Participating in my first online Secret Santa has been incredibly exciting! My giftee received both of his gifts about two weeks ago and I must say researching him was quite the thrill. Moreover, I have never before waited so anxiously for packages to ship to another individual.

Following the receipt of gifts and subsequent post by my match, I anxiously awaited the arrival of the packages that my secret Santa had shipped. To my excitement both my packages arrived just a few hours ago which was perfect due to my planned departure to visit my dad for his birthday tomorrow.

I sought to document the complete moment. While I've uploaded only two photos here, twenty two photos can be viewed on my imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/9aJE7

I received two packages: one cube-shaped and the other square and larger both by width and height, though smaller in depth. Neither were particularly heavy, and the contents of both were well secured. I decided to first open the cube-shaped box as it was from "The Bread Project" and I wasn't 100% certain at the time whether it was actually from my secret Santa. Using the smaller blade on my Swiss Army Knife, I cut through the tape that held the box flaps down. Lifting the box flaps revealed a multitude of light blue pieces of scrunched paper. Such pieces of paper I would normally consider confetti, however, they appear to have made for excellent packing material.

Removing the top layer of confetti revealed the gift; some cookies with white decoration. Being both excited and intrigued, I removed the gift from its packaging. This gift was a beautifully wrapped bunch of eight gingerbread cookies with the Reddit-alien logo. I must have one immediately, I thought to myself, and so I did. Without much thought, I quickly took the alien's alien-inity, by biting off her antenna. As I savored the first bite of gingerbread goodness, I couldn't help but notice the alien now looked more like a bear. My thoughts didn't distract me very long, for it was but a moment before I took her left ear and savored another delicious bite. Laura Numeroff couldn't have predicted it better; after only two bites I desired a glass of milk. Once obtained, I decided it was more humane to first drown the alien in milk prior to consuming the remainder of her face.

In celebration of the first awesome gift from my secret Santa, I made it rain packing confetti everywhere. The cleanup gave for a nice segue to gift number two.

My enthusiasm from the contents of the cube-shaped box only grew when I read the label on the larger box:

Contains alcoholic beverages Adult Signature Required. Recipient must be at least 21 years of age. Do not deliver to an intoxicated person.

At this point it was clear the package was either a clever joke or contained some sort of alcohol. Again using the smaller blade on my Swiss Army Knife, I released the box flaps from their binding. Unfolding the flaps revealed a white Styrofoam cap on the left side of the box and scrunched brown paper on the right side of the box. Removing the Styrofoam cap revealed a translucent gold bag with an untied ribbon containing a 175ml bottle of awesomeness. Beneath the scrunched brown paper was the original bottle container and two smaller boxes labeled The Glencairn Glass.

I was floored. My secret Santa gave me the gift of an 18 year old Glenfiddich single malt scotch whiskey and two incredibly elegant whiskey glasses. While I've recently started drinking some 16 year old scotches, I've never had the privilege of enjoying an 18 year old scotch. Similarly, while I regularly drink scotch out of old fashioned and snifter glasses, I previously had no idea the Glencairn glass existed. It was imperative that I have a little taste of the scotch out of my new Glencairn whiskey glass. So I did, and it was amazing.

My secret Santa didn't include a note, nor her reddit username; however, I have my suspicions of who she is from the name on the shipment invoice. Nevertheless, I want to express my greatest thanks to my secret Santa for the amazing gifts. The glasses should last a lifetime with care, and the Glenfiddich will fuel incredible conversations with the few friends with whom I regularly meet to share scotch and cigars. Finally, I would also like to thank the redditgifts organizers. You have done wonders to give joy to peoples' lives, including mine.

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays!