Lucky Number Three

They say that good things - like celebrity misfortunes - always come in threes. Save for the whole left shoe first thing, I'm not much into superstitions. I guess, technically, the shoe thing isn't about superstition, it's just a very weird habit. Really.

At any rate, over two days this last week, three very good things have happened.

First, on Thursday we picked up our new family member, Milo. We had to travel to a place called Grimsby to get him, but the long drive and his sad howling were worth it. He's a little love and a sweetheart. It's been three days and it already feels like he's always been part of the family.

Second, a package was waiting for me when we arrived home from picking him up. It was my Harry Potter Series Saga swap package from my fabulous swap partner.

The swap was in celebration of the completed series, instead of dwelling on the sad fact that there won't be more books to look forward to, which is what I was more inclined to do) this swap was meant to reminisce with other Harry Potter fans. The swap requirements were that you had to choose an item that represented each of the books in the series and send that item to your partner. Each item was carefully selected to represent someone, something, some event, etc., from one of the books and labeled with a short note explaining its significance.

My partner did a great job, picking things that I would never have thought to send (recipes) and things that were incredibly (if not spookily) apropos (a vintage map for a pilgrimage to Assisi, the patron saint of my hometown and one of my desired destinations in Italy). I think I liked the coins best; they were wonderfully ingenious. And then there was the fact that she included a gorgeous handmade bag in two of my favorite colors (blue and lime green). Her chosen items made it clear that she'd read my profile and that the items were chosen or made just for me. Nice.

Here is the whole package:


And here is the detailed list of the items that I received:
Book 1 - The Philosopher's (Sorcerer's) Stone: Chocolate Cake and Frosting Recipes to represent Harry's first birthday cake.
Book 2 - The Chamber of Secrets: a Diary to represent Tom Riddle's diary (I did the same for my partner!!).
Book 3 - The Prisioner of Azkaban: Pilgrimage map to Assisi, emulating the Marauder's Map.
Book 4 - The Goblet of Fire: Stitch Markers to represent Hermione's knitting clothes for the houseelves.
Book 5 - The Order of the Phoenix: Coins for Hermione's enchanted coins that told of the time and place of the DA meetings.
Book 6 - The Half-Blood Prince: Two HP text books to represent Harry's having to balance Quidditch and studying.
Book 7 - The Deathly Hallows: Handmade bag in two of my favorite colors representing Hermione's charmed bag that she carried on their fateful trip.

Here are some close-ups of the package:






It was such a great package to receive. It's one of those packages that makes it worth staying on Swap-bot.

Then on Friday, after a trip to the plant nursery, I came home to this beautifulness:


Talk about making staying on Swap-bot worth it!! It's my package from winemakerssister, for our private swap that I entitled Spoiling You, Surprising Me.

We had each been in different swaps where our partners, though having sent the packages, really disappointed us. It happens. I sent a message to her saying that I'd like to spoil her, since her swap partner hadn't, and she offered to surprise me since my partner had, but not in a good way. The swap was on.

Well, winemakerssister outdid herself (and freakin' outdid me as well!) and sent the following items for my swap:
* Green Ginger Tazo tea
* Electric Blue Sparkling Sugar (yes, electric blue!!)
* Decorated cupcake baking papers
* Warm Vanilla Sugar hand lotion
* Sharpies in my top two favorite colors - blue and orange. Sweeeet!
* A hand-carved stamp of my favorite number
* A handmade cosmetics bag
* A hand-decorated notebook
* A perfectly Harry Potter-themed, Gryffindor-colored charm bracelet
* Vintage black glass buttons
* Bee charms
* Casein knitting needles (that I have been dying to try)
* Hand-stamped and letterpress notecards
* A cupcake cookbook (that was on my Amazon wishlist)

How f@#$ing awesome is that?!

Here are some close-up shots of the items I received in this package:









Honestly, I was absolutely blown away by her generosity. She went way above and beyond the call. I feel spoiled and surprised. Thanks so much, wms. You made me one happy girl. Ta!