Holidays and special occasions are best and most ideally spent together with the people we love, family and friends alike.  Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible.  Some need to work during the holidays. Some family members are living in another country and can’t always make it to family reunions.  And there are some, like members of the US military, are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, there are ways for us to spread the love during holidays and special occasions, distance notwithstanding. While e-cards may be the fastest way to send and spread love, I personally prefer doing it the old-fashioned way, via snail mail. Shopping for the perfect greeting/holiday cards is actually a lot of fun!

The Gallery Collection has a fine collection of birthday cards, Business Christmas cards, all occasion cards and assortment boxes. If you’re not such a fan of photo cards as I am, then the traditional greeting cards is always a good option.

GalleryCollection.com will donate 180,000 personalized Holiday cards to Soldiers’ Angels for use in Holiday care packages to deployed troops.  All 180,000 of the troops stationed overseas will be receiving an imprinted holiday card thanking them for their services and wishing them a happy Holiday Season and New Year.  “May no soldier go unloved,” that’s the Soldiers’ Angels credo.  And with this kind gesture of GalleryCollection.com, the soldiers will surely and most definitely feel loved.

Those are the exact words on the box of treats we got straight from Japan.  I always get excited whenever we get goodies, and I mean food goodies, from the Land of the Rising Sun.  For one, they are packaged ever so nicely.  Second and most importantly, they taste really good.  My last entry about Japanese treat was Japanese Nut Squares.  Boy were those not squares soooo good.

Anyway, back to the Premium Excellent Chocolat.  Here’s the box…

Here are the silver treasures that lay so neatly inside.

These words printed on the silver foil got me excited and raised my expectations to Everest proportions: “special chocolate with noble sweetness”.  I tried to keep my heart from beating too fast and lifted one silver package and opened it.

So I took the treat out of the foil.  I was surprised to find a cookie!  But…but…the box said “Premium Excellent Chocolat”!  Where’s the chocolat?!!!!

This has got to be a joke, I thought to myself.  That very thin line of brown was all the chocolate there was.

I took a bite.  Naturally, I could barely taste the chocolate.  What a let down!  The cookie turned crumbly and powdery in my mouth after I took a bite.  So not what I expected.  My Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies are way more excellently premium than these!  Or are my tastebuds just too used to sweetness of diabetic proportions?  I say no.  Hubby and I felt we were tricked.  Oh well.  Let me just bury my sorrows in a jar of Nutella.  Kidding.  If it’s any consolation, the cookie grows on you.  Hee hee.