Saturday, February 20, 2010

My new favourite street style blog.

Let me begin by saying that I love street style blogs. I don't always look at many especially at times like these when our internet is slow because we've reached our limit but I like to look at some of them for inspiration and to admire the awesome fashion sense displayed by people around the world.

For some reason I can't link in this blog, so I'll just type the web-address in brackets.

One that I've always really liked to look at is The Sartorialist (thesartorialist.blogspot.com). These are really fashionable people, from around he fashion capitals of the world wearing a mixture of pieces from vintage to designer. They all have their own individual style and all look incredibly put together and classy.

Recently Gala Darling (http://galadarling.com) published a post with a list of articles she has written for ChinaShop Magazine (www.chinashopmag.com). One of them is about street style blogs from around the world. I browsed through them and the one that really caught my eye was Dropsnap (www.dropsnap.jp). This is a street style blog from Japan featuring both men and women. I spent a long time yesterday looking at a lot of the pictures on the site. I love the variety of styles and the attention to detail. But the thing that I like most about this blog is that I can relate to it more than to the Sartorialist. The people on the Sartorialist are all very stylish but I always feel like I could never emulate their looks and if I tried it would not look right on me. I have my own style and while I certainly take inspiration from other people's looks and fashion in general I don't copy others' looks entirely. However just from looking at Dropsnap once I already got some ideas about putting together some items in my wardrobe that I usually don't put together (ie wearing a top that I usually wear with pants with a skirt, not a very dramatic change, I know, but still a big change). Maybe it's that my personal style is a lot more playful than that of the people on The Sartorialist, but I find Dropsnap a lot more relatable and got really excited looking at it. I even showed it to my brother in the hope that he would find some style inspiration. I think it certainly made him realise how limited his usual outfits are... :P

The February issue of Australian Cleo contained a great article on Australian Streetstyle Bloggers. I think it is so interesting to see what people in the city you live in are wearing. I'm always curious to see if I know anyone, or if I have seen any of the outfits on the Perth based blog when I was out and about. Here are the bloggers featured in Cleo:

Hayley Hughes is takes pictures for her blogs melbournstreetfashion.com and fashionhayley.com. I think she has a great eye for style.

Emma Bergmeier is Perth's resident streetstyle blogger. Her blog Dropstitch (www.dropstitch.com.au) features only the best of the best of Perth's fashiony people. I especially love the photos from Laneway. I'm so sad that I couldn't go. (Just plain couldn't afford it.)

Hailing from Sydney is Fernando Frisoni (www.fernandofrisoni.com). I love the pictures he takes. Such a great eye for fashion.

Paul-Simon Djite is another person who chronicles Sydney's street style in his blog kahlanswardrobe.blogspot.com. Both Fernando and Paul-Simon come across as really great people. I think Paul-Simon's revelation that he finds it a little intimidating to approach strangers and ask if he can take a picture of them, especially as the better they look the harder it is, but he adds that he doesn't let it daunt him because the feeling of getting that perfect shot overrides any nerves for him.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Songs for Radical Self Love Month

I've been listening to a couple of songs which encourage me to be the best I can and just live. My internet is slow at the moment, so I can't check if the lyrics I have are correct, and I don't really want to post them until I can make sure that they're absolutely right. So I will just tell you the name of the song, the name of the artist and why I like it. :)

But first a little picture.

I'm not sure where I got this picture from. I assume I found it when I google image searched something to do with music at some point. Now it lives on my hard drive. I think it's super cute. I would love a music outfit like that. Although I don't know where I'd wear it. Anyway, onwards with the music...

Maria by Blondie
This is one of my all-time favourite songs. I find the opening lyrics absolutely liberating and inspiring. They are:

She moves like she don't care,
Smooth as silk,cool as air.


Love, love, love it. Obviously the girl in question does care deeply about things, but she moves like she doesn't care about what other people think of her. Genius. That's how every girl wants to be I think. The rest of the song is catchy and talks about how awesome Maria is and how you wanna take her home and make her yours. At one point the lyrics are: "Don't you wanna break her?" which obviously isn't as uplifting, but I tend to just ignore that bit and instead loudly sing along with the next chorus... "Mariiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaa..." :D Incidentally I'm not really sure what the lyrics of the chorus are as it is one bit I never quite understand when I listen to it. PS: I have an ex boyfriend who used to call me Maria (it's my middle name). I loved the song before I met him, but it just made it extra special. :)

