G.L.A.M.

I was a little depressed last time and I ended up buying this cute notebook.

The pages are in purple as well!

I had transferred my notes from my old one as my cats had scratched off the covers too.

Anyways, I am trying to think of other things so that I'll be motivated to work even harder.

I am always praying about the same thing as well.

So help me God.

XoXo,

Joana

Winter is Finally Here!

Mimi and I had gone off to The Pearl last night to drink coffee and have a little chat as well.

The original plan was to get a massage.

I had booked an appointment for 2 persons and when we had gone there, we found out that it will be in two different places so we ended up not getting one.

Since we are already in the area, we had decided to go to The Pearl instead.

It's so cold outside already!

Good thing I got my scarf with me or I could have frozen.

I have to get more scarves.

Cheers to more chilling days!

XoXo,

Joana 

Christmas Time

Wheeew!

I am almost done with my Christmas shopping.

Yes, almost.

I got some presents already for my friends except for the kids which I'll have to complete today.

Since I'll be leaving the country from the 16th until Christmas Eve, I will have to wrap up everything before that date.

I got some decors as well as I cannot put up my Christmas Tree because of Nana - she is a naughty and playful one.

I tried to set it up once but she's grabbing the balls on the tree.

So I got these from Carrefour instead.

Hamude got me the musical carousels and the Christmas wreath.

Joyeux Noel! 

Hohoho!

My Musical Carousel

She is so fascinated with these balls! 

What about you?

Is your home all dolled-up for the festive season?

XoXo,

Joana 

White Skin

My skin is fair. Or I think so.

After the Eid break and too much soaking under the sun, I had stacked up on these goodies to even out my skin tone.

It's quite effective and the milk soap smells yummy too.

The salt scrub is great for removing dead skin and it will really feel smooth.

I got these from The Philippine Store in Al Sadd.

Good thing that we already have this one instead of heading to Souq which is already packed with people.

Wish me luck on the scrubbing!

XoXo,

Joana 

Lamb Chops

The best lamb chops I had tasted so far.

We had dinner at Grand Joud Restaurant near Ramada Signal and it was great.

I don't normally eat lamb meat but I had tried this one and I finished my plate.

Their place is cozy and they also offer shisha but for those who are irritated by the smoke, try to dine there early when there's not that much crowd.

Come and visit them one of these days.

XoXo,

Joana 

'Twas a busy week.

Yes, indeed!

It was a busy week!

I had been running errands as I had sent in a package to the Philippines.

It was picked up by the shipping company two days back and should be received at home after 10 working days max.

Work has been so stressful for me and I ended up in a doctor's clinic.

I cannot breathe well and she told me since my lungs and heart are clear, might be from the acid brought about by the stressful situation.

Wheeew!

Aside from that, she had given me an appetite enhancer as I am also underweight.

Am just so thankful that today is already Thursday and I get a chance to rest well.

We had also booked our tickets and hotel for a six-day trip to Goa, India.

It's our first trip together since a couple friend of ours are going there for the holidays too!

I was supposed to go to Dubai over the weekend but my work visa hasn't been renewed and I'm hoping that this will be done come Monday.

Haist.

Hopefully, the I can still conquer the coming days.

XoXo,

Joana 

Thursday Thoughts

Thursday Thoughts

Flag Counter

And it is so early!

I cannot remember blogging this early before and I still cannot get over my deleted flag counter hahaha! 

While browsing for new Blogger templates last night and trying on some, I had accidentally removed the counter. 

Grrrrrr...and another grrrr...

Anyways, I can no longer do anything about it; at least the blog stats is still there. 

I hope I can hit the 10k mark before Christmas as I would love to give some stuffs (am thinking of some fab finds from Doha) to share my blessings :) 

In just a few weeks, it'll be 2013! Oh my! 

It's always my time to look back and check on my list if I had achieved any. 

Am trying to live my life one day at a time but it's also nice to look back, plan for the future, etc. 

Awww...and I already finished my cup of coffee. 

Time to hit the shower and go to work. 

'Til next time.

XoXo, 

Joana 

Accessorize

It was another couple of hours well spent with a good friend of mine.

We had spent those hours checking cool accessories in a shop in Royal Plaza.

