Monday, December 28, 2020: Holiday Gift Exchange

Tonight, I did a virtual gift exchange with my friends! I got a letter I saved for when they arrived.

I bought even more wrapping paper tonight, too, for my pile of presents I wanted to make on Christmas Eve! I might set out some of these holiday decorations for New Years Eve. I'm planning on livestreaming the event as well, which I am excited to experience with my friends! We did the gift exchange in my yard. Marissa got me a thumb piano!

Here's a look at my new thumb piano. I never even knew it was in the game until she was telling me about the recipe she got the other day.

While they were doing the maze in my house or waiting for them to be ready, I happened to look at the seasonal items and saw all these New Years items! It's great the different cultural things return just like in New Leaf! (I recall an interview with the devs about how they flew to different cultures to learn about how they celebrated different holidays, and tried to include some items for several different countries.)

When they finished the maze, I cleared up and put a chair down for musical chairs. (Inspired by the jukebox I had put in for the maze but never used for my video I did.)

We entertained ourselves for quite a while. Kaitlyn and I were blocking Marissa from entering my yard, so we pretended to be Pokémon trainers standing in the way of the gym. Later on, Kaitlyn trapped us both on the bed, and we couldn't get out! Somehow, we could use our NookPhones but not the chat window - what the heck, Nintendo?! I gave Kaitlyn that winter hat, too! :P

Sherb told me he wanted to make ice cream as well when I spoke with him briefly.

I later headed over to Cocoa Land to see Marissa's progress on the tutorial - I think she will have Resident Services tomorrow! It's been cool to pop over and see her updates. For example, she has Clay on her island - and hey, I do too! This Clay didn't know who I was, however. It was interesting to see him with a house that looked like Sherb's on my island!

We explored the upper parts of her island, as she now has a bridge and a ladder. I also met up with Apple, who I know well from JVGS Jeff's videos!

Oh! I completely forgot to mention one thing: when I played last night, as I learned about from Jeff, I pressed A on my stocking and found Jingle's photo inside! I guess this was the same reward as in New Leaf, though I don't remember earning it in that game. I guess I was able to do this on Christmas Day, but didn't realize it at the time. It sort of brings back the idea of in the GameCube game, how he would send you an NES game on Christmas morning.

All that's left now is to put up some decorations for New Years Eve! I'm super hyped for this event, especially since it seems much more of a social event. Toy Day was definitely more of a solo thing, like it was in New Leaf; for Halloween and the Harvest Festival, I could see players trading ingredients and lollipops and things around to get all of the items they wanted, even just to sell them. See you then, and don't forget to never stop Crossing!