Lebaran bisa tetap hemat saat Pandemi berakhir

Photo from Pexels

Halo halo

Masih dalam rangkaian challenge yang diadain Blogger Perempuan di Ramadan tahun ini, tetap stay strong sampai challenge berakhir. Pengennya tuh tulisan dari blog challenge ini jadi motivasi saya buat menghidupkan blog ini.  Latihan menulis kembali itu sungguh penting agar kita tetap waras menghadapi dunia yang semakin tidak menentu. Ihiy.

Lebaran sebentar lagi nih. Momen lebaran itu selalu jadi momen spesial ya, nggak jarang kita menghabiskan banyak pos pengeluaran di saat tersebut. Padahal, saat ini kita harus berusaha survive lho, jujur deh pandemi ini bikin saya cukup insecure. Terlebih lagi biasanya pengeluaran di Ramadan dan Lebaran itu cukup besar. Tapi entah kenapa nih, Ramadan tahun ini gak seperti tahun - tahun sebelumnya. Mungkin ini hikmah pandemi yang tanpa sadar merubah cara saya mengatur keuangan dan kebiasaan makan di luar rumah.

Sebenarnya ada beberapa hal sih yang bisa jadi poin tempat kita berhemat saat lebaran, gak cuma ketika pandemi ya, tapi setelah pandemi nanti. Saya tuh masih jauh banget dalam hal "pinter sama urusan finansial", tapi makin ke sini makin belajar pentingnya mengatur dengan baik. Nggak cuma buat diri sendiri sih, tapi juga buat keluarga. Menurut saya hal di bawah ini jadi pos - pos pengeluaran kita selama Ramadan dan juga lebaran, serta pos mana yang bisa kita hemat.

Masak secukupnya, baik buat buka, sahur, ataupun lebaran

Sejak  #dirumahaja dan ada ibu yang ikut ke Jogja, saya setiap harinya jadi masak atau Ibu yang masak. Kata Ibu, lebih hemat masak dibanding makan di luar, sesekali boleh, tapi mending makan di rumah. Wow! Sungguh ternyata membantu sekali, selain skill memasak meningkat, bisa hemat juga. Apalagi nih, lebaran tahun ini gak kumpul sama keluarga besar, daripada terbuang sia sia mending masak secukupnya. Atau~ kalau masak banyak bisa bagiin ke tetangga, orang yang nggak bisa libur di hari raya, dan juga orang yang gak bisa merayakan seperti kita.

 

Photo by Dapur Melodi from Pexels

Pakai baju yang ada,

Kalau ini prinsip saya sekarang sih. Nggak perlu baju baru disetiap lebaran. Kayaknya dari kuliah saya punya atau beli baju lebaran itu cuma 2 kali, yang satupun dibeliin buat kembaran sama mbak - mbak saya. Lebaran lainnya? Pakai baju yang dipakai sehari - hari deh. Mungkin karena saya gak ngerasa bahwa baju lebaran itu suatu keharusan ya, asal bersih rapi dan baik. Selain itu meminimalkan sampah tekstil dari rumah saya. 

Mudik? 

Menurut saya nih, salah satu sumber penghematan adalah tidak mudik tahun ini. Dengan biaya transportasi yang meningkat di hari - hari besar, mudik bikin pengeluaran naik. Karena nggak mudik, biayanya bisa disimpan untuk nabung dana darurat lagi, atau pulang kampung di saat low season. Bisa hemat banyak~ Nggak cuma hemat, dengan memutuskan buat gak mudik, kita juga bantu teman dan saudara kita yang bekerja sebagai tenaga kesehatan. Rantainya gak akan putus kalau kita egois mau pulang seenaknya. *eh

Itu diaaa hal - hal yang jadi pengeluaran kita selama Ramadan dan lebaran. Sedekah dan Zakat Fitrah jangan lupa. Menurut saya pos ini gak harus dihemat - hemat. Selama rezeki cukup, berbagi ke saudara kita yang membutuhkan gak akan ngurangin rezeki kita. Bulan Ramadan waktunya perbanyak hal - hal baik, salah satunya berbagi. Jangan lupa buat bayar Zakat Fitrah sebelum lebaran yaa.

Semoga selalu diberi limpahan rezeki ya, sehat juga rezeki.

Selamat menyambut lebaran yang tinggal seminggu lagi~

Lebaran kesekian tanpa Bapak

Menghitung hari menuju lebaran 2020.

Sama seperti tahun - tahun sebelumnya. Idul Fitri tahun ini pun tanpa kehadiran Bapak lagi. Bukan, bukan karena bapak pergi ninggalin keluarga begitu saja, tapi memang sudah kembali pada yang Memiliki Seluruh Alam sejak 10 tahun yang lalu.

Foto lama, waktu main ke Gembira Loka setelah lebaran di Madiun

Tapi, tetap saja ya, momen - momen seperti lebaran menjadi saat mengingat apa saja hal yang khas dari Bapak ketika kami sekeluarga mempersiapkan rumah dan segala isinya untuk menyambut hari yang fitri. Setiap lebaran, yang selalu semangat ngajakin orang rumah nyiapin lebaran itu ya pasti bapak. Dari mulai bikin kue lebaran, favorit dia semprit jadul itu yang panjang - panjang, sampai minuman apa yang akan disuguhkan, dan juga menu lebaran.

Dulu, waktu saya masih TK dan SD, kami sekeluarga biasanya akan diajak Bapak untuk mudik ke Madiun, ke tempat Mbah Ti dan Mbah Kung. Kami naik mobil dan bapak yang nyetir dari Lombok sampai Madiun. Kami berangkatnya malam gitu, naik kapal dua kali, istirahat berkali-kali. Bukan mudik sama Bapak namanya kalau kami sekeluarga nggak mampir makan di tempat - tempat favorit. Hal yang paling saya inget, kalau mudik, karena mobilnya kijang rover jaman dulu itu, bangku bagian belakang di kasih kasur ma bapak buat tidur. Hihihi. Seru banget ngingetnya.

