Rhythm of Love

Hi everyone, how's your weekend? I had fun on weekend. You know, continuing to re-decor my room =) So, I am going to start this end of February by giving you a song that hopefully can lift up your spirit and can make you smile and start a beautiful day. This time I'm posting a song from Plain White T's with the title of Rhythm of Love. The reason I am choosing this song is because it's such an easy and happy song...from the lyrics to the tune. I am sure this kind of song is perfect to be played when you wake up in the morning or when you're about to get ready to leave home for work. And when you watch the video of the song, the scenes all look so happy and cheerful. Love it =) Have a great Monday...

Warm Bedroom

This week I've been re-decorating my room. I used to have a blue and white painted room. Those two colors are my favorite colors. I think it's about time to change the decor theme of my room. I love bright room but I feel like it's time to change. I'm gonna make my room a bit simpler, warmer and a bit darker. I used to have so many books and shelfs in my room but now I am planning to move those out of my room. It feels so sad at first when I have to put all my books on boxes but it's my decision, I have to do it. I can't wait until it's done. I will surely going to show it to you when it's done. Below is the inspiration of my room decor. I love the color, love the bed..so classy. Let's just hope at least I can make the colors look similar to my room later =) Have a great weekend everyone...xoxo

(image via livingetc)

Aspects of LOVE

Love is a many splendored thing..Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living...Yes true love's a many splendored thing. Familiar with the words? I am sure you do, those are the words from the oh-so famous love song "Love is a many splendored thing". But I am not gonna talk about the song this time, I'm going to talk about the effect of love. What do you think? Does love give us a positive or negative effect? I think it depends on the one who's with you..your couple. But I do think it has to give you all the positive effect, love should brings the best of you...love should be able to make you shine=) I found this article below that lists down all the positive aspects of love. I found the article on Positively Present. Barbara Fredrickson was the one behind this discussion. She is a social psychologist with "positivity" as her main discussions.

9 POSITIVE ASPECTS OF LOVE

Interest:

When you first meet someone you're destined to fall in love with, you're super interested in his/her life and everything about him/her. I think this is actually one of the first signs that you really like the person. When you're not all that interested in someone, there's no way you're likely to fall in love with him or her. But when you're so interested you can think of little else... well, that's usually the first sign of love.

Amusement:

Some of the best times I've ever had with loved ones involved laughing so hard my face and sides hurt. It's wonderful to love someone and to be able to let go with that person and just laugh and laugh and laugh. It can be difficult sometimes to get to a place where one feels comfortable enough to amuse others and it's also hard sometimes to just let go and be easily amused. Love, I've found, brings out that desire to see the silly and to look for the good, amusing aspects of life.

Joy:

Joy is the most obvious when it comes to falling or being in love. When you're around someone you love, you can't help but feel joyous. Love isn't all sunshine and roses, but, for the most part, there's a lot of joy. When you love someone, that person makes you truly happy and spending time with him or her uplifts you in ways you may not have felt possible. Often, when you are with the one you love, even the worst situation can seem like fun. True love brings happiness and fills your life with joy.

Hope:

This one has a double meaning in my opinion. First, I believe that love gives you hope. When you experience love (even from friends and family), you feel like there is hope for good things. You believe that there is goodness in the world. Secondly, when you fall in love, you share your hopes with that person. You let him or her inside your mind and allow him or her to know what really is important to you. You make plans for the future with this person, placing hope in the fact that your relationship with stand the test of time. Hope can be a fragile thing, but it's very important when it comes to love.

Serenity:

This one happens to be my personal favorite. Love is when you get to that point with another person when, no matter what is happening, you feel a sense of peace when you're with him or her. Your life could be chaos, everything could feel like it's falling apart, but when you're with the one you love, you feel calm. You feel safe. This sense of peace is not easy to come by and, for that reason, I don't take it for granted. There are few things in life that can make us feel as at peace as we do when we're wrapped in the arms of the one we love.

Gratitude:

I try to practice gratitude on a regular basis, being thankful for those around me and the amazing things they do for me, and loving someone else is a great way to do this. We should all be extremely grateful for the love we have in our lives and we should do whatever we can not to take it for granted. We should strive to make every single day a loving one, expressing our gratitude not only through words but through actions as well. It's easy to take things for granted, but a great love makes that hard to do. When you are deeply in love, it's hard to be anything but grateful.

Pride:

Have you ever seen a loved one do something amazing and felt such a swell of pride that it shocked you? I know I have -- and it's pretty awesome. It's great to feel proud of yourself, but it's extra exciting when you can feel proud of someone else. I experienced this not too long ago and it was such a great feeling, such a sign of love, that I was a bit overwhelmed. I realized that it really is the true test of love -- to feel really good that someone else is going something that's important to him or her. Pride is usually thought of as a negative, but in this case it's a true positive.

