Hey guys!

I'm a HUGE fan of seeing bands or musicians live. It's soooo different from listening to their music from my iPod or a CD. The feeling is like no other, you feel like you're part of something bigger, something special and the excitement takes over your whole body!

As TG's Entertainment Writer I've been lucky to see some really amazing performers, One Direction, Taylor Swift, R5, Big Time Rush and even Bridgit Mendler and in my spare time, I've seen Pink, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Fall Out Boy (about a million times), Muse and so many more amazing artists and the truth is, the truly amazing performances really stand out and that's because the stars really commit.

Not that I'm a performer by any means but here's a little list of what makes a totally awesome concert performance!

• Costume changes: I am always impressed at how quick the celeb can change a look!
  
  
• A great stage: Katy Perry and Lady Gaga's stages are always bright, sparkly and have so many awesome details that it really converts an average concert into a masterpiece performance!
  
  
• The talent: Sure there are people that you expect will lip sync but I really love seeing that raw talent on stage, Taylor Swift's performance is amazing because her singing live brings the songs to another level!
  
  
• Crowd interaction: I hate it when the performer doesn't really talk to the crowd or get the audience involved. It kind of feels like you're just playing a CD except you're squished with thousands of people. 1D were amazeballs because they shined spotlights on audience members who had brought awesome posters with them! It makes you feel pretty special and really gets the crowd going!
  
  
• Dancing: You don't have to have back-up dancers or be a world class ballerina as well as a singer but as long as you're not standing in front of your audience like a stunned mullet your crowd should see that you're having a blast performing for them.

What do you think makes an awesome performance? I'd love to hear!

xoxo
Alex

Hi girls,

Happy Thursday! So I saw your votes and it looks like you voted Total Girl The Style Files as the next book to read for our book club.

I'm so excited!

The thing about this book is that it is six books in one! So I thought we could start by reading the first book.

We have an exclusive sneak peek of the book: read the first chapter for free!

Style Files is about Melody Michaels, a super stylish girl with a passion for writing. I won't give too much away but Melody gets a really awesome assignment to start her own fashion magazine – cool right?!

Let's start by reading up to the Help Wanted chapter.




 I couldn't help myself but start reading while I was at work. Shhh, don't tell Amanda! Let me know what you guys think of the book so far!


xoxo
Alex

Hey everyone!

Thanks sooo much for all your amazeballs comments on my summer playlist! I LOVED hearing all your suggestions. So look out for another playlist in coming weeks.

So, it's back to school season and I am so sad that I am no longer in school! Sure no-one relishes in getting stacks of science and maths homework but school can actually be pretty cool. The thing I love about this time of year is that (if you're in school) you get to go and buy all your stationery for school and buy a new school bag and pencil case, oh and don't forget a lunchbox!

I love it sooo much that I've considered pretending that I'm a school student just so I can buy some awesome stationery! Crazy huh?! There's sooo much cool stuff out at the momen that I had to compile a small list of my faves. Check them out below! My fave places to shop at are Typo, Smiggle, Kikki-K, Officeworks and a little secret shop called Daiso where everything and I mean everything is $2.80!



Let me know what your fave places to shop for stationery are, I'd love to find some new shopping places!

xoxo
Alex

Hey girls!

The summer holidays are drawing to a close but that doesn't mean the end of summer. The days are still hot, it's still daylight until at least 8pm and there's still awesome music to play while you're having a pool party.

I've put together my favourite songs to pump this summer.

Happy by Pharrell Williams
It's hard to not like this song, it's well ... happy!

 

Hey Brother by Avicci
Although this song is overplayed on the radio, it's a pretty good chill-out song to play. I like listening to this in the background while I'm cooling off in the pool.

 

Roar by Katy Perry
You guys know I'm a HUGE KP fan and this song is such a powerful, fun song I can't help but sing along at the top of my lungs while I drive pretty much anywhere. So if you see a crazy person singing and dancing in the car next to you, it's probably me.

