Sparks of Happyness - week 12

* Photo taken by me at BDO*

It’s here again. To be honest I can’t believe it’s Thursday again. This week has flown by with so much fun and happyness that I think this weeks list is by far the easiest I’ve had to write.

Big Day Out Festivities – Monday was Big Day Out. For those not in the know the Big Day Out is Australia’s biggest music festival. People can argue otherwise but it’s been around the longest and visits the entire country. This year I decided to return (I didn’t go last year because I was very unimpressed with the line-up). I had about 4 bands who I really really wanted to see and I saw them. I sang along to The Getaway Plan, danced to The Grates, shimmied and shook to The Black Kids and bopped and screamed to the Arctic Monkeys. I saw a whole bunch of other bands throughout the day as well. I was really sceptical about Big Day Out this year because there didn’t seem to be enough bands to get the excitement going for me, but with the help of some great people dancing and singing and laughing with me I had a great time.

Razorlight announcing that they are playing V Festival and supporting Kaiser Chiefs in their sideshow – OMFG *dies*! I really don’t think this needs an explanation – see this post and read the section on Razorlight and multiply that excitement by 150% and you’ll be where I am at right now about this revelation. V Festival now has 3 of my top 5 bands playing – How AMAZING!

Creating lists and analysing my life – I’ve spent a bit of time this week creating lists of things I would like to start doing to make my life more fabulous. A little like my previous post but in more detail. Most of the things I wrote about in that post I have somehow managed to forget about because of life and extreme heat waves in Victoria this week but I feel like it’s the universes way of telling me I should sit down and really look at what I want to change and figure out ways of doing that before I make any rash decisions. I’ve been plotting and planning and this weekend I am going to start putting some of those plans into action by acquiring the tools I need to do so. I am the kind of person who gets bored and distracted easily so I know I have to be really serious and think things through and really commit to them for them to work for me and this week I’ve been getting serious! This inspiration for this change came from the same place as most inspiration has - Gala Darling - and this post

Dinner with beautiful friends – I literally just got back home from going out to dinner with some beautiful people. I love our dinners and always walk away from them feeling happy. We have a great time discussing our lives and eating delicious food and I truly love them to pieces. Tonight we ate some yummy refreshing ice-cream and have made a date to go eat Greek food at this little place in Clayton. I cannot wait! I think I’m counting down the days already J

New necklaces – At Big Day Out I found a necklace that was me all over. I have for a very long time believed that bands who have tambourines are definitely more cooler than bands who do not. A tambourine adds an extra level of festiveness to the bands performance and I feel it is a much neglected instrument. Imagine my delight when I was walking past a stall at Big Day Out and I found a silver chain with a miniature tambourine attached to the end. I looked at it and KNEW that I had to own it. How could I NOT buy a necklace with a mini silver tambourine that made noises when you shook it? Impossible! I have worn it pretty much every day since I bought it and I don’t really see the novelty wearing off any time soon.

Honourable mentions – re-reading Breaking Dawn, new episodes of Greek, drinking sessions while watching Razorlight DVDs, drunk UNO, High School Musical glasses, the movie “The Wrestler” (WOW!), family outings with my parents, shopping by myself, twitter updates from Big Day Out, epic Big Day Out meet up fails, RUSSEL BRAND TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS (this is sure to be a super love when I buy tickets), anticipating this weekend, sweaty hot Ting Tings sideshows, free parking in St Kilda, loving going to work again, cars with air-conditioning, air-conditioning systems in general (it’s been heatwave central here in Victoria), new episodes of 30 Rock (LEMON OUT!), new Lily Allen songs, Britney Spears tour announcements (WTF Melbourne please), getting excited messages from new-ish friends about tour announcements who are just trying to make your day & excessive tiredness.

Please share, I know you’re out there. How was your week? Let me join in on the glee...

I am going to see Ryan Adams tomorrow night. It is supposed to be 40 + degrees in Melbourne tomorrow so it’s sure to be a sweat fest! Then Saturday night is THE event of the month – RAZORLIGHT! I’m sure I’ll come back here with photos and a post filled with too much happyness that my words will all jumble into one and I’ll have to delete and re-write and re-post but I’m sure you’ll love it :)

Extreme love & sparkles
x x x
Brooke

Song of the moment = Razorlight – Hostage of Love

Sparks of Happyness - week 11

*Pictures of Evie taken by me - turned in to polaroids thanks to Poladroid*

I’ve had a pretty great week this past week. Here is my little piece of thanks to the universe.

