PARTY WITH MADEWELL!

05. 22. 13

madewell-event-with-artsocial

Oh friends. You know how much I love Madewell… and guess what?? We’re having a party!! I’m beyond stoked to team up with Madewell in Park Meadows to throw a summer party for my Denver crew. Someone pinch me. Seriously.

Join us on June 6th for my favorite local sips from the Backyard Soda Co., sweets from The Shoppe, and the most beautiful little party favors (you know how I do). Not to mention some rad summer styling à la Madewell.

It’s free, it’s chill. Come hang out anytime from 6pm-9pm, try on your favorite summer items, and get your instagram on… oh there will be a hashtag and P.S. there are rumors of a photo booth with awesome props, but you didn’t hear that from me. Okay you DID and it’s going to be RAD.

RSVP to artsocialonline@gmail.com to snag your spot (aka your party favor)! Friends + family are welcome! The more the merrier, yo.

rsvp

Ain’t no party like a Madewell + artsocial party… woot woot! See you soon!

EAT DRINK CREATE

04. 23. 13

EATDRINKCREATE

You may remember hearing about a little party called Eat Drink Create… hosted by artsocial and The Proper Pinwheel at West Elm. Yeah? A few times? I’m so excited to finally share the details! Omigosh make sure you scroll down to the video Evergreen Lane Productions put together for us…! It captures the event so perfectly.

EATDRINKCREATE

When Lexy and I first started planning this event, I really only had one goal: get awesome creative people together + have fun. Okay that’s two goals… but I’m happy to say we accomplished both. High five! There are so many amazing creative people in Colorado. You all deserve more parties.

EATDRINKCREATE

Is there anything better than mini donuts, popcorn, jarritos, and diy fringe lanterns?? Nope. I didn’t think so. That’s what happens when two bloggers who love sugar and colorful diys come together to plan an event… I couldn’t have asked for a better co-host!

EATDRINKCREATE

… and I definitely couldn’t have asked for better guests. Holla to the amazing + talented ladies who came out that night!! Big hugs to everyone.

Can I just stop for a sec and say, Kate Donaldson takes the BEST photos… mad skillz, yo. Check out Lexy’s recap for even more photo awesomeness!

EATDRINKCREATE

We put a lot of attention into the details. Creating rad photo ops for everyone was very important to me… I take my instagrams srsly, ya hear. I had SO much fun going through the photos on the #eatdrinkcreate instagram feed!

EATDRINKCREATE

Oh West Elm, I love you. Huge thank you to everyone at West Elm in Cherry Creek for having us! The space was perfect. The whole crew down there is uh-mazing. Not gonna lie, I was secretly shopping during the event… I mean, hanging garden? Must have.

EATDRINKCREATE

Guys. The swag bags. Ban.do was ridiculously awesome and donated a pom pom flower for each guest!! Whaaaat. You guys know how much I love my ban.do flair, I was beyond excited. I still am.

swag

Wait, the swag bags got even better. First, I learned that the incredibly talented Lemon Jitters was contributing hello magnets + chalkboard tags *happy dance*. THEN Consumer Crafts kicked things up a few hundred notches by donating enough craft goodies to keep everyone creating for months. Seriously. Amazing. Thank you.

EATDRINKCREATE

If that wasn’t enough awesomeness, Artifact Uprising blew us away by offering a 40 page 8.5×8.5 softcover photo book to one of our lucky guests!! I was stoked, I’m a huge fan. We randomly selected a winner… you ready? *Drum roll* congrats to Tara of Modern Maven!! Woot woot! Lexy will be in touch.

Omigosh okay, time for the video… huge thank you to Annabelle Mintz of Evergreen Lane Productions for creating this video for us! She’s so talented, I can’t stand it.

Offline events, getting together in person, chillin’ IRL? That’s the good stuff. The next Eat Drink Create is in the works, friends. I can’t wait!!

HUGE thank you to everyone who made this awesome party possible! Srsly, say hi, follow them on twitter, send them love. We couldn’t have done this without these amazing folks:

+ ban.do
+ Consumer Crafts
+ Kate Donaldson
+ West Elm
+ Sarah Fritzler
+ Lemon Jitters
+ Annabelle Mintz
+ Artifact Uprising

Photos by Kate Donaldson Photo; video by Evergreen Lane Productions; Eat Drink Create logo by Sarah Fritzler.

HOLIDAZZLED BY: URBAN BIRD & CO

12. 02. 12

Today’s holidazzle brings us another Denver shop (hollaaa): Urban Bird & Co. I’ve been an Urban Bird & Co fan for a while now. I instantly fell in lurve with their clever prints.

