Top Secret Live Music Adventures

On Friday night my friend and I braved the cold weather and headed out for the night on a little adventure. My friend had signed up to Sofar Sounds (Which I had never heard of) and discovered that an event was taking place that night in Birmingham. For those that aren’t familiar with Sofar Sounds, it’s this amazing, fun and exciting movement for real music lovers that takes place in living rooms all over the world. It’s like a top secret operation, you sign up to the mailing list and when a gig pops up that you want to go to you confirm your attendance and then the day before the event you are told the address, but not the names of the performers, as they remain top secret until minutes before their they perform on the night.

This was my first Sofar Sound experience and it was pretty cool, I had no idea what to expect but i thought it was really amazing how music brought so many people together. However as a lady who doesn’t stick to one style of anything I can see how if you are not an open minded person when it comes to music, culture or art this may not be your kind of thing, as you have absolutely no way of knowing who the acts are for the night or what the genre of music will be, so what you get just may not be suited to your musical taste. But if you are open minded, happy to go with the flow and love to hear new music from new or underground artists in very intimate and personal surroundings, I would definitely say to sign up to their mailing list and give it a go.

You’ll meet some really cool people who do some really amazing things, my friend ended up talking to a musician who had spent some of his years touring with TheRolling Stones and I ended up being completely wowed by the hosts of the night Cannon Street, two sisters with beautiful musical talent (who also performed) and their parents who were gracious enough to open their home to a bunch of random music lovers for the night.

I will be traveling later this year in the three different parts of the USA and there is one State in particular in which I am dying to experience some live music, and that is down in Mississippi down in New Orleans! So I will be keeping a close eye on Sofar Sounds gigs because I think this would be the ultimate place to attend a Sofar night. But if Sofar doesn’t happen to have anything in that neck of the woods come July, I’m more than happy to soak up the music it the infamous bars of New Orleans with great company, amazing food and life changing events that will become life long memories. And besides, there are plenty other cities all over the world waiting for music lovers to attend their Sofar Sound nights hosted by some of their most generous citizens.

Love Sara (A little lady who loves live music). xxx

 

 

Style on Sundays: Styling it D.I.Y

It should come as no secret that I love style and fashion which means that my credit card is constantly being abused.

At the end of every year I go through my paper work aka receipts and bank statements and have this horrific reality shock of how much money I’ve spent throughout the year which is always a lot more than I had literally bargained for and become ashamed and annoyed at the fact that the majority of the hard earned money I have spent was thrown away on clothes that to be perfectly honest I really didn’t need.

So last year as an attempt to keep costs down and to also release my creative streak I decide that I had to try and find a way to stop abusing my bank cards but still be able to fulfil my style wants and needs, so I signed up for a sewing class.

The shame in all of this is that I actually learnt how to use a sewing machine in school but decided after one or two attempts that I was a crap at using it so gave up all hope and besides I thought to myself why do I need to learn how to make clothes when I can just buy them. So some ten odd years later when I learnt about the value of money and also the recession, there I was with my sewing basket rushing to night school after a hard day’s work to re-learn how to wind the bobbin up.

Most people in the class were working from patterns which is a great skill to have, but I am just way too impatient for all of that jazz. I wanted to be able to look at an item and say “Yep I can make that”. So going against what my dress making teacher advised I did just that, but of course I had to start off with a bit of guidance so I took my quest to the World Wide Web and found a skirt that was simple, easy and stylish.

If you are a regular follower of For the Love of Moi you may be familiar with a blog called A pair & A Spare this is my favourite blog for DIY tips guides and inspiration and this is where I found the ‘How to’ for this beautiful Sheer Maxi skirt.

      

Image sourced from A Pair & A Spare

What people were paying 30 odd quid for on the high street cost me a fiver to make and it was soooo easy to do.

 

As New Year ’s Eve is tomorrow which usually means that people are rushing around town to find a last minute outfit to wear to see the New Year in with style, A Pair & A Spare’s Geneva posted a DIY ‘how to’ for this amazing Sequin Maxi Wrap Skirt

Image sourced from A Pair & A Spare 

I love the way Geneva has teamed this lush glam skirt up with a simple white cut off top, it dresses it down a little but gives the outfit a fresh and yet still elegantly modern edge.

I am not doing anything fancy this New Year’s Eve but if I was I would deffo be making this skirt.

As for my sewing and DIY skills for 2013, I aim and I quote ‘aim’ to buy my own little sewing machine and make and modify more clothes to save my self some serious money and to add a bit of individuality to my wardrobe.

Love Sara (A little lady full of optimism). xxx