When it comes to Valentine’s Day – I come across two stark contrasts in people’s attitude towards the occasion. Either you go completely overboard with every possible budget-blower on the list from flowers and chocolates to an expensive dinner to diamonds and a moonlight cruise….or you pretend nothing’s going on around you and shirk all the eye-popping pink off as a silly indulgence for starry-eyed fools.
I myself fall somewhere in between – leaning more towards the latter than the former. I mean, sure, I enjoy my diamonds and flowers – who doesn’t? But, I’d much rather we do something unconventional, meaningful and something that adds value to my relationship. Like take a trip somewhere or enroll in a fun couple’s class or watch a show together.
But, I think, one thing we can all agree on and pretty much anyone can afford to indulge in is – sending free ecards to the ones we love. Regardless of your views on Cupid and this holiday, sending free ecards is something that’s easy and fun to do, which brings a smile to everyone and requires no investment in terms of time or money. It’s just a simple, sincere, fun way of expressing yourself. Whether you want to say the three magic words or just want to ask someone out, or even just want to reconnect with an old fling – sending a funny, witty or sentimental Valentine’s Day ecard is a great way to do it.
Here are a few that I like –
To Someone Special – A simple, elegantly designed ecard that conveys the message without much ado. I love the colors and the simplicity of this one.
Taj Mahal – If you’re in a committed relationship or approaching that stage, what better way to express your sincerity than by sending the person you love your very own virtual Taj Mahal? You can’t go wrong with this monument of love.
Lost Without You – Ok. This one’s for you if you prefer to express yourself visually…I just like the cute sentiment behind this ecard.
Love Magic – What do sunshine, a rainbow and love have in common? They can make the gloomiest of days and toughest of moments disappear….like magic!
Nurture the Garden of Love – I love this one for its symbolism – it takes several elements to nurture a beautiful garden. Just like it takes two people and a lot of trust, caring and understanding to nurture love into full bloom.
If ecards are not your thing – no problem! Check out these beautifully designed, free printable Valentine’s Day cards. These tastefully created cards match the quality and design of paper greeting cards and come without the price tag. Add your personal message or photo and print them out at home. The perfect option for those who want to avoid crowded greeting card aisles to buy ridiculously expensive cards.
So, no matter what your style – be it ‘overboard’ or ‘just not-into-it’ or something in between – you’re sure to find a free Valentine’s Day ecard to match it.
On February 14th, millions of people will celebrate love and family ties across the world. And many of the celebrations may have nothing to do with Valentine’s Day.
This year, February 14th is also the day when the Chinese will ring in their new year. Traditionally, in China and for Chinese families across the globe, the new year is the most important occasion of the year, more important than their birthdays or any other day of the year. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are occasions when the entire family gets together to celebrate, much like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the Western world. The exact date of the new year changes every year as it is based on the lunar calendar. The Chinese celebrate New Year on the first day of the first moon in the lunar calendar. This date usually falls between Jan 21st and Feb 19th. This year, it coincides with Valentine’s Day.
Traditionally, celebrations in China begin a few days in advance. Homes are swept, dusted and cleaned. Auspicious verses or Spring Couplets scrolled in black on red paper are hung on walls. Flowers are used to decorate homes. A grand feast is prepared for the Kitchen God who leaves a few days before the start of the New Year to report to heaven on his observations of the family’s behavior. New Year’s meals are prepared a day ahead and all sharp items are put away on New Year’s day as they are believed to hinder or ‘cut’ the coming in of good luck. Members of the family gather for a New Year’s eve feast. Even those not present are remembered. Children offer their respects to elders by bowing to them. The elders give them cash gifts in red envelopes which are considered auspicious. On New Year’s Day, people visit family and friends, exchanging wishes and gifts, dressed in their finest new clothes.
In China, the new year festivities last for a fortnight. There are fireworks, parades and lion dances on streets. The seventh day of the Chinese New Year is considered “Everybody’s Birthday”. This is the day when everyone adds a year to their age, since individual birthdays are not really considered very important in traditional China. The festivities come to an end on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival that involves dragon dances performed by men and people carrying lanterns into the street and joining the parade.
While, this may be how the Chinese New Year is celebrated in parts of China, it’s obvious that not too many of us today can afford a 15-day long break from work or to have a New Year’s party lasting two weeks. So, in America and other places with a considerable Chinese population, a shorter, simpler version of the celebrations can be witnessed. If you have the chance to visit Chinatown in San Francisco or a similar area in any other city, you might still get to see most of the above celebrations. It might just be packaged more appropriately to fit our busy work lifestyles, taking into account practical considerations.
One thing is for sure. It will be a celebration like none other. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to watch colorful lion dances and dragon parades and participate in celebrations that reflect a centuries-old culture.
And no matter where you are and how you celebrate, don’t forget to send your friends and family free Chinese Near Year ecards. They may not be part of Chinese tradition, but they are sure to be loved!
