I tried doing this 3 times from my phone, but it kept timing out... so I'll try here.

My secret santa gift is a-m-a-z-i-n-g! I could tell from the box itself that it was going to be thoughtful and fun, and it didn't disappoint. The box itself was decorated with Christmas-y Snoos. Going the extra mile here was definitely a precursor of what was to come.

When I opened the box, it was filled with wrapped gifts, gift bags, and a card with my name on it. Being a rule follower, I opened the card first. I was lovely, and my secret santa wrote a little note about how much she enjoyed shopping for me. This sealed the deal, I knew it was going to be good.

The first thing I opened was a gift bag. Each of my gifts had a index card attached, explaining them. The time and effort she put into this was incredible, and made me want to be friends with her in real life (seriously, she seems awesome). This first card read, “Maps, Scotch, Minneapolis… somehow I managed to kill 3 birds with one stone! Hopefully they will get put to good use.”

This had me very excited to open the bag. She’s right, maps, scotch, and Minneapolis are three of my favorite things. How could she have managed to get all three of those things into one little bag? Boom. She did it, and she nailed it. In the bag were a pair of maps rocks glasses etched with the streets Minneapolis and a set of Neighborwood wooden coasters. Prior to opening this bag, I didn’t even realized either of these things existed, or I would have already owned them myself. That’s how much I love them. At this point, this would have made a great secret santa gift all by itself—thoughtful, funny, and useful. But there’s more…

The second items I opened was soft and wrapped in tissue paper and covered with bee stickers. The tag attached read, “I just couldn’t resist.” At this point I should mention that on my profile under Allergies I wrote, “Bee stings. Please don’t send bees.” Her attention to detail here was crazy and impressive. When I opened the tissue paper, it was maybe the cutest damn thing I’ve ever seen. Someone, this magic secret santa managed to find the most adorable and squishiest teddy bear dressed as a bumble bee. He now lives on my desk.

The third gift was a very festive color of OPI red nail polish. The note explained that it was my santa’s favorite red. Thoughtful and useful—she nailed it again.

The next group of gifts was wrapped together. The note read, “If you don’t know how to do this already, hopefully it will help you learn. And if you do already know how, hopefully it will still be of some use. Maybe you’ll post on a certain subreddit someday!” Having no idea what this possibly could be, I tore open the paper to discover a full set of calligraphy pens, along with paper and a book on learning calligraphy. This was another example of my santa’s attention to detail, and how she used my profile to find the perfect gifts. The subreddit she mentioned in her note is /r/penmanshipporn. I listed it as one of my favorites in my profile. My santa is ridiculously good at this.

At this point, I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity and general awesome-ness of my santa, and I still had two gifts to unwrap. Next up was another gift bag. This one had a cylindrical gift, with a note. This one said, “I immediately though of this when I read you liked to travel. Then I saw it on your Pinterest and knew it would be perfect. I just got one for myself and I love it. I hope you do too!” Holy crap, my santa really went the extra mile. LPT, checking the Pinterest boards of the people you’re buying gifts for is always a damn good idea. Also, you should buy this water bottle for everyone you know, because it’s ah-mazing.

The final gift was by far my favorite. My santa read that I love to travel, and that I used to live in NYC. This gift was a beautiful matted picture of New York. Not only that, the attached note explained that my secret santa took the picture herself, from the top of the Empire State Building. Her sharing this with me was really special.

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better secret santa. Hell, most of the people in my life don’t buy me such thoughtful and perfect gifts. Well done, santa, and I’m jealous of the redditor’s name you draw next year!