Rooftop by Sasha
Another oldie but a goodie. This one's from 2002 I think. I'd forgotten that his song existed when it came up on my mp3 player which was on shuffle. I'm not entire sure what it is I'm meant to shout from the rooftops. Possibly "Here I go". I don't think it matters when the song contains lines such as:

Doesn't matter what they
You do your own thing anyway.


and:

To spend a little ain't no crime,
Please yourself from time to time.
We all get caught out in the pouring rain
We get we the same doesn't matter, no, no.


and of course the two variants of the chorus:

Ain’t nothing better
Than a heartbeat over mind.
So shout it from the rooftop, here I go.
Beat it on the backdoor of your soul.
Walking on a tightrope, don’t you know
Takes you higher, takes you higher.

Dancing on the sidewalk, let it go.
Jumping on a fast train, nice and slow.
Surfing on the backbeat, no control.
Takes you higher, takes you higher.


It's just such an up-beat song. It reminds me to by myself and that it doesn't matter what other people think of what I do, "it's only someone's point of view." :P
PS: I was especially delighted to hear this song on my mp3 player because previously my mp3's shuffle mode seemed to have an unhealthy (and slightly depressing) obsession with playing Sasha's Lonely. You know, the song that goes: "I feel lonely, lone-, lone-, lone-, lone-, lone-ly, You're the one and only that makes me feel so blue. Definitely not Radical Self Love Month material that one.

Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall
This song is on a "Chickflick Soundtrack" compilation CD I got from one of my movie-obsessed (male) friends for my last birthday. It is full of awesome, inspirational, love or otherwise, fabulous, strong, delicious, funny, old, new songs. :D This song in particular I had heard before. Everybody has. However when it came up on my mp3 player I really started listening to the lyrics:

Her face is a map of the world, is a map of the world.
You can see she's a beautiful girl, she's a beautiful girl.
Everything around her is a silver pool of light
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it
It makes you calm
She holds you captivated in her palm
.

Such a strong opener. Who doesn't want to be like that girl? I think the chorus:

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
This is what I wanna be etc.

really says it all. The lyrics go on to describe this amazing girl. I love listening to this song as I'm walking home from the bus or on the way to uni and imagining that I am the girl that this song describes. It's such a boost. Of course I am beautiful. Everything around me is a siler pool of light and the people who surround me do feel the benefit of it. It makes me wanna be the best me I can be. Caring, beautiful in all possible ways, full of love for myself and others.

Honourable mentions:

There are worse things I could do from Grease
This is Rizzo's song from Grease. She is one of my favourite characters in the musical (although I kinda love them all...). I am very different from Rizzo. I tend to be overly cautious and not take chances and I am actually a lot like one of the girls she describes that she's not like, so I listen to this song to remind me to come out of my shell and live a little.

I'll be OK by McFly
This song is the on that first got me into listening to McFly I heard it on a flight from Europe back to Perth, via Singapore. The guys looked cute on the video clip, the melody is pretty and catchy and the message is very comforting when I'm having an off day. I listen to this song and I know that I will indeed be OK. :)

I Look Up by Shameem Taheri-Lee
With lyrics such as "I feel like I could have the universe for afternoon tea" (I paraphrased it here) and "My mama told me we were created to show love for one another" plus the opening lines of he chorus:

When I look up, look much higher,
When I look down I see the sky.


this song had to be on my Radical Self Love month playlist. Shameem Taheri-Lee recently graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and this song is from her debut album. I'll write more about her in a later blog entry. For now just know that she is awesome and go check out her website and Myspace page.

Here to Stay by Christina Aguilera
There's no doubt Christina Aguilera can sing, has bunches of talent and is absolutely gorgeous. Plus she shares a first name with me. :P So of course she's great. The lyrics for this song are so so perfect for Radical Self Love month! Another song that is also on my playlist for this month is Beautiful, also by Christina Aguiera, of course.

Some Disney Songs
No playlist of mine would be complete without at least one Disney song. Here are some that made it into my Radical Self Love playlist:
Circle of Life from the Lion King, When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio, You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan, I'll Make A Man Out Of You from Mulan (hey, it's the ultimate in motivational songs), Go the Distance from Hercules (ditto), A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella, Just Beyond the Riverbend from Pocahontas (to remind me to keep looking ahead), and occasionally Out There from the Hunchback of Notre Dame to remind me how lucky I am and how amazing this world we live in is and how easily it is to get complacent and stop being in awe of the things that seem everday and common and boring to us.

