I Surprised a Subscriber with a Huge Stationery Collection!
- The laptop? Oh my gosh! - Hello lil doodles, it's Amanda. Welcome back to my channel. Today's video has been a long time coming. I think it's been in the works for almost two years even. I'm so excited.
As you guys can see from the title of this video, I am going to be surprising a subscriber with a huge stationery collection. However, this is not just any subscriber, it is a very special subscriber. And this is also not just any stationery collection.
It's a very special stationery collection. There's so much that I need to get into. But maybe I'm going to start off with a backstory. I know you guys probably want to see the actual surprise and everything. But if you listen to the story, you'll understand why we're doing this today and why this person is very, very special. So let's take it back to maybe four or five years ago on my channel.
For those of you who don't know, I've been doing YouTube for eight years. At that time, you guys, my lovely little doodles were not called the lil doodles yet. And I remember jokingly tweeting out asking what I should call my viewers, my community, my audience at the time.
And there was this one subscriber who replied back and she said we should be called your doodles because at the end of my videos, I always said keep doodling or I always mentioned that, and I thought that was so cute. Of course I added the little in front of it because you guys are like my little doodles, my little children, my little family. At the time, I didn't really think anything too much of it.
I was just like, oh, that's a really cute name, let's go with it. You guys are my lil doodles. And of course, since my channel was a lot smaller, there was fewer people interacting. So I remembered that username, the person who suggested it. I remember her name.
Her name was Valarie. Fast forward, a few years later, I am in New York City for the BTS Concert. It was at MetLife Stadium. I ran into a lot of subscribers on that day. It was so much fun.
I didn't really expect to meet that many subscribers. As fate, luck, destiny would have it, at the end of the concert, the very end of the concert, it was the time when everyone's going home, I hear my name, and then up comes running this girl. She's so excited, so happy. Told me she watches my videos, ask for pictures and all of that.
And we were excitedly talking about the concert. And then she's like, I'm Valarie. I'm the one who gave the name lil doodles. - Hi.
- This is Valarie, she's the one who created the name, lil doodles. So everything. Oh, nice setting. But everything is thanks to her, guys.
- Oh my gosh! - [Ghostly Voice] We love you Val. - I love you so much. - Oh my god, that is so crazy. It was just such a crazy surreal moment that we met amongst these 10s of 1000s of people who happened to all be like swarming around and in that exact place and time. Like I don't even live in New York.
I just went for the concert. So like, a lot of things had to line up for me and Valarie to meet on that night at that time. We both started tearing up a little bit.
I remember that like happy tears. To this day, whenever people ask me like what's the most memorable subscriber encounter you've ever had, that one takes the cake because she was just so sweet. She's been such a longtime viewer and you know when you can tell when someone is just a genuine supporter of you. So that concert when I had met Valarie it was exactly two years ago. It was May 2019.
However, funnily enough, that was not the end of the story. I told you guys this video has been almost two years in the making. Valarie's mom had reached out to my team via email asking whether I would be able to send a video message to Valarie for Christmas present.
And so I was like, you know what, I will do you one better. Her mom had told us that her birthday was in May. So since I had missed the 2019 Christmas, I was like what if I fly down for her birthday in May 2020, the upcoming spring and surprise her in person.
We had planned everything. I had even got plane tickets, Airbnb. And funnily enough, the BTS concert tour was actually supposed to happen again on that same weekend that we were going to do it. So it would have just been like a funny, full circle moment a year later me surprising her down there.
But then, as we all know, 2020 said, no, that's not happening. You're not doing anything. So unfortunately, because of COVID, we had to cancel the surprise. We had hoped it was just going to be a postpone and like maybe I could come down later in the summer. We all know how 2020 turned out.
It got pushed off even more so I just wasn't able to travel down and surprise her in person. And it just kind of got pushed off again for yet another year. So that brings us to this year 2021.
A few months ago, I had remembered that Valarie's birthday was coming up in May. So I was like you know what, enough is enough. I'm not going to push off this surprise any longer. Who knows when I'll be able to fly down anyways, with all of this going on. We're gonna make this happen.
2021 is the year we're doing this. I sat down and gathered all my brainpower and devised a plan to surprise her virtually. I think I came up with a pretty good plan and the execution of the said plan begins now.
