Brown Paper Packages Tied up with Strings

Don't you just love receiving a present? I particularly enjoy receiving such a gift by post, that way there's no awkwardness: am I opening it too quickly, did I spend enough time admiring the card, do I have spinach in my teeth...well, you get the picture. I hope I'm not the only one who experiences gift anxiety. I love giving gifts, but my heart starts to race when I know I'm expected to open gifts in front of an audience, clearly this is the result of either very good or very poor breeding; I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions. Alone with a box filled with promise sitting on the table, a utility knife in your hand, and your mind spinning with possibilities, there are few things better.

I've been out of commission the better part of a week with what I would love to say is a hangover from my Burns Night celebration, but is instead the result of a nasty bug that has left me achingly tired and mute for far too many days. The cures: Darjeeling tea with honey and lemon, warm water with a jigger of whiskey, honey and lemon, Luden's Honey Lemon Throat Drops, and a lovely gift to accelerate my metamorphosis back to a more gentile form of humanity.

As I've mentioned previously, I was the lucky winner of the anniversary prize given by Meg over at Pigtown-Design. Again, Meg was far too generous in giving a gift for her second blog birthday, but I digress. It was quite exciting finding it on the porch all wrapped in toile printed brown paper with chic address and return address labels.

Not to be outdone by the outer wrapping was the equally splendid interior wrapping.

And then the prize...a great blue willow patterned cup and saucer, which received nearly immediate use to hold the honey lemon concoction of the hour.


I promise to resume a more regular posting schedule now that my convalescence is coming to an end, along with my Netflix backlog.