This was my first redditgifts exchange and I couldn't be more pleased! I'd heard stories both good and bad about gifting experiences, but nothing was enough to keep me from the allure of adding to my small but growing pint glass collection!

I told my future gifter about my burgeoning craft beer geekery, and specifically asked for something local so that I could get an idea of the beer scene in another part of the US. Hence my excitement when, a few days later, a large box was on its way from pretty much the other side of the country - and my gifter told me that he'd specifically tried to adhere to my wishes. Woot!

I was expecting the box on Friday, and literally kept peeking out the door of my apartment to see if something was waiting for me in the lobby. Finally at 6pm I had to leave my house for the weekend, so of course the tracking info now tells me it was delivered at 6:20. Ohh, UPS.

But never fear! I returned home on Sunday to find an expertly packaged box, which originally looked to be comprised exclusively of packing peanuts, but was actually full of awesome instead!

I opened everything too quickly to get unpacking pictures, but attached to the box was a note from my gifter telling me to enjoy some of his favorite local beers. Wait, there's beer in here?! Must. Open. Box. Faster.

First out was a sweet pint glass from Stone Brewing - a personal fave that I've yet to visit, but I will be sure to enjoy some Stone out of this new glass! It was promptly added to my pint shelf (see photos) for maximum show-offage.

Then - holy crap - a six pack! 2 cans each of three different local IPAs from my gifter's home of NM. Included were (from left in the pic) La Cumbre Elevated IPA, Santa Fe Brewing Happy Camper IPA, and Marble Brewery's Marble IPA. Marble is the only one of these I'd even heard of before, but being on the East Coast means I have three new beers to try! I'm already planning a lovely evening with the SO where we will smoke cigars and enjoy some IPAs. Also now I know that NM has some serious brewing going on!

Thank you so much to my amazing gifter (with a very cool name haha) for making my first exchange such a success!