Celebrating a giveaway win!

Friends, next time Linda at Friendship Tea says she is offering a giveaway containing a "grab bag" of tea items, run! Do not pass go, do not collect $200, get yourself over there and leave a comment, because I hit the jackpot and won such a giveaway last week. Now here's what I was expecting.

But HERE's what all I got in the mail over the weekend! Have mercy!

My husband watched as I gleefully removed gift after gift from the box, like this cute booklet of some great teatime recipes with whimsical drawings!

And what a sweet little hinged porcelain teapot box. Perfect for a few small jewelry items. (I may put this in the kitchen to hold my engagement ring, which I take off only when whipping up gooey dough.)

This teabag squeezer was a most welcome gift. I have one at home, and love it, but I've *needed* one at the office. I've been using a spoon to schlep my teabag out of the teacup at work, and it will be ever so much nicer to have this on hand!

A tea kettle timer ... suh-weet!

Much as I love those $1.50 stationery bins at Michaels with their often tea-themed items, I must say I do love when I receive "nicer" tea stationery, such as this charming magnetic notepad by Susan Branch.

I try to fill up a notebook a month as part of my writerly self-discipline, and here's the one I will be using in February! Funny, my first inclination is still, "Oh, I should *save* this for another day," but lately I've come around to believing the time to use "the good stuff" is now, today, THIS moment … so yes, I plan to use the notebook in February. And a matching notepad for my purse!

Near the bottom of the package I found a heavy box, and inside was a For Life Teabag Teapot! I had been wanting to try one of these, and now I can! (Expect a review soon.)

And last but not least, a huge stack of cute-cute-cute dish towels with teawares on them! (I couldn't help being quite amused with this particular graphic, and tomorrow I'll tell you why.) As a friend of mine says, "I'd rather walk on my lips than brag," but I couldn't help sharing this incredible gift! And I'll be excusing myself from Linda's giveaways for a long time to come, as it would be greedy to ask for more than this great bonanza of tea goodies!