So here's the plan. Now that you guys know the backstory for operation surprise Valarie on her birthday, here is how it's going to go. When I was thinking of what surprises I could do for Valarie, I really wanted to surprise her with something special that would make up for me not being there in person and also something that she would never expect. It'd be kind of boring if I just gifted her stationery that she could find herself at any office supply store or any craft store, right? We have to give this very special lil doodle something very special. So that is why Valarie will be the first person in the entire world, on this planet to own the brand new colors of the Shop AmandaRachLee dotted notebooks and undated planners. We are releasing new colors of the dotted notebooks in the colors that you guys liked.
The lilac, the sky blue, the charcoal, tope and blush pink. I'm not going to talk too much about these notebooks because that's not what this video is about. And also, by the time this video is out, I'm not sure exactly when we're going to be launching them. I will put the date on the screen, though, for when they will be available to the public. But as you can see, the pages, the edge of the pages, matches the color of the notebook from all angles, the side.
So all of the notebooks have this matching edge printing. And we also have the little charm here. And then also we have the undated version of the doodle planner. So this just comes with empty months, so that you can start whenever if you want to skip months. But it has all the same themes as the regular doodle planner that you can fill in. And something that I've been working on for these undated planners, is that they will all include these monthly stickers so that you can stick them on to the cover page, whichever cover page you decide to put it on.
As I mentioned, since it's undated, you can skip around or start in the middle of the year. And just use the stickers on the calendar page and the cover page. So here as you can see, I put the January sticker on this month.
But that is a sticker. That's not actually printed. And then if you go to the next month, it's completely empty here.
So if I skipped February, and I wanted to skip ahead to March, I'd just use the monthly stickers. At the time that I'm filming this right now, it's the beginning of May. So nobody in the world knows. So Valarie will definitely not see this coming because she doesn't even know exists. I'll also of course be giving her a ton of other stationery, not just my products.
You might be asking Amanda, how are you planning on pulling off the surprise? That is what we're doing today. I'm going to be packing up the box today, sending it off to her mother, obviously putting her mom's name on it so that Valarie doesn't go sneaking around, figuring out who it is. And then on the day of the surprise, Valarie's mom is going to give Valarie this large box, this large gift, without telling her her who it's from.
It's going to be a lot of stationery. She's going to open it up, see all the pens and markers. And then the final thing she'll open is the notebooks. Obviously, she'll be very confused, because she'll be like, what are these notebooks? These don't exist.
That's when she opens up a card from yours truly. It says, "Happy Birthday greeting from Amanda." And it also says, "to go to your laptop/computer."
And I will be happily waiting there on Zoom call to give her a virtual digital birthday greeting and we can chat on Zoom and everything and I'll be able to see her reaction and it's gonna be so great. Hopefully this goes well. That's how I'm imagining the surprise to go. But obviously there's a lot of variables that comes into play with surprises.
But today I'm packing up the box and sending it out to Valarie's mom. So let's go Okay, so today I'm packing up the box that I'm going to be sending out to Valarie's mom. Just so you guys can have a better idea of what kind of person Valarie is and how amazing she is, I'm going to read out some of the things that her mom told me. She's turning 18 this may. She's going to be graduating high school, which is crazy because when I met her she was still a sophomore, I guess in high school, and she will be attending university in the fall. She's been a little bit worried about the transition.
She also mentioned that Valarie has her own bullet journal account and posts on Instagram her bullet journal spreads and her calligraphy. Her relatives have even asked her to create calligraphy and signs and invitations for their wedding. She has so many hobbies. She plays violin, piano, loves music. I can already tell that her and her mom have such an amazing relationship. So that was just really beautiful to see and I'm just so glad that we can do the surprise for her.
So I wanted to show you guys exactly what I'm going to be including. First of course at the very bottom of the gift, I'm going to be putting the full collection of the new notebooks. I wanted this to be at the bottom so that she can open them last. I know she's an avid bullet journalist, which is why I included all five colors so that she could have extras to fill in for the upcoming year. Since she posts her bullet journal spreads, I wasn't sure if she was going to be interested in the undated planner version. But I figured I would just include it.
