Secret Santa 2015 (Real Gift Exchange)

[Sharifu]

Time to start this again. :p

So, for those of your who haven't done this with us before, this is a real Secret Santa with members on this forum. You will be sending a real gift through the mail. (So make sure you are comfortable giving out your address if you want to join) Please be aware you could be shipping internationally, so don't send super heavy gifts.

We don't really have a certain price limit, but I think anywhere from $5 to $15 is ok. But it's up to you, you can spend a little bit more, but don't go crazy. Really it's not the price that matters.

So here is how this goes, if you want to join, go ahead and PM me your email address. I will give people a month to join. So on September 2nd, I will use a Secret Santa website we have been using for years, where I enter in all the email addresses, and then emails are sent to everyone, and in that email, you will get a link where you enter your wishlist and your address of where you want your gift to be sent to. Once everyone has done that, people will get an email with someone's wishlist and address so you can send them a gift! Make sure to send it in time so they receive their gift by Christmas. I know this seems early but we have been starting it this early for years so hopefully everyone has a few months or so to shop and ship their gift in time for their person to receive their gift by Christmas.

1. Deadline for joining: Wednesday September 2nd.
2. How to join: PM me with your e-mail address before the above date.
3. Suggested price range for gifts: $5-$15
4. Do not reveal your identity to the person you are buying for. This goes against the aspect of it being a secret. People who reveal themselves will be banned from joining the following year.
5. It sounds cheesy, but have fun!!

Participating Members
Sharifu - Gift Received
Sadiki - Gift Received
Kirauni - Gift Received
Leorgathar - Gift Received
King Simba - Gift Received
Utora - Gift Received
HasiraKali - Gift Received
Azerane - Gift Received
Safila - Gift Received

[Kirauni]

I'm in! :D

Thanks for starting this again, Sharifu!

[Leorgathar]

Alright! I'm in as well :D

[King Simba]

I thought it'd be rude not to take part as I do every year, sooo... count me in. :D

[Utora]

I will be doing this, this year. Can't wait to get started! :cheese:


...& to think we are already near September, where did 2015 go!?!?

[Sharifu]

We are getting close to the dead line to join. Less then a week left! Anyone else want to join? Azerane? Safila? Simbaspirit? (I just mentioned the three of you because you join almost every year)

[Azerane]

Why the heck not, count me in.

[Safila]

ok..yes :)

[Sharifu]

Hey guys, I am going to the Oregon coast today with my mom, nephew and our dog, and we'll be spending the night there. I hope you don't mind if I get Secret Santa started tomorrow or the day after that, instead of today. But hey, it gives people more time to decide if they want to join. :p

[Leorgathar]

I'm ok with that :) have a nice time there!

[Sharifu]

Safila, you didn't send me a PM with your email address. But I noticed I still have the PMs from Secret Santa from last year. Should I use that same email address you used last year?

[Safila]

sorry..yes same email :)

[Sharifu]

Ok, I went ahead and sent out the invitations. You should be getting an email with a link to click (a button that says "Visit Group Page"), and when that opens up, click on "My Wish List" and go ahead and enter your address and your wish list to join the group. But I thought I should mention that you can still join the group without adding your wish list right now if you want to add your wish list later. In fact I joined the group but didn't add my wish list yet, I will add that later. I just wanted to go ahead and get this started. :)

[Azerane]

:D Names are drawn, very exciting :cheese:

[nathalie]

Just bumping this as a reminder, since no has posted in it for a month now.

Are y'all happy shopping ?? :D

[Kirauni]

Haha, yes. The problem is, I got all my gifts ready. But I wanted to send a typical German "Nikolaus" (Santa Clause) with my gift. But right now they aren't for sale yet... :(

[nathalie]

Saint Nicolas chocolates have just been stocked in grocery stores over here.
Way too early again if you ask me, but who am I? lol

Are the chocolate letters a thing in Germany? Not really over here anymore as much as in Holland.

[HasiraKali]

I actually received my gift last weekend. I had to open it unfortunately because the mail system wasn't very nice to the package itself. :/

[Sharifu]

Wow you got your gift this early? The gift itself was not damaged though right?

[HasiraKali]

The gift itself was fine. There were some edibles that didn't make it in the best condition. I popped them in the fridge, and they're just freeform now :lol:

[Utora]

I received mine a week or so ago and tucked it away for the big day! :cheese:

[King Simba]

I just received mine. :) Again, I couldn't resist looking at the customs label so I have an idea what it is. Argh! :lol:

[Azerane]

Can't believe how close it's getting to Christmas! Very excited for this :D

[Safila]

I have received mine :)

[Sadiki]

Just dropping in to let you know I got mine! :cheese:

[Azerane]

I got mine this morning! :D It was very lucky that I got out of bed and went to open the blinds when I did because I saw the delivery guy walking down the driveway and he didn't knock, just left it by the door.

I also managed to not look at the contents on the box, for probably the first time, haha.

[Azerane]

Well, it's Christmas Eve and I just opened my gift from my SS! :D I won't say who it was from in case it spoils the surprise for other people, but I will show photos of the gifts, which I absolutely love! Thank you SS!

