Disclaimer: I don't actually think that this mug is ugly or hideous or anything. It's nice and I love it. I mean, I would love it even if it were ugly, I just don't want the poor thing to have, like, self-esteem issues, you know?

I have a confession to make.

I LOVE mugs.

My first year of college, I went to an out-of-state school. It was way too fancy (read: expensive) for me, since it was a small liberal-arts-type-place. Very small. And partially as a way of fostering community, and partially because the very small school was in a very small town with few housing options, all students were required to live on campus.

I'll have you know that I thought I was pretty damn smart. Everyone knows that living on campus is expensive, and having to buy a meal plan doesn't help. So I had come up with a number of ways of getting around those pesky money issues. I got a job working in the cafeteria (free meals for every shift) and resolved to cook as many of my own meals as possible. As a result, I ended up with a pretty minimal meal plan and a lot of cookware.

Like I said, I thought I was pretty damn smart. I had pots, pans, cookie sheets, bread pans, measuring cups and spoons, spatulas, mixing spoons, a kettle, flatware, cups, plates...

Notice I didn't say bowls.

That's because, despite my smug preparedness, I'd forgotten to bring them.

My lack of bowls ended up becoming a problem somewhere around the time I decided to make myself soup. Since it was late and I was too lazy to walk somewhere to get a proper bowl, I had to improvise. I ended up improvising the soup into a mug and felt like a genius. Clearly, no one had ever thought of such a thing before.

Mugs: just like bowls, but with handles (useful for when you need to run up three flights of stairs with hot soup so that you can startle your roommate by yelling "HEY DID YOU KNOW THAT MUGS ARE LIKE BOWLS WITH HANDLES?!?" which is one of the many revelations that will cause her to make fun of you for years to come).

I'm mentioning all this because the habit has stuck with me for years. Even though I now have several sets of lovely bowls, some part of me is convinced that tomato soup tastes better when you drink it from a mug. This is something I mentioned (indirectly) to my Santa, who found the perfect mug.

I may or may not have spent an excessive amount of time tracking the mug once it shipped. I may or may not have also checked the mail every hour, on the hour, the day it was due to be delivered.

It showed up on the three o' clock delivery, in case you were wondering.

This mug is glorious. Did angels sing when I opened it? Quite possibly, but I was too busy reading all the little panels to notice. They are so kitchy and corny, I love it. And it is approximately bowl-sized, which just makes it even more versatile and awesome.

Not only did my wonderful Santa ship a mug, but went above and beyond, including hot cocoa packets, two hand-made coasters, and a mug mat. The pictures that I have of the coasters and mug mat do not do the color justice. Seriously, they are a beautiful shade of orange and my camera did not do a good job (Santa: it is not possible to go overboard on orange. Orange is simply the best color there is). There was also a lovely hand-written card with a cute monkey on it. And monkeys are pretty great too.

To prove my point that I will put just about anything in a mug, I have included pictures of some of the food that I ate out of my new mug during the week. Minus the corn chowder, because that looked super gross in the picture.

Also, the ritzy coffee shop/bakery behind my house has a coffee mug on their sign. I decided to make some improvements.

Thank you, Santa! I love this mug.

P.S. Sorry about the crappy quality on these pictures. My apartment is dark and full of terr--I mean, only has one good window.