I only discovered BPAL about six months ago when I saw an advertisement for the Neil Gaiman collection on the back of my copy of Bitch magazine. I had just confessed to a good friend of mine that I was madly in 'like' with him, and discovered (to my surprise!) that he was in 'like' with me and had been for a good long while. I wanted to get him a present, and since the very first thing we ever did together as friends was go see Neil Gaiman read and, since he had also loaned me Stardust, and Good Omens, and American Gods and Sandman and we'd bonded over each of those, I ended up ordering him a bottle of "Tristan".

When I next saw him I told him that I'd gotten him a present, and he said that he had ordered a present for me too! We decided to trade clues...I told him that what I had bought for him was connected to Neil Gaiman, and not a book. He told me that he had got me something connected to Shakespeare that was not a book. I told him that his present was something that could be worn, he said that mine was too. And then, looking at me, he asked if the site that I had ordered his present from, also sold things with a Shakespearean theme. I said yes, and asked him if the site he had ordered from carried Gaiman themed products. He said yes. I asked him if the first initial of the place he had bought my present was 'B'...yep, and the second turned out to be 'P'.

Neither of us had heard of BPAL before, but seperately, and simultaneously, we'd both gotten an impulse to give the other something, we'd both discovered the site and ordered bought each other our first BPALs. A few weeks later I gave him a bottle of Tristan, and he gave me Katharina (with a note saying 'because you are strong') and Juliet (with a note saying 'because you are beautiful').

It could be an entirely coincidental event, but we'd both like to think that it is evidence that we are perfect for eachother.

Since then there have been about nine orders between us, me and my man are blissy, in love, and probably the best smelling couple in a 20 mile radius.

Thank you BPAL!