She probably didn't need five colors, so I'm just gonna include the purple one. I'm gonna write open last, and I'm going to write it in maybe a different handwriting from my own so that she doesn't recognize my handwriting. Now, this stuff is more fun. Since I know she loves BTS, we literally met at a BTS concert, I got her full sets of BT21 stickers. BT21 is the BTS like character brand.
So I have all of them here. Obviously, with things going on these days, masks are really important to have. So there's different face masks that she can wear. I'm also gifting her the full Shop AmandaRachLee washi tape collection in case she doesn't have it yet. And then finally, for all of her new stationery items, I got her some of these little storage cubbies that she can put pens in and this little stationery cup as well so that she can organize her desk with all of her new stationery items.
I'm just going to finish it off by writing her a nice handwritten card and then we can drop it off at the post office. You have a long journey to go. Hello it is D-day, the big day. I'm kind of nervous.
I have everything set up. I think we're good to go. It's currently around 2:30 and Valarie is supposed to arrive back at her house at around 3 p.m. I'm gonna be waiting here on the Zoom call for her after she opens her big gift. I'm so nervous. I don't think I've ever been this nervous for a video before just because I don't know what her reaction is going to be.
I won't know if the surprise went smoothly yet because her mom and her friends are handling all of that. So I'll just be here waiting on the back end. Okay, deep breath.
Oh my god! I'm all over the place. Let's get it started and I guess we're just gonna wait now. It's happening, it's happening, it's happening, it's happening, it's happening.
It's happening, it's happening - [Val's Mom] Valarie, someone left a package for you. So I'm not sure if it's a package for you. - I guess early birthday. Oh my god, what could.
What is this? Oh my gosh! Oh no! Oh my gosh! I recognize the handwriting. Oh my gosh! - So that she doesn't recognize my handwriting. - [Val's Mom] The card is opened very last. - Open the cards after unpacking (indistinct) - She recognized my handwriting. - I didn't even know they had these.
Oh my gosh! - [Val's Mom] That's so cute! - Oh my god! There's so many. There's so many. Oh my gosh! - You have so many supplies. - [Val's Mom] You're going to need a bigger room. - This box is like bigger than every thing I own. - I can't hear everything she's saying.
- Prismacolor, wow! - [Val's Friend] Val, those are expensive. - Yeah. - [Val's Friend] Yeah, those are nice. - Oh my gosh! They're like the best ones though. Every art class my teacher is like, if you want color pencils by Prismacolors.
Whoa, there's so many. - [Val's Friend] She's got a whole lot of stationery. - I don't even know what to do with myself. - [Val's Friend] Oh my gosh counter.
- I almost said it again. Yeah, I don't know where to put all these stuff. This is a really nice eraser. Whoa, all of them! Wait, is this all of them? - [Val's Friend] All of the what? - [Val's Friend] All of the washi tape sets. - The last package.
- [Val's Mom] The last package. - [Val's Friend] The last package is unboxed. - [Val's Mom] And then the card. - [Val's Friend] Then the card. - Oh! - [Val's Mom] Oh my goodness! - [Val's Friend] Dude, you are set for life.
- [Val's Friend] You are literally set for life. - You know what, I will never have to buy. - [Val's Mom] Till next year maybe. (laughs loudly) - Oh my gosh! She definitely has not released this yet. I'm just saying.
- You're the first one, Val. - These are the doodles from the 2021. - She knows, she's up to date.
- But this is a dotted. This is just a regular dotted notebook. There's so many. I don't even know what to do with these many. - [Val's Mom] All the colors. There are all the colors.
- Oh my gosh! - [Val's Mom] Open last the post card. - [Val's Friend] Right, you watch her release me. - Happy birthday. Oh my gosh! So much to read. Hold on. By now you should have figured out who this is from.
Yes. By the way, you're the first person to own these. I knew it. I was like, she hasn't released these yet.
P.S. go to the laptop. The laptop? Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! - [Val's Friend] She said, wait a second. - Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Hello. - Hi.
- Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Hello. - Hi. Surprise! Oh my gosh! Hello. - Oh my gosh! - Happy early birthday. - Thank you so much. I don't even know what to say.
