Pregnancy: "MITONI", The Traditional Javanese Ceremony (Tujuh Bulanan)

Pregnancy: "MITONI", The Traditional Javanese Ceremony (Tujuh Bulanan)

claradevi handriatmadja
PREGNANCY

Tanggal 19 Maret lalu, saya dan pak Gempa melewati sebuah ritual adat Jawa yang bernama "Mitoni", atau biasa juga disebut Tingkeban dan Tujuh-Bulanan. Buat yang belum familiar, pada dasarnya sih Mitoni ini semacam upacara syukuran dan doa yang dilaksanakan untuk memperingati usia kehamilan di bulan ke-tujuh. Tujuan utamanya adalah untuk memohon keselamatan sang calon anak yang sebentar lagi akan dilahirkan. Nah, selama ini saya merasa cukup familiar dengan mitoni, karena Papa orang Jogja dan beberapa saudara serta teman saya juga melaksanakan upacara adat ini dimasa kehamilannya... tetapi ketika mengalami sendiri, ternyata Mitoni nggak hanya sekedar ritual "biasa" yang sekedar lewat aja lho, melainkan sebuah pengalaman yang unik dan banyaaak banget filosofinya, yang jika saya resapi betul-betul seolah menjadi wejangan yang menguatkan proses persiapan melahirkan. Saya ceritain detailnya di post ini ya...

“MOTHER EARTH”, My Maternity-Inspired Collaboration With Love & Flair. (+GIVEAWAY!)

“MOTHER EARTH”, My Maternity-Inspired Collaboration With Love & Flair. (+GIVEAWAY!)

claradevi handriatmadja
FASHION, CAREER

Hello, March! Saya menyambut bulan ini dengan gembira karena ada sebuah project kolaborasi yang due untuk diluncurkan di awal bulan. Yes, sepanjang awal tahun ini saya mempersiapkan koleksi kecil bersama LOVE & FLAIR, salah satu e-commerce fashion favorit saya selama ini. Founder-nya, Emily Jaury, melontarkan ide ini akhir tahun lalu di sela obrolan santai kami. Saat itu saya sedang lumayan stuck dalam proses menyelesaikan buku (phew!), dan berpikir, kenapa enggak? Mungkin ini akan jadi sebuah kolaborasi yang menyegarkan bagi saya, sekaligus jadi pengalaman menarik yang mewarnai perjalanan kehamilan pertama saya ini. Jadilah kami mulai perencanaannya di awal tahun ini. Seru banget ternyata prosesnya! Saya mengawali persiapan kami dengan membuat moodboard untuk team produksi, beserta dengan tema dan konsep besar yang ingin dieksekusi. Dalam post ini akan saya ceritakan prosesnya secara garis besar ya, karena menurut saya justru yang paling nggak terlupakan adalah proses panjang di balik pembuatan koleksi tersebut. Let’s start!

Pregnancy: The Adventurous Second Trimester

Pregnancy: The Adventurous Second Trimester

claradevi handriatmadja
PREGNANCY

Finally! Nggak terasa trimester kedua terlewat juga 😱😱😱 Bener kata orang-orang diluar sana, pregnancy flies. Seakan baru kemarin publish postingan tentang trimester pertama kehamilan, sekarang udah memasuki trimester ketiga aja. Mungkin karena trimester kedua penuh diisi oleh sekian banyak perjalanan, projects dan pecicilan sana sini. Semua gejala yang saya rasakan di trimester pertama seakan terlupakan: nggak ada eneg, nggak ada lagi benci sama sayur, nggak ada lagi energi yang cepet banget abis. Trimester kedua ini sungguh bertemakan "tahan banting". For real! Baby boss is in good mood all the time! Kadang juga jadi suka lupa kalau lagi hamil 😆 Tapi sungguhan deh, trimester ini rasanya happy banget karena kandungan juga mulai menguat dan setiap kontrol ke dokter udah bisa dikit-dikit ngeliat keseluruhan tumbuh kembangnya secara utuh. Momen trimester kedua ini saya dan Gempa bener-bener manfaatkan untuk quality time berdua, dimana kami belum sempet honeymoon setelah menikah jadi kami sempatkan untuk pergi "babymoon" dua kali sekaligus. Selain itu saya juga terbang kesana-sini sepanjang waktu, hampir seluruhnya sendirian. That's why I call this trimester as "adventurous", and here are some of the fun journeys I experienced in between!

