I didn't tell a soul, and they all promised to keep it a secret. - --LUCY RICARDO, I Love Lucy

MY LATEST SEWING PROJECT WAS INSPIRED BY ONE OF LUCILLE BALL'S

OUTFITS IN "I LOVE LUCY".

 

I USED VINTAGE VOGUE PATTERN V9000.

It was actually pretty easy but it WAS time consuming.
The skirt part is 6 panels which then make a circle skirt and the blouse part was lots of bits.
It took bucket loads of coffee to firstly cut out the pattern pieces and then another galloon of Earl Grey to then pin & cut out the fabric & then litres of Camomile Tea to then MARK the pattern pieces. So many darts !

BY THE LIVIN' HARRY!

I really like the pointed collar & the funky turned up pointy sleeve cuffs. (which were surprisingly simple to do).
It is navy and white polka dots with white collar & cuffs.
I am a big fan of simple classic styles that have interesting design details.

I haven't made the matching belt yet because I haven't got the weird device needed to punch the belt hole whatchamacallits.

All in all I'm pretty stoked with how it turned out and I think (now all the pieces are cut out) I will make more of this pattern.

I am a fan of a cotton shirt dress. In Queensland it is a very wearable classic vintage piece

xoxoxoxoxo

 

 

 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

 

 

I Sure Love Thunder Storms and Neon Signs - Wayne Hancock

Thanks everybody so much for all your wonderful comments and well wishes after my last blog post. You are restored my faith in humanity again. :) xoxoxoxox

 

I am now feeling GREAT. My meds have been sorted and for the first time in ages

I have energy and am filled with enthusiasm & excitement for the future.

*********************

 

As I said in my last post, in the middle of my brain meltdown was Greazefest    

http://www.greazefest.com/

I have been going to Greazefest since it first began (shows my age) and I tell you with no exaggeration that it is the highlight of my year. If you don't know what GF is I'll sum it up:

Greazefest (for me) is a weekend of rocking out to kick-arse frantic brilliant rockabilly music, losing my voice from screaming at bands for MORE and squealing hysterically at everybody in ear shot "OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG!!! I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!! " , non-stop gabbering and laughing with friends and confused strangers alike, gawking in awe at jaw dropping cool cars and getting tarted up to the nines in my 'specially for Greazefest' threads.

For me personally, GF is all about the music.  I'm not really into the whole car, pin up & markets thing. Don't get me wrong, all of that is flash but I'd rather plant myself on a bar stool behind the mixing desk and watch crazy hot bands continuously for 3 days straight.

The line up of bands this year can only be described as a rockabilly music lovers wet dream.

Looking back it is hard to pick my favourites but I will say that the stand outs for me were "A Man Called Stu" (HIGHLIGHT: rocking out hard core with my super energetic faux-daughter Prudie on the dance floor to a Zombie Ghost Train song), the energy of "The Hi-Boys", "The Flattrakkers" who almost caused a bloody riot with the crowd who wanted an encore as the drummer was going OFF flicking his long hair around & twirling his drum sticks like he was playing for Metallica not a rockabilly band! GOLD!! and of course the main event.....

WAYNE HANCOCK.

 

Wayne & I ... JOY!

 

I have been waiting for this bloke to tour again since I saw him last in a little dance hall at Petrie 12  years ago. I have all his CDs and TBF & I are HUGE fans.
We jostled through the crowd and tried (unsuccessfully) to get right up the front.  It didn't matter because as soon as Wayne started singing I went into some sort of western swing trance and was transported to some other dimension.  A dimension of absolute bliss and toe tapping happiness.
At one point I looked around me and I swear the  3 big burly cowboy hat wearing fellas (not naming any names) were clutching each other with tears in their eyes yelling,  "He's just so amazing".


ZACH Guitar LEGEND

And don't get me started on the guitarist Zachary. Rusty Pinto was standing next to me audibly sighing in appreciation at this fella's crazy guitar playing. Everybody was commenting on how talented he was. 
When Wayne sang "Thunder Storms and Neon Signs" and the whole crowd joined in I got tingles through my whole body. The complete positive vibration of the crowd was the BEST medicine I could have ever received.
If I could bottle that shit I would be a gazzillionare!!!
TBF & I also had the privilege of meeting Mr Hancock and his band members Zach & Huck and I can honestly say that they are just the most lovely down to Earth friendly blokes.



TBF with Wayne

Non-music highlights include:

- winning a free burrito from Pacos Tacos who make the most delicious scrummy Mexican food. Drooooool

- Sammy & Dave at the Air Stream Events Group who supplied me with galloons of delectable coffee and sell the now famous Bacon & Egg Sausage. No you don't understand. ... It's bacon AND egg IN a sausage.

- Seeing my super sexalicious friend Kat win a trophy for her beautiful Cadillac.
(shameless plug: Kat makes the most BEAUTIFUL hair flowers at: Kat's Cadillac Vintage

- Meeting up with my FB friends from over the ditch InZed. The wonderful Crowfoots.