I'm so speechless. Oh my gosh! - Oh my god! Wait, I think I'm gonna cry. Me and your mom have been planning this for like two years. - What! Oh my gosh! - It was supposed to happen last year and I was actually supposed to come and meet you in person, but obviously because of the virus and everything that never happened. So we were like, this year, it's gonna happen. - Oh my god! I had no idea.
You're crazy. - What do you think of the new notebooks? You're the first person to open them, or to own them actually. - Yeah, I don't even know what to do with all of these. I'm set for literally like five years. - Yeah. - There's like six of them.
So six years, I guess. - Actually, one of them, the thicker purple one, that's the undated version of the planner just in case. - [Valarie] Oh! - Yeah. Also not released yet.
So you're the first person. - I don't want to ruin it. - You can rip that baby open too.
Oh my gosh! And also the funny thing about last year when I was planning on coming in May, it was also coincidentally around the time that BTS was supposed to tour. So I was like, it would have been so funny. - Yeah, like they all lined up. - Yeah. - Oh my gosh! - [Val's Mom] She literally would have to pass the way. - I literally wouldn't have to (indistinct) - That night, you almost gave up and I was like hot pink, right? - Oh, yeah, when I met you.
Actually, the whole day I had been looking for you and then I was like, oh, you know, it's like 11 o'clock, I'm never gonna find her now. Everyone was walking to the car and I saw your hot pink shoes. And I was like, oh my god! - I literally think that night was like destiny because I was also about to leave that concert at that point. And I just hear, I hear like someone yelling my name and someone running towards me.
It was so beautiful. - I still can't believe that that happened. - It was definitely meant to be. - I remember checking Twitter every few minutes. (indistinct) And then we were struggling the whole time. - I remember you like the second you took the picture you like sent it to me with no context.
You sent it to me with no context and I was like, oh really! - So many things. I don't know what I'm gonna do with all these things. - I know. I was like, I don't know if she has the storage for it. So I tried to include some storage. - You picked out all the things to put in the package.
That's so cool. - Yeah, I got you everything. I also didn't know what you had. Like, I know you do bullet journaling, too.
So I was like, I don't want to get her like all the basics, because I know she already has those. So I don't know. Which notebook are you going to use first? Which one is your favorite color? - I don't know. I love the purple. The purple is so nice. - The Purple.
- I think (indistinct) - Purple, yeah, that's her favorite color. - Were you suspicious at all or like anything? - I have to say one day I came into my mom's office and she had this big thing that said, Val surprise outline. - Oh no! - I didn't read it. I just turned around and I walked out. I'm like I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see it and walked in a few minutes later, and it was changed. And I was like, okay.
- It was very big. You knew there was a surprise but you didn't know what, when. - I didn't know what, when, how, or where. But, yeah, no, I definitely didn't expect the Zoom call. That was crazy. - Oh, yay! Success with doing a surprise video.
So, if that's okay with you, yeah. - Oh my gosh! I was excited. I was in like, two seconds of your BTS vlog and I like cried.
- Your mom like briefly told me about college and everything. What are you excited for? Are you nervous, all of that? - Definitely nervous. I don't know. - Yeah. - It's definitely gonna be an interesting experience. I hope that I can, you know, continue this .
- For bullet journaling. I think you find it therapeutic. - Yeah, yeah, definitely. - Especially with like your chaotic schedule coming up. You have no idea, with college and stuff, you'll get it organized. - I always like your texts whenever you text me like, what should be my theme for next month? - Oh that's so cute.
- I can't speak. I'm gonna cry - Big air hugs with everyone. Virtual air hugs. Oh, I'm just so glad it all worked out. Happy early birthday again.
- Thank you so much. I'm so (mumbles) I'm speechless. - Wait, say a word to the fellow lil doodles, 'cause you're the creator of the name. A message, yes. A message.
- Hi, I'm Valarie. I really didn't think past that point. (laughs loudly) Keep doodling. I don't know.
- Yes, actually perfect. I'm gonna use that as the ending. - Keep doodling. That's so cute. - Keep doodling.
- Hi Amanda. - Bye. High five to you.
We did it. - Good job! (upbeat music)
2021-05-25 06:17
