Dreaming of Purple

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I've been dreaming of super proper purple hair again. This time I want super purple hair all over not just partial purple hair.

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The best way to get myself excited about this is to look all over the Internet and find other purple haired beauties. I've ordered some Deep Purple Special Effects hair dye so while I wait for it to arrive I'll just keep dreaming.

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Finding these pictures helps keep my resolve to do this. I have purple hair now but it's just not quite right, it's not a true purple so I'm ready to get the bleach out and get it right.

I've also got some turquoise hair dye (arrived TODAY!) so I'll have purple hair with a strip of turquoise.

It's been a hell of a week. I can hardly believe half the things that have happened at work. It kind of sucks when your job is directly affected by world events - with the state of the world today it's not making my job so fun at times. This week has been truly shocking.

But I've had some good news this week though - it hasn't all been doom & gloom. I've got my name down to photograph MGMT at their show when they hit Melbourne next month (just waiting on confirmation) and I'm very excited about this. They'll be the most "known" band I'll have had the chance to photograph live so far *eek*

Happy *almost* weekend

- Brooke

Happy Shopper: Shanalogic.com (again)

Yes it's true - I'm a Shanalogic.com addict. I can't help it, they've got too much cute stuff!

Way back in December I posted about a happy shopper competition that Shana was running over on her facebook page. Turns out I ended up winning that competition so I had a $50 voucher to spend at her lovely shop.

It was such a hard decision on what I wanted to buy with that voucher but I've had my eye on the Raccoon Love Ring by Mark Poulin for a while and I figured there was no better time to treat myself.

Yesterday it arrived in the mail and I am BEYOND excited with the ring (as my facial expression will show). It's SOOOOOO beautiful and amazing and sweet and all those nice words you could ever think of.

It fits perfectly (which is always the concern when buying rings online) and that sweet little raccoon face will be looking up at me pretty much every day. The band is a good solid band without being chunky and it's really comforable (I've been wearing it all day and only noticed I had a ring on when I looked at the cute face). This ring will not be seen off my hand for a long time to come.

Shana also included a nice little gift in my parcel which was completely unexpected but absolutely lovely. She included the Pirate Bunnies Tee by Claire Belton. I don't know about anyone else but the combination of Pirates and Bunnies is far too cute to pass up. I love it to pieces and will be wearing it a lot!!!

My older sister also bought 2 x prints from the Fine Art section (the Luau LuLu Print by Tsai Fi and the Pandasm Print by Cuddly Rigor Mortis) for her 2 kids rooms. I have literally just spoken to her on the phone and she is so excited about them. She went out and bought frames and is stoked with how they look in the two kids rooms.

I'm slowly but surely converting my family to the ways of Shanalogic.com

I seriously love love love this shop and Shana is AMAZING! I shop online because there is so much cute things on the internet that I can't get in the shops at home. I shop at Shanalogic.com the most because everything I buy from there I love and it feels good to support Indie artists and Shana. Plus their service is brilliant and the shipping is extremely fast (usually gets to my house about a week after ordering). I'm the first person to rave about how great they are whenever I get a compliment for anything that I buy from the shop.

I already have my next order planned out (it will include some Sugarpill make up).

Thank you Shana and your amazing team for always being lovely and for making your customers feel extra special with your cute notes and special gifts! You guys are the BEST!

Shop Indie, Pass it on!

 - Brooke

Isn't it beautiful - Andrew McMahon acoustic tour

3 shows, 4 days, 3 cities - it was an adventure alright. I'm tired, I feel hungover, I'm sick and congested but I would not change these 4 days (from Thursday to Sunday) for the world.

Thursday night (as my last post stated) I flew to Brisbane with my sister Crystal to attend the first show on the Andrew McMahon acoustic tour of Australia. I don't think I have to put in any background on my love for this mans music (see previous blog posts here, here, here, here). This was a tour where I didn't really know what to expect - he was playing his music in a way that I've never experienced it before - I was really excited/nervous (IDK why I just was) before the first show.

The nerves were unfounded - he was spectacular EVERY show. Every song that he performed took on a new life when played with just his grand piano (or keyboard in Melbourne due to the Hi Fi Bar having a broken down lift and their inability to get a grand piano down into the venue) and Bobby Raw's acoustic guitar.

What surprised me the most out of these shows is that even without jumping all over the stage and climbing on his piano Andrew has this amazing stage presence. His ability to completely draw you in and absorb every word that he sings is something to behold. He is charming between songs, comfortable to share stories and make jokes. He is a natural onstage - you can tell that it is where is he meant to be.

Every night he mixed the setlist up a little which was nice. Normally on these kinds of adventures we're faced with seeing the same setlist every night but Andrew threw in different songs and played the songs in different orders. I wouldn't have cared if we had the exact same setlist in every city because the songs he played in Brisbane on the first night were great - but that little bit of surprise every night was a very nice touch.

