Happy New Year 2011

In this post. I am going to say "HAPPY NEW YEAR" for all you=) Just like the image above, let's leave all the bad things behind and let's enter the new year of 2011 with a fresh mind and a happy soul. Here's one quote that I found about how you can carry yourself in this world. I was amazed when reading this quote by John O'Donohue is a poet and Hegelian philosopher from Ireland. It's not a long writing but surely can help you to make a great first day of a new year ahead by having some kind of a mind-blowing thought...Hope 2010 has been a good year for you and hopefully 2011 will be a better year for all of us. Happy New Year. Happy Holiday...xoxo

"No one else has access to the world you carry around within yourself; you are its custodian and entrance. No one else can see the world the way you see it. No one else can feel your life the way you feel it. Thus it is impossible to ever compare two people because each stands on such different ground. When you compare yourself to others, you are inviting envy into your consciousness; it can be a dangerous and destructive guest."

- John O'Donohue (Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom) -

(image source: vi.sualize.us)

Making New Year's Resolution

New year is coming very soon. Several days from now we'll be entering the year 2011. Don't you feel time has gone so fast? Speaking of new year, it's a common thing for us to make new year resolutions. Have you got your new year's resolutions? I used to have very specific resolutions back then but now my new year's resolution is simply to be a better person in every aspect of my life. I stumbled upon this tips tips to make new years resolutions from lessons4living.com. So, for those of you who haven't got any new year's resolutions, maybe these tips will help =)

"Making Resolutions - New Year’s Resolutions."

The beginning of a New Year is the traditional time to make resolutions. A resolution is a formal expression of intent to change. It declares your resolve and determination to be different. A New Year is a new start and can be a good time to assess yourself. What would you like to change?

So, there are three possible resolutions to be made for the New Year. Commitments to change something in the areas of the mind, body, and spirit. Here are some tips to help along the way.

• Don’t be too ambitious. Don’t set yourself up to fail. Set goals that are reasonable and reachable.
• Look at a resolution as an opportunity to do something exciting and new and not as a task of drudgery.
• Tell others about the resolutions you are making. When we tell others what we plan it increases our motivation to do it.

(source: lessons4living.com - image source: mylifemyinsanity.tumblr)

Love is all around..

Good Morning everyone =) How's your weekend went? Hope you all had a great Christmas moment. My father is celebrating Christmas Day. We had dinner, a seafood dinner. It was so fun to always be able to spend time with the whole family. So, what makes me wanna post the images below? It seems to me that this year end holiday season is always full of love...love is all around. People always try to show their love to other people. But wait, not only us human that always want to show out affection to others but also these cute animals. Even animals have feelings I believe =) So, here are some images to show you that LOVE is actually all around...we will never run out of love...

(image sources: vi.sualize.us, .padrebergamaschi.com, flickr, photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net)

Prayers..

How often do you say a prayer when you really want something so bad? How do you feel when in the end your prayers have been answered? Let's say that your prayer has been answered...do you think it's because God think that you deserve something you've been asking or is it because you have found ways to get you to the thing you've been asking for? Which one do you think is right? I think it's both right. Our prayers are answered because we believe that we can get there. It's all about the power of prayer and believing it.

Within ourselves there a great power of believing something that is within our reach, that is possible for us to make it come true. But what's more important is what will happen afterward. We can't forget about how grateful it is when our prayers finally have been answered. You know how it feels when you finally realized that little by little the prayers have been answered.

Being fully grateful is the most important thing that we have to do as a human being. It makes us realize that we are not left behind this world...makes us realize that God has been thinking about us too =)

Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul;

man cannot live in health without them

- Mahalia Jackson -

(image via flickr and weheartit)

Cozy Bus Shelter by IKEA

Advertising campaign nowadays keep getting more and more creative. Including this IKEA campaign I found via freshome. Since the first time I know Ikea, it always had a creative advertising campaign. Last time it was the billboard that wrote the word LOVE by using the Ikea furniture, the other time Ikea was making a campaign by designing a train using Ikea fabrics. This time it's a "bus stop" advertising campaign in Paris. It turns bus shelter into small cozy lounge. Don't you just think it's unique and creative? =)

(all images via here)

Gypsy Decor...

