Lazy days and sexy spaces

Hey guys, hope you all are enjoying your weekends, I just wanted to do a quickie post of a few spaces that I've completely fell in love with. I'm a sucker for moody masculine colors mixed with a pops of color and a bit of sparkle I just think its such a great way to balance masculine and feminine decor for a space. Now go forth and be inspired! Lol ;)

Xoxo

M

All That Sass

Photos: Marisa Scott for CitizenLMS

I had the pleasure of attending my dear friend Stacie's wedding this past weekend and I had such a blast, these are a few shots from the day. She was absolutely gorgeous and the day was amazing! If you have a wedding to attend or need ideas for your own wedding check out Stacie's site Brides With Sass or the Brides With Sass Pinterest

xoxo
M

Lobster Mac n Cheese

Here's my Lobster Mac n Cheese recipe from Ina Garten for all of my IG fam that requested it :) Enjoy!!



Ingredients

Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound cavatappi or elbow macaroni
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 pounds cooked lobster meat
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. Still whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and lobster and stir well. Place the mixture in 6 to 8 individual gratin dishes.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Like A Boy...

Brooklyn Nets Cap
F21 basic crop tank
Boyfriend jeans by Minusey
"Morpheus" necklace by moi CitizenLMS

Howdy boys n girls! lol Its been ages since my last post, so I thought I would play around a little with my ipad before I got to work on these freelance projects. Lately I've been bumming around in boyfriend jeans, combat boots and crop tops...not really the most professional gear but I feel the most comfortable like this when I'm working on art projects non stop so this has pretty much been my uniform for the last 3 weekend LOL. I hope everyone is having a great start to their weekend and thank you so much for sticking with me through this mini hiatus!

xoxo,
M

Flowers, Lace, and Cupcakes

Hey guys, if you follow me on Instagram then you know I've been working on a few projects here and there for the bestie's bridal shower. Here are a couple of shots from today's festivities and a couple of shots of what I wore. I can't tell you how stoked I was that it was actually warm enough to wear this dress from Asos!! (high 60's today) I don't know how I'm going to make it in the NYC weather for next week's trip lol I'm beyond spoiled when it comes to spring-like weather in the winter. LOL, anyway hope you guys enjoy the post and outfit deets are below :D


Today's bridal shower outfit:
Dress: Asos
Shoes: Steve Madden pumps
Arm swag: my grandma

I finished my day with a topknot lol

Paintings in Progress

Soooooo.....its been a while since the last time I've posted an update on the series I'm painting. I got some free time this week so I thought I would get back at it, not to mention I was really missing having my brushes in hand. I hope you guys enjoy the sneak peeks and I can't wait to show the finished pieces! Happy TGIF Lovelies!!

The Kiddos

Hey guys, thought I would post a quick children's illustration sample that I had a blast working on this week. The characters were apart of some studies that I did for an old school project called "The Bus". Enjoy! Happy Weekend!!


("The Kiddos" copyright 2013 Marisa Scott)

SHOP CitizenLMS

THE SHOP OPENS 01.07.12

My new year's resolutions:

Happy New Year everyone!!! Wishing you all a Happy and Prosperous start to 2013!!!!

Bloggers Illustrated pt. 1

Aimee Song and Charcoal of "Song of Style"




Tosha Eason of Bambi's Armoire




Nicole Warne of Gary Pepper Vintage

(copyright Marisa Scott for CitizenLMS)



Here are the finished Illustrations for my "Blogger's Illustrated" series!!! Happy Saturday guys! :D

M's Macarons

Hey guys!!! I hope you all are having a wonderful Holiday season with your family and friends, I got a break from traveling, working, and visiting family so I thought I would test out this macaroon recipe I came across on inspiringtheeveryday.com


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Lavender French Macaron Recipe
from http://inspiringtheeveryday.com

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons almond meal, sifted



3 large eggs, room temperature

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

6 Tablespoons granular sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract



1/16 teaspoon purple food color paste



First off I like to have a template ready as a guide for uniform cookies. Take a piece of cardboard and trace out twenty-four circles about 1 ¾ inches in diameter. This is a good amount for a standard half sheet pan. The cardboard template should fit right inside the pan. The macarons will be piped onto parchment paper which allows the template to show through. [Preheat oven to 375ºF]

Sift the confectioner’s sugar and almond meal together. This helps remove lumps and large pieces of almonds in the meal. I prefer to sift these ingredients separately and then measure out what is needed in the recipe. Set this aside while you prepare the egg whites.

