etsy hearts 2.1.12

1) Hand-dyed Foldover Clutch by Gift Shop Brooklyn 2) Tassle Gold Chain Bracelet from bfrend 3) Kraft Starburst Seals by Knot & Bow 4) Dark Chocolate Cappuccino Chip Candies by Nicole's Treats 5) Salt and Pepper Bowls by Paulova Ceramics

Sharing my Etsy faves from this week...and will be continuing this little feature {hopefully} every week! How good do those chocolates look...omg.

the weeknd - gone

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am obsessed with The Weeknd. His third and final mixtape came out a few weeks ago (get it free here), and although this song is off his second release, it's still in my head all the time. The beat is just insane, not to mention his voice turns everything into gold (case and point: his cover of MJ's Dirty Diana).

cupid's arrow

1) Arrows Print by Julie Kostreva 2) Choose Your Own Path Print by Small Talk Studio 3) Mini Pastel Arrows by Verla Ivans 4) Arrow Cupcake Toppers DIY from Creature Comforts Blog 5) Arrow Cuff by Odette NY

I love Valentine's Day—not so much the holiday itself, but the colors, the candy, the hearts...it's cute and fun and reminds me of being a kid. I also love arrows (see my blog background!), and love that I've seen them crop up more for everyday, not just from Cupid's bow. Here are some of my favorite arrow pieces, although there are too many to list!

recipe: michael symon's chicken + goat cheese mac 'n' cheese

Last night I made one of my absolute favorite meals, from Michael Symon's Live to Cook. There isn't much I love more than mac 'n' cheese, and this gourmet twist on it is delicious and still a staple comfort food. I was really excited to see this recipe in his cookbook, because I ordered this once at his restaurant, Lolita, and now I can have it whenever I want!

Serves 6-8

(I usually cut this in half, it makes enough for two people plus one leftover serving for lunch)

I N G R E D I E N T S :

Kosher salt

1 Pound dried rigatoni pasta

1 Quart (4 Cups) heavy cream

1 Cup (8 oz) goat cheese

2 Cups shredded roasted chicken (either leftover, or when I don't have any, I pick up a small rotisserie from the store and shred it)

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary

D I R E C T I O N S :

1) In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon salt over high heat. Bring just to a simmer to reduce mixture by half. Keep an eye on the cream, when it heats to a boil it will quickly climb the sides of the pan and could bubble over onto your stove. I speak from experience.

2) Add the goat cheese and chicken to the cream mixture and bring back to a simmer. Continue cooking until mixture thickens a bit and coats the back of a spoon, about 30 minutes.

3) While the cream is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it generously. Add rigatoni and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes.

4) Drain pasta, return it to the large pot and add the cream sauce. Toss the pasta to combine it with the sauce and bring the whole pot back to a gentle simmer.

I never make anything else with this, because I just eat a whole big bowl and it's totally all you need. Plus a glass of wine ;) Perfect for a cold, dreary night!

up & coming: lana del rey

When I first heard of Lana Del Rey, she was "Lizzie Grant" and kinda looking nothing like she does now. Plastic surgery aside, she has a beautiful voice and seems to be finding more success now that she has been repackaged for all of us to enjoy. Ha. Props to her record company.

If you watch Gossip Girl, you also might recognize this song from the season 5 trailer.

This is her first single off of Born To Die, which releases in the US on January 31st. The song totally got into my head and I've had it on repeat ever since. She's doing performances on the late-night circuit and I imagine she'll be touring this year...so I don't think this is the last you'll be seeing of her. Some of my other favorites of hers are Video Games, Diet Mtn. Dew and Blue Jeans.

new year, new workspace

My workspace goods (clockwise from top left): Urbanears headphones; Jon Contino print; Geo Triangle print; Corkboard; House Industries Valentype Woodblock Initial; Water Hyacinth Small Milk Crates; Tread Bowl; Rutger Chair (best chair-stool EVER); Jonas desk; Black, White, and Gold Washi Tape; Metallic Baker's Twine; Titanium Non-Stick Scissors; Maize Woven Storage Basket

I've been wanting to revamp my workspace for quite some time now, and just randomly got the bug to do it last weekend. I had this small, old corkboard hanging above my desk, and it always falls down (the adhesive sucks), and it finally fell down for the last time. Enough! I threw it away and decided it was time to start over.

I moved into our place a year ago and never really gave my work area the attention it needed. It worked sometimes, but I also found myself using my dining room table to spread out and draw because I just had too many things cluttering up my desk. I got this Ikea desk years ago, and I love it because it's just a big, flat work table, which is really what I need. I have to be able to easily push my computer to the side when it's time to draw or paint.

