Friday, September 30, 2011

New Photography



If you are in New York at any point between now and January 12, make sure you stop by the MOMA and check out the New Photography exhibit! Featuring six photographers from all over the world (Canada, England, China, Holland and the United States) the exhibit focuses on the diversity and international scope of modern photography across the world. Here is a preview of a few of the photographers and some of their work. If you go, make sure to tell us all about it!


Deana Lawson, Her photos explore intimacy, sexuality and community in her portraits of people taken in their homes. 


George Georgio. A british photographer who lives in Istanbul and photographs extensively in Eastern Europe.


Viviane Sassen is a photographer who was born in Amsterdam, but was raised in Kenya. You can see the influence of this in her photography in her photographs that are taken in intentionally unidentified African countries, focusing on anonymous, faceless subjects. 


Doug Rickard is an American born photographer that explores ground level geography of urban areas using Google Street View


Moyra Davey is a Canadian born photographer that creates pictures using analog materials that are increasingly hard to come by in today's digital world. She then folds the pictures into envelope shapes and mails them to friends, and later collects the photos and displays them in grid form complete with stamps and markings.


Zhang Dali is a Chinese born artist that manipulates photos that were used as propaganda during the rule of Mao Tse Tung's Communist regime. 

Thursday, September 29, 2011

A Few Things

The Fall season is here and in preparation for more time spent at home with friends and family, it's time to get a few things in order! All while listening to good music, of course!


He's My Brother, She's My Sister- Clackin' Heels. This entire album is fantastic, and we love the look of this video. Everything about this group is super fun. 

P.S. Check out this new site for discovering new music and artists: One Track Mind. It's Awesome!


No Carve Pumpkin Decorating- Courtesy of one of our favorite magazines ever- Real Simple. Fun and creative ideas for decorating pumpkins without the huge mess! 


Disney is coming out with another Muppet movie this holiday season, and OPI is celebrating with a new line dedicated to them, arriving in November of 2011! We love the range of bold reds, neutrals and fun glitters for the holidays! Also don't forget to check out the fun names OPI has given them. We especially love Gettin' Miss Piggy With it.


Also from Real Simple is this fantastic food and wine pairing guide. A great go- to guide for tastes that will work best together. Even for the wine connoisseur, this is a wonderful place to consult for fresh ideas, and pairings you may have not thought of. 







Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Pan Am, 1960's Style

Being that we are fans of anything vintage and fabulous, the addition of Pan Am to the fall television lineup has us totally psyched! Based around the personal lives of the pilots and flight attendants of the iconic airline, the show is a fantastic period drama that many are comparing to Mad Men. The fashion is of course one of our favorite parts, so keep and eye on the fabulous vintage style elements and be inspired to find ways to incorporate them into your look today!


Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Food For Life

Week three of the Food For Life posts have brought us to one of our favorite blogs;  Affairs Of Living. A must follow for healthy lifestyle ideas, clean recipes and additional resources around the internet that will help you in your journey to a cleaner, healthier lifestyle.

Today we want to talk about juicing and smoothies. Yes, you hear correctly; veggies and fruit and and blenders galore. You will feel so healthy and accomplished after incorporating these (extremely simple) recipes into your dietary routine, you won't know what to do with yourself!  



What you will need:
- 1/4 cup of gluten free steel cut oats, soaked for 6-12 hours in 1/12 cups of water and 1 tsp of raw cider vinegar, raw coconut vinegar, whey or lemon juice
- 1 cup of frozen blueberries
- 2 tbs of Hemp seeds (you can substitute any other nut or seed if you don't care for Hemp seeds)
- 1 cup of filtered water
- 1 tbs of finely ground flax seed or chai seed
- 2 tsp of flax oil or hemp oil
- plain or vanilla stevia liquid, to taste

Soak the steel cut oats with 1 1/2 cups of water and acidic ingredient of our choice in a bowl for 6-12 hours. drain and rinse very well. 

Place the soaked oats and all other ingredients into a blender and blend on high until smooth and sweeten with stevia to taste. 



What you will need: 

- 1 Avocado
- 1 cup of packed spinach
- 1 cup of non dairy milk 
- 2 tbs of fresh mint leaves
- 1/12 cups of ice
- 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of peppermint extract/flavoring to taste
- 20-25 drops of stevia liquid. You can also use dates, agave, honey, brown sugar or brown rice syrup instead. 

Place all ingredients in a blender, pulse, then blend on high until smooth. Adjust mint and sweetness levels to taste. 