Take It Easy, Take It To The Limit and New Kid In Town by the Eagles
The Eagles have of course written many classic rock songs. These three made it onto my RSL playlist for their good advice. The first two are also quite optimistic while the third one is a little melancholy. Take it easy in particular makes me giggle with the opening line of:

Well, I'm a runnin' down the road tryin' to loosen my load
I got seven women on my mind;
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine.


The reason this makes me giggle is that I suspect I just had a close escape from being one of the first two and have landed safely back in the saying I'm a friend of a guy who no doubt has me on my mind along with a couple of other women. :P

Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien by Edith Piaf
My mum used to sometimes sing it when I was little, so I knew the lyrics even before I knew what they meant, but I think this is a great song to live by.

Leb Deinen Traum from the Digimon Soundtrack
Don't laugh, this song is really inspirational. I've never heard the English version, but the German title literally means: Live your dream.

Take her to Sea Mr Murdoch from the Titanic Soundtrack
This one's an instrumental. It's very rousing and for me personally it brings back happy memories of playing it in an orchestra a few years ago. We played a Titanic medly and it contained all the major themes from the movie. It finished with a really cheesy version of My Heart will go On complete with drumkit. Such fun! :D

I Can Wait from the Hairspray Soundtrack
This song didn't end up making it into the movie but I absolutely love it. The message is to do all you can to achieve your dreams but that you can't rush fate.

It's My Life by Bon Jovi
Of course. This staple of mass singalongs in the clubs is also great to belt out in the bedroom or car or any place really... It's guaranteed to make you feel awesome.

Soak Up the Sun by Cheryl Crow
I'm gonna soak up the sun, I'm gonna tell everyone to lighten up...

It's Funny by Junia
It's funny, so funny, come on keep smiling honey, we wanna show that we got style!

Keep on Movin' by 5ive
Get on up when you're down...

Bitch by Meredith Brooks

Girls Just Wanna Hav Fun by Cindy Lauper

Life is What you Make it by Mishelle Branch

(You Just) Believe in You by Princessa
You just believe in you and after time you'll see you underestimate your capability...

Stand up (for the Champions) by Right Said Fred and Ready For the Victory by Modern Talking
These two are just good for some hyping up of oneself. Stand up for me COS I AM THE CHAMPION and of course I'm totally ready for the victory in whatever form it may come...

These are just a few of the songs on my Radical Self Love Playlist. Of course I have many many more songs in my playlist and I also listen to a lot of classical music which is fabulous. I know this blog goes on forever, so congratulations if you made it to the end. :D Don't forget to make your own Radical Self Love Playlist if you haven't done so already.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Radical Self Love Questions

A bit over a week ago Gala Darling published a blog with some questions to ask ourselves about Radical Self Love. I read the questions. And then I took a while to digest the questions. Today I finally found the courage to tackle some of the questions. I don't know why I was so reluctant to answer the questions. Well, now I've thought about some of the questions. I have to say the answer to the first question was a lot longer when I thought about it in my head, but when I wrote it down it came together in a more succinct way and yet still says everything I think about it. In any case I left extra space in my note book in case I decide to expand on it. So without any further ado, here are my answers to some of the questions:

What does Radical Self Love mean to you?
Radical Self Love to me pure and simply means to love oneself. Of course there are many aspects to it. It means striving to be the best person one can be, but to also accept and learn to love one's faults and weaknesses. Taking the bad with the good and attempting to live life to its fullest.

If you were engaging in Radical Self Love on a daily basis what tould it look like?
In response to this questions I drew a picture of myself hugging myself and smiling. Just looking at it makes me smile. :)

What small pieces of that can you bring into your life today?
Even though I didn't answer the previous questions with words I surprised myself by actually having concepts in my head that went along with the picture. :) My answer to this qustion was:
Treat my body well: - Sleep enough (or at least try)
- Get regular exercise (I just joined a gym!)
- Not eating too much junk and substituting in healthier food where possible

Dressing up and looking the best I can so I can be proud walkng around, even if I'm not feeling great or I'm in a bad mood or I'm feeling lonely. :)

Telling myself that I'm awesome on a daily basis.

I wrote the next two questions into my Radical Self Love Bible and left a page free each to answer them. I'll post them on here when I've answered them.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

It's Radical Self-Love Month!

I've decided to participate in Radical Self-Love Month on iCiNG. I think Gala Darling is a genius for coming up with the idea! She is also super adorable!

