Thank you, Canadian Santa!!

I just got so many lovely things from Sue! Two really nice notebooks, two bars of handmade soap in my favorite smells (orange/clove and lemongrass/rosemary), grapefruit/bergamot bath salts (ALSO favorite smells!), a beautiful compass rose ornament, a new mystery book (looks great!), AND Smarties! (the Canadian kind, obviously...) So awesome! I just want to go relax in a nice bath with my new book now! Too bad I'm at stupid work.

And I am starting to feel a little bad for my Santee now....oops.

TOM SCOLA! I just got your package (and I admire your stealth, but the Brooklyn card sort of gave it away) and I don't want to unwrap anything! Dude, you wrap gifts beautifully. With real ribbon! Plus, I'm busy inhaling the fragrance of all the tea packets!

The tea packets are sealed. I think that's one of the other presents you're smelling...

Oh wow, msbelle, what a great gift!

Very cool. I'm jumping on the bandwagon and encourage others to do the same: [link]

Love this! And yes, it would be lovely to see more people's heart pictures. I must think on what I want to do for mine.

Oh, maybe! And they smell wonderful! I love handmade soap!

You sent me a vintage postcard of Shea! DUDE! And another of the World's Fair! And Exercises in Style, which I've never seen but looks fantastic. Plus the chocolate -- Sara wanted to know what bourbon chocolate was and I told her MINE.

Then the tea, six packets from Upton (which say right on them, "Packaged for Amy Garvey" which delights me for some reason). I can't wait to try them.

Thank you so much, Tom! You make an awesome Secret Santa. Also, next year you want to make my holiday cards? Yours is so gorgeous. I think I'm going to frame it, honestly. Subway! ♥

I also just got my Secret Santa present, from Amyth and it is awesome! I shall tell you all about it in a moment.

First though, I will share what came in a separate envelope, before the Box of Goodies, with a card saying "I have a button maker and I am not afraid to use it", which was this .

Now on to the box! SO MUCH AWESOME STUFF! An ring from Modcloth that had been on my wishlist. [link] , AND a 2012 Edward Gorey postcard calendar, AND cupcake lip balm, AND a bag for carrying groceries and stuff AND A book called The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories, which I love (well, I love all of it, but this is really cool) AND a woven Scarf, handmade in Thai Villages, AND a gorgeous little blank notebook that is a perfect size for my purse, AND Absinthe and Cthulhu mints AND these really cool things that I think are pencils, but I need a sharpener to be sure.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING. I love it all. Well, maybe not the button, but that made me laugh and laugh and then plot who to send it to.

I also wanted to mention another A is for AWESOME part of the day today--I got some very delicious goodies from Anne as oart of the TJs exchange, which I made the mistake of opening at work, because now people are eying them because they are used to me putting out snacks, but they can't have them. Thank you so much, Anne.

I am so glad you liked it, Perkins! HOORAY!

Mwahaha, the button!

AND these really cool things that I think are pencils, but I need a sharpener to be sure

They are reusable chopsticks!

eta: (I have the same pair, and I used them today at lunch with smonster, amych and Calli. I think I read that you like sushi...)

eta eta: We were discussing the TJ's exchange today. I never got an email about it. I hope that's because there were more potential senders than sendees, and I wasn't needed, and not that I lost an email or something, and someone out there's losing out. IF THAT'S THE CASE, I will certainly rectify ASAP.

They are reusable chopsticks!

OOPS. That is even cooler! I would have guessed that, but I missed the fact that the covers could be used as part of the chopsticks.

eta: SUSHI!

eta eta: We were discussing the TJ's exchange today. I never got an email about it. I hope that's because there were more potential senders than sendees, and I wasn't needed, and not that I lost an email or something, and someone out there's losing out. IF THAT'S THE CASE, I will certainly rectify ASAP.

Eek. It's actually because I somehow missed that you wanted to be in on it. Sorry about that.

Next year, I will make sure you are involved if we do it again.

Okay, cool! I just didn't want to have someone out there waiting for a TJ's package.