Are you the one who loves simple decor or the one who's prefer a "busy" or "energetic" room decor? If you're prefer my second option, then this decor is your perfect choice. It's called "Gypsy Farm", located in Sussex (1.5 hours from south London). Found this place from AirSpaces. The farmhouse has three barns and it is surely a country home style. I love the clutter and the various colors of all the furnitures. It feels to me that the owner was not afraid to put all kinds of furniture on one room. And the result is amazing...

(all images from airspaces.co.uk)

Fate is like a small sandstorm

So, the continue yesterday's topic about fate, I found this amazing and thoughtful paragraphs about fate written by Haruki Murakami from one of his books, Kafka on the Shore. Haruki Murakami a Japanese writer who often writes about a story that can make your mind jump out of your common thoughts. I love all of his works. I often just browse on his quotes from parts of his books just to refresh my mind about this life. His writes unique stories with thoughtful words and sentences that I often read several times because the sentences are so good. Do you know the feeling when you got goosebumps reading some of the great writings? Not goosebumps in a spooky way but those that can blow one's mind. I can feel goosebumps reading the paragraphs below. This one is about fate.

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.

An you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.

And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” Haruki Murakami (Kafka on the Shore)

(image source: weheartit.com)

Our own FATE

Have you ever wonder about what FATE really is about? Lately I've been thinking about it. I wonder whether fate is merely there for us and waiting for us until we get there or it's actually us who build our own fate. Is it written or we get a chance to write our own fate? Can we write or design our own path? What do you think? When I look up the dictionary, it defines fate as:

• The supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events
• The inevitable events predestined by this force.
• A final result or consequence; an outcome.
• Unfavorable destiny; doom.

It says a lot about one short word, fate. I do believe in fate though. I believe that all of us has already got our own written and pre-destined life, but that doesn't mean that we can change it. We can change it to a better way that we want to. Although there are certain parts that we might not be able to change. Here's something I found about believing in fate:

To believe in fate, you must believe or accept that you have no idea what is going on, but someone or something does. If you believe that the universe is guided by some unseen force with some form of an ultimate plan, whatever that may be, you have to accept that you don't understand that plan, you don't know that plan, and you'll never understand that plan. (via)

It's all up to you whether you want to believe or not to believe in fate. After all, I do believe that we have to be responsible to write our own life story with God leading us the right way and giving us the best options that we can choose.

(image via weheartit)

Morning Person..

Simple question: "Are you a morning person?". What will your answer be? I can say that I am a morning person. I wake up early to do a morning prayer and then I go back to sleep for an hour and I wake up when the sun just about to rise. I love the feeling of doing nothing and just to watch the black sky turn to gray and finally turn to a clear blue morning sky. It feels like walking into a different world. And what makes it better is when you are able to hear the bird singing in the morning. Such a fresh start to enter the new day. I love to neat the clutter in my house early in the morning so when everyone finally wake up, all the rooms are clean and neat. Therefore everyone can start their day in a good start just to see the house clean and neat. I hope this does not sound too cocky haha. However, on the weekends I also love to sleep a couple of hours longer =)

If you're not sure whether you're a morning person or not, take the quiz here. Just for fun and just to see whether you're a morning and night person. I took the quiz...and guess what, the results said that I am a morning person:

You Are a Morning Person

You're optimistic, alert, and full of energy to start the day. While you would love to party all night, you rather be up at the crack of dawn. You don't procrastinate or spend time worry about what to do next. You take life by the reigns, and you like to have an early start. (image sources: weheartit and deviantart.com)

Amazing Facts...

One of my favorite things is to read about random facts, from the most simple things to the most complicated things. Getting to know new issues or new information is one of my favorite things to do. It feels like a refreshment when I can fill up my thoughts with something new. So, I found this amazing site called Big Site of Amazing Facts. As obvious as its name, the site brings you those amazing facts in this world. You'll find many amazing random facts here such as:

• Why are more people right-handed than left-handed?
• How did Thomas Edison invent the phonograph if he was deaf?
• When was pizza first made?
• Why does putting metal in a microwave create sparks?
• Where is the windiest place in the world?
• Which is the most landed space in monopoly and how many in the world have played monopoly?
• ....and many more amazing facts!

So..ready to learn more about amazing things in this worlds? Happy browsing and reading =)

A Cup Of Chocolate...