On February 14th, millions of people will celebrate love and family ties across the world. And many of the celebrations may have nothing to do with Valentine’s Day.
This year, February 14th is also the day when the Chinese will ring in their new year. Traditionally, in China and for Chinese families across the globe, the new year is the most important occasion of the year, more important than their birthdays or any other day of the year. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are occasions when the entire family gets together to celebrate, much like Thanksgiving or Christmas in the Western world. The exact date of the new year changes every year as it is based on the lunar calendar. The Chinese celebrate New Year on the first day of the first moon in the lunar calendar. This date usually falls between Jan 21st and Feb 19th. This year, it coincides with Valentine’s Day.
Traditionally, celebrations in China begin a few days in advance. Homes are swept, dusted and cleaned. Auspicious verses or Spring Couplets scrolled in black on red paper are hung on walls. Flowers are used to decorate homes. A grand feast is prepared for the Kitchen God who leaves a few days before the start of the New Year to report to heaven on his observations of the family’s behavior. New Year’s meals are prepared a day ahead and all sharp items are put away on New Year’s day as they are believed to hinder or ‘cut’ the coming in of good luck. Members of the family gather for a New Year’s eve feast. Even those not present are remembered. Children offer their respects to elders by bowing to them. The elders give them cash gifts in red envelopes which are considered auspicious. On New Year’s Day, people visit family and friends, exchanging wishes and gifts, dressed in their finest new clothes.
In China, the new year festivities last for a fortnight. There are fireworks, parades and lion dances on streets. The seventh day of the Chinese New Year is considered “Everybody’s Birthday”. This is the day when everyone adds a year to their age, since individual birthdays are not really considered very important in traditional China. The festivities come to an end on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival that involves dragon dances performed by men and people carrying lanterns into the street and joining the parade.
While, this may be how the Chinese New Year is celebrated in parts of China, it’s obvious that not too many of us today can afford a 15-day long break from work or to have a New Year’s party lasting two weeks. So, in America and other places with a considerable Chinese population, a shorter, simpler version of the celebrations can be witnessed. If you have the chance to visit Chinatown in San Francisco or a similar area in any other city, you might still get to see most of the above celebrations. It might just be packaged more appropriately to fit our busy work lifestyles, taking into account practical considerations.
One thing is for sure. It will be a celebration like none other. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to watch colorful lion dances and dragon parades and participate in celebrations that reflect a centuries-old culture.
And no matter where you are and how you celebrate, don’t forget to send your friends and family free Chinese Near Year ecards. They may not be part of Chinese tradition, but they are sure to be loved!
It’s a great place to start if you’re looking for love!
If you have a shiny new 2010 calendar in front of you, the month of February no doubt looms large at you. The 14th stares back silently. You may not have circled it, but, everyone knows that every time your eyes fall on the calendar, you sort of draw a mental circle around the date. For some of us, it’s a pleasant reminder of the blessings we have in our lives. And an opportunity to do something nice for the ones we love. Be it sending Valentine’s Day ecards, flowers, planning an elaborate date or a romantic getaway. For others seeking passion and adventure, Valentine’s Day holds promise.
But if you’re one of those millions of hopeful people looking for that elusive thing they call love…what does Valentine’s day mean to you? If you still haven’t found the One or feel betrayed by past experiences, you are probably wary of giving it yet another shot. If you find yourself feeling unworthy of love or think that you’re probably not desirable enough – I have one word for you. Stop! Instead of beating yourself up for being alone or not being able to find the right person, think of Valentine’s Day as a chance to get to know yourself better and to do something nice …for YOU!
It doesn’t matter how old you are, or how much success you’ve had with relationships. Before you find that someone who loves you, you have to learn to love yourself. So, if you don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day( and even if you do), why not start with these simple steps to celebrating YOU –
1. Do what makes you happy. Pick a hobby or sport. Indulge. Make time to enjoy it. Invest in yourself. It’s not your looks, career, bank balance or real estate investments that define your worth but the quality of time you spend with yourself and with those around you. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t danced or painted in ages. If it makes you happy, you should make time for it. It’s as simple as that.
2. Travel. Go somewhere you’ve always wanted to. Either by yourself or with a friend. Explore, experience and enjoy. Send your friends free photo ecards from wherever you are. Come back with pictures, memories, a journal and a rejuvenated spirit.
3. Join a class, club or group. A book club, writing group,marathon training session or sculpting class may help take your mind off some of the depressing, negative thoughts and help you realize the wonderful gifts you have.
4. Offer help. Whether you offer to care for your neighbor’s kids as she works her second shift or join a volunteer project in your community or tutor underprivileged kids – using your gifts and time to help someone is one of the surest ways to feel grateful and find a purpose, especially if you’re going through a bad patch in your own life. When you spread love around, you find that you’re surrounded by more of it.
5. Pamper yourself. Whether it’s a long-overdue spa visit, a luxurious massage session, an expensive dress you’ve wanted for months or a vacation you’ve been putting off – why wait until the perfect ‘One’ shows up to treat yourself to something special? Allow yourself the indulgences that you have earned and deserve to enjoy.