Tahun ini, tahun ke-10 lebaran kami tanpa Bapak. Waktu cepat banget berlalu, keinget terakhir kali liat Bapak di bulan Mei 2010, bulan spesial saya. Apalagi ya yang bikin rindu lebaran sama Bapak, oh iya! Pernah waktu malam takbiran saya sama mbak-mbak saya duduk disekitar Bapak minta hol a.k.a amplopan lebaran. Ingat sekali saya momen itu. Bapak duduk dikursi depan lalu anaknya ngelilingin beliau.

Semoga Bapak diberi tempat yang lapang ya. Lebaran tahun ini tentunya berbeda, untuk pertama kalinya Ibu lebaran jauh dari rumah. Jadi, dari awal Januari, Ibu ikut nemenin saya ke Jogja dan berencana mampir ke rumah Mbak saya yang di Surabaya juga. Tapi, sayang sekali rencananya belum kesampaian, Ibu terdampar di Jogja karena corona, belum bisa ke Surabaya, dan belum bisa ngumpul ataupun pulang ke Lombok. Pastinya lebaran saat ini bikin Ibu rindu rumah.

Semoga lebaran tahun depan kami sekeluarga bisa berkumpul lengkap. Amin

 

10 hal yang ingin dilakukan jika COVID-19 berakhir

Selama sebulan lebih berdiam diri di rumah, pasti terbayang kan mau ngapain aja setelah pandemi ini berakhir.

Sudah punya plan apa aja? 

Buat saya, 10 hal ini yang mau saya lakuin setelah keadaan kondusif dan membaik. Siapa tau ada yang sama kaan.

1. Kumpul dan catch up sama teman dan sahabat

Kayaknya ini memang nomor 1 bakal dilakukan. Meskipun saya terbilang introverted, tapi kalau teman teman dekat dan sahabat pasti kangen banget buat kumpul dan catch up keadaan mereka setelah pandemi ini berakhir.

Sudah lama banget kayaknya ketemu sahabat, ketemu si Arta aja terakhir 3 Maret kayaknya. Udah almost 2 months! Mungkin ngerencanain nginep atau makan di luar bareng nih.

2. Pulang kampung

Rencananya tahun ini akan ada agenda buat pulang kampung ke Lombok, dan juga lebaran ke Madiun. Tapi apa daya rencana tinggal rencana. Semoga bisa pulang ke Lombok dan ajakin Rumi ke pantai!

3. Ajak anak bayi ke Kebun Binatang

Personal Photo

Ini kayak bucket list buat Rumi. Karena saya dan Rangga dari pacaran sampai nikah emang seneng banget ke Kebun Binatang, bukan cuma ngeliat berbagai macam binatangnya tapi jalan - jalannya. Bisa jalan kaki santai sambil menikmati suasana. 

Kemarinan sempet lewat Gembira Loka saat nganter Smoothies Kurma. Gembira Loka ditutup. Kayaknya selama bertahun tahun di Jogja salah satu tempat yang sering banget saya kunjungi sama Rangga ya kebun binatang. 

4. Pentas keliling bersama Flying Balloons Puppet

Sesungguhnya tahun ini adalah tahun di mana kami berencana melakukan pentas keliling di Jawa, Kalimantan dan Sumatra dengan membawa pentas Pongo Abelii.

Mata Pongo

Proposal sudah dibuat, venue sudah mulai dikontakin dan mulai ngomongin kerjasama. Tapi sementara ditunda sampai keadaan membaik. Sejauh ini saya masih nyiapin berbagai administrasi untuk pentas keliling kami. Semoga bisa terlaksana.

5. Ke Pantai dan Camping

Pantai itu emang tempat favorit dari kecil. Kebetulan rumah saya di Lombok dekat banget sama pantai, 10 menit jalan sampai. Jadi memang terbiasa berenang di laut. Terus pengen banget camping di Goa Cemara.

Personal Photo. Foto camping tahun 2017 bareng Ditto, Rangga, dan Aaron

Pernah beberapa kali camping di sana, tempatnya asyik! Nanti mau ajak Rumi camping di pantai aja.

6. Kerja dari Coffee Shop favorit

Ini salah satu hal yang saya rinduin. Memang sih kerja di manapun bisa dilakukan sekarang. Tapi terkadang butuh suasana baru dan lebih kondusif kan? Alternatif saya selama ini pasti ke Coffee Shop favorit di Jogja buat kerja.

Selain kerja biasanya saya janjian ketemu sama Arta di coffee shop.

7. Berenang 

Rencananya saat Rumi 5 bulan, saya mau ngajakin dia berenang untuk pertama kali. Selain bagus buat saya juga buat ngembaliin stamina setelah melahirkan, berenang juga bagus untuk perkembangan tubuh bayi.

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels

Semoga bisa segera ajak dan ngajarin Rumi berenang.

8. Jalan - jalan di Alkid pagi - pagi

Ritual yang dulu sering saya dan Rangga lakuin, bukan jogging kayak orang - orang ya. Tapi cari sarapan! Atau sekedar keliling liat suasana. Ahhh~ kangen suasana Jogja di alkid dan malioboro

9. Makan di luar

Hihihi. Ini tu sebenarnya kayak jadwal yang sering saya lakuin lebih dari 2 kali seminggu. Makan sate batas kota, makan di cak samsul, atau makan nasi bebek madura. Hmmm, suasana warung pinggir jalan sambil ngobrol ngalur ngidul ma Rangga emang salah satu nikmat yang tiada dua.

