Blogger Gift Exchange 2015: Outtakes

Doing anything in this house without the moral support and crucial help of the dog or the cat is impossible, and wrapping my gifts for the 2015 blogger gift exchange was no exception.

So, I present to you visual evidence of their aid, as a series of outtakes.

Anyone else have overly-helpful pets?

2015 Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange: THANK YOU!

I am behind, but I was thrilled last week to arrive home from traveling to a box on my front steps from Emma of Fraidy Cat Eventing! As soon as I saw the return address I laughed pretty hard: it was a heck of a coincidence for us to draw each other as Secret Santas. :)

A lovely card with a very sweet note.

Really adorably wrapped things!

YES. There is no such thing as too many hand warmers. It's going to be below zero today, perfect timing!

I laughed and laughed. Emma's card said that the bottle opener on the other end was for if I found anything worth drinking about in Tristan's stupid food. That is almost a certainty. I'm going to keep a Woodchuck in my tack trunk from now on in anticipation, especially now that I have the right tools.

True story: I have used the same exact brushes with Tristan for 10 years. It's definitely time for an upgrade and this is a really lovely brush.

I just had to show how cute the wrapping was on this.

Another winter necessity! <3 Practical and horsey and a bit indulgent, perfect. (Considering my usual lip balm is "whatever I got as a freebie at the last professional conference I attended" and I have to use it pretty much constantly from October - May...)

Thank you, Emma, for the lovely gifts, and to Tracy as always for organizing!

2nd Annual Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange

ATTENTION!

DO THIS THING!

Fly on Over is hosting an awesome holiday gift exchange. I participated last year, and it was a TON of fun both to give and receive. I found lots of new blogs and cool people. I got a great gift. It was an all-around awesome time.

Go, now, without delay, and sign up!

It's here! It's here!

I signed up for Tracy @ Fly on Over's horse blogger gift exchange and waited on pins and needles to get my gift...and it arrived yesterday!

It's a gorgeous fleece turtleneck with "heat tech" technology and I can't even tell you how delicious it feels just wearing it around my apartment. Here I am wearing it after I opened the box; please excuse the idiot grin and helmet hair (I had just gotten back from the barn):

(Boyfriend, as he's taking the picture: "Don't you want to take the tags off?" Me: "No, I'm preserving the just-out-of-the-box feel." Him: "Ummm...ok. Sure.")

Miraculously, it also fits better than some clothing my mother has bought for me, and she's known me for 30+ years now. I can't wait to wear it to my lesson on Monday. This is especially timely, since, well, take a look at the weather prediction at the barn for Monday:

The package had a real name but not a blog address on it, so I can give a shout-out to Elena but I don't know where she blogs! Mystery Elena, if you're reading this, could you comment so I can give you the credit you well deserve.

ETA: Tracy tells me that Elena blogs at Out of the Box; go and read about her eventing adventures. I'll be over here on the other coast, jealous of her warm Southern California temperatures. Thank you again, Elena!

I ordered my gift for my recipient a few days ago and it has already shipped; I keep clicking anxiously on the tracking to see when it will get there. Hope you enjoy it, Mystery Recipient!