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30 March, 2012

A Stitch in Time: Wear Did I Come From?

Today we are joined by the fabulous Miss Lisa from Atomic Martini Vintage. Having been a vintage fashion afficionado and collector for possibly more years than a lady would care to admit, I'm certain there's nothing this foxy fashionista doesn't know about vintage fashion.

If you're anywhere near Brisbane ever, you simply must visit her darling store! Whether you're a vintage lover yourself or are curious about taking the plunge, Miss Lisa will take your hand and guide you through racks upon racks of glorious vintage glamour. She can even provide professional styling services to help you find the style that suits you and will divulge all her vintage care secrets to keep your treasures in ship shape.

So stay with us and with just a little bit of background and some know-how, you'll be the vintage belle of the ball...


We all know that fashion travels in cycles – one decade referencing something of the past and reinterpreting it for a modern audience. But do you know where your look comes from? In particular, do you know the origins of where the looks that dominate things like the rockabilly scene – that hip hugging, tight fitting number that you love or that huge circle skirt that you twirl in – were born?

Come with me on a walk down memory lane and find out ....

The two styles mentioned above are actually pretty easy to attribute – their introduction into the world of everyday fashion is thanks primarily to the talent of the French designer Christian Dior in the early 1950s. After the rationing and shortages caused by war in the 1940s, glamour and elegance were what women wanted in fashion – and Mr. Dior delivered it! No wonder his designs still influence our tastes in fashion to this day.

Although the House of Dior delivered 10 very distinct and very different silhouettes through the 50s, the two that are most recognisable in the fashions that are most familiar, particularly in the rockabilly scene are:

The Tulip 


A structured tight fitting bodice with a slim skirt that fell just below the knee – this style is sometimes called a “Wiggle” dress as the skirt width (along with the fact that it looks best when worn with stiletto heeled shoes) makes the wearer wiggle when she walks!

The Princess


Also known as the “New Look” it features a nipped in wasp waist and full gathered or circle skirt – a style that boosted the lingerie industry as a nylon corselet was usually needed to pull in the waist and thrust up the bust to create that classic hourglass figure so popular at the time.

Which leads me to a very important point; if you think a “modern” woman can’t wear these shapes or possibly look good in this type of silhouette because we are a “different shape” – you are very wrong!

Here’s a little secret - women in the 1950s weren’t that shape either! Strategic padding and highly structured underwear (foundation garments) were a must to being able to fit a less-than-perfect body into many of 1950s designs.

So the next time you are out in your new (or even better, vintage) dress and someone admires your outfit and asks what style it is, you can confidently tell them that it is Dior-esque darling!


Thanks Miss Lisa! You know that's one of my favourite things about vintage...it's not just an item of clothing, it's a piece of history and each one has it's own providence. Even though plenty of the lovely reproduction garments that are available continue to preserve these style principles, there's just something special about vintage.

If you want to feel the magic for yourself, all of the stunning dresses pictured are available at Atomic Martini Vintage along with hundreds (literally!) of other frocks and there's even a whole section dedicated to you gentlemen!

29 March, 2012

Rockabilly Riot


OMG! Last night was amazing! My first time seeing Brian Setzer live, it was even more awesome that I had hoped for. I really had the best time, it was such a great night!

Front man for 80s rockabilly sensation The Stray Cats, Brian and the boys were part of the massive rockabilly resurgence during the 80s and can be credited for practically being the reason rockabilly went on to survive, especially in the UK, US and Australia.

The Stray Cats toured in 2009 but alas I was too poor at the time to be able to afford to go. Which really sucked because one of my friend’s bands was supporting them!! But I was damn sure I wasn’t going to miss out this time and I’m SO glad I didn’t!

Supported this time on his Rockabilly Riot tour by Melbourne sensation Lanie Lane, I was excited to see this girl live. Only vaguely familiar with her music I had liked what I heard but was interested to see if it would carry across live.

I was EXTREMELY pleasantly surprised – she is actually even better live! She is quite amazing and apparently she’ll be back to play in May so you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be along to that! Her sound is very unique, a careful fusion of pretty much everything – western, surf, blues, mexicana, swap, voodoo…the list could go on. Sounds like a bit of a motely mix but it REALLY works! On the way out I picked up her album on CD and vinyl and I can’t wait for her to come back in May!