10. Belanja ke pasar!

Kalau ini, walaupun saya sebenarnya nggak hobi banget ke pasar. Tapi momen gini jadi acara Rangga buat cari jajanan favorit dia. Makanya saya masukin ke 10 hal yang pengen saya lakukan setelah Covid-19 berakhir.

Sebenarnya masih banyak hal yang pengen saya lakuin. Tapi bisa - bisa listnya makin panjang. 

Semoga semua segera membaik ya. 

Sehat selalu teman - teman!

1 Dekade: Memahami diri melalui blog pribadi

Halo, halo.

Sebenarnya tujuan tulisan kali ini, bercerita tentang 1 dekade blog ini hadir di dunia maya. Berawal dari tugas semasa di sekolah dulu, berlanjut menjadi tempat berbagi apapun yang terlintas di pikiran saya yang terkadang suka melompat dari satu isu ke isu lainnya dalam hidup.

Sudah berjalan 10 tahun ternyata, walaupun selama ini ada kalanya saya rajin menulis, bahkan ada waktu berjanji lebih konsisten, namun apa daya tetap saja alasan - alasan keluar untuk memaafkan ketidakbecusan saya menulis di blog ini. 

Kalau dilihat, mungkin hanya ada beberapa tahun di mana saya rajin sekali hingga ada puluhan judul. Dulu saya sempat membuat jadwal upload untuk blog saya agar saya lebih rajin. Tapi, lagi lagi, berakhir menjadi rencana saja. Tahun 2020 ini, saya akhirnya berpikir bahwa lebih baik saya berupaya menulis tiap bulannya, tanpa ada target berapa jumlah tulisan yang harus saya buat. Goalnya adalah ada judul baru tiap bulannya, meski cuma satu. 

Blog pribadi ini sebenarnya menjadi bahan refleksi diri, jalan untuk memahami. Mulai dari hal yang menarik hati saya, benda - benda ajaib, kelompok yang saya sedang bangun, hingga usaha - usaha kecil agar menjadi pribadi yang lebih baik lagi. Kalau membaca kembali tulisan - tulisan di kanal ini, saya jadi punya pengingat atas hal yang saya cintai. Saya jadi punya energi untuk memulai lagi, menilik kembali, serta belajar lagi. Mungkin seperti gratitude jurnal, blog ini berisi hal yang saya syukuri hadir di dalam hidup saya.

Semoga tahun ke sepuluh ini menjadi awal yang menarik untuk perjalanan menulis saya.

Be mindful dengan keuangan pribadi

Photo source: Pexels

Hi!

Tulisan ini sebenarnya lanjutan dari conscious living yang sedang saya coba terapkan. Be mindful dan juga conscious tidak selalu tentang barang - barang lho, tapi keuangan dan pengeluaran pribadi juga akan terdampak. Kok bisa? Saya awalnya juga ragu sih, apa beneran bisa ngatur keuangan yang subhanallah susahnya diatur karena kebiasaan jaman kuliah masih kebawa - bawa sampai sekarang.

Jadi, jaman kuliah dulu, masih di endorse sama orang tua, apalagi waktu jaman kuliah s1. Gak pernah kepikiran bakalan ngatur keuangan sehari - hari kayak sekarang. Setelah kerja dan menikah, saya pengennya bisa lebih cermat dalam mengatur finansial saya dan Rangga. Susah banget, apalagi kami memang sukanya jajan, makan itu nomor satu deh dibanding belanja baju. Kadang suka geleng - geleng sama kebiasaan kayak gitu, tapi namanya ingin merubah kebiasaan itu bukan perkara yang mudah kan ya?

Saya sempet kepikiran, apa perlu membagi rekening ke beberapa post gitu, biar tau setiap bulan itu pendapatan kita habis buat apa. Bingung mau bikin rekening baru atau gimana, karena ribet juga kalau bikin rekening bank baru. Beberapa waktu yang lalu, sempet lihat instagram story temen yang datang ke acara Jenius di Jogja. Penasaran deh apa itu Jenius, browsing websitenya, terus baca - baca. Ternyata di Jenius bisa bikin rekening lewat smartphone. Kelihatannya super simple plus segala transaksi juga bisa dilakuin di smartphone dari bayar tagihan, simpan duit dan juga deposit, bahkan bisa terbitin kartu debit juga.

Personal Photo

Ada beberapa fitur Jenius yang menurut saya sangat membantu untuk mengatur keuangan sehari - hari, antara lain:

Send it

Menurut saya, send it itu salah satu fitur oke banget yang ditawarkan Jenius. Kenapa? Karena ngirim uang jadi gampang banget. Ada beberapa cara, kirim dengan masukin $cashtag pengguna jenius lainnya, dan tentu tetep bisa kirim dengan nomor rekening. Semuanya dilakukan lewat smartphone. Gak cuma ngirim - ngirim duit sih, bayar tagihan juga bisa. Sejak ngurusin kontrakan grup kami, saya biasa membayar tagihan listrik online. Lebih mudah dan menghemat waktu sih, apalagi lokasi kontrakan tersebut lumayan jauh dari mana - mana.

Photo Source: Instagram Jenius Connect

Pay me

Ini sebenarnya fitur Jenius yang paling bikin penasaran. Jujur saja sih, kadang menagih hutang ke teman itu susahnya minta ampun, karena gak enak juga. Walaupun menagih hutang itu kewajiban ya. Fitur ini belum pernah saya coba sebelumnya. Karena dulu pernah punya pengalaman tidak mengenakan mengenai utang piutang, menagih hutang itu jadi kegiatan yang cukup bikin deg-degan dan resah (ceileeeh). Semoga next time bisa nyobain fitur Jenius satu ini.