I have to say this past week I've been having a few less than sterling days. I'd been feeling uninspired during practise sessions and had a general feeling of listlessness. It all came to a head on Thursday last week when I had what I later realised was PMS combined with the sort of day where you get out of the shower only to realise that you should've washed your hair. Needless to say I wasn't feeling great. I wasn't certain what I was going to do this year as I had gotten a phone call the day before saying that there was some confusion as to what I was actually planning on doing this year. Apparently there had been some misunderstandings and now there was some uncertainty as to whether I'd be able to go into the third year of the Bachelor of Music as I had intended to do. I went into uni on the Thursday with the intention of talking with the head of strings at the conservatorium. I wasn't looking forward to it because I wasn't feeling very reasonable. The last thing I wanted to do was throw a tantrum. :P So I had a meeting with the head of strings. Actually I had two, one in the morning, one in the afternoon, both very informal (one in my practise room, the other in the hallway) to discuss what I'd be doing this year. In the end he suggested that it might be better for me to do single studies (doing select units rather than all the units which are part of a bachelor) instead of the bachelor. At first I was a bit taken aback. Did they think I wasn't good enough? But the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. The reason I am deferring the final year of my bachelor of education is to get better at playing the viola. If I do single studies and just have lessons and participate in ensembles I will have way more time to practise than if I do the full bachelor programme which includes history, aural, harmony and a few other things. Now I'm really excited for the year. I'm planning on practising 6 hours a day (minimum). A year to just practise! :D I told my viola teacher and he said that sounded like Paradise! I want to start with my practise regime next week (if I'm not doing the bachelor there is not much point in sticking to normal semester times and the sooner I start with my ultra-charged practise the better!). No more holidays for me! And what better way to kickstart this fresh new year than by participating in Radical Self-Love Month? I am certain I will need to love myself and be happy with me and all my strength in kicking off my new regime. It won't be easy but I believe that I can do it!

I mentioned before that I was feeling kind of down on Thursday. Apart from the happiness that stemmed from knowing that I would have a year to just practise (Yay!) I was still feeling a little lethargic yesterday and today. However, then a few things happened that lifted my mood. :) Firstly, I got the latest Gala's Guide to Radical Self Love blog in my inbox. It contained a video with the first assignment. I had to find a journal and write down a mantra for radical self love month and also find a totem. I scrounged around my room. There were plenty of journals but none that didn't already have something in it. I wanted a completely new journal. So I went to the local newsagent and bought a journal. Just a generic exercise book. I didn't really need anything fancy so I got a lined exercise book with 96 pages. I don't care what it looks like on the outside, it's what's on the inside that counts. :P While I was there I bought two more of the same exercise book to use during the year as I plan out my practise sessions and work out the best way to keep myself motivated and not waste this precious year. I also bought a lot of butterfly stickers. I thought I might decorate the outside of the journal with them. Gala calls it the Radical Self Love Bible. :D But then I realised that the plain exterior of my Radical Self Love Bible makes what's inside it all the more exciting! Like a delicious little secret. Next I tried to think of my mantra. I was having trouble defining my thoughts. I was still feeling a little out of sorts and not sure what to do. Sure, I want to love myself, but that seemed a little broad. I've been getting better at loving myself in general anyway, so I wanted something a little more specific. I had less trouble finding a totem to remind myself of my mantra and to love myself! I got a heart shaped mirror from Ikea for my birthday from one of my friends. At the time my room was too messy to find any room for it so I left it in its wrapping and put it on my desk on top of other stuff. But a few weeks ago I finally cleaned my room properly. And then today I unpacked the mirror and propped it up on my desk. I love it! It reflects the ceiling when I'm sitting in my bed and looks quite glowy and magical! :) When I'm standing directly in front of it it reflects my tummy and thighs which made me smile when I first realised it, because those are the parts of me I'm most critical about. However it's difficult to criticise anything that is reflected in a heart shaped mirror. I have to bend down a little to see my face reflected in the mirror, or sit down, but that's ok.

So, next I really had to come up with a mantra. I decided to read through the comments people left after Gala's video. And sure enough I found my inspiration in things that two other people put as their mantra. I don't remember who wrote the comments and I'm too tired to check. (I'm sorry.) But I ended up with writing "Be You. Find You. Be Happy With That." At the top of the page in pink pen. Then I stuck a pink metallic butterfly sticker underneath that. Further down the page I wrote: "Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could. - Louise Erdrich". Both those things struck a chord with me when I first read them. I need to be myself and be aware that being myself, finding myself, knowing who I am is good enough for me to be happy. I should be happy with who I am. If I am not I need to find out why and strive to improve myself, or learn to love myself with all my imperfections. Above all I have to be myself. The paragraph by Louise Erdrich really made an impression on me. I have a tendency to be very cautious when it comes to love, maybe overly so. I've been told this is partially because I am a Cancer. I chose to write the paragraph in my Radical Self Love Bible to remind myself to let go and love. And to taste all the apples I can. :) So that is the very start of this Radical Self Love Month. I am excited to see how it goes from here.

