new york birthday

It's naughty when people open their packages before their birthday...but it does mean that I can post photos sooner than expected.

I sent off a box earlier this week to my friends in New York, a couple of gentlemen who somehow share the exact same birthday--down to the same month, day, and year.

When they first got together, I suggested that it might be wise to make sure there wasn't a Parent Trap-type situation going on, and they assure me there isn't...but if two people were ever made for each other and came together by some mystical design of the universe, these two are it! They read, they cook, they watch films, they are wickedly funny, and most of all, they are incredibly sweet. Witness the many presents they've sent me here here here and here! They're just the loveliest friends from afar.

So....it's always with great pleasure that I put together a package for them. This time I sent:

*a secondhand copy of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, a book I love--aside from the beauty of its language and imagery, the polar bear battle is incredibly thrilling and epic. One of the gents works in publishing and is editing a collection of YA stories, too, so I thought the book was particularly appropriate.

*a cheerful set of #2 wooden Chef's Pencils, which I got from Paper Pastries at Renegade. So fun! They're both amazing cooks, and I know that at this very moment they are whipping up a feast for their celebration. I heard rumblings about beet walnut puree on olive oil crackers...

*a CD put together with selections from Flight of the Conchords, whom they've somehow never managed to see/listen to. Giddy, clever, and hilarious, just like the two boys the CD was sent to.

*a pair of vintage mother-of-pearl opera glasses I found on eBay, complete with a worn leather case lined in blue velveteen--clearly a set that was well used and loved. They both love going to the opera, and on my last visit, we saw The Marriage of Figaro at Lincoln Center--an amazing, unforgettable experience. If I lived in New York, I would be there all the time.

I wrapped everything up in charming paper printed out from Reprodepot's Pattern Book: Folk, bound together with an olive green ribbon and a tissue paper flower I made. (As you might expect, the images included in this book are great...I'll have a fuller review posted soon.) My friends called to tell me it was so pretty, they hated to tear open the package! But tear it they did, and hopefully they'll enjoy the contents as much as I enjoyed putting them together.