Jenius Pay

Transaksi belanja online emang paling juara beberapa tahun belakangan ini ya, bahkan kayaknya orang semakin banyak melakukan transaksi e-commerce. Karena mudah dan teknologi makin buat prosesnya lebih sederhana. Jenius pay ini adalah salah satu metode transaksi online dengan menggunakan $Cashtag Jenius. Habis belanja di situs online, kita bisa melakukan pembayaran order kita langsung lewat smartphone lewat fitur Jenius Pay ini. Tapi berusaha banget buat gak asal beli - beli karena kemudahannya. Karena, kembali lagi, mengatur keuangan juga berhubungan dengan tidak menghamburkan uang untuk hal yang tidak menjadi prioritas kita. Sekarang, setiap mau beli sesuatu online, paling masuk ke keranjang belanja, setelah direview, gak semua yang masuk bakalan dibeli. Perlu banget buat nanyain seberapa butuh dan pentingnya barang tersebut. 

E-wallet

Jadi, e-wallet Jenius ini tempat kita mengatur dan juga top-up e-wallet kita. Contohnya, saldo Go-pay sudah habis, bisa tuh di topup di sini. Fitur ini bisa mengatur sampai dengan 10 e-wallet.  

Photo source: Pexels

Save

Save ini salah satu fitur Jenius yang sangat saya idamkan. Pengen banget membagi tabungan ke beberapa pos tiap bulannya. Tabungan jalan - jalan, tabungan emergency, sama tabungan masa depan bisa dibedakan ke pos - pos yang berbeda. Ini kayaknya kesulitan yang sering saya hadapin, karena tabungan impiannya (ceileh) tidak dipisahin sama tabungan transaksi harian, alhasil terkadang menguap begitu saja. Sedih kan? Karena itu saya pikir fitur ini cocok banget buat saya dan Rangga yang punya kesulitan dalam saving.

Fitur Save ini sendiri punya beberapa jenis, yaitu Flexi saver, Dream saver, dan juga Maxi saver. Flexi Saver ini jenis tabungan berbunga setara deposito yang bisa ditarik kapan saja. Sedangkan untuk Dream Saver, jenis tabungan dengan tempo waktu yang juga kita tentukan sendiri. Contohnya, kamu bikin pos tabungan untuk perjalanan atau trip kamu keluar negeri, bisa deh bikin Dream Saver, otomatis sejumlah dana akan dipotong tiap bulan untuk dimasukkan ke tabungan ini dan semuanya kamu atur sendiri. Bahkan di Dream Saver ini, kamu bisa membuat 10 tabungan lho, lumayan kan buat tabungan travel atau tabungan buat beli gadget baru.  Dan yang terakhir ada Maxi Saver, tabungan ini memiliki bunga yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dua jenis tabungan sebelumnya. Jenis tabungan ini cocok banget untuk kamu yang ingin mengumpulkan modal usaha. Untuk lebih lengkapnya bisa cek di sini ya.

Sebenarnya selain fitur transaksi keuangan, Jenius juga membantu kita dengan fitur Controlnya. Control ini berfungsi buat mengatur dan memanage aktivitas keuangan kita di Jenius. Contoh control yang bisa kita lakukan antara lain Pengeluaran kartu debit, In and out history transaksi yang lebih detil, serta bisa juga memberikan E-statement atau rekening koran kita.

Photo Source: Jenius website

Hampir aja ketinggalan nih, Jenius juga mengeluarkan beberapa Card yaitu Kartu Debit Utama (m-card), Kartu Debit Virtual (e-card), dan Kartu Debit Tambahan (x-card). Masing - masing cards bisa kamu dapatkan sesuai dengan kebutuhan kamu. Kamu juga mengatur seluruh aktivitas kartu kamu, mulai dari ubah limit kartu kamu, ubah pin, blokir kartu jika kartu kamu hilang, serta bisa cek histori transaksi dari kartu kamu.

Untuk kalian yang mau dapatin berbagai inspirasi dan juga berkokreasi, bisa juga cek website Jenius Co-Create. Banyak aktivitas seru yang bisa kamu ikutin untuk cari tau tentang finansial bahkan sharing di berbagai thread tentang pengalaman kamu mengatur keuangan. Banyakin baca jadi salah satu cara juga sih buat cari tau cara apa untuk mengatur keuangan yang cocok dengan gaya hidup saya dan Rangga. 

Mengatur keuangan itu menurut saya pribadi adalah tugas yang super berat, hahaha, karena harus sabar dan bersyukur. Iya, belajar mengatur keuangan itu juga perlu banyak bersyukurnya, bersyukur masih bisa makan, masih punya tempat tinggal, dan masih punya teman yang mau diajak berbagi cerita. Karena dengan bersyukur saya bisa lebih santai mengatur keuangan, gak bakal ada mental break down atau nerve yang gak bisa di manage. Eh, tapi bukan berarti saya sudah yang paling jago ya.

To be honest, saya jauh banget dari berhasil mengelola keuangan dengan baik, tapi saya yakin banget sama hal yang kalau dimulai dari sekarang, sedikit demi sedikit, dan konsisten mudah - mudahan jadi lebih baik. Apalagi sekarang sudah ada Jenius yang cocok banget buat saya dan Rangga. Hehehe. Semoga bisa makin ahli deh ngurus keuangan kami.

Cheers,

M

March!

I believe that I do suck sometimes, but at least I try to not suck a lot this month.

Here I go again, sharing my bullet journal spreads to welcome March. Damn! Life is a like a speed of light, you never realise that it is already passed you by. I start 2019 with a hopeful vision that my life will turn out good this year. I mean by good is that, I could do everything that I love to do and share my personal problem with my partner, through thick and thin.

