Ok, so there’s no such thing as Christmas in February, but it felt like Christmas today when I got home and discovered 2 surprises – 1. A surprise from hubby and 2. A delivery that I knew was coming, but I didn’t know when.

Hubby’s Surprise

Hubby set up a little surprise for me, which I saw when I got home from work today (while hubby was out and about).

Inside was the camera bag/kit I’ve been wanting for my camera since Christmas. I even get a new battery with the bag, so I don’t have to worry about missing any shots due to an uncharged battery. Plus, I now have a good way to protect my camera when we’re traveling. Yippee! Thanks babe!

A Coast-to-Coast Swap

I also got a special delivery all the way from the other side of the country from most-awesome blogger Kate from Cooking with Kate.

The contents of the box, besides the vanilla bean syrup which inspired the whole thing, were a surprise, so I had a blast oohing and aahing over all the goodies I kept pulling out.

Inside the box:

Oatmeal & Cranberry Cookie Mix – all yummy-sounding ingredients!

The famous vanilla-bean syrup. Yum!

Whole-grain pancake mix – hope hubby doesn’t see that “whole grain” part.

Chocolate Tea! Who ever heard of such a thing? I dunno, but I can’t wait to try it!

Pomegranate white tea – another goodie that I’m sure to enjoy for a long time. Pom-flavored stuff is so good

And I even got an adorable card!

*UPDATE*

I totally forgot to add these Perfect 10 Western bagels last night because they were in the fridge when I started shooting photos. How could I forget these?!

Thank you soooo much Kate! I am gathering goodies for yours and hope to send it out asap!

I received 9 comments for the PIF from last week and have selected three lucky winners using a random number generator:

Ok PIF'ers, not sure if you know how PIF's work, but upon receiving your PIF from moi, you will select three people to Pay it Forward to, and you must PIF within a year of receiving your PIF.  Yea, I'm not really gonna track that deadline…it's more of a guideline…haha.  Oh, and if you have the chance to blog about the PIF you receive from me, I'd love to see what you say – send me the URL so I can check it out!

Wow, 215 comments for my giveaway!  Thanks guys – what an honor to receive so much interest in my giveaway!

After seeing everyone else on the blogosphere participating in the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, I wanted in on the action. I think it was such a marvelous idea that Sew Mama Sew came up with! Don’t you? Anywho, I’m submitting my giveaway far later than everyone else (just found out about it this afternoon), but I think I’m not too late to participate, but will give away something either way.

Up for grabs is:

A handmade necklace by moi, from my jewelry collection at my company, D Celestine Limited (click). This necklace is called the Everyday Beauty necklace (click here for necklace details). This gorgeous necklace is made with the eye-catching, faceted, cube-shaped Swarovski crystals in color “sapphire” with smaller clear bicone crystals and sterling silver. This necklace is great to dress down with jeans or up with a fancy dinner dress.

I am also giving away matching earrings to the necklace, some vintage buttons, some gift tags I punched from some super pretty blue paper with red and green sparkly details. You also get the cutsie bird ornament I made tonight with some fleece, felt, a vintage button, and some embroidery floss.

To Enter:

*Leave a comment to this post by this Saturday, December 6th at 11PM EST.

Good luck! Thanks for stopping by!

Whilst chatting with Mr. Chic yesterday, I found out that there was a box for me at the apartment.  I knew I hadn't ordered anything recently, so it must have been a prezzie.

Oh, and check out this cutsie bear ornament.  A PIF from V, the bear-master, wouldn't be complete without a little something of her trademark.

*All you have to do for the PIF is promise to Pay-It-Forward to three other people within one year of receiving your PIF package.  Brownie points if you blog about it.