Friday, December 18, 2015

Christmas Cheer Exchange

Blogmas Day 18
Today I'm linking up with Mattie and Olya for the Christmas Cheer Gift Exchange. These two lovely ladies hosted a Secret Santa amongst all of us bloggers. I was excited to join in because I knew that it would give me a chance to get to know a few ladies better. I was assigned Liz Jo over at Sundays with Sophie. It was the perfect match, because I wasn't as familiar with her. This exchange gave us the perfect opportunity to get better acquainted. The moment I found out I was her Secret Santa, I began stalking her blog {yes stalking} to find out more about her. I had a blast picking out gifts that I thought she love. If you can't tell from my wrapping job, I got really into everything. I ended up giving Liz Jo three gifts…one from her Wishlist...a gift for a fellow baker..and a gift to help this Super Mom to relax. To see what's in the packages below, you can read Liz Jo's post here
Now comes the part where I'm supposed to share what my Secret Santa gave me for Christmas and the answer is…N-O-T-H-I-N-G

I received a message from my Secret Santa announcing when my package would arrive. When nothing showed up, I sent her a friendly message to let her know. She told me all was well and gave me a different delivery date. But once again, nothing came. This happened again and again. And it turned into a cycle of me not receiving anything and not hearing from my Secret Santa>>>me contacting her>>>her giving me a new excuse and delivery date. 

I started to feel like a complete idiot for continuing to trust her every time. Finally, it got to the point where I knew nothing was ever going to come. Every time I made contact, there was a different reason why it hadn't arrived yet. The whole thing just felt a bit shady because my Secret Santa never contacted me to tell me that things were going to be delayed. It was always me initiating the conversation. I really wanted to believe that maybe it just got lost in the mail. But the lack of communication was too much of a red flag. 

The thing is guys, I could care less about the actual present. I would have been over the moon to simply receive a card from the dollar store or a well thought-out email. Really, I just wanted someone to put in some effort. I went out of my way to get to know the person I was assigned and give my person the perfect gifts. And I'm glad I did. I had just hoped that my Secret Santa would make the same effort for me.

It is still possible that something will arrive in the next few days, but you guys, I'm not holding my breath. I would be happy to eat my words here, but we had almost a month to get our gifts sent out. I know things happen that may be out of our control, but I have been getting bad vibes about this situation from the very beginning. And sometimes you have to go with your gut. 

Regardless, I'm still thankful for this experience because I loved getting to know Liz Jo and I've made a new blogger friend. And really that was the reason I did this. Looking on the bright side of things, my goal in participating in this exchange was definitely accomplished. I'm also grateful to the sweetest hosts Mattie and Olya who offered to send me a gift themselves, which really is not necessary. But it was sweet none the less. I'm really looking forward to just moving on. I'm excited to see how everyone else did with the exchange and connect with more bloggers in the future.

Follow along with Blogmas to see more holiday fun everyday this month
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23 comments:

  1. Oh this makes me so very sad. I'm so very sorry. I participated in this and had a completely different outcome. Would you let me send you something? Please?

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    1. Marie you are too sweet. And it means so much. But it's not necessary to send me anything, though I really really appreciate the offer. More than anything, I really wanted to connect with more people in the blogging community and I feel like I'm doing that

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  2. I'm incredibly sorry to hear this! I understand the whole point of this wasn't to just get gifts but to meet new people and new blogs.

    I'm still really glad we got paired together because I love reading your posts and learning more about you. I feel we're about the same stage in life (different stages, but still close) so its nice to have friends in the blogger world.

    liz @ sundays with sophie

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    1. I'm glad that we got paired up and became friends. I definitely agree that we have a lot in common. We are at slightly different stages, but it feels like we have the same perspective on a lot of things and it's wonderful having someone else to connect with

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  3. Booo! I hate that! Good for you for still having such a positive attitude about everything.

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    1. Thanks Girl! I just figured I can't let someone else's actions of lack there of ruin my day

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  4. Oh no....that is really frustrating!

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  5. Awww what a bummer! This has happened to me a few times with secret Santa exchanges. I know what you mean, it's totally not about the gift, but about the disappointment of missing connecting with someone. It's that hope for friendship and surprise, and then nothing. I'm really sorry this happened to you :-(

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    1. I feel like you understand me exactly! And I'm sure something like this has happened to everyone before but it's still a bummer

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  6. I am so sorry to hear this. I loved participating in this exchange and had fun getting to know new bloggers. Super frustrating.

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    1. Yea it definitely stinks, but I still think I got a chance to get to know other bloggers pretty well.

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  7. I'm so sorry that you had such a frustrating experience in our exchange! I love your blog and your positive attitude!

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    1. Thanks Olya, I still had a really great time though and I would definitely do this again. Thanks for being such a great host

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  8. Ugh this has happened to me twice in swaps, and it always stinks. I wonder if either were the same people ;) At least you have a positive outlook!

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    1. Yea it always stinks when something like this happens, but I figured there is no point in letting in pull me down or in allowing someone else to ruin the experience for me.

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  9. I'm so sorry about the disappointment. :( I know you put a lot of thought into your gift. I hope if you decide to do a swap in the future you have a better experience with it.

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    1. Thanks Mattie! You've been great about this whole thing. And I would definitely do another swap in the future. This was unfortunate, but it didn't ruin my experience because I still had fun getting to know and gift my person

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  10. I did a different blogger present swap and had a blast picking things out for my person - it's kind of fun to super-stalk blogs and social media in search of clues! Hopefully your secret Santa comes through in the end, but if not I'm sure karma will work itself out and something else awesome will come your way!

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  11. Wow, I am so sorry so to hear about this! Maybe it was just some internet troll who signed up? And you're right, it's not about the gift... it's frustrating when you put forth the effort to doing something & get nothing in return.

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    1. Unfortunately, I've sent there blog, but it's ok. I'm not dwelling on it.

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  12. OMG I am so sorry this happened to you!! I've had frustrating experiences with exchanges in the past, but yours takes the cake and I'm sad about that! The package you sent out is adorable though!

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  13. That is so disappointing! As somebody who gave and received a gift in this exchange, it bums me out another person didn't. I've been feeling guilty because I never really connected with the person I was assigned to--but I still sent her gifts!! Anyhoo, I love how thoughtful your gifts were! And how beautifully wrapped--I am such a gift bag girl! I'm glad I was able to connect with you through this experience, thanks to Liz Jo being MY Secret Santa! :)

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