Beautiful wrapping, that bow was amazing! Cute kitten wrapping paper too :cheese:
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I love the mug, and I remember posting either in a thread here or on Facebook about how I loved it. So great choice SS. :wicked: There's also some chocolates and a hot cocoa mix to use in the mug!
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[Kirauni]

Haha and I just got mine. That's awsome!
I'll write later what was inside. For now, thank you very much, Secret Santa! :D

[Leorgathar]

Mine hasn't got here yet :( but come on guys, I want to see your pressies :cs_surprise_2:

[Sharifu]

I haven't received my gift yet either, but hopefully it will arrive soon. I want to see everyone's gifts too! I really don't mind if people say who their gift was from even though I haven't received my gift yet. I bet Leor doesn't mind yet either. (Leor and I are the only ones who hasn't received their gifts yet) Well, I guess he'll let us know if he's ok with that or not. :p

[Leorgathar]

I'm ok with that, sure :) I don't mind.
Come on, show them off! :cheese:

[Kirauni]

Finally, I'm able to post some of my pictures.

This is how my present looked like before my little daughter wanted to help me unwrap it. ;)

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And this was inside:

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I love sweets (especially chocolate)! I got chocolate from Finland and the United States to taste now and a beautiful greeting card!
Unfortunately, the Lion Guard Soundtrack hasn't been relesed yet so I have to wait a little bit for that part of the present, but that's fine with me. I started to wonder how I could get the soundtrack, but as it seems I don't have to worry anymore :D

Thank you very much for that nice gift, @Sadiki! It's really awesome ^^


Edit: And here is a picture of the drawing:
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Thanks so much, Sharifu! That's so cute :)

[Sharifu]

I got chocolate from Finland and the United States to taste now and a beautiful greeting card!

Aww, you aren't going to show the drawing inside the greeting card? :p Haha, that's ok. Petteri was having trouble deciding what to get for you. It's too bad The Lion Guard soundtrack didn't get released before Christmas, but he thought that would be a good gift for you. It should be arriving at our address this Friday, I'll get it shipped out to you that day if it does arrive that day. I bought a copy of the CD for myself too. :D

Isn't anyone else going to show their Secret Santa gift? It seems kind of unusual that no one else has posted what their gift was and it's January 6th already. I still haven't received my gift. I hope it didn't get lost in the mail.

[nathalie]

That chocolate is TO DIE FOR !!!!! And I know, lol, so jealous!

[Kirauni]

I'll post a picture of the drawing soon, I'm sorry I forgot to mention it. For now, I just took photos with my mobile phone and the drawing didn't turn out that good on the picture, so I decided to leave that one out. But you're right, it's also part of the gift and thank you very much for it :)
As for the chocolate, I haven't tried it yet. The last weeks were awfully busy and I decided to save it for a time when I can really enjoy it. But I'm sure it'll be great ^^

[HasiraKali]

Sorry!

My person sent me a bunch of chocolates. Sadly, they didn't make it in the best shape. But that's ok. My dad helped me salvage what I could and we put them in the fridge. They're gone now, but they were yummy. ;)

I also received a really cool TARDIS necklace. :)

[Sharifu]

So, I haven't received my gift yet, or heard from my Secret Santa. I tried to contact that person through the Secret Santa website we have been using, but then I realized the only way I could do that is by updating my wish list, which I did a few days ago, but I don't know if my Secret Santa realized that I added a note to my wish list. I was just wondering if my gift was sent late, or maybe got sent back or something. Just for a heads up so I know what happened.

Is anyone else going to show what gifts they received? :D I'm surprised only three people has mentioned so far what they got.

[Azerane]

I love the mug, and I remember posting either in a thread here or on Facebook about how I loved it. So great choice SS. :wicked: There's also some chocolates and a hot cocoa mix to use in the mug!
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Yesterday I finally used the mug and drank the hot cocoa mix! :D It's been so warm here that I haven't been having hot drinks at all, yesterday was finally cool enough to have it. I must say the hot chocolate mix was amazing. I ate the chocolates some time ago, they were also delicious :)

[Sharifu]

Yesterday I finally used the mug and drank the hot cocoa mix! :D It's been so warm here that I haven't been having hot drinks at all, yesterday was finally cool enough to have it. I must say the hot chocolate mix was amazing. I ate the chocolates some time ago, they were also delicious :)

So glad you liked them. :) I wanted to get you something that kind of represented San Francisco, so I thought Ghirardelli Chocolate would be a good idea. Although you might of had them before, they are sold in stores in other states too. But there is Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. :p

I haven't heard from my Secret Santa... I figured out who it was by asking everyone else who they drew, and I also emailed the Draw Names website and they told me who drew me. It was Utora. She hasn't been active on Lea since Christmas Eve. I tried emailing her, and messaging her on Facebook over a week ago. I still haven't heard anything. So I assume I am probably not going to be getting a gift for Secret Santa. :( If she did send something and it got lost in the mail, I feel bad saying this. But, I feel people need to follow up on Secret Santa and see if the person they drew received their gift. I'm not sure how to handle this situation. If someone sent a gift, and it did get lost in the mail, I don't necessarily expect them to resend a second gift, as that can be expensive. But I would feel guilty not making up for it some how if that happened for something I sent. Maybe we could make up for it with something small, maybe a drawing and/or a card, or a small candy. (Although I know not everyone who joins Secret Santa is an artist, but I guess I am trying to think of some ideas) Hopefully nothing really bad has happened to her, and that is why she seemed to have disappeared.