This shop proves once and for all that simple = better… and that Colorado is full of talented people, in case that was up for debate.

These screen printed napkins (below) would srsly make my dining table 10x cooler… no one would even notice my mismatched plates, they’d be too busy looking at my bomba** napkins.

Find Urban Bird & Co on Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!

HOLIDAZZLED BY: PAPER PLATES PRESS

12. 01. 12

Guys, guess where I live? Yeah, Denver. You already knew that? Letterpress design house Paper Plates Press is located riiiight here in Denver… and their clever paper goods are making me feel pretty darn proud of this place. I especially love their Pine Beetle holiday cards… Colorado folks, you understand.

Their Letter to Santa Sack is full of everything you need to send Santa a proper what up:

1 Letterpress Letter to Santa printed on Santa’s letterhead
1 Letterpress Envelope, magically addressed to the North Pole
3 Of Santa’s letterpress gift tags
1 Special letterpress note and elf-size envelope from the big man, himself
1 Reusable, hand stamped reindeer sack

So fun! I kind of want to write a letter… I mean with my niece… of course.

Psst – buying local means you get extra holiday cheer. Fact. So go support small bidness this year, k?

Find Paper Plates Press on Etsy and Facebook!

Ma Weekend

07. 30. 12

1. I found the most awesome site ever this weekend. Hobstr creates hobby starter kits for your next creative project. Ummm awesome. I’m seriously thinking about trying their Holga starter kit. Lomography, or toy camera photography, creates super awesome flaws and effects such as vignetting, blurring, discoloration, and lens flaring. Just like Instagram only cooooler. Check out their Pinterest board of Holga photos.

2. If said Holga starter kit is purchased, how many photos do you think I’d take of this little guy? It might get out of hand. Sorry Meowmers, I might be following you around with a camera soon…

3. Guys. Mini sculptures. They’re the wave of the future, you heard it here first. Mini banana by Shay Aaron.

4. I did a little house/pet-sitting for my Dad this weekend. It’s always nice to go home every once in a while… makes me reflect on my life a lot. Does that happen to you when you go home?

5. Denver friends. Eat at Toast. You won’t be disappointed.

6. Me and Kevin decided to have a pizza making party on Saturday… and it. got. crazy. Just kidding. But we decided to make our own individual pizzas, so he had free reign to put anything on his pizza without my input, something that rarely (never) happens when we share a pizza… so this is what we ended up with: buffalo chicken pizza with onions and blue cheese VS veggie pizza with artichokes, olives, mushrooms, spinach, and feta. Hmm can you guess which one’s mine? P.S. they were both amazing… maybe I should let him pick the pizza toppings more often.

7. Amen, pink balloon, amen.

8. This weekend I learned that sangria is crazy easy to make… and crazy delicious. So excited to feature this summer sangria on The Art Drank tomorrow, eep! And so excited to drink the rest of it that’s in the fridge…

9. Is there any better way to end the weekend than with sushi and Breaking Bad? The answer is no, no there isn’t.

How was your weekend??

(all photos without links were taken by me for artsocial)

Au Revoir Le Week-end

07. 09. 12

Happy Monday, friendies. Let’s dive right into the weekend roundup, shall we? First up is this spicy little numero uno…

1. Spicy orange margarita. Oh yeah. It exists and it is delicious. Now I hate to admit – as a closeted hipster – that I had this drinkeroo at a restaurant inside the mall. I know, ew the mall. But whatevs, I grew up in the suburbs of Denver and basically the mall is the only place to go shopping… anyhoo the restaurant is La Sandia – and the mall is Park Meadows in case you want to hit up Orange Julius with me??

2. While at said mall, I picked up these polka dot shorts from Urban Outfitters. A-DORBZ and so comfortable. But my reason for shopping was to buy work clothes, whoops… showing some upper thigh is appropriate for work right? Maybe if I pair them with a cardigan? Get yourself some Kimchi Blue Printed Yoke Shorts, ya hear. (not asking, telling)

3. Have I already talked about the giant art crush I have on one Paul Octavious? Well in case I haven’t, Paul Octavious is a Chicago-based photographer who can do no wrong. He may even have magical powers like a superhero, that’s how awesome he is. Ok, that’s not true (I don’t think)… but he does have the cutest dog in the world named Gizmo who could arguably be his sidekick. This new print, The Fourth, over on 20×200 needs to be on ma wall…

4. Basically this weekend was referred to as “Blog Brunch weekend” because of this delightful little Twitter party for bloggers where very important things are discussed… Here’s how it works, every first Saturday of the month, bloggers from all over the country gather on Twitter (by following the hashtag #blogbrunch) to exchange ideas and inspiration about different topics. This month’s topic was post content. Man, that’s a tricky one for me. Since this blog started, it’s evolved several times (ok like 234 times), which means the content has evolved a bit too… check back tomorrow for a whole post on my Blog Brunch-y thoughts.