The Swell Season show – It was last night at the Palais (A big old theatre hall in St Kilda which is beautiful and amazing). You know the show is going to be something special when the lead singer walks onto the stage with an acoustic guitar away from the microphones to the front of the stage and starts singing acoustically out to the crowd. Glen Hansard has an unbelievable voice, it beyond charming, can tell a story that is adorable and funny and can entertain to no end. This was the show I wanted way back when the movie “Once” came out in the UK – it didn’t disappoint. I got chills at some points in the show. Everyone should check them out – or at least watch the movie “Once” to know what I’m talking about.

New handbags – I went shopping on Saturday and walked away from Knox with a bag and some stockings. I was wanting to purchase a bigger style bag but when I saw this little black (I never buy black bags) bag in Dangerfield I couldn’t resist. I looks like it belongs in the 40’s and is so super cute I knew I had to have it. It actually holds a lot more than I expected it to and I’ve used it every day since I bought it. I’m officially obsessed with it.

Catching up with old friends – Saturday night was my dear friend Heathers birthday BBQ and I spent the night laughing and catching up with my friend Liesl who has just returned from her 1 year adventure in the UK & Europe. It was so great to hear her stories and catch up again. I also got to hang out and chat with Becky & Heather too. We talked about life, love, moving out, moving on & surviving quarter life crisis’. It reminded me that some people are in your lives for a reason. Some friendships don’t have to be hard. Some friendships can survive time and space and can feel totally natural and right. I think I’m lucky enough to be able to have a few friends like this – we don’t see each other as often as we’d all like but when we do it’s like no time has passed.

The kindness of strangers – Last night while circling the parking lot next door to the Palais a lady and her family were crossing to get to their car and she waved to me to show me where her car was so I could take her spot (the car park was chockers as it was a lovely day and people were at the beach plus the show was on at the Palais). I thought that was lovely of her until she started walking towards our car – I thought “oh great she’s not really leaving” but instead she handed me her parking ticket (it was a lot where you display the ticket on the dashboard – you don’t need it to exit) that was valid for the rest of the night. I couldn’t believe it – not only had this lady helped me with showing me her park but she gave me her ticket so I got free parking. It really made the beginning of my night fabulous. I haven’t encountered kindness from a stranger in a long time and it really shocked me but made me smile oh so brightly.

Evie & Bridie & Kyla (the trio of nieces) – On Sunday night the family visited my brothers house for dinner so I got to jump on the trampoline with Bridie for a bunch. We then proceeded to sing a dinner song and smile and laugh as we drank our drinks and ate our dinner. I got to cuddle Evie and saw her massive smile for the first time. If I thought was good – today me and Mum minded Kyla who was in a nutcase mood and then Evie came to visit for a few hours. When she first got here I layed down with her on a blanket and talked to her. She smiled and “gooed” and “gahed” and it was so cute my heart wanted to burst. Bridie came over with her Dad (Nathan) to pick up Evie so we read books, cuddled and spat water at each other. It’s amazing how much fun 3 little girls can be and how much they can turn an ok day into a fantastic day.

Honourable mentions – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (OMFG WOW! Such a beautiful/tragic/amazing movie), scouring the internet to find good pictures of Cate Blanchetts hair colour in said movie so I can dye my hair that colour, finding out from my hairdresser that she CAN dye my hair that colour next week, 9 sleeps til Razorlight, 35 days til Jack’s Mannequin, driving Crystals new car, seeing Crystal getting better as a driver, long weekends, making plans, watching lots of the Office (US version), taking beautiful photos of my nieces, trying to plan my USA adventure, buying travel guide books for the USA, my iPhone, finding nail polish that looks like Dorothy’s red shoes in Wizard of OZ, & anticipating my week to come.

