Monday, December 21, 2009

Book Blogger Holiday Swap: Santa Revealed!

Book Blogger Holiday Swap
This Saturday, I received my Book Blogger Holiday Swap Secret Santa gift!  I was so excited!  It was a really ugly, nasty, rainy day here in Chicago as I sat sadly at my table, editing business school application essays for the umpteenth time.  Then my brother came in and told me I got a package!  It was soaking wet and the box was not in the best condition, so I was scared of how it would be inside.  But the inside was great!

In the midst of really colorful and lovely wrapping, I found the following:

Holiday Swap Goodies

A really sweet card, an excellent canvas book bag from The Strand bookstore in New York City (great for used bookstores and the farmers' market!), a really cute alien/bug bookmark made of metal, a yummy Ghirardelli dark chocolate square, a copy of The Hakawati, by Rabih Alameddine, a super-cute polka dot (I LOVE polka dots!) scarf and a fabulous Shakespeare mug of quotes in all different fonts and colors.  It's a FABULOUS gift and I'm so thrilled to have it.  I remember reading about The Hakawati when it first came out, and I'm thrilled to have a really interesting and vivid new telling of The Arabian Nights in my collection.  Also, I've been a Strand bookstore newsletter subscriber forever (even though I've never actually been to the bookstore).

So, THANK YOU to J.S. Peyton of BiblioAddict fame.  You rock my world, and I am now a subscriber to your blog :-)  I'm so excited to drink hot chocolate in my mug, wear my cool new silky scarf, read my book while holding my place with my fun bookmark, and then buying new books with my canvas bag.  You were so generous, and I am very grateful.  Happy holidays!

Also, since I had my camera out, I thought I'd just take a picture of my bookshelves to share with you all.  The first two rows of books are color coded in rainbow pattern, though you can't really tell with all the other stuff there.  The third row is "neutrals."  The bottom row is a free for all.  And yes, that is a Tickle-Me Elmo at the top.  My sister's, not mine!

Bookshelves

27 comments:

  1. Awesome gift! I love The Strand :)

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  2. Anonymous12/21/2009

    I love your presents!!

    And I have an Elmo...there's nothing to be ashamed of. :-D

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  3. I love your gifts and your book shelves are great too. (The Strand is an amazing store).

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  4. What a great present! When you've mentioned The Hakawati, I started guessing which blogger sent you your present. A few bloggers have recommended the book to me. Happy reading.

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  5. I've discovered quite a few new blogs by all these Secret Santa posts...

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  6. Yay!!!!! I'm glad you liked it. And I'm glad it made it there in one piece! Lol. I hope you enjoy the book!

    Happy holidays. =D

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  7. Great package! I'm still waiting for mine, but I hope it's half as good. :D

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  8. How delightful, Aarti! I'm so glad everything was still dry. Enjoy your gifts!

    Your book shelf looks great ,by the way!

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  9. What great gifts! I love the idea of the Shakespeare mug-- I think I've seen some that have his most famous insults on it which is pretty hilarious.

    Sweet bookshelves too!

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  10. Such great gifts.. The scarf is really nice and I have heard good things about the book too. Enjoy ur present

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  11. All looks wonderful, including your book shelves!

    I just bought "The Hakawati" myself; I need to go back and find out which blog I first heard about it. I'm looking forward to reading it, too!

    Good luck with your biz school apps, too. My husband has an MBA from Michigan, so I remember those days!

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  12. What great gifts, especially the scarf, I LOVE polka dots too :)

    Your bookshelf is so cute.

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  13. I love your bookshelves! And wow, what a nice package. J.S. Peyton is awesome, so it's no wonder she'd pick awesome gifts :D

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  14. What a nice gift. I wonder what Elmo likes to read at night...

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  15. What a lovely gift from your secret santa. You must be over the moon. I love the idea of colour coordinated shelves.

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  16. Oooh,indie bookstore tote, that's an awesome gift. Your shelves are beautiful, by the way.

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  17. What a great gift from an Awesome blogger! I love her blog.

    Jealous I am!

    Thanks for showing us the great gifts and the shelves.

    Happy holidays

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  18. Thanks for the well wishes everyone :-) I agree BiblioAddict is awesome.

    Jodie, I have often caught Elmo surreptitiously riffling through Alexandre Dumas. I think he's an adventure story fan :-)

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  19. Great gift and amazing shelves! I do love the vicarious pleasure of virtually perusing other people's bookshelves.

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  20. Anonymous12/22/2009

    Love your presents, and love the bookshelf...

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  21. I love seeing photos of other people's bookshelves. :)

    I've had my eye on the library copy of Hakawati for awhile so I'll be curious to read your thoughts on that one to see if I should add it to my TBR pile. I haven't really come across any blogger reviews of it, although I'm sure there must be some.

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  22. What lovely presents from your Santa! I've never heard of the Hakawati but a retelling of the Arabian Nights sounds like my cup of tea! I'll check it out!

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  23. Wow! What a wonderful gift! Your Santa sure was thoughtful!! And your bookshelves are to die for. Very beautiful indeed! Merry Christmas!

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  24. What an amazing gift! Your santa went all out.

    Love the bookshelves, too!

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  25. What a great gift! I haven't been to The Strand, but I have quite a collection of canvas bags, and especially seek them out at bookstores!

    Your bookshelves look inviting (so neat, mine are a landslide waiting to happen)

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  26. What a great gift pack! The holiday swap was so much fun this past year...I can't wait to participate again this year! Enjoy your gifts....and happy reading!

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