I got back home today to a small box outside my door, and I knew it could only be from my match! Inside there was a lovely letter describing the reasoning behind each part of of the gift. I love it when a match goes to the extra effort of writing something like this, it makes the whole experience feel so much more personal.

The gifts in the box were:

A pair of great postcards depicting the difference between Paris and New York, one of which has an excellent Mad Men reference, one of my favourite shows right now. I really like the graphical style of these. Both postcards are adorning my wall already!

A climbing hold keychain. My match realised we are both into rock climbing, so picked up a gift from her local bouldering gym. I'll definitely be showing this off with pride at my gym or the local crag. Funnily enough I'd been away on a day out climbing this morning, so I'd just finished packing away my gear when I opened this up!

A little bottle of Lindisfarne mead. I've never tried mead before, but this bottle will definitely make an appearance at a special occasion of some sort, it smells delicious! I think my match was worried that I might not drink, but there's no need to worry about that! I might even take this next time I'm away on a climbing trip for a classy tipple in the tent.

A copy of Oliver Sacks' The Mind's Eye. I had a couple of related books on my amazon wishlist, and this one came with my match's recommendations. I've heard Oliver Sacks a lot on podcasts like Radiolab, so it'll be nice to read some of his work. Looks very interesting!

I love that all of these gifts came with a story and a reason why I would like them, and like them I do! It's wonderful when someone goes out of their way to find things I'll really connect with.

So thankyou very much Sara, you've made me very happy today!