But of course, it was then time for the one we’d all be waiting for…the one and only Brian Setzer! It was so exciting when he came out on stage and for the first few songs I was feeling totally surreal. I’m not usually one to get all gaga over stars but as I stood in the crowd and watched I just kept thinking to myself, I can’t believe this is actually happening!



About halfway through the set Slim Jim Phantom, the original drummer from The Stray Cats, came out and joined Brian onstage and it was so cool to see them rocking out! For older dudes they sure could move and they certainly still had all the girls in a tizzy! And play, oh how they can PLAY! They played all the favourites including Runaway Boys, Fishnet Stockings, Sexy and 17 and even covered a Johnny Cash song – SO COOL! And then I couldn’t believe my luck, they played the one song that I was hoping so hard that they would play – the Stray Cat Strut!!! I was in heaven!!

They were joined by a young bass player from Melbourne (imagine scoring that gig!!) who looked like Johnny Depp straight out of Cry Baby! BE STILL MY BEATING HEART!! Such talented musicians, they swapped instruments and were playing on some beautiful pieces of equipment including a lime green metal flake guitar and matching pinstriped bass with an awesome carving of the rockabilly figure from the tour poster as the scroll at the head of the bass – SO FREAKING COOL!!

They finished up with an all in, rousing rendition of Rock This Town which is listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 most important songs in the history of rock and roll. Seriously, it was AH-MAZING!! I wish I could re-live it all again, but I will have to settle for rocking out in my tour t-shirt which I bought after the show.

It was a fantastic night and I had such a wonderful time! It was so great to see everyone and so lovely to hear all the kind words and get so many hugs. But best of all, The Man was there and we got to enjoy this experience together. And what an experience it was! One we’re sure us and the rest of the crowd at The Tivoli will never forget.

26 March, 2012

Splitsville

This is a really hard post to write. But I guess I always knew I'd have to write it one day...

I am now single. Flying solo. A lone ranger. No longer 'taken'. Not attached. Just me, myself and I.

The Man and I broke up over the weekend. It's really hard, and I'm not going to go into too much detail but he is going through a really rough time and he needs some space and time to himself.

It's tearing us both apart but I think in the end it will be for the best.

We are still best friends though. We always will be. ALWAYS. This I know.

We actually went to a friend's band's gig on Sunday, already broken up, and no one even suspected a thing. We weren't pretending, or trying to hide it. We are just the best of friends. We care so much about each other. And it was just easy to be around each other.

Heck, we're even going to the Brian Setzer concert together on Wednesday night. We are sad but we are also cool. We've done A LOT of talking. We know where we stand. We know how each other feels. We know we are still there for each other.

So, if you know us in real life...please don't feel weird or awkward if you see us out. Together or not together. We're not awkward. We don't feel weird. So please, don't you feel that way either.

That being said, this is still a really hard time, so please forgive me if I don't post much if anything over the coming days. I need time to process things, to adjust.

I will be ok. I have actually surprised myself in the last couple of days. I found an inner strength that I never knew I had. But it's still not easy and I just need some time.

I know you all will understand.

22 March, 2012

A Stitch In Time: The Hottest Thing From The North To Come Out Of The South

I’ve already explained that the word rockabilly comes from a portmanteau of ‘rock’ from the 50s rock ‘n’ roll and ‘hillbilly’ from the 40s and 50s country music but the genre also encompasses western swing, blues, boogie woogie and jump blues – all of which have had their own influence over the fashions from way back when, all the way into the present.

Rockabilly fashion challenged the conservative look of the post war era and saw the wholesome pin up girl of the 40s give way to the racy girls of the B-movies, pulp fiction novels and the underground beginnings of the Sexual Revolution thanks to fetish pin ups like Bettie Page.

Social class also played a large part in inspiring the wardrobes of youths and the film ‘West Side Story’ is a perfect example of this. Those on the ‘right’ side of the tracks preferred to adopt a clean cut look with just a dash of ‘edge’ while those from the ‘wrong’ side of the tracks experimented with vibrant colours and patterns, boots and leather jackets.

While jeans were a wardrobe staple, the wide cuff was a natural progression rather than a fashion statement as most pants were either hand-me-downs or were bought long to allow for growing room. Although born of necessity rather than trend, the wide cuff look has endured as a mainstay of the modern rockabilly look. 

