a walk with him

i love that i have a photograph of me walking with mom, and a separate one walking with my dad. in a way, my mom is still in this one, represented by my red coat. :)



note: i couldn't open the frame to properly scan the photo cos it's old and stuck, hence the scanned frame.

she likes red.

what a pleasant surprise at the wee hours of yesterday!
found this picture of my mom and i. i think this was taken outside of loblaw's after a bit of grocery shopping. now that i think of it, even if she wasn't wearing her red floral dress, her red kerchief to tie her hair back, or bringing her red umbrella along before it rained, she'd be wearing red lipstick. even now, at the age of 64, she still puts her red lipstick on at home.

16 and counting...

this morning my sister told me that she had woken up in the middle of the night and couldn't fall back to sleep, so she decided to count the number of houses/apartments she has lived in for the past 38 years of her life.

i started counting as well, and the magic number is 16!!! 16 in 31 years!

16 and counting :)

do you believe in love at first sight?

i'm not sure i do, but when i met him eight years ago i felt something i wasn't sure of.. but there certainly was something.

about sharing

sometimes i'm afraid if we only share the important stuff without the mundane, we'll lose communication, and each other. because, life's about everything and nothing and all the things in between.

weekend

it was spent with the family, in bogor. kept on procrastinating work. kept on thinking, enjoy your time with family. enjoy being in the present. the present of food and sleep :)

it was special. progress on the preparations. along with my 4 lovely (and very chatty) aunts, spent friday munching on street food. i somehow became a witness at court. and by midday ended up trying on a dozen or so kebayas. they all voted on one pretty, soft and feminine number in taupe/nude color. one of my aunts also decided on buying me the light golden fabric for the evening kebaya. thank you!! my other aunt will sew it for me. and they will lend me my grandmother's antique brooches for the big day. i feel so loved.

something else happened this weekend. my 4 year old niece decided to give herself one edgy haircut. it took her 3 years to grow it and 5 seconds to snip it. well, half of it. she was happy that she had both long and short hair :)

half past midnight

i'm excited about the wedding, but oddly enough, not overly. people say "enjoy this part, enjoy fantasizing"... oddly enough, i've been too realistic, but never pessimistic. sometimes i feel like i'm raining on my own parade. perhaps it's because i'm not (as?) naive anymore, perhaps because i feel more mature, perhaps it's because i'm lucky enough to have gone through my life so far, him as well, and we both have come to our decision, so naturally. that part is really nice. it's not all about the wedding, it's about the marriage.

i'm excited about the unknown. the good, even the bad, the things that will be unveiled, the obstacles we'll have to overcome together, the events and disagreements that will shape our character. i realize it's not all fun and games, although we can try to make it to be. i realize it's going to take lots of hard work, compromise, even sacrifice. more trust and more faith. i'm thankful that marriage will be part of my learning experience in this lifetime.

sometimes it shines, sometimes it rains. then a rainbow after the rain.

there's always hope and laughter at the end of it :)

you are mine only

by sammy stein "sans titre" 2008

saturday wander

spent the saturday wandering around with my guy, taking the bus around the city (scenic tour at minimal cost), eating lunch at Gambir train station (refrained ourselves from taking a random trip somewhere), checked out last day's "ligne à ligne" exhibition at Galeri Nasional, which was mind-tickling. i loved watching him observe the installations and i can almost see his thoughts trickling upwards like ants marching... had coffee at the museum's cafe while we talked as he held my hand. i secretly took snapshots of him in my mind.

ended the day with buying canvasas for our personal projects. it was surely a beautiful saturday... with lovely weather!

my favorite wedding photograph

my parents on their wedding day, almost 41 years ago.

on mother's day

was doing my morning routine on monday, scrolling down postsecret.blogspot.com.

when i found this, i nearly cried.

i've been having a much closer relationship to my mother since i told her about my intentions of getting wed, and this postcard just hit home.

twirling down the aisle in 6 months!

woo hoo!

to cut or not to cut

that's my dilemma... usually every time my hair grows out.

but this time it's different. this time i'll be deciding whether i'll be strutting with sweet, cropped hair or an elegant (perhaps, simple traditional) bun 6 months from now. i'm not sure how i'll want my wedding pictures to look. i'm sure i'll be more comfortable with short hair, but when else am i going to volunteer to have my hair pulled and dressed up to the max? i'm sure my aunts (and mum) will prefer the second option. i can hear them say: we can put these "kembang goyang" (traditional gold-leaf flowers) in.. in addition to the fresh roses and jasmine and.. and... and...

i'm even more conflicted after browsing online to greenweddingshoes.blogspot.com and swsmag.net .. then adis sent me the collage of buns and headbands pic from dcnearlyweds.com ... so pretty.

i guess i can wait and try to grow my hair...

save the date

an early announce-a-doodle i've e-mailed to my friends abroad so that they can buy their tix to attend my wedding!

feeling giddy

2 days ago, he called me his fiancée in front of his grandma and family.

i still blush and smile just thinking about it :)

1 day before 6 months to the big day

yippie! i've made my first blog!

tomorrow marks the day 6 months prior to (ii&ras) tying the knot!

i'm thrilled, and it's just singking in. my best friend is so excited with me, she's been researching for wedding stuff/ideas which i've been saving in a messy folder without categories. i figured, i may as well compile it and jot down my notes here to keep (and share).

it's a very special stage in my life and i'm so thankful that everyone is so loving and full of support.
thank you thank you thank you!




ps. i should be working right now.