Here's a quick run-down of the program (from Lindsay):
-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions. -You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
-Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa.
So, my first foodie penpal was blog reader Brenda from California. I promptly received my package around the 15th. I really hit the jackpot with Brenda! She put so much thought into the package which contained some local and homemade goodies and even a book!
Inside was coffee (I love Peets!), mixed nuts, California raisins, teas, chocolate covered almonds, a chocolate espresso bar (divine!), some fruit leathers, a book on dessert (can never have too many) and some healthy homemade cookies. My favorite part of the box was that Brenda put little notes on each item explaining why she chose it. She also explained some of the health benefits of the teas and I've been making a conscience effort to drink them more often. And her box couldn't have come at a better time. I was leaving for a business trip and took a lot of the goodies with me for healthier snacks while traveling. Everything was delicious, but if I had to chose, I'd say the chocolate almonds were my favorite. Thank you, Brenda!!
Now the person you receive from is not the same person you send to. Head on over to 111 Pounds blog to see what I sent to Leslie.
How fun this was! I've already signed up for next month. Wanna join? Click here!
