happy halloween

mexican sugar skull makeup - for halloweening saturday night

another shot

chocolate-dipped peanut butter pretzel sandwiches to snack on (recipe here)

baked fontina with herbs for Sunday's Browns game (recipe here)

I had a great weekend full of costumes and Halloween fun, and tonight I'm heading to my parents' house for chili, donuts, cider and trick or treating. How was your weekend?

stay creative.

Really love looking over this list I found over at Sterling Style. I can definitely say I do a lot of 26 (don't force it) and 33 (finish something). I go crazy if I start something and don't finish it! I do some of the others but those resonated with me. What do you do to stay creative?

fall weekend snapshots

Perfect cocktail for a Friday night in, carving pumpkins: apple cider, ginger ale, spiced rum

Muddy buddies (recipe here)

Our pumpkins - mine goes with my sugar skull costume for next weekend!

Brewzilla on Saturday night - part of Cleveland Beer Week

Baked Chex Mix for Sunday football (recipe here) and yes, I had an abundance of chex laying around!

I can't wait for Halloween this year (well, or any year), I am totally in the fall spirit. What are you dressing up as?

*all photos are now extra beautiful thanks to my new iPhone 4S, which I want to marry.

welcome to ss!

After months in the making, my blog relaunch is finally finished! (Well, for now, we all know there's always work to be done). The relaunch not only effects the design of the blog and shop, but I have some new business cards and packaging for my prints in the works. I'm so excited that everything will now be cohesive, and can't wait to roll out the new identity in the upcoming holiday shops I'm participating in.

I'm now running my blog and shop as Shore Society, which is a nod to my love of lakefront living as well as all things of high design. You can read more about me and SS here.

Hope you guys like it, and continue to follow along. Also, although my old web address will forward to this new one (blog.shoresociety.com), if you have linked to this blog on your own site, kindly update your link to reflect the new name and web address. Thanks!

sweet surprises

I found this today on Pinterest and immediately thought if there ever was a way to say "I love you" to me, THIS would be it! After the initial "aww"/surprise reaction, I would probably dive face first onto this bed and start eating all of that amazing candy. This comes from an entire book by Brusse called "Love Injections" that depicts 100 creative ways to say "I love you." So adorable.

recipe: spiced pumpkin cupcakes

I realize the top photo makes the cupcake glow like a beacon of light, but it's slightly appropriate because these truly taste like fall heaven. I made them for a work party because a) I wanted to eat them; b) I figured other people would too; 3) I never miss an excuse to try baking something new. They taste like a pumpkin roll in a perfect no-utensil-required form...bonus. I found the recipe over here on 6 Bittersweets. Here's how to make them for yourself! Yield is 12-14 cupcakes.

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

1 cup PLUS 2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 scant cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree [1/2 of a 15 oz. can]
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
6 Tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup PLUS 2 Tbsp sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 large egg yolk, room temperature

D I R E C T I O N S :

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the top of a standard 12-cup muffin pan, line pan with 12 baking liners.

2) Sift the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk to combine pumpkin, milk, and vanilla; set aside also.

4) In a large mixing bowl, use mixer on medium-high to cream butter and sugar together until light in color and fluffy.

5) Turn mixer down to low, and add the eggs and one yolk. Beat well to combine.

6) Next, add 1/3 the flour mixture, then 1/2 the pumpkin mixture, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining pumpkin mixture, and the last 1/3 of the flour mixture, mixing to combine after each addition.

7) Fill baking liners about 3/4 full (I did have some leftover batter, so I filled some extra cups and baked those too). Bake 20 to 27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before you frost with...

The most perfect CREAM CHEESE FROSTING ever!

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

1 1/2 to 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 oz. (1 block) cream cheese, cold and cut into 6 to 8 chunks

D I R E C T I O N S :

1) In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, and vanilla until thoroughly blended and fluffy.

2) Add the cream cheese, a chunk at a time, beating after each addition (just enough to mix it in each time).

3) Taste, and beat in more powdered sugar if needed. *Be careful not to overbeat the frosting or the cream cheese may start to break down. If not using immediately, chill until needed, then beat again until smooth just before using.

I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes using a homemade parchment paper cone (see a video how-to here) and topped with little pearl sprinkles. Hope they bring some fall joy to your home (and mouth)!

new prints + blog announcement

Just listed: Lake Erie Love prints in three new color schemes with filled lettering (as opposed to the original outline lettering).

My Frenchie print has also just been added to the shop, and I will be adding some more dogs as I finish them :)

Also, I've been making some changes to my shop (as you'll notice) which will soon be trickling over to the blog. I will be keeping this blog, but it will operate under a new name, new design, and include a bit more personal posts and inspiration. I hope the re-launch will allow this little corner of the internet to serve as a one-stop holding station for all of my news, photos, sketches, and artwork, and that you're just as excited about it as I am! This has been in the works for months — the product of many conversations, brainstorms, and design attempts, but I'm finally so happy with what it's becoming.

So keep your eyes peeled, pardon my dust as I get things up and moving, and I'll hopefully be finished after this weekend.