Letters connect us much more than a text or an email does. My mother writes in all caps and has very neat penmanship. It’s very distinct and when I see it I always think of her and feel her presence.April is National Letter Writing Month and, as part of the national #Write_On campaign, we are challenging you to unplug and connect with others by writing 30 letters in 30 days. To help you #Writemoreletters we have fun events planned throughout the month. There will be workshops and pop-ups, contests with prizes, and gifts with every $25+ purchase all month long.Each week we are having a social media contest. To spread the gospel of letter writing we are asking you all to post letters that mean the most to you and why on your favorite social media platform. Our weekly partner business will be choosing the winners. Each week we will choose two winners to receive a $50 Penny Post gift card. Be sure to follow or like Penny Post and that week’s partner and use the hashtag #ShowMeTheLetter so we can pick the winner. (P.S.: Your profile must be public so we can find you). First up this week are Meant To Be Calligraphy and Common Room Studio. Watch the Penny Post social media space for each week’s judge.We want to make meeting your challenge easy by providing you ample opportunity to write.  Below is a list of all the events we have planned this month.  The person who writes the most letters during our events by the end of the month will receive a $200 Penny Post gift card. Some events are limited by space, so sign up here today. [divider height="30" style="default" line="default" themecolor="0"] We are kicking off our events in style with our monthly Correspondence Club at Penny Post, (1201 King St.). This Wednesday, April 4, we will welcome the incomparable Michele Hatty Fritz of Meant To Be Calligraphy for a demonstration on how to create your own greeting card. Each participant will get a kit to make five greeting cards of their own. That should go a long way to fulfilling the challenge. Next up is a Saturday Morning Social with Penny Post and Nole Garey of the blog, Oh So Beautiful Paper, on April 7, from 10am-noon. We will be gathering at Nole’s new workshop/photo studio/event space, Common Room Studio, (428B Hume Ave., Alexandria) to write letters, sip coffee, have a little nosh from 2018 RAMMY nominated Stomping Ground (vote here!), and commune with fellow paper lovers. On Wednesday, April 11 we will be hosting happy hour at The Hour, (1015 King St.), in their new event space, Cocktails on King. Join us for Cocktails and Correspondence, from 6:30-8pm, where we will learn how to make classic cocktails and write letters to our favorite friends. If you need a place to corral all your letters then we have to thing for you! On Saturday, April 14 from 9-11am, we will be joining AR Workshop, (107 N. Fairfax St.), for their Letterbox Design Workshop where you will get to create their one of their NEW custom 16-inch Letter Box/Mail Box Holder. When you arrive, choose from more than 50 non-toxic designer stains and color options, pick up your stationery supplies, then get creating! Register through AR Workshop here. For all you yarn lovers we will be popping up at fibre space, (1319 Prince St.), during their weekly Stitch In Space. Join us on April 19 from 5-7pm in their comfy lounge for letter writing and free knit and crochet help. This is a great time to get some dedicated time to stitch on your current work in progress and write letters to loved ones near and far. We are not forgetting the little ones! It’s never too early to get your children started writing letters. Suzanne Herder, a beloved ACPS educator for 30 years, will be popping up with all our stationery supplies on Saturday, April 21 from 2-4pm at our favorite book store, Hooray for Books!, (1555 King St.). She is on my list of top five teachers of all time (both of my kids were taught by her) and I think you’ll see why when you pop by our pop-up. Red Barn Mercantile, (1117 King St.), is up for the challenge and will be hosting a Wine Tasting and Write Off. On Tuesday, April 4 from 6-8pm, we will be writing letters while tasting our new Holmsted Fines chutneys paired with wine and cheese from 2018 RAMMY nominated Cheesetique (vote here!).  Whomever writes the most letters will win a bottle of wine and a very special Penny Post-curated writing kit. To wrap up our month of fun events, we will be popping up in The Shoe Hive’s courtyard, (127 S. Fairfax St.), from 1-3pm where we will bring you the latest in stationery trends while you shop the latest in shoe trends. It will be one stylish afternoon! So you can see, we have a lot in store for you (no pun intended!) during National Letter Writing Month. I hope you will join me and accept the #Write_On challenge!