There always seems to be so much pressure out on Valentine’s Day as this big, romantic night – flowers, chocolates, a romantic meal followed by an even more romantic night with your loved one. Maybe my husband and I are the most unromantic couple in the universe, but our Valentine’s Day tradition is going out for a burger. We’re burger people to begin with, but we started this tradition by accident 11 years ago.

We were driving from New York City to Boston for one of my close friends’ weddings. We left after work, just in time for Friday afternoon rush hour as we got hungrier and hungrier; our only option was a McDonald’s at a rest stop along I-95 near Darien, CT. We went in and as we were eating our dinner with lots of other kids and families, it dawned on me that it was Valentine’s Day – giving Ed a wee bit of a hard time, I told him that I would get to tell all my friends that he took me to McDonald’s for Valentine’s Day. It was then we decided that we would buck the commercialization of Valentine’s Day and a great burger would be how we would celebrate each year – and it’s been that way now for 11 years!

What’s your Valentine’s Day tradition or ideal day?

Following are some of my favorite Valentine’s Day email stationery templates at MeebleMail.com – they are priced from free to only $2.99 per design for an annual subscription.

Valentine’s Day Stripes Email Stationery, Free

Hearts Email Stationery by The Bonnie Marcus Collection, $2.99

XOXOXOXO Valentine’s Day Email Stationery, Free

Queen of Hearts Email Stationery by Khristian Howell, $2.99

You Make Me Valentine’s Day Email Stationery, Free

New Year’s Resolutions – love ‘em, hate ‘em, break ‘em – it’s that time again. I prefer not to set “resolutions”, but rather goals for the new year – mine look the same as many – exercise more, eat healthier, get organized, stay in touch with friends in a meaningful way… does that list, sound like yours?

Here’s how I plan to make it happen…

1. Exercise More
I am sticking to it this year by registering to run a race, I’ll be running the Revlon 5K in New York City on May 4, 2013 – I’ve run this once before, the first time I ever ran a mile (and I was over 30).  I’ve said it – it’s now public and in print, so I can’t back out!

2. Eat Healthier
My husband and I love a good burger and we’ve decided to cut back on eating out – when reviewing what we spent in 2012, I was shocked to discover how much we spend on eating out – we used to eat out at every meal on the weekends – that definitely adds up!

3. Get Organized
I am working on clearing out clutter – we seem to accumulate a lot of stuff – 7 sets of headphones – a new pair for every flight we’re on because we forgot to bring our own? Kindergarten hoarder? Infant toys that we’ve grown out of, but kept for kids that come to visit? It’s all going! I know I can’t do it all at once, so I am choosing a section of the house each week to work on. First up – the bathroom – lots of expired prescriptions and OTC medications in there.

4. Stay in touch with friends in a meaningful way
Social Media is a great tool and I’ve reestablished many friendships from years ago via Facebook and made new friends on Twitter, but I don’t really have the opportunity to connect in a truly meaningful way. I work from home and spend a lot of time behind a computer screen or hunched over my iPhone when I am in the school pick up line. My goal this year is to actually talk to my friends who are far away and – brace yourself – meet a friend for lunch at least twice a month.

5.  Go as Paperless as possible
I’ve already eliminated most paper bills from my life and I was an emailer before it was de rigueur – I sent my first email in 2004 on my America Online account. But this year, I am embarking on the paperless challenge and though I do love getting handwritten letters, it’s a rarity these days and one of the reasons I launched MeebleMail.com – we need more style and personality in our email, so I’ll be using my MeebleMail email stationery to make all my email more stylish and personal.

Here’s to 2013 – Hope it’s “Lucky 13” for us all! I’ll be posting helpful “Resolution” tips on our Facebook page for the next few weeks – if you haven’t already, please “Like” us at http://www.facebook.com/MeebleMail.

MeebleMail Email Stationery design partner, Sisters Gulassa Printable Calendar, January 2013

With the more casual attitudes that exist in society today, one of the most common elements of “good manners” is often overlooked – the thank you note. There are many excuses – too busy, I don’t want to waste paper, no one cares if I say thank you and on and on. The thank you note is as important today as it was 100 years ago – how often have you given a gift and felt a little slighted because the recipient didn’t say thank you? Luckily, email thank you notes are widely accepted and make it super simple to be polite and with MeebleMail email stationery are as stylish as paper stationery.

MeebleMail.com enables consumers to send a more stylish personalized email greeting akin to beautiful custom paper stationery. With more than 1,200 email stationery templates from fashion and home designers to well-known paper stationery brands, virtually anyone is sure to find a template that suits their style and personality. Some of the designer’s whose email stationery consumers will find at MeebleMail.com are Trina Turk, Waverly Home, thomaspaul, Boatman Geller, Bonnie Marcus, Dabney Lee and bespoke stationer, Pickett’s Press. The email stationery can be personalized with the sender’s name, monogram or motif, just like paper stationery. Prices range from Free to only $2.99 per design for an annual subscription. MeebleMail is compatible with browser based AOL Mail, Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo Mail.

Once you have your email stationery, writing a thank you note can be short and sweet, below is what I wrote to my Aunt to thank her for a vase she sent me for Christmas.

Dear Anita,

Thank you for the beautiful Nambe vase you sent for Christmas. You won’t believe how beautiful it looks filled with flowers – I think tulips and calla lilies look best because their simplicity matches the style of the vase. Thanks so much for your thoughtful gift.

Love,
Sharon

To see the collection of email stationery from MeebleMail just go to http://www.meeblemail.com.

Waverly Home’s Lovely Lattice Email Stationery at http://www.MeebleMail.com,
only $2.99 for an annual subscription.

Boatman Geller’s Kate Email Stationery at http://www.meeblemail.com, only $2.99 for an annual subscription.