Leor hasn't received his gift yet either as far as I know, but I do know his Secret Santa has been contacting him after Christmas and even sent a replacement gift. But I'm not really so surprised as this seems to be the case for mail that gets shipped to Mexico from outside countries, that the mail can be arrive pretty late. But Utora lives in the same country I do, the U.S., so I would be kind of surprised if the package got lost in the mail. But it is possible.

Utora, if you read this, just let me know what happened. Was my gift sent late, after Christmas? I don't know how else to get a hold of you then the ways I've already tried.

[nathalie]

Have you tried the Utora; thing on the forum? Should send an e-mail to her.

Edit: well, just did it now, hopefully she looks at her mails.

[Sharifu]

Well it would email her to the same email address I tried contacting at her already. (I emailed her through Lea as I don't know what her email address is) I deleted those PMs with the email address people gave me for Secret Santa.

[Utora]

So glad you liked them. :) I wanted to get you something that kind of represented San Francisco, so I thought Ghirardelli Chocolate would be a good idea. Although you might of had them before, they are sold in stores in other states too. But there is Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. :p

I haven't heard from my Secret Santa... I figured out who it was by asking everyone else who they drew, and I also emailed the Draw Names website and they told me who drew me. It was Utora. She hasn't been active on Lea since Christmas Eve. I tried emailing her, and messaging her on Facebook over a week ago. I still haven't heard anything. So I assume I am probably not going to be getting a gift for Secret Santa. :( If she did send something and it got lost in the mail, I feel bad saying this. But, I feel people need to follow up on Secret Santa and see if the person they drew received their gift. I'm not sure how to handle this situation. If someone sent a gift, and it did get lost in the mail, I don't necessarily expect them to resend a second gift, as that can be expensive. But I would feel guilty not making up for it some how if that happened for something I sent. Maybe we could make up for it with something small, maybe a drawing and/or a card, or a small candy. (Although I know not everyone who joins Secret Santa is an artist, but I guess I am trying to think of some ideas) Hopefully nothing really bad has happened to her, and that is why she seemed to have disappeared.

Leor hasn't received his gift yet either as far as I know, but I do know his Secret Santa has been contacting him after Christmas and even sent a replacement gift. But I'm not really so surprised as this seems to be the case for mail that gets shipped to Mexico from outside countries, that the mail can be arrive pretty late. But Utora lives in the same country I do, the U.S., so I would be kind of surprised if the package got lost in the mail. But it is possible.

Utora, if you read this, just let me know what happened. Was my gift sent late, after Christmas? I don't know how else to get a hold of you then the ways I've already tried.

Hey Sharifu, I just saw this and my emails too. I had your gift shipped out in November, it was taken to the local post office by my parents while I was out of town, along with a bunch of other gifts to be distributed. They do their family shipments around that time and included my gift to you. I have asked them for the tracking number and am waiting their response.

I'm going to assume it's lost until I can confirm otherwise, and am sending the replacement gift now. I do apologize for the delay in response..I have been dead to the world since school kicked off. I think from now on I'll get a hold of tracking up until Christmas Day, and if it's not arrived by that point I'll message my person with the tracking #. I doubt this would happen again...but still, like you said, this is frustrating.

I should have yours out this week, and will PM you the tracking #. :)

[Sharifu]

Thanks so much for replying Utora. Hopefully your parents can get a tracking number for you, at least maybe you can get an idea what happened.

[Leorgathar]

I finally got my Secret Santa gift! :cs_rockon_3: It beats me why it took this long, but I'm happy it finally got here.

My SS was HasiraKali (I suspected it was you, HK, but I wasn't entirely sure xD). I got this limited edition pair of pins from Animal Kingdom from her, they were inside this cute penguin case.
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Thank you so much, HK, it's really adorable! :cs_grin:
I hope yours arrive soon too, Audra :)

[HasiraKali]

Finally. :lol: I'm glad you like it. :) Still not sure what happened to the original gift. They wouldn't do tracking for me for some stupid reason. I really hate our post branch. :hmm:

[Safila]

Sorry.. got a really cute pair of earrings from Azzy.. :hugs:

[Sharifu]

I should have yours out this week, and will PM you the tracking #. :)

Utora it's been over two weeks and I haven't heard from you with a tracking number. Did you send out the package?

[Utora]

@Utora (http://www.leahalalela.net/member.php?u=29) it's been over two weeks and I haven't heard from you with a tracking number. Did you send out the package?


Says it should arrive around 2100 your time, today. Still says it doesn't have a tracking number though, down at the bottom.

[Sharifu]

I did get the package today, thank you!

Utora got me a Kion Plush (the one that is sold at the Disney Store) and a TLK mug. I'll post a photo later. :)

[Utora]

Again sorry for the delay. I will post what I received also when I make it home again. :)