27 AUGUST: more network outages 😭😭😭 email ndluoxxx@gmail.com if I miss anything!

Hi! I'm Natalie (she/her), a girl in my late 20s in Boston. I have one cat who I am obsessed with (my profile picture shows him and my other beloved cat, who passed away on August 22). I am getting married to my wonderful fiancé next year and am deep into wedding planning. I work as an engineer and love science and math. I love traveling, reading, cooking, and being active and outdoors. I am queer and active in community organizing and volunteering. I read and write mostly fluent English and French, some Italian and Spanish, and am learning traditional Mandarin Chinese.

I love learning about other places and cultures. I always love to receive book recommendations, recipes, or favorite things about the place you live, if you need ideas! If you are married, I would also appreciate marriage advice in advance of my wedding next year. I am not religious but was raised Catholic and don't mind receiving religious imagery or messages.

Other things I like:

Animals: cats, cows, bugs, anteaters

Characters and media: Monday Bruce, the Muppets (show, movies, etc), X-Men, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Doctor Who, Wallace & Gromit, children's media from the 2000s, 90 Day Fiancé, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Pokémon, Star Trek, Inception, Lord of the Rings, Treasure Planet. Currently binge-watching Pretty Little Liars, but please do not spoil it for me!

Music: Led Zeppelin, Joni Mitchell, Otis Redding, Maggie Rogers, musicals

Cultures and places: Scotland, Taiwan, Italy, Greece, Appalachia

Art: linocut, Audubon bird drawings, collaging, zines, botanical drawings, cross stitch

Books and writers: Terry Pratchett, JRR Tolkien, Kate Quinn, and shamefully currently reading the Heated Rivalry books LOL

Outdoorsy things: bogs, camping, the night sky, local farms, death/decay

Nerdy things: transit, space exploration, anthropology, natural history museums, public libraries

Other hobbies and interests: women in STEM, cooking, queer pride, tea, harm reduction, fruit

Colors: green, pink, yellow (but really any -- the more colorful the better!)

Postcards: everything, but especially handmade (good quality), maxicards, die-cut/shaped, oversized

I am grateful to receive mail, but I don't want to receive the following things: AI art, officially licensed Harry Potter art, any 9/11 or Twin Towers imagery, sexual images or language, MLM materials, and anything discriminatory or offensive toward a class of people.

Please PM me or email me if anything goes wrong with our swap! I am always happy to resend. I do my best to be a good sender -- I take photos of everything I send so I can always send a timestamped photo, and I weigh all my mail to calculate postage. I usually mail via collection box due to a strange work schedule, and my understanding is that the postmark will show the date it was received at the distribution center, not the date I posted it. Mail processing often causes unavoidable damage, but if anything arrives unsalvageable, I will happily send a replacement.

I feel very lucky to be fortunate enough to participate in this hobby. Mail is expensive and swaps require trust. I believe in treating others as you wish to be treated and extending grace and courtesy to everyone. We all have our own struggles. Due to my personal beliefs, I don't publicly shame or share lists of flakers. Please be kind to others, especially newbies, and give everyone a chance to make things right!