Jazz Age Lawn Party- June

Hi all!

Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long for my Jazz Age Lawn Party pictures.  Last Sunday was my second time going with friends to the Governor's Island bash and it was just as fun as the first time.  Since the island is already pretty old school (took the ferry over) with its historical buildings and lack of cars, the whole effect was amplified with everyone walking around in 1920's garb.  The live music was wonderful and the singers and dancers were amazing to watch- such skill!  Such nostalgia for old times past, days of speakeasies, prohibition, finger waves, flappers, and glorious excess.  

Listening to: Bing Crosby- Let's do it

Splitscreen: A Love Story

Nokia sure is smart. They held a contest in which the competitors had to create a short film using only the camera on a Nokia 8 phone. And the winner sure is a lucky guy. JW Griffiths, who directed "Splitscreen: A Love Story", a two and a half minute long film of worlds colliding, won himself $10,000 with his work. Check out his video below:

For behind the scenes content and more information about Nokia Shorts 2011, check out the Vimeo group.
♥, Azzara

Resort Part II: Obsessed With Valentino

I love Valentino Resort 2012! There's literally not one look that I'm not dying to own, and for picky ol' me, that's a feat. If only I could just walk into Valentino and buy everything. What a dream. I love prints, embellishment (not the pageant dress kind though, duh) and fun details... all of which Valentino has got goin' on. The styling is also spot-on for my taste; the shoes, belts and bags sure work perfectly. I like the colour palate and how well the looks all flow together. Aaaand so many dresses, I think I'm in love.

GIMME!
♥, Azzara

Last week in photos

I've been a little MIA recently but here are some pictures to show you some of the things I've been up to this summer including: a Decemberists concert at Prospect Park Bandshell (looking forward to Sufjan in August), purple (!) string beans that I've been growing and finally picked today, and a trip to the Pepsico sculpture gardens at SUNY Purchase.  Definitely a recommended weekend trip mainly because admissions are free and the grounds are amazingly kept and so pretty. The landscape architecture was spot on. 

 Highlight of the show was Colin Meloy crowdsurfing.

 My mum!

Also, today I went to the Jazz Age Lawn Party at Gov. Island so some more updates and pics from that coming up this week.  Hope you all are well.  Happy Monday.

VvV Amanda

Resort Part I

Everyone loves resort collections, me included. It's just great to see designers having a bit of fun with lots of playful, colourful pieces to tide us over. I love girly pieces that can be dressed up with a bit of edge, as you can probably tell from my past posts. Some of my favourites for Resort 2012 would definitely have to include Anna Sui, Jason Wu, Proenza Schouler and Alexandre Herchcovitch (what a name!). Dresses, prints and colours, oh my!

Anna Sui

Eco-Friendly Fashion

Environmentally-friendly fashion is popping up all over the place! Some designers such as Stella McCartney have been using reused, recycled and organic materials for years, but now everyone else seems to be catching on. Finally! Check out some of my favourite picks that use organic, reused and repurposed materials. 

Click on the pieces for more information.

And if you happen to be in the Miami area this weekend, check out the Green Fashionista event. 
♥, Azzara

Homemade Fresh Pasta

On Father's Day weekend I made fresh pasta.  As you can probably tell from my previous food recipe posts, I basically only like to make things that have not that many ingredients and also don't have many preparation steps.  This pasta definitely fit the bill so don't worry if you think you can't make it work- it was actually pretty easy and also very tasty.  I recommend you try this recipe!  It's also fun to knead/ roll the dough if you have any pent up aggression or stress (haha). 

Homemade Pasta
serves 4-6 people


2 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt


Pour the flour into a pile on a flat surface and make a well in the center of the flour.  Put the salt in the well and then crack one of the eggs into the center.  Using a fork, gradually work the flour into the egg.  Repeat this process with the remaining two eggs until you have a cohesive dough.  If it seems too dry then you can add a tsp. of water if absolutely necessary.  Now knead the dough on the floured surface for about two minutes until the dough becomes smooth.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest about 20 min.  You can refrigerate the dough at this point if you want to wait to roll it out for up to 24 hrs (optional). Roll out the dough on the floured surface until it is your desired thickness (about 1/8 inch thick).  Fold each side of the dough towards the center 1/2 way and then fold it in again.  Cut your dough into strips (whatever thickness you desire).  At this point you should unroll your cut strips and hang them up to dry or else when boiled they might become gummy and stick to each other.  The strips should dry about 1-2 hours.  Now they are ready to be boiled and be served(add whatever sauce you like but it would be perfect with pesto)! They only need to boil for 2 min because they are fresh. Enjoy! 


