on moses lake

On Saturday evening Chris and I joined our friends Lindsey and Phillip for the Moses Lake Bluegrass Festival.  We sprawled out on the grass in front of the open air amphitheater and enjoyed a fiddle or two, the bango (my favorite) and a young girl with a voice like Alison Krauss.

It was a perfect summer afternoon...

Its not really our style of music all the time, but it was enjoyable for an afternoon of live music.  Grant County (here in Washington state) is amazing for hosting all sorts of free concerts and events during the summer.  I'm glad we took the opportunity and made a summer memory with friends.

What did you do this weekend?

rolling in the deep

Here is a little confession for you:  I am a huge Adele fan.  And her newest album just blows me away.  Her first single off the new album is "Rolling in the Deep."  Amazing beat and catchy melody.  Its a favorite "driving in the car with the windows down" song for sure!

But lately I have stumbled across some amazing covers of her song, and I wanted to share a couple today.


This is an a capella cover where the singer does all the sounds for the whole song using just his voice.  AMAZING!!


This is the super cute and super talented Maddi Jane. Love this video!


And here is Linkin Park doing the cover live. My favorite part is when the audience sings along. Chills!


This is the ever fabulous John Legend. I love the tone of his voice.


And to finish up, the amazing Adele herself. This is the very first video I saw of her doing anything from her newest album and its still a favorite. On a windy rooftop, with just a lapel mic and just a guitar for accompaniment. She blows me away!

Do you love Adele? What is your favorite song??

Project Three Hundred and Sixty Five

Here is this last week in pictures.

I thought I'd do something a little different with today's post and do a day-by-day explanation of what each pictures is from this week, just to mix it up a bit.

Day 29:  This is my make-up bag.  Its a little dirty, I admit.  But it is very clear that I am a fan of Avon.Mark products.  My favorite is the On The Dot eye color compact.  Shimmery, long-lasting color in a variety of "Shaina-approved" shades. ;) And their foundation is lovely.

Day 30:  We have been waiting for the new Fair To Midland album to come out.  Chris got tipped at work for picking up extras so he went to Hastings after work and picked it up.  We listened to it all the way through 3 times the day we got it.  We like to call the music style: folk metal.  Its hard musically, but lyrically its so whimsical and full of great storytelling.  LOVE IT!

Day 31:  Chris and I started to paint my office.  I have been planning the concept for my office space for awhile (see this post from a year ago!).  I got the shower curtain and its been cut and turned into curtain panels, and I color matched them to buy this paint.  2 walls are this purple color, and the other two we're doing grey...hopefully stripes!

Day 32:  The finished blog design I created.  See full details HERE.

Day 33:  Sunday after the meeting we went in service with the Russian group in our congregation.  They were working on their convention invitation campaign and taught us a presentation in Russian.  This was Chris' first door doing his Russian presentation.  We had fun!

Day 34:  I woke up at 6am to a thunder and lightning storm that turned into a downpour by the time I got to work that day.  It was hard to get a good picture from work, but there was sooo much rain!

Day 35:  This is the set-up at our Kingdom Hall where I do ASL interpreting.  We have our TV, DVD player and hats!!  :)

a new design

I am so excited to share my newest blog design with you.  I had so much fun working on this one.  The lovely Felecia   (who I know from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out) gave her friend MaryC my email and we got right to work creating an online space that would feel like home for Mary.  She answered the questions in my little questionnaire so I could get a feel for her design style and what she was looking for.  And this is what I designed just for her.

Mary was looking for something rich in color, that felt a little distressed but homey.  She wanted a place she would feel comfortable spilling her guts.  She sent along a file of her actual signature which I had fun incorporating.  And since I couldn't find any social networking icons that match the feel I was going for, I created some myself.  I think they are my favorite part!

Click through to see her full blog and read her two-part story explaining the thought process behind her brand new blog.  A Full Life with an Empty Nest.

Thanks so much Mary for choosing me for your blog design needs.

For more info on my blog design work click HERE.  I'd love to create a space just for you too!

another installment in The Hair Diaries

My hair is getting soooo long!  And I have made a deal with Chris that I won't cut it this year (aside from the necessary trim).  So in an effort to, well keep entertained I guess (lol), I've been searching online for some fun hair tutorials to try.

Elsie of A Beautiful Mess had one recently called:  "How to Style a Messy Bun."  It looks super cute and easy enough, so yesterday I decided to give it a try.

 I probably would make it "messier" next time, but I love how the purple peeks out at all the right places.
I also recently purchased a copy of the Twist&Pin ebook from Hair Romance, which is full of tutorials for some of the cutest and unique hair styles I've seen in awhile.  So as I try them I'll probably photograph and share the results.

What tutorials have you tried lately??