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email makes the world go ’round.

May
19
2011
9 Comments

Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

There are so many ways to communicate online nowadays (did I really just use the term “nowadays”? I’m 27, not 77.)

Basically, if you want to get in touch with me online, you have several options: Tweet me, facebook message me, “like” my other page on facebook and leave a note on the wall, skype me, chat with me on google chat, AIM, yahoo messenger, jabber, shoot me a note on LinkedIn, or you can private message me on just about any other website that I’m a part of out there. My preference? Just email me.

When did everyone forget about email as a social tool? It seems that it’s now perceived as something that you use at the office and nothing else.

I love email.

It’s nonrestrictive; I can say whatever I want in as many characters as I want and send it to any number of people that I want. I can attach slideshows, projects or large files. I can organize all of my messages in to neat little folders, make pretty colored labels for different categories, and keep all of my contacts in one neat place. Email is the hub of my online social life.

Actually, email even spills over in to my “real” life. I’ve told you guys before how I send hubs a “close of business” email every night before I go to bed. It doesn’t even stop there… I email myself every night before bed, summing up the day and making note of things that I didn’t think to add to my to-do list. Email makes my world go ’round.

My very favorite movie was based solely on the wonders of email in our daily lives.

Frank: Name me one thing, ONE, that we’ve gained from technology.
Kathleen: Electricity
Frank: That’s one.
[points to computer]
Frank: You think this machine is your friend but it’s not.

(can you name that movie?)

Have you ever looked back through your saved and/or archived emails? I tend to keep a lot of mine filled away in folders in case I ever need to come back and reference something. Just for kicks, I decided to go back through my email archives from 2009. It was like opening a diary that I didn’t even realize I was writing. 2009 was a pretty big year for us – we were newlyweds; it was the year that we packed up everything, sold our first home, and moved away from our families; the year that I quit my corporate job to chase my be-my-own-boss dreams; the year that my best friend and I resolved our falling out and became closer than ever after not speaking for over a year. All of this… all the details… are documented within that email archive.

One email, in particular, caught my eye and kind of choked me up a bit. Before we moved, I was working as a mortgage & refi loan specialist with Wells Fargo Financial. It’s a job I took while in college because they offered a lot of flexibility with my schedule and there was room for advancement after graduation– even though I was a graphic design major. My last day at the office, the guys surprised me with cupcakes, flowers and a “handmade” card (guy in charge of getting a card forgot, so they used highlighters and copy paper.)

I sent out one last mass email to my office….

 

Dear All,

After an exciting and memorable stint with Wells Fargo, I am bidding adieu today and heading south. I have enjoyed working for this company and I appreciate having had this wonderful opportunity to work with such an amazing group of people. With many of you, I have shared a unique camaraderie which I hope will continue in the years to come even though I shall not be here with the company.

Even though I will miss you all here I am looking forward to the move and a new phase of life. This is not a goodbye, only “hasta luego“. My personal email is xxxxxxx@xxxxxx.com – don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you all need anything during the transition.

Thanks for the cupcakes! :) Do keep in touch. Good luck and wish you all the very best!

Linds

 

Fast forward a couple of days after this and I was totally over it, living life under the Carolina blue skies, I had no regrets about quitting as a sipped my little umbrella adorning drink. I decided that I’d send one last mass email to everyone in the office from my iPhone….

Hope you guys are enjoying the view from your desks!

Best,

Linds

 

Of course, I sent this Monday-morning-poolside photo to several friends along with the story of my early retirement from the corporate world. Felt kind of like this guy…

 

 

 

I love email. :)

 

So, tell me, what’s your favorite way to communicate online?!

 

 

[posted via eMail from lindsay@designerwife.com]

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About Lindsay

Lindsay is the chic geek behind Designer Wife, a blog dedicated to her attempts at designing a healthy, balanced & beautiful life. She's an espresso addict {decaf}, frequent flier, proud Starbucks Gold Card member, and social butterfly. When she's not blogging her entire life story, she works as a freelance writer, designer and amateur photographer. She and Designer Husband live in the beautiful Queen City; Charlotte, North Carolina.

  • http://trulytricia.com Tricia

     You’ve Got Mail! Such a fabulous film! Definitely a personal favorite of mine. I totally agree with you. I miss email. I wish more people would use it because I love it. THough I must admit, my favorite thing in the world are letters. Not cards, but actual, handwritten letters. I wish people would start sending those again as well. {Confession} I still send them all the time! Fabulous post lady!

  • http://www.aprofessorswife.com Stephanie the PW

    I’m still loving email and snail mail – I ordered moving announcements that includes our new mailing addy AND “family” email, because, “dagnabbit”, I want BOTH  – letters in my mailbox AND personal emails!

    Facebook is fantastic and I love keeping up with all the friends & fam, but getting a private email or pretty envelope in the mailbox makes me giddy inside. :) 

  • http://www.designerwife.com/ Lindsay {Designer Wife}

    Me too, girl!! Sometimes I feel so 1990′s because I still make sure that family & friends have our mailing address AND *home* phone number – I want letters in the mailbox, friendly notes in my inbox and a call from a friend on my home phone.

    Do you have a stationery obsession, too? I can’t seem to buy enough pretty paper, cute cards, envelopes and nice pens to write with. :)

  • http://www.designerwife.com/ Lindsay {Designer Wife}

    DING DING DING! Isn’t that just the best movie ever? Makes me feel SO good to just think about it :)

    And I’m right there with ya on the handwritten letters! In fact, I almost titled this post “the lost art of email” as a spin off to the lost art of letter writing. I write letters and send them often- about one per week. Steph and I just had a whole big discussion on this very thing on the comment above yours! Haha – great minds think alike :)

  • Sydney

     AGREED! I am totally in love with email, and I have I don’t even know how many email addresses! Oh, and I totally read back through my old emails all the time (seeing as how I hoard each one). Isn’t it fun!? On my main email, which I’ve had for like 4 months, I’ve sent almost 300 emails. I think that’s a lot. I agree about handwritten letters too though, my best friend and I have a tradition of sending them to each other (since we could write!). It’s just so “old fashioned” and exciting!

    But… I’m totally addicted to Twitter too. 

  • http://twitter.com/MrsOurMA Stephanie@OMA

    I’m just like you, I keep EVERY email I get. I love looking over old ones. They are like the old notes you used to pass in class but they don’t fade. Love it!

  • http://twitter.com/adventuroo Melissa Culbertson

    I love that you email yourself every night. I’m honestly so bad about email but I DO love getting it. I hear a ding and I toggle over to see what interesting thing just came my way!

  • http://www.designerwife.com/ Lindsay {Designer Wife}

    I actually got in to the nightly email habit from my time at Wells Fargo. Back then, I had to email my District Manager certain reports everyday before I left. When I started working for myself, I just kept up with that routine– only I was emailing me. Gives me some closure, haha. :)

  • http://www.designerwife.com/ Lindsay {Designer Wife}

    I love the analogy of them being like old notes in class– that’s so true!! Recently, I stumbeled across a box in the garage that had some old notebooks from high school in it and I found a few folded up notes from friends, they were SO funny to read!

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