Man oh man, was this an endeavor to get. So on Monday, instead of dropping the package off as normal, the post office just leaves a note behind and tells me I have to come pick it up. I go to the post office, and they don't have it yet, so I schedule the box to be redelivered. The next day comes, and it hasn't come, so I ask them to redeliver it again. It doesn't show up. I track down the postal worker while she's in my apartment complex, and she says she doesn't have it. Finally, I go back to the post office, and it's there.

But oh man, was it worth it.

My secret santa went utterly all-out with this one. I open this gigantic box, and the first thing on top is a custom stocking, filled to the brim with candy, cookies (the artist pallet one was apparently made custom just for me), hand sanitizer (I work with kids, and go through the stuff like it's made of candy,) and cool little gemstony treasures.

I dig a little further, and see six individually wrapped gifts, all numbered to be opened in a particular order. So let's take a look:

So, Santa got me not just one, but four truly MASSIVE Alton Brown cookbooks. I mentioned that my favorite type of cookbooks are ones that dive into the science behind specific culinary decisions, and I'm a huge Good Eats fan.

Next, we have a tin of some lovely smelling tea. I can't wait to try some.

Finally, a cute oven mitt with a secret inside--brownie mix! Yum.

And if that wasn't enough, the card contained a gift card to Barnes and Noble.

Thank you so, so much for your incredible generosity! Any one of these things would have been a great gift on its own, but you really went above and beyond. This has been something of a rough week, this really helped lift my spirits.

A happiest of holidays to you and your family. =]