The Melbourne show was easily the best of the bunch. I'm not saying that because I'm from Melbourne and it's my home town, I'm saying it because it's true. There was this energy in the crowd that made it fun, enchanting and deleriously amazing. It was the perfect ending for this adventure for us.  

* Me & Crystal in Sydney - My friend Lauren joined us in Sydney & Melbourne too *

I have been to a lot of show in the past few years and not many of them beat the shows I have just witnessed - the bar for this year's music shows has been set by Andrew McMahon and it's going to be very very very hard to beat.

This was one adventure I didn't want to end but I'm so happy that we managed to do it.

From my happy heart to yours,

 - Brooke

P.S After owning the documentary "Dear Jack" for almost 2 years I watched it today. I felt inspired after the past few days and I finally felt brave enough to watch it. I cried all the way through but was left completely amazed at Andrews courage and beautiful spirit. It was both shocking and inspiring to watch his battle and survival of Leukaemia. A MUST watch in my humble opinion

P.P.S Thanks Soundwave Touring for taking a chance and bringing Andrew to our shores. It meant so much to a lot of people and you've left us with memories for a lifetime!

Away and happy

I'm currently holed up in a hotel room in Sydney. If you've been following my tweets you would know it because I'm on another one of my musical adventures. 

Last night we were in Brisbane for the Andrew McMahon acoustic tour. It was brilliant and beautiful and charming. It was just him and his piano (with a little help from Bobby Raw) and it was so much more than I expected. 

After the show we managed to meet Andrew and he remembered me from the Dear Jack show in Los Angeles - that was super unexpected but really lovely. 

Since I'm writing this on the road (on my iPhone) I'll stop here. I'll be back next week with the full update - I just wanted to check in and share. 

Peace out lovelies!
 - Brooke 

Music Mondays: RIP The White Stripes

* My photo from BDO January 2006 *

The first time I got the experience The White Stripes live was in January 2006. I saw them first at Festival Hall and then the following day at the Big Day Out in Princess Park in Melbourne.

I didn't really fully appreciate that these two times were the only times I'd get to see them. Last week they announced that they were no longer a band and it hit me with a kind of sadness that I did not expect. Their music has been a part of my life for so long that it feels weird that there won't be anything new to add to the collection.

“The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”

Sincerely,

Meg and Jack White

The White Stripes

* Click on photo for source *

A super cool band who will be greatly missed.

Peace out

 - Brooke

Instax 52 weeks - week 5

Week 5 of 52

I don't own much vinyl. I don't actually have a working record player at the moment but I cant help but collect them anyway. There's something simply beautiful about vinyl records don't you agree?  

This vinyl is super special to me. It's the anniversary edition of the debut album from Jack's Mannequin. I've listened to this album more times than I could possibly count and it's by far one of my absolute favorite albums to listen to. It reminds me of summertime and smiles. It's my go to album when I'm feeling blue. 

This Thursday I'm heading out on a mini break to Brisbane and Sydney to see Andrew McMahon perform acoustically a mix of songs from both Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin. I'll be going to three shows over four days and will be in a little piece of heaven. We're also going to check out the Annie Leibowitz exhibition while in Sydney. It's going to be a fun week!

Peace out
- Brooke

CSS @ The Corner Hotel

Thursday is like Tuesday right? Well it's better late than never.

On Saturday night we headed into the Corner Hotel in Richmond to see CSS live. We've seen them a few times before and it's always been a fun dance party type of gig so we knew at the least it would be an evening of fun.

*** This is the only picture of me and Lauren (or anyone other than the band) that I got that night. We're so PINK ***

The festivities began in the car as Lauren and I enjoyed our Vodka & Cranberry car drinks so by the time we'd made it to The Corner Hotel we were amped for Tequila shots and more vodka. We then mosied on up to the front of the stage where we found a new gig buddy that Lauren and Leah had be-friended at The Rapture gig last month.

Lovefoxx has chopped all her hair off and rid herself of those crazy jumpsuits that we had grown to love to bring the party in cut offs and home made t-shirts.

The band brought a more casual approach to their show this time around but it didn't remove any of the fun. The atmosphere that was coming from both band and crowd was electric.

At some stage in the show glitter was thrown all over the stage and onto the crowd - I'm still finding pieces of glitter in my bedroom.

We danced, smiled and sang along and had a super fun time. I can't wait for them to release some new music and get their butts back to Australia again. Hopefully this time we won't have to wait 3 years between visits.

This week has been crazy again at work . Being a travel agent sometimes we have to deal with crazy situations like trying to get people out of Egypt while there are riots and protests happening. It's been a bit stressful this week but I'm ready to go out and relax while watching the Greenhornes tonight at Northcote Social Club.

Peace Out

 - Brooke

P.S Is anyone else super sad about The White Stripes being done? I know they haven't released anything in years but the fact that they've announced that it's really over brings on the sad face. Their music has been such a huge part of my life for so long that it's hard to believe that there won't be anymore new stuff to add to the collection. I'm sure I'll sit down sometime soon and post a bit more about this.