Vintage French Postcards & Famous Love Letters

Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mail coach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

This & 2 other love letters were found in Beethoven's desk after he died. They were not addressed to anybody so it is impossible to know who he was writing to, but historians feel they were written to a married woman who he loved dearly, and who was leaving the city at the time the letters were written.

This next letter is written by Napoleon Bonaparte to his beautiful wife, Josephine, just prior to their 1796 wedding, it shows surprising tenderness and emotion from the future emperor of France.

Paris, December 1795

I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating evening which we spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet, incomparable Josephine, what a strange effect you have on my heart! Are you angry? Do I see you looking sad? Are you worried?... My soul aches with sorrow, and there can be no rest for you lover; but is there still more in store for me when, yielding to the profound feelings which overwhelm me, I draw from your lips, from your heart a love which consumes me with fire? Ah! it was last night that I fully realized how false an image of you your portrait gives!

You are leaving at noon; I shall see you in three hours.

Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.

To Robert Browning:

And now listen to me in turn. You have touched me more profoundly than I thought even you could have touched me - my heart was full when you came here today. Henceforward I am yours for everything....

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Let's be brave & write a love letter to our loves? Let's take out a pen & some crisp, white paper & truly write what our heart is feeling without the fear of it not being good enough. I don't believe that Hallmark can convey our true self's better then we can. Let's imagine that 100 years from now, someone will be reading our love letters & from there content will know how profound our love must have been to have been willing to put our souls so exposed onto paper. Then let's fold it up, add a drop of sealing wax & know there is no greater gift then the gift of something given truly from the heart!

The Greatest Gift is to Love & be Loved

With Valentine's Day only a few days away, LOVE is most definitely in the air! In celebration, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite Vintage Cupid Postcards along with some of the most romantic Love Quotes ever written. So here we go my friends, are you ready?

Let the LOVE flow.....

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."

Aristotle

"Your words are my food, your breath my wine. You are everything to me."

Sarah Bernhardt

"I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach..."

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

"I love you, not only for what you are, But for what I am when I am with you."
Roy Croft

"Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts."
Oliver Wendell Holmes

"It's so easy, To think about Love, To Talk about Love, To wish for Love, But it's not always easy, To recognize Love, Even when we hold it.... In our hands."
Jaka

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
Helen Keller

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away; and all the things I want to say can find no voice. Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will speak my heart."
Robert Sexton

I have more 'LOVE' to come over the next couple of days, but I want to leave you with one of the quotes I found that seemed the most romantic to me right here & right now...

" Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you' re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, thats her... "
Unknown

My friends, I Wish You Love!!!

A Great Visit from a Friend

{all the lovely photos are courtesy of Lynn at Blue Skies}

Hello Sweet Friends! This week, even though the weather was completely sucky, my lovely friend Lynn from Blue Skies, came by to visit me at my shop 'Lambs & Ivy Boutique' & what an 'AMAZING' visit it was! She came up to bring me some of the most delicious vintage art inspired Valentine's bottles that I can sell at the shop & they are 'oh so charming'.

{SOLD}

It seems like whenever Lynn comes by the shop, things start happening! More people come in & out of the store then usual, sales pick-up, the phone rings & on this particular visit, our local mountain newspaper reporter, Cat Robertson, showed up working on an article about local merchants & the variety of Valentine gifts that can be purchased right here on the mountain. Right off the bat, Cat fell in love with one of Lynn's creations which had to be hers, then with camera in hand, she wandered through the shop taking photos of little vignettes that could complement her article. With Lynn flashing away & Cat flashing away, I felt like my little shop was soaring into celebrity status, lol.

Soooooooo, of course after Cat left...Lynn & I hugged & jumped up & down with the sheer joy & excitement of the whole, amazing event. What fun simple, unexpected pleasures can be!!

So, thank you Lynn for being my friend, thank you for taking the time to drive up a scarey mountain top to come & see me, thank you for your awesome artwork that you share with me & allow me to sell in my shop, thank you for your lovely post at Blue Skies, about 'Lambs & Ivy' & most of all thank you for being my secret muse who's magical energy seems to always make something GRAND happen whenever you're around!

Blue Skies