Box of Birthday Blessings

I am being a VERY good friend to you, dear readers, because I don't love to share my sources. I mean, a girl's gotta have some secrets. Paper products have always been a fetish of mine. I LOVE them. I heart paper of all shapes and sizes, preppy paper, conservative paper, French paper, Cranes paper, cardstock, etc etc and so forth. I just love some paper!! My family knows I can always use more cute stationary and that I will in fact, use it. So, the secret is this.... preppy paper girl. That's right. PREPPY PAPER GIRL. She is a find, a true jewel. She is every paper lover's dream... cute paper, fun fonts, and quick service with good prices. I want to keep her a secret so that I can keep buying my goodies from her, but alas, I think you should know about her too.

One of my best friends just turned 40. What do you give a friend who turns 40? I mean, poor thing, she is FORTY! I am totally kidding... Seriously, how do you love on a friend who has been more than a friend to you? Who can make you laugh uncontrollably and think seriously all in one conversation? How do you say, "Happy Birthday" to a close friend who loves you like a sister? I have been on a quest to find unique and special gifts for my best friends as they turn 40. I'll tell you about the first three gifts I bought another time. Right now we're talking about Preppy Paper Girl. I love her blog. One day I read about the Blessing Box. I sort of dismissed the title. I've bought a cute box of blessings for the dinner table in the past. It was really cute until too many glasses of milk and who-knows-what-else were spilled on it. Then those blessings hit the trash can. So, I wasn't interested in another box like that. But herein lies another secret: this box is different. I contacted friends and family of the birthday girl and asked them to email me 3 words to describe our friend and how she has blessed their lives. Y'ALL. This is the SWEETEST gift! I emailed those words to Laurie and she printed them in cute fonts and cute colors on cute cards and put them in a cute, happy, preppy box. She then mailed it to me so I could hand deliver it. Before I did that, I took a peek. This is where the sweet part comes in. The words ML's friends wrote were precious. Inspiring. Thought-provoking. Loving. And so I had a good ole cry reading precious words that weren't even about me!!! It turned out to be a better gift than I ever dreamed it would be. ML says she has read the words from her friends over and over again. She loves it. So, if you need a unique gift idea for someone you love dearly, you have one now!! It would be a sweet gift for a teacher, a parent, a big anniversary, etc. Be creative!! And enjoy Preppy Paper girl!