Hard to believe, but we received our very first 2009 personalized holiday card album today .... we are all sooo not ready for this!

However, if you're in town for a few days between the beach, the mountains, Europe (or, like us, just here working in this awful weather), take a break and stop in ....

If you're interested in something other than James Patterson at the beach or in the mountains this summer, here are a few recommendations:

"A Reliable Wife" ... turn of the century wealthy man in snowy Wisconsin advertises for a wife ...

"Losing Mum and Pup" ... a memoir by Christopher Buckley about his famous parents, Nan and Bill Buckley ... a laugh-out-loud read.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" ... finally got around to reading this one and it was more interesting than I thought it would be ... at least the first half.

"The Fortune Hunters" ... women only, please... an interesting study of how smart and sexy women take good care of their extremely wealthy husbands....

For those of you who enjoy Twitter, you can follow us at http://twitter.com/ThePaperShopInc.

New this summer.... Martha Stewart and Crane & Co have co-ventured a small collection of wedding invitations.... come in to see samples of all the new designs!

So, it's been a long, long while.... we've been so busy Twittering away (and trying to figure out what that all means) that we've neglected our blog! Will do better now ....It seems there is so much information flowing to all of us that it's hard to sort it all out ....

This time of year it's tempting to sit at the beach or on the porch, and catch up on your reading, but it's also a great time to take a day here and there to sort out your life.... take one room at a time or one closet at a time and really clean up... don't be afraid to let go and throw out some of that "stuff".... it will make you feel "lighter".

It's also a great time of year to decide how you want to live the rest of the year ... do you want to continue to overschedule your life, or do you want to make the time to see people you really enjoy spending time with.