March welcome page

Besides sharing how March spreads will be, I also want to share a bit about me moving out (again). Yes! I am moving out of our Studio. Since couple months ago, I move to my partner's place which is also our group's studio. There are several people live in the house as well, it's quite weird situation for us to accommodate our needs in the same place.

On February, Rangga and I decided to move out to our own place. The house is quite far from the city center but we really love the surrounding. Even though we live in a housing complex, on the way there, there are lots of trees. The air is also nice and fresh.

I am glad that we got a quite big house, since, after May, most of Flying Balloons Puppet tools will be move to our place. I know, it will be the same as living in the studio, but now, only me and Rangga who live in the house, our friends will just come and go. I always excited to move from one place to another one. I mean like, almost every year, I moved out from one rent room to another one. I get bored easily, that is why the feeling of getting to somewhere new, excite my inner self. I love to organize things and stuff that I have, put it on the box and check it if I still need it on the next place. I have no idea whether I will be moving again after this house, since Rangga will not agree with that idea. He is not a fan of moving too often.

In order to do everything, I rely on my bullet journal even for moving out part. So, here is my bullet journal spreads for March, enjoy!

Weekly spreads with additional tracker, I want to try to track my habit weekly.

Try to be more and more ethical. Hard work indeed

Blog planner and project diy that I want to do for new house! Yas!!!

Last month, I cannot keep my promise for my self to upload 5 entries each month. There is a lot going on, moving out to our new place, getting sick during and after moving all our belongings, and also a job interview within last month. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Cheers,

M

Food

A fresh cut fruit in a bowl, topped with yoghurt and chia. 

This week was my worst food experience, not because I eat bad food or such. But, I finally realise (I know I am really slow admitting it) how food affect my body. So, Rangga is abroad doing some performance, I was all alone. When I am alone I do not feel like cooking something because I have no one to share my food with. I ended up eating a lot of processed food and snack. 

I never test or check my health to the doctor or hospital but I know something is going on every time I eat processed food. It is not only bad for my teeth but also my head. I got a really painful migraine several days ago. I laid all day in my room, doing basically nothing, just rested hoping the pain will go away. 

Then, I figure out, all the food I bought is really bad for my health. It is really hard to start a healthy eating pattern and habit. There are days where I could just cook and prepare all my foods, while also there are days where I get super lazy and decided to buy ready-to-eat food. I want to be healthier this year and getting 5kg more weigh is not an easy task. Year still long but the journey is just started. 

Anyway, I want to make a short entry today. This one is spontaneously come into my mind and I just want to write it out. 

Thank you for reading this random thoughts I have.

Cheers,

M

February Bullet Journal

A little quote from my favorite Japanese designer, Yohji Yamamoto

Welcome February!

From now on, I will try to share my bullet journal spreads in the beginning of every month. This is my second year doing bullet journal. I really enjoy the moment when I need to prepare a new month ahead. I know what I want each month, and what kind of spreads who will help through the month.

So, these are my spreads for February.

I try to combine texture and a little bit of grey in this spreads. Again, for weekly log, I keep it simple as I do not want to track every single things each week.

This is a spread of my monthly goals, tasks, and also projects. I want to see what I should completed this month. I am not going to put details in each one. The next page is my habit and health tracker.  You will see better in this image below. 

Habit and health tracker, I missed spell the words, but anyway.

In January 2019, I would like to record and plan ahead my blog as well as social media of Flying Balloons Puppet. Even though in real life, I still miss some of them. But, I know that at least I need to try to do it. The next page of this spreads is a poem by Rumi. 

I always makes mistakes in my bullet journal, whether wrong days, or wrong spelled. But, I do not want it to be something I need to think about a lot. So, every time I make some mistake, I just lined it up or simply put other paper on top of it. Nothing is perfect, that is why I try to embrace that imperfection. Yes, you see on the next page is to-do list for moving out. Me and my partner will move out in the end of February after he comeback for his tour. I make this spread to remind me what I need to do before moving out and what projects I want to do with the new house.

Again, this weekly spreads is so simple, nothing fancy about it. But, I like it so much. For now, I will stick with this layout until I want to explore more on this spreads.

This month, I give my friend a spreads of February for her graduation gifts. I forgot to take a picture of the spreads. I try to put her style and mood into the bullet journal. It takes me couple of hours to finish the spreads, but before jump into writing and scribble stuff on it, I made a list of spreads that I want to include in the bullet journal. It is quite a time consuming works, but I enjoy giving something like that. Her face is priceless when she open our presents. Maybe, I could make it into business, -- preparing bullet journal spreads with love --. Hahaha. I will post the picture later, if I could ask her to take some picture of it.

Thank you for stopping by!

Cheers,
M

*all photos are my personal photo

Books I need to read in 2019

Hi!

I am back, I guess, sort of.

You know, this January I said to myself that I need to post at least 5 entries in this precious baby I called my own blog. It is a hard work for me, to be honest. There are times where I would do bunch of writings, unfinished ones, which I will probably decided not to post here for some reasons. But, today, I dedicated myself to post something, it is about book.

I rarely talk about books that I read or simply giving my opinion on it. It is just an activity for me. This time, I want to share with you, several books that I want to finish reading this year. The list could be added if I have more books to read. I am a bit proud of my reading game this year since I already finished 2 books in this month and there is one more still my bedside table.

This list actually is my wish list of books, there are some of it that I already bought, but there are others I haven’t got in hands. So, here is the lists of 20 books I want to read this year.