5. Guys. I think I’m a cat lady. I first started noticing signs of this condition quite a while ago… I started taking more pictures of Meowmers, I noticed an increase in the frequency I discussed Meowmers with others, and THEN someone got me a Cats in Hats calendar for Christmas. Now I thought this was a joke, I laughed it off (while secretly really enjoying my new hilarious calendar). But after pinning this cat art on Pinterest along with this and this, welp I think I can finally admit it. My name is Erin and I’m a cat lady. CATS by Cake with Giants.

6. My Drunk Kitchen: Quesadillas. This needs no explanation.

7. Brooch-a-topia. Brooches Bitches. The Brooch Coach. These were the alternative names me and Kevin came up with for the brooch stand at the Aspen Grove street fair. Oh they had oodles of awesome brooches (this is tray 1 of approximately 500), but I don’t think they had a name… I vote for The Brooch Coach.

8. It rained so much this weekend! So unlike Colorado… and such a great excuse to curl up on the couch and watch the entire last season of Breaking Bad in anticipation of the new season. Eeeep! So excited! If you’re a fellow Breaking Bad fan, please leave a comment so we can discuss the crazy awesomeness that was last season’s finale. Cool image found here.

9. Cutest shoes ever. I basically live in flats. I’m short, there’s no point in trying to fool anyone by wearing uncomfortable heels… These shoes (called You Rebel) from Shabby Apple are pretty boss. Psst check back here next Monday for a little giveaway with Shabby Apple…!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Oh Hi July

07. 02. 12

Guys, how is it July already?? When I was little, summer vacation was divided into two parts: pre-fourth of July and post-fourth of July. When this holiday rolled around, I always felt a twinge of sadness. My glorious summer vacation was winding down! Oh the (illogical) worries of an 8 year old.

Anyhoo before I can think about this exciting holiday week ahead, let’s look back at some fun and internet finds from the weekend…

1. This weekend started off with a little game called baseball. Going to a game around the 4th of July has become a bit of a family tradition. Mainly because the games around the 4th include…

2. Fireworks! Like the most obnoxious, ‘merican display of in-your-face fireworks of all time. It’s borderline disgusting… After looking at this pic, who else has that Katy Perry song stuck in their head?? You didn’t, but now you do? Sorry guys.

3. Jen Gotch has gotta be one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram. This girl’s got mad talent. And her shop? FULL of said talent.

4. Raspberry lime sorbet from this place… which for some reason my boyfriend kept saying was made with “bits of real panther, so you know it’s good.” Yep, that’s my boyfriend. He likes to randomly quote Anchorman. That’s why I loves him.

5. Sally Mann is one of my favsies. Her photographs are so hauntingly beautiful. This work is part of her At Twelve series. It seems to capture something so typical of being a teenager in the summertime – beauty, boredom, self-consciousness, angst. I love the stories all of her works tell.

6. This cup by Fine Little Day is super adorbs. It’s definitely worthy of holding my chai teas. This whole shop is full of cute goodies.

7. I’m in love with this work, Untitled #8 (The Fall), by Laura Letinsky. The beautiful simplicity of the composition, the lighting, the title, the already eaten sundae… what at first seems so simple and unassuming, develops so many layers the more you look at it. Pretty rad.

8. This weekend was a raspberry beer cocktail kind of weekend. Yes! The very same one I posted on the blog last week. Friends, let me tell you. These things are delicious… and thus a little dangerous. But I think the deliciousness outweighs the risk factor.

9. I had the BEST time Saturday evening. Out at a club? Nope. Having a party? No again. Having a picnic. That’s right, I’m crazy. Me and the boyfriend took a blanket, some books, and snacks (which may or may not have included those raspberry beer cocktails) to the park by our house. Laying in the park, reading, and eating french bread, brie, and salami (best dinner ever) was so much fun. I really need to schedule more picnics in the future… like every weekend.

Happy Monday, friends. Hope you had a great weekend!