Anyway, I mentioned that a few things happened to cheer me up. :) The first was the above mentioned video by Gala Darling. The second was that I read my horoscope for February on Susan Miller's Astrology Zone. And boy does February look like a good month! Just reading the forecast made me smile. :) Even if it does not all go as great as the forecast predicts knowing that there is a chance that it might made me feel better. I especially like what she wrote about Valentine's day: "You seem to have everything going for you, for on February 14, the moon will be in the divine-for-Cancer sign of Pisces, and Venus, Jupiter, and the moon will all be hugging each other closely in a near-perfect alignment. This is so remarkable that if you are single, you must promise me you will circulate." ... you must promise me you will circulate. I find this so endearing. Actually, in the entire forecast Susan Miller seems genuinely excited about the exciting and great month she is predicting for all cancers out there. It's so sweet. :D And then I read my crushe's forecast, as one does. :P The month also looks great for him, if slightly differently. I already had a grin on my face from reading my forecast and reading all the success that might potentially be coming his way made me smile more because I will be very happy for him if he does get success! :) I strongly suggest you go read your forecast this months. The planets seem to be in great alignment for all star signs and reading a favourable horoscope is always a great pick-me-up. :D
Another thing that cheered me up was talking online with friends. And receiving a text message from a friend thanking me for the "sweet text message" I'd sent her. :D And tomorrow I'm going to a lovely lovely friend's wedding ceremony. I am so happy for her. Not quite sure what I'll wear yet. I'll figure something out... Truly life has many good things to be happy about. The future looks great. And I can't wait to "circulate" on Valentine's Day. :P

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Things I Love Thursday...

Now I love the idea of this and have shame-lessly stolen the idea from Gala Darling. You should check out her blog. It is fabulously amazing! I absolutely love it!

So now to my things I love for this week:

50s Housewive Chic I'm on holidays at the moment so I have the time to actually think about what I'm wearing and make myself look pretty. And then do housework in dresses, heels and with full make up. And grocery shopping (minus the heels because I had to walk to the shops). A couple of days ago I made Chocolate Rum Pots. I felt very 50s housewive chic. :D

Roller Skating I hadn't been in years and then a friend told me that she went roller skating and I thought I should do it again sometime. So I've been roller skating two days in a row and I'm pretty cautious and unfit but it's still such a blast! :D Almost like flying.

Pink Nailpolish, Discovering clothes you forgot you had in your closet, Cookbooks, Creamy cocktails, Holidays, Kahlua chocolates, Sequins, fabulous dresses, Getting drunken text messages that make you smile :), Weddings (tis the season), Not wearing black, Bakerella, Looking at photo albums, old school Nintendo 64, Friends :), Mini Marshmellows, Cute guys, Going for late night solitary walks then tracking down the nearest swingset and swinging under the full moon (what can I say, I'm a Cancer, I thrive at night by full moon :P), Reading the horoscope of the guy you have a crush on to see what his day is going to be like..., Butterflies, Dreaming of winter in summer, Looking pretty, Getting compliments from strangers when you weren't sure if your outfit was too much, Music, Dinosaurs, Bookstores, Getting postcards, Drinking mochas, Secret admirers, Not so secret admirers, Diaries (and getting organised), new things, old things

That's pretty much it. :) Keep smiling.

Hugs, Kisses and Fluffy Bunnies...

It's been a while since I wrote on this blog. I get so busy and lazy.
A lot has happened. I've been on the WAYO tour. Unfortunately that didn't end too well. I won't go into detail here but it was very sad and one member of the orchestra will be sorely missed by all his friends and family.

Actually it has just occured to me that if I just write down everything this will be a very long and rambling post. So I've decided to create lots of little posts. That way if I get bored half-way through it doesn't matter so much. And hopefully it will make more sense, because it will force me to order my thoughts a little more.

I will leave this post with a lovely picture I found in the Life Archives on Google I think. It's model Jenny Belle wearing a visible slip. Pretty.