Because Book Swaps Should Never End

Well if you haven't heard the news, Google Reader is going away this summer (I believe GFC might be going away as well).  I'm annoyed since Google Reader is my favorite way to organize and follow blogs, regardless of what site hosts them.  So if you're interested in following my blog, you can subscribe via e-mail in the sidebar or you can follow The Simplicity on Bloglovin'.  You can follow some of your other favorite bloggers there as well and it reads like Blogger's feed.

I got the best surprise in the mail today from one of my favorite bloggers, Martie.  She blogs at Spunkyrella and she is one of the kindest ladies ever!  There was a bit of a snafu with the book swap and she didn't get to participate.  Being the great sport that she is, she was willing to team up with me and do a belated swap.  As one of the future hosts for the next book swap, she totally and completely blew me away with her generosity.  She basically sent me a care package straight from Austria.  When I saw the somewhat large box in my mailbox, I was surprised and so excited!

 

 

Martie seriously went above and beyond.  She has been one fantastic swap partner and such a great friend :) We both share a love of big cities, tv shows, music, and books.  We also both love dogs.  Here are some of the awesome gifts she sent my way.

 

 

 Dear Kim, Thank you so much for doing this Book Swap with me! I decided to send you another book in this goodie bag- the one I wanted to give you is a used copy and I want to give you the real deal! I'm very happy that we "met" and can't wait to host the next Blogger Book Swap with you!

Hugs from Vienna,

Martie

 I know how much you love music & this is one of my favorites. Hope you'll love it too! :)

 Simple, yet chic studs! Isn't the color to die for?

 You could need an "extra" laugh :)

 If you need to write down your ideas plus a little bookmark.

MARTIE!! I LOVE EVERYTHING! Ohmygoodness, you seriously went so above and beyond. When you said you were sending something, I thought it was like a card and a bookmark and I would have been perfectly ok with that.  You are such an angel.  I adore Ellen Degeneres and I am so excited that you sent me this book, although you didn't have to.  For the readers out there, Martie sent me two books!  The first, Don't Ask Me Why by Tania Kindersley, was a book that Martie loves and only had found copies in German.  Well of course this sparked a conversation on how I would love to learn German.  I basically let Martie pick out whatever book she thought would suit me because she has awesome taste.  Well she found an English copy of the book and sent it to me! Y'all know I love used books and so I was perfectly content with that.  But Martie was also kind enough to send me an additional book and other presents :)  The earrings are deep, rich purple that are so pretty.  I love earrings and can't wait to wear them.  I am also really interested in listening to the Mozella cd, an artist that I've never heard of but am excited to learn more about.  Plus that notebook is the perfect size for jotting down ideas, especially about blog posts.

 

Because Book Swaps should never end, get excited because I'm working with some amazing bloggers and creating the second Blogger Book Swap.  Dates are still tentative but keep checking back because the sign-ups should be happening towards the end of March/start of April.

 

Thanks for Reading!