The Secret Sister Strikes Again!

You know it's bound to be a good day, no, a great day when this little surprise shows up on your doorstep:



Holly Hobbie!!!!!!

We had to fill out a questionaire before this whole Secret Sister thing got started, so my Secret Sister had a few ideas of things I like. What she didn't know, however, is that I had a whole bedroom full of Holly Hobbie stuff when I was little. My very first big girl bed was a full size bed with a canopy. Yep, back in the day, we went straight from cribs to regular twins or fulls -- no toddler beds. (That explains a lot, doesn't it, that most of us probably fell out of our beds and bonked our heads as small children. Yep, explains a lot about my brain, at least, haha!)

Anyway...

my room was completely done up in Holly Hobbie finery -- the sheets, the bedspread (do people still buy bedspreads as opposed to comforters or duvets?), the canopy (oh yeah, baby, early 1980's at it's finest), and I even had a Holly Hobbie play kitchen in the corner of my room. Basically it looked like Holly Hobbie threw up in there, and I loved it! I think I might still have one of my favorite Holly Hobbie picture books at my mom's house. Those illustrations were so sweet and homey -- I'd be surprised if they didn't get popular again soon, especially in the crafting world. I think I might have even had a Holly Hobbie lunchbox at one time, but it wasn't this exact one, and I'll have to ask my mom if she remembers what lunchbox I had.

And what's even funnier about it is that I passed on my love of Holly Hobbie to my son in a strange little way. Have you seen that cartoon on TV, "Toot and Puddle"? Absolutely ridiculously adorable. We actually were a big fan of the Toot and Puddle books before the cartoon appeared on Noggin, but now my son is a big fan of the show. Well, Toot and Puddle is by none other than Holly Hobbie! Which explains the cuteness, of course. And did you know that Holly Hobbie is actually the creator's name? I guess she named the girl after herself.

Here are some pictures of all the other sides. It is covered with Holly Hobbie goodness!











But oh my goodness, the fun does not stop there. Open the lunchbox and you'll find another fun surprise! (Just for the record, I would have been over-the-moon gaga over the lunchbox alone. No second surprise needed!)



A darling Anthropologie dishtowel!

Now friends, you know that I love me some Anthropologie. It's no secret. But I do know that Anthropologie tends to be on the pricier side of things, and when I spend money there, it's usually quite well thought out and with money I have saved up especially for that reason. To know that someone actually placed an order specifically to get me that dishtowel, I truly truly appreciate it. Things like that are beyond generous, and I absolutely am grateful for all the thought and effort that went into this whole surprise.

Man, this Secret Sister thing is spoiling me terribly. I told you I had a great group of Bunko friends. And it's not the gifts themselves or the money spent that make this such a neat experience -- it's the amazing and true friendships I have gained from this group. It's just icing on the cake, the fact that someone is taking the time and effort to surprise me every once in a while and totally make my day. As adults, we just don't seem to get those fun little surprises that often, and it is so special when we do.

All together now: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.