Shirts and jackets were simple cotton or gabardine button downs which weren’t too expensive or flashy and the ‘good’ guy’s shoe of choice was the standard black oxford. Guys from economic and social backgrounds that allowed a little more room to rebel, had wardrobes of two tone shirts and jackets, atomic or novelty prints, engineer boots and leather jackets.



For the girls, the full skirts and dresses supported by crinoline petticoats were teamed with flat shoes or low ‘kitten’ heels and ponytails to give a girlie edge to the 50s look. Those who wanted to channel their inner bad girl opted for ‘scandalous’ tight sweaters and figure hugging pencil skirts in bold prints with stiletto heels, bright accessories, teased hair and red lipstick adding the finishing touch to their man eater looks.

As regional influences slowly crept into fashion consciousness quite a bit of Western and South Western inspired fashion could be seen. Embroidered gabardine and satin shirts and gingham western snap shirts made their way into wardrobes with stars like Patsy Cline making the fringed western look popular.


This also saw the rise of the patio or ‘squaw’ set, opting for a more casual look of wedges or sandals teamed with espadrilles. As the jump jive scenes of Harlem fused with European influences, swanky draped Hollywood pants, rayon loop shirts and 2 tone oxfords also emerged.

While the rockabilly revival has taken place over the years, the period itself was a relatively small window of time. Not easily defined, it is a unique and readily identifiable look that encompasses a variety of clothing styles that are now referred to as ‘rockabilly’. Just as not all 20s fashion is considered a ‘flapper’ look, not all clothing from the 50s and 60s is considered rockabilly. However this influential style remains an enduring look within the realms of fashion, design and modern vintage enthusiasts.

So stick with me and in the coming weeks we'll cover these styles and sihllouettes in more detail!

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

There are very few blogs who's comments section I read but as always, another brilliant post from Eden brings out the best in people so I read. Bonnie's comment was like a bolt of lightning to my brain that travelled straight to my heart and this memory came rushing back.

I sat on my bed in my underwar and had a little cry as I scribbled this post down on some note paper. I just had to get it down while it was still raw. I didn't dare move to my computer lest the spell be broken. It happened a while ago now but it still hits me right in the heart because it's all still so true.

---------------------------------

Late one night sitting up watching Rage this song came on and it and the conversation that went with it has never left me. I hope it never does.


A spectacularly amazing man made me sit up and take notice. 'Ahh I remember this song,' he said. 'You should listen to this.' Hmm...it looked kinda weird to me but this guy knows his shit.

Such a tragic song, by the end of it I had a mysterious lump in my throat and I sipped my wine trying to think how to explain it.

He looked me in the eyes like he was searing the message into my mind like a laser. 'Listen to it Sheri. Don't ever let it happen to you. Don't EVER settle. You're too fantastic, too clever, too lovely, too full of potential. Don't ever allow yourself to miss out. Don't lose yourself.'

And I swallowed and gulped air nodding numbly, feeling like my heart could explode into a million little pieces. And in that moment that was all I could manage. Because as much as I hate to admit it, I know it could easily happen. It's just the kind of person that I am. Happy to go with the flow, even if it's someone else's flow.

But this silent vow was a promise I intend to keep. One of many legacies I've been given. I feel I owe him so much for what he's given me and I want him to know wherever he is that I will be being brave and doing it all, thanks to him.

So many great epiphanies happen late at night sipping wine watching Rage, don't they?

20 March, 2012

Twilight Roundup

After the fun of Saturday night, Sunday morning came and I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed up to do it all over again. I was designated driver this time so there was no rolling up in a sweet ride, we went in my lil Swift and preferred to admire those in the show. You can bet what fun it was bragging about turning up in a Swift though!

Despite being cloudy, the day was well underway when we arrived and we shared a quick beer and caught some of the Regular Gonzales before heading out onto the oval to check out the stalls. We only got half way around before the heavens opened up so we scurried inside to check out the undercover stalls. The rain was probably my bank balance’s saving grace on the day as I only bought a headband.


