out below and tell me you don’t love it!?

What was the best/most special card you’ve ever received or given?