Hi, friends! Happy holidays from The Book Addict’s Guide!
It’s been another fun season of holiday plans, gifts, and Secret Santas! I had an absolute blast this year shopping for people and I was also totally spoiled with so many of my gifts! I wanted to share with you not only the gifts that I got this year but also some of my own personal Christmas stories this year!
This year — like the past two years — Shane and I went to go cut down our own tree. Both of our families have transitioned from cutting down a tree to buying a pre-cut tree to owning a fake tree. I have nothing against fake trees at all, but we both really missed having a real tree and there’s just something special for us about picking our own and cutting it down! This year we actually chose a different Christmas tree farm and it was the first year that we didn’t have the use of Shane’s mom’s minivan so that meant… Squishing a tree into my Hyundai Elantra. The space between the trunk and the folded wasn’t quite 
big enough to fit our tree even with netting so we actually were able to put it in the backseat with the edge sticking out the window! It was an interesting experience but a lot of fun. We stuck with a smaller tree even though we have a nice, big house to put it in this year instead of my (former) apartment since we still had to squish it into my car! This year’s tree is named Rudolph (see his antlers?). I still miss Short Round (aptly named for his general shape) who was our tree the first year. How bad am I that I can’t even remember the name of our tree last year? He just wasn’t Short Round, that’s all I know haha! We still have very few Christmas decorations (including a lack of star for the top of our tree) but hey, there’s always next year! And the year after that and the year after that…
Keeping in my family’s new tradition (as of… wow, two years ago, already?), Shane and I went up to my sister and brother-in-law’s house in Milwaukee for Thanksmas: a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one so we don’t have to split up our holidays and scramble trying to accommodate several families and extended families and in laws all in one day! We had a spending limit this year of $25 per person (which really most people didn’t follow, my parents especially considering Shane got an electric drill, sets of tools, and I got lots of things for the kitchen). We had a really, really nice time and I was so happy to see my niece again who is now nine months old and standing on her own! Only for a few seconds, but she’s going to be walking soon and it was so exciting to see her growing into such a little person!
SECRET SANTA
Okay, now onto the presents!!!! I got SPOILED this year. Last year for The Broke and the Bookish Secret Santa, despite many attempts my Jamie… my present never showed up. I actually still have no idea who was Secret Santa was supposed to be and wanted to know but didn’t want to know all at the same time. Anyway, that’s besides the point! Because of my unfortunate experience last year (through no fault of Jamie or The Broke and the Bookish girls!), Jamie promised to pair me up with someone spectacular this year and boy did she!!! Jamie paired me up with Estelle from Rather Be Reading (who is also one of my good friends and I absolutely adore) so I was THRILLED when my Secret Santa box came in and found out it was from Estelle! She got me the most amazing presents!
Firstly, HI. That card? Flipping fantastic! (And in case you missed it, she had a whole post on her fabulous YA Book themed holiday cards) She MADE ME A MIX TAPE of Christmas songs! How lovely is that?! That’s one of my favorite parts, honestly. I love mix CDs and I love personal gifts like that. See those tree coasters up there? ALSO LOVE. Disney postcards, Minnie Mouse nail file, “Beer Me” napkins (since we both love beer), and so many more cute things. She also got me some books I’ve been meaning to read! I’ve been dying to read Past Perfect for like, YEARS. Also super looking forward to finally reading This Is What Happy Looks Like and she surprised me with The Catastrophic History of You and Me because she loved it so much! So THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU again, Estelle! I had such a present hangover. I absolutely loved everything!
I also got a wonderful gift from my Secret Santa exchange that we do with The Selective Collective! My present came in the very next day after Estelle’s and I was excited all over again! Daphne from Gone Pecan got me some wonderful gifts!!!
I’ve been dying for a travel mug and MMMMM Reece’s! (Honestly devoured those instantly.) I was so excited for the lovely personalized ornament (immediately stuck it on my tree) and Cracked Up to Be and When You Were Here!
PRESENTS FROM FRIENDS
I also got some AMAZING presents from the best friends in the world, Alyssa and Amy! They totally spoiled me ROTTEN. I got part one of Alyssa’s present first (box #2 is still on the way… somewhere! Hopefully should turn up even if it is after Christmas!) and it was A BOX FULL OF BOOKS. The best part? They were all of her favorites!
LOVE THE DISNEY PAPER!!!!
OMG OMGGGG some of Alyssa’s favorite books that I’ve been meaning and dying to read <3
Another BIG thank you to Alyssa!!!!! I LOVE the books and I’m also excited to see what’s in box number two!
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Then just this past SUNDAY (yes, SUNDAY I got mail! Special delivery!) I got my present from Ame! I was elated and immediately tore into the box and was so excited for so many cute things!
Cutie little snowman (which I loved!!!) and a SNUGGLY SCARF! (That’s me snuggling in it immediately after opening it.)
LOOK AT ALL THESE BOOKS!!!!
Amy also bought me the Hogwarts Library!! I’ve been meaning to read these forever AND they’re helping me complete my Goodreads challenge (hopefully)!
6 thoughts on “Secret Santas, Thanksmas, and Holiday Cheer!”
YAY FOR AWESOME PRESENTS! It looks like you had a wonderful holiday season, and I’m really glad that it was so festive and great. 😀
What wonderful presents! You are quite lucky! 🙂
It looks like you hit the jackpot this year! I’m so glad I was a part of making your Christmas special. Like I said, it was so much fun to shop for you and gather things to make you happy. It’s my favorite thing about the holidays. xo
I’m hoping that Short Round was also influenced by Indiana Jones because hello yes fantastic. You got so many amazing books! The Hogwarts Library is a fun little addition to the Harry Potter Universe for sure.
This is just one of the happiest post ever. I love hearing about the Christmas traditions & such! I love the tree. I’m so jealous–I’m allergic to Christmas trees(and pretty much all Evergreens), so my family has never really been able to do the traditional go-get-a-tree thing. I remember the year we discovered I was allergic we had a real tree, and I was so excited because my family had just moved into a new house with a vaulted ceiling in the living room, so the tree was TALL. Really, really tall, and I was like six or seven, so of course it was exciting! That tree had to be thrown out like two days later though once we realized it was making me sick.
Oh, you got so many good books! That’s so sad about your TBTB Secret Santa last year. 🙁 I’m glad you had a much better experience this year! I read When You Were Here recently and LOVED it, especially since it was male POV! And the Hogwarts library–how awesome! I don’t think I even knew they made that, though I have the books in it.
You look like you had an amazing Christmas. I really like the idea of Thankmas so you don’t have to rush around on Christmas day. I have read When You Were Here and loved it. All the books look amazing. I hope you get to reading all of them within the next year.