5 Tips to Boost Your Immunity during the Holidays

Christmas is round the corner. Everybody should be excited. Students look forward for the long vacation. Kids look forward for the gift giving. Parents look forward for the time the whole family comes together. And of course, it's a season to remember the birth of the Lord. Yes! Indeed, everybody should be excited.

However, it's undeniable how December also means Year-End and in the corporate world, it's the busiest time of the year. Year ending reports, forecasts, budget meetings and all but these hectic schedules and work should not hinder our excitement for Christmas. It shouldn't steal the energy we have. Too much stress becomes illness and illness means a "sad face" on the big 25. We can't afford being sick during parties, right?

The Blah Blah Notebook Ranks 3rd in Blogs ng Pinoy Blogs of Fame

YES!!! You're seeing this right! The Blah Blah Notebook ranks 3rd highest voted blog in Blogs ng Pinoy Blogs of Fame November 2015. 

I can't actually believe it. TBBN turned 5 this month and this is actually a wonderful timing to be featured in Blogs ng Pinoy site and be ranked 3rd. I admit that lately, it was hard for me to constantly update this blog due to my offline work. (This little kid over here has to go earn some) Work has been so tough lately that I can't juggle my online life with it. It's even sad that I had to delete my Giants and Elves project blog because I can no longer update the story. It's just so sad.

Anyway, the thing is I'm not even sure if I have a constant follower who reads my posts or my book reviews. I'm just surprise that my TBBN official FB page is constantly gaining some likes and followers and now, ranked as top 3 most voted blog of November in Blogs ng Pinoy which features thousands of blogs.

Hugs and Kisses to those who voted. Thank you Blogs ng Pinoy!!!

Not by Sight by Jon Bloom

Not by Sight: A Fresh Look at Old Stories of Walking by Faith by Jon Bloom

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publishers: Crossway Books
Genre: Non-fiction, Christian, Inspirational.


OVERVIEW:

Trusting Jesus is hard. It requires following the unseen into an unknown, and believing Jesus's words over and against the threats we see or the fears we feel. Through the imaginative retelling of 35 Bible stories, Not by Sight gives us glimpses of what it means to walk by faith, counsel for how to trust God's promises more than our perceptions, and the way to find rest in the faithfulness of God.
(Excerpt from Goodreads)

For the Love of Letters

I'm in love with words. I read them. I try so hard to write them, group them together and make stories with them and of course, make fun with them thru doodling, letterings, typography, calligraphy and drawing. These are one of my stress relievers.

         

Book Review: Hit Your Life's Reset Button by Marc V. Lopez

Title:  HIT YOUR LIFE'S RESET BUTTON

Author: MARC V. LOPEZ

Genre: Non-Fiction, Inspirational, Christian

Pages: 193 pages

Publisher: LIFEDREAM BOOKS by Shepherd's Voice Publications, Inc.

                        Photos by Blogger

VEE Creative: Tissue Roll to Wall Decor

Turn your empty tissue rolls into some amazing wall art decorations. This month's VEE Creative feature will share how to avoid filling up your trashbins with empty tissue rolls. Yey!

Credits to The Blah Blah Notebook

Book Talk: Review Marathon

Well, hello blogosphere! It’s been quite a while since well, my last post. Been quite busy with the offline world so I had to put TBBN on hiatus for a while (That means about 4 months!) Woooah!!! But I did not forgot my bookish goals! This year I’m going to surpass that 2015 Goodreads Challenge. I did my reading home works. In fact, what I’m going to share today are the books I read since my last post.

The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo

The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo
Source: TOR
Pages: 43 pages
Goodreads Rating: 4.01 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folk tales, Short Story, Paranormal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

EXCERPT


There was a time when the woods near Duva ate girls...or so the story goes. But it’s just possible that the danger may be a little bit closer to home. This story is a companion folk tale to Leigh Bardugo’s debut novel, Shadow and Bone.
-From Goodreads~

VEE Creative: VEE Echo Machine

This month's Vee Creative feature is something I'm really proud of. I'm calling this piece the VEE Echo Machine.  I was so proud of it that I bragged it immediately at +Instagram .

Movie Monday: Love, Rosie

It's been quite long since my last Movie Monday feature when the truth is I've been watching a lot of movies lately. Now it's back, I'm definitely posting a new one today and I have a new feature icon.

Well, for today's post, Movie Monday features (drum roll please) Love, Rosie. Last January, I posted my book review on Cecilia Ahern's Love, Rosie and I mentioned how I was rooting to watch that movie. However, I haven't seen it immediately when it hit the theaters. It sucks that no one wanted to watch it with me.  Anyway, I still got to watch it later. I mean 1 month later. Thanks to the ever updated g2g.fm. 

