Lavender Love

I've been in love with the color purple since...  well, as far as I can remember, Jr. High when I painted a monochromatic portrait in purple.  Since then, this purple passion has turned itself into a Lavender Love.  From my first lavender purchase of a lavender shey butter tub to lavender soap, lavender fabric softener (That the cats love as well!  They fight over the freshly washed bedroom rug!) and even lavender perfume...I'm in lavender love.  So on Saturday while dropping off show cards (for an upcoming gallery show that my neighbor and I will be in) at local shops in lawrenceville (Pgh) with my neighbor Jules, it was only fitting that I would find more wonderful lavender products!

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When we ventured into Jay Design, located on Butler near 46th, we only aspirations of dropping off show cards but found much more.  At all the previous stores, Jules and I would browse each store as we felt rude just dropping off cards.  Jay Design was to be no different...

We entered the store and walked into a wall of smell.  My first fear was that I would start to sneeze but amazingly my allergies were kept at bay.  As Jules pawed at the other cards in the front of the store, I looked in awe at all the wonderful candles, soaps and other body products.  I was in heaven with the mix of soap and the layout of the store that screamed eclectic antiques.  Suddenly my eye was drawn to movement on the ground and I was startled to see a cat.  Yes a cat!  In a soap store!  He's a little orange and white tabby named Larry (for lawrenceville of course) who is one of the two resident cats who lives with 3 other dogs at the store.  We wandered further into the store further and that's when I found a set of  lavender rosemary guest bars.  The scent was divine!  We came to find out that Jay Design provides handmade and french milled soaps in a large variety of fragrances and types, which they make in the store each week the same way Jay did when he first started the business.  How wonderful is that?  =)  We found soaps that contained oatmeal mixed with scents such as lavender, almond and cherry.  There's also a musky manly soap made with patchouli for the guy that doesn't want to smell too feminine.

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After talking to Marge who was managing the store that day, we found out that they were having a special during the lawrenceville blossom tour the next weekend.  (During the blossom tour, you visit businesses listed to see what they offer and pick up a pack of seeds.  You don't need to purchase a thing but just visit for the seeds.  The tour helps to bring business to the small shops in lawrenceville and help people see that there is more to the area than just an old mill town.)

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I decided to hold off on any major soap purchases until the sale.  So this weekend, I plan on returning to stock up on all the soaps and lavender wonders to my hearts content.  Plus I fully intend on bringing the camera so I can get some snapshots of the resident cats!  Once I get some shots of the shop and try their soaps, I'll post a full article on this little diamond in the rough known as Jay Design!