where did December go?

Wow, I can't believe that December (and 2010) is almost over! I've been really bad with keeping up with my blogging this past month, but work and the holidays have been taking their toll on my time management skills! LOL

I do promise to try to blog more regularly in the new year.

In the meantime, I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season and spending some time to relax with friends and family!

50 books in 2010 - update 7

Eeek! WIth only 9 days to then end of 2010, I'm SO close to my goal to read 50 books this year...and yet, I know that with the holiday season in full swing, I'm very likely NOT going to finish...but I'm very happy with the amount I have been able to accomplish this year!

1. The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper, finished January 13

2. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser, finished February 7

3. Lamb by Christopher Moore, finished February 12

4. The Man Who Ate the World by Jay Rayner, finished February 20

5. There Will be Dragons by John Ringo, finished February 26

6. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory, finished March 2

7. Emerald Sea by John Ringo, finished March 3

8. In a Time of Darkness by John Ringo, finished March 3

9. Against the Tide by John Ringo, finished March 9

10. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, by John Ringo, finished March 15

11. Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith, finished March 15

12. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, finished March 16

13. Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, finished March 18

14. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte, finished March 18

15. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished March 24

16. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, finished April 1

17. The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn, finished April 11

18. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, finished April 27

19. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist, finished May 10

20. The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy, finished May 24

21. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished June 5

22. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, finished June 10

23. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, finished June 15

24. The Queen's Sorrow by Suzannah Dunn, finished June 21

25. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay, finished July 3

26. The Shadow of the Pomegranate by Jean Plaidy, finished July 25

27. The King's Grey Mare by Rosemary H. Jarman, finished August 13

28. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, finished August 24

29. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 2

30. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 18

31. Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 22

32. The Queen's Captive by Barbara Kyle, finished September 23

33. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, finished October 10

34. The Twylight Tower by Karen Harper, finished October 15

35. The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory, finished October 26

36. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory, finished November 2

37. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, finished November 6

38. The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, finished November 10

39. Crocodile on the Sandback by Elizabeth Peters, finished November 26

40. Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay, finished November 30

41. The Thorne Maze by Karen Harper, finished December 6

42. The Kalahari Typing School for Men by Alexander McCall Smith, finished December 14

43. The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell, finished December 21

50 books in 2010 - update 6

Here's how I'm doing so far in my goal to read 50 books this year...

With only one more month to go, I'm going to have to do a LOT of reading in this last month to make my goal of reading 50 books! And as it's the holiday season, and that means a really busy time of year, it's going to be tough, but I'm going to give it my best shot!

1. The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper, finished January 13

2. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser, finished February 7

3. Lamb by Christopher Moore, finished February 12

4. The Man Who Ate the World by Jay Rayner, finished February 20

5. There Will be Dragons by John Ringo, finished February 26

6. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory, finished March 2

7. Emerald Sea by John Ringo, finished March 3

8. In a Time of Darkness by John Ringo, finished March 3

9. Against the Tide by John Ringo, finished March 9

10. East of the Sun, West of the Moon, by John Ringo, finished March 15

11. Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith, finished March 15

12. The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, finished March 16

13. Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, finished March 18

14. Captain Alatriste by Arturo Perez-Reverte, finished March 18

15. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished March 24

16. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, finished April 1

17. The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn, finished April 11

18. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, finished April 27

19. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist, finished May 10

20. The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy, finished May 24

21. Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, finished June 5

22. The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld, finished June 10

23. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, finished June 15

24. The Queen's Sorrow by Suzannah Dunn, finished June 21

25. Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay, finished July 3

26. The Shadow of the Pomegranate by Jean Plaidy, finished July 25

27. The King's Grey Mare by Rosemary H. Jarman, finished August 13

28. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, finished August 24

29. Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 2

30. Servant of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 18

31. Mistress of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist & Janny Wurst, finished September 22

32. The Queen's Captive by Barbara Kyle, finished September 23

33. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, finished October 10

34. The Twylight Tower by Karen Harper, finished October 15

35. The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory, finished October 26

36. The Virgin's Lover by Philippa Gregory, finished November 2

37. A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, finished November 6

38. The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle, finished November 10

39. Crocodile on the Sandback by Elizabeth Peters, finished November 26

Currently reading:

- The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George

- Great Harry by Carolly Erickson

- The Man Who Ate Everything by Jeffrey Steingarten

big plans for the weekend

Since I'll be closing the shop for a little while starting December 1 (read more about that here) I've decided to hold a really big sale this weekend to coincide with the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.

I'll be marking down lots of items in my shop - this will be the biggest sale pandacub has ever had, so I hope you'll come check it out.

