My new born nephew!!!

Hi all..

sorry to say that i'm not blogging again today.. but I just found out my new born nephew picture is already uploaded!! Congratulations to the parents: Adrian (my brother) and Melissa Gunawan, for their newborn baby:
Joshua Gunawan. born on 29 April 2011 (the same day as the royal wedding!! how cool is that??)
weight 3,7 kg!!

I'm thinking of going back to surabaya just to see the new born baby.. hm.. the smell, the cuteness.. am happy coz then i don't need to be the one who's pregnant and have birthpain, but i got instant baby!!
how cool is that?? ha ha ha..

Here's the pictures:

How cute is he??  oooh.. can't wait to meet him in person...

The Royal Wedding

gasp!

have you seen the image of Kate's wedding dress and her makeup?? Flawless.. soo pretty and soo elegant!! And she does her own make up!! Everything is perfection!!

All the photos below comes from:

http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/

and also from celebbuzz.. he he he.. 

And the cake! whoah! So elegant.. if you have the time to see the details of the cake.. man..it's so elegant as well.... I think it's THE wedding of the century.. and perfection!!

Go to pinterest as well.. they have couple of pictures of Kate that's sooo pretty...

In the meantime, gotta go.. Today me and my friends are going to BSD to celebrate one of our friend's birthday. You'll see the post on Monday. Tomorrow is Ariel's (my second daughter) second birthday, so I won't be blogging but celebrating with her.

I woke up today with heart full of gratitude and thanksgiving, you know, because here she is (Ariel), full of life, and God protects her from all harm. He cares for her, He gave me two healthy kids, and my heart just.. grateful. thankful. no words can say enough.

Have a blessed day! 

Handmade scrapbook journal

2 blog entries in one day.. ha ha ha..

I want to talk about journaling. Writing down stuff. I read the book about happiness, because back then i feel i'm so not happy and all. And the book talk about all sorts of things that will make you happier.
One of them is giving back, having time to your self, and also journaling.
Why journaling? It makes your brain regulates your thoughts, to force your brain to recognize it, and then create solution for it. Makes you more aware of your thoughts that's not clear or thought that scares you (fear, worry, etc etc.) and cleans you up from all those thoughts.

And i did it. Journal. It helps in so many ways. You know when you have so much thoughts that it's a jumble mess in your head? When i stop and went away and just write alone (without kids of course), it makes me feel better. First is I just write whatever comes to my mind, and then somehow I can compile my thoughts, my worries, my fear, my concerns, my problems, and then somehow, have the solution for it.

Bill Hybels always do journaling in the morning. He says it helps him focused. It's true. What I write in my journal is just my prayers, my request, my daily thoughts and I write them down to my God.
It's like I'm carrying conversation with Him.
With all my complains, my thanksgiving, and problems, my wishes, I can create list and also if i have problem and there's no solution for it, I have the perfect one: pray and ask for His help. And so I don't need to carry the burden anymore. It lightens me up. Frees me up.

I used to journal when I was single. I have couple of journals that's full. But somehow with the kids and all.. don't have that much time anymore. Then my husband says, then, just go away where you can just be alone, have quiet time and do it. You don't have the excuse of not doing it. What's good for you will be good for the family as well. It's so true.

So, I made couple of journals for myself, and then I was thinking, why not for others as well?

Here are couple of them that I made, and it's also for sale. If you want to buy it, it's Rp 100,000 each (not including shipping cost) by contacting me via sms: 0817.03330.687

 The inside of gratitude journal:

 The inside of prayer journal:

The inside of food lover's journal:

The inside of movie journal:

Blank journal:

Maybe most of you wondering, why gratitude journal? Because when you write down things that you are grateful of, your outlook of life will be different. It forces your brain to look at different directions, little things, big things that you haven't notice, but important. And you'll feel blessed and happy, because of those little things. Gratitude lifts up your spirit. It's true.

Well, enjoy.. have fun watching Kate and William's wedding today.. It's their wedding day today! Congratulations to the newlywed.. I can't wait for the magazines to publish their wedding pictures, you know? the dress, the parties, the guests.. I'm sure it'll be awesome!

Have a great one!!

My own manual pinterest

Good morning all..