 

Let It Go by Demi Lovato
This song is featured in the movie Frozen, which BTW is totes awesome and you should go watch ASAP. Demi is my kinda gal, she's super sweet and has a cool edgy side and most of her music reflects that.

 

What are your must-play songs this summer?
xoxo
Alex

Hi TGs!

Hope you all had an absolutely ah-mazing Xmas and New Year! Can you believe it is already 2014?! Crazy huh?

Well this year I have vowed to stick to my New Years' resolutions which are the following:

• To learn how to cook (microwaving meals no longer cuts it)
• To save some money (I really want to save up to go on a holiday to Hawaii)

Do you guys have any resolutions for 2014? Share them with me by commenting below!

 So during the Xmas holidays I got loads of time to read and oops! I might have finished Tilly & Billy Travel The World. It was a pretty interesting story, it's based in one of my favourite places in the world – Los Angeles. It's all about Tilly and her bro Billy, oh and lets not forget their pet meerkat, the trio get to LA and realise that someone has stolen the 'D' from the Hollywood sign so now it only reads Hollywoo! It's up to them to save the day and get the 'D' back before the Academy Awards.  

 

I really liked the funny characters, especially Meeka the meerkat. I also love the illustrations that make the story come to life! Overall I give this book a 4 out of 5.
What about you? If you haven't read it yet and would like to, enter our competition to win a Tilly & Billy Travel The World book! 

To enter this comp email totalgirl@pacificmags.com.au with the subject line BOOKCLUB COMP and the following info:

Full name:
Address:
Tell us in 25 words or less what you like most about book club!

Keep an eye out for the poll to vote for the next book into the Book Club. If you have any suggestions make sure you let me know by commenting below OR emailing me on totalgirl@pacificmags.com.au.

See you next time!
Alex

Hey TGs,

It's been a few days since Taylor left Australia and I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I miss her already! For those of you that don't know, there's a funny story about how I came to find Taylor Swift's music.



Years ago my best friend Steph called me out of the blue and told me to drop everything and Google 'Taylor Swift'. I immediately came across her first single Love Story and was blown away! Steph has since that moment proclaimed to one and all, that she was the one to discover Taylor Swift. But after all that who would have thought that soooo many years later I would be working at TG and get the incredible opportunity to go to a Taylor Swift concert.



Yep it actually happened guys, me and 39,999 people got to experience the MAGIC that was Taylor Swift's RED Tour. Let me tell you TGs, this was no ordinary concert, this truely was the show of a lifetime! There were dancers, amazing costume changes, incredible sets and background and even fireworks!

But aside from the glitz and glamour, there was Taylor, an incredibly beautiful and talented girl that was sooo excited to share her music with her Aussie fans. Not only did she sing all the best songs (Red, Mean and I Knew You Were Trouble were my faves) she also went on to explain the inspiration behind the songs. She told us about how she wasn't always popular and girls were mean to her and you know what? It really made me feel like she was having a deep and meaningful conversation with me. At one point it looked like she was tearing up a little. CUTE!

Overall it was totally amazing! So now, I'm going to continue to play T-Swizzle songs whether anyone likes it or not haha!

Did any of you guys get to go to the concert?

xoxo
Alex

Happy Tuesday girls!

I want to thank all of you lovely TGs that have left me comments and advice on how to care for my new kitten. So I wanted to update you guys on how it's going... So far she's doing really well and loving all her new toys. I got her a cool little tunnel to run through and she loves hiding in it and jumping over it and hiding things in it! Sooo cute! 

Mira loooves Christmas!

The only thing that's come between us is when she scratches my legs. My legs currently look like I've been running through rose bushes, in other words, they are all scratched up and don't look too great! Does anyone have any advice on how to her to stop doing that? Any and all advice is great advice :)

Anyways, back to the new book we'll be reading for book club. I'm sooo excited to start this one! It's called Tilly & Billy Travel The World. You guys voted it in so I hope you're excited to read it too!