Next Dan & The Dualtones fired up and the undercover bar and dance floor swallowed us up like the black hole of Calcutta. Drink after drink was spent running into the usual suspects as well as plenty of lovely friends we hadn’t seen in a while. It was great catching up with everyone again, even those who were still on a high from the night before.

I zipped home for a quick shoe change as my feet were already feeling it from all the running around the night before and I knew I wouldn’t last the day. By the time I got back Miss Teresa & Her Rythmaires had hit the stage and were filling the venue with their sweet sounds. It’s always nice to watch Teresa and I’m always struck by the thought that there aren’t enough ladies onstage in the local rockabilly scene.


After more chatting, more beer and a quick look over some cars and stalls I was down the front, ready and waiting for The ReChords. These Melbourne boys are personal favourites of mine and I couldn’t wait to be treated to their distinctive and addictive sounds once again. I couldn’t let their set go by without ripping up the dance floor although so transfixed by their performance were we that we didn’t get in quite as many dances as we would have liked. I have a lot to say about these guys so stay tuned for an upcoming post.

By now we were fanging for some of the delicious food on offer and we created our own kind of take away tapas sampling a southern pulled pork roll, spicy pork burrito and some delicious wood fired pizza. I gotta say, for outdoor food stands, Lori Lee does a great job of making sure we’re well looked after!

And speaking of Lori Lee, she did a great job at pulling off the day considering the challenges she faced with the weather yet again this year. She’s a brilliant woman, I really don’t know how she does it. Best part is, she never seems stressed on the day and she can always be seen walking around the gig with a big smile on her face keeping the punters happy.

The 'Big Sandwich' with Jon Flynn & Dan Dualtone - Image

But of course, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys were the ones everyone was waiting for having come all the way over from the good ole US of A. With a personality and voice bigger than the man himself, if the crowd down the front and the number of people on the dance floor were anything to go by, the punters really enjoyed their swingin sounds.

And at 7 pm as the last beer cans were swept from the floor, you could be forgiven for thinking that the day was over and it was time for a well-deserved rest. Yeah right! It was time for the after party baby! So back we went to Mimsy and Pony’s place with Tyron and Felix from The ReChords in tow as well as Mitchy Mayhem so the fun didn’t have to end.


Now they say what happens on tour stays on tour and for the sake of a few reputations I won’t say too much more but I can tell you that the few of us who were there were extremely lucky to be treated to a muso-mash up that shall henceforth be known as The Ten Chord Boys – a motley line up of members of The Ten Fours, The ReChords and The Mayhem County Boys.


It was a whole heap of fun and I can safely say I was EXTREMELY glad that I had arranged to have Monday off. But the lack of sleep, bags under the eyes and sore muscles were all well worth an awesome day! And as always, Twilight is the teaser to Greazefest and it's safe to say Lori Lee has sure whet my appetite!

Oh yes, and as promised - my outfit photo!


Dress: 'Tea Time' in Navy by Bettie Page (no longer in stock)
Shoes: Sunseeker Wedge in Red by Payless Shoes
Clutch: An oldie from my Nanna

Hi-Fallutin

Saturday night Mz Vicki outdid herself hosting a charity dinner and dance to raise money for Beyond Blue. This fine affair had everything, from a delicious dinner and dessert to beautiful broads, dashing gents, a fashion parade, great music, fantastic prizes and a photobooth! Oh what fun we had!


I am SO proud of Vicki – not only was the night a huge success that went off without a hitch but she managed to raise a whopping $8,056!! A HUGE congratulations to her! We all had such a great time and all while helping a very worthy cause. You really can’t ask for more than that!


As part of the night’s entertainment, Lisa from Atomic Martini Vintage treated us all to a fashion parade for the ages. Taking us through the fashions of each decade from the ‘20s to the ‘80s, she reminded us how we’ve been cheering ourselves up for years by donning our glad rags and having ourselves a good ole time.


Beyond Blue is cause close to my own heart and I was happy to get behind it. And as we sat around at our tables, Vicki reminded us that at least one person at every table has, is or will experience some form of mental illness throughout the course of their lives. And it doesn’t just affect them, it also touches the lives of their friends, family, loved ones and those around them.

 Our hostess with the mostest

We were kept entertained throughout the night with some great music from West Texas Crude and 5 O’Clock Shadow Barber Shop had a pop up shop on the night auctioning off 3 haircuts to help raise money. The last hair cut raised $350 for one single hair cut to turn this guy’s emo fringe into a big quiff.