Imperfectly Perfect by A.E. Woodward

Imperfectly Perfect by A.E. Woodward
Pages: 160 pages
Genre: Chicklit, Romance, Contemporary
Pacing: Fast pace
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.93 stars
Format: Ebook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

~~~THE BLURB~~~

Emma, Tyler and Shane have been best friends since they were kids. Along with their college addition, Rob, the four friends have an exciting life in NYC. In fact, Emma Sloan appears to have it all.

Despite being happy with her current situation, a big family announcement leaves Emma questioning whether she is truly content with her life. With her thirtieth birthday fast approaching she vows to find her 'perfect' man any way she can. But Emma will soon discover that the path of true love never runs smoothly and that sometimes, instead of chasing love, you have to wait for love to find you...
~From Goodreads~

On Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik

Epic Fail by Claire LaZebnik
Format: E-book
Pacing: Fast-pace
Pages: 161 pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.75
My rating: 2 of 5 stars


BLURB:

At Coral Tree Prep in Los Angeles, who your parents are can make or break you. Case in point:

- As the son of Hollywood royalty, Derek Edwards is pretty much prince of the school--not that he deigns to acknowledge many of his loyal subjects.
- As the daughter of the new principal, Elise Benton isn't exactly on everyone's must-sit-next-to-at-lunch list.

When Elise's beautiful sister catches the eye of the prince's best friend, Elise gets to spend a lot of time with Derek, making her the envy of every girl on campus. Except she refuses to fall for any of his rare smiles and instead warms up to his enemy, the surprisingly charming social outcast Webster Grant. But in this hilarious tale of fitting in and flirting, not all snubs are undeserved, not all celebrity brats are bratty, and pride and prejudice can get in the way of true love for only so long.  ~From Goodreads~


MY THOUGHTS
 
This review is going to be so short so read my thoughts at your own risk. :)

AHMMM.. SORRY

 I don't mean to be mean but the title speaks for itself. I don't even understand why it's entitled that way. Epic Fail is a 161 page fast pace retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Well, most bookworms already know Pride and Prejudice. You just have to switch it to a high-school-plus-hollywood-drama and there you have EPIC FAIL. I'm not totally saying that it's bad because it's not. I actually enjoyed some humorous and fun parts but it's not enough for me. There's something missing in there. It's more like a cliffhanging story. So there, I think retellings should be leveled up and not just stick to what the story is based on. Maybe an additional twist will make it better.


View all my reviews

On Cindi Madsen's Cinderella Screwed Me Over

 Cinderella Screwed Me Over by Cindi Madsen
 Pages: 294 pages
 Pacing: Fast-pace
 Format: E-book

 Goodreads Average Rating: 3.85 stars
 My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SYNOPSIS:

Darby Quinn has a bone to pick with Cinderella. Burned one too many times by ex-boyfriends, Darby has lost all belief in the happily-ever-after that the fairy-tale princess promised her. She's sworn off love, Prince Charmings, and happy endings and she's happy about it. Really. Or at least she was…until she met Jake, her gorgeous neighbor and the manager of her favorite restaurant. But Darby has rules about dating, ones she's culled from her years spent with so-called “princes,” and starting something with Jake would break all of them.

Charming, fun, and unwilling to give up on her, Jake doesn’t fit any of the profiles Darby has created from her case studies of ex-princes-gone-bad. Finally presented with her own Prince Charming, can Darby take a chance on a happily-ever-after?

Full of wit and sarcastic humor, Cinderella Screwed Me Over proves that sometimes the perfect love, like a perfect pair of shoes, is just within your grasp.
~From Goodreads~

Launching of "Vee Creative: A DIY Feature"

I've always been a craft hobbyist but never really turned that into an online thingy but there's so many amazing things that needs to be shared and I don't want to stop myself from sharing it here in The Blah Blah Notebook. 

As I have mentioned in my blogging goals this year, I want to add another feature. Well, this is it now. This is really it. My friends, I'm finally launching VEE CREATIVE. This is a feature I'll be posting  at any random time. This is where I'll post  my DIY crafts.

On Isla and The Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Dutton
Genres: Young Adult, Romance
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.19
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BLURB

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series. ~From Goodreads~

On Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Hachette Books
Pages: 443 pages
Genres: Women's fiction, Contemporary Romance, ChickLit

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Format: Ebook
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.97

THE BLURB
Sometimes you have to look at life in a whole new way...
From the bestselling author of PS, I Love You comes a delightfully enchanting novel about what happens when two people who are meant to be together just can't seem to get it right.

Rosie and Alex are destined for one another, and everyone seems to know it but them. Best friends since childhood, their relationship gets closer by the day, until Alex gets the news that his family is leaving Dublin and moving to Boston. At 17, Rosie and Alex have just started to see each other in a more romantic light. Devastated, the two make plans for Rosie to apply to colleges in the U.S.

She gets into Boston University, Alex gets into Harvard, and everything is falling into place, when on the eve of her departure, Rosie gets news that will change their lives forever: She's pregnant by a boy she'd gone out with while on the rebound from Alex.

Her dreams for college, Alex, and a glamorous career dashed, Rosie stays in Dublin to become a single mother, while Alex pursues a medical career and a new love in Boston. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel, structured as a series of clever e-mails, letters, notes, and a trail of missed opportunities, Alex and Rosie find out that fate isn't done with them yet.

From the gifted author of PS, I Love You comes this charming, romantic, addictively page-turning novel that will keep readers laughing and guessing until the very last page. ~Excerpt from Goodreads~~

Rowell Holidays: On Fangirl and Eleanor and Park

Like I said on my previous post, I'm definitely posting my Rainbow Rowell holiday experience. Yes, that means Fangirl and Eleanor and Park. 

Photo from Novelsounds

HAPPY NEW YEAR BLOGOSPHERE!

I know I'm already 3 days late but it's better late than never. Ha-ha! Happy New Year!
I really did try to make a post last December after my November post but then things got a little busier than ever and even my internet connection was being so ridiculous.

Anyways, just a little recap with my December and some peeks to my upcoming posts and blogging goals that I look forward to fulfill in connection with my resolutions. Hmmp.