Want at first sight!

There it is. 
A spur of the moment statement about an instrument I knew absolutely nothing about.

And by 30th Jan, I had a ukulele.

I went looking for a uke on Ebay and when I saw 'the one'...BAM!...do want !!! I also had my sights set on a limited edition uke (I have a thing for rarity) but that was relatively plain and exxy. 

For the next 5 days or so, I watched the listing like a hawk. In that time I read (thanks Wiki) that ukes commonly come in four sizes: soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. I didn't hang around long enough to find out what that meant. My Google search returned over 8 million results so I figured I'd take a proper look when I actually have a uke.

Back to Ebay. On the last day of the auction, with less than 30 seconds before it ended, I placed my single, all-consuming, devastating bid. One that would blow other bidders away because they didn't see me coming, or their app failed to notify them that they've been outbid, or they have slow internet, or they were frozen in awe of my ninja-ness. In a blink of an eye, the all too familiar appeared on the top right corner of my page "Congratulations blah blah blah". *fist pump*

Eight agonising days later, the uke arrived at my work and that's when I thought to myself "um girl, who are you kiddin?"

That day I was one happy little vegemite and I couldn't wait to get home to find out how it all works. The first link I clicked on was a godsend. 


Step 1: Buy a ukelele *done*


Step 2: Tune your ukulele
Turns out, my little four-stringed instrument needed tuning in the order G, C, E, A (Good Cooks Eat Alot)...it reminded me of All Cows Eat Grass from my years of struggle with music theory :)


Step 3: Learn how to play
This was such an easy tutorial to follow - 3 chords - C, F, G7
And apparently, the chords for Sunday Morning by Maroon 5, which was also my first piano cover on YouTube :)


So. Here is my attempt...



This is as far as I've got to and I can't wait to learn another song soon!

More on my pretty ukulele in my next post :)

♥

Patty cake!

This is (still!) my favourite video of all time so I'm sharing the love!



"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! STOP, STOP, I'm done. Its over!"
"No. It's not over. It's NEVER over."

patty cake patty caaake


haha!
♥

Fine & dandy

Woke up today to find two artworks from my Dandelion series have sold, these are off to Alabama, USA :) Just yesterday I was standing in my backyard, in despair about my dandelion jungle. Not for long though, I then had a good ol' time blowing at all the seeds and sending them into the air; was very ethereal and woodsprite-ish. 

Oriental Dandy

Simply Dandy

I had my coffee hit at The Imp with super thick cut fruit toast and a generous supply of spread-friendly butter. 

I sat at the bar, looking out onto the cappuccino strip. This spot is excellent for people watching but no, I brought a magazine with me...I've always craved reading material when I eat. 

On my left was a fresh-faced girl in her early twenties and on my right, an equally gorgeous older lady, kinda Helen Mirren-like. I was sporting a china doll fringe and bright red lips, I was thinking we made that breakfast bar look quirky cool :)

The young girl is from Mauritius and is studying nutrition. She said that I looked familiar and asked if I hung out at My Place. Err....no...but I'm thinking I could check that place out next time I feel like a lychee martini.

When Helen Mirren's breaky arrived, OMG order envy! Wild mushrooms and goats cheese feta on turkish bread, with avocado on the side. She was very happy with her order and said that she particularly likes the feta. I said I particularly like that the turkish bread is served in the shape of a love heart. Her face lit up even more and I felt like I totally made a difference in her life. Ha.

In the afternoon, an experimental jam session with Moona. I like what we came up with, considering it's our first go with the song and we didn't have to try too hard.



Oh and helloooo there. What have we here. Another food pic. Curry laksa. Hit the spot. Like totally.

Another darn good Sunday

♥

Jar of Hearts

There have been a handful of purchases from my Etsy shop and I'm incredibly thankful and grateful for the love. This duo is heading to Victoria tomorrow :)

Gentle Blossoms @ Etsy.com

I haven't painted since returning to full time work in June and am feeling quite guilty about that. I have however been getting back to playing the piano, so technically, I'm still being creative. And when I'm being creative, I'm happy *beam*

For most, a car would be their first big purchase. I always knew that I wanted to spend my first pay cheque on a piano, a baby grand, to be specific. When the time came, I couldn't justify spending big on a baby grand, and it wouldn't fit in the tiny unit I was renting anyway. I came across an Alex Steinbach, loved its sound, its shape, the glossy black; signed up for a 5-year repayment plan... and yes, I spent those years without a car :)

I've been hearing plenty of Jar of Hearts by Christina Perri on the radio and wanted do a cover of it. I love the energy, strength and raw emotion in the song, it's the kind of song that grabs at my heart and soul when I play it on the piano. Oh and I totally love the desaturated music video. 

I use piano notes and guitar tabs as a guide only, as I'm too impatient to read piano scores and play them exactly as they're written. No two songs I play are ever exactly the same as I make the notes up as I go along. I let my fingers do the talking and I get to surprise myself every time! So here's my take on the song, complete with slip ups.
Because there is nothing wrong with imperfection. 

♥

Sunday morning

Rain, please don't stop, I want to lie in bed, be drenched in your embrace and drown in your singing...

How glorious it is to have the luxury to sleep in on a rainy Sunday morning. 

Reminds me of being in the most comfortable bed ever, when I was housesitting not too long ago. I'll always remember being engulfed by layers of warmth as I listen to raindrops and the quiet breathing of the best little dog I've ever met.

And here's a little song for this gorgeous Sunday morning. My first piano recording, bearing in mind that I haven't played the piano in about a year and I'm not a singer!

♥