Rehearsing

Tonight is my first rehearsal as Musical Director for The Addams Family.

I spent a weekend in December in auditions and casting this, (it feels like ages ago) and now the day is here where I get to start teaching some music.

I am a little nervous (so many different reasons why) but more than that I am excited! The music is cool and a bit different, it is funny and a little rude but more than the content, I have a chance to prove myself and  hopefully it will be the start of many projects here at Nelson Musical Theatre.

Collecting vs Hoarding

I consider myself a collector. I own enough pairs of shoes that I could get through many months without wearing the same pair twice.

 Just a small part of my shoe collection

 I have countless make-up items of varying value many purchased just from a desire to own the packaging (I have an inner magpie that cant see anything shiny, metallic or glittery with out picking it up). I find bookshops very hard to walk past and books are the one thing that I love buying second hand, the older the better.

Confidence!

Most people would say I am pretty confident.

I pride myself on being able to hold a conversation with almost anyone and to be able to pop a smile on my dial, put my best foot forward and go into a social situation whether I know people or not.

 It's an act and I think, quite a good one.

To go somewhere new I try to do a dummy run with a friend or Carl (my Husband) just to ease myself in. Find out where to park, get my bearings and feel familiar with the place. If it is something as simple as a new hairdresser/restaurant/optometrist then I normally rope someone into coming with me, just for the first time.

Brushes....Oh so dirty!

This is one of my most hated tasks! But most Mondays (sometimes every second) I haul all my brushes out for the dreaded cleanse! There is only so much that the 'ol spot clean with Isopropyl can do and only so many face brushes that one girl can own to cycle through.

The situation on my make up station!

Teaching music and my plan...

So I work full time, 5 days a week in a job I enjoy and I like to think am pretty good at. I sell shoes and take care of the day to day running of a store. I enjoy the contact with people I LOVE the product I sell and fashion so it is a great mix of these things.

My biggest love in life however, is music. Playing, teaching, conducting, listening. I have played piano since age 7, sung since I could talk and played Clarinet since I was 10. I have been in bands, orchestras, choirs, barbershop quartets, choral groups and too many theatre productions to count. There is no better feeling than having your whole being moved and every emotion felt when listening to, or even better playing a piece of music. For me there is a massive sense of pride and achievement when I learn a piece and can perform it to have some of the emotion I feel when playing come through for others. I have been bought to tears by countless songs and pieces through many genres, I have been taken to the highest of highs, been given hope and joy and felt great despair all through a bunch of notes clustered in a particular way on a page.

Skinfood Mud Masque Review

I am a beauty junky. I love buying and trying new things all the time. I am not loyal to any particular skin care brand and over the years I have tried so many products, I just come up with my own routine for my skin depending on what it is doing at the time. I typically have combination skin (oily t-zone dry cheeks), am prone to hormonal breakouts, and enlarged pores. My tone and pigmentation is pretty ok I can do with a little evening out but overall I am pretty happy with my skin.

Picture for reference and also because I can't resist a selfie!

Imagine my suprise when all over the blogs and forums I follow from NZ there was this talk of a mud masque great for many skin types that was available at the supermarket. Not a cosmetics counter, not at Farmers but in my local Countdown Supermarket. Oh the joy! Another beauty product I can hide amongst the grocery bill and not get told off for buying! (the excitement is real). 

2015... The start of something good?

As a child some of my favourite books were in diary form. From Anne Frank to Go ask Alice, books written as a diary entry had my heart. Countless journals were bought and started but a lack of will power, follow through and just not a hell of a lot to say meant these ended pretty quickly. As an adult I have toyed with the idea of a blog for a long time and have gotten over the fact that I may be boring and not very interesting and have decided to write for me. I figure when I am old(er) I may want to look back and remember what I did in 2015, what I achieved and how I felt. And so starts my Diary...

2015 started with a bang in the company of good friends, food and wine looking out our spectacular view.