There you have it. Five simple ways to treat yourself to a beautiful Valentine’s Day, regardless of where you are in life. Each of these things is guaranteed to do one thing – help you learn more about yourself and appreciate your life. And, that is even better than having someone else say how great you are!
Here’s a small sampling of what I had to do today: I took my dog for a walk, worked an 8-hour shift at my job, came home and worked out, paid the electric bill, made a deposit at the bank, and cooked dinner. That’s just a normal Wednesday, and it’s not over yet. But I’m not telling you anything you don’t go through yourself, on a daily basis. Our lives, after all, are usually packed from morning to night.
And usually, everything somehow ends up working out okay. But if you throw a little monkey wrench in there—a birthday, an unexpected car repair to make, visiting a sick relative—your whole day can get thrown hopelessly off course. Now, I can’t help you fix your car (I can barely fix my own!), and I can’t do anything for your sick relatives other than offer my best wishes, but there is one thing I can help with: making sure you don’t forget birthdays.
Free birthday reminders are a great way to, well, remind yourself of upcoming birthdays. Here are the top five reasons why you should use birthday reminders to help you keep track of all those birthdays that have a nasty habit of messing up your busy schedule.
5) They’re Free! You could hire your own personal assistant to let you know when a friend or loved one has a birthday coming up. And while your own personal assistant might be a little more entertaining that birthday reminders, they cost a heck of a lot more. Birthday reminders, in fact, are absolutely free
4) Birthday Reminders are Incredibly Easy to set up. How many times do you check your e-mail every day? Let’s say four or five (not counting checking your inbox at work!). Even if you check your e-mail five times a day, you’re still spending more time doing that than it takes to set up a birthday reminder. All you have to do is go to the birthday reminders homepage, type in a little bit of information, and boom! You’re done! Back to e-mail!
3) They see the Future. Most of us will probably use our birthday reminders just a couple of weeks or maybe a month in advance. But if little Billy has a birthday today, you can send yourself a reminder for his next birthday today! That’s right: a day, a week, or a month in advance, you can set up your birthday reminder to send you an e-mail on whichever date you choose!
2) Options Galore! Not only can you schedule birthday reminders for events occurring far off in the future, but there are plenty of other scheduling options available, to make sure the reminder works exactly how you want it to. You can, for example, set up a reminder to be sent to you on the day of the event, a week before, or even a month ahead of time. Also, you can set your reminder to do annual notifications, as well.
1) A Simple Part of a Complicated Life. Like I said above, we all have too much going on in our everyday lives to risk forgetting our loved ones’ birthdays. Free birthday reminders were created simply because of that fact: because we’re so busy, and any small thing to take away a little of the burden goes a long, long way.
So for these reasons—and many more you’ll discover yourself—try out free birthday reminders for the next birthday on your calendar!
Birthdays are a great time for celebration, but they can also be quite the hassle, if you don’t happen to be the birthday boy or girl. There are cakes to bake, parties to plan, and gifts to buy. Not only that, but if you live too far away from that friend or family member who’s celebrating a birthday, you have to worry about paying postage the cards you mail; and once the card’s actually in the mail, there’s that several day period of nervously hoping that the card actually arrives—and on time.
No one can help you over the stress of baking the perfect birthday cake, but there is an easy solution to those birthday card jitters: free ecards. Ecards come in all the same great styles you’re used to with store-bought cards, but with a few extra advantages. The first advantage, of course, is right there in the name: they’re absolutely free—free to pick out, free to personalize, and free to send. And secondly, ecards eliminate the need to call your friends and relatives to make sure they received your gift, because ecards arrive instantly, through e-mail.
In fact, with just a few easy steps, you won’t only be on your way to sending great birthday ecards, you’ll actually be finished with the whole process!
First thing’s first: point your browser to the got-free-ecards birthday cards page, or just click here.
This part’s the most fun: now you get to scroll through all the different designs, click on your favorite one to choose it. You can scroll through your choices one of two ways: by clicking on the arrow to the right of the page, or by using the theme-oriented tabs at the top of the page. Either way you do it, click on your favorite ecard design.
Click on “play” on the next screen, to get a full preview of the card you’ve selected.
Once the card has finished its animation, you’ll see an option at the bottom of the screen to personalize it with your own photos, or even your own recorded voice. If this is the option for you, click the button and follow the easy on-screen directions.
We’re almost done! Now that your card is personalized, scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and fill in the recipient information: along with the birthday boy or girl’s name and e-mail address, you can add your personalized message to accompany the card.
The last step is to decide when—and how—you want your card sent. You can choose to send the card immediately or, using the drop-down box at the bottom of page, pick a day up to a month in advance. Then, using the buttons to the right, choose whether you want to e-mail your card, or send it by Twitter.
I could go on, but we’re finished! It’s really that easy to send free birthday ecards to everyone on your list!
Valentine’s Day – What’s your take?
