Whoosh! Arbitrary Day PLUS has landed!

In a fairly wittery and long-winded wall of text (not unlike this one), I told my Santa that among the gajillion things I like, I particularly like animals and want to go into veterinary care or art-y things, and I like cooking, and chocolate, and stationery, and hand-crafted things, and that I love my cat.

I didn't hear from my Santa for a while, and I slowly got paranoid that I might have offended her with my reddit-abnormal catalogue of dislikes, as well as my troublesome addiction to run-away sentences. Then she marked a gift as sent, so I breathed a sigh of relief. Then she followed up the 'gift sent' report with a message, and I burst out laughing, because I am insane.

Namely, she wrote that she sent "a substantial amount of chocolate" at FedEx's standard speed, even though she'd meant to select the overnight service considering the heat waves sweeping the nation. She apologized for "the chocolate soup that may have magically appeared inside the cardboard box". And that just made me excited, because, hey, chocolate! And because it would have given me the opportunity to title this post "Magical Chocolate Soup" or maybe "Chocolate Lava Monster Ate My Presents", for uniqueness.

But the package arrived, and everything was intact, and the chocolate was well-sealed and only a little melted, and I had to choose a different title (darn - I mean - yay!).

So, on to what was in the box! Something that attracted my cat's attention, definitely, given the way she kept snuffling at it and looking beseechingly at me to open the box already instead of snapping pictures as if it were a fashion model at a photo shoot.

First up, on top of a frothy layer of white tissue paper, was a letter with my name penned on it in pretty, multi-coloured ink (I like multi-coloured writing). The letter explained the gift selection and that there was, indeed, something included for my cat.

Naturally, I went for the presents that were just for me first.

Biggest in the box: a tiger pillow pet with a cute, goofy face! Yes! I have wanted a tiger for a pet ever since I saw how much fun Jasmine had with Rajah in Disney's Aladdin. This tiger, nicknamed Rajah II, folds up into a kind of bolster, or opens up into a pillow-shaped tiger. So, perfect! And probably a lot safer to cuddle with in my sleep than a real tiger would be.

Next, a lovely set of homemade stationery, featuring a few of my favorite animals (dog and cat, whale, and tiger!). The note on them said she was an amateur - ha! You modest thing, you. I love these to bits and am going to frame them and put them on display.

Third, a chocolate chip cookie kit in a jar, with the whole top third of it filled with large chocolate chips, complete with beautifully printed recipe. It has been a very long time since I've had chocolate chip cookies, that comfort food of comfort foods, so this is perfect! IMPORTANT CORRECTION: It was not a third full of chocolate, it was ONE WHOLE FREAKING HALF full of chocolate, which I found out after I opened up the jar to make myself some cookies tonight. Which means every single bite of cookie has a double helping of chocolate-y goodness. Oh, yes, I love this even more now (o). Also, they bake perfectly (a thing that does not always happen with high altitude cooking and me, so that was another bonus :D )

And then, and then, a box of gold!!!

No, I'm kidding, better than that. A box of animal-shaped cookie cutters - lion, bear, kangaroo, hippopatamus, miniature horse, camel, rhinoceros, elephant and baby elephant, oh, my! The light reflected back gold from the bottom of the box when I shot the picture, though :P. I am quite fond of cookie cutters, and I have never seen a set themed around zoo animals, or animals most commonly seen together in one place only in a zoo, so I'm pretty much in love with this).

Finally, the gifts for my cat! YES! The real way to my heart is through my cat. She got her own pretty little tin box stuffed with treats - a baggie of catnip, a baggie of Temptations snacks, and an adorable little mouse in one of my favorite color combinations - hot pink and white.

Fiona soon wrestled my cat into submission (see pictures for proof), but I think Nya Nya enjoyed her presents, too :P

Thank you, christine_maria, for a wonderful Arbitrary Day PLUS and may yours go as beautifully as the one you created for me!