*pictures and recipes courtesy of Affairsofliving.com


Monday, September 26, 2011

Chanel Extravaganza

In the October issue of Elle, there has been an explosion of vintage Chanel, AND WE LOVE IT! Draped across the beauties of Victoria's Secret are Chanel pendants, belts, layered charm bracelets, and CC logos galore. All Available right here at House of Lavande! If you haven't gotten your hands on some of these pieces, now is the time; we can assure you they won't be available forever!















Friday, September 23, 2011

28 In 28

While perusing the October issue of InStyle we came across this wonderful spread: 28 Days of Amazing Outfits! Basing a month of outfits on the idea of using twenty-eight key pieces you already have in your closet, they have broken it down in a simple and fun way and created looks we may have not thought to pair together. Touching on day to night, and work to play they have covered all of the bases. We love it InStyle!






Thursday, September 22, 2011

A Few Things

It's That time once again friends! A few things that we are loving, that we just cannot keep to ourselves...

Lykke Li, I Follow Rivers. This is her second single from the album 'Wounded Rhymes'. If we could turn it off, we would. 


Remember Shel Silverstein? All of his books are some of our most treasured from childhood. Unfortunately Shel passed away in 1999, but his family is releasing a book of unpublished works titled 'Everything On It'. Can't wait!


Jessica Chastain wearing House of Lavande earrings to the UK premiere of 'The Debt'. She is one of Hollywoods biggest up and coming actresses right now, and we just adore her in HOL!


Mrs. Obama in a House of Lavande belt. To be honest, this isn't even our favorite part about this. Michelle's dress is actually the same Maria Pinto dress she wore back in 2008. A quick hem adjustment and new accessories, and you have an entirely new look. Here's to recycling the wardrobe, Mrs. O!


House of Lavande on Polyvore! That's right fashionistas, we are jumping into the middle of the collaging/styling action. Come on over and join us in getting creative and finding new inspiration!





Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Fashion Inspirations

It's time to get your retro on folks! The 1970's been one of our favorite trends over the last couple of seasons, and lucky for all of us it's still in full swing! Adding a shorter pendant necklace with a pop of color, a fun pair of earrings or a statement cuff will instantly kick up your look. Add in a bold shoe as well, and you're ready to go!

Dress and shoes: Netaporter.com
Jewelry: Houseoflavande.com
HNVAYMAA2U68 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Food For Life

This week we are going to take another small step into the world of healthy eating and living. One of our favorite points of reference is The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone. Her website, The Kind Life, in addition to the book are fantastic places to begin exploring a world without meat, and clean eating. Alicia begins simply, touching on the idea of being a 'flirt' with becoming a vegetarian and explaining the monumental effects a cleaner diet can have on our bodies.

Below are recipes that are not only meat, free, but are vegan as well. Don't let the process intimidate you, and don't assume you can only eat lettuce and that you won't have enough protein. We assure you, with a small amount of planning and getting excited about changing your life and your body, it will be an easy process!

Black Bean Burger with Guacamole:


What you will need: 
1 avocado
1 tbsp. of lime juice
salt/pepper
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of chopped garlic
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 tsp. of cumin
1/4 cup of chopped tomato
15 oz. (one can) of black beans

For the Guacamole:
1. In a small bowl mash avocado, stir in lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Burgers:
1. In a food processor, or with a potato masher combine black beans, bread crumbs, garlic, onion, cumin and olive oil
2. Form mixture into four or five 1/2 thick patties
3. Cook the patties in a light coating of olive oil on a non-stick skillet. (About five minutes each, until cooked through, and browned on each side)
4. To serve, top patties with guacamole and chopped tomato

*add in a delicious hot sauce for an extra kick, and you can also serve with chips and salsa!

Artichokes with roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato sauce on buttered angel hair pasta:




What you will need:
1 artichoke, peeled and quartered
1 large red pepper, halved and seeded
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup of tomato paste
1tsp. of brown sugar
1 cup of mushrooms, finely chopped
1 dash of red wine
angel hair pasta
1tsp of butter (we use Earth Balance)
2tbs. of olive oil

1. Roast the red pepper, artichoke, garlic and onion in olive oil until artichoke has burt edges and the peppers are fully cooked.
2. Peel the burnt edges of the artichoke off and set the quarters aside.
3. in a bowl, combine the peppers, garlic, onion and sundried tomatoes
4. Stir mixture and add in tomato paste, brown sugar and left over oil from the roasting try in step one.
(taste the mixture to adjust seasoning)
5. Fry the mushrooms in a skillet using olive oil and one tsp. of butter until they are crispy
6. Add in the red pepper mixture, any herbs you like, and a dash (or two) of red wine
7. Pasta water should have been boiling at this point. Once the pasta is cooked drain and stir in once tablespoon of Earth Balance butter.
8. Top pasta with sauce and a slice of artichoke

A side note for today: What we are snacking on. Throughout the work day it is always good to have treats to keep energy levels up. Here are a few of the healthy things we keep in the store to avoid the candy bar, bag of chips snack attack that we all get.


