The Reason For The Season

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1 Imports. All opinions are 100% mine.

This year marks Oona's first real, "conscious" Christmas season. She's finally noticed the profusion of Christmas decorations, the big kids caroling from house to house and the stuff we're buying and wrapping for friends and family.

Shopping with two kids and my mother in tow are both a fun experience and a nightmare as Christmas Eve nears. The malls are open until 12 midnight but the sheer volume of rabid shoppers will beat you down. So it helps to have a solid game plan when you're out and about: have a list, target a store, go in and out in ten minutes. Total TOLERABLE shopping experience a day: Two hours a location. Whew!
Going to Pier 1 helped a lot. I was able to get ideas for BOTH kids and grown-ups! I picked out a couple of great bargains I've both seen in-store and on the website! So hint, hint...if anyone still doesn't have something for me, take a peek here and rest assured, anything from here would send me to the moon :D

Although, the gift that is my fast growing up Oona is enough for my little momma's heart. She really did me proud! She picked out stuff that she thinks "our" friends would like, including wrapping paper we'd use to wrap the holiday gifts. She also thought of specific family members and offered her opinion on what she thinks they'd like ("That ____ is his/her favorite. He/She will like that, Mom!"). And best of all, when it came to the toys and goodies for other children, she merely asked for whom they were for and did not appropriate them for herself! She didn't even ask if there was anything for her. She was happy that we have things to give even to the carolers and the people going door to door asking for help and some holiday cheer. She would always proudly say with a huge smile, "Mom I gave the kids biscuits! I'm sweet!"

I'm happy to say that the true meaning of Christmas is living in my baby's heart. Sharing, giving and loving! We're teaching her that giving of ourselves is also a great gift, much more than the tinsel and the boxed gifts. Help continue this holiday cheer by supporting Toys for Tots by dropping off unwrapped toys and/or making cash donations at the Pier 1 register. OR, 'Like' Pier 1 Imports on Facebook! For every new fan they get, they will donate $1 to Toys for Tots. Make a lot of children happy with a new Christmas lovey to hug on Christmas morning!

Share the reason for the season! Happy Holidays all! :)

Christmas Is Around The Corner!

Whew! It's been a heckuva start for December! We gave up our yaya and then the family came down with flu. And we suspect Oona's teething again. She's been really cranky and clingy, refusing her usual solid foods, drooling a lot and sticking her finger in her mouth, rubbing her gums. We think her canines are about to make an appearance soon.

To top it off, the holidays are upon us and we haven't had much time to really get down to it. In truth, the holiday season starts really early in the Philippines. As soon as the -ber months hit, Christmas songs are starting to play and the malls have stuff for decor and presents lined up for Pre-Christmas Sale and promos. We only managed to buy a parol yesterday and materials for a DIY christmas wreath for the front door. The happy thing about shopping and decorating a little late is that we got everything on sale! Now, I have a really nice wreath done up the way I want for half the excruciating price if we bought it at the peak of the decorating season. We agreed christmas trees would be for when Oona's older and she can better appreciate it other than trying to pull down the pretty balls to see if they bounce.

Looks like this year, we won't be able to go crazy for presents like we used to when RF and I were still both working, childless professionals. (Nevertheless, it doesn't stop me from window-shopping!!!) Still, there are really great finds on foot and online. Landmark and SM are for shoppers like me with an eye for pretty stuff and a bargain. With a Christmas Sale going a dime a dozen in every mall and promos with freebies at almost every store, now's the time to go shopping! Go when it's not rush hour madness from 5PM til 8PM: lots of people, less time to choose items and sometimes, less chances of nabbing what you really like. The magic shopping time for me is as soon as the mall opens at 10AM until right before lunch time when the malls fill up with people trying to eat and shop at the same time before going back to work. Then again at around 2PM til 4PM, before people rush to the mall from school or work. Cabs are also easy to get at around those times. :D

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Speaking of presents and pretty stuff, Grow In Style invited me to check out their online store. I fell in love with their sweet Eco-friendly, Organic Diaper Cakes. For the uninitiated, Diaper Cakes are not edible cakes. They're constructed of diapers and other baby items put together in an adorable way. It beats having stuff in traditional gift boxes, you know. It not only looks good as a present for birthdays, baptisms, or the first hospital visit, it can even be the baby shower centerpiece if you want them to start early in style! It would even look good under the christmas tree! (I want one for my next bundle of joy, people! Hint! Hint!) :D

Diaper Cakes are so practical, bursting with items you and your baby needs but looking SO darn good, you'll have issues about pulling it apart. See? SEE? That on the left is the Buzzy Bee 4 Tier Diaper Cake. That's my favorite. And no, you really can't eat it.

This one comes with: Approximately 70 Size 1 Baby NatureCare Diapers, Organic Bumble Bee Cotton Teether by Under the Nile, Natursutten BPA Free Pacifier, 100% Organic Onesie, 100% Organic Thermal Receiving Blanket (measuring 30"x40"), 5 Piece Weleda Starter Kit, Buzzy Bee Storybook, and 2 Handcrafted Bumble Bee Alligator Clips (can be used as decorations or hair clips for a baby girl). You can even add your own surprises to be tucked within the cake itself!

Apart from the way the Grow In Style Diaper Cakes are made, I'm particularly happy about the fact that they're 100% Organic and Eco-friendly. You can use everything guilt-free! Their baby products are all made from natural ingredients, some are even hand-crafted. Toys and accessories use non-toxic paint and "guaranteed NOT to contain any harsh chemicals, parabens, BPA, PVC or phtalates". Weleda Baby Care Products were also chosen for these qualities. According to Grow In Style: "they protect the baby's skin using the gentlest and most natural ingredients, such as Calendula, beeswax and almond oil. The 5 Piece Starter Kit gives mom the opportunity to try out a variety of their products."

However, should you prefer the more traditional gift boxes, they still have goodies you can put together for thoughtful presents that show you care (Uyyy...Tag line!). And since all this is online, all you have to do is place your order and they'll deliver it to you or the recipient (if you're not able to give it personally). Yup, Ninongs and Ninangs, they do international orders! They're based in the US but shipping overseas is okay. (I'm not sure how long it takes to get to Manila though.)

All in all, do I think Grow In Style's got bang for your buck? Yes I do. It's all natural, very practical and very safe. They also look darn GOOD. So Go! Support Eco-friendly products! It's never too early to start kids on being earth-friendly either! Make a new Mom or Mom-to-be happy.

Sigh. As for us with toddlers nearing potty training, I guess we'll have to wait for the next baby to have the perfect excuse to expect or get ourselves a Diaper Cake! :D

BIZZY BIZZY, IN A DIZZY!

So Blogger still hasn't restored my "store blog". Sooo . . . I made a new one.

I am a closet shopaholic. When I was nesting, RF was fighting off panic that I would buy half the department store's baby section merchandise every time we passed by while malling. As it is, we've some stuff that we had to give away or box up because Oona ended up not using them at all.

Of course, what they are escapes my memory as I've developed a convenient partial amnesia due to the trauma of putting away such cute, but barely used stuff. I am therefore determined, for the rest of Oona's stuff, to get as much mileage as possible. I don't care if she's not going to a party, but by golly! She's going to be wearing those dresses for a walk in the park! Or the lobby for all I care! They're too cute not to be worn and she's going to look cute every day!

Anyhoo . . . my other blog.

Surfing, blog-hopping and subscribing to all those newsletters ran me across so many drool-worthy stuff. I know I can't buy them all, but if I can't, someone else might! And oh the virtual enjoyment of it! I shall *lurve* it vicariously! So I'm posting them all there.

Online window shopping is also a great way to satisfy my love of seeing new things without the threat of bankruptcy. After all, my problem isn't I have to have it! . . . It's more of a girl geekazoid's awe of Ooh! Look! . . . something like that. I also have the habit of buying for people (Oh, my sister would like that!), stocking them as gifts and never mind if their birthday's still in January and it's the middle of May.

I'll have product features, reviews, shops I've gone to with my preggo needs and the results of my world wide web window shopping sprees.

So, pardon the unfinished look of the new place. I'm still painting a few corners and putting up some more shelves, but you're all welcome to drop by and poke around at Luscious Picks!