woulda shoulda coulda

would you die for me?

no, i'd live for you.

sunny black tuesday

since i will be going to a tahlilan tonight, all black is in order. a touch of bright color on the inside is necessary to give me a cheerful thought during the day, because i know i will weep tonight.

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black blazer: bought at jis' bazaar. black harem pants: designed by my little sister, ina. yellow tank top. gold sandals: be bob. suede purse: mango. corduroy laptop bag: aunt's label, ninin. hubby's swatch. girl pin: kamar karma. ring: from istanbul from older sister, nisa. silver/gold bangles. scarf: from some store in kemang.

new year's resolutions

patting myself on the back for having achieved my 2 resolutions/goals last year, my close friends and i are coming up with new ones.

in addition to the 2 (bake (at least) once a month and draw tattoo), i've added one that's more general and not constricting (in a recorded way), but way more restricting in daily life, which is: spend less, shop less, be satisfied with the wardrobe you have, be thankful for it, make use of it. that in turn will save me money to travel and have additional budget for our new house.

i've tried to apply this resolution to my life in the past year (without documenting it) and i've grown quite tired of my wardrobe. mostly i've made jewelry, bought a few belts and scarves to play things up a bit. gaining some weight only slims down the choices in your closet.

but with friends as inspiration, i know i can try to do another year! this time, try to document it from time to time, to keep things interesting and just do it for the challenge :)

some of my inspirations today:

http://pakaiapa.tumblr.com/

http://ditut.tumblr.com/

http://uberfunk.tumblr.com/


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red ballet flats: zara. pants: xsml. belt: melawai. black camisole: giordano. pink top: zara. watch: hubby's swatch. friendship bracelet: by adis.

rainbows come after storms

i must say, the last week of 2010 and the first week of 2011 were quite tough for my family, with my father falling sick (gout) and my sister and niece both being admitted to the hospital for dengue fever. actually, tough wouldn't be the correct word. the past 2 weeks has been so fulfilling for me because i get to experience the unconditional love and security my family can provide for each other. we've grown very much closer and more solid in tough situations. serving my father whenever he needed anything, playing with my 6 year old niece, switching shifts to the hospital with my sister, doing chores and cooking with my mother. the more time i spend with my her, the more i'm at awe at how beautiful and strong and giving a person she is. she is truly superwoman. she is the definition of the very word, mother. the definition of unconditional pure love and strength. i must say i'm very blessed to be born into my family, very blessed as well to have such a supporting husband. and at the end of the first week of the new year, we've gained a new addition to our family! followed by my mother's birthday!


ps. pics from left to right: new year's eve on the front porch, fireworks above us. checking on sleeping rahma, afraid she was gonna wake in fright. finger-puppet show by rahma. straightening of hubby's hair as a punishment for failing last year's resolution. my first try at mom's addictive sweet soy sauce chicken recipe. baby niece, not-yet-named until this very second. and she's 3 days old now :)

he said i forgot about bob.

we got ourselves a car for our anniversary!

because his license plate is BF, we've named him bob. bob frololo.

because of bob, we are free to roam the city (and out of it) whenever we'd like!

i love bob. bob's cool.

it's been a while...

it's been 4 months since i've last posted something. i really thought it was more than that.

a quick review of what's been up:

our first ied as a married couple , finished downpayment of our house and first installment of mortgage (september), hubby's birthday (october, day consisted of massage, dinner at an irish pub, coffee at our favorite joint), our anniversary (november 15th, waking up late, duck king lunch, megamind 3D movie, coffee then bogor), collaborating on our own and first christmas tree together (december).

this past year has been such a learning experience! i'm counting my blessings each and every day :)

right time, right place.

where did you meet each other?

it's definitely my favorite question to ask whenever i meet new friends who are a couple, and i've gotten pretty interesting answers. From meeting on the train from each day's commute, meeting in nepal while the guy happened to be riding his bike across the region (his plan was to bike around the world, but it got interrupted because he had met "the one"), and "we've known each other since junior high"...

my story isn't extraordinary at all: we met through a mutual friend somewhere around 2001 during lunch in a restaurant owned by a polygamist (which, i was vocally against the whole polygamy concept let alone eating there) but our friend insisted they had great chicken and fried tofu (err okay, but that's how it went). fast-forward a couple of years later, through the hype of social media (friendster), my now-husband gave me a short, innocent testimonial on my page (as that was the thing to do on birthdays and such) but it was a much belated wish. so we met up a few days later to have a coffee and chat. instead it became dinner, a couple of drinks and a couple of scoops of ice cream. we both had a great time, but only started dating a couple months afterward. and the rest is history :)

i knew my parents' process towards a marriage was very quick, they met through my mother's boss, and 3 months later my parents wed. 3 days later, my dad was stationed in paris, and my mom flew to be with him a few months later.

but i never really knew how they met in detail until recently.

turns out, my mother was walking to work as her boss drove past and offered her a ride, but he needed to make a stop at his twin's house. his twin was nowhere in sight, instead was his housemate who needed a lift as well.

so here we are, 42 years, 5 daughters, 6 (almost 7) grandchildren later.

nothing's coincidence, everything's supposed to happen exactly when it happens.
and all is well in the end.