They have discounts and most of the items are uber nice.

In the end, I got myself lots of headbands, a pair of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet!

The good news is, I did not break the bank!

This would look great on a white shirt. 

Summery! 

Pastel colored bracelet

Blair Waldorf-inspired Headbands :) 

Leaving you a photo of Blair (grabbed from Google :) ) 

XoXo,

Joana

Thursday Thoughts

Obama Wins!

President Barack Obama makes history.

He's re-elected and will serve for four more years.

Oh, it's a sign that I'll have to head over to the Embassy of the USA to get a visa.

I am praying that they'll give me one and given the chance, I would definitely love to experience a "White Christmas"!

XoXo,

Joana

Wordless Wednesday

All Saints' and All Souls' Day

It's another holiday spent away from the Philippines.

I had lighted some candles for my departed grandparents and relatives and offered prayers too.

We use to visit the cemetery, light up some candles, offer flowers and prayers.

My mom cooks Sumang Magkayakap too (Rice cake wrapped in banana leaves with sugar syrup).

Oh, how I miss it!

Haist, next year I want to spend it back home.

XoXo,

Joana 

Storage Wars

I am currently watching this series on the History Channel.

Storage Wars is actually a show wherein there are people bidding on storage rooms and they are selling the items inside afterwards.

It's a game for those with good eyes and has guts especially when the bid goes over the top.

The main characters are Barry Weiss - The Collector, whenever he finds something unique/antique he does not sell them, rather he adds it to his collection, Dave Hester - The Mogul, he would always shout "Yuuup" whenever he is bidding, Brandy and Jarrod - these couples are so cute, and Daryll - The Gamer.

The rule of the game: the hosts will open the lockers and the bidders will have 5 minutes to take a look at the contents of the locker without touching anything and going inside the storage room itself then the bidding begins.

There was one episode when a guy bought the locker for a cheap amount and he found a vault inside with cash!

Talk about luck!

You can watch Storage Wars on Orbit Showtime Network's Channel 85.

XoXo,

Joana 

Creating Cute Watermarks

Have you ever wondered on how to create watermarks in Photoshop? 

Those kind with cute images and all? 

I have existing text watermarks but I would like to try those with logos/images. 

Well, I had spent almost an hour trying to have this figured out but yay it's worth it!

Thanks to Mr. Google and YouTube! 

Here's a quick guide on how to do it: 

1) Open a new file in Photoshop. 

2) Type in your desired text. In my case, I had used "JOANA'S PHOTOS". It would be nice if you can use cute fonts too. You can download free ones from Kevin and Amanda's website. 

3) Add your desired image or logo. In this case, I had used those digital scrapbooking elements for the nice effect. Have the logo placed strategically near the text. Remember that you will use it as a watermark on your fab photos. 

4) Now, you are ready to crop (if the photo is a bit big though). Remove the background, normally we are working on a white background so deselect it from the Layers window - it's always the first layer. 

5) Save it by going to File then Save As, make sure to use an easy to remember filename on a folder (better if you can keep all the watermarks on the same folder) then have it saved as a .png file. 

6) And hoorah! You can now use your new watermark! Open your selected photo where you would like to have the watermark placed. Go to File then Place and you will see your new watermark now. Don't worry if it's too big. You can edit or move it by going to Edit then Free Transform. 

Below are the ones I had created just now: 

Credits to the following for the digital scrapbooking elements I had used: 

*Kevin and Amanda's Free Fonts 

*Rachel Jefferies' Captivated Visions Everyday Me Mini Kit 

*Audrey Neal's Bit of Luck Kit 

*Strawberries and Cream Mini Kit 

*Little Cup Cake Mini Kit 

*Mommyish Fandom Kit 

Let me know if you had created your own logos too! 

XoXo, 

Joana 

Sandy

I've been watching the news lately and had seen the devastating photos about the storm Sandy.

What I can't believe is that NYC is hit terribly.

I have a cousin in New Jersey and I had heard from her about two days back.

She said that it's her first time to experience a blackout in NJ.

Hoping that everything will be back to normal soon.

Praying for every one's safety.

XoXo,

Joana 

Thursday Thoughts