Sunday 28 May 2017

Barkly barks dog festival 2017 - May 28


One of the best festivals I've ever been to! - Even though I've only ever been to one other festival which happens to have been a music one - I doubt any would beat this one! That'd be pretty hard...

So yes, I've spotted the flyer on facebook and instantly wanted to go! After weeks of preparation - and by preparation I mean trying to find someone who is available to come with me - Akira and I made our way to Brunswick for some canine love!

This festival took place at Barkly Square Shopping Centre from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Having never been to this part of town, it was a struggle to not only find the actual centre as Melbourne roads are super confusing but also the actual entrance of the dog friendly part of the shopping centre.


My day had been fully planned out and super tight on time with three major stops to make so the 40 minute drive to Brunswick took a lot of that time away. I'm pretty sure Akira got a fright just by walking down the car park - it was THAT BUSY!


I think the experience was quite overwhelming for Akira with so many dogs in one location as you can tell (spot the tail tucked in).



There were so many activities such as Awkward family portrait, Doggie match-making, pug race, live music, pop up stalls, competitions, training guides and more. 

I really wanted to take an awkward family photo but the line was huge and I had to skip it as we needed to use our time wisely. 

Even though we didn't get to stay too long (which I think Akira really appreciated since the poor thing felt so uncomfortable being surrounded by that many dogs), I had the best time patting dogs and getting to play with them.







 Of course I thought I'd include a few photos of the dogs that stood out a lot for me! Such a friendly and loving environment! I am so looking forward to the next event!



Hope your Sunday was as amazing and full of love like mine was!

Have an amazing week guys!

Lots of love,
Karine xx

Saturday 13 May 2017

Sick week - My favourites

Being sick has seriously left me in such a funk. I have had no interest in anything other than sleep for the past week and it has been such a long one as well! I felt like it was a never ending cycle of viruses... honestly I'm over it!

There are a few things I've been enjoying these past week though so I thought that I'd share them with you!

1. Green Tea

I've been asking for it wherever I go including at restaurants while I'm having a meal! I thought I'd change my usual soft drink order for this bad boy! It adds a little flavour to the water, has no sugar, hydrates you and keeps you warm! What more could I ask for?

2. My Keep Cup


I use this cup everyday and everywhere I go! I usually make myself a cup of coffee in the morning before going to work and refill it throughout the day with any kind of beverage I come across! Its double layer glass is perfect for both cold and hot drinks! Thought I'd sneak in a picture of my breakfast as well in there because I've really been loving this in the morning!

I usually scramble two eggs with a handful of baby spinach and sometimes cut up some avocado depending on whether we have any at home - the one in the picture wasn't ripe enough and to be honest tasted quite terrible!

3. Snapchat filters

Being bored in bed or even feeling like your body doesn't want to do any work while you are at work makes you not want to look in the mirror as you often look as bad as you feel. Thankfully there's Snapchat filters that help create that fake glow us sick people are missing at the moment! I honestly can spend hours on that app! It's so entertaining and actually makes my scary sick face look kinda cute!

4. Music
Now we all know that music is the universal symbol of love and no matter what language you speak, music breaks the barrier and reaches out to everyone. So naturally my boredom and lack of ideas of what to do which wouldn't require me moving lead me to dream about leaning to play an instrument again... hmm maybe guitar this time? I do have small fingers... I think I can still make it work though! 

At the same time I thought this would be so cool for a travelling musician - hey maybe that'll be me in a few years! Find out I have some kind of unknown musical talent then once mastered, I take on the road with my trustee guitar and amp! Nah but in all honesty, if there's any musician who do this already, hats off to you and I'd totally recommend the Roland Cube at guitarcenter,com

So this is my week's favourite things. I think I need to go to bed now even though it's only 6pm on a Saturday night! I am so wrecked and feel sick as! 

