Astro Girl Gets Even...star :)

Astro Girl was probably not expecting a surprise when she popped over to Eric Banana's house this morning... which was a good thing from the latter's perspective, since he hardly plans surprises :P *At the mention of the word "surprises", Astro Girl starts to lament the death of romance from a distance*

The said surprise came in a red box with a silver ribbon that was horribly tied by Eric Banana. Apparently, tying ribbons is not listed as one of his core competencies. He has so much to learn in this area from the professionals at Tiffany & Co., which would necessitate a need to visit the store and probably make a purchase in order to witness the ribbon-tying process first-hand.

After opening the box, Astro Girl found a small metal case inside it:

Within the metal case lies Astro Girl's surprise... an Arwen Evenstar pendant:

   

This version of the Arwen Evenstar pendant is a faithful reproduction of the original one featured in the Lord of the Rings movie. It is crafted in sterling silver and has a curving leaf pattern that encloses six cubic zirconia gemstones. 

Actually, Eric Banana has intended to get the official licensed version but it comes with Swarovski crystals that are glued onto it. Some reviews reported that the crystals tend to fall off easily. Eric Banana decided not to take the risk since he wants the pendant to be *erm* a pendant, not an ornament. There is another licensed version that uses CZ but the shape of the pendant is somehow disproportionate.

The globetrotting pendant arrived about three weeks ago. Eric Banana contemplated giving it to Astro Girl there and then but managed to resist the temptation. Besides, he needed to find a nice box to present the pendant to Astro Girl. After much struggle, he eventually found a suitable metal case online (not the same source as the pendant) and placed an order. It arrived via registered mail yesterday but nobody was at home which meant that Eric Banana had to collect it from the post office this morning.

What was originally a leisure walk to the post office became a mad rush against time when Eric Banana found out that Astro Girl was already on the way to his house (Note: She is usually not that early). To keep the surprise intact, Eric Banana would have to collect the metal case, do a quick march home and wrap the items before Astro Girl got to his house... and yes, he managed to achieve the feat. In fact, he even managed to take a picture of the metal case before it went into the box :P

And that is the story of Astro Girl's surprise... simple it might be, it took a lot more effort than it seemed.