It’s been a fun filled week but I’ve remained un-tired. I know that won’t last through to this week to come. I’ve got Big Day Out festival on Monday, the Ting Tings show on Wendesday and then it’s on the crazy stuff after that. I don’t know when my love list will come up next week but expect to read fan-girl gushing about how fabulous Razorlight were next Saturday night (the 31st)!

Tell me you had an amazing week. Make me smile because you’ve smiled.

Major love & sparkles
x x x
Brooke

Song of the moment = Swell Season – Falling Slowly

P.S Anyone heard the new Franz Ferdinand album yet? I’m expecting great things!

Procrastination & Motivation

* photo taken with my iPhone at FC ball*

This week at work I've been finding myself dropping back into my pre-Christmas routine of getting all my work out of the way in the morning and then twiddling my thumbs in the afternoon dreaming about the end of the day.

I've been trying to motivate myself into trying new things but I'm struggling to find new things that excite me. I have been reading all about this hooping sensation that seems to be sweeping all across the internet and it's intruiging me - I just haven't managed to find a hoop to buy :) Actually I haven't looked.

Yesterday the lovely lady Miss Gala Darling did a post on "How To Establish a Fabulous Daily Routine". Perfect timing as usual.

I've been sitting here today thinking about what I'd like to change, what I could change and why I should change it and have come up with the following:

What isn't working?

• The lack of excercise is killing me - literally. I have never before worked in a job that requires me to sit and work at a computer all day and my body is feeling this the most. I don't feel particually healthy and I know if I get off my butt and excercise a bit it will help.
• Snacking on junky junk - This goes hand in hand with the top point. Junk food is not my friend and I know it but somehow it tastes so good that I can't help myself.
• My brain is struggling to stay in that positive attitude space - I know point 1 & 2 contribute to this but I have to keep my brain focused on staying away from negative things.

What do I want my routine to look like?

• Wake up 7.10am - get pretty - eat a delicious breakfast - WALK to work
• Work all day - make sure to snack on nuts/fruits/yummy healthy things
• Walk home - take my beautiful pup for a 30 min walk - try new excercise (hooping?) - rest/get creative - dinner - read for 30 mins before sleepy time

What steps do I need to take to make this a reality?

• Get off my butt - go to the supermarket & stock up on food that tastes delicious and is good for me - buy a hoop - find something that makes my creative brain happy - STOP having loose change in my bag (buy a small adorable piggy bank)

I know it won't take much for me to get happy and healthy again I just need to find things that I find fun to do. I am going to attempt to NOT eat chocolate for 30 days - starting TODAY! Plus I am going to cut back on the Coca Cola intake as of today. I've let myself slip back into the "yeah I'll have a can" almost everyday and it's not a good thing - that stuff is like liquid poison.

I'm a little late on the New Years Resolution but I never keep those so I'm hoping that this will be a better option for me :) Wish me luck...

Extreme love & Sparkles
x x x
Brooke

Song of the moment = Razorlight - North London Trash

Sparks of Happyness - Bumper Edition - Weeks 7 & 8 & 9 & 10

* Photos of the adorable nieces by me*

I know I've been M.I.A from here since '09 began but I have actually been quite busy. I can't pin-point where my time has gone but it has something to do with work being busy again, life picking up and it's summer time in the homeland so that means festivals & sideshows & band fabulousness.

So today will be a bumper edition of Sparks of Happyness and it's being posted a day late but you know what I don't think it matters because the whole point of this is to appreciate what's happened and send that little bit of thanks out to the universe :)

Jack's Mannequin sideshow - It was announced. They are supporting some bands who I could really care less about (only because I don't know then not because they are bad). I don't understand how my heart is going to survive 3 straight days of Jack's Mannequin shows. I can't even describe how I feel about this because it's far too overwhelming. Everytime I think about it I feel like I want to cry, scream, laugh, smile and vomit all at once. It's excitement like I've never felt before (even though I've seen them once and met Andrew McMahon - this is better). I get to see them with my sister, my friends and random strangers who are yet to realise how special these shows are going to be.

Falls Festival & Sideshows - I have already posted about Falls Festival but I also spent 2 nights last week enjoying the sideshows. I saw Franz Ferdinand supported by one of my absolute favourite Aussie bands ever, Red Riders. I also saw The Kooks. Both shows were spectacular - each in their own way.

