Tentang Hijab Instan*

    Posted in ID, outfit by

    Beli Aneka Hijab Instan di Tokopedia | Hola Darla
    Dari dulu, aku emang gak suka ribet. Pengennya segala sesuatu cepet beres, cepet selesai, gak bertele-tele & to the point aja. Sampe udah gede gini pun ternyata aku masih gak suka ribet. Boro-boro contouring, nyisir aja kadang enggak. Untung pake hijab. (JOROK!!! :p)

    Keengganan untuk ribet pun ternyata mempengaruhi style berhijabku. Dulu jaman SMP waktu awal-awal berhijab, aku selalu pake hijab instan. Hal ini keterusan bahkan sampe kuliah sekitar semester 3. Masuk semester 4 yang bertepatan juga dengan tahun baru 2011, aku berresolusi untuk mulai belajar pake hijab non-instan. Maka aku mulai pake hijab segi empat bahan paris. Itu juga gak ribet: pake aja, terus sampirin ke bahu. Beressss! (xp) Sempet nyoba ngikutin tren pas hijab modis mulai menjamur, tapiiiiiiii gak betah banget haha, akhirnya balik lagi ke hijab paris. Hihihi…

    Tapi makin ke sini ternyata hijab instan malah makin macem-macem modelnya. Jadi aja aku balik lagi ke kebiasaan berhijab instan. Koleksi hijab instan di lemari makin numpuk. Walaupun modelnya mirip-mirip, tapi warna-warninya udah banyak dong. Tinggal di-matching-matching aja sama pakaiannya. Praktis banget, abis dandan langsung sluppp & I’m ready to go! 😀

    Terus, belinya di mana? Dulu sih suka beli di online shop di Instagram, tapi ribet juga harus follow satu-satu (apalagi ngetren banget di antara online shop Instagram untuk nge-lock IG-nya, jadi kudu follow). Akhirnya nyobain deh di marketplace gitu. Dan ternyata nih ya, kita bisa beli aneka hijab instan di Tokopedia lho! Tinggal pilih-pilih aja, klik klik klik, bayar, ongkang-ongkang kaki deh. Gak usah ribet ngetik format tertentu & kirim via chat tepat di jam yang ditentukan kayak online shop Instagram gitu. Kamu mau belanja tengah malem juga bisa. Dan bukan cuma hijab instan aja, di Tokopedia juga kamu bisa beli blazer wanita model terbaru, sepatu, tas, dll. Jadi bisa sekalian belanja pakaian yang matching dari atas sampe bawah. Asyik kan? 😀

    Pokoknya mah, hidup hijab instan!

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    12 March 2017

    Books I Finished in February

    Books I Finished in February - Hola Darla
    The reading craze still continues, friends! In February, I read another four books. I’m way ahead of my 2017 Reading Challenge on Goodreads. I even edited it; I changed my goal from reading 12 books this year to reading 20 books. I’m halfway there & super excited. The last time I read this crazily was in 2012, I guess? I don’t know. I may have never even read 12 books in a year. So, let’s do this!

    These are the four books I read last month:

    1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

    We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - Hola Darla
    I received this book a few months ago for the Travelling Novel Challenge. The pace is very slow that I eventually stopped reading after page 20-ish. I like Shirley Jackon’s short story, The Lottery, that I read for a class in college, but reading her longer writing is kind of painful for me (maybe I’m just dumb haha). She took her time to describe everything in such minute details while the main plot itself is actually quite brief. I also found it hard for me to imagine the time and place setting; is it in America or England, 1800s or 1900s? (Again, maybe I’m just dumb.) I also failed to identify the climax. The novel seems to just end right there. Overall, this novel isn’t for me.

