Lucas Papaw - it works!

When my friends recently gifted me with what they called a Chemo Basket, one of the things they included was a tube of this. They must've researched on the most common side effects of chemotherapy  and they couldn't have been more spot on! 

Maybe a couple of weeks after my very first chemo cycle, I developed a sore on the side of my mouth. You can imagine what a pain that is, right? Everytime I yawned, it would crack. Everytime I opened my mouth too wide to eat, it would crack. I was back to zero ... meaning raw wound so often, I didn't think it would get any better. 

But then I remembered that tube of Lucas Papaw. I used it and I never looked back. In a matter of less than 5 minutes -- no kidding! -- , the sore was no longer mahapdi and in just a day it was totally dry and well. 

Today, I discovered another sore about to start on the opposite side of my mouth (fun times, I know!). While it's small, I already applied some Lucas Papaw to make sure I don't suffer as much as I did the last time. 

For something that has a really funny-sounding name, this thing really really does the job!

Other than minor open wounds, you can also use Lucas Papaw on :

minor burns and scalds

sunburn

gravel rash and cuts

nappy rash and chafing

insect bites

splinters and thorns

You can buy this from my friends, Sol and Paul at 

www.digitaltraincase.multiply.com 

First Ever Blog Giveaway

Here we go! 

This is my first time ever to hold a blog giveaway so if there will be any hitches, please bear with me. 

THE SPONSOR:

The Lemonade Stand (Facebook and Multiply)

THE PRIZES:

2 pairs of Old Navy crib shoes (boy and girl). I'll give these separately to two winners. 

THE MECHANICS:

1 - Follow my blog via Bloglovin' by clicking on the link on my right sidebar 

2 - Follow The Lemonade Stand on Facebook

3 - Leave a comment on this entry with the following info : Full Name, Email Address and tell me which pair of crib shoes you would like to win.

Just 3 steps, so easy! 

The giveaway will end at 9am on Sunday, December 2, 2012. 

Winners will be announced the following day. 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS FOR PHILIPPINE RESIDENTS ONLY. 

I'll give the winners 48 hours to reply to my email notification and if I don't receive any, I'll pick another winner. 

Ready? Set? Yay!!! Let's go!!!

Giveaway Alert!!!

I've been blogging for the longest time and I've never ever held a giveaway. 

So I guess it's time!

Since this has never happened before on NonStopBabble, I'm thinking I should do not just one. But before I get ahead of myself, I need to get started first. 

This upcoming giveaway targets Moms of newborns and I know there are quite a lot of you out there. I'm inggit because I no longer have a baby in the house and my time is up, if you know what I mean. But I love babies and kids in general and I know how much fun it is to buy stuff for our children.

My sponsor, THE LEMONADE STAND is an online store that intends to focus on selling stuff mostly for babies and kids (and Moms, too, in the future). 

You can find THE LEMONADE STAND in Facebook and Multiply

Once you browse through the site you'll have an idea about the cutesy prizes I have waiting for you!

The giveaway officially starts tomorrow at 9am. See you then! 

SM Kids' Fashion Holiday Bazaar

Attention : Mommies who love to dress their kids up! That's me haha. 

But I know there are so many out there who will jump at this chance.

Please click on this image to enlarge it and see all the details.

That's half off on favorite SM in-house kids' brands! Some of my favorites are on the list but I'm bummed because I can't expose myself to huge crowds and I'm sure there will be huge crowds here.

Mommies, please take my place and go! 

There will be a 2nd round at the SM Megatrade Hall 2 from December 14-16 so if you're not from QC, you can go there instead.

Sunday Family Style : Boon Tong Kee

I've been hiding under a rock! I had no idea that Boon Tong Kee opened last October 28th. It was a rare thing for us to go to Makati on a Sunday, since most of our get-togethers happen in the north where my parents are from. The decision to go to Power Plant yesterday was perfect. It was also good that we all decided to meet up for a late lunch. Yes, around 3 pm which is officially merienda time. We didn't have to wait extremely long to be seated. Still, at that odd hour the place was full.

There were 9 of us all in all. Feast your eyes on how much food we ate LOL!

Fried Spareribs with Zhen Jiang Sauce
This was really tender. The meat easily came off the bone and it was sweet. Yummy!
Sabine immediately gave it two thumbs up, we ended up ordering a 2nd serving.

Poached Chinese Spinach with Assorted Eggs - another winner

Signature Boiled Chicken (whole) - THE BEST!
I really enjoyed the ginger sauce too. Better than others I've tried.

