I’ve always been a fan of a great at-home bar. I strongly believe it’s a must-learn life skill to mix up classic cocktails, and as an avid host, it’s important to provide an array...
Looking back on Easter as a child, I remember how excited I was to dig through my Easter basket. Full of chocolate bunnies, malt ball Easter eggs, Peeps, golden coins, and my favorite Cadbury...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
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Pour me a glass of vino with a dozen white wine mussels and crispy shoestring fries and you have one happy lady. This accompaniment has always been a favorite of mine, and I knew it was high time to get to work in the kitchen to put my own twist on these delicious little mollusks.
The best thing about mussels is the fact that you really can’t get them wrong. But I’ll admit, I was a bit apprehensive about trying my hand at them at home for some reason. To my delight, cooking mussels is actually super easy because they serve as the perfect vessel to carry any flavor you’re craving. Really, all you need is a soupy broth and tons of crusty bread to soak it all up, and your dish will be a success. Promise.
As you saw a peek last night on Instagram, I brought together some of my favorite flavor combinations to create my two new favorite ways to cook mussels. The first recipe has roasted tomatoes soaking in a white wine sauce with garlic, basil and shallots. White wine mussels will always be a favorite, and this blend hits the spot. And our second rendition is just as tasty; a creamy coconut milk and butter sauce with cilantro and serrano pepper and hint of lime. The creaminess proves to be the perfect counter to the spice of the pepper, and the result is just divine. Truly, MKR
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Yesterday we invited you to join in on the fun at our end-of-summer block party with Pottery Barn. With great grub and fun activities for kids of all ages, who could ever say no to a carefree block party bash? But I know what you’re thinking: it’s hot (like really hot) and hot doesn’t always work hand-in-hand with “carefree.” As someone who’s already counting down until fall, I hear you. But good news: it IS possible to keep the menu easy and light, while simple DIYs can keep even the busiest of bodies busy so you can enjoy a refreshing drink or two. I think we can all cheers to that!
When I set up our block party, I knew I wanted to keep things comfortable, casual and laid-back. That, of course, was thanks to PB’s cozy chairs, pillows and outdoor dining set, but it was also thanks to the fuss-free food we served: my take on The Cuban and pimento cheese and tomato sandwiches (see both recipes below), homemade potato chips (because what’s a block party without chips!) and healthy-ish dips with fresh veggies and fruit. Along with all the finger food I whipped up a super refreshing Citrus Cooler mocktail (recipe below) that could easily become booze infused with a shot or two of vodka.
For dessert, I stuffed a bin full of ice and freeze pops, plus put watermelon slices onto popsicle sticks for the perfect dessert al fresco. By keeping the menu super simple, and asking everyone to pitch in, no one’s stressed to whip up an over-the-top dish.
But a block party isn’t all about the food (though it’s a big part), so I also set up a few simple DIY activities for kids of all ages to enjoy. I think the biggest mistake people make when pulling together something like this block party is overthinking the agenda and spending too much money on what you think the kids will do. The beauty of a block party, after all, is that it’s an excuse for everyone to come together and do their own thing…kids will be running around, teens will probably just want to hang out, and adults will be catching up (while trying to keep an eye on the little ones).
With all this in mind, I set up an easy DIY crafts table for the little ones with all the makings of a paint-and-plant station. We brought small terracotta pots labeled with each kids’ name (gorgeously handwritten by Jenn Gietzen) for them to paint all over, as well as organic potting soil and a few pre-potted (and hardy) herbs like mint, rosemary and thyme the kids can watch grow inside all year long. The supplies can be kept simple (all you’ll need are a few colors of acrylic paint and paint brushes) and cleanup shouldn’t be overwhelming since it’s outside. And since we had kids of all ages at the block party, I set up a table with colored beads for the teens to create DIY beaded bracelets. We separated each color family into different dishes, making it easy for everyone to fight over the prettiest beads to add to their arm stacks.