Also, if join my Facebook pandacub fan page you'll get information on how to save 10% off your entire order (and yes, this will be valid for this weekend's sale too!)

On top of all this, I'm thinking of holding a big scavenger hunt in my shop through Twitter, during which you can win lots of cool pandacub goodies - stay tuned on the blog and Facebook page for more info on that!

refreshing the shop

I'm going to spend December focusing on the holidays and my family, and also taking some time to refresh my shop - checking inventory, updating photos and introducing new products, which means that I'll be taking my Etsy shop offline for most of December.

If you want any pandacub products for the holidays, please shop early! :)

As an added bonus, I'm having a huge sale from November 27-30 (to coincide with Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales) in my Etsy Shop - so happy shopping!

The pandacub Etsy shop will be close for the holidays starting December 1, but I'll still be around to blog, email and answer convos!

lest we forget...

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

- In Flanders Fields by Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

which house are you?

So, Harry Potter fans - are you excited for Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows coming on November 19?

I'm a big fan of Harry Potter and was inspired to create some bobby pins to represent the 4 Houses of Hogwarts. All 4 sets are available in my pandacub Etsy shop.

The 4 pairs of bobby pins encompass the House colours:

Gryffindor: scarlet and gold

Hufflepuff: canary yellow and midnight black

Ravenclaw: blue and bronze

Slytherin: green and silver

"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart.
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil.
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind.
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
to achieve their ends."
- J.K. Rowling
from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

So, what House do you belong to?

sock monkey power for the holidays

Want to add a cute touch to your holiday gifts, as well as help out a good cause?

Normally every time someone buys a sock monkey brooch from pandacub, I donate $1.50 to Operation Sock Monkey (which is 50% of the selling price of the brooch), but for the entire month of November, I will be donating 100% of the selling price ($3.00) to OSM!

Operation Sock Monkey, run by my friend Lindsay, is an initiative that supports Clowns Without Borders South Africa (CWBSA). CWBSA is an amazing organization that provides laughter, hope and healing to communities affected by HIV/AIDS. I'm hoping that with your help, we can help OSM and CWBSA continue to bring smiles and laughter to children who are in much need of it.

The sock monkey brooches are available in 3 different colours and 3 different poses, so why not add a brooch to your gift packaging this year. You'll add a touch of whimsy to your gifts and help out OSM at the same time!

vacation photos

I'm the laziest vacation photographer in the world. Well, not really. I love taking photos while I'm ON vacation. I just don't have the energy after I come BACK from vacation to upload all the photos, go through them to delete any blurry ones, then crop the good ones and upload them onto Flickr.

As many of my regular blog readers know, at the end of September, I travelled to Hong Kong with my husband, sister and brother-in-law for a two-week trip (with a short excursion to Tokyo).

Ginza district at night, Tokyo, Japan

My friends, co-workers and family have all been bugging me to get something, ANYTHING online to share with them, so I finally managed to get a few shots up onto my Flickr site.

I actually have 2 Flickr accounts, in case anyone wants to add me as a contact (and I'll return the favour). pandacubcafe is the account I use to show off all the lovely things I've made for my pandacub shop. My newer account, sc_wanderlust, is more just vacation and personal photos. I've been slowly moving my personal photos from pandacubcafe to sc_wanderlust, but, as I said, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to Flickr (trying to change that!)

A cleansing pool outside a temple, Tokyo, Japan

Nan Lian Garden, Hong Kong

Anyhow, I had an absolutely AMAZING two weeks in Hong Kong and Japan and wish it were much longer. As you'll be able to see in my photos, there was a lot of eating and good food to be had.

I used to go to Hong Kong almost every other year when I was younger, but I haven't been back for over 15 years and it was by husband's first time there. It was also both our first times in Tokyo, which was really cool.

The iconic Star Ferry with Hong Kong island in the background

I've only been back for less than a month but I'm already daydreaming about our next trip! Although, I must admit, we'll probably choose somewhere that's a little closer to home - those long-haul flights are just a pain in the butt (literally!).

To see more of my vacation photos, visit my sc_wanderlust Flickr account, or click Hong Kong or Tokyo.

The Hong Kong skyline at night, as seen from the Kowloon side, Hong Kong

jet-lagged

My 2-week vacation/trip to Hong Kong and Tokyo was FABULOUS! I still need to upload my photos and sort through them, and I plan on sharing some of my trip right here on this blog, but I'm suffering from jetlag so have been slower than usual.

I got home early, early Sunday morning and was back to work today, so my body is suffering pretty badly. I'm wide awake when I should be in bed and during the day I get very exhausted and my eating pattern is out of whack too (Hong Kong is 12 hours ahead so my body is totally mixed up).

*sigh* I'm hoping to be back on this blog regularly in a few days with lots of great photos and fun travel stories!