Well. After having come off a long string of failed Secret Santas (stiffed in 4 exchanges!) I was afraid it wasn't going to happen again this year, and I'm under some sort of curse. Not because of my wonderful and delightful Santa, who was just a day late shipping but had mailed me to alert me of this situation, but because of a giant UPS clusterfuck!

Here's what happened. I provided my office address to my Santa, given that this is a reliable way for me to receive packages during the day. However, just because of coincidental timing, the package didn't arrive in my city until my office had already closed for the winter break - and UPS would not leave the package with the front desk (which they and other services have done plenty of times).

After a few days had gone by, Santa alerted me that UPS was having trouble finding me. So I called them to instruct them to leave the package with the front desk ("No problem! Your package should arrive later today!") and made a special trip to the office to tell the gents at the front desk to look out for it.

Two days later, with the package tracking still not having budged, I called UPS again. THIS time, I was told that it is NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE to have UPS drop something off at a front desk, or to change the delivery instructions, so basically I don't know what the first woman I spoke to was smoking (or too much eggnog perhaps)?

Anyway, I arranged for the package to be delivered to my home instead, and was told it would come the next day, Friday. WHICH JUST HAPPENED TO BE WHEN MY CITY WAS BURIED UNDER 21 INCHES OF SNOW. Guess what happened - right. Delivery exception! Emergency circumstances!

This morning I checked my tracking and it still said "emergency circumstances." But when I went downstairs to get the mail just now, there it was. IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! And although I am not religious, today is technically the 12th day of Christmas - Epiphany - so in a strictly technical sense, this package arrived perfectly on time. :)

Now, down to what's inside....

First, there is a bundle of bubble wrap with an absolutely gorgeous card nestled inside. I read the card only to discover that my Santa MADE it herself. She's also written me a beautiful little note about how she hopes that I love my Secret Santa exchange this year after so many bum tries, and she's actually been to culinary school for baking, so based on my profile she knew exactly what I would love. (Unfortunately I'm still working on deciphering her username, heh, which she notes she had written after "too much caffeine.")

And inside was a whole bundle of stuff that I TOTALLY would have picked for myself. Santa, no lie, this year only my husband beat you in the "thoughtfulness" contest - you did better than my whole family did, and I'm SO excited to use the things you've sent. In fact, some of these picks lead me to believe that you are a bit psychic...

1) A boxed "Hogwarts Library" set of Quidditch Through The Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Tales of Beedle The Bard. (Santa also gave me a gift receipt, being awesome.) However, I have no need to return these. I collect different editions of the HP books - something I definitely did not mention to my Santa - and I don't have these yet. I'm so glad to put them on my shelf, the set is beautiful!

2) A little box of Bertie Bott's Beans, of course. I look forward to torturing my hubby with them later, I vividly recall eating a sardine flavored one once and sticking my entire head under the kitchen faucet in despair.

3) Now, the cooking stuff. Omg! A scraper! How did you know my scraper just melted in the dishwasher a scant couple of weeks ago?

4) I also didn't mention that I am obsessed with salt, or that rosemary is my favorite herb, but somehow my Santa had my number and got me a bag of Hepp's rosemary salt. I know exactly where this is going, and it's going on my rosemary focaccia. This is getting creepy now.

5) A beautiful bottle of herbed olive oil, which will see instant use as I love making my own vinaigrettes.

6) And lastly, a lovely Williams-Sonoma loaf pan in a size I do not already own, because Santa is watching me through his super-festive Santa Spy Satellite. That's the only explanation I have for how every single piece of this gift is incredibly amazing.

Thank you, Santa, for restoring my faith in internet Secret Santas and for making me feel some true holiday spirit: someone out there that I don't even know cared enough to make sure I really got an awesome present that I'm going to get serious use out of. I appreciate your gifts, your communication, and your thoughtfulness more than I can tell you and I hope you have an AMAZING New Year. I can't wait to do this again in 2014!