    2. Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

    Dash & Lily's Books of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan - Hola Darla
    I really like Rachel Cohn & David Levithan’s another collaboration, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and I also like its movie adaptation (starring Michael Cera & Kat Dennings, so I had been wanting to read Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares for years. The imported books shops in my city never have it in stock, so when I found out that a translated version of this book has been released, I bought it immediately. Just like Nick & Norah’s, Dash & Lily’s is a simple & sweet story about girl meets boy in a silly setting. Lily is bored during the holidays & his brother suggests that she leaves a journal in a bookshop. The journal, filled with clues & dares, is found by Dash, who decides to take the dare. The journal goes back and forth between the two of them & when they finally meet… nope, they don’t instantly fall in love with each other. Haha! Go read it. You’re gonna like it 😉

    3. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

    It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini - Hola Darla
    I first found out about this novel when I watched its movie adaptation. I read several pages of the ebook (which I pirated… oops!) The story is about a teenage boy who has depression and suicidal thoughts. When he almost jumps off a bridge, he decides that he needs help & then he checks himself in to a mental ward in a hospital. Since I liked it, I decided to order a printed copy. Right after I ordered this book, I found out that the author, Ned Vizzini, committed suicide a few years ago. It broke my heart. And it certainly made the book have deeper meaning and more authentic. Mental health is something that people in my country don’t really pay attention to; even I used to think that people who commit suicide is stupid. I was very, very wrong. More people should read this book to open their mind.

    4. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman

    Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman - Hola Darla
    (Technically, I finished this book just a few minutes after midnight on March 1, but… whatever!) I didn’t really know about Terry Pratchett, but I’ve read Neil Gaiman’s Coraline in junior high & really liked it. Good Omens was one of the book that I started reading for a readalong with the NovelTea Book Club, but I didn’t finish it & completely forgot about it. I finally got around to continue reading it last month. It’s very funny! It’s a story about the several days before what is supposed to be the armageddon, but because of some errors made by both the ‘good’ & ‘evil’ the armageddon plan becomes hilariously flawed. The story relies heavily with Christian versions of the apocalypse, but I’m quite familiar with Christian myths (I like myths from different religions and beliefs; they’re fun readings). If you’re not, the book might be a bit confusing, but the footnotes help (or not? :p) & you can just find everything else in Wikipedia.

    ***

    It’s halfway through March & I’ve already read two books. I’m on my third one right now, but I have this project with a deadline around the corner, so I may read less this month. It makes me sad. I guess I’ve become an addict at this point!

    Hi, I’m Dara, and I’m a book addict.

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    8 March 2017

    Mengenal Lebih dalam Tentang Blazer Wanita*

    Posted in ID, outfit by

    Tampil cantik serta menawan bagi seorang wanita adalah sebuah hal yang sudah seharusnya dilakukan dalam segala situasi, baik formal maupun informal. Dengan tampil menawan, para wanita akan lebih memiliki rasa percaya diri yang tinggi, sehingga performa dalam segala kegiatan mereka dapat memperoleh hasil yang optimal. Salah satu cara agar dapat tampil menarik adalah dengan memperhatikan gaya berbusana mereka dalam segala suasana, baik untuk moment formal maupun informal. Blazer wanita sebagai salah satu busana formal wanita, agaknya dapat menjadi pilihan yang tepat ketika seorang wanita sedang bekerja. Meskipun blazer sangat cocok digunakan sebagai busana kerja, namun dalam pengaplikasiannya tetaplah membutuhkan perhatian khusus agar dapat membuat penggunanya tampil lebih menarik.

    Blazer merupakan jas atau jaket yang berbahan ringan dan mempunyai bentuk mengikuti lekuk tubuh wanita. Pada awal mula penemuannya blazer terbuat dari bahan flannel dengan corak garis berukuran sedang dan kecil. Seiring dengan berkembangnya waktu, kini blazer mulai mengalami banyak inovasi mulai dari bahan pembuatan, model hingga jenis peruntukkannya. Jika dahulu Kita hanya mengenal blazer sebagai sebuah jas kerja bagi seorang wanita, kini blazer telah mengalami berbagai inovasi yang menjadikannya sebagai busana wanita dalam segala suasana.

    Berikut ini beberapa jenis blazer wanita, berdasarkan bahan, jenis dan peruntukkan blazer itu sendiri, yang antara lain adalah:

    • Blazer model cardigan, merupakan blazer dengan bentuk formal dan pada umumnya banyak digunakan oleh seorang wanita sebagai busana kerja.
    • Blazer dengan model klasik, merupakan blazer dengan model blazer yang banyak digunakan sebagai busana kerja wanita, blazer ini juga cocok digunakan sebagai busana pada pertemuan-pertemuan formal.
    • Blazer dengan model tumpang, merupakan blazer yang banyak digunakan oleh wanita sebagai penutup busana lainnya, dan biasa banyak digunakan dalam suasana non formal.

