Do: The (Ongoing) Lighthouse Project

(while waiting for the grass to grow)

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We have been working on the home renovation for our future nest since January. Seeing the fact that the house is still nameless and it is light-drenched in many corner, I call it "The Lighthouse Project". My late father gave it to me many years ago when I was still young and ungrateful about it. The house was abandoned for years and later my mom did a bit of renovation and that's where the yellow paint comes from. Dito and I haven't got the energy nor ability to start building a house from scratch.. so, renovating an old house like this become a much more reasonable option in the beginning of our marriage. The project, my friend..turns out to be super fun!

Dito and I did some of the white paints ourselves.. while the rest of the major work such as fixing the broken wall, building and adding up this and that were done by professional. It was so fun, I even consider working on the house as a recreation and time-off from the wedding thing. On the brighter side, I lose 3 pounds arranging the furniture and books (and thrilled about the result). I just loooove organizing and arranging thing (remember the list-making obsession?).. lol!

Posted below are the house after the major renovation. The project is still on progress, some artworks are still waiting to be displayed, some rooms are not ready for photo-session (Dito's studio, the guest room, and the bath), the gate needs to be renewed, I want to change the yellow paint to white (one day), and the garden plus the backyard still needs a lot of works to do. It is still nameless too (Dito and I are still debating between calling it Secha--my idea-- or Igubigu--Dito's idea).. but if you have an idea of a name, please share your thought. 

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The Living Room

(Elia from Simalakamma is making customized pillow case for this room and on the wall, we're going to hang our collection of small artworks made by our friends)

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The Entrance

(I'm thinking of a nice sisal rug and a nice corner lamp here)

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The Private Area

(a built-in shelf is installed as a border between public and private (left) |

the breakfast table on the corner (right) )

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Nyimanyimamanyimanyima

(that's the name of the vintage wooden deer head on the piano room)

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The Master Bedroom

(we prefer it to be warm and clean without too many items to display)

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The Media Room

(this is where the friends loves to hangout)

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The Kitchen

(Dito is a very passionate cook and this kitchen is probably one of his favorite room in this house)

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The Dining Room

(One of Dito's work from his Finding Stillness series will look nice on this wall, I guess)

Photographed by Dito Yuwono

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Hugs,

Thought: Pondering on The Wedding Preparation

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The day when I was engaged, I really didn't know how I felt. It was a very mixed up feeling dominated by fear of not knowing what’s waiting ahead of me. I used to think I had a little bit of commitment issue back then, and watching a lot of rerun of Sex and the City the Movie #1 where Mr.Big changed his mind at the D-Day plus that episode when Lily ran away from Marshall in How I Met Your Mom; simply didn't help. So I turn to a runaway I know best~ that doesn't harm anyone: I get busy. 

I start making lists as a therapy for my anxiousness.. and there were a lot of lists alright. As I start preparing the wedding myself and working as my own wedding organizer, things get a little bit clearer. Even better, as time goes by..the wedding gets a little bit more personalized naturally. I didn't even have to put that much effort to get a certain kind of invitation, party, outfit, and gifts that suits my personality and still pretty much acceptable for the standard of the big family. I guess I’m pretty lucky here. 

Yes, it was stressful during the first two months after the engagement. I cried a lot only looking at the budget plan, talking to my annoying aunty’s husband, cutting off the number of the guess, erasing some names from my guess list. Back then, I consider myself lucky to have some friend’s shoulders to cry on. 

After the dark shadowy moment has passed, the sun shines in. Things are put in order (thanks to the diy wedding preparation book written by my fiance’s sister), and time glides away. I learned a few things to get to this less-stress bridezilla phase:

1. ‘Good’ is good enough. It doesn't always have to be perfect. 
2. Yes, you need to have the control of your own situation.. but, sometime.. learning to trust and let go is for the best
3. It is barely possible to prepare a wedding yourself while trying to (in my case) finish two books, one collaborative project, two art projects,  a residency and a scholarship proposal, plus a house renovation; while trying to work on a shop, the beauty ritual, and the health. Some things have to be loosen up. 
4. Pushing yourself to the limit is o.k. if you’re not preparing your own wedding. (Nobody wants to see the bride looking ill and dry..)
5. Remember to embrace every moment and love your fiance more. Steal some time together, have fun, and team up!

In January, three months after the engagement..the tears are all dry. Dito and I date more regularly and separate our working time, wedding preparation time, and personal time for just sitting around doing nothing together. Funny how I get daily asthma attack since January till the end of April (and it was actually a day-to-day non stop attack which can sometime be extremely exhausting). Thus, nobody let me try to lose weight, nor over exercise myself (just how a bride suppose to be, no?)..and I learn to love my curve and my chubbier cheek more. One really can’t have it all, right? Later, I try to shape up while slowly curing the asthma by taking regular yoga class by my dear friend, Kalifadani.. and there goes another bliss to count.

Most of all, I thank God for my perfect Mom.. and I guess I’m more than lucky to be blessed with a caring and loving fiance like Dito. In the beginning of all these madness, some people warned me.. a wedding preparation can show the true color of your fiance. You both would team up and love each other more, or your heart can grow apart. We are lucky that the wedding preparation has made us a better team. He was always around and somehow he makes me fall in love every single day. Apparently, it’s nice to build something together and to have something to be excited about aside from the wedding. In our case it’s the house preparation and how we share our vision about the future. 

Right now, I’m counting the days to the wedding. The ceremony, the reception, and the week-length rituals are all set. It’s time to finally relax, pamper myself, and let everyone else do the delegated job of wedding preparation. Few weeks before the wedding, I finally know how I feel: a mixed up feeling of excitement, giddiness, and it all dominated with love.  

I guess I’m pretty lucky. 

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Hugs,

Wedding: Simalakamma Gift Set

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In my society, the groom-to-be will bring some gift packages at the night before the wedding day.. symbolize how he could provide the bride-to-be with a decent life in the future. One of my favorite things from the package are these: Simalakamma Gift Set. 

I am especially pampered with the fact that many things are personalized in my wedding~ almost naturally. First, Moki made the water-color drawing of me and Dito for the invitation. Then, Elia (Moki's partner) offered me to specially design a pattern generated from that image in the invitation ~and magically turn it into a gift set that consist of a bag, a clutch, a pouch, a wallet, and two passport cases (plus 4 pillow cases that are still in the making).

Elia took the pattern of the branch and the two birds, shaped it in a certain way that makes it look like an antler (and I loooove antlers). I also love how it especially made for us (Moki and Elia destroyed the pattern right after they done making the gift set) and how it suits our needs perfectly. The result was perfect, just as expected. Did I mentioned that I am such a big fans of Simalakamma?! 

Click to visit their blog (here) | their exhibition at Lir (here) | 

my writing about their exhibition (here)  

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The details

(left: wallet | right: clutch with scalloped edge)

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(Peeking inside the clutch)

(two passport cases for the honeymoon *winkwink*)

(above:the quirky pattern | below: the pouch)

Photographed by Dito Yuwono

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Hugs,

P.S.: this month, I am going to post exclusively about the wedding, the preparation, and the house. I am oh-so-excited!