Mr Crowfoot.

I decided right at the beginning that this GF would be the GF of a million selfies.
My goal was to get as many selfies (are they still called selfies if other people are in the shot???) as I could.... no matter HOW ANNOYING it became.
I didn't get a million but I got about one hundred.
If you click on the link below you can see them all and if you turn on your speakers you will hear the main event Wayne Hancock.

THANK YOU TO LORI LEE AND ALL THE GREAZEFEST TEAM FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK IN BRINGING US THIS WEEKENDER.

THANKS LORI LEE... YOU ROCK !!!!

THE WEEKEND CLEANED OUT  MY MENTAL COBWEBS EVEN BETTER THAN A BEX AND A GOOD LIE DOWN

 

I love a good toilet selfie.

 

 

oxoxoxoxxoxo

You're only Given a Little Spark of Madness. You musn't lose it. - Robin Williams R.I.P

I haven't blogged in a bit and have considered chucking it in.

About a month ago my brain decided "Right Vicki. Enough is Enough. I've had enough of all this guff. I'm off" and I had what is commonly known as "a fucking nervous breakdown".

Now, I've previously had what is medically known as "fucked up episodes" but this was a whole new kettle of rotting fish.  I felt that I literally could not cope with even the simplest things.  Life was just all too much. The news. All the things I HAD to do. Money. Lack of Money. My weight. Pressure to not fail.  My Family.  My Health. Bad Drivers. Rude People. Deaths and Sickness of Good People.  The fact we can't have Children. The Pressure to be a Good Person. Why is the World so Horrible. And on and on.

Luckily for me I still had a small fragment of consciousness and very quickly took myself off to the Doctor. I can tell you that it does NOT help when you are having a full blown panic attack/mental breakdown to have the stinkiest man in the universe sit next to you in the waiting room while you are trying to focus on taking big deep breaths.

I was told to have the next week and a half off work (no questions asked), she doubled my meds dosage & booked me in to see a psychologist.
For the next week I slept and created a Vicki Den of Tranquillity room aka Vicki's Sewing Room.

I hit Greazefest in the middle of all of this & now THAT seriously the BEST medication ever. I was very anxious before going because I was still feeling very nervy & fat & like a big round poo. I needn't have worried though.
Great music including Wayne Hancock Funny as all shit fantastic friends and bopping around like.... well.... a looney. (and taking 50 million selfies )

Unfortunately for me doubling my dosage did the opposite of HELP me and instead turned my brain to pea soup mush. My brain looked over all the side effects available with this dosage and thought to itself "Screw you Vickster let's experience ALL  of those fuckers at once! mwahhhhaahhahahaha". 
Not good. At all.
Imagine your brain feels like it is growing & stretching inside your cranium and you seriously feel like you are going to have a stroke, vomit and die.  And then add in a nice dose of the flu.....

then you start praying for death as the grief of 10 million souls enters your mind and fills it with terrible terrible sadness.

Off to the Doctor again.  "Ummmmm Doc. I think I might have to go back onto my initial dosage".

She agrees wholeheartedly. "But here take one of these as well. They take the EDGE off. It's only a very small dosage". I'm beginning to feel a bit like Judy Garland.
So, last night I take my normal meds AND this new funky tablet that will help calm me the fuck down.
Ummmm no. No it doesn't calm me down.
This morning around 2am I wake up and my body feels... totally like weird man. 
Like all of my skin is numb and tingling.
Then about once every 30 seconds it is like somebody has a super sonic TENS machine hooked up to my entire body & they crank it for about 10 seconds so it's like I'm being tasered.
I feel totally zoobed out like a mad scientist has given me anesthetic to freeze my body. My lungs feel really tight & I can't breath in deeply. I manage to have a drink of water & I finally drift into a coma.

I don't mean to make you all bummed out or anything. 

Today is WAYYYYYYYY the best I've felt in weeks. I have some energy again and I can feel the fog lifting from my squishy brain.
I went for a lovely walk along the waterfront this morning.

I have to learn to take care of myself better. To stop comparing myself to others.  Learn to say NO.
Stop being so frigging hard on myself. I can't be everything to everybody and I certainly can't please everyone.

I have another 9 visits with the shrink-dink and I think this will do me good and is probably long overdue.  It's a journey.  A sordid bumpy wonky journey but....

I was considering stopping doing this blog.   I didn't know if it was yet ANOTHER pressure that I put on myself. You HAVE to write Vicki. You HAVE to be entertaining.

But I think I WILL keep it.
It's cathartic for me.
I figure if people want to read it they can if they don't want to read it then what-evs.

I will try to stay upbeat.... and soon I will be back to the loud silly crude sheila you know & love.

Thank you to the people who wrote really nice positive comments on my FB page.

xoxoxoxooxox
Mz Vicki