    Dalam pengaplikasiannya sendiri, masing-masing blazer akan memiliki cara tersendiri, namun pada umumnya pada penggunaan blazer ini, beberapa hal yang harus diperhatikan antara lain adalah:

    • Penggunaan blazer, haruslah menggunakan baju bagian dalam, dimana dalam pemilihan baju dalam haruslah disesuaikan dan diserasikan dengan warna blazer itu sendiri.
    • Kancing kan minimal satu kancing pada bagian atas blazer tersebut, jika memang Anda menggunakan blazer dalam acara formal, agar kesan rapi dan formal dapat tetap terjaga.
    • Gunakan atasan berbahan kaos dan celana jeans, jika Anda ingin menggunakan blazer dalam suasana casual.
    • Pilihlah ukuran blazer yang sesuai dengan bentuk tubuh Anda, jangan memilih blazer yang terlalu ketat, karena hal tersebut justru akan menjadikan penampilan Anda terlihat tidak rapi.

    Untuk menambah kesan yang elegan pada penampilan Anda saat mengenakan blazer, Anda dapat menambahkan berbagai aksesoris dalam pengaplikasiannya seperti kalung ataupun broses. Pilihlah aksesoris yang memiliki corak dan warna yang serasi dan sepadan dengan warna blazer yang Anda kenakan. Jangan memakai aksesoris terlalu banyak dan berlebihan karena dapat menimbulkan kesan yang norak. Bagi Anda yang berhijab, blazer pun kini banyak didesain dengan model muslimah, sehingga Anda dapat mengenakannya dalam berbagai suasana formal maupun informal.

    Perkembangan blazer wanita yang sungguh luar biasa ini, memang dapat memberikan pilihan tersendiri bagi seorang wanita dalam berbusana. Namun demikian, pengetahuan yang lebih dalam mengenai tatacara berbusana dan merias diri haruslah tetap dimiliki oleh seorang wanita, agar nantinya mereka dapat memilih dan mengaplikasikan busana serta riasan diri sesuai dengan situasi atau keperluan dalam berbusana tersebut.

    (Image via.)

    4 March 2017

    Books I Finished in January

    Books I Finished in January - Hola Darla
    In my previous post, I talked about my goal to read 12 books this year. To make it official, I logged in to my Goodreads account to set my 2017 Reading Challenge. I checked my Currently Reading shelf & I’m very embarrassed to say that I had nine books there. Five of them are the ones I started reading in 2013 & 2014. They’ve been sitting in my Currently Reading for more than three years! That’s how bad of a reader I’ve become. So in January, I read like crazy. I read whenever I had the chance. I read while eating, before going to bed, and even while watching TV (multitasking, yo!). I managed to finish four of them. They are all the more recent ones; the ones I started reading last year. I figured it would take longer time to finish the ones I had abandoned for years because I might have forgotten the story so I would need to re-read at least a few chapters back.

    Alright. So here they are:

    1. The Lola Quartet by Emily St John Mandel

    Finished in January The Lola Quartet by Emily St John Mandel - Hola Darla
    I just realised that I’ve never written my review for Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. I don’t know why I haven’t done that because I really liked that book & it was one of the most amazing & well-written books I’ve ever read. Station Eleven was my very first Emily St John Mandel’s book, so naturally I looked for her other books and my next choice fell upon The Lola Quartet. It’s a story about four high school friends who were in a jazz quartet. On the last day of their high school, they played a concert on the back of a truck. That was the last time Gavin, a member of the quartet, saw his girlfriend, Anna. Ten years later, Gavin sees a photograph of a little girl who looks like him and has Anna’s surname. Gavin tried to find out what really happened these past ten years and why his fellow quartet members keep it a secret all these years.

    The written style is as beautiful as that of Station Eleven. The story is entirely different because there is no worldwide catastrophe in The Lola Quartet, unlike in Station Eleven; there are only personal disasters and how growing up can be very different for everyone. Ditching the traditional structure of narrative, both Station Eleven and The Lola Quartet are more like recounts rather than narratives. Reading these two feels like reading someone’s diary. It’s very flat, yet (again) very beautifully written so it broke my heart anyway. Not recommended if you want more dramatic conflicts.