Separate the eggs, setting asides the yolks for another recipe. A good rule of thumb is to leave the eggs at room temperature overnight to cure the egg whites. The meringue behaves better this way.

Beat the egg whites until frothy, add in the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.

Add sugar gradually and continue to whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Just before you reach this point, add the vanilla extract and colorant. You will have a little ‘whipping’ room to adjust the color before the egg white are stiff.

Fold in confectioner’s sugar and almond meal mixture into egg whites in two parts. Once all of the dry ingredients are incorporated continue to fold until the batter flows like magma when you lift the spatula. I feel that this is important, due to the fact that you want the macaron cookies to smooth out once they are piped onto the parchment.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a quarter inch round tip with batter. To pipe a nicely shaped disk, start with the pastry bag vertical to the parchment, tip side down. The tip of the bag should be a half inch from the paper. Squeeze the batter onto the center of the circle drawing and the batter will flow towards the edge. Just as the batter reaches this point stop squeezing the bag and drag the tip in a circular motion towards the edge of the disk. This will help eliminate the peak of batter in the middle of the cookie. Repeat with the remaining circles. A word of caution, since we folded the batter to flow like magma, the batter will start flowing out of the pastry bag as soon as you turn the bag tip side down. So work quickly and with precision. It will take a few tries to be confident in this step.

To help the batter smooth out, just tap the bottom of the template. Now slide to parchment onto the sheet pan. Allow the meringue to rest for fifteen to twenty minutes. This will allow a skin to form on the macaron which will give you that signature French macaron skirt we are going for.

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 325ºF and bake the macarons for 10 minutes. Allow the macarons to cool for a few minutes on the pan before transferring them to a cooling rack. Raise the heat of the oven back to 375ºF. Once the oven is back up to temp, repeat with the reaming cookies. Remember to drop the oven temperature to 325ºF each time you bake more macarons.



Lavender Buttercream Recipe

12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

6 Tablespoons vegetable shortening

1 ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon lavender flowers, ground

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat together butter and shortening until smooth. Beat in confectioner’s sugar.

Add the remaining ingredients and place in a pastry bag with a small round tip.

Pipe a teaspoon of the buttercream on half of the macarons and gently press together with the other halves. This recipe will make two dozen macarons. Hopefully this long recipe won’t stop you from experimenting with meringue. After a few tries the process is rather enjoyable.


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I altered my recipe slightly, instead of using lavender, I flavored half of my macaroon base with almond and vanilla extract and the other half with strawberry extract.













Hope you all enjoyed the baking post! I'm off to eat more macaroons lol ;D
xoxo
M

Long time no speak

Hi guys!! Sorry for the long absence but its been pretty insane around here with traveling, working, and freelancing. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and are scoring some major deals as you shop this Black Friday :D. Earlier this week I posted a photo on Instagram of a Tupac Sweatshirt that I hand painted and wore yesterday (OOTD post coming this weekend) and you guys seemed to love it Soooooooooo.....I'll begin taking orders for that shirt and two other designs on Wednesday Dec. 5th. so stay tuned for more info and details!

here's a peak at the process shots of my shirt:



xoxo
M

M's Most Wanted: Fall Cravings

CitizenLMS on StyleSaint

CitizenLMS is now on StyleSaint! Stop by and give my StyleBook: "Small Town Girl. Big City Style." a Like or leave a comment!!

Sneak Peek: Blogger's Illustrated Progress Shots

(©Marisa Scott for CitizenLMS 2012)