Author: Sumthinblue

Harry Holidays!

This is one of the reasons I’ve been so busy this season: the Harry Potter Christmas tree!

I wanted a bookish Christmas tree this year so I ended up putting it up myself. And then I had my heart set on a Harry Potter theme, so I drove myself crazy searching for ornaments and even making some of it myself!

It’s been a photo-finish job (I crammed most of it in the last couple of weeks, mostly when my mom was in Singapore, and to her credit, she did not bat an eyelash at my pagan tree!), but it was a lot of fun putting it together!

Here it is, in pictures:

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Christmas Reading

It’s almost Christmas!

Before I get even busier in the next couple of days, here’s this year’s roundup of Christmas reading: The Night Before Christmas, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, The Twelve Days of Christmas, and A Christmas Carol, books #171-175 for 2010.

And to all my readers, a very merry Christmas!!!

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10 interesting things about Marianne Villanueva

Last Saturday, I was holed up at Libreria again with fellow Flippers and book bloggers for a meetup with author Marianne Villanueva, arranged by Rocket Kapre. The Flippers were supposed to have a breakfast meeting, but I went home well past midnight from the previous night’s office party, got an hour’s sleep before dragging myself out of bed for the dawn mass, and then went back to sleep. I was alarmed when Gege’s text woke me up at 10am, when we were designated to meet! I threw on a shirt, shorts and flipflops (and I forgot my camera, too!) and hightailed it to Cubao, just in time for lunch at Ali Mall.

I was still bleary eyed by the time we went back to Libreria, but the discussion was well underway, and I think I was barely coherent while I was nursing a couple cups coffee. Unfortunately I had to hightail it again back home to Makati for a change of clothes for a girls’ night out with my high school friends, but I did get my copy of The Lost Language: Stories signed, and enough interesting factoids about the author to make me want to read the book!

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My Birthday Wish: Reading in Batanes

I don’t usually join blogging contests, because there are very few that fit my blogging niche. But I came across the SEAIR Batanes Winter Blogger Tour Contest on several travel blogs I follow (as well as the SEAIR Facebook fan page), and I realized this is one contest I just can’t pass up!

I’m not a travel blogger, but reading is actually one of my favorite travel activities (as you’ll see further along this post)!

Of course, I like to take in the sights, the culture, and the gastronomic delights, but I  also happen to do my best reading while traveling because it’s the only time I can really read in peace, for long stretches of time. So I end up packing books (and my book light) in my suitcase, spending more time thinking about what books to bring rather than the outfits I’ll be needing (really!) and I read voraciously every chance I get: while in transit, while waiting for meals, passing the time in airport pre-departure areas, during flights, and even after a long day of travel activities, right before I drift off to sleep.

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The Week in Loot

In case you’re wondering why I haven’t posted in the past few days, it’s because I’m trapped in the holiday frenzy — Christmas shopping to complete, presents to wrap, parties to attend and the horrible city traffic. Plus the dawn masses have started and I wake up at 4am to go, so I’m running on very little energy at the moment. Hopefully normal blogging resumes after Christmas, but I’ll try and post more before then.

Anyway, I was supposed to be shopping for books on other people’s wishlists, but they’ve been elusive so far, and I’ve illicitly gone a-looting for myself (I promised not to buy any more books for myself until Christmas, but I’ve given up on that) because well, the holiday stress was getting to me and book shopping is therapeutic (and yes, I have no self-control)!

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