1. Ella, Minnow, Pea by Mark Dunn 
2. Totem and Taboo by Sigmund Freud 
3. Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman
4. The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
5. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
6. The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
7. The Danish Way of Parenting by Jessica Joelle Alexander & Iben Dissing Sandahl
8. Every Woman’s Guide To Saving the Planet by Natalie Isaacs
9. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
10. Turning the Tide on Plastics by Lucy Siegle
11. Small is Beautiful by Vintage Schumacher
12. Live Green by Jen Chillingsworth
13. The Art of Simple by Eleanor Ozich
14. Semua Ikan di Langit by Ziggy Zezsyazeoviennazabrizkie
15. The Year of Spaghetti by Haruki Murakami
16. Studies on Hysteria by Sigmund Freud
17. Almost Adulting by Arden Rose
18. The Little Book of Life Hacks by Yumi Sakugawa
19. The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
20. Little Women by Louise May Alcott

That is quite a long list, eh? Anyway, I am looking for some of books listed above. This year, I am eager to read as many book as I could. It has been a long time since I could read that 500 pages more of Harry Potter in a day. I am getting slower nowadays.

It is also my way to ignite the fire within me, I know it sounds absurd, but yes it is true. I need more vitamin from books. Books could take you anywhere, to the faraway land even to unknown place. I will updated the list as I go this year. Wish me luck!

Cheers,

M

*Some books might be changing in the course of the year, no one knows what I want to discover this year. There will be unplanned event along the way. 

Natural Skin Care Review: Face Oils and Rose Water by Haple.id

The latest product that I bought (again)

I know, it is kind of unusual for me to write review about certain product, because I never done it before. But, it is never wrong to try something new, right?

I mean, there will be certain reasons why I want to create this type of post. First, I love the product. Second, I love it so much that I should tell people about it’s very existence.

When I was younger, I never thought that taking care of my skin is big issue for me. I mean, I never had a crazy problem with acne, I have a lot though in certain area of my face, so skin care is not in my routine list. As I get older, I find out that it is a nice way of loving ourselves. Since university, I only use facial wash, that’s it. I never try product such as essence, oil, moisturiser, and so on.

One day, I found this ads about natural skin care on Instagram, and I ordered it. It turns out, I have no skin problem by using it. It even helps me fight hormonal acne and moisturising my face. It does not give a sudden change, but I feel that my skin is getting healthier. The first package I ever ordered is three essential oils with a rose water.

**Disclaimer, I am not skin care expert or whatsoever, I am just a woman who try a skincare product.

Packaging

I love the packaging of Haple.id, it is packaged in a box made from brown craft paper. Inside it you will find the oil and a little paper that tells you what is the benefits of the oil and how to use it. But, it will be really nice if there will be less plastic on packaging.

Oil packaging

Info and instruction sheets

What I feel

I really love the rose water, this one is my 5th bottle. This is the second time I bought the large bottle, the first time is when I give it to my mom. It is refreshing and hydrating. I use it before I use the oils. I even bring the regular bottle in my daily bag. I use it as a body and face mist. So far, I have no allergic to this water.

Rose water packaging, regular and large

What about the oils? For now, I only use two oils, grape seed and almond oil. I use almond oil to moisturise my face, not only that, I sometimes use it on my lashes and eyebrow. I heard it helps with growth, so I try it. I haven’t seen any results from it, but doing it become a way for me to unwind and relax.

I use grape seed oil to treat my hormonal acne. Several weeks ago, I got a bunch of it on me right and left cheeks. It is frustrating, since I never had such a breakout before. Every morning after taking a bath and night before I go to sleep, I will use two drops of it on my acne. It works well, not it is not as crazy as before, no more redness.

I guess so far, this is a best natural skin care for me. I am not a kind of person who will try a lot of products on my skin. When I find the one, I will stick to it, like what I do for my facial wash. It has been 5 years since the first time I use it, and I never looked back.

That is all for today’s post. I feel good telling people products that I use daily, maybe I will try to make another one next time.

Thank you for stopping by!

Cheers,

M

Not-so minimalist wardrobe

count how many clothes I have and why I start to own less

For me, 2019 is a start of better and a bit conscious lifestyle. The story begin when, I feel a bit uncomfortable after me and Flying Balloons Puppet performed about the environment, how human act affects its surrounding. It will be a hypocrisy if we told story about destroyed environment and how human should do to protect it without actually making a real move. I never set a perfect nor a big standar on how I want to change the way I live. It is an ongoing process for me and my partner. We start little but at least we start now.

Conscious life and better understanding about how my action influence my environment is a journey to be able to feel enough when it is actually enough. When it comes to clothing, I used to splurge, even though it is far from it, but there are a lot of clothes that I never use, staying in a dark. I hold into some clothes because I thought it has a memory on it or I might use it someday (which is most of the time is not going to happen). Then, since last year, I reevaluate my clothes, and pile up clothing items that I rarely use. The results is quite mesmerizing, I cleaned and packed some of it to give to donation, while some of it I repurpose into something else. Until this moment I am still in the process of selecting wardrobe that I really need and still separate clothes I rarely use. It is not a one night experience for me, it is a long journey ahead.

I want to show you how my progress is by counting how many clothes that I have right now, even though the number will not be super accurate but I could at least have a picture of it. This number will not included bag, shoes, accessories, and sleeping wear as well as undergarment.

So, let’s see.

Pile of tops that I have, minus 5 in the laundry

Bottoms and lounge wear. I am not putting my undergarment into this list

Two outers. Jeans jacket and a jumper. I shared this one with my partner.

If I count total of my clothes, it is about 43 items, included formal wear, seasonal jackets, which I am not put in this post, also other t-shirts and pants in the laundry basket. You see that most of my clothes are t-shirt, black t-shirts to be exact. I do not own many formal blouses and such since I rarely get into a formal set up or event. So, for now I stick with this items. If you happen to know me, you might notice some outer that I use most of the time, the black one or the flowery one.

