Book Blogger Holiday Swap: Santa Revealed!

This Saturday, I received my Book Blogger Holiday Swap Secret Santa gift!  I was so excited!  It was a really ugly, nasty, rainy day here in Chicago as I sat sadly at my table, editing business school application essays for the umpteenth time.  Then my brother came in and told me I got a package!  It was soaking wet and the box was not in the best condition, so I was scared of how it would be inside.  But the inside was great!

In the midst of really colorful and lovely wrapping, I found the following:

A really sweet card, an excellent canvas book bag from The Strand bookstore in New York City (great for used bookstores and the farmers' market!), a really cute alien/bug bookmark made of metal, a yummy Ghirardelli dark chocolate square, a copy of The Hakawati, by Rabih Alameddine, a super-cute polka dot (I LOVE polka dots!) scarf and a fabulous Shakespeare mug of quotes in all different fonts and colors.  It's a FABULOUS gift and I'm so thrilled to have it.  I remember reading about The Hakawati when it first came out, and I'm thrilled to have a really interesting and vivid new telling of The Arabian Nights in my collection.  Also, I've been a Strand bookstore newsletter subscriber forever (even though I've never actually been to the bookstore).

So, THANK YOU to J.S. Peyton of BiblioAddict fame.  You rock my world, and I am now a subscriber to your blog :-)  I'm so excited to drink hot chocolate in my mug, wear my cool new silky scarf, read my book while holding my place with my fun bookmark, and then buying new books with my canvas bag.  You were so generous, and I am very grateful.  Happy holidays!

Also, since I had my camera out, I thought I'd just take a picture of my bookshelves to share with you all.  The first two rows of books are color coded in rainbow pattern, though you can't really tell with all the other stuff there.  The third row is "neutrals."  The bottom row is a free for all.  And yes, that is a Tickle-Me Elmo at the top.  My sister's, not mine!