(all pictures without links were taken by me for artsocial)

Record Breaker

06. 25. 12

Man was it hot this weekend. Like lay-around-with-a-fan-in-your-face hot. Like too-hot-to-eat hot! Ok, well almost. I did feel like I could’ve gotten heat stroke while sitting on the patio at Snooze Saturday morning, but I still managed to finish my cylinder of hash browns and my beermosa. (Potatoes at Snooze are served in the shape of a cylinder. Geometric. Delicious. It’s 100 degrees while I write this, I apologize for any ramblings).

1. Hot summer days are for air conditioned spaces or pools, but hot summer nights? They’re for patio parties. This tiny bar setup is super adorbs, it makes me want to spruce up my little patio with something similar…

2. This cupcake miss Jessica pinned on artsocial’s Collections + Cupcakes pin board looks crazy delicious. It’s called the “cupcake pistache-chocolat.” Whaaat. Yeah. It’s French. That means not only is it probably insanely good, but it seems sophisticated… and thus more nutritious. No? Not good logic?

3. Oh John Baldessari, you genius. This oil and acrylic work is the perfect painting… or at least it tells us what makes the perfect painting. I LOVE artists with a sense of humor. It’s art after all, let’s not take it all so seriously.

4. Here’s that beermosa from Snooze I mentioned earlier. Ok I know orange juice mixed with beer sounds really really gross, but it’s actually pretty great. I’m tellin’ ya, beer cocktails are gonna be all the rage soon… I’m totes an expert. (Not at all an expert).

5. Since it was sooooo hot (whining voice) this weekend, I spent a little time hovering over the ac vent whilst browsing through Pinterest and came across this amaaaazing pinner: Amanda Rodriguez, a freelance interior stylist from Stockholm. All of her pins are gorgeous… like so gorgeous her boards make my boards look like a child with a cupcake obsession has been calling the shots. What I mean to say is this girl’s got some serious style and I highly encourage you to spend time looking at her pins… you’ll be inspired. Guaranteed.

6. I used to do my homework on clipboards when I was little. They made me feel super grown-up, like I worked in an office or something… an office that required me to write 10 sentences using 10 new vocabulary words. Anyhoo, those clipboard days are over, but I looove the idea of turning clipboards into an inspiration/decoration wall.

7. Guys. Look at these little paper shirts I found on Very Sarie. Totally reminds me of playing with paper dolls on my parent’s couch. Did anyone else have paper dolls when they were little? Was I the only one who thought leaning paper cutouts of Beauty and the Beast characters against the window constituted super fun playtime?

8. What else is there to do on a 104 degree day than watch the sunset… I know, we’re nuts. Although by 8 pm it was a cool 90 degrees. Gah. But the gorgeous colors were worth enduring the heat.

9. After the sunset and the lingering 90 degree weather, there was only one option for date night: popsicles on the patio.

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you’re staying cool… I recommend popsicles. If you happen to be following me on the ‘gram lately, you know this :)

Round ‘em Up

06. 18. 12

Well hello there, friends. Since I skipped the weekend roundup last week to post my vlogging debut, I was preeetty excited to get back to it this week. But I’m starting to wonder if I do anything other than eat, look at art, eat, and go to the movies on the weekends… not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s good to be well-rounded, right? Maybe I’ll start doing karate. Oh! or taking hip hop dance classes. I really want to learn how to dougie once and for all…

1. This weekend started with me making dinner for the boyfriend. Now this may seem boring, routine, UNexciting, but guys I NEVER make dinner. This was a big deal. I am not the cook in my relationship. Having a boyfriend that can cook incredible meals is A. amazeballs B. romantic as hell and C. very intimidating. After he makes the best chicken enchiladas ever, I can’t exactly make him my signature buttered noodles with parmesan (if I even have that, sometimes it’s just salt and pepper). But I had an ace up my sleeve this weekend. My bestie had told me about the most delicious and simple grilled cheese sandwich of all time: the Green Goddess Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Fancy grilled cheese? Now that’s my speed. And it was a big hit.

2. This photograph by Kristin Kirkley Photography can come live at my house. Srsly put it in any room and it’s a party… except without all the music and drunk people and clean up afterwards. Sounds like a win to me.

3. I pinned this on Friday and I can’t stop thinking about it. After my TIATTY post, I’ve felt so inspired by the support from my friends and some incredibly awesome fellow bloggers. It makes me want to really go for it, to follow my passions. After being unsure of my career path for so long, I think I’ve caught a glimpse of where I belong. And that makes the future pretty exciting. Ok cheesy moment over… but if you want to sing along to LMFAO’s “Yes” with me, it’s totally playing in my head right now and seems appropriate for the moment (cuz everyday I see my dream). P.S. I know, I don’t know why I like this music either…

4. Umm a drawing of a bear made out of the word “bear” – this doesn’t even need an explanation as to why I picked it for the roundup. It’s coolness is obvious.