Fried French Bean and Scallops with Spicy XO Sauce - We had two of these two.   One taste and we knew we had to order another one. 

Braised Tofu with Prawns in Claypot - On hindsight, this was the only dish I didn't get to dive into. But N says it was just as good as the others.

Can you guess who ordered the Sweet and Sour Pork? 

Lapu Lapu Fillet with Ginger and Spring Onion - Daddy would've loved this!

Sago Gula Melaka with Vanilla Ice cream. As if I hadn't had too much to eat already. 

I would give the food 9 out of 10 (since nothing's perfect), but seriously, nothing tasted even just a bit off. Everything was perfectly-cooked. My only issue? Their rice bowls aren't that big so most of us ended up ordering extra bowls but the said ... they ran out and it would take 15 minutes for the new batch to get cooked. Okay fine, birth pains. But still ... you don't really run out of rice, diba??? Not in the Philippines! :))

I hope the next time we drop by, the rice issue would've been addressed. How can you eat Hainanese Chicken alone? Anyway, I can forgive them for this hiccup because everything else didn't disappoint. I really didn't take note of individual dish prices but our bill was over P5,000. That's roughly P500 something/head.

Eating here made me really really miss my Dad. He would've loved everything. 

Officially 44!

Sometimes, I still can't believe I'm in midlife. Half of me is scared, the other half deserves a pat on the back for a job well done so far in all aspects (I think).

My birthday blues didn't last very long, thanks to a loving and tight family -- both sides -- who took the time to help me celebrate this extra special birthday. 

First, the food! I didn't have to lift a finger to order/cook any of these. N, my in-laws and my Mom took care of everything for me.

From top to bottom, left to right:

The cake : Estrel's Caramel Cake (yum yum yum!)

Birthday Noodles from PVL Restaurant in Mandaluyong (our go-to place when we need to order out last-minute or when we're going to a potluck gathering. good and cheap food!)

Breaded Fish Fillet, Callos (N's favorite), Chicken Lollipops, Paella Valenciana all prepared by N's older sister. Everything was so mouth watering!

There was also Fresh Lumpia, Pichi Pichi and Cassava Cake from other family members.
So much food!

But the star of the buffet was this 

Charlie's Pritchon FTW! Soooooo good. My favorite sauce is the White Garlic and Honey Mustard combined. I was so happy I could take some home with me after the party hehe!

It was an intimate gathering with a few other relatives invited

I thank N for taking the lead on this and allowing me to sit pretty and just show up

I'm one year closer to being a Golden Girl! Hahaha. 6 more years :))

I can't say thank you enough. I am blessed to have been able to celebrate another birthday. It was my first birthday without Daddy, but I pulled through. 

Family is love!

My Birthday and the Blues

This year, for the first time ever, the birthday blues are real for me. I feel like I go through it every time my birthday is coming up but come to think of it, it was all just drama. I didn't have any valid reason for feeling sad on my birthday ever. 

Urban Dictionary defines it as : a general sadness or feeling down by a person on or around his birthday. The factors that can cause this include: 

Being upset at officially aging another year

Being disappointed or not having expectations met by a birthday celebration or gifts.

Being unsatisfied with accomplishments since the previous birthday.

Oddly, these reasons sound so funny to me. They've never applied. First of all, I've never felt seriously upset about adding another candle to my already jampacked birthday cake. In fact, it's the least of my concerns up to now. Expectations not met? Maybe but not enough to give me the b-blues. Unsatisfied with accomplishments? Still a no. I've worked my *ss off for so many years, I think I've done a good job raising my kids despite the fact that I'm not perfect. N and I have been together for 12 years and that, too, is an achievement as far as I'm concerned. So no, sorry, none of the above! 

But this year, the b-blues have a reason for being here. 

I need not say more.

This was at my birthday celebration in 2011, HEAT Edsa Shangri-la

The year before that, my birthday celebration at The Stock Market in Boni High Street

This year, the photos won't include him, but he'll be around and I'm 101% sure of it. The first thing I'll do when I wake up tomorrow as a 44-year old will be to cry (I'm also 101% sure of that hehe!). I'll cry because for so long, the first greeting I always received was my Dad's. My birthday is the only time of the year he calls me "my original baby girl". But I'll also cry when I thank God for allowing me to get to where I am, inspite of the challenges this year.

I've been trying to recall what Dad's last birthday gift to me was. I think it was money and I spent it right away, that's why I don't remember haha. But seriously, I can't imagine celebrating every birthday from now on without him there. The Daddy's Girl will probably always cry on her birthday starting tomorrow, knowing that there will be one less person to greet her.

