[.small.room.decorating.]

Times’s up. No more excuses. This weekend, too, will be a very busy one. A trip to prepare, projects to finish, but first of all, a room to rearrange and redecorate.

Yesterday my magazine collection has found a happy solution through Benita’s blog :-) Now it’s so great that Domino Magazine has some pretty ideas that may work well for my icy-blue painted little room. Let’s see these:

The two pictures below are from Lili Diallo’s loft, I love the comfortably creative style, I love the mix of colors. And I love it that there are a lot of books and magazines inside, too :-)






Steven Gambrell’s desk below is just perfect to illustrate mine when done with the rearrangement. The same wall paint color, the same vernished wooden desk located on the right corner of the room. Perfect.



All pictures above from Domino Magazine

[.a.busy.week.]

Yay, busy-busy week at work. So much to do and to be done before my departure to Sweden next week. And there are new graphics to be uploaded this weekend. Oh, where does time fly?

Mom is also coming to Jakarta in a few days. She always loves doing the 'shopping part' in the preparation when I'm going traveling. Good for me and it makes her happy, too ;-) But well, suddenly I was thinking that I'd better not imagine what she'd say about all those magazines stacked in my room. A lot of them. A magazine junkie like me. "I need them for inspiration mom, I draw graphics, remember" should I say that? She already knows it, I guess. All I need to do is to make the magazine piles look pretty. Is it possible?

Hmm. Doesn't one say "Luck favors the prepared mind?" Yippii. I visited Benita's blog {chez larsson} today and I'd like to thank her for posting an entry about how she organized her magazine collection!! Exactly what I needed! And she presented it very nicely, too. Read her post here





pictures above from {chez larsson}

[.happy.birthday.jakarta.]

22 June 2008...Jakarta is 481 year old! And I can tell you it's always quite an event here when Jakarta celebrates its birthday. I will check later what's up in the city.

I made two scrapbook-style photos for blog and will upload the templates tomorrow. And more templates in the members area. Now it's just so late and I need some good night sleep....so stay tune :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAKARTA!!!



Visit Jakarta



This 2,5 meters-tall giant puppet is called "ondel-ondel", traditionally parades the streets of Jakarta during a celebration, accompanied by traditional music from Betawi (native Jakartans)

[.happy.midsummer.]

"Glad Midsommar!" wrote my Swedish friends opening or closing their emails or sms yesterday. It's midsummer. I called my mom in Yogyakarta. "Happy midsummer, mom!" - and she bursted into laughter, realising it was one of many influences I got from working closely with the Swedes for many years.

It is practically 'summer' all year round here in Jakarta. Leaves on the trees are always green, flowers keep blooming, the sun shines approximately 12 hours a day, every day. Still, I'm fascinated at how the word "summer" always brings such a happy feeling to most people.

And this midsummer weekend I really enjoy a quiet time at our terrace-turned-into-restaurant, thinking about my friends in Sweden who must be celebrating the midsummer in the storybook-like countryside right now. I looked at the neighborhood's tiny park just across the street. I noticed that if we really pay attention, we still could hear the voice of birds singing, though often masked by the noise of cars passing by. Can it create a midsummer feeling, somehow?

Now, I would like to have these for lunch...a beautiful feast at the home of cookbook author and Indian cooking authority Maya Kaimal. See all the pictures and read the article on Country Living.





pictures from Country Living

[.happy.father's.day.]

Here's to my dad, my best friend, my teacher, my mentor, my biggest fan, my supporter, my hero. Miss you, Dad!

[.friday.thanks.]

