Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Jenna's Helpful Hint #1.

One time, many moons ago, I arrived at a friend's a bridal shower when I realized I had forgotten to put a card in the gift. Whoops. It was definitely too late to go get one at the store. I kind of panicked a little -- I wasn't looking forward to that awkward moment when the bride-to-be would have to gingerly sift through the tissue paper in search of a card while I sheepishly muttered, "That one's from me."

You probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

Well, it wasn't the end of the world, but it inspired an amazing yet simple idea. When it dawned on me, I was like, "Duh, why didn't I think of that before?"

Keep a stash of cards and a pen in your glove box.

I know. GENIUS. Sometimes, I'm capable of greatness when I put my mind to it!

I usually get the blank, non-descript cutesy ones at Wal-Mart or Target -- they're like $3 for 10 of them -- so I can use them for multiple occasions. Also, I try to keep them somewhat gender-neutral in case the recipient is male. Here's what I have currently:



Cute, right? $2.99 for 10 (plus envelopes, of course) at Target.

I can't tell you how many times this trick has made me look extra caring and thoughtful when really, I just happened to have a card handy.

Here are some situations where you might find this trick beneficial:

-Find out a family member is sick? Take them a card on a moment's notice!
-Invited to an impromptu birthday get-together? Never fear; you have a card!
-Driving past a friend's house and you want to drop her a little note of encouragment? Done!
-Returning something you borrowed but the lender isn't home? Express your thanks in a card and leave it with the item on her doorstep!*

*Only if your neighborhood isn't shady.

Also, I still regularly forget to put cards in gifts, and this takes care of that potentially embarrassing weakness, too.

On a related note, I also keep stamps in my wallet. That way, if I'm ever off to mail something and I've forgotten the stamp, I can just pull one out of my purse instead of driving all the way back home.

Question of the day: What is YOUR most helpful hint?

5 comments:

  1. I'm the same with the stamps, I always keep them in my wallet. Partly so I don't forget where they are, but they definitely have saved me several times. I'm totally the "that one's from me" gift giver. I'm bad about putting cards in bags mostly because I hate reading long, drawn out, thoughtful cards when I get gifts. Especially lots of gifts, like at a shower. However, I've found it no longer works for me to wait for my gift to be picked to say it's from me because I don't seem to stick around for the gift opening part of the party. Twice now I've been in an awkward predicament where at one shower I had the recipient hurry and open the gift so I could leave while the rest of the partiers were playing a game, and at the other shower I quickly wrote on a napkin so I could take off! Ha! I think I better put some cards in my glove box just to be safe now. Great idea!

    My helpful hint: I keep a few bobbi pins and a hair tie clipped to the inside of my purse (on an inside pocket) because I just never know when I'll need one.

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  2. I always keep stamps in my wallet, too! And I love this idea -- I'm going to start using it.

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  3. Such a clever, cute and thoughtful idea! Thanks for the tip!! :)

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  4. That’s a great idea! I'm going to do that.
    Here’s a tip I’d like to share. Due to my transplant, I have to take a lot of different medications, which causes “medication build-up” in my hair. That means that my hair becomes oily, heavy, and drab looking within 12 hours after washing it. But I came across this solution for medication build-up: I mix 1 tablespoon of apple-cider vinegar with 1 cup of water and pour about half of that over my hair after shampooing it. The first time I tried it, I couldn’t believe how much lighter and blonder my hair was. And the smell (which one might think would be overpowering with vinegar, but isn't) reminds me of Easter. :)

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