He wasn't keen but it was for a good cause so good on him!

All up it was a fabulous night and I dressed for the occasion.


Top: Boned Silk Rose Bodice – Rockmans (aaaages ago)
Skirt: Black Bengaline Full Circle Skirt – made for me by my Granny
Shoes: Black Low Heel Quilted Court with Bow – Payless Shoes (a while ago)
And a shiny black belt and red hair rose to finish it off!

But honestly, that’s how easy it is. These are all items straight out of my wardrobe that I’ve had for ages. It’s not hard to pull something like this together, you just have to get creative.

16 March, 2012

High Society

This weekend is going to be HUGE! I’ve already arranged to have the day off work on Monday to recover. So I probably won’t be blogging Monday either. I will be enjoying a well-deserved and much-needed rest day!

Saturday night I’m off to a charity dinner and dance so I can get all frocked up, enjoy a delicious dinner, enjoy great music, dance the night away and (fingers crossed!) win some fantastic prizes…all in the name of raising money for Beyond Blue.

A cause that’s close to my heart, I’m very happy to be helping raise funds for such a worthy cause and am SO proud of Mz Vicki for organising what is promising to be the charity event of the year!

I meant to blog about this before now but unfortunately time got away from me and ticket sales have now closed :(


And then Sunday Twilight Take 2 will FINALLY take place and I can’t wait!! Hot rods, market stalls (yep, that means shopping – yay!) and some FANTASTIC music all enjoyed in the wonderful company of great friends. It’s going to be an awesome day and I REALLY can’t wait!

We’ll be treated to a special US guest – Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys as well as The ReChords (personal faves of mine from Melbourne) and some of Brissie’s best local talent with Miss Teresa & Her Rythmaires and Dan & The Dualtones, also both personal favourites of mine!

I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures and make sure I get great outfit shots to share with you!

14 March, 2012

Put The Needle On The Record: A Stitch In Time

I know I’ve touched on what the Rockabilly culture is all about before and I’ve given you glimpses into the type of fashions it has shaped but the blog has been a little ‘unstructured’ of late. Which is fine by me, I like that it has been flowing naturally with me and my life.

That being said, I’d really love to put more of a focus on the music and fashion side of things so over the coming weeks I’ll be concentrating on showing you some of my favourite music makers and fashions of kustom kulture.

There may be a little giveaway or two and not only will I be explaining where these music and fashion influences come from, I’ll be sharing with you plenty of my own fashion and music obsessions and where you can pick them up from.

I’ll be trying to cover a good cross section of music, styles and fashion for both women AND men but if there’s something in particular you’ve been wondering about or would really like me to cover, feel free to email it through or leave a comment and I’ll make sure to include it in the coming series.

But don’t worry, there’ll still be plenty of all the other random, fun stuff gracing these pages. Including the epic weekend I’m about to have!! But more on that later this week…

13 March, 2012

Say Hello!

Sunday I was up early and off to the very lovely London Club in Teneriffe for the Hello Blogger Events Say Hello! Workshop. Having been to previous blogging workshops I was interested to see if and how the girls would be able to provide fresh content and have their speakers cover new topics that would be helpful to me.


I have to say I am SO proud of Dani and Suger for doing such an amazing job! The amount of hard work and organisation that they put in really showed through by what a raging success the day was. There’s really not much you could fault them on, the only hiccup was the dodgy microphone/speaker system but that was on the venue!

SPEAKERS

The food was great, which is quite important for events like these, especially when attendees are paying a ticket price to come along for the day. There’s nothing like attending an event and knowing it was money well-spent. The speakers did a fantastic job of providing useful information and delivering it in a fun and engaging way.

It was also great to catch up with familiar faces, meet plenty of smiling new ones and I even got to meet a long-time supporter of this blog in the flesh which was pretty darn cool! We all got little gifts at the end which was nice and the people from Mi Goals ROCK for providing such divine stationary – I think bloggers are some of the biggest stationary addicts!


I was Official Tweeter for the day so my fingers were constantly flying across the iPad to keep everyone following along updated. It was nice to get such lovely feedback from everyone (including from a few people who I consider a bit of blog superstars) on what a great job I did maintaining the feed.

