Bring a little bit of dance, bring a little bit of song

Dear little Daisy cow out in the rain

Though I may be digging this drizzly weather, it's not quite inspiring enough to get me dressed up for the New Year. All day I've been trying to decide which of my dresses I'll wear tonight (out of the fifteen I packed - yeah I know, they did literally take up half my suitcase) and now I'm wishing I brought a pair of flannelette jim jams too.
I'm just wondering if it is close to a sin for 20-something year olds to spend the countdown tucked up in cuddly blankets after a nice homemade curry.

Hmm. The age old saying is that you should welcome the New Year the way you'd want to live it & see it out at the end - having fun, being drunk, kissing your loved one, whatever. I say I wouldn't mind being relaxed & around my family. I know 2012 will be blessed with such simple joys as this.

Speaking of simple joys - I finally found a (hanging) wardrobe solution!




My stepdad came in today & suggested we suspend a fat piece of PVC pipe in my closet.
My response to this was "BLEHH", & a most likely horrible face, before stating that I didn't even want to be in the room with the thing.
And then he disappeared, returning with this battered old ladder! Isn't it great?? I love how quirky it looks, and the fact that I can hang my favourite pieces front-on & admire them all day. :)

This has made me really excited to start doing up our little bungalow. Splashes of paint, scouring the Lions Shed for furniture bargains, and a whole lot of creative DIY - this is a glimpse into my 2012! Can't wait.

Happy New Year, bloggers!

Excuse me, I'm a VIP toilet cleaner

Tonight, I scored the ultimate casual 'job' - cleaning toilets at the Pete Murray concert held at a local winery, Leeuwin Estate. I've never felt so awesome in such a humble role.

My cousin Dan drove my boyfriend Tom & I down the long dusty roads, card-bearing tags around our necks stating "CLEANER" next to a shiny pic of Pete. We flashed said tags at the fluorescent jacket people and felt super privileged in being directed to a special staff carpark. Ooooo! Actually, it's more that we were allowed to arrive early before anyone else. Pete Murray was sound checking, and actually I was devastated to hear him doing 'Opportunity' when we rocked up. Gahhh, you're meant to save the best for last - the song I'd hang out all night to hear!
Never mind :)

Sitting on the grass, getting ready for the show


The night was amazing, rewarding, and also slightly tiring (which is why I'm sneakily writing this the morning after and pretending I'm still running on the hype of the gig. Heh heh).
The truth is I spent the majority of my time up front, belting out Pete songs (with my Mum!) & glistening from the uncomfortable temperature of the "cleaner clothes" I'd chosen. Paid thirty dollars an hour, all the team - Dan, Tom, a friendly Jess & I - had to do was run back a mere five or six times and check the two toilet blocks for trash + replenish any stocks. We did a two hour clean up at the end, but this was a-okay & thankfully lessened our guilt for being paid big bucks just to enjoy ourselves.

Great set up for an outdoors performance!

Everybody's mate, Pete Murray

Kudos for the band's ability to entertain. Both Pete Murray - who at one point dragged a selection of goofy crowd dancers to centre stage - and the supporting act, Passenger, were skilled at extracting laughs & high spirits from their scattered audience.
[Passenger is a man & his guitar who also goes by the name Mike Rosenburg. Definitely look up his songs for pure passion & thought provoking lyrics!]

Here's a video of a song I really enjoyed, called 'I Hate'. In watching this video I've noticed that he edited his language a lot in respect to the children at the concert, sweet.


Hope you enjoy it; let me know what you think of his style! It could be really different to what you'd usually listen to, but I bet you'd be loudly singing "la la la life" with all the rest of them :D.

Post again soon, don't you worry. I'm getting all regular with this already!

xZ

That token first post

I've always wanted to start a blog, and oddly, the end of the year seems a great time to begin.
Certainly 2011 will see out the end of an era - my life living with Dad, while studying uni & bar tending part-time, in South Australia for the past two years.
A dramatic change has now got me living in Margaret River, WA! With my mum! And I'm currently jobless & free. (And a wee bit broke). It's a little funny to admit, but at 21 years of age, I really need my mum around.

So Margs is a beautiful destination town - small, with a quirky country feel to it. Lots of art, wineries and breweries, and beaches!! Pics of the place soon to come, but for now I'll post a few from Christmas...

Note: Don't mind the mismatched editing effects; I've been playing around with the vibrantly retro (and free!) workings of Pixlr-o-matic. It's great because downloading is optional - you can just use it online and produce awesome snaps in a flash!



I know there's a lot of charm in a White Christmas, but I wouldn't trade a deliciously dribbly summer feast of mangoes & cherries for anything. Yummmm.



This year I will put my hand up as the most spoilt of them all - thanks to Santa, my boyfriend, and my sweet family. I scored some exciting goodies, including:
- Floaty top from Just Jeans (WOW my 18yo brother has good taste...)
- An easel & canvas
- A set of watercolour pencils
- A 6kg 'kettleball' - advertised by The 4 Hour Body as being the only form of exercise you need to slim down & tone up
- A carb counting book (My stepdad & I are getting mean with our diets for a healthier summer - pretty easy method really, eat carbs at brekky (only 40g allowed per day) and then just avoid them for lunch & dinner... this might mean not helping yourself to potatoes (mehhh) or having to pick all the toppings off a pizza and just eat that (WHAAATTTT!). Haha.
- A gorgeous, silver mirror from a stylin' store that I have wanted since we moved here (3 weeks ago). Santa really knows what's going on, doesn't he? Perfect for my bathroom :)
- And a sketch book

For those interested in art & all things creative, if you give me a bit of time to settle into my new tools, I'm pretty sure we can have a beautiful friendship. It has been years since I've even looked at a paintbrush, but hey, no job means time to indulge in such luxuries, right?


I know there's many of you who adore vintage. You will most likely want to read 'Minxy Vintage' for DAYS on end, until your wardrobe is chockers of perfectly revived op-shop finds to match the author's.
Kelly Doust is an inspirational expert in DIY, and she encourages readers to be brave in finding their own style through mixing old clothes with new. This is your guide on how to spot the jewels in amongst the duds at thrift shops and flea markets - don't let yourself overlook hidden potential any more!


Hope you're all having a jolly festival season, and you're looking to the future with fresh goals and dreams. As the wise and assumedly happiest of folk say: Follow your bliss.

xZ