Check out the recipes for two fuss-free sandwiches and our Citrus Cooler mocktail (easily turned cocktail) below, and tell me what you’ll be serving at your end-of-summer block party! Truly, MKR
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Running a small business isn’t a walk in the park, and as I shared last week, there are many things I wish I had known before becoming an entrepreneur. Luckily, a team of fantastic people who like to #GSD just as much as I do, and a handful of apps and tools help me pull it off when all is said and done. Today, I’m sharing our most-used small business tools that keep all the moving parts in motion. I’d love to know if you, too, use any of these tools, and if you’re a fan of any others! Truly, MKR
No. 1…Ahalogy. Pinterest is a big part of our business; it’s our primary traffic driver to the blog and shop. In order to keep the Pinterest mill churning, we use Ahalogy to schedule pins from our site. While you have to apply for membership, it’s well worth it when you’re in. We’re able to push out original content to the Pinterest masses at optimal hours over time, and in turn get noticed by new followers and for more brand collaborations.
No. 2…CoSchedule.Running an editorial calendar with fresh daily content requires a few moving parts, and CoSchedule comes in handy. This easy-to-use tool makes it simple to plan and schedule content (it’s linked directly to your WordPress account), and at the snap of your fingers you can schedule social amplification of the post through Twitter and Facebook. Kat, our editorial director, has this dashboard open at all times to monitor the editorial calendar and archive old content on social media. Our favorite part about CoSchedule? It offers an updated at-a-glance look at what’s coming up on the blog, and allows quick tweaking and shuffling when need be.
No. 3…Dropbox.I don’t know where we’d be without Dropbox. It’s nothing glamorous, and I’m sure you’ve heard of this file-saving storage system, if not used it yourself already. We house all of our graphic files and high-res photography here, and we use it to share bundles or large files with partners when needed. Everyone on the team also has access, which allows quick replies to any requests and projects that need assets (we all wear many hats, like any small business).
No. 4…Evernote.Evernote is perhaps one of my favorite tools, now that I finally feel like I have the hang of it. We use this tool to save must-read and must-share articles, to store important files (read: invoices, receipts and resumes!), along with any inspiration we want to share with the entire team. It makes bookmarking articles and posts THAT much easier, and it allows you to file content via notes and notebooks. Our favorite part about Evernote: articles and links are no longer lost in the abyss of our inboxes.
No. 5…FreshBooks. Though I work with an accountant now, FreshBooks was my go-to small business accounting software that I leaned on before. Creating and sending invoices is very straight-forward, as well as simply keeping up with all of them. That’s half the battle!
No. 6…FreeConferenceCall.com. Just as it sounds, this site allows us to schedule free conference calls for our weekly team meeting.
No. 7…Google Calendar. We have three Google Calendars as a team: our Blog Calendar, Marketing and WOM-All. On our Blog Calendar, Kat and I manage the upcoming ideas for content. While Kat uses CoSchedule (listed above) for the actual editorial content management, Google Calendar is the place for me to see our content flow as I schedule the photoshoots and projects. It’s also where Kat notes ready-for-review-and-approve blog posts, so I know when I can hop in and finalize posts for publishing. Our second Google Calendar is for all things marketing: email campaigns, paid advertising, shop promotions, etc. Lastly, our WOM-All calendar is a separate, general team calendar keeps track of our busy schedules, and gives us all notice for upcoming team events, out-of-office updates and important projects.
No. 8…Hootsuite. Since not all of the content we share on social media is directly linked to the blog, we need another tool besides CoSchedule to share content for any shop promotions. Hootsuite makes it easy to do so, and we’re able to have important information practically run on auto-pilot after scheduling.
No. 9…LegalZoom. LegalZoom helps you start a business (literally, as an LLC, incorporation, LLP, LP…you name it), register trademarks, create legal forms and copyrights, and so much more.
No. 10…Mailchimp. We send out a daily newsletter for the blog, as well as 3x week emails to our shop list to keep our customers up to date with sales, new arrivals, back in stock updates and exclusive offers. Mailchimp‘s email platform is incredibly easy to navigate, with simple drag-and-drop templates for your graphics and links. A fun feature of Mailchimp: its automation, as well as A/B subject line testing. We could geek out over the analytics for days!
No. 11…Planoly. We recently started using Planoly to help plan our Instagram content. I always preach about the importance of a strong “quilt” on your Instagram account; the 9 photos that you first see on your account. Planoly helps you see that overall look and feel before posting…#game changer.
No. 12…Shopify. We use Shopify for our shop, and it makes running a retail business truly 10x easier. The Shopify Blog has also proven to be an excellent resource for many questions, and we reference it regularly with all of our shop-related marketing questions.
No. 13…Tiny Scanner. This easy-to-use app quickly converts an iPhone picture into a PDF. This especially comes in handy whenever I have to send in signed contracts.
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