Happy birthday to meee! :D

Yay! It's finally the D-day, I can read all these letters that were waiting for me for so long! Surprisingly, I've been stronger than I thought I would be, as it's wasn't so hard in the end not to read letters for a whole month. I hid letters in a grocery bag, and this bag was also hidden under my shelf, so I hadn't the letters all the time under my eyes, and besides I've been busy lately, with Christmas, January exams, and catching up with the pending letters (those I received before I start saving letters for my birthday) So I haven't been too much tempted to open all these envelopes right away. And the waiting really was worth it, because I had the best birthday in my whole life! Look at this nice pile of mail I had to fill the 7304th day of my life ;)

First, a letter from Bree in Malaysia:

 Along with a Christmas card, because she sent it in December, when it was still time for Christmas stuff :)

Then a package from Sara in Italy. She sent a handmade Christmas card, as well as some peach tea :)

Then comes a letter from Ramona, very Christmas themed. She even wrote it on Christmas day!

There was a German sentence printed on the paper. I assume it means: "if you knew how long I needed for this you would never throw it away", though I may be mistaking as my German is quite rusty now :( Could a German speaker help me?

When I received this thick envelope from Maiju in Finland I wondered how many pages she wrote, because it was really, really fat... now I have the answer: 16 A4 pages! :D

From Nora in Norway :) I usually don't use face masks, but as she sent me one, I think I'll use it anyway.

Christmas/winter themed letter from Simona in Lithuania:

I really love the card she sent! *-*

Teresa in the USA sent me a package with sooooo many stamps on it! :O

Inside there was:

Christmas/birthday present: a pack of beautiful, vintage envelopes! Thank you so much, Teresa, I love them!

The letter was in a beautiful handmade envelope:

And finally, the letter, with the few items she included (a flyer from a bookshop, a birthday card and a sample of US Christmas stamps)

Another package comes next, this time from Andra in Romania:

The wrapping paper contains two letters sets, for a private swap we agreed on:

A postcard featuring the Bran castle (with snow, awww *-*)

And the letter, + a birthday card:

Letter from Ingrid in the Netherlands:

Finally, a package from Tanja in Germany! Her last letter to me got lost (it has never arrived to me before that a letter from Germany got lost! :( ), but hopefully this one made it here!

She sent me some letter paper as a Christmas/birthday present

and wrote her letter on beautiful winter themed paper!

Last but not least, a birthday card from my mother arrived today in the mail!

I had to smile when I saw the stamp on the envie... I used to be a huge rabbit fan when I was a child ;)

Wow! That definitely was a wonderful birthday! So I'm officially no longer a teenager now! I don't feel especially different because of that, however. But it's still a nice thought because it's been a long time since I didn't feel I was a teenager.

Love, Tári

7 things you might not know about me

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Bubbles recently got a blog award that asked her to write 7 facts about herself and I found it really interested to read so it inspired me to write my own seven facts. Hopefully you'll be interested in getting to know the person behind the blog a little better ;)

1. I really love forests and woods. I somehow feel safe and relaxed there. Though I wouldn't like living lost in the middle of countryside because I like being able to reach places fast. But having a little wooden house surrounded by greenery only to spend my holidays would be a dream of mine.
2. I'm definitely not girly or feminine. I don't like pink, hardly ever wear dresses/skirts (I'm always wearing the same kind of clothes - jeans and pullovers), never use make up. I sometimes paint my nails though but not so often and I take it off after one or two days. I wish I were however, because I find girls that wear women clothes and a bit of make-up (a bit, not a lot!) the prettiest. But somehow, each time I tried looking more like a girl, I didn't like it. It just didn't look like me.
3. I don't really know what my inner age is. I'm biologically (soon) twenty but I don't think I belong to that generation at all. I always feel weird among people my age because I'm so different, we don't have the same likings, the same expectations... I sometimes feel I'm younger than my real age because my inner child is still strong (I find myself having great fun playing with toys or in playgrounds when I'm baby-sitting), yet some other times (most of the time, actually) I feel older than my real age. I somehow get along better with older people (aged 25-30) as I have more in common with them.
4. I often get strongly attached to characters when I'm reading a book. And I feel really sad when one die and/or when the book is over, meaning I have to leave them forever. That's why I prefer series, because then I spend more time with my favourite characters. But I also get even more attached to them and I feel even sadder when the series ends...
5. I am definitely a hoarder. I have hard time throwing anything, because I'm afraid I might need it one day, so my drawers and the boxes on my shelves are full of useless things (but who knows, they might become useful one day!). Though sometimes I catch "cleaning fevers" and when it happens, I can fill out at least 3 big dustbin bags with all my jerk.
6. I tend to reject all that is "trendy", and to like what no one usually likes. But at the same time I don't like it when people look at me weird, like "But how can you (not) like this?!" I want to be "normal" so that people don't notice me (there's nothing that makes me more uncomfortable than being the centre of everyone's attention), but at the same time I want to be different. There's a big paradox over here, isn't there? 
7. I'm not really into competitions, it doesn't interest me to be "the best" at something. And anyway, I believe that you can always find someone better than you. But I do like challenging myself. Like giving me goals to achieve, trying to beat my personal records, etc.

I hope you didn't fall asleep while reading it! 

Love, Tári

Does "to send" mean "to receive"?

Well, if it does, then I'm ready for a full mailbox soon! :) I kept on being efficient and now there's no letters left in my to-reply pile, well until I can read my birthday mail of course! Only one week left :D
My birthday mail pile grew up a bit this week, I added to letters to it, from Simona in Lithuania and Nora in Norway:

I'm completely in love with the Lithuanian stamps <3

There now are 6 letters in my birthday mail pile. And I know two others are on my way, I should get them on time. Sounds like I'll have a great letter reading party! :)

I mailed quite many letters this week, as I said at the beginning of this post, I cleared my to-reply pile! Being all caught up with my mail is a feeling I haven't experienced in ages, actually ;)
I first wrote to Reetta in Finland (she has already received it)

Then to Paula in Estonia:

Then to Audrey in Germany.

This paper with a cat (yes, there's a cat on the background, but you can't see it because the envelope blocks it) I bought to write to my very first penpal when I was 10 years old! I didn't know there still were some sheets left, I just found it out lately during the holidays while doing some tidying in my mess at my mother's. Isn't it awesome?

And finally, this week's longest letter is on the way to Almante in Lithuania!

By the way, I'm now a proud member of the League of Extraordinary Penpals!

Have you joined it too? Not yet?! But what are you waiting for?!

Love, Tári