This chocolate drink recipe might be useful for holiday season. And what's good about this recipe is that you can store the drink for up to 2 weeks. You can also give this as a gift to family and friend =) Isn't it great? The reason why I am posting this recipe is because on the last several days, the wind blows so hard and I always feel like having a cup of hot chocolate, not warm but hot. I always love to just stay at home watching the tube or read a good book and the hot chocolate is a really good substitute for a comforting drink if you think you've had too many cups of coffee for the day. So I was browsing along the web and stumbled upon this recipe on Project Foodie, and this one is called Mexican Drinking Chocolate.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds (20 ounces) bittersweet chocolate (61 to 66 percent cacao), finely chopped
• 2 1/4 cups heavy (whipping) cream
• 2 soft, plump whole vanilla beans, split and scraped
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground chipotle chile powder
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ½ teaspoon almond extract

• 
  
• Implements: Four (½-Pint) Decorative Glass Jars with Tight-Fitting Lids, Kitchen Scale, Cutting Board, Chef's Knife, Large Heatproof Glass or Stainless-Steel Bowl, Measuring Cups and Spoons, Paring Knife, Medium Saucepan, Silicone Spatula. Prep Time: 20 minutes. Cook Time: 5 minutes. Makes four (½-pint) jars of drinking chocolate.

Directions:

1. Wash the jars, including the lids, in hot, soapy water and dry thoroughly. Alternatively, run the jars through the regular cycle of your dishwasher; wash the lids by hand.
2. Place the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan over low heat, bring the cream, vanilla beans (seeds and pods), cinnamon, and chipotle chile to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat. Using a silicone spatula, press the vanilla pods against the side of the pan to remove any remaining seeds and cream. Discard the pods.
4. Immediately pour the cream mixture over the chocolate, stirring constantly until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Add the corn syrup and almond extract, stirring until incorporated.
5. Pour the chocolate ganache into the prepared jars, dividing it evenly and leaving ½ inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean and secure the lids. Label and refrigerate.

• Storing: Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
• Gift-Giving Tips: Tie each jar with raffia or ribbon and attach a recipe card. To turn this into a gift basket, consider including small mugs or even cappuccino cups and saucers, along with a fine-mesh shaker filled with a specialty cocoa powder for dusting the top of the drinks.

(recipe and image source: Project Foodie)

Balance your life..

Hello Monday..Hello You =) How's weekend everyone? Did you have a great time? I went to my friend's wedding which happen to be a cousin of my boyfriend. It was so nice to be able to meet families and relatives..old and new faces =) The wedding was a typical traditional Indonesian wedding, West Sumatra in particular. So here I am thinking that what a difference a week made. On those workdays, all you do is just work work work...and on weekend, it's all about meeting families and friends and socializing. I really agree on the balance between work and life.

After all life is all about balancing your activities. What good will it be if you succeed in your career but you don't have time for your loved ones and friends? I wouldn't do such thing. What I want in life is just simple..to be happy doing my job and to be able to spend time with families and friends. Here's an article written by Erika Rasmusson Janes about balanced life from Marie Claire.

5 Ways to Live a More Balanced Life - How to balance work, play, and rest.

1. FORCE YOUR BRAIN TO DRAW A LINE BETWEEN WORK AND HOME.

"Your ability to do a good job at work depends on whether you have a personal lif

e that refreshes and restores you," says social psychologist Jane Adams. If you can't stop thinking about work after you leave the office, create a mental filing cabinet. "Sit down in a quiet place, open it, and deal with your work worries. Then, mentally close the cabinet and do something else," she suggests. Try this on Fridays before leaving the office for the weekend — or each night. Mentally lock the cabinet, if necessary.

2. LEAVE MULTITASKING AT THE OFFICE.

You may subconsciously take your office habits — especially multitasking — home with you. You might find yourself washing dishes while phoning your mom, or checking your BlackBerry while in a movie. "We've become so used to living in overdrive that we take it as normal, but ou

r bodies don't," says stress expert Kathleen Hall. To balance work, play, and rest, write down five ways work blends into your playtime. Then, choose one to focus on. If you obsessively check your BlackBerry during your time off, cut back — first by half, then more until you get it down to once a night. By transforming mindless habits into conscious choices, you'll limit your body's stress and gain control of your day — and night.

