Who would’ve thought that you could get affordable gourmet cuisine from a red food truck? We recently had award-winning Chef Ludo Lefebvre’s LudoTruck, and our taste buds had a little taste of heaven. Chef Ludo is known for his cutting-edge gastronomic cuisine and “pop up” restaurant LudoBites, and he brings his cuisine to the streets with an American favorite, fried chicken. Despite a small menu, we still had trouble deciding between all of the choices. We ended up with Buttermilk Chicken and a Honey Lavender Biscuit as our side. We especially enjoyed the rosemary seasoning on the tender chicken, and the lavender flavor on the biscuit. After our first LudoTruck, it is with no surprise that it was acclaimed as one of the 99 things to eat in LA before you die by Pulitzer Prize winner food critic, Jonathan Gold. This is a must-have if you are ever in LA!

In Vogue Russia’s October issue, the magazine decided to do something different from the norm and go back to the country’s oldest traditions, the ballet. Instead of photographing a pop culture story, which most magazines do these days, Photographer Patrick Demarchelier beautifully captured Russian model Anna Selesneva in a series of photos titled “Lady in Red”. In each photo, Anna acts as a strict ballet teacher in chic red attire, while the ballet dancers are practicing at the barre. We admire Vogue Russia for creating such gorgeous scenes from one of their oldest art forms.

Lately, we’ve been really into this printmaking studio called Haven Press, started by Mark Herschede in Brooklyn, New York. There’s a certain something about it, maybe it’s their old world technique combined with modern technology or their traditional craftsman sensibility, that sets them apart from the rest. They feature multiple artists they have worked with on their website, and each of them are so unique and definitely worth checking out. One of our favorites is an interactive poster conceptualized by Roland Tiango. The artist describes his work best: “A poster the recipient completes by revealing spot-varnished type with hands made dirty by handling the poster, the back of which is coated with powdered pigment.” Haven Press also offers workshops for aspiring printmakers, or those who just want to get in touch with their creative side and learn a new craft. Their workshops cover everything from letterpress to screen-printing, and they’re all $300 or less! Whatever printing idea you might have, Mark is sure to be the one that can turn that vision into a reality.

Halloween is upon us, which can only mean two things: voodoo… and doughnuts.  Lucky for us, Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Tres Shannon have combined the two to create Voodoo Doughnuts, a doughnut shop like you’ve never seen (or tasted) before.  They feature doughnuts like Dubble Bubble, Arnold Palmer, Grape Ape, and our personal favorite, the Bacon Maple Bar.  It’s a must have if you either live in or are passing through Portland, Oregon.  Many of their doughnuts have names that will make you blush, but it’s worth the embarrassment for their finger-licking deliciousness.

Surprisingly, Cat Daddy and Tres were complete strangers to the doughnut industry until they learned the ins-and-outs from some well-seasoned veterans in California.  They must have some type of doughnut gene in them because now they own this world-renowned shop that is never short on unique ideas or powdered sugar.  The only thing that could be better than these doughnuts is knowing that the store is open 24/7 with three locations, so there’s never any reason to suppress a craving.

Trust us on this, going to Voodoo Doughnuts will be the only time your mouth will water for a Dirt Doughnut or an Old Dirty Bastard.

We recently had an event to show off some of our newest washes and styles, and we were accompanied by the most adorable and delicious chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting by Alana Jones-Mann. We love how she topped them with our label for a special touch. Alana is a baker and DIY-er out of Brooklyn, NY – check out all of her amazing ideas and work on her blog here. We are currently drooling while looking at her chocolate caramel apples!

We are obsessed with handmade hats, if you couldn’t tell already from our posts here and here. We came across these three Italian hat makers, who make SuperDuper hats, and absolutely love their philosophy. First of all, they make their hats with a old fashioned wooden hat block shaper, which most hat makers don’t use these days. Second, their hard work and hours of labor they put into each hat, as each is completely unique and exudes old shapes with a contemporary style. And finally, a hat doesn’t become “SuperDuper” until the one wearing it is truly satisfied with the final result – that’s our favorite part! We adore their page on their website dedicated to people wearing their very own “SuperDuper” hat.

Currently ranked as the No. 3 tennis star in the world, this 6’2” knockout has aced it both on and off the court. At only 25 years old Maria Sharapova recently launched a new candy line, cleverly named Sugarpova, and it is quickly gaining attention for its quirky packaging and “flirty” mix of lips, tennis balls, handbags and high heel shaped gummies and gum balls. Sugarpova’s 12 products offer something for everyone from the girly girl to the more athletic.

We will admit the $5.99 price for these delicious gems may be a little steep, but every once-in-a-while you need to treat yourself to an “accessible bit of luxury.” Sugarpova is slowly reaching retailers so follow these signature lips to the website, or stop by one of the local It’s Sugar locations and pick up yourself a bag of these playful and fun candies.

These look like tennis balls, but they are really lemon-line gumballs…

We absolutely adore Portland painter and illustrator Betsy Walton’s work because it reminds us of modern visual fairy tales with her amazing color palettes.  In her work, you’ll notice how her style is influenced by Byzantine icon paintings, American folk art, geometric abstraction, and other contemporary artists.  We especially love seeing these inspirations so vividly in her “Snowmelt” piece. Her spontaneous approach to her work is admirable, while she creates the images during the painting process (not after any sketches!) and she never knows what the specific results will be. We can’t wait until Betsy has her Etsy shop up and running again (she’s on hiatus as she just had twins!) to get our hands on some of her work.

This week, we had the honor of previewing our Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 collection at whyrHymer’s gorgeous showroom. The brain behind whyrHymer is designer and maker, Brandon Morrison. Brandon’s wood making began while working as a handyman at a hardware store, where he was able to build more and more wood-related projects for his clients. His work eventually evolved into what whyrHymer is today – a unique collection of custom handmade furniture and lighting. Brandon’s designs are truly one of a kind. Take a look at the photos for yourself, and watch Brandon’s film to take a more in-depth look of whyrHymer’s work.

We had such a wonderful time in his space, and his we thank Brandon and his wife Sundeep for sharing it with Habitual!

We’ve never been big techies, but we are obsessed with these amazing, textured colored iPhone covers by SwitchEasy, especially the Black Blossom cover. They are mini sculptures at your finger tips!