From left to right:
Superfood raw, gluten free antioxidant filled Grawnola in Goji-Mixed Berry
Himalania all natural Goji Berry Trail Mix
Somersault sunflower seed and toasted grain snacks
Kaia Foods buckwheat granola in cocoa bliss

*All available at Whole Foods








Monday, September 19, 2011

Emmys In Style

Last night was the 63rd Primetime Emmy awards, and of course we were glued to the red carpet, scoping out the fashion! Red was by far the trend of the evening, with a total of six ladies donning red gowns. Here are a few of our favorites from the night! 

Evan Rachel Wood in Elie Saab 


Kelly Osbourne in J Mendel


Rachel Taylor in Georgio Armani, Annie Illonzeh in Romona Keveza, and Minka Kelly in Christian Dior

Kate Winslet in Elie Saab


Katie Holmes in Calvin Klein


 Nina Dobrev in Donna Karan


Friday, September 16, 2011

Ladies In Lavande

Have you spotted some of your favorite leading ladies in HOL this week?! Here they are, looking fabulous!

Sarah Jessica Parker at the 'I Don't Know How She Does It' screening

Julia Stiles at the Creative Arts Emmy's 

Lady Gaga at a photo shoot in Central Park

Rihanna out and about in LA

Jessica Alba at the Alma awards


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Fashion Inspirations

After collecting a few of our favorite looks that we have seen on the runways this week, we thought it was only right to play with some of our fab jewels, and put together a few looks and ideas. Bright colors, inspirations from decades past, day and night looks... we literally can't get enough!

By Day: Pieces from the 60's and 70's are a perfect top off a casual look.

 By Night: Glitz and Glam! A one of a kind statement piece will set any look apart from the rest.


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Springtime Beauty

Fashion week will sadly be coming to a close tomorrow and as much as we have been inspired by all of the designs, clothing and visions each designer has for the upcoming Spring 2012 season, we cannot forget about another important factor here...The makeup! 

Here are a few insider tips on how to achieve the looks that a few of our favorite designers used in their shows:

Derek Lam: Tom Pecheux for Estee Lauder

The Inspiration: Clean minimalism and open desert landscape of the Kaufmann House by Richard Neutra in Palm Springs.

The Makeup: A dreamy warm look with fresh skin, shimmering eyes with muted yellow shadow highlighted by coppers and greens. Lightly bronzed, contoured cheeks and a sheer golden lip.


Victoria Beckham: Charlotte Tilbury for Lancome


The Inspiration: A handsome and sporty look to compliment the structured and modern designs.

The Makeup: Fresh glowing skin created with shading highlighting to contour the face. The look for the eyes was achieved by using Lancome Liner Design in Bronze Couture (available April 2012), mixed with Absolute Bx moisturizer and then topped with Juicy Tubes in Pure to give the glossy finish.


Chris Benz: Daniel Martin for Lancome


The Inspiration: 1960's Nightclub fixture, and friend of Andy Warhol, Candy Darling.

The Makeup: Shades of sea foam and mint shadow, defined by black gel liner for definition and thick black lashes. Bright lips to add a pop of color using Sequence of Love's lipstick in Rogue (available February 2012). Lastly, a tangerine blush applied high on the cheekbone for the finishing touch.

The Row: Tom Pecheux for Estee Lauder

The Inspiration: Soft and sophisticated. Fresh, natural and beautiful. "The way any woman would want to look when she wakes up in the morning" - Tom Pecheux

The Makeup: Skin illuminator, NEW foundation (launching 2012) and lucidity loose powder were used to achieve the soft glow of the skin. Blonde model's eyes were lined in brown and also used a brown mascara. Brunette models wore black. The lip was Pure long lasting lipstick in Beige. Lastly, the cheeks were the NEW limited edition Gelee Bronzer (launching in 2012).
Marc by Marc Jacobs: Dick Page, Shiseido Artisitc Director

The Inspiration: A minimal and sporty look inspired by Bauhaus and Charles Eames.

The Makeup: A base foundation was used to even out skin tone, then topped with Shiseido Makeup loose powder for a matte finish. A blend of Shiseido Luminizing Satin Face Color in High Beam White and Soft beam Gold were used to create the 'halo' effect around the eyes. Blush applied to the apple of the cheek is a combination of Luminizing Satin Face Color in in Petal, mixed with Soft Beam white. The eyes are a simple combination of black mascara and lip treatment to create a glossy effect on the lid. Shiseido Perfect Rouge Lipstick in Roseate was used on the lip.