5. Whoa dudes. These porcelain sugar cones are perfection. Let’s get something straight right now: I screamed for ice cream, not some kind of spongy baked good. I don’t like the cones. Just get a cup, you might say. Well that’s just not the same. I would like to enjoy my ice cream sans spoon. All of my ice cream problems are now solved thanks to this Etsy shop.

6. 20×200 had a ridonk sale this weekend (that’s actually what they called it, that’s not my white girl gangster talk… this time). I l.o.v.e this photograph Winter Flags (East Village, New York) by Youngna Park. Want? Yes. Need? Also yes.

7. Oh the washi tape. I’m getting some to jazz up my business cards… and my life in general. Putting washi tape on anything makes it better. Fact.

8. Saturday night consisted of seeing Moonrise Kingdom at the Mayan Theatre. This theater was built in 1930 and is one of Denver’s independent and foreign film cinemas. Needless to say it’s super old school. Add a Wes Anderson movie to this scenario and you get hipsterfest 5000. But I really really love this theater and the movie was AWESOME, go see it immediately. Does that make me a hipster? Probably. Especially since I took an instagram of it for the blog. Ha! And I was wearing skinny jeans… damn!

9. Speaking of Denver, I recently discovered an amazing local artist. Inspired by ”the final girl” in horror films and the “femme fatale” character in film noir, Sigri Strand creates Cindy Sherman-esque photographs that are incredibly rad. There’s so much more to the story in these colorful, stylized photos… and I’m dying to know what that story is. Great art always leaves you wanting more…

Happy Muesday

05. 29. 12

Since Monday was an extension of the glorious weekend, I’m officially calling today Muesday. I thought a long weekend would mean I’d have a whole lot to jam into my weekend roundup, but ya know, I actually took a lot of time to relax this weekend. Sometimes a girl needs to sleep until 10 and then take an afternoon nap… am I right?

1. Two words: Disco Brunch. The Corner Office in Downtown Denver is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots ever. Not only do they have an awesome brunch dubbed the Disco Brunch, but they have a disco ball in the bathroom and a wall full of funny post-its. And yes, I took this picture in the bathroom. Oh yeah, and the food’s pretty great.

2. How many ban.do pom pom flowers are too many ban.do pom pom flowers? Answer: you can never have too many. I already have colorful pom poms, so I needed a neutral one right? I basically HAD TO buy it.

3. Omigosh guys. This article called The “Hell Yes!” Approach to Better, Bolder Decision Making is a life-changer. I hate to admit it but I’m one of those people pleasers who has a really hard time saying no… and I kind of hate it. I hate it because by saying yes to things I know I don’t want to do, I’m basically saying no to myself. After reading this article, I want to make a change. While the article is geared towards business decisions, I think the “Hell Yes!” Approach is really how we should be making all of the decisions in our lives. SO, I’m gonna start saying “hell yes!” to myself and my intuitive responses. I’ll let you know how it goes…

4. What’s a long weekend without a little shopping? The boyfriend was sweet enough to brave H&M with me. While he looked miserable – and a little peaked at times – he made it through and I made it out with 2 shirts I’ll probs live in this summer and some cuuuuute hair ties – which by the way are very similar to these, for half the price.

5. This beach umbrella photograph by Alice B. Gardens just says summer… added to cart.

6. These DIY envelopes made from the pages of a J. Crew catalog are preeetttty awesome. Kind of so cute I can’t stand it.

7. I know I live in Colorado so I should be obsessed with all things outdoorsy, but honestly one of my favorite things to do is go to the movies. 75 degrees and sunny? Yeah but the new Men in Black just came out… and if the movie theater has a photo booth? Done deal. I’m there.

8. I’m in love with this super rad illustration… but it’s apparently from a Soviet-era children’s book called Klop (The Bedbug) by Mayakovsky. As someone who is thoroughly creeped out by bedbugs, I think the !!!!! is an appropriate illustration.

9. Oh Joy recently declared pie is the new cupcake. When Joy predicts a new dessert trend, you listen. But eating an entire slice of pie is a big commitment… so these super adorbs peekaboo pie pops by Cakewalk Desserts are the perfect solution.

Hope you all had an incredible long weekend!

(all photos without a link were taken by artsocial… some of which can be found on the ‘gram)