Santa NAILED IT this year. I was heading out to run errands yesterday when I saw the postman coming to the building. I just moved in two weeks ago so he shouldn't know who I am, but I jokingly asked if I had any mail and he thrust this small box into my hands. Oh, oh, it was from Santa!

The return address on the label made me squeal. Could it be Matryoshka? I know I listed it as something I was into, but would Santa have actually indulged my little habit?

I pulled out the tiniest little authentic Matryoshka of a bear with a honey jar. He fit snugly in the palm of my hand. "How small could this go?" I wondered and I started rolling it gently between my fingers to undo each seam. Two bears. Three bears. By the time I reached bear four I was sure I was done because I have never, ever seen a matryoshka go smaller than that. But when I squeezed a seam appeared. After about twenty minutes of careful manevering the tiniest little bear I have ever seen in my life appeared.

I have a number of matryoshka from questionable origins but this is the first, verifiable Russian nesting doll I have ever received and I am blown away by its craftsmanship. THANK YOU SANTA!