I also had a messy collection of art paper and wrapping paper shoved along the side of my desk, and my cards and envelopes were all over the place. So I headed to Target to solve my problems :)

My favorite purchase has to be this woven black and white arrow basket. We were looking for something to store my paper rolls, and I spotted it in passing on a random endcap. I basically started jumping up and down because it was so perfect.

*p.s. YES I know, it's time for us to take our Christmas tree down.

My desk surface is now much clearer, I'm no longer storing bills and coupons and junk that only gets in the way, and everything has a place. Joy!

And my corkboard is now bigger, better, and actually functional! Now I can just sit back and let the organization vibes transfer into productive energy...

new year

Welcome to the new year! 2011 went crazy fast, didn't it?

I had a great run this past year, I accomplished a lot of forward movement both personally and career-wise, and I have a lot of big things planned for this upcoming year. I am still on a mission to continue growing Shore Society as much as possible. There are some really exciting things coming up that I have to keep to myself for a bit longer (I am so not good at this!) and I'll be sure to share as soon as I can.

I never make solid resolutions, I find them impossible to follow up on and they only end up making me feel lazy/apathetic. I know what my goals are, so I don't feel the need to hold myself to a timeline or standard. My own standards are enough. Most designers and creatives are their own biggest critics, and I am no different. To this point, I've put together a little list of things that I've learned in the last year that will hopefully help you to have another creative and productive year, too.

Be kind to yourself.

It's easy to get caught up in comparing your work to the work of others. Hell, I'll spend hours online looking for inspiration for my job or for fun, and it's always an endless spiderweb of stumbling upon talented people and beautiful design. And there's nothing wrong with that, as long as you keep the comparison part of your brain in check. You have no idea who might be looking at your work and thinking "I wish I would have thought of that" just as you are to theirs, so it's best to accept someone else's ingenuity and move on. Allow it to inspire you and nothing more. Don't beat yourself up. You are the only you, and that in itself is valuable.

Work outside of your medium.

Sometimes I find myself working only digitally for months, and other times I am fully drawing by hand. Never feel like one way is "your" way and that you have to stick to it. That's an ongoing struggle for a lot of illustrators—the age old "do I have to have a 'style'?" question—but I think whatever your hand touches will likely bear enough similarity to hold together. Plus, it shows you are capable of working many ways, which can attract different types of clients or projects.

Play.

Have fun. Don't critique it, just do it. Don't feel like you have to publish everything you do. Keeping some of your work to yourself prevents you from thinking "what if it's not 'good enough'?" which we all know is the force that crushes our ability to create. Don't feel like designing/drawing/writing? Build a shelf. Bake a cake. Paint some shoes with glitter. Do anything that allows you to play and enjoy yourself. That attitude will carry over into the way you work, allowing you to loosen up and enjoy the process rather than focusing on the end result.

Reach out.

I have to say, Twitter is awesome. I cannot even express how many valuable connections I've made through something as seemingly stupid as Twitter. It's so easy to not only follow the designers and brands you love, but to give them a shout whenever you have something to say. I've found that people are highly responsive to praise and feedback, and it's probably because many of the designers you love and respect are just like you. They put their work out there for the world to see, and of course they're going to love hearing that you're a fan, who wouldn't? People are usually much nicer than you'd ever expect. So if you have a question, ask. If you like something, say so. Give someone props, share their link, post some of your own inspiration. This to me is the right way to use Twitter. Some people may care that you're tweeting about being tired or that you had a fabulous dinner, but you have to turn your focus outward in order for that energy to make its way back to you. Same goes for your favorite blogs—visit them when you can, comment often, feed their network and they will eventually start feeding yours.

I haven't written a long post like that in a while, so I hope I didn't lose you there ;) Everyone's path is different, but these are some of the things that have worked for me and hopefully they can help you in some way. What have you learned in the last year? Any tips to share with the peanut gallery?

My biggest wishes to all of you for an awesome 2012...after all, it's our last year to make something happen before the Mayan calendar runs out!*

*Actually, this means the world will enter a new era, and this is considered a lucky time to be alive. Don't believe me? There's an episode of the podcast "Stuff You Should Know" all about this, you can listen to it here.

recipe: pomegranate champagne punch

I made this punch for our Christmas party with friends and it was totally delicious (and packed a good buzz too)! It would also be perfect for a New Year's party, so here I am, posting the day of, for all your procrastinators out there.

Recipe via Bon Apétit. Serves 12.

I N G R E D I E N T S :

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

2 bottles chilled brut champagne

1 cup Bacardi or other white rum

1 1/4 cup pomegranate juice

1 lemon, thinly sliced

Sprigs of fresh mint

Pomegranate seeds (if you'd like, I didn't use any)

D I R E C T I O N S :

1) In a small saucepan, boil the water and sugar and stir until sugar dissolves and simmer 5 minutes (you're basically making simple syrup). Cool it completely.

