First of all, I just want to say how awesome it was to communicate back and forth with my Secret Santa. From day one it was a pleasure to bounce PMs back and forth with them!

I actually received two boxes from "Santa". The first box came a little over a week ago, with a note that another box would be on the way soon. I got two awesome "Great Lakes Brewing Co" pints as well as a set of decorative coasters to keep everything tidy.

Cue the anticipation. Given how many messages we'd tossed back and forth, I knew the next package would be epic, and Santa did not disappoint! The first package pulled out was a bag of yogurt treat for the ratties, and they are going absolutely ballistic over them. Gonna have to ratio those out, otherwise my girls are gonna get fat. Included with the rat treats was an adorable hand-knitted octopus, which my cat is currently mauling. Kitty tested, owner approved!

Next out of the box was a bag of red popcorn kernals, something that I didn't even know existed. Totally stoked to give them a try! Maybe later tonight, even. Along with the popcorn is a set of gourmet popcorn seasonings in various flavors (chocolate caramel will be viciously protected - offending fingers will be removed without warning).

Next out of the box was a set of Bicycle playing cards with a twist: a helpful deck of tips for surviving a zombie apocalypse. Nobody should be without it!

And finally, the gift that made me smile the most: two handmade card guards for Texas Hold 'Em poker with a white cheetah and a white fox (the animals that my partner and I associate ourselves with). They are amazing, and I don't even want to take them out of their protective cases.

Let's see, what am I forgetting...

...oh yeah. BEER! Included in the box were four bottles of various flavors of beer, brewed by a local company (to Santa). Can't wait to try them out! Being that Labor Day is coming up, I know just when I'll be enjoying them (while grilling up some Texas goodness).

All in all, I'd say this is a pretty awesome gift exchange! My gifter definitely went above and beyond the call here and absolutely blew me away with an awesome haul of gifts. Thanks for everything, Solsticemoon!