Sitting there listening to everyone speak, it was a really nice feeling to discover that I’m actually doing most things right. It’s hard to tell sometimes, especially in the blogging world and even more so when you’re first starting out so it felt great to get a bit of confirmation from those who are walking proof of blogging success.


I did learn quite a few helpful things throughout the day as well though. The main points that I took away from the day were some simple but genius ideas on making my blog images more interesting, that your work is actually copyrighted the minute you publish it no matter whether it’s done formally or not. Oh, and that I have TOO MANY tags. So if you check out my tag cloud now, you’ll notice it’s MUCH smaller. I spent the day yesterday going through every post I’ve ever done and fixing it. True story.

By the end of the day, as much fun as I had had, I was exhausted from the early start, all the mingling and all that tweeting! I think I out social media’d myself…while everyone else went home to tweet, facebook and instagram what a fantastic day they’d had I fell into bed and off the face of the social media earth to recover.


I hope more workshops like this will be held in the future and I can see targeted workshops really working for some of the more in-depth topics that received a lot of questions and were practically begging for more air time. I would definitely go to another one so fingers crossed enough people will get on board…they’ll make me a real blogger yet!

12 March, 2012

Bikes, Hot Rods & The Wet T-Shirt Comp


The weather was perfect for the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club QLD Chapter’s Bike & Hot Road Show on Saturday. Well, almost perfect…it was extremely hot and sunny. Not really my thing as I try to keep my pale skin and colourful tattoos out of the sun.


We started with a spot in the shade under the shed but after a few hours of being surrounded by chain smokers I was feeling a bit sick. Luckily the sun had gone down a little and we were able to score a spot in the shade on the lawn. We took our shoes off and cooled out feet in the grass. Ahhh, so much better.


It was a bit of an early start as we cruised in with some fellow members of the Eliminators car club and met at the club rooms at 9 am. It was a cruisy day but also a bit of a long one with such an early start. There were plenty of bad ass bikes and shiny rods on show including some pretty amazing paint jobs and FAT tyres and we spent the day chilling listening to music and drinking.


Aside from some great tunes playing there were also a few stalls to check out, a gum boot throwing contest, a keg throwing contest and some wicked burnouts. Everyone kept telling me the tattoo show isn’t for a few months. Har har.


And if I had a dollar for every time I was hassled to enter the wet tee shirt comp I would have had the first prize money anyway! Sorry people but you can’t buy my self worth. C’mon guys, you didn’t really think I’d go in it did you?? We were hoping to win first prize in the raffle, a whole wheel barrow full of booze! But even with 12 tickets, we didn’t win a single thing.


Oh well, we were happy to head home. Considering we’d not done much but sit around all day, we were pretty tired! It was really just a relaxed day full of eye candy and a chance to take the Merc for a run. Oh yeah, and I might end up in an upcoming issue of Oz Bikes Magazine. I doubt it, but you never know...


09 March, 2012

Sleep When I'm Dead

Lucky for me I won’t be spending the weekend thinking about the fact that I’m missing out on being flown down to Sydney and put up for the weekend to cover the Sydney Tattoo Expo.

What little time I spend thinking about it will be focused on being grateful for being presented with the opportunity in the first place…but realistically I’ll be too busy to be pining for it.

This weekend, and in fact the whole of March, is jam packed with fun things to do! A small part of me is crying out for a rest and goodness knows the bags under my eyes tell me I need one, but never let a good night’s sleep get in the way of good weekend right?

Tonight I’m playing the good housewife and cooking an awesome lasagne that I’ve been promising for weeks. It’s just as much for me as it is for anyone else, it’s going to be delicious and I can’t wait to consume those meaty, cheesy carbs on my cheat day! Oh yeah, there’ll be garlic bread and Sailor Jerry too!


But it’s early to bed because Saturday we’re up ‘early’ (which means before 10 am :P) for the Eliminators (car club) Hot Rod Run to the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club (VVMC) QLD Chapter’s Bike, Trike & Hot Rod Show! Which means cruising along in this baby for a day of cool tunes, burly bikers, cheap food and drink and a bevy of beautiful bikes, beasts and shiners. The weather is set to FINALLY be sunny too! I can’t wait!

