by rissaprana

Hello my dear fellow interns,

Indri, the jajan initiator,
Cepe, the ex-finalist of miss UMN 2014,
Tassya, the one and only interior designer at Bridestory e.v.e.r,
El, the most on-time person I know,

I wish we could've met sooner, so we got to spend our jajan time longer! :')) Can't believe it's already time for me to parted with you guys 😢 Just so you know, I never regret my decision to extend my internship period on June, because I wouldn't have met you all if I did't do so. Thank you for giving me the best memories at Bridestory :) You are the source of my strength everyday #gombal #inibohong #tapibenar (?)

I'm so sure I would miss all the times we spend at FoodHall and Indomaret together :')))))) How Indri would immediately send the jajan invitation (aka ngajak jajan) at around 4PM everyday, how Cepe would ask for pulang yuk, how Elisa would be so busy she couldn't go out for jajan more than 30 mins, and how Tassya who has to give up on jajan because of the event layout for more than 700 vendors 😂 #AllAboutJajan

Because of you, I get to stroll around Bellezza to its highest floor (thanks Elisa for discovering our lunch spot di lantai atas). I used to be that one shy and introvert girl in the corner who had no one to talk to except the printer (lol) but since I know all of you, I have brighter and happier days at the office 😁 #gombalpart2

Eventhough we have a love-hate relationship with our lunch catering, I would still reminisce our lunch time everyday, when we would talk and laugh about stuff and planning our getaway to dumdum land aka ITC Permata Hijau.

Thank you for every smiles and the good times you bring at the office. I'm sorry if you might find me annoying or over-talkative at times. I hope you all can finish your internship happily (?) and please don't forget each other (especially ME!) 😂 Good luck and God bless you all my loveliest intern squad! See you next year (hopefully)! :)

(So) much love,
Maria Juwita
Your ex-fellow intern buddy

My previous post about my personal experience with acne is surprisingly being the second most viewed post out of all my blog posts. So, I'm going to share the post about this topic again and this time, with my current thoughts, a positive message, and inspiring people to me for you to know.

"What's with your face?"

"Your face is so much redder than yesterday"
"Why is your face so red today?"

"Has your acne gotten worse?"

Those are reasons why I have self-confidence issue, and low self-esteem. I know I am not the only one who is experiencing this. There are probably million of people out there who is also battling with themselves, trying to gain back their confident to face the world.

But now, I have decided to love myself for being me, for being so strong, for being able to go through all of this and promise to never let my confident sink again. Why? because you only live once AND you can't please people. There's always people who will constantly remind you about how ugly you look, or how flawed you are. and the good news is, you can refuse to listen to them.

This doesn't only apply to skin issue, but also to body issue--or any kind of "issue" that affects your confident. Body (and skin!) Positivity is something I recently pay attention to and it feels so amazing to be inspired by people who can help me learn to love myself more, no matter how I look or what my body shape is.

Start from Em Ford, beauty blogger from UK who created this inspiring campaign called "You Look Disgusting" about how internet people can be so mean by throwing nasty comments about your looks. I admire her confidence, because I know she'd been struggling with self-confidence and I know it is hard to gain your confident back in the middle of everyone's dictation about how you should look based on their perception of beauty. Please watch the video of her campaign below and make sure to remember the powerful message she wants us to know: you ARE beautiful-no matter what.

Next is Ashley Graham, model and body activist who slams the idea of what "beauty" should be look like. She reminds us that a little cellulite never hurt nobody. I think because it is normal to have cellulite. Let me repeat, because cellulite and curves are N-O-R-M-A-L. Yes Ashley, please keep women encouraged to love their body more and more!

Please spread the positivity!♥

Hello! Been a while since the last time I updated my blog, and today I have finished this fresh new look for personal space of mine after struggling with the template setting for a quite some time. So, for a quick update, I'm going to share about what I am up to and my life lately.

It's actually kind of late--or SUPER late--to talk about what happened last month, but better late than never, right? June has always been a special month for me since 1995 because it's the month I was born in. This year marks my 21st year being happily alive in this world. Feel so thankful and grateful, and looking forward to many happy and blessed years ahead.

Before you continue, I will tell you some details about what kind of job I want (and I have) now. I have mentioned about my dream job here, and yes, this is the industry I'm currently worked in. I have loved everything about wedding since I was a little girl, I even decided that I have to work in this industry then owned wedding business, whether it's wedding organizer or bridal boutique, anything as long as it's related to wedding. That's why I am so grateful to be able to work in this industry, even my job here as PR intern isn't directly related to wedding, but still, I love this job (and this place). And here's how it all started...

Feb 10, 2016
I was enjoying my "me-time", drinking a cup of coffee while randomly browse the internet and purposely looking for intern job vacancy, then I landed on Bridestory career page. and it was there. PR intern position was available and I couldn't be happier. I edited my resume a bit, and immediately apply for the position and hoping for the best.

Feb 12, 2016
Interview invitation email arrived! Still a long way to go, but one step closer towards the goal.

Feb 16, 2016
D-day of my interview. This was my third interview, so I wasn't as nervous as my previous ones (where I failed), and I was so much prepared. I came 30 minutes earlier and got some time to prepare and calm myself down. The interview went well, although I said stupid things that I'd regret for the next 7 days, but it was all goooood. I had fun during the 45 minutes of interview. It was much like.... a casual talk (?) where you can enjoy yourself while telling stories about your experiences, etc.

The next 7 days were definitely not the best 7 days in 2016 because I kept thinking about the result and because I didn't ask about when the result will be announced, I couldn't help but trying to hypnotize myself to stay calm for the whole week. Think positive. Whatever the result is, at least you have tried. That was what I said to myself.

The second week after interview, I thought I didn't get the job and already prepared myself to move on, until the morning of March 2, 2016. I woke up, grabbed my phone, barely open my eyes while scrolling through my instagram feed, then refreshing my emails, and the new email notification popped up. The next thing I remember was I jumped out of my bed and rushed to the kitchen to tell my mom. I was sooo happy and I feel embarrassed now while reminiscing this.

And here I am today, living my life as an intern and a third year college student...

I do believe that every things that happened to me are there for something. These past 3 months have taught me so many things. I learn on how to be more patient, to believe in His plan. I was taking things too easy. I thought I could overcome anything and got what I want because I was good enough. In the end, I used all the opportunities and got zero result. But those opportunities were not wasted, they were there to give me a lesson. A lesson I should learn from to avoid the same failure in the future.

Today, I can say that I'm truly thankful and grateful for my past experience, for my failures, for the stupid mistakes I made, because without those experiences, I wouldn't be like today. God knows what I want more than me. He knows what I really want in life, and today, He shows me His way. He leads me to the biggest chance to pursue my dream.

Guess what? I'm breaking into wedding industry as intern!!!!! Yes, I have been quite obsessed in wedding since I was a little girl, and working in this industry has become my goal ever since.

I thank God for everything. I thank God for every tears I shed when He closed my door in the past. I thank God for another door He opens for me today. I know God is good, and so is my life in His plan ❤