Hope your week has been a fantastic one! 
Have a lovely weekend :)

Lots of love, 

Karine xx

Wednesday 3 May 2017

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished

 "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" Lao Tzu

This post has been sitting in my draft for months as I lost all motivation to continue my writing for a while. Even though I am a huge fan of nature and how peaceful it all is, this day did not feel entirely right. Now this could possibly have been my sudden hayfever allergy reaction, the super long walk that left all my muscles aching for a week or maybe the fact that my mind could not connect with nature like it normally does due to certain pressures and disturbances. 


won't go into detail as to what they are - *erhm* who *erhm* - but it made me come to the realization that time itself is not important. Nature does not have a watch, yet everything gets done. Trees grow at different paces, leaves fall whenever they are ready and flowers do not rush to bloom. Nature takes it time and get it all done eventually.





I often find myself just rushing around trying to get things done which results in my stress levels rushing through the roof! My to-do list often looks like Santa's naughty and nice list and my room looks like the inside of a dumpster! I run in and out of the house, throwing clothes in piles and beating myself up for not having enough time to get everything done! 

If you're anything like me then you will understand what it's like to have a million things running through your mind at once and not being able to focus on one things.

Yes, I often look like this waterfall... except not as mesmerizing or alive - I'm more a sloth looking human - so tired that you wonder if I'm even alive sometimes!


Through it all though, I have learnt one of the most important lessons ever and that is to 

BREATHE

Take a bit of time off to just stop, take a deep breath and be in the moment.
We often get so caught up in our deadlines, society's expectations and the pressure we put on ourselves that we forget to actually live in the moment.

Your schedule is not in control of you.
The situation does not control you.
You are in control of you. 

You need time out to breathe and re energize yourself to be in order to work properly.
How many of you like to see the 100% battery icon on your mobile phones? I know friends who refuse to leave the house unless their phones are on minimum 95% yet run on 4 hours of sleep and have not had some time off in days!

How is your phone more important than you? Why do you feel the need to rush around and not get the proper rest you should be getting? The human body should not be stressed all the time. It isn't healthy.

I know the feeling of needing to get things done and the pressure others can put you under because they think you are slacking off when really you are trying to juggle million things at once! Yet I've learnt that my happiness is more important.

We are part of nature and just like the rest of nature does, I will get things done at my own pace.

Breathe in and out. 
Meditate. 
Walk slow. 
Look up at the sky. 
Stop and smell the flowers. 
Be in the moment.


Monday 1 May 2017

Musical Chicken

Music has always been a big part of my life. If any of you have gone on my Instagram or Twitter, you would have noticed that my Username is actually "Musical Chicken". Now the question I get asked quite often is how did I come up with that and why did I chose this? To be honest with you, I was either eating chicken while listening to music or thinking of getting chickens while listening to music and came up with it. 

Anyway, I usually let people's imagination run wild when they ask what a musical chicken is so when I come across artists, I often ask them to draw what they think a musical chicken is. I was very impressed and quite speechless when I got given this picture.


HOW CLEVER!!!

This artist put so much time and effort into this! I am so thankful that he has done this for me and I appreciate his kindness so much! 

But as you can tell, I am a massive music lover. It runs in the family with my grandpa being a singer and piano player and my brother a self taught guitar player and singer. I feel like it helps bring people together and there are so many talented individual out there. 

I've grown up playing piano and even though I may not play anymore, I still find myself browsing the internet looking at either instruments or other accessories that could help me with the sound quality of my videos and other ideas I may have for future videos. I've always wondered what kind of PA system YouTubers use to make song covers and so I went on the hunt to find a cool mixer. Anyone who knows me would know that I learn by trying things out rather than doing courses or getting graded. That's how I learnt to use html for my blog.

I would love to have a play with a mixer one day and see what I can come up with but for now I am left browsing the net for ideas. I came across musiciansfriend.com pa system and realised that getting the product I was looking at doesn't necessarily have to cost a fortune! The Gear One PA2400Kustom KPC12 PA Package was what really got my attention! So many great quality products for such a great price! 

Ah just going through their range of products is making so happy and has left me feeling like a little kid in a candy store! I'm going to keep browsing like I have been for the past half hour! 

Happy browsing! You'll thank me later :P 

Lots of love,


Karine xx