Last night i spent most of my time browsing pinterest looking for more beautiful images. How can I get into pinterest, any one knows? i have to be invited.. and so far none of my friends know what pinterest is.
That makes me remember that I have my own pinterest, albeit i'm doing it manually. What I did with my old magazines is that I cut out images that I like/inspire me, and I paste them in this notebook of mine. One notebook is full already, and I am now halfway on the second one.

So here are the images that I want you to see, my own manual pinterest. Hope it inspires you to see beautiful things and glue them into your journal or book. And when you're sad or bete or need your eyes to be refreshed, just look at those beautiful pictures, and voila! good mood... happiness.. contentment..

 My notebook, just simple ones that you can buy in Gramedia, lined, just need to make it wide and tall enough to put one magazine page inside..

Lots of flowers and cakes, guess you know what my favorite colours are... Enjoy..

Pinterest

Hi guys..

I'm blogging like 3 times in a day? That tells you how much time i've spent in the internet today..
But I found this really cool website, maybe y'all know it:
www.pinterest.com

I've been looking for prints that says this: have read it somewhere in someone's blog, but i try to find it again, alas, no more. And since people that I follow on blog has been talking about their addiction in pinterest, i checked it out. Oh my goodness!!!

I love graphics, i love types, i love prints, i love pretty photographies, i love cute stuff! I wish i'm a graphic designer so i can design, but alas, i'm so "gaptek" (in indonesian, it means have no clue whatsoever about computer. wayy behind technology) I'm the kind of person that can't sit still in front of computer tinkering about things in computer. That's why i have huge respect to people who can create types and graphics via computer... go figure. :)

But this, this is AWESOME!! Here's the print that i'm looking for, and amongst that, more and more prints that i LOVE LOVE LOVE already.

Oh.. so many ideas for blogging come to my mind now.. I will introduce you to my favorites graphic designer that I love for the next blog.

In the meantime, please check out pinterest.. it's one awesome website! hee hee hee... see if i can get you hooked on it too.. :D

Oma Gaitini's baptism album

Hi again out there..

instead of posting tomorrow.. i was thinking about showcasing some of my work in scrapbooking album. Here's one album that i made a while back, it's a gift from daters in Pavillion for Oma Gaitini, to celebrate her water baptism.

Enjoy..

And should you want to make one for your loved ones, or any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us via our website, email, facebook, or the fastest route: sms to 0817.03330.687

Friendship books

Good morning all..

Today it's going to be another post about a book that I read, and tomorrow it's going to be scrapbooking stuff. Do you like friendship/sisterhood books? Jennifer Weiner is a good writer at that. I thoroughly enjoy her book: Best Friends Forever. 

It tells the story of two girls who's best friends, their summer together, and how they fell apart. It's classic cliche, one is blonde and slim and the other one is fat and has brown hair. Fast forward to adulthood, in one circumstances put one friend to go back and ask for help for the other one. And the book goes back and forth between the present and the past.
It's enjoyable, light reading entertaining book for me.

You can buy this book secondhand at my store in kaskus for Rp. 45,000 by sms to: 0817.03330.687

In the meantime, I still have to correct some kinks at my website, and upload more pictures. You can visit over there, but it's not all complete.

www.akikostore.com

Have a great one everybody!

life of Henrietta Lacks

Hey all..

one thing that's exciting is that I already figured out how to insert pictures in my blog! Yay!
I have someone come over and teach me about photoshop cs3, and trying to edit and stuff and how to transfer them to my website and blog.
Another yay thing is that my website is done, but i haven't uploaded all the pictures over there. What I mean by done is the designing and engineering part of the website is done, and now it's my part to make it done "done", you know what i mean? he he he..

more books that i read over the weekend...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloof.

(Sorry about the pictures.. the glares and all.. it's because all the books that I have, I have to cover them up with plastics bookcover.)

This is by far the best book about science that I can even understand of. It's easy to read and the author makes it easy for us to follow the story back and forth.

It's about the life of Henrietta, HeLa dna that helps science with lots of stuff. It's story about dna, science, and also the stories about Henrietta's family after she died. How they have to cope with life after her death and even of her dna that still lives.

This book has been a bestseller over in USA and Canada. We (in Indonesia) have to wait for a long time to get it over here. Wishing I still live in Vancouver and go to Chapters bookstores almost everyday. Thinking about browsing and touching books over the shelves. Drinking starbucks and reading books and listening to the raindrops.. ahhh.... pure bliss for me. What's your bliss?

in the meantime.. have to work on my website and editing pictures. Hope your day is better than mine!

