My husband and I are not too particular about the toys our daughter likes to play (well, except for guns and the like). We buy her toys even if they are gender specific. Like we let her play with cars and model planes and building blocks. I know of a couple who does the same for their boy, they buy him kitchen sets and dolls. I believe there is nothing wrong with that as long as we parents do not put malice into it nor labels, right? Many parents, especially the old-school, old fashioned ones will not agree with me but I see nothing wrong with girls playing boy toys. I think my daughter’s imagination is stretched when there are more options opened for her.

I read this news today that the National Bureau of Investigation conducted a raid on Tuesday targeting an office of a firm that sells devices or machines used to “text spam” or “text blast”. Illegal GSM devices and software were recovered in a building in San Juan City. The NBI said that these devices can be used by one person to send one text message to millions of mobile phone numbers and that these GSM devices were never registered with the National Telecommunications Commission. The owner and staff of said firm were invited for questioning. The raid came in response to the complaint filed by telecoms company, Globe.

I really hope this is the start of the end of scam text messages.

Well, the husband! He went clothes shopping at Sears and hopped from one barcode scanner to another He is currently on a business trip in North California and he needed some thick clothes for work. He needs to spend the allowance anyway and the ones he brought in his luggage may not be enough to battle the weather. My sister and her family accompanied him to the mall to buy the pieces and they brought some food supplies too. I wish I was there too!

When we found out the husband is going on a business trip, I immediately thought of the things I can ask him to buy for me. I thought of baby stuff and some make-up too But as a self-confessed geek, I am excited to entertain the thought of owning a Kindle Touch.

The husband already bought me an iPad 2 last year but our dear daughter claimed it as hers already. That said, I haven’t been reading again as much as I want to. Getting a Kindle seems like a logical choice, at least for me. I still have a few more days to think about it.

I cannot blame the little one for wanting to go for a swim. There are days that the weather is humid; maybe she just wants to be refreshed? She would ask me if she could go but I am not allowed to swim in a pool now that I am pregnant and hubby would get home late from work already. It would also rain in the afternoons. The village pool is not indoors and is not equipped with a raypak heater. I wish the weather will cooperate before weekend so we can ask her uncle to accompany her to the pool.

Lego and Moleskine have this limited edition collaboration:

Minifigs not included

Available in March, there will be four designs to choose from. According to wired.com, each Moleskine notebook “will have a debossed cover with a different Lego screenprint on it and comes with a matching Lego brick and include a colored bookmark ribbon, themed flyleaf and an inner pocket in colored fabric. It comes with Lego themed adhesive labels and will be available in different sizes and in plain or ruled pages.”

I know it is still January but I know a lot of people are already preparing for the summer season here. I am sure resort owners are also busy getting ready for the peak season like doing renovations, fixing pool pumps, revamping rooms, etc. For vanity’s sake though, I found this list of summer must-haves for families to make that get-away even more comfortable:

• tanning lotion or sunblock.
• first-aid medicated spray
• insect repellant spray
• lip balm with spf15 and rosebud salve
• cooling gel
• moisturizer

Floral prints have gone photographic and digital too! Most fabrics now are digitally printed, whether with daisies, roses and other type foliage and they are simply amazing. And this does not only apply to dresses but to shoes, bags and other accessories too! Look at these items I found for inspiration:

RED Valentino Floral A-line Dress

Giuseppe Zanotti Floral Shoe

Prada Black Floral Bag

ASOS Floral Cotton Playsuit

Looking at my Instagram feeds, friends from the US have been posting snow pictures. Winter has definitely arrived on their side of the world. Their boots are out and so are the snow wear. Having lived in a tropical country all my life, I have always dreamed of experiencing snow, building snowmen and making snow angels. And the winter gear?! I would love to have a pink bogner jacket as shown below.

Maybe in the future, we will be able to visit New York during winter.

I love TOMS shoes, they are very comfortable to wear. I got my first pair last year (a red crochet) and it’s one of my favorite shoes to wear. I also love that TOMS donate a new pair to a child in need every time a purchase is made. That’s hitting two birds with one stone, right?

At the start of the year, I got another pair as a gift from mom. I would have gotten this Pink one but there were no sizes available for me anymore. So I got the Teal instead which is equally charming (I just forgot to take a picture!).

I am looking forward to my next pair. After all, it is nice to be doing a good deed when shopping for one’s self