3. MAKE FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF YOUR PROFESSION.

To lead a more fulfilling personal life, expand your exposure to people you don't work with, says Douglas Rushkoff, author of Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out. Otherwise, you'll constantly be pushed into the role you play at the office. Sign up for an art class, or at yoga, introduce yourself to the woman who's downward-dogging next to you.

4. PUT A TIME LIMIT ON YOUR TALK ABOUT WORK.

If all of your friends work in your industry, set rules when you socialize. Agree to vent, gossip, or strategize for a specific amount of time — say, 10 minutes — and appoint a timekeeper. When the allotted number of minutes is up, deliberately switch the topic — to anything from politics to Paris Hilton.

5. MAKE HOME YOUR SANCTUARY.

To prevent work from invading your home, create a personal project — it will help you recharge and relax but still feel active. Buy canvases and paint, make CDs for friends, or begin a home-improvement project, says Christine Hassler, a life coach for 20-something women. Another tip: Consider cooking. Eating meals in your own kitchen makes your home feel less like a hotel.

(article source: marieclaire.com - image sources:

heysyazamoochie.tumblr & common-misconceptions.tumblr)

Life's Assumptions..

I just this thought going around in my head. People say that life is all about choices. My whole life I always thought that way too about life. If it’s not black, then it’s white. If it’s not right, then it’s wrong.

But just yesterday, I had a different thought about life.

What if all this time…life is all about assumptions? You have to make some assumptions of life in which if the first assumption was not working properly, you still have your second assumption. Therefore, life is all about creating your own scenario. That’s what I think…

(image source: By heather pauline - flickr)

Patios..

What is a patio? Patio derived from a Spanish word which means backyard or back garden and patio is commonly can be called veranda or balcony (source: wikipedia). I can really consider patio as a place for daily retreat. Found these beautiful patios on Sunset.com. While I am seeing the images below, I can imagine myself going back home from long day at work, making a cup of warm tea and tuning in into some relaxing swing jazzy tunes and just sit down relaxing at the patio. Oh, and the cute pug that I've always wanted=) What do you think? Sounds good, right?

(all images from sunset.com)

You might as well lie back and enjoy

I found this writing written by the oh-so-talented Neil Gaiman about life, which is all about balance. It is one of those writing that you can use as some kind of a guide for your life, just to ensure you that life is not always good. You just have to face some dull moments now and then. Life is full of ups, life is also full of down moments. Life is bad, life is good. But in the end, the best thing that you can do is just to ENJOY LIFE =) And as for now..you might as well enjoy reading Neil Gaiman quotes below. Have a good Friday..

“I can believe things that are true and things that aren’t true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they’re true or not.

I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen - I believe that people are perfectable, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkled lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women.

I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone’s ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state.

I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste.

I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we’ll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds.

I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman.

I believe that mankind’s destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it’s aerodynamically impossible for a bumble bee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there’s a cat in a box somewhere who’s alive and dead at the same time (although if they don’t ever open the box to feed it it’ll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself.

I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn’t even know that I’m alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck.

I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn’t done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what’s going on will lie about the little things too.

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman’s right to choose, a baby’s right to live, that while all human life is sacred there’s nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system.

I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you’re alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.”

Neil Gaiman (American Gods)

(image source: cdmuckosky.blogspot.com)

Watch Diary

This is very unique. I am sure that everyone who loves to write a journal or who loves to own a not book or a diary will love this book. This one is called WATCH DIARY. I found this really unique diary on Yanko Design. Wonjune Song is the creator of this Watch Diary. What makes this diary so unique is the watch located at the center of the book. Everytime you turn new pages, you'll see the watch and therefore you will always remember what you did on what time or what you'll do at what time. Just like what the site explain below:

The “red hand” indicates the current task, the “before hand” indicates past chores and the “forward hand” indicates the upcoming ones.

(all images via yankodesign.com)

What Happy Couples Do..

I found this really good article or list about things that happy couples do. The article was written by Mark Goulston, M.D, via oasisofinspiration. I believe that to be happy with yourself and to be happy when you're with your other half is both important. It's a good feeling when you're able to be happier when you're with your loved one. So, have you ever been jealous every time you see a really happy couple as if they're a match made in heaven? I do believe that the couple always do the things that can make their life happier. It takes two to tango, so I believe that both party plays the same important role in order to make a happy and healthy relationship. Here are 10 things that happy couples do...have you done any of it?