Relatable books

Hello there...

i'm not blogging this past weekend because i'm away, went to JPCC workers gathering in Puncak and I have such a great time over there. That's like a mini retreat from family life and into church family life.

Today I want to blog about another book. What I found out lately about books is that you tend to like books that relates to you in your season of life. I found this to be true. For example, when I was single I like to read romance books because I can relate to being single girls who's looking for the right guy. Ie. shopaholic series, and when i was younger: Princes Diaries series. I love reading those books, giving me entertainment, and I find that I can relate to what the heroine's feeling, you know? Wondering whether someone out there perfect just for her. And the happy ending, wishing that we can also have our own happy ending, you know?

Now I'm married, with kids. Not saying that I don't like those romance comedy novels, I still love them. It's fun and light to read. But when i was single I don't like reading about motherhood novels because I couldn't relate to it. Now I can relate to it.

Ergo, this book that I just read: Things Your Mother Never Told You, by Olivia Lichtenstein.
Again, drawn to it because of the gorgeous cover, the color and the flower. I love it. Well, i love everything flowery anyway, so go figure.
But this one is surprisingly good book, according to me. It's a story about a daughter who vows to herself that she doesn't want to be a mother just like her mom. So she tries to be a better mom to her sons. When her mom died, she's trying to deal with her grief and found out about things her mom never told her, who her mom was before she had her. To top it off, she also has to deal with divorce and empty nest syndrome (because her sons are all grown up and going to college)
She found out the secret. And that makes her realize why her mom was the way she was. It's all about acceptance, knowing who you are, and what you want to be even if you're a mom.

So, i give this book two thumbs up. Singles might not like it. Moms I think will like it.

You can buy this book (used) at: http://www.kaskus.us/showthread.php?t=6676746

or, you can buy them at amazon.com or at periplus in plaza senayan or plaza indonesia. They still sell it.


That's all for today, hope you have a great one!

don't judge a book by it's cover

hey you out there...

i'm sure someone will read this and this blog will have lots of followers.. :D

instead of making scrapbooks, i'm wasting my time reading.. is it wasting time or getting knowledge? for me, if the book is bad, it's like a waste of time. the thing about me is, once i read the book, no matter how bad it is, i want to know the ending and what's happened to the character at the end. 

this is a book that i think is a waste of my time. The Case of Imaginary Detective by Karen Joy Fowler. Don't get me wrong, i like her other book: The Jane Austen Book Club, that's why i bought this book. Another reason i buy this is also the cover of the book is so pretty, you know? and the title, i think it's curious, so i thought it's a good book as well. But never judge a book by its cover, and it's true this time.

This book is about 29 years old girl who's recently orphaned, her dad just died, and her mom and brother died a long time ago as well. And so she went to her godmother's house in california, who's a famous mystery novels writer. In that house she wanted to learn more about her father and godmother relationship. It's a clutter if i may say so. it's just stories of her trying to find closure, or finding out more about her dad, her godmother, and the story behind her godmother's mystery novels.

But hey, what i think is not a good novel, might be good for someone else. Everyone taste is different, and this book comes highly recommended by Alice Sebold, which is another good writer..

have a great day...

Book of the week

This is my first blog post ever. Would love to post pictures, lots of them, but need to learn how to. And once i did, you'll enjoy it more. That's what i've seen in other blogs, lots of beautiful picture.

This week I have time to read two books, i'm going to review one first.
It's In The Kitchen by Monica Ali. The reason i bought it is because I thought it's about food and cooking. Apparently not. Basically it's about a guy in his forties, who is a chef at Imperial Hotel, run down old hotel and how he copes with a murder in his kitchen. It tells how he breaks down emotionally and his choices toward it affects his future and relationship. If you like to read about a person and choices people made and kind of sad stories, this is for you.. :)

I should tell readers out there that I also have stores. Bookstores, magazine stores and scrapbooking stores. It's all brand new, tied up with my blogs. So if you see anything you like, you can buy it at my site: www.akikostore.com or just sms me and order it from me.

From the beginning i will be honest with you, this is like a promotional blog for my store, where i will review products and stuff, and sometimes a personal blog.

You can buy this book (secondhand of course, from my collection) from this site:

http://www.kaskus.us/showthread.php?t=6676746