Kindred Spirit Mailbox-Sunset Beach, NC

A few years ago I heard about a mailbox (Kindred Spirit) on a beach off the coast of North Carolina. I blogged about it and thought that if I was ever that way, I would make a trip to see this interesting mailbox. 

Fast forward a few years... My mom and I always read Nicholas Sparks books. As it is our tradition, she buys his books the day they come out, reads it, and then gifts it to me. I am a proud owner of all of the Nicholas Sparks books. Well his newest one "Every Breathe" came out in October and as tradition goes, I was given the book. To my surprise, he got the idea for the book from Kindred Spirit!

My mom and I talked about how great the book was and decided this year, for our annual Birthday adventure (we have the same birthday), we would go to North Carolina to see the Kindred Spirit mailbox! We mentioned it to my cousin who also loves Nicholas Sparks so she and her husband decided to meet us there for our adventure!

We stayed at an adorable Airbnb in Wilmington, NC for the weekend and on Saturday morning started our adventure to Kindred Spirit. Kindred Spirit is located on Bird Island in Sunset Beach, NC which is about an hour drive from Wilmington. We found some directions online and it said to park on 40th street, where there are only about 4 parking spots available as it is pretty much a residential resort area. Once you are parked, you walk down a long boarded walkway to the beach. When you get on the sand you will see a sign that says Kindred Spirit is to the right (away from the pier) and to walk about 1.4 miles and it will be up in the sand dunes. There used to be a flag that you would be able to spot, but I think hurricane Florence might have taken that down as there wasn't one there when we went to visit!

The walk was very relaxing. It isn't a very crowded beach and the sand is flat and compact (so much so, that you can ride your bike on it). It was a warm day during our adventure, but there was a refreshing breeze which made it nice. 

We were walking along and I was the first one out of our group to spot the mailbox and I got so excited! There was no one there, so that gave me a good chance to get some photos and enjoy the moment with just the four of us!

After we were there for about 20 minutes, several groups of women started gathering on the beach to visit the mailbox, so we were glad we had a little while to really take in the excitement of it all and read some of the letters inside. After I read a few, I wrote a little note myself in one of the notebooks.

Then we headed down towards the water where I gifted my Mom and Cousin with bracelets I had made to remember the trip by. They both loved them and were excited to wear them. I also have similar ones that I have made and they are for sale in my Etsy shop!

If you ever get the chance to check out Kindred Spirit, I highly recommend it. Some of the locals in town said it has gotten busier now that Nicholas Sparks has written about it, but in the cooler months, it is less crowded. Check out their official website for more info.

xo,

ellen

christmas present for my mailman.

I like to do something fun for my mailman every holiday season just to say thanks for all that he does all year long!

This morning I left him a nice card with a starbucks gift card and homemade mailbox cookies! I hope he enjoys his special holiday treat!

His present waiting to be picked up from the mailbox!

If you are looking for a card specifically for your mailman this holiday season, Hallmark has a great selection of different ones. 

send a ball.

I don't know about you guys, but I love the show "Shark Tank"! They had two ladies come on to present their idea and I thought it was a very neat concept and just had to share.

Send a Ball!

Image from: sendaball.com

Send a Ball is a family owned business based out of chicago that ships bouncy balls to anyone you wish. Just select a theme off their website and they take care of the shipping for you. 

They ship the ball fully inflated, so the person on the other end will have a bouncy surprise waiting for them in their mailbox! 

sent with love.

I had a huge reply pile that I was finally able to get to this weekend and boy did it feel good to get these lovely letters in the mail on Saturday!

LR

Christina

Wykena

Yuko

Elizabeth

Helen

Dawn

Jess

You lovely ladies have letters coming your way! I hope they find you well!

Then I get a few more out in the mail Monday morning! A very good productive weekend writing letters!

Melissa

Yuko

Lynsey

Mom

Tiffany

You lovely ladies have letters coming your way! I hope they find you well!

national postal worker day.

HAPPY NATIONAL POSTAL WORKER DAY!
Thank you for delivering happy mail to our mailboxes all year long!

Image from: pretendingtofarm.typepad.com

Today is a day to appreciate and thank the men and women that work consistently to help is send and receive all of our happy mail and packages! Take an extra minute today to say thank you to your postal worker and let them know how much they are appreciated.

Postal Service employees may accept the following items:
• Snacks and beverages that are not part of a meal
• Items with little intrinsic value (greeting card, pen, coffee mug, etc.)
• Perishable items ( flowers, chocolates, cookies, etc.)
• Items with a value of $20 or less

Postal Service employees may not accept cash-in any amount or form
(bills, checks, money orders)

Ways to show your appreciation to your postman:
• A nice little card thanking them for their hard work
• Bottle of water (After all, it is pretty hot in July)
• Giftcard (Starbucks, 7-11, WaWa, etc.)
• Homemade Cookies
• Etc.

"See the mailman dressed in blue, will he bring a letter to you? He works when it rains and when it snows, he even works when the wind blows."

stamp out hunger.

Image from: facebook.com/StampOutHunger

Help the Postal Service by donating non-perishable food items. Anything from canned and boxed goods, pasta, rice and peanut butter and jelly.

It is super easy and what a great way to help out families in need. Fill a bag with non-perishable foods and leave it by your mailbox for your mail carrier to pick up on Saturday, May 10th! It is that easy!

You can read more about Stamp Out Hunger here. 

happy easter.

Wishing a very Happy Easter to all my letter writing peeps!

koala bear stamp.

I have had this precious koala bear stamp since I was little but recently just found it amongst all of my craft supplies. I thought it would be cute to make some stickers using it to put on my letters and send to my penpals!

valentine's cookies.

My mom and I never need a reason to bake, but Valentine's Day is the perfect reason to get in the kitchen and bake our hearts out!

We loved how the mailboxes and postage stamp cookies with the hearts turned out! We can't wait to make more like this next year too. 

I even bagged a few up and gave them to my mailman for Valentine's Day! I hope he enjoyed the special sweet treat!

month of letters 2014.

Today marks day one of A Month of Letters!

Are you participating? I participated last year and am looking forward to taking on the task of a letter a day again this year! If you haven't signed up yet, it is not to late. Sign up here!

You can even download participant stickers here, to put on your letters to let everyone know that you are participating!