It is still a great number of clothes, that is why I put not-so minimalist wardrobe for the title. But, for now, it is my favorite and most use clothes. Learning to become fulfill with what I have is difficult and not an easy task. If someday I found new clothing items which I need, I will put the old one into a pile for donation, repurpose, and mending or fixing things. I have talked about mending my old jeans in this blog post.

All of exposure happen today with unending ads, sometimes make me want to buy more, I need that, I probably need that, or simply I like that. But, I am glad, that since I get married, I consider every purchase that I want to make especially when it comes to unnecessary item. I know by heart that I am not going to be a full perfect minimalist, because I know I am not. I believe that it is a good start when we are trying to understand how our clothing create impact to our surroundings. 

Becoming compassionate with environment through selective wardrobe is a little step for me to get better as a person and human. I am no perfect when it comes to #lesswaste #conscious lifestyle, and I know I have no right to judge people way of life, because we are totally different, and it is just fine. I started this small change as a way for me as a reminder to be responsible for what I have told people from performance that I did. Personally, it is silly to talk big without a definitive action. This is an effort that I try to make the least. 

I will talk more about the journey of my little change through this blog. I hope it will give you something to think about. I put some link and reference below if you are interested on fashion and its impact to the environment.

Website:

Remake

Movies:

The True Cost

Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a nice day!

Looking back on 2018, and welcoming 2019

Happy New Year 2019 Everyone!
May we have a blast and wonderful days ahead.

I want to begin this post with some reflection on my goals I wrote in my 2018 post. If I look back, I found that some of it is just a mere imagination with no actual realization, while some of it I could lined them off proudly. Here are my 2018 goals.

2018 goals

Yoga and other physical exercise twice a week at least

Read 52 books a year

Savings for future travel adventure

Write 5 blog entries at least each month

Bring Flying Balloons Puppet to be one of performance group in Indonesia

Bullet journaling

Pray

Take a deep breath before starting anything

Learn Spanish and Japanese again

Finding and seizing opportunity to study again

Last year, I thought that my most difficult goal to be accomplished is staying with my exercise regime. There were days when I could done 30 days exercise challenge while also there were months where I totally forgot to exercise. It was awful.

Other things that I cannot achieve last year was read as many book as I could. I only completed read 5 book. I know for sure that I want to read more book in this 2019. Goals that I could not realize this year also blogging every single month at least writing 5 posts each month. I am so sad that there were months were I have not written anything at all for example February, August, and September. I do not want to make an excuse, but, there are events that I was preparing, such as Flying Balloons performance in Galeri Indonesia Kaya on March 2018.

For me 2018 is the blogging revival for me, since I have not written much on 2017. The year 2011 will be the highest number of posts that I posted on this blog. Nonetheless, the number of posts this year is double up compare to 2017 and I am looking forward to do more on blogging on 2019. 2018 is the time when I signed up on blogger perempuan. I never thought, that I could brave enough to join it. Since I know that I might not be as active as other member, buut taking this step shows that I care about this blog. On early December 2018, I bought domain for this blog. I said to myself that, I need to do this seriously, not only as a way to practice my English but also as a platform for me to share what I like as well as sharing story about the group I am managing, Flying Balloons Puppet.

Looking back to this blog and how I made this during high school, I never imagined that I blogging till this day, it was already 8 years! I thought at first, that the blog only for doing my high school assignment, but it turns out to be a platform where I share my story, any random story I have in my mind, really.

2019, new year, new spread

Blogging is not the only goals I cannot accomplish, of course, there are lots of thing that I could not accomplish within 2018 but at the same time there were opportunities along the way. I am blessed with 2018 and how it turns out. I have a steady job, now I resigned. I get married with an amazing partner and plan to move out together. I helped and involved more in Flying Balloons Puppet in 2018, thank God, we had a wonderful year.

This 2019, I will not share my goal here, but I put it on my bullet journal. There are constant goals that I want to do this year just like any other year before. What makes it different is that, I want to create monthly goals to help me create baby steps towards my yearly goal. I think, that kind of goal will help me a lot. Bullet journal is one of my savior last year. I keep up with many things which I knew that will be overwhelming. Anyway, like beginning of this blog post last year, I want to share my bullet journal setup! I am excited to share it with you.

As I mentioned before on my blog post, I already prepare new refill and some tombow pens.

Future log

Little calendar for Flying Balloons Puppet

See you 2019!
Cheers

A year with bullet journal

Merry Christmas for everyone who celebrate this joyful day!

I hope you can spend your time with your loved ones.

Today, I want to share with you my year with a bullet journal.

I never realize that I already keeping up with bullet journal for a year. It is such an accomplishment for me. Checking my bullet journal on and off to see if there are tasks that I missed is become a common thing for me. Even though some people go for a digital reminder, but I feel that writing it down makes me remember it more.

So, how is it?

I think, personally, that I enjoy the experience and obligatory I might say. It is fun to write down your tasks and to-do lists as well as decorating your bullet journal. The benefits of bullet journalling in 2018 for me is I could actually make something into a habit. I doubt myself when it comes to try something new and consistent in doing so. But, bullet journal this year is become an eye opening journey. Of course, there is a day when I will not look at it at all, even I missed June, I guess. After that moment, I try to prepare the next month ahead, so that I could prepare and actually do it.

For the design and template, I choose black and white with really simple line and decoration. I rarely use color in my bullet journal. Sometimes, I put a bit of color in it but I prefer a black pen and some minimalists line. Why? During 2018, I have a lot of schedule and tasks that I need to get done so that I do want to spend more time in decorating the journal. I prefer something easy and simple. But, I do not know maybe I will experiment more in my journal next year. I still not sure about it, but let’s see.