If there are any questions leave a comment and we'll get back to you.


VvV Amanda

Back To The Future

So, I have this weird obsession with looking through the bedrooms of people I know. Okay that sounds real creepy, huh? Their books, knickknacks, clothes, and (especially) embarrassing old photos say a lot about the kind of person they are. And if they have weird stuffed animals or a collection of silly-shaped whistles or something, they're great in my books. Irina Werning, a photographer from Buenos Aires, has said herself that she's fascinated by recreating old photos found around people's houses so clearly she's a woman after my own heart. As a part of her ongoing Back To The Future series, Werning decided to reconstruct some fantastic old family photos approximately 15 years later. Check out some of my favourites below:

 Flor, Male, Sil in 1983 & 2010 

 Nico in 1990 & 2010, France 

  Flo, Maria & Dolores in 1979 & 2010

 Flor in 1975 & 2010, Buenos Aires

 Lali in 1978 & 2010, Buenos Aires

Nico in 1986 & 2010, Buenos Aires

Pancho in 1983 & 2010, Buenos Aires 

Check out Irina's website for more, as well as Back To The Future Part II which is coming soon!

♥, Azzara

BUTTERFLIES

Is it just me or are butterfly motifs blowing up right about now?  I took a walk through H&M and Zara today and noticed at least a couple of butterfly things (enough to make an impression on me).  I actually like it a lot- butterflies are so colorful and cheerful yet also delicate.  Bring on the bugs.  I actually have a couple of "butterfly bushes" in my yard that attract a tonnnnn of butterflies.  I'll take a couple of pictures when the time is right.  Until then enjoy these picks...

♫ Listening to Beach House- Norway
If you click through the image you get more details on each item.

VvV Amanda

Garden Shots

Hey all, thought I'd update you on how my garden's growing.  Here are some snapshots from two weeks ago so you can imagine what it looks like now!  Actually you don't have to imagine because I'll post some newer pics this weekend but I hope these tie you over.  I included some pretty flower pictures too.  We ate the fist harvest of sugar snap peas yesterday. Soo good and so crunchy.  I'm so happy that the garden actually worked. Now if only the purple green beans and tomatoes would come to fruition (haha). SOON.


♫ Listening to Adele- Rolling in the Deep (Jamie xx Shuffle remix)

Click on for more pics...

Wanted

Just conjured this collection of wants during the 15 minute torrential rainstorm that happened outside.  Here's a random smattering of cool stuff: 

If you click on the images you get more info on them.  I also have pinterest if you are interested in following and so does Azzara!  Here's hoping the rain stops.


PS- Bon Iver's new album is almost out! Here's a link to stream the sucker.

Amanda

So Jazzy: Google's Playable Doodle

Google has done it again today, with an interactive doodle commemorating what would have been Les Paul's 96th birthday. Since Les Paul was such a celebrated jazz and country guitarist (as well as songwriter and innovator), the logo has playable guitar strings as well as a recording capability, so you can save what you create. Check out Google today if you want to play around with it, and be sure to send us any brilliant masterpieces that you compose!
Happy Thursday!
♥, Azzara 

She May Need A Golden Calculator To Divide (...But She's A Pretty Damn Good Musician)

A few weeks ago I shared some photographs of a delicious loaf of bread made by Caroline. After promoting her cooking skills, I'm now moving on to promoting her musical talent. She'll probably kill me for doing this, but check out Caroline Rose's music on MySpace or on her website CarolineRoseMusic.com.

Caroline also recently did an interview for the Eclectic Cafe on Southampton, NY's radio station WPPB. Check out a recording below:


Eclectic Cafe 6/1/11 by Klynch1306


She will be opening for Jeff LeBlanc (another awesome musician) on Tuesday 16 August 2011 at the Highline Ballroom in NYC, so please come and check it out if you're in the area. You won't regret it!
♥, Azzara

Juuust As Good As Van Gogh (Right?)

Don't worry guys, we're still here. It's been a hectic week or so, with lots of moving (me), birthdays (Amanda's!) and super duper heat (thanks NYC for skipping straight from winter to summer), but we're back!


I'm really into green roofs, green walls and really.. green anything. So when I saw pictures of a living painting depicting Van Gogh's painting, A Wheatfield with Cypresses, I was pretty amazed. The picture was created by ANS Group Europe, a company that designs green walls in shopping centres, parks and hotels all around England. They used 25 species of plants and over 8,000 plants in total. The plants were arranged according to a numbered drawing and grown vertically before being installed outside the National Gallery in London.

It will be really interesting to watch how the plants grow and bloom between now and October 2011, when the wall is set to be taken down. How cool!
♥, Azzara