Make 2009 a year of gracious living: Send thank-you notes.

So: If you received a gift, you do owe a short note expressing thanks.

Even if it’s a close friend you see every day, you owe a note.

Even if it was a $5 gift card to Starbucks and you’re allergic to coffee, you owe a note.

Note-writing is so much more fun when you can do it on pretty paper. Choose paper that suits your personality, whether that’s simple or colorful or outrageous. Here are some ideas for finding the perfect stationery.

• Add a personal touch: Nothing is classier than stationery with your name or initials on it. But it doesn’t have to be all ivory and swirly letters. Pick something that looks like you, then add a single initial, your name or your family’s name.

• Abandon the boring beige notecard: Buck tradition with unconventional shapes — long, vertical cards are popular — and textures.

• Be elegant but fashionable: Even Crane & Co., a standard-bearer in stationery, offers notecards in bright colors and patterns. Or, if you prefer to stick with the plain notecard, opt for a colorful lined envelope.

• Forget foldovers: Do notecards seem fussy? Use a correspondence card instead. The small, stiff cards offer space for a short note and are the ultimate in unassuming.

• Inspire your kids to write: Give them their own special stationery. And even cute kids’ notecards can be personalized.