    2. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

    Finished in January Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - Hola Darla
    I ditched this book after reading about 85% of it for a very silly reason: I don’t like how Jacob (our main character) is going to leave his parents. See, this is perhaps the reason why most heroes in stories are orphaned. Parents are a burden. I’m not very comfortable reading about a young character goes on a journey to fight evil while their parents wait at home, scared shit about their kid’s well-being. But I finished it anyway, for the sake of eliminating it from my Currently Reading. The story is very good and interesting. The idea is quite fresh, including that idea of the hero having both parents alive. I don’t like the part where Jacob falls in love with his grandfather’s old girlfriend, though (yeah they’re the same age now but I still think that’s kinda creepy LOL).

    3. Filosofi Kopi by Dee Lestari
    Finished in January Filosofi Kopi by Dee Lestari - Hola Darla
    Oh look… Ungil!

    Dee Lestari is a prominent author in my country. All her books are best sellers. The most famous is perhaps the Supernova series, a series I tried to read once but couldn’t because it was ‘too hard’ for me who is not really into ‘heavy literature’ (get it?). I’ve only read one more book by Dee and that was Recto Verso, which is a short stories collection. It tore my heart apart and broke it into pieces because the stories are all heart-wrenching. I picked Filosofi Kopi because it is another short stories collection and I felt that I wasn’t ready for a book-length-story-commitment so short stories were nice at that time. Not as wonderful as Recto Verso, though. There are only a few stories I like, the rest is just so-so (I’m sorry!)

    4. Corat-Coret di Toilet by Eka Kurniawan

    Finished in January Corat-Coret di Toilet by Eka Kurniawan - Hola Darla
    This one is also a short stories collection. I’ve read another collection by Eka Kurniawan, entitled Perempuan Patah Hati yang Kembali Menemukan Cinta Melalui Mimpi, and really liked it so I tried reading another one. Corat-Coret di Toilet is, however, not as good as Perempuan Patah Hati (the title is very long!). Eka Kurniawan is a well-known author; some of his books have been translated and published in English. You can find them at Amazon. Just search for his name.

    ***

    Now I still have five books to cross off from my Currently Reading list. I’m gonna do it. I know I can do it!

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    9 February 2017

    2017 So Far

    Posted in cats, EN, life lately, Ungil by

    Dengue Fever's a bitch | Hola Darla
    I started 2017 very late because earlier this year I contracted Dengue Fever and had to stay in bed for almost two weeks. We were in Pesawaran at my in-laws’ place for the long holiday and I got ill just 2 days before our schedule to go back to Bandung. We had bought the bus tickets & there was no way we could reschedule it, so I had to bear the 24 hours bus ride home while also being super sick & having no appetite at all. It was a torture 🙁

    But I’m all well now & I’ve started working again this week. The hoouse is no longer a mess & the cats are all happy because their litter boxes are cleaned regularly again (husband kept forgetting to clean it hahah)
    Ungil the little kitten | Hola Darla
    Speaking of cats… My dad adopted a little kitten two months ago. We call her Ungil (literally means Smol). She is the kitten of either Ojon or Omin (Jessi’s stray brothers) & a female cat that lives in my parents’ neighbourhood. She was abandoned by her mother since she was very little, so she still lacks basic cat skills like using the litterbox & grooming. Because of that, she has been staying with us so that she can interact with Jessi & Chop-Chop. Jessi hates her, obviously, but Chop-Chop took her like his own kitten. They play chase all night & Ungil has learnt how to groom herself from Chop-Chop.
    Read more books in 2017 | Hola Darla
    I don’t make a formal list of resolutions for 2017, but I will try to read more books this year. I didn’t read many books in 2016 & I honestly didn’t feel like myself because of that. I used to finish at least one book a month, so for this year I promise myself that I’m gonna finish at least 12 books.
    Wisata Hutan Kota Talang Indah Pajaresuk Pringsewu | Hola Darla
    Happy 2017!

    Dara | Bloglovin’ | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

    19 January 2017