Four Days in Luang Prabang: A First-Timer Guide (Bahasa)

Four Days in Luang Prabang: A First-Timer Guide (Bahasa)

claradevi handriatmadja
TRAVEL

"Luang Prabang" — sungguh nama yang begitu cantik, pikir saya. Sejak akhir Desember 2017 lalu Pak Gege udah sering menyebut nama kota kecil di dataran tinggi Laos itu. Kebetulan dia ada sebuah project yang sedikit banyak memerlukan survey ke beberapa tempat di Asia Tenggara, dan alasan itu membuat kami berdua punya ide untuk sekalian pergi berdua. Waktu itu kami sempet ragu mau berangkat, secara musti titipin Jonah sama Joni, trus ngosongin kerjaan dan ninggalin kantor semingguan. Nah, tapi, pas kami coba buka Google, segambreng foto dan informasi mengenai Luang Prabang nongol tuh secara komprehensif. Nggak perlu survey lama, dalam beberapa detik aja foto dan artikel tentang Luang Prabang sudah berhasil menghapus segala keraguan di hati. Yang kepikir cuma: BERANGKAT!! Nah, di post kali ini (yang cukup panjang) saya akan menceritakan detail perjalanan dan menjawab yang selama ini sering ditanyakan di Instagram ya.

Pregnancy: The Unpredictable First Semester

Pregnancy: The Unpredictable First Semester

claradevi handriatmadja
PREGNANCY

Hallo 2019! Sesuai janji, pelan-pelan saya akan menceritakan tentang apa aja yang saya alami dan pelajari semasa hamil ini ya, sekaligus menepati request postingan di Instagram. Nggak mudah sih berusaha “sharing” soal kehamilan, mungkin karena masih kehamilan pertama, tentu lebih banyak diisi dengan perasaan was-was dan segambreng pertanyaan yang nggak habis-habis hahaha. Tapi sepertinya banyak temen-temen yang lagi hamil juga dan kadang pengen tahu pengalaman masing-masing. Jadi di post ini, saya pengen berbagi tentang pengalaman melewati trisemester pertama yang dimulai dari awal kehamilan sampai minggu ke-13 yah. Ada yang kamu alami juga, nggak? 🌻

A Pause, A Break —A New Beginning

A Pause, A Break —A New Beginning

claradevi handriatmadja
LIFE, PREGNANCY

Akhirnya! Setelah lima bulan menghilang dari blog ini, saya kembali dengan keberanian untuk menulis post berbahasa Indonesia… dan menyampaikan sebuah kabar gembira. I’m going to be a mother. (Percayalah, kalimat barusan itu masih terasa sungguh ajaib di telinga saya.) Kabar kehamilan saya datang di bulan Agustus, dimana saat itu saya dan Pak Gege lagi lumayan riweuh ngurusin opening TUJUAN, cafe and function space baru yang kami bangun bersama (lebih banyak dia tentunya, saya cuma bantu-bantu dikit aja). Dalam post ini, saya akan menceritakan detailnya.

What Happened in : May. A lot, and Alone.

What Happened in : May. A lot, and Alone.

claradevi handriatmadja
LIFE

May 2018. The month of re-assessing the reality. My April was crowded and full of other people, something that I enjoyed and, at the same time, feeling very conscious about. The month was started by me boarding on a group trip and ended with my birthday celebration with friends and family— indeed, a month-long fiesta. And I loved it. All the flights, the new experiences, the travel, the social life. I also love the fact that my birth date is the last day of April, which make my symbol-centric mind all excited about always having a great way to "close" the month. Birthday party! I love parties!  I love being around people! I also love, equally, the opposite of all that —I love being alone. And quite romantically, my May this year was about many things that relate to the state of aloneness. Do you want to know why?