You can buy this one at all good bookshops or on www.tillyandbillytraveltheworld.com.

The exciting thing about this book cub is that five lucky TGs have the chance to win a copy of Tilly & Billy Travel The World!

To enter this comp email totalgirl@pacificmags.com.au with the subject line BOOKCLUB COMP and the following info:

Full name:
Address:
Tell us in 25 words or less what you like most about book club.

So what are you waiting for? Enter now! (Make sure you read the Terms and Conditions!)

xoxo
Alex

Hey TGs!

I love Christmas, it's such a happy time of the year! You get to catch up with all your friends and family that you don't see often; you get to eat that delish feast that everyone's mum knows how to make (my mum makes the BEST Christmas ham) and you get to listen to Christmas carols! 

Which is why I'm so excited about The Spirit of Christmas 2013 CD available in Myer and on iTunes. It's a really awesome compilation of 20 Chrissy songs sung by some seriously cool celebs. 

Guy Sebastian sings All I want for Christmas Is You, Samantha Jade sings Oh Holy Night, while Benji and Joel Madden sing Let the World Be Still. But out of all the songs I have to say that Dannii Minogue's version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is my fave of all the songs on the CD.

 

The best thing about this CD is that the a portion of the money made through sales will go directly to The Salvation Army who help families in need.

Let me know what you think of it when you get it! Also how cute is the illustration of Rudolf on the cover?!

Xoxox

Alex

Hey girls!

So on the weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to go to Justin Bieber's Believe tour! Totes cool right?!

Honestly I thought that Bieber Fever had subsided as sooo many people had caught One Direction Infection but I was soooo wrong! The Fever is in full swing and I may have caught it!



I have to say I LOVED the fireworks and other pyrotechnics that were used in Justin's performance! It really made the concert into a HUGE party!

I also met a really cute TG reader and Justin Bieber fan at the concert. Her name is Danielle. Here's her review of the show!

---

Danielle's Justin Bieber Concert Review

• Name: Danielle
• Age: 10
• Fave Justin Bieber song: I can't choose between One Love, Take You, Out of Town Girl or Beauty and a Beat
• What did you like most about the concert? Definitely the music, it was awesome!
• What was the atmosphere of the concert like? Really exciting and LOUD!
• Which song did you like dancing to the most at the concert? Either Take You or Beauty and a Beat
• Did anything about Justin surprise you? Not really, I already knew he was AWESOME!
• Can you sum up the concert in five words? Awesome, spectacular, dream come true
• Rate the concert out of five: 6!

Did any of you guys go to the concert? I'd love to see your pics from the show! Email me on totalgirl@pacificmags.com.au.

xoxo
Alex

Hey TGs!

Happy Monday! Last week it was such miserable weather in Sydney that all I wanted to do was watch some DVDs in bed or read with a warm cup of hot chocolate. I ended up having a bit of a movie marathon week and I watched the following movies. Let me know if you've seen them.

The Lion King
Monsters Inc.
She's The Man
What A Girl Wants
Tangled

I also had loads of time to read and I ended up finishing Spooky House! Who would have seen that ending coming?! Not me that's for sure! What a great way to start off this brand new Billie B series. I think I'm going to like these new books, I love solving mysteries!

What did you girls think? Let me know and you could see your comments featured on my next blog! Also keep an eye out on the poll to help pick which book we should read next! It will be up later this week!



 By the way, guess what I did yesterday?!

I adopted a teeny tiny kitten! She is a super cute Tabby and is 10 weeks old! Her name is Mirabai but I call her Mira for short. I adopted her from the Cat Protection Society in Enmore (Sydney) it is such a great organisation that takes in kitties that can't be looked after anymore and rehomes them all. I've never had a cat before so I'm super excited to learn all about them! If you have any tips for this new kitten owner please comment below! I need all the help I can get hehe!

Hugs,
Alex

PS Check out 5 Reasons Why You Should Adopt a Pet