2012 Gigs

 Hello Lovely ones,

I trust you are all getting your New Years plan cemented. This time last year I was in Samoa with some friends soaking up the pacific paradise and the kick back atmosphere. It was pretty fly but I desperately missed my family so this year I'm happy to be back home with them. 

We plan to go kick back at the local carnival and fireworks, play some games, record some whack videos and rather than nurse a crazy hangover (I don't drink anyways); we plan to get up early and take a huge hike through the bush (pretty sure it's 8kms either way) to a lookout. 

We thought we would start 2013 with a physical challenge to keep our mind and body in check. With a challenge comes the feeling of accomplishment once the task is completed and I plan to tackle this challenge with some of my most favourite people. 

Personally I'm really looking forward to the coming year. I made a commitment to work full time for 12 months and I haven't done that in a few years. I'm planning on travelling yet again and I'm also looking forward to the challenge of improving my physical health and well being. I have really loved cementing a fitness routine into my daily life. I am looking forward to reaching a goal of running 5kms on the road :/ LOL Lord help me ;) and encouraging all those around me to improve their own well being. I will have a teenager living under my roof and care and I basically, I am going to save money so that I can move to the UK for a stint of teaching and travelling in 2014.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. And why not. I'm young, I'm determined, I'm educated and I'm willing to make things happen. As I spoke with my sister I said it's been a year of music for us personally. Growing up we were quite poor. Enough money for the necessities but definitely not enough money for luxuries like concerts. Our friends would go and we would just imagine what it would be like. This year we attended a lot of music gigs. There is nothing I like more than live music. 

We started 2012 with a bang. Venga Boys.

Here's a list and photos of the gigs we attended in 2012. What were your favourite gigs of 2012?

1. The Venga Boys- Newcastle Entertainment Centre January 14th
2. Lloyd & Lazy J January 26th
3. Superfest Sydney (Chris Brown, Trey Songs, T Pain etc) 15th April
4. Dan Sultan- Wreck Bay Community March
5. Daniel Merriweather  May 3 Wollongong Uni Bar
6. Lenny Kravitz Wollongong Entertainment Centre
7. Celine Dion Caesars Palace Vegas July
8. Lady Antebellum 

My girls before the show started. Venga Boys were AWESOME!!!

Lloyd was late and we were mad but we forgot about it when he sang because he owned the stage.

Lazy J held his own on stage too. Big things to come if he takes his time to come up smart.

Forget the bouquet...we fought for this. Lloyd's shirt off his back. Sometimes it pays to be the big girls ;)

"Your the girls who were screaming smack at us" No that was for the others who sucked ;)

Lloyd crew <3

Superfest. Standing for like 14 hours. No breaks. No way we gonna lose our spot ;) Gangster.
Chris Brown, Ice Cube, Luda, T Pain, Trey Songs, Kelly Rowland, Big Sean, Naughty by Nature, Lupe Fiasco. Luda and Naughty by Nature and T Pain were my favourites.

We made our own shirts with our fave lyrics. I used Miguel's lyrics to Adorn.

Gah best voice bro. Dan Sultan. I <3 thee ;)

Best vibe. Chilled. Raw. Up close and personal.

After much hesitation we walked up and introduced ourselves and asked for pic. Ended up partying with them. Yeah!

Wormed our way from the back right up to the front. Got to touch Lenny and he responded to my demands ;)

Dream list of 2013

Got tickets to see Brian Adams....YEAAAAHHHH BOII!! That's a great start right?

Would love to see:

1. Miguel
2. Solange
3. Tracey Chapman
4. Ameli Sande

I could add a buttload more but I will leave it at that.

Big Love,

Falala Mele

Aussie Curves: Sparkle in Las Vegas

Hello lovely ones,

How are you all? So I'm back again with another submission for the Aussie Curves challenge. I'm stuffing up my own rotation because in my head I wanted to share all my USA holiday posts in order (see Harlem post HERE)  because that way I will actually get it done this year (fingers crossed). Since this week called for sparkle I knew what I wanted to share with you all. 

But for one moment; let us forget about the challenge so I can talk to you about someone else.

This lady is someone who I admired ever since I was a little girl. She is perhaps (and I know I'm making a big call) one of the last standing divas of my time because I love singing and when I was a little girl I would try and emulate 3 singers: Whitney, Mariah & Celine. Sadly Whitney is gone, Mariah lost her sparkle (lol thinking of her movie Glitter) so that leaves one lady standing. 

Now you must understand that I am not crazy, but I basically extended my plane ticket to head towards Las Vegas instead of Sydney after New York to see her in the flesh after I found out her show was back in Vegas. I had to let that heavenly voice bless my ears. To hear her sing for real. 

 I may blare her 'Think Twice' and 'The power of love' when I'm cleaning. 

Even though I try to belt it out with her power and finesse and even though I never will be able to do what she does, at least I can say that I saw Celine Dion and I heard her sing her songs even better than I could ever have imagined.

She is flawless, effortless, humble, warm, talented and blessed.

And I got to see all of that.

And I am blessed because of that.

So while my dress may sparkle in the photos; honestly and as cheesy and silly as this may sound......my heart sparkles because I remember the glorious melodies she shared with us on this night.

Thrifted: Chain $2 Earrings $2 Dress $20

Bag: Thrifted for $2 / Shoes: Target $30

What I wore: 
I picked up this FABULOUS sparkly number from my favourite Op Shop Mickey and Mallory (Nowra, NSW) for only $20. Jess actually said she put it aside for me because she thought I would like it. Don't you love it when shop owners/assistants get it right!

I wanted to look cool when I went to see Celine and this event took precedence over all other events. This outfit was chosen first and saved till last.
When packing for this trip I had to be sensible and pack a pair of comfortable shoes that went with a lot of outfits. So these Target wedges won out (I really do love them anyways but it sucks when you can't take everything that you want to). I kept everything else simple and let the dress do the talking.
Also had big dreams to style my hair in may different ways but I kid you not EVERY TIME we had a show on or an dinner date to meet up with others we were ALWAYS LATE. That combined with the heat (and uncooperative frizzy hair) I always ended up throwing my hair back into a bun. Boring I know, but it was reliable and slick so I will not complain about it now because that's what I had to work with ;)

 I got ready in 15 minutes! Literally ran off the strip had 2 minutes in the shower to rinse of the dirt. Throw the hair up and douse it in hairspray. Bronze the face, apply eyeliner and a lick of my favourite matte colour. Perfume, moisturiser and I'm ready to go! Ruthy decided to rock the bed hair look with her pretty Forever 21 dress that she picked up in Times Square. My sister Theresa looked adorable too but I think she is saving her post to share with you lovely ladies herself. Caesar's Palace was cool but it was basically like all the other casinos in Vegas; big, smokey, kinda tacky, packed and well used.

Big Love,


Falala Mele xo