Hallmark has a special place in my heart, it always has…

Very special, even though I have to pay a professional organizer to help me sort and de-clutter and donate some (okay, a lot) of the stationery I have collected over the years. Admittedly, it isn’t just Hallmark, but also Crane’s, la Paperie, the good old standby, Staples and that cute little shop that used to be just off of Rittenhouse Square on 18th Street. Any stationery store will do and I CAN NOT help myself. (Apparently this is common among the professional organizer’s clients. Go figure.)

So, why do I think that Hallmark, above all is a special place? Well, for one, it was the first place I ever went to buy birthday cards and birthday gifts. Second, a good friend worked there during her “Let me see where I should work when I graduate?” phase and loved it (just not where it is headquartered.) Finally, today, when I literally burst into tears in the Sympathy section, the woman behind the counter just reached for a box of super soft (must have been Hallmark brand) tissues and didn’t, for one second, judge me and my inability to control my emotions. You don’t find that kind of care in every retail store, let alone any old stationery store (and certainly not in Staples.)

~ Dawn aka Hat Girl