Red Riders - I enjoyed seeing them so much they deserve their own point. It's been over a year and a half since I last saw this band live and I've missed them a lot! They've been through a lot - lost a member, producer and have had to delay the release and recording of their 2nd album but it's nice to see they haven't lost that something special onstage. I feel like this year it their year too and I hope it's amazing and fabulous and all those great words :)

Family BBQ's - My uncle came down from QLD to visit with his new family (he got married last year and has inherited some kids) so we had the family over at our house for a BBQ. I spent most of the night playing with Bridie and Kyla in the dirt and I haven't smiled and laughed so much in my life! I then had a fabulous conversation with one of the new kids about Twilight - where she tried to tell me things I already knew about the series and things that weren't true. It was a truly fun night.

Fabulous movies - I've seen some great movies in the past few weeks too - Role Models, Twilight (again - yep I'm up to 3 now), & Yes Man. I did try and see Bride Wars last night but the cinema had a black out (I KNOW) so I don't know if it's a good movie yet... Tomorrow I plan to go check out either Doubt or the Wrestler at Knox - I feel like I need a movie with substance.

Poladroid for Windows - As you can probably tell I'm a little in love with this application. I got so excited it was finally here that all my pics are polaroids now :)

Finding new accessories on sale - I've had my eye on this cute purple fake leather flower bracelet (I'm using the word bracelet because cuff sounds wrong but bracelet is also wrong) for quite some time now and I went into Diva on the weekend and it was onsale for $5! I snapped it up along with a new necklace, new black bow clip and some new headbands.

BOOKING FLIGHTS FOR AMERICAN ADVENTURES - Yep! Uh huh! I've booked my flights to Los Angeles in July - I will be in New York for my birthday - I am going to Disneyworld! I am so ridiculously excited that I'm going back to the USA. I can't wait to visit new cities, hang out with old friends, shop til I drop (or until my credit card won't let me anymore) and see a Broadway show on my birthday!

Honourable mentions - Long conversations about the future of your fav bands, secret conversations about new band members, cuddling Evie, new glitter from Sportsgirl, my iPhone, my mighty book of boosh, watching new episode of One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl & Scrubs, re-watching Boosh, re-watching The Office (US version), wearing bows in my hair, decorating bum bags for festival fun, creating countdowns for fabulous bands - 15 days til Razorlight & 41 days til Jacks Mannequin, free lollies from customers, having time off over the New Year, finding old jewellery, dressing up for lame work functions, and re-discovering new items of clothing that I forgot I bought.

How has everyone been? What's been happening since I disappeared? Tell me about the start of your year!

I really think that the start of my year has begun right. I'm happy, excited and have adventures planned - BRING IT ON!

Bright shiny love & sparkles

x x x

Brooke

Song of the moment = Jack's Mannequin - The Resolution

Hello oh-nine

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I know I disappeared for a bit there but it doesn't help when you travel somewhere new for New Years where you have no phone reception and are sleeping in tents.

I spent my time dancing to amazing music at the Fall Festival in Marion Bay in Tasmania. It was an adventure filled with fun times, sleepless nights, lots of glitter and did I mention the dancing.

Rather than try to explain the past fews days I'm just going to photo blog it. Usually I'm more of a writer and prefer descriptions but today I'm still feeling sleepy from the trip so check out the pics :)

*clicky click for bigger versions *

The people in the tents beside us were noisy and weird and kept talking about this ellusive "Barry" character who we never saw the entire time we were there. We snuggled at night to keep ourselves warm in our tent and woke up in the morning and ate Kellogs Crunchy Nut Cornflakes out of plastic cups with forks.

The days went from beautiful sunny to horrible rain but it didn't dampen our spirits or the celebration. We embraced the rain and wore garbage bags as home-made raincoat

I welcomed the New Year singing and dancing to The Hives and the last song I heard play that morning was "Bathroom Gurgle" by Late of the Pier - to which I danced, sang and danced some more.

It was a fabulous time and I know I'll do it again someday.

How was your New Years? Did you dance? Did you have fun? Was it filled with glitter?

Mega love & Sparkles

x x x

Brooke

Song of the moment = The Hives - Try it Again