Inspiration:

When you fall in love with someone, that person should inspire you. If s/he doesn't... well, I don't know if that's the best kind of love. The best kind of love is the kind that makes you want to be the best you. The best kind of love makes you want to do the things you love to do and to do them well. When I'm in love, I'm motivated, I'm excited, and I'm most definitely inspired. I also am hopeful that I'm inspiring the one I love as well and I do my best to make this happen. Inspiration can come from anywhere, but love is one of those amazing things that almost always inspires.

Awe:

Love definitely is the type of thing that deserves this word "awe." In fact, the word could have been created simply for love, it's that connected. When you love someone, you're in awe of him or her. And, not only are you in awe of how awesome s/he is, but you're in awe of the relationship you've found. Anyone who's ever had a really great love knows that it's pretty astounding when it does happen. It can feel like the craziest thing to find someone who seems to fit so perfectly with you and, quite honestly, it's nearly impossible not to be in awe of that. Love is awesome and it deserve all the awe it can get.

(article source: positivelypresent.com - image sources:vi.sualize.us, unruly.ca, vi.sualize.us, weheartit.com)

Tomato Basil Soup

Soup is the best comfort food for me. It's always the best company to have soup when you're not feeling well, when you're not in a good mood, when it's gloomy outside...all those not-so-good time can turn into a better time with a bowl of soup. Here's another recipe I've found...It's a recipe for Tomato Basil Soup from Everyday Occasions. I love soup and I love tomato..so this one really is the best combination..yum!

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 - 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes
2 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 tsp of sea salt
1 tsp of sugar
1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup of heavy cream
3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned

parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute - being careful not to burn the garlic.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar.
3. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.
4. To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil. Serve topped with parmesan cheese

(recipe and image from Everyday Occasions)

Success..

SUCCESS seems for me is a really massive word. In a good way of course. Success determines how hard you've work and how hard you've done your best to accomplish your goals. What is success anyway? Here's a definition of success according to John Watson;

"Success is the completion of anything intended."

In other words success is finishing what you planned to do.

But what's more important is to maintain your success. Here are 21 suggestions for SUCCESS by H. Jackson Brown, Jr (image via here). H. Jackson Brown is an American author, one of his famous books is Life's Little Instruction Book. I am really sure that most of you have heard or even read the book. It really is a great book, the kind of book that you can read over and over and over again. So, wanna know what he said regarding suggestions for success? Here is the list.

(image source: twincommas.com)

Wind of Change..

What comes to your mind when you hear the word 'CHANGE'? Do you think of something bad or something good? Do you see change more into the right direction or the wrong direction? I know that most of us are afraid of change. Sometimes we are afraid of change because it can drag us out of our comfort zone. This makes sense for me considering that change could mean a better change or a worse change. For those who love to seek for new challenge, change is the thing they always want. For those who are afraid getting out from their comfort zone, change is the last thing they expect to come in their life. But for those who are really flexible, change is normal. Those people can stretch their flexibility to adapt to the new change. And when the change is not as they expected, they will go back and do the normal things they always do. So, which one are you? I can say that it will be the best to become the flexible one. This means that you don't always wait for change to come, you can do your normal things everyday, but when change is in front of you, you are always ready and not afraid to try something new. Because some things are there to be changed and other things are there to stay the same. Below is a really inspiring writing I found on oursimplejoys.com by Ruby Bayan with the title of "Ride The Wind Of Change!". This to let you know that sometimes we have to go where the wind blows...

Ride The Winds Of Change!

Everyday we find ourselves standing at the doorstep, looking out to the world, asking, "Should I go or should I stay?" For most of us, deciding to move to another job is a Herculean task that keeps us awake pondering, "What am I getting into?" To many, even as we hear the loudspeakers fill the church with the hymn of the wedding march we still ask, "Am I ready for this major change in my life?" And I know, sometime within the next 24 hours, you will pause and ask yourself, "Do I really want to do this?"

The foundation of the circle of life is change. As certain as death and the passing of time: change. We can either fret and fight it because it gives us sleepless nights of anxiety, or accept its eventuality and ride it because it can be put to our best advantage.

We can learn to accept change by answering a few basic questions:

• What are the reasons for the change? Who or what is causing it? Why is it important? Change is often prompted by social factors. Getting engaged or married comes from a deep desire to share a life of love and partnership. Changing careers is usually motivated by wanting to improve income or gain prestige. Buying a new house becomes a must for the growing family. A simple change of hairstyle or wardrobe sometimes stems from an inner need to boost self-esteem. Whatever the need for change that faces you at the moment, understand the reasons and why they are important.

