Creative Fashion

I have been craving creating my own unique dyed and cut top for weeks now, but unfortunately have not had enough time to "craft" one myself. However, I am lucky enough to have an a extremely artistic friend, John a.k.a. J-Rye, who created these AMAZING shoes for me. They are so bright and add a fun and unique touch to any outfit. I got the all white shoes at urban outfitters and he used sharpies to created the design. Although time consuming, projects like this are fairly inexpensive. It is always more fun to do crafts with other people, and I am hoping to get started on some of my own projects when more of my friends get back to St. Louis next week. A great way to beat the summer heat is to have a craft day: you and your friends could decide on a project and have everyone bring one of the needed materials and a snack to share. What could be better? For some great ideas, check out psimadethis.com.

The Importance of Music

Recently, I feel as though I have been running around in circles and not really getting anywhere. So, unfortunately my weeks have been lacking the usual fun events that come with summer. However, there is one thing that I refuse to avoid- music. This past week, I once again attended the Whitaker Music Festival at the Botanical Gardens. It is always such a great time, that it seems like a sin to not make time for it. FolknBlueGrass were the performers for this week, and they did a great job of getting the crowd moving. This acoustic group's music is a great twist on classic bluegrass. I checked out their schedule for future shows, and they will be playing at Oyster Bar (downtown, on Broadway) almost every weekend of August, so if you get a chance, you should check them out!

To continue with my musical focus, I wanted to mention my recent obsession- Mumford and Sons. I have found this folky rock group from London to be addictive. The band is made up of four friends- Marcus Mumford (hence the name), Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane. I would say their music has the soul and charm of that of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young with the fire of groups like Kings of Leon. If you haven't heard any of their music before- I insist you check them out ASAP! Here is this myspace site where you can hear most of their recent CD: http://www.myspace.com/mumfordandsons

Summer Nights

This past Wednesday evening, myself and a few girlfriends went to check out the Whitaker Music Festival at the Botanical Gardens. I have been a few times in previous years, but this was a first for this summer. There are a couple reasons why I love this event so much:

1. IT'S FREE!!!

2. You can bring your own food and drink (I'm a sucker for a picnic)

3. The music is always pretty good

4. Amazing people watching- the crowd includes families, young adults, older couples- you name it

5. The Botanical Gardens are an amazing place to spend an evening

On the night we attended- the performers were Dawn and the Electro Funk Assembly- a very upbeat group that played a lot of original music along with a few covers (the Michael Jackson cover was my personal fav). Usually the music is more of a blues/jazz style; so it was fun to here something different. This event was the perfect beginning for the evening, and if you haven't gone to a night yet- I encourage you to check it out! Here is the website for more details about the festival: http://www.mobot.org/events/Whitaker/default.asp