Best door prize ever!

Over the weekend, Alex and I were in North Carolina to attend the annual party (a weekend-long event) of the small press where I edit fiction. We attended for the first time last year and had such a great time, we were eager to attend this year's festivities as well. I so enjoy meeting my fellow editors and some of the authors I've worked with, and one of the highlights of the weekend is the delicious dinner we all share on Saturday night. Afterward, bags of door prizes are given to every single person attending the party, and this year, we earned tickets by answering trivia questions throughout the night. As our ticket numbers were chosen, we got to go choose a gift. Lucky for me, my name was drawn second, so I had my pick of most everything, and I chose a bag with a company T-shirt, mug, and other goodies, but what closed the deal for me was this package of Novel Teas from Bag Ladies Tea! (And yes, I learned the owner of the company had hoped I would win it, which I thought was quite touching!)

I've heard the C.S. Lewis quote before, but I had not heard the Henry Ward Beecher quote, "Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore?" Isn't that the truth! 

Each Ceylon tea bag (which makes a nice, brisk cup of black tea, by the way) has a quote attached, and I also liked this one by Jorges Luis Borges: "I have always imagined that Paradise will be kind of a library." (We book lovers can only anticipate what we'll be reading in Heaven one day!) So there are door prizes, and there are door prizes, and I must say I was thrilled with mine this year!