The Office Surprise Box

I’m not sure how, and I’m not sure exactly when but sometime in 2007ish I began watching the Office with my cousin Colleen. By October of 2007, Colleen and I were already obsessed to the point of attending The Office Convention held in Scranton, PA. We made several more trips back to Scranton, sometimes on our own and sometimes for events like bus tours with actors from the show such as Bobby Ray Schaffer (Bob Vance, Vance Refrigeration) and Brian Baumgartner (Kevin), or a fun run and trivia contest with Mindy Kaling (Kelly) that coincided with the release of The Office trivia board game. We were so obsessed, that Collen won that trivia contest answering a question that Mindy Kaling said she didn’t know the answer to even though she had written the episode. The question: When Michael and Ryan are cleaning out his car, what flavor power drink does Michael tell Ryan to put in the trunk? Answer: Blue Blast.

We’ve been to Poor Richard’s, Farley’s, Cooper’s, Lake Scranton and all the other places mentioned in the show. One of the amazing things about The Office, was how they used real life businesses and landmarks of Scranton in the show, even though it wasn’t filmed there. Perhaps that fueled the fandom even more. Going to the steamtown mall or being able to go to the real Poor Richard’s, (and finding out its inside a bowling alley) just added to the fun.

We didn’t only celebrate our love of all things Office in Scranton. At home we hosted The Office themed parties for season premieres and finales, where our guest would come dressed as their favorite characters, we entered fan contests, and would scour several Target stores each time The Office merchandise was released to the dollar spot.

During these days of the pandemic we’ve been showing our Office love by hosting Office trivia nights for fellow Office fan friends via zoom. For our first trivia night we used questions from one of the old trivia games from pressman games. We’re not sure who won. At various times Colleen gave people 10 points, a gold star, and a thumbs up. We’re not sure how to compare those units. We’re still looking for a conversion chart in the notebook. For the upcoming trivia night this weekend we’ll be writing our own questions and will have four rounds, including a picture round and a quote round.

I wouldn’t be able to tell you how many times we’ve watched the series, and I probably wouldn’t want to know because I would think of all the other things I could have been doing with that time instead, but watching The Office now is like going to visit old friends. I recently read that during the pandemic experts have suggested that if you are going to watch TV, you should watch something you’ve already seen because doing so can actually reduce anxiety. So maybe there’s a reason I’ve always loved revisiting the Dunder Mifflin crew. There is a sort of comfort from watching those old familiar friends on the screen.

So needless to say, when Culturefly first announced The Office subscription box, Colleen and I immediately each ordered it as a birthday gift for ourselves. Due to covid 19, it didn’t make it in time for our birthday, and we weren’t able to open it together in person, but covid wasn’t going to stop us from enjoying our office box! Tonight in a zoom room named “The Ladies Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-am Fun Run Race for the Cure Unboxing” we opened this Office amazingness! FYI, zoom does cut off your room name after however many characters that is.

Here’s the beautiful box just waiting to be opened:

First peek inside! And I know it’s just the box, but I love it! It’s so fun and sturdy. I will definitely be keeping it to reuse to store something…maybe sewing supplies?

First item is a tote bag! It’s a decent size and seems good quality, and has an awesome front zipper . My favorite part is that it’s made of a wipeable material. Colleen said perfect for a beach bag, I say perfect for messy kid stuff.

The lining makes it that much more awesome! Dunder Mifflin print inside and wipeable! Awesome blossom, extra awesome!

Next up, Shrute Buck and Stanley Nickel. The Schrute Buck is plasticy, not paper so much more durable than your average schrute buck. And wait until you see the back of the Stanley Nickel….

A Pretzel!

Next up is one of my favorites in the box, Somehow I Manage by Michael Gary Scott, a notebook!

Then we have a small canvas of Pam’s painting of Dunder MIfflin building. Here Colleen is shown showing us where she plans to hang her painting.

Next we had socks!

STAPLER IN JELLO!

Ohhh what’s inside this cute little box?

Dwight Schrute of course!

Dunder Mifflin tee!

Last but not least, a letter from Michael Scott and a Dunder MIfflin pin.

Here’s the whole line up. They’re niffty! They’re niffty gifties!

So there it is! The very first The Office box from Culturefly. I liked the wide variety of items and my favorites are definitely the bag, shirt and notebook. Collen I think loved the canvas the most. If we (ok…when we) get it again I would love to receive pens or pencils, sticky notes, a coffee mug, water bottle or pajama pants.

It’s so fun that things like this exist, even though the show has long been over. It brings back wonderful memories of all our Office adventures!