Shopping for books at the NoQ Store brings about an excitement like no other!

I won't deny that I love shopping. I also won't deny that I absolutely go crazy for books. Put this together and you'll realise that I am quite the shopaholic when it comes to books. To put things into better perspective, I have a library at home that looks like this:

Now you get the idea right? I am always on the lookout for great bargains, and online sites where I can park my bum, and shop to my hearts content. With all the bookstores closing down on us recently, it is really catastrophic for us book lovers to know that there's a shortage of bookshops on our little island. Thankfully though, more online bookstores are sprouting out, and one particular bookstore to keep a lookout for is NoQ Store!

NoQ actually stands for "no queue" and technically, there really is no queue when you are shopping with NoQ because it's an online subsidiary of the Times publishing that we are all too familiar with! :) Apart from that, the online store offers thousands of books carefully divided into our favorite sections for easy selection!

Recently, I shopped for some books, and here was how it went:

STEP ONE: Browse through their mad selection of books. They have different sections for different book genres. Here, you can find me browsing through the kid selection. You can automatically see the highlighted discounts and savings that you will be getting in Red.

STEP TWO: For more information, or even a synopsis of the book, do click on the book and you will be redirected to another page. On this page, you can see a larger image of the book selected, reviews of the book from fellow buyers, and also an add to cart option should you choose to buy it!

STEP THREE: If you are tired from all that browsing, there is a SEARCH option where you just have to type in the author or title, and you will be redirected to a result page with all the books. Here, I typed activities and found tons of books I am actually interested to get instead of the initial book I wanted. Sometimes, we all need some ideas when it comes to shopping!

STEP FOUR: Once you've add to cart with all your purchases, it's really a no brainer to get to the payment and delivery page. Best part is, you get to shop, and receive NTUC points if you are a member! Delivery takes a little longer sometimes, although they do promise to get your books to you within 3 weeks. But for me, the longer it takes, the more exciting it is to wait for mr mailman to come by with your loot!

Extra pointers to note:
- Delivery is FREE for purchases over SGD25
- Type in your email address for newsletters emailed to you! I find this really useful because they email relevant book ideas as well as discount codes from time to time.
- There is a chatline box for you to get your enquiries answered on site.

After three weeks,
Santa came in the form of a courier man who delivered these beautiful books to me and boy, was I a delighted little girl all over again!

I had a pleasant experience shopping at the NoQ store, and if you would like to shop too, here's a sweet deal for all my readers! Just key in the code, ITCHYFINGERS at the end of the purchase, and you will receive a cool 15% off your total amount. :) Sweet deal, ain't it? There is no reason not to shop now!

Happy Shopping, and I hope you have a bookalicious time!

Disclaimer: I was given a book voucher to purchase some books at the store for this review, and all thoughts and opinions are solely mine. 

Sharing simple number books we learn to rote count with.

I have lost count of how many books I have read to the kids. Some that I really like and the kids have taken a fancy to, I read them over and over again. Actually, the kids are more than fine with reading the same books over and over (and over and over and over) again. Husband and I do take turns with the bedtime stories though. No wonder they say, babies are most comfortable with routine. More often than not, it is mom and dad who crave for something fresh, hence the need to shop for more books! Those books that I find a bore, and they do too, we just shove it to the back of the shelf, leaving space in front for the favorites.

Everyday, we go through the routine reading of of their favorite books. These are just some of the number books that my boys have grown to love, which in one way or another have taught them the basics of numbers and rote counting. The best are still those, which rhyme, or can sing a tune or two with... and definitely those with tens of kisses to exchange!

One to Ten and Back Again by Nick Sharratt and Sue Heap

The best part of this book is that it counts from One to Ten, and from Ten to one. Hence, it is almost like reading the numbers twice in a row, instilling better memory for the numbers one to ten.

Ten Tiny Tickles by Karen Katz

Karen Katz is a favourite among most mommies, and I am no different. I love this number book by her simply because with each page, you get to do the activity with your own baby, allowing them to relate to it even better. I read this to ahmed every morning when he wakes, and he loves how with every page turned, he gets more tickles!

Spot Can Count! by Eric Hill

How can anyone not know who Spot the dog is? Spot, every household's favourite! Well, at least he was my favoruite back when I was still little. And now that I am all grown up, it's time to read Spot's fun adventures to my little ones. The boys love going around from page to page, opening those flaps to see who and what is behind it. And in this book, behind those flaps lay the answers to how many animals there are on each page. What I like about this book, he gets to learn those numbers along with learning the animals they have on the farm. Two-in-one, a good deal I say!


My Very First Book of Numbers by Eric Carle

Unlike the first three picture books, this book by Eric Carle is not a story book. Rather, it teaches the numbers in a very interactive way. With each number, you get to turn the bottom half to match the pictures shown.  Anything with flaps and matching, it's a hit with the kids!

Nutty Numbers by Dr Seuss

I admit, I am quite biased when it comes to Dr Seuss. I love his books, all of it. I love how how it rhymes with every sentence. I get to read it in a nice tone when it rhymes! Well, it's even better when it comes with flaps that manages to capture the boys at full attention. Like I mentioned, they love interactive flap books.

Of course, those I listed aren't the only number books in our library. They have plenty of others that I find quite trashy but allow them to play-read them on his own. (He is reading Goodnight Moon, 1,2,3 in this picture) In any case, any book that gets the boys seated down and concentrating on the content is a good enough book. Those I listed are just my personal favorites, I guess (from a mother's point of view) :)))

Other number books that I am eyeing and would love to add to our library:
The Most Amazing Hide-and-Seek Numbers Book
Daddy Hugs
The Twelve Days of Kindergarten
1, 2, 3 to the Zoo

The new additions to our family: Athos, Porthos, Aramis!

It has been a busy month. School has started. Birthday celebrations were on the way. I was busy, busy, busy.

As we said Hello to November, we also celebrated our youngest turning Two! We had a small, intimate party thrown over the weekend, and he was showered with much love and gifts from all those who mattered. A little more detailing about the party in the next post, for now we have something to share!

From a family of five (including the cat), we are now a family of EIGHT!

No no, we are not having triplets. Neither are we pregnant. (Oh boy, two boys is already quite a handful, we are not thinking of a third for sure!) Our youngest received a family of three little terrapins for his birthday, and we are all really excited about it!

Of course, the cat isn't all too happy he now has three other pet terrapins to vie for attention with, but the boys are enjoying every bit of the extra company. We do not have any names thought of yet, as we still can't differentiate between the three, but a friend on Facebook did suggest Athos, Porthos and Aramis after the Three Musketeers. Looks like those are the names we are going to stick with, but for now we really can't tell who is Porthos, Athos or Aramis!

365 days, 524 recipes kept in a vintage recipe box.

Most of my Foodie Friday posts have been about... Food! This week, I take a break from sharing what is cooked or brewed in the kitchen. Instead I would like to share something I recently bought that goes into the kitchen, is food-related, and is absolutely gorgeous!

When I first saw this recipe box from Typo, I knew I had to get my hands on it for sure. The rustic wood, the pink stencilled on fonts, and the whole vintage feel was just my kind of thing to house my favourite recipes.

Now I am thinking, I should re-watch Julie and Julia and perhaps embark on a 365 days, 524 recipes and 1 tiny apartment challenge. You think my pretty vintage recipe box can hold that many recipes?

"I love that after a day when nothing is sure, and when I say 'nothing' I mean nothing, you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It's such a comfort." 

--Amy Adams as Julie Powell

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