Print Maker- Fashion a la Mode

I literally (word-overuse I am aware) literally cannot stress how important and EVERYWHERE prints are this season and the seasons to come. I have written about polka dots, a very simple print, but print nonetheless. What I am talking about now is, over the top, wild and crazy, grandma’s curtains, prints. Every decently fashion forward store you walk into now, whether it be in the low price range like the Forever 21’s and H&M’s, to mid-price range Urban Outfitters, American Apparels, J. Crew’s, Banana’s, even to the upward high-end stores, like the 2^nd floor of Nordstrom at the Mall of America, and Zara- every single one of these bombards your visual palettes with prints! Dresses, shorts, pants, even little details such as shoes are covered in outlandish prints… not that shoes are little details, I meant physically.What is important about taking on these prints head on is just that. You need to be bold and unafraid and ready to throw out your “matching look” censor that you have been building up. This is not prep school, you don’t need to look tailored, in fact, the point is to look different. How refreshing.

Take a bold strapless dress, add a huge chunky necklace and some heels, and throw in a clutch in a solid color. If dresses aren’t your thing, take a pair of pants with a loud print, pair with a chambray, or if you’re feeling daring, a shirt in a complimenting pattern… heck you could even double the pattern up! The patterned shoes are where I am getting my pleasure from this spring. I have already scooped up three pairs… and am not feeling the need to stop there. Who doesn’t love a spicy shoe to make a used-to-bed boring outfit come alive? 

Its simple really, just go buy something and play with it (and since they have stuff at every price point, I don’t see why you can’t). And throw on some MSTRKRFT while you’re at it to put you in the right mindset. Viola! 

(J. Crew)

(Urban Outfitters)

(J. Crew)

(Zara)

(Aldo)

Spring Time's "Winter Road"- Music a la mode

The Fine Line in Downtown Minneapolis is the perfect venue for a small concert, a wedding reception (T-minus 2 months until my best friend gets married there- Shoutout to Casey and Dust!), or a CD Release Party. And that’s just the reason that brought the 150 plus people to Fine Line last Thursday. Nels Leafblad, or Nels, as he goes by in the music world, was a fellow Bethel student with me for the too-short year and a half I attended there. Friends of both Randi and I, we both know how talented he is musically. Whether he was doing stuff for Mr. BU, singing with his friends on a Friday night, or hey- even trying out for American Idol and getting the coveted golden ticket to Hollywood, he always stood out. After returning to Minneapolis from his chance to meet and talk to singer Jennifer Lopez (god I sound like a name dropper), he decided to further pursue his dreams of becoming a musician. He rallied family and friends together to gather the funds he would need for studio time, and to make this much dreamed about CD a reality.            Upon getting a super personal invite via Facebook to join him at his CD release party (tis the time of invites over the internet), I was so excited. He had done it! And boy did he do it right.
            Everyone I expected to see was there, and even people I didn’t expect to see showed up to see Nels, as well as fellow musician and friend Matt Moberg and his wife Lauren, and two other bands: A Thousand Miles from New York, and Josh Tarp and the Still. The place was packed and buzzing. The Moberg’s graced the stage first with their haunting voices and indie, feel-good vibe. The two of them are spectacular if you haven’t had a chance to hear them yet- check them out. (Remember, Randi and I know good music…) Nels went on next. Looking like a natural he preformed songs off his CD “Winter Road”.  “Get on With Loving You” and “Stop Shivering” are two of my personal favorites. Trying to decide how to describe his voice is difficult, because he can fit in so many categories. Think Jason Mraz-like, but more folky, rawer, and there are some strong moments of country twangs in there. The CD may be called Winter Road, and yes I can totally envision listening to this by some fireplace when its snowy outside… but I can also imagine a bonfire setting this summer with this playing, a cold drink in hand, and just some acoustic version of these songs. Fantastic. 
            Sure, you might think I am biased since we are all friends, but as many of my friends can vouch, I am extremely and brutally honest. So I probably wouldn’t write this at all if I didn’t back it. Go buy it. Listen for yourself. And come to your own conclusions, but I guarantee they’ll be similar to mine.

-N

Not Your Average Noodle Bar- Entertainment a la mode

Last night I had the wonderful pleasure of getting happy hour with my very best friends. It has now since been dubbed our Wednesday night ritual- much to my excitement, because hey, who doesn’t love happy hour!! This week, we decided to think outside the box and try something new, so we ventured a couple hundred feet from our usual bars and hangouts (adventurous people we are) and stopped at Kinsen. Kinsen Noodles and Bar was created after the owner was under the impression that Uptown needed a noodle bar and also an Asian restaurant that stuck to the needs of the Uptown community. They serve only meat that comes from local and all-natural farmers, and also cater to the gluten-free and vegan population. They stay true to their idea of local vending also while serving Sebastian Joe’s Ice Cream (and uptown favorite), as well as Bull Run Coffee.

Wednesday nights they have some great deals. 2-4-1’s on all tap and bottle beer as well as wine. They also have an appetizer menu that on Wednesday only costs $3 a plate! Pretty inexpensive if you compare it to other happy hour “specials” in the area. Our table got orders of the spring rolls, egg rolls, and pad thai with shrimp and chicken. Although I can’t say I tried the egg rolls (pig products aint for me), I can say the rest of the food was delicious. And two cider beers for only $6? Count me in.

The atmosphere is great; it was warm so they opened up some of the sliding doors. The interior decorations were ethnic and different than any other bar in the Uptown area. My one friend mentioned that it reminded her of a California beach bar, the doors could easily open right up to the sand. A nice little get away only steps from your front door.

(Oh and a little secret. If you live in Uptown and can prove that to your waitress, you get 10% off your bill…)

-N

Oh So Top Heavy- