Season's Greeting

May your Christmas time be bright

Right from the moment of start

Bringing wonderful things

That bring joy to your heart!

Unboxing my December 2013 BDJ Box

I was having a very chaotic Monday until I received this awesome December BDJ Box at my doorstep. My happiness went up another notch when I learned that it's another exclusive box, this time, from Max Faxtor, the so-called makeup of makeup artists!

{My December BDJ Box at a glance and a gift from the BDJ Box team, Forget-Me-Not list journal.}

Bazaar Escapade: World Bazaar Festival

Worldbex Services International (WSI), in cooperation with ABS-CBN, brings us the 13th World Bazaar Festival, the longest and grandest Christmas charity bazaar in the Metro.

This is one of the bazaars that we don't want to miss this year so last Sunday, together with my sister and mom, I went to the World Trade Center (WTC) in Pasay City and see for ourselves how magnificent the fair is.

{World Bazaar Festival Entrance Signage}

Since it's a weekend, many people of all ages trooped to the WTC. We were greeted by a long line of shoppers to the ticket booth. Entrance fee is Php50.

Unboxing My Secret Santa Glamourbox

It's the most wonderful time of the year (I know you sing this part ^___^) and Glamourbox made it sure that every glambabes who received the most recent box feel the spirit of Christmas as they played our "Secret Santa".

{First look at my Secret Santa Glamourbox upon taking the lid out.}

Tips on a Stress-free Christmas Shopping

The sweet high spirit melody of carols, traffic on the streets, and festive décor everywhere are reminders that the holidays are coming. And with it comes another excuse to hit the shoppinglandia. However, Christmas shopping has always been associated with last-minute panic buying. Although I don’t particularly enjoy the stress that comes with standing in long lines and braving the sea of other shoppers, I love being able to make my family and friends happy by giving them a gift. Here are a few pointers I do that makes my holiday shopping a little less stressful:

1. Start early and make a list. I usually scout for Christmas gifts by mid-October when old items are on sale and new stocks hit the malls. To plan my shopping, I make a list of people, write a corresponding gift that I knew they would have loved to get after their name and my allocated budget for each person or item.

2. Hit the bazaars. When I still can’t decide what to get for someone, a stroll through one of these will surely be a big help. The prices are not fixed so you can always haggle. A handful of them support different charities, too so I feel like I'm hitting two birds in one stone. I love spotting adorable novelty items and stuff you won’t see at the malls. There’s a string of bazaars happening until at the end of the month, so keep an eye out for great and affordable finds.

3. Generic or personalize? It's definitely personalize for family and relatives. I usually like to find out in advance what they like to make it more special. For all my kikay friends and sisters, I give beauty products, which by far the ones I enjoy hunting the most. To make it more personalized, stay clear from the pre-packed beauty items like bath creams or makeup combo. Get them individually while staying true to the receiver's color or scent of choice and toss it into a beautiful glamour box. It will surely melt their hearts out. For people you don’t personally know but that you'd still like to give to (Christmas is all about giving, you know...), a practical item is a good idea. Say for example, our messenger will most likely appreciate a quality face towel or the cheerful and friendly manong guard at our building will appreciate a thermal tumbler. I like to give snack-size food, too especially when I have time to bake. :)