I got a surprise present in the mail today. I certainly wasn't expecting anything. There was a little purple plastic envelope in the mailbox, containing a set of vinyl nail wraps in gold with little CU Buffaloes logos on them. They're adorable, and I actually have a full set of healthy natural nails right now, and can use them as soon as I'm ready to let go of my lavender half-mourning color that I applied on Friday. There's only one problem. Nowhere on the packaging or shipping label does it say who sent them. Not only did I get an incredibly sweet surprise gift, I also got a mystery to solve. Two gifts in one! Whoever my secret admirer is, they are very generous, and they know me well. Come to think of it, they also gave me a topic for tonight, so that's really three presents, isn't it? I'm liking this more and more the longer I think about it.
Now I need to go through likely suspects. My mother has been known to send me presents out of the blue because, well, because she's my mom. She's nice like that. And we recently had a mani-pedi bonding moment, when last I was at her house over the summer. We bought a massive amount of tools and solutions and polishes, and did our nails up fancy before we went to see Eddie Izzard in concert. (You can't go see an executive transvestite perform and not tart it up a bit.) Plus, ever since I went to university, she has also been a Colorado fan. She doesn't have the same tolerance for sports that I do, but she does tune into the games once in a while, and she happily wears a bit of the black and gold. However, she and I have never discussed vinyl nail wraps, so I don't know that she is even familiar with them at all.
Last Christmas, my BFF back in the greater Denver metro area gave me my first scented wax warmer, thus getting me hooked on that whole line of products. She selected a CU themed warmer, and of course I loved it and started using it immediately. She has gone to a football game or two with me, along with her adorable children, and is likely to go with me again. And she introduced me to my favorite nail salon, making a girls day out for pedicures now a requirement of every trip out west. It was her idea that if we ever opened a rug shop together, we would have to be closed one day a week for pedicures, which would be a business expense, because we couldn't possibly walk on the rugs with shoes on, and our feet would have to look good for sales. So she is a possible source for the gift.
Another direction for me to look is up to the northeast. One of my dear friends who used to live down here moved up there, but she still keeps in touch nearly every day, thanks to the wonder of Facebook. She really has no connection to CU, although I'm fairly certain she's aware of my obsession with my alma mater. What makes her a suspicious character in this little mystery is that I know she just had a Jamberry nail wrap party, even though I was a bad friend and didn't shop in it at all. It's possible she is using the "first vial of crack is free" strategy to get me into these, the same as my Denver-area friend got me hooked on Scentsy.
Finally, there's my older daughter, who graduated from CU like I did. She and I are hoping the stars align, and we can both be back for the homecoming game, so we can both play in the alumni band, which would be the first time I've done that in a quarter of a century. I have to find a place to rent a piccolo and re-learn all the fight songs, while she has to find the money to fly or drive out, having just moved away, and not having started her new job yet. She and I have never discussed nail wraps either, but she did tell me a couple months ago that she found something that she wanted to send me as a gift, and she wouldn't tell me what it was, but that it would be a total surprise, out of the blue. She sent me the CU infinity scarf that I wore during the disastrous season opener, but forgot to wear this last Saturday, when in the seventh quarter of play this season, our Buffs finally remembered how to football. She has been getting very creative with her nails in the last few years, studying unique treatments from YouTube tutorials. All things considered, I think I'm going to make my guess that she is the most likely source.
Do you know, knowing that there are at least four possible women who would have done this for me, and several more I have not yet evaluated as suspects, is yet another gift to me. I have some seriously wonderful friends and family. That's four gifts in one! Whoever wanted to cheer me up, mission accomplished! Thank you, to both the secret admirer, AND to all the other women who are so dear to me that they could have been the one!
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