This friday i'm so thankful that the internet connection at home has come back to normal. This friday i'm so thankful i got a comfortable seat in the bus that made it possible for me to read a few pages from Marci Shimoff's Happy for No Reason during the 1,5 hours commute. It's a very good book. I always considered myself a happy person - i didn't think i would need to read how-to-be-happy books. Truly, you actually never know until something unexpected happens to you. Something unexpected happened to me, and there in my "i don't know what to do" state i tried to console myself and roamed the bookstore (it is the most effective method that really works for me!). I found myself standing before a stack of new releases. one book was unwrapped. Euh, i liked the title. "happy for no reason". this usually happy person was sad for some reason. This book might be something. wanna try to see what's inside? blink-blink. Believe it or not. I opened the book and stumbled upon a story of a woman who courageously overcame a grief...almost exactly like mine! At the end of the story, there's an exercise that might help to make the burden lighter. Wow. I paused. This can't be true, i said - fascinated at how the universe answered my wish. You know what happened next. I bought the book. And oh so happy about it.

{heart} these words by Marta:
"i learned that when a loved one dies, everything once important in your world goes to the sidelines. and everything that truly really is important comes right in front of you. they are the people in your arms. life stops for awhile and you gain a completely new perspective of what life is about. your heart hurts, but things become clearer and you become stronger and you realize that everything happens for a reason."

So true. Will always remember especially the last phrase.

{heart} all things chic Marta style. Her works. Her words.

{mad about} ideas on how to decorate small spaces. This one is outstanding. Thanks, Country Living.




{enjoy} Decor Amor
{enjoy} M.A. Belle

[.T.G.I.F.]

[.morning.coffee.]

Some people look at the world and say "why?" Some people look at the world and say "why not?"
- George Bernard Shaw

When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.
- John Ruskin

The happiest people are those who have learned to mix play with their work and to bind the two together with enthusiasm.
- Napoleon Hill






"Passion, a positive attitude and a sense of adventure, excitement and fun, all make your work more than just a job.

There is no mystery in the fact that the rewards of work are greater when...." read on Jane Powell's Meditations for Women

[.souvenirs.de.mai.]

May's over. I know. My calendar already says "June" since a week ago. But I recently reorganised my photo files from my trip in Sweden one fine May, and looking at those nice images brought back delightful memories... I remember my host-mom in France sent me a note "n'oublie pas les beaux jours, car si tu les oublies, ils ne reviendront plus jamais" (don't forget the beautiful days, 'cause if you forget them, they will never come back)

Thought of leaving some of those pictures here, for more beautiful days to come :-)

Next trip to Sweden: July


location: Stockholm.
Outside Nordiska Museet


I found blue and yellow flowers are fantastic side-to-side, just like the colors of the Swedish flag

location: Brannö.
On the archipelago outside Gothenburg, on the west coast.



I love the sea, the islands, and the little red cottages with flowers around



location: Eskilstuna.
Viking runes are fascinating!



location: Birka.
A once upon a time very busy Viking town. Now it's a pretty, idyllic island, so imagination is required :-) Still, as studying about the Vikings had been a little bit of secret obsession of mine, this island is one of the most amazing places for me in Sweden!











location: Mullhyttan.
Call me partial to Swedish countryside. But once visiting my host family who lives in this pretty little village, I always wanted to come back. I fell for the little red cottage where I stayed and the beautiful nature around it. And even for Svea the cat!

[.weekend.break.]

Oho! Finally a little time off. Probably these are the nice things about sharing the house with my cousins, and having the terrace turned into a small restaurant. Though I would always have my privacy upstairs, whenever I want I would just go downstairs and join the fun, or creating the fun itself :-)

I have my favorite corner in the restaurant and when lunch time is out and there are not many visitors, I would occupy that favorite corner with my books or papers or crafts and coffee - so would my cousins on the other tables.

Sometimes various traditional food sellers would pass by and my cousins would buy some snacks or refreshments. They had fresh fruit slices with peanut and palm sugar sauce today.

And I managed to change a little bit my inspiration board - added two pictures of baby me with dad and grandpa, and a DVD picture of maestro Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic performing Beethoven's symphony no. 7 - my favorite. A picture and poem by Mr Hammarskjöld are still intact.

I just felt like it, inline with Father's Day next week. Wish my dad were here again. But I know he's watching over me from above, and smiling :-) I miss you, Dad!!