10 things that happy couples do

1. Go to bed at the same time.

Remember the beginning of your relationship, when you couldn’t wait to go to bed with each other? Happy couples resist the temptation to go to bed at different times. They go to bed at the same time, even if one partner wakes up later to do things while their partner sleeps.

2. Cultivate common interests.

After the passion settles down, it’s common to realize that you have few interests in common. But don’t minimize the importance of activities you can do together that you both enjoy. If common interests are not present, happy couples develop them. At the same time, be sure to cultivate interests of your own; this will make you more interesting to your mate and prevent you from appearing too dependent.

3. Walk hand in hand or side by side.

Rather than one partner lagging or dragging behind the other, happy couples walk comfortably hand in hand or side by side. They know it’s more important to be with their partner than to see the sights along the way.

4. Make trust and forgiveness your default mode.

If and when they have a disagreement or argument, and if they can’t resolve it, happy couples default to trusting and forgiving rather than distrusting and begrudging.

5. Focus more on what your partner does right than what he or she does wrong.

If you look for things your partner does wrong, you can always find something. If you look

for what he or she does right, you can always find something, too. It all depends on what you want to look for. Happy couples accentuate the positive.

6. Hug each other as soon as you see each other after work.

Our skin has a memory of “good touch” (loved), “bad touch” (abused) and “no touch” (neglected). Couples who say hello with a hug keep their skin bathed in the “good touch,” which can inoculate your spirit against anonymity in the world.

7. Say “I love you” and “Have a good day” every morning.

This is a great way to buy some patience and tolerance as each partner sets out each day to battle traffic jams, long lines and other annoyances.

8. Say “Good night” every night, regardless of how you feel.

This tells your partner that, regardless of how upset you are with him or her, you still want to be in the relationship. It says that what you and your partner have is bigger than any single up

setting incident.

9. Do a “weather” check during the day.

Call your partner at home or at work to see how his or her day is going. This is a great way to adjust expectations so that you’re more in sync when you connect after work. For instance, if your partner is having an awful day, it might be unreasonable to expect him or her to be enthusiastic about something good that happened to you.

10. Be proud to be seen with your partner.

Happy couples are pleased to be seen together and are often in some kind of affectionate contact — hand on hand or hand on shoulder or knee or back of neck. They are not showing off but rather just saying that they belong with each other.

(article source: oasisofinspiration.com - all images from chriscraymer.com)

These little guys below are here to greet you a lovely Monday...a lovely new week full of smile and love. Below are the photography Alexander Crispin. Aren't they really adorable?

(image source: agentbauer.com)

Friendship is valuable..

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things. ~Author Unknown

I just came back having a brunch with my flatmate back when I was studying in Monash University Malaysia. It always feels so good to see close friend after quite some time. She's Malaysian and I'm Indonesian..the last time we met was about 5 years ago at our graduation. So, I've been waiting for this brunch and felt really excited. Then we met this morning...the excitement really was there. We were having a cup of latte and I'm having a waffle, she's having a banana toast. Just us talking about things we used to do back in college. Such a great time.

And now here I am remembering all the friendships I have with my close friends. I always value friendships very much. I have many friends but there are only few who I can call really close friends. I have six close friends that I knew since we were 6...up until now we're still close..closer than ever. Their happiness are also my happiness. So for those of you who have close friends..the ones that you can call real friend, you have to value your relationship...because those friends are the one that will always be by your side, no matter what.

Here's a piece of article written by Karishma Kristina Tannan (taken from ezinearticles) about FRIENDS and FRIENDHSIP...

The Beauty of Friendship

This person just loves you for whom you are. This one person can see things, which you also may not be able to see. This one person knows you so well that even if someone comes and tries to tell them something bad about you, it still does not change a thing since they know who you really are and is confident about whatever you do and will always stand by you. This person is always there for you no matter what the situation is and advises you or goes out of their way to help you. This person is your guide, your friend. To this special person I must say a big thank you who thought me the BEAUTY OF FRIENDSHIP. So in short of you had to say what a friend is then:-

F-forgiveness

R-respect

I-Impartial

E-Emotional

N-Nurture

D-Dependable

And Friendship would be

F-Fun

R-Rational

I-Intuition

E- Endurance

N-Never Ending

D-Devotion

S-support

H-honesty

I-inspiration

P-Perfect

(article source: ezinearticles - image sources: radiodiamond.tumblr & weheartit)