Thanks, Daddy, for all the bongga birthday celebrations and gifts you've given me all these years. You can now tell God directly what you want Him to give me for my birthday. Just look into my heart and you'll find it there. I miss you big time and I love you forever. 

Drama Drama Drama

Sabine and I have an agreement. Every Friday after school, she can pass by Jollibee or McDonald's to buy merienda before going home. She came home today, her face so sad because she wanted to buy a cheeseburger and fries. But it's Thursday, so Yayay told her to wait until tomorrow.

This didn't sit well with her and she whined until she got home. When she saw me, she whined and complained some more. I had to put my foot down even if my heart wanted to give in. It's something I need to do each time, no matter how difficult it is to say "no" to my kids. 

She cried and whined and cried and whined. She eventually walked out of the Master's bedroom when she couldn't get my attention. I totally ignored her while she cried and sniffed. I didn't follow her to the other room when she left.

Maybe around 10 minutes later, she walked back into my room and gave me this

HAHAHA!!!

This is the cutest! I had to bite my lips to keep from laughing because she would've gotten more upset. 

And at that point I was so tempted to hug her and end the war but I didn't. Instead, I asked her to come to me instead (I'm still the boss, am I not?) so we could talk. We did and after a few failed attempts to get me to concede, we finally made peace. 

Can she be 6 years old forever? Anissa keeps asking the same question. :) 

Gimme Some Lovin'

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Sample Room : Try Before You Buy

I will have to say that the group of girls that gave birth to this idea is one talented bunch! 

I'm not a beauty/skincare/cosmetic junkie. I buy something from any of these categories only when I'm sure I want/need it, or when I've seen or read a gazillion reviews about it. I don't go into a store, buy a product full-size and then test it at home, only to be disappointed. I'll do that with shoes but not with any of the things I mentioned haha.

I first read about Sample Room on Facebook. I signed up right away. The concept is just so friendly and catch-free. It's really perfect for people like me. 

Sample Room has a really simple idea and that is, to make you try something before you actually buy it. In essence, you ultimately end up making an informed decision. Ergo? Your money doesn't go to waste. Who wouldn't want to jump on something like this?

Here's a step by step to show you how it all works:

See the cycle? And it's not the vicious kind at all. You get points everytime you do a review on the samples you get. Your reviews will, in turn, give you more points to get more samples. So easy!

If you haven't heard of them yet, that means you also haven't registered. Here's where you go to sign up: Sampleroom.ph.  You can also follow Sample Room :

Facebook : www.facebook.com/sampleroomph

Twitter : www.twitter.com/sampleroomph

They're officially launching this month and I'm one of those who can't wait! 

PaPillo Fine Stationers: Some Things are Better Left Written

I totally agree. I may be maintaining 2 blogs at the same time, but I'll always belong to a generation who believes that anything handwritten is still ten times more beautiful. 

Just go through a lot of my past entries here and you'll know how much I love paper! Stationery, note cards, gift tags ... name it. That's why when I was invited to the (re)launch of PaPillo Fine Stationers, I didn't think twice about going.

Trish Panlilio, owner of PaPillo, who invited us to her lovely home, says it best : "I sincerely believe that people appreciate a handwritten letter, no matter how long or short. It's the time you set aside to do it that makes it more meaningful." 

These are just some of PaPillo's many many products that you can choose to personalise.

Frankly, I've been ordering personalized paper items for many years now, but I've never seen such unique prints and designs. Only PaPillo carries these. 

Here are some photos I took at the event itself

Tiny pieces of colorful paper (reminds me of Post-Its) in colorful packaging, and monogrammed at that. 

Personalized Rolls of Ribbons for gift wrapping

Mini Note Pads with small pens to make it a set 

I stared too long at these Christmas Tags

My girls would love these vertical note pads with girly pens

This is April of Summer Sunshine finally! It was so nice to put a face to the name!

Hello, Jheng! More popularly known for her beauty blog IAmBrigitte whom I haven't seen in a while. 

There were a lot of other bloggers invited to cover the event, most of whom I met for the first time.

The food was really good! These sugared cookies called out to me and they didn't disappoint. 

I won't be surprised if you'll head on over to PaPillo's website as soon as you're done reading this entry. What with so much eye candy exposed! But before I forget, Trish very generously announced that we could each take home a gift of our choice from the many products displayed that night. 

I chose this because I can re-use it even after I run out of paper 

Visit www.papillofinestationers.com to see so much more of Trish's pretty stuff. 

A lot of them will make the perfect Christmas (and year-round) gifts!