But it’s early to bed AGAIN (I hope!!) Saturday night because Sunday morning I have to be up early (and I mean proper early) 6:30/7 am to get myself along to the Hello Blogger Events Say Hello Workshop! I really can’t wait to catch up with all my blogging pals and to see all the presentations from the speakers – I hope someone says something that just clicks with my brain and I learn LOTS! I’ll also be involved in my own little way…there may or may not be sash-wearing involved but that’s all I’ll say for now!


A whole day dedicated to blogging awesomeness combined with lunch and hangs with all my bloggy friends to cap off a busy but awesome weekend. It’s going to be awesome! Then I think it’ll be home to curl up in bed for left over lasagne and a well-deserved rest before it’s back to the grind on Monday!

No doubt you’ll hear all about the adventures come next week…

But tell me, what have YOU got planned for the weekend? Will you be needing a weekend to get over your weekend like me?

08 March, 2012

The Revolving Door of Life

Harvey Pookah enjoying the launch party gift bag
There are times in life when an opportunity presents itself and no matter how great the opportunity or how much you want it, for one reason or another you’re not able to grab it. It can be a very frustrating feeling, knowing that something so awesome is within your reach and yet you have to let it go. Let go of the possibilities, the experience, the fun you would have had.

Sadly, I had to do this yesterday. And it’s taking all of my self-control not to throw a tanty and whinge about how unfair the world is. Because sometimes it really can feel that way. But coming off the back of what a wonderful experience my launch party was, I know I can’t ignore the irony.

I can’t deny how amazingly lucky I am with the way things are in my life right now.

But getting a call from a magazine yesterday morning inviting me down to cover the Sydney Tattoo Expo this weekend at no expense of my own was EXTREMELY hard to turn down. And yet I had to. Given the last minute nature of things, it would have been a frenzy of organising and logistics.

Apart from the fact that I have other things organised over the weekend (including a pretty special blog workshop that I have already committed to) my options for making it happen were pretty limited. Try and get a flight or get a lift down with some guys the editor knew, QLD tattooists who were heading down for the expo.

I’m all up for adventure and I have absolutely no issue with tattoo artists themselves but the idea of being cooped up in a car for the whole drive with a bunch of dudes I don’t know was a prospect that made me uncomfortable. It could have been a car full of priests and I still would have felt uncomfortable. ESPECIALLY if it was priests!

Add to that trying to organise time off work, sort out last minute accommodation, the dilemma of figuring out outfits for 3 whole days with such short time to think about it (don’t laugh) and pretty much everything else you can think of…it just wasn’t going to happen.

BIG sad face!

To be flown down and put up by a magazine to cover an event that I had been wanting to go to anyway would have been positively amazing! And I think why? WHY!? But I am reminded of this quote…

               Sometimes life doesn’t want to give you something you want, not because you
               don’t deserve it but because you deserve something more…

It’s hard to think what could be ‘more’ at this point, but I’ve got my eyes open and I’ll be sure to have plenty of business cards on Sunday ready for that chance.

07 March, 2012

The Launch Party: A Timeline in Pictures

Welcome everyone! Care for a gift bag?

It's LIVE! And we love it!

Ooh prize table eye candy! Will you get lucky?

The punters couldn't get enough of that Sailor Jerry Rum!

Yay! The bloggers are here!!

Everyone write on my Post-O-Matic and get your message on my blog!

Enjoying a Sailor Jerry to calm my nerves

Such good looking party-goers!

Get those business cards in the draw people!

Time for the band to get started - yeehar!

Thanks boys, now it's prize time!

One of many happy prize winners!

Feeling the love!

More gorgeous guests!

Time for the band's second set - these boys were going off!!

A bit more mingling...

We love you Bobbi!!

The amazing designer responsible for the blog's new look getting some well deserved love!


So that's what happened in a nutshell...a GREAT day was had by all but I have to admit, it's a bit of a relief that it's all over. Now I can just sit here and stare lovingly at my blog all day.

I thought it might be a bit lame to write a full on post about my own launch party so I thought a picture would tell a thousand words and I'd leave it up to the other fab bloggers who attended to tell the story.

Check out Suger's run down here and Gil's wonderful post here. I'll put Liv's up when it goes live.

Thanks to everyone who came, I really can never say just how much it meant to me ♥