• What are the things I cannot be sure about right now? Can I do something about them now? If your answers are vague, confused, or simply "I don't know", then you're OK. As certain as change is in this existence, so is the uncertainty that goes with it. Right? Change is accompanied by uncertainty. And everyone is uncomfortable with uncertainty. But not knowing if your fiance' will eventually hurt you should not stop you from loving him and walking down the aisle with him. Because no one can ever be sure. To accept the discomfort of facing the unknown as part of change is one major step in accepting change.

• What are the advantages? What will I gain? And what are the disadvantages? What will I lose? Now it's time to write down the answers. Yes. Write them down because as long as you do not see them numbered in front of you, they will all be jumbled and totally unmanageable and extremely stressful to deal with while they're all swimming in your head. Two columns: Advantages/Gain, Disadvantages/Lose. Be honest. Before you make the leap, try to know and understand, with all the available information, what you are really dealing with. This will definitely give you some peace of mind.

(article source: oursimplejoys.com - image sources: luckyoptimist.com)

Unique..

Doesn't it make you feel happy or excited when you find some unique products? It does make me happy. I don't know why but I find myself get very excited sing some products or gadgets with a very unique design or packaging. What's make it more unique if in fact, the uniqueness give more function to the products. I thank to all those who invent the unique products or gadgets. Here are my new findings. You can see below 4 unique design products, my most favorite of all is the Ingenious Hand-Held Digital Tape Measure. It's so clever!!!! What do you think?

Tapi by Dreamfarm

Branch Bookshelf

Ingenious Hand-Held Digital Tape Measure

Clever Coffee Cup & Saucer Maze Set

(image sources: Tapi via designer-daily.com, Branch bookshelf via designer-daily.com, Digital tape measure via dornob.com, Saucer coffee cup via dornob.com )

First Three Words..

This is kinda cute...one cute thing that can put a smile on your face. See what are you going to get by searching any three words you can find on the puzzle below. So funny...these are the first three words I found:

1. Bail
2. Secret
3. Tease

Are those really how I describe myself? I don't know...haha..how about you? What are your first three words? I would love to know..Can you tell me?

(image found via imgfave.com)

The Universe and Forever...

Hi everyone..sorry I just got a chance to make new posting today...and it's already mid week, Wednesday. I had a busy weekend and a busy days to open a new week. So, here I am having an amazing time in front of my computer with a cup of coffee, which is still hot by the way =) By the way, I found the illustration below from 20x200.com, it's called The Universe and Forever.

When you have a problem, have you ever thought that your problem is just a small dust compare to the universe? I think it's good to think that we're not alone in this world facing the same problems. And if others can actually get over the problems, so can we. But I'm not gonna talk much about problems...life for me is too short to always have problems in it. I always keep in mind to stay away from trouble and also problems. Because I do realize that life is easier when we have no problems in it...So, every time you have problems...try to get over it as soon as possible. And if you think you have big problems..try to see it from a different point of view. Try to see it from the broader view that your problem compare to the universe is only a dust...that will surely fly and fade away...

(image via 20x200.com)

Nightstand interview...

Few weeks ago I've been approach by a blogger friend Keishua from The Curious World Of L on her project. And I said yes sure I would love to do it. So, I've been given some questions and being ask to tell a bit about my nightstand. Just yesterday, Keishua told me that the interviewed has been published. I feel so happy to see it. It looks so nice. Thank you Keishua. Here's the screen capture of the lovely interview=) Click here to read the complete one...

Attached to Someone

Read the words below and tell me exactly what you think. When I was reading it I automatically feel like it's directed to me and my life. It's like reading my own handwriting that I wrote on my journal about what it feels like being attached to someone. But this someone here is the one who's very special that makes you feel so special to regarding the relationship you have with that one particular special person.

It's a wonderful feeling when you finally be able to love someone both for his strength and his weaknesses. You always see that person as the one who can guide you but at the same time also as the one who need you to guide him. It's like having to find a pair of your favorite socks that you've been missing it since quite a while ago. When you finally find that missing piece, it feels like your life seems to be brighter, so bright that the relationship you have able to shine other relationships too...

(image source: followingambitionx.tumblr.com)

Love Formula..

I love quotes... every kinds of it..funny, deep, classic...anything. We often find quotes about love which can be so cheesy or maybe so hopelessly romantic. This one is quite different. The one who made the quotes is Craig Damrauer. I stumbled upon his quotes/illustrations via 20x200. The creator happens to create the new set of rules called "The New Math of Relationships". So, if LOVE is a MATH...here are the formulas.