2) Combine champagne, pom juice, and rum in a large punch bowl. Stir in syrup to taste. Garnish with mint leaves and lemon.

3) Cool with an ice block or serve with ice in punch glasses.

This was light and bubbly and a definite crowd pleaser.

So from here, I sign off for 2011, and will be back with you after the ball drops. Hope you have a lovely New Year's Eve and I'll see you in 2012!

christmas wrap-up

Wrapping with glitter ribbon

My sugar cookies finally came out perfectly! (We had some trial + error)

My sister + I on Christmas Eve

My ornament for Jim...we always get Chinese food + keep the good fortunes

Bailey loves sitting by the fire!

She + Ernie got new Jonathan Adler collars too

My Max & Chloe necklace from Jim...obsessed.

Felt fox from Jim...I love this little guy!

Thought I would pop back in and say hello though I've been quiet the last few days. I had an awesome Christmas and am still enjoying my break! Thought I'd share some photos from the past week and weekend in case you don't follow me on Instagram (you can do so here). I'm prepping for a little NYE party and have a great recipe to share tomorrow in case you find yourself entertaining as well, so stop by again.

Hope Santa brought you everything you wished for + that you're enjoying time with friends and family!

first snow

Nothing like the first snow to put you in the Christmas spirit! Counting down the days...

christmas buzz

I have been so busy lately that I'm clinging to the light at the end of the tunnel—ten glorious days of Christmas break. There's so much to buy, wrap, bake, clean....all while keeping up with holiday shop orders. It's exhausting, but in a great way!

I also want to say a HUGE thanks to designworklife and Burrs & Berries for featuring my holiday gift tags on their sites...thank you, thank you, thank you!

Shore Society is also now selling in Poppytalk Handmade's Holiday Market, which has been both exciting and inspiring—there are so many talented makers selling their goods, I encourage you to head over there and check out all of the amazing shops that are participating. I want to buy everything!

Sets of the aforementioned gift tags are still available in my shop, in case you are a procrastinator and haven't started wrapping yet. I still have some last-minute things to grab but I'm in the home stretch...have you finished your shopping yet?

After I finish my shopping, the holiday parties and get-togethers begin! I'm so excited to hang out with all of my amazing friends and family coming in from out of town, and to take a break from working and sitting behind my computer. Sigh...won't that be nice?

recipe: jalapeño cream cheese poppers

I never shy away from trying a new bite-size recipe. I am a perpetual snacker (I would never eat meals if I didn't have to) and these looked perfect for a lazy Sunday during the football game. They were really easy to make, and totally pop-able and delicious. I am not ashamed to admit we ate every last one of these (I mean, they probably wouldn't reheat well...that was my excuse).

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen. Great recipe but I found her instructions really annoying to read (sorry!) So these are much simpler.

Makes 32 little poppers.

I N G R E D I E N T S :

1 package cream cheese (8 oz.)

1/4 cup diced canned jalapeños (mine were in a jar and I diced them myself)

1 package refrigerated crescent rolls (8 oz.)

1 Tbsp. sugar

D I R E C T I O N S :

1. Preheat oven to 375° F

2. Cut about 3/4 of your cream cheese off and place that portion into a bowl. Add in your jalapeños and the sugar and mix with a fork. Be sure to incorporate the sugar very well.

3. Do a little taste test. The sugar adds a nice little sweet element to the spice, so add less or more depending on what you prefer. Add more jalapeños if you prefer a little more heat! I used mild jalapeños and it was a mistake, they weren't flavorful enough, so be sure to get ones with gusto.

4. Once you get the right mixture, set it aside while you prep the dough.

5. Open your crescent rolls, the dough should come out in 2 flat rectangles (with the perforated triangles still attached). Place one of the rectangles on your cutting board and pinch the perforated triangles together to make one solid rectangle of dough. Take a rolling pin and smooth it out a bit.

6. Now, evenly spread half of the jalapeño cream cheese mixture onto the dough.

7. Starting on the long end of the dough, start rolling until you have a little dough log.

8. Using a sharp knife (sharp is key), cut the log in half. Then, cut the halves in half. Continue until you have 16 little pinwheel poppers.

9. Place on a greased baking sheet. Then, repeat the process with the second dough rectangle that you set aside. You should now have 32 little poppers. Bake them for about 13 minutes, keeping an eye on them. They should be golden brown when they come out.

10. Once they're done baking, slide them right off the baking sheet and onto a plate. Serve with an ice cold beer or margarita, and watch them disappear :)