There are things also that I wish I did before jumping into bullet journaling. First, I probably need a bigger journal, my A6 midori notebook is a bit to small. If only I bought another one, it will be easier for me to decorate it. But, I am glad that the journal can be refill as I want. Second is, I need to use more thicker paper for the refill, so that I could actually draw something in it. For this one, I will just glue another thick paper for a spreads which I want to draw on. I think that besides all the mini size and limitation of my bullet journal, there are always some way to work around it. Overall, my bullet journal experience is a blast.

I cannot wait to start a journey with bullet journaling in 2019. I already bought some supplies. I have watch many bullet journal setup on youtube and instagram, many of them mentioned about tombow dual brush pen. I am intrigued by the color. It has a quite range of grey and black. So, I bought 6 tombows and some refills of my midori notebook with dots pattern.

I am so excited to share it with you how my 2019 bullet journal spreads are.

See you in the next post!

O tsuku roi: Repair

Personal photo

I spent one of my sunday noon repairing my old pair of jeans. I have it since I was in Junior high school, it is about 10 years ago. I love this jeans, but I cannot wear it now. There is a hole in the knee! I am dying~ It is my favorite pair. Actually, TBH, I already planning to mend the hole with an old scrap of jeans and some embroidery threads. But, I procrastinate a lot. It is almost 3 months since I start this project. 3 MONTHS! It is the longest time I ever procrastinate a project.

I have no pants left, not in my wardrobe nor in my laundry. I need to do something. I made it and finished the project with proud and pride. You know how it feels when you finish something you think you will never finish? That is how I feel. I randomly stitched some embroidery thread, yellow (my least favorite colors), burgundy, and blues. I have no black thread left, so I need to work this color out.

I posted on my Instagram stories, and my friend told me it is called o tsuku roi in Japanese which means repair. Repairing is not that common today, especially when it comes to clothing. Fast fashion to blame? Or the way we live? When it comes to clothing, I do not own many clothings right now (even the word not many cannot guarantee I only have ten pieces of wardrobe). It is one of way to live conscious life. I know it is far from less waste or zero waste lifestyle. But it is my effort to be more conscious about what I left behind.

Clothes, who does not tricked by the fast fashion and how cheap you can get to style yourself, right? You can follow the latest trend and own a fashionable clothes only for hundred thousand rupiahs even less in some store.

According to Merriam Webster,

“Fast fashion is an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers”

The term quickly and cheaply will be the highlight to this meaning. I have watch a documentary about how fast a fashion industry today. Even, in one of famous fast fashion brand, they could change the whole wardrobe in their etalage every three weeks if I am not mistaken. When we buy something/ clothes, have we ever think how many times we use it? How long it will last in our wardrobe? I have seen many clothing items have been thrown out, and the sad thing is we cannot easily recycle it. I am not trying to judge you or everyone who into the fast fashion, I guilty as well, I bought stuff from those brands. I just wondering, how can we change the way we consume something. How it will be impacting our lives?

Personal Photo

I want to learn and be more grateful for what I have. Repairing a pair of jeans that I wear almost half of my age now is a kind of respect on how it is ended up in my closet. A labour that spend his lifetime making those jeans, from cutting the fabric, dye the jeans, and pack it up. Also, a journey way before that material came into the fabric. I guess, repairing one pair of jeans will not harm me at all. It is helping healing myself at the same time.

A pair of jeans that come to live and stay with me for another years.

Stepping into a new journey

Hi!

I have been busy with all the planning for an event on the end of October, it was a success!

Now, here I am writing a momentos about what happened yesterday and what will happen in the future. I am sitting on my office chair writing this entry in my laptop while imagining laying around in a beach towel. You know how it feels when you miss your hometown, try to pretend that I was there.

Yes, when you see the title, you will be wondering what is it about. Stepping into a new journey might refer to new career path, new study, new hobbies, and even new life. I am stepping into new door with my long time partner, Rangga. Back then, we never thought that we will decided to be together, and we actually committing to make it happen this year. A lot of trouble, ups, and down of course. Nobody is perfect but we try to support each other. Having a commitment with someone is a big job, I guess. It involves a big effort and commitment to able to put this step into your timeline.

For me, marriage is not the goal. It is just a part of reaching my life’s goal. People might have different understanding and approach to this word. When I was younger, I am afraid of it, all that responsibility and tiny bits of it. Then, why finally I get married? First, I do not find any other man who are compatible enough to face my regular up and downs as he does. I feel comfortable and irritated around him at the same time, because basically we are totally different. Second, he is such an awesome person. He knows what he is doing and he loves it tremendously. That is a quality that I adore about him. People said that you should know by your heart when it comes to marriage, but I guess heart is not the only things we have to lean on, right? I believe that my decision to get married is not only because I am in love with my partner, but there are also logical reasons that I thought about.

When we decided to take a step further, we know exactly what we are going to face, not alone though, but together. I believe that both of us creating a support system to reach our dreams (It’s not only a common dream, but each dream that we have individually).

So, how was the celebration of our union? To be honest, super tiring but exciting at the same time, can you imagine! I am so thrilled that many of my good people were there to celebrate it. We planned to have a very simple wedding with only a wedding ceremony, but believe me, in Indonesia, wedding is not always about you and your partner (for me at least, the whole family have each of their part on the wedding). That day, we greeted hundreds of people during the reception, trying to keep smiling in spite of that tight undergarment which makes me bathed in sweat. I was exhausted. The reception ended and I slept the whole noon.

After that hectic day, I finally have a perfect holiday with my partner and some of our friends. We rented a villa near Kuta, Lombok. Enjoy a sunset, swim at night and play game in the pool, snacking and talking about random things. I know that life is good and I am so blessed.

Road ahead is a mystery but I have a hands to hold to walk along and enjoy the view. Thank you for reading this cheesy entry. Anyway, I will be back with another story on our performance in Pesta Boneka #6. Yass!

Xoxo

M