Desk..

How does your desk look like? Is it a mess, empty or free from clutter? My office desk is quite big with computer and printer and also some paper works. I put no pictures or photo on my desk. Just a calendar to put notes and reminders. But the desk I have on my room is different. I have laptop on it, candles, table lamp, and 2 photo frames. I try to separate family life and work life. That's why I try to keep my office desk as simple as possible. So, how about those desks of famous people? We all know that those who really work hard often have their innovative thoughts come up on their desks. Don't you think so? Here are some of the famous people's desks I found from Vanity Fair. Each has its owner's personality...

(all images from vanityfair.com)

Simple and Easy...

There's nothing easier that a simple and fast home made meal. Imagine yourself just came home from a busy day and feel so hungry...I am sure you are not gonna waste any more time to cook something that will take quite some time to prepare or maybe something that's too complicated. How about this one? I bet you'll love this recipe I found on Simply Delicious - Linguini with Garlic & Mushrooms. Why did I choose this recipe? Because I love anything with garlic and mushroom. It is simply easy and delicious...I guarantee it won't take long to prepare =)

• Ingredients (Serves 4):
• 500g Linguini
• 500g Portabellini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large leeks, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup reduced fat cream (optional)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt & pepper to taste
• fresh oregano to serve (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add the linguini. Cook for +- 10 minutes until Al dente.
2. Meanwhile, in a large sauce pan, fry the mushrooms and leeks until all the liquid from the mushrooms have evaporated and the mushrooms have started to brown (+- 5-7 minutes). Add the garlic and fry for another minute.
3. Add the cream and lemon juice and season to taste.
4. Drain the linguini and toss through the sauce. Serve with extra cracked black pepper and a few Oregano leaves.

(source and image via simply-delicious.co.za)

Us and The World...

Have you ever thought what is the relationship between ourselves and the world? The world is not only a place that we're living but it could be more than that. Somehow, I think we all have connection with the world...as human beings. I found a paragraph from the article (source: dailyom) below that made me think about us the the world. What can we offer to the world as human beings.

The World And In Ourselves

As always, we start with ourselves, utilizing our awareness of the failings of others to renew our own commitment to be more conscious human beings. We are all capable of the best and the worst that humanity has to offer, and remembering this keeps us in check, as well as allowing us to find compassion for others. We may find ourselves feeling compelled to serve people who are suffering injustices at the hands of other people, or we may begin to speak out when we see something that we don’t think is right. Whatever the case, the only thing we can do is pledge to serve the best, rather than the worst, of what humanity has to offer, both in the world, and in ourselves.

(source: dailyom.com - image source: weheartit)

Charlie St Cloud

Last night I watched a DVD..it was Charlie St Cloud. I bought the DVD about a month ago and just yesterday I had a chance to finally watched it. I didn't have any expectation when I decided to watch this movie. I thought it was just only another teen drama movie about a guy falling in love with a girl and so on. Why do I think that way? Because the main actor in the movie was Zac Efron ... a real teen idol! But I was wrong!!! The movie was not like what I thought it would be. Well, it is a romantic drama movie. It has far better story. I cried several times watching some of the scenes and I couldn't believe that Zac Efron has been able to make me cry. He played Charlie St Cloud so well in the movie.

The story of the movie was based on Ben Sherwood's best-selling novel with the title of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud. Here's the summary of the movie:

• Charlie St. Cloud is a young man overcome by grief at the death of his younger brother. So much so that he takes a job as caretaker of the cemetery in which his brother is buried. Charlie has a special lasting bond with his brother though, as he can see him. Charlie meets up with his brother (Sam) each night to play catch and talk. Then, a girl comes into Charlie's life and he must choose between keeping a promise he made to Sam, or going after the girl he loves(imdb.com)

What I love the most about this movie is the bond and relationship between Charlie and his brother, Sam. Here's the quote from the movie:

Charlie St. Cloud: We'll always be Brothers...

Sam St. Cloud: Promise, through rain or shine, hell or high water?

Charlie St. Cloud: I PROMISE!

The other thing I love about this movie is to show us that if you've given a second chance in this life, there must always be a purpose behind it. Even better, there's a really great poem by EE Cummings on the movie:

Dive For Dreams

dive for dreams

or a slogan may topple you

(trees are their roots

and wind is wind)

trust your heart

if the seas catch fire

(and live by love

though the stars walk backward)

honour the past

but welcome the future

(and dance your death

away at this wedding)

never mind a world

with its villains or heroes

(for god likes girls

and tomorrow and the earth)

-E.E. Cummings-

So, if you haven't watched it, well..you should watch this movie soon.