One Kitchen, Many Hearts - Spring Fever

Ahhhh.... spring.  When the flowers are in bloom, the birds are constantly chirping, and it's already 95 degrees in Phoenix.
Thank goodness for air conditioning and great friends.

This month's OKMH box came, like all the others seem to, at the perfect time.  Last week was rough for the country, and as the end of the semester picks up, things have gotten even crazier round these parts.  Kirsten's completely overstuffed USPS boxes (two of them!) were the perfect pick-me-up for both HRH and me.

Behold, The Goods.

Do you see all of those gorgeous hand-written labels on those jars?  The threats of horrible repercussions should The Husband even think about looking at them were being composed the second I unearthed the first beautiful bit of homemade deliciousness.

Not only did Kirsten send me a jar of Wickles "Wannabes" (I've never had the real thing), strawberry jam made from strawberries picked by The Sons, a barbecue glaze that I MIGHT let The Husband use, should he fancy grilling, and some sweet and spicy zucchini pickles that I know I'm either going to have to eat all in one sitting or hoard after labeling it "My Precious," Kirsten also sent a jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam from her friends at Friske's Farm Market.  I can hardly stand it - I love love love rhubarb.  We had a big plant when I was growing up, and summer wasn't summer without rhubarb pies and rhubarb sauce (delicious over vanilla ice cream) and other rhubarb stuff.  The Husband also adores it, so this one is going to get its own safe.

I would have been happy to surround myself with these five new friends, but she had to go further and send me some gorgeous colors - blue and yellow, my two absolute favorites - to action on the mitts and paws ASAP, a so soft (like "it's so fluffy I could die" soft) scarf, also in blue, an "adult juice box" (AKA margarita in a squeeze bottle), and some Max-Freeze for those days when I feel my age after a morning run (we call those days "weekdays).

All of this in one cardboard box, friends.

But apparently, even this wasn't enough.  I think that now we have spent over a year getting to know one another, we've come to think of one another's families as our own.  Kirsten and HRH had an instant bond when we met up in Michigan last November; Kirsten got to spend some time with a pink-loving girl, and HRH got to get her favorite thing ever: attention.  It was a relationship made in heaven. Since then, we've been in discussions for an OKMH betrothal between HRH and one of The Sons.  

To sweeten the deal, HRH received her own OKMH-in-training package, containing a bazillion sheets of construction paper (we got through a lot of construction paper in this house), nearly the same number of sparkly Disney princess stickers, a few princess-themed markers, and some sparkly pink nail polish for her own mitts/paws situation.

HRH lost no time Stickering All the Things.

I call this one "More is More is More."

When I say everything got stickered, I mean everything.

The most wonderful aspect of receiving this package every other month isn't the contents thereof; it's the friendship that has evolved and flourished in these last 18 months among the seven of us.  We are all so very different people, but we have become close in spite of - or perhaps because of - these differences.  We complement - and often compliment - each other well.  And there's not a USPS shipping container big enough to hold the joy I have found in making these friends.  Thank you, Kirsten, for the lovely gifts and the even lovelier thoughts behind each one of them.

Now, I'm especially excited for you to see what I sent to Beka (Kvetchin' Kitchen) this month.  It was my first box of mostly homemade stuff, and I may have had more fun making them than she did unpacking them.  Although from the video that Megan sent me, she pretty much lost her (expletive deleted).

But also check out what Beka sent to Megan (Wanna Be a Country Cleaver), although since they live so close to each other, I'm not sure actual shipping was involved.

And you need to see what Megan sent to Mads (La Petite Pancake).

And also what Mads sent to Jeanne (Inside NanaBread's Head).

And don't forget to see what Jeanne sent to Kat (Tenaciously Yours,).

Or what Kat sent to Kirsten (Comfortably Domestic).

What's been in your mail lately?