Alright, Where Were We? (Being A Wife, Building a House, Another Puppy, New Haircut —and More!)

Alright, Where Were We? (Being A Wife, Building a House, Another Puppy, New Haircut —and More!)

claradevi handriatmadja
WEDDING, LIFE

The first month of 2018 has recently passed and by the time I write this post, the Lunar New Year is exactly just a day away. What a wonderful period to witness. Going a little backward, the year 2017 will be one of the years that I found incredibly remarkable: it is an eternal reminder of when the world around me redefined itself in a whole new shape, like getting a facelift made out of its own bone and flesh. More in a great way, though. Not in a way that I will usually be scared of (Taurean and Their Phobia of The Happening Changes In Life™), but in a surprising little perspective turn that made me feel like I started to ENJOY the changes. Here is a story about those changes.

An Opening to 2018: The Joy of Disappearing

An Opening to 2018: The Joy of Disappearing

claradevi handriatmadja
LIFE

Upon waiting for my Moka pot to finish brewing this morning, I opened my Instagram and found an interesting DM from a friend, asking: "Yoo, where have you been?? Taking a break from Instagram???" (I'm not making this seemed dramatic in purpose — she does write in multiple question marks, always.) I replied to her, telling that I don't have any purpose for not posting updates. I've been doing things around the house and meeting people a lot, I said. Then I checked on my feed, and apparently, it's been five days since I last "launched" a picture to the stream. Suddenly it stroke me right away: the slight relief sense in my heart. Why relief, I asked myself?

How To Deal With Creative Block?

How To Deal With Creative Block?

claradevi handriatmadja
CAREER

Oh, weekdays. Here we are again. After indulging myself in such a long, long break post-wedding-ceremony, routines quickly striking back. I’ve flown to Jogja twice this week, and soon will go back to Jakarta for another working weekend. This frequency of travel is part of my job and I wouldn’t mind at all - it takes effort and energy but I’ve prepared for that. What I (surprisingly) find difficult is when lately my mind seems to get clouded easily - I couldn’t think as clear, I process things slower, and most importantly… I feel stuck in stagnancy. Whenever I want to create, or to design or to write, I have to stop for a few minute before I can concentrate on my purpose again. Repetitively. In some occasions I couldn’t even write at all. My hands were stiff and my mind refusing to cooperate. But this is not the first time - these symptoms happen before in my life and it’s quite obvious that I’ve been experiencing a creative block. As someone who works within the so-called creative industry, a creative block can be pretty annoying. Here are several things I’d like to share with you, on how to defeat your own creative block:

So I Said Yes - Now What?

So I Said Yes - Now What?

claradevi handriatmadja
WEDDING

There's a question that came up very persistently during the first few days after I got proposed. "What now?" — a mix of not-yet-over excitement and lowkey anxiety in two simple words. After I got proposed, obviously I went completely drown-in-love mode; not being functional for quite sometime and naturally soaked myself within the pure joy of my relationship. Spending time together with G have been always a favorite thing to do during my daily basis, and it seems normal to really enjoy my every second of being engaged to the man I truly love. So I guess it's acceptable to be relaxed and not wanting to think about practical matters. *dreamy dreamy chant* But here's the thing that put me on a different perspective: G asked me if it's okay to get married this year — if possible, before the end of year. So that gives us less than 8 months to prepare the whole wedding. Since both of our father are Javanese, based on the cultural custom, we have to settle our engagement publicly by having an engagement ceremony with both families before we can head into the main wedding event. That means we might only have less months to do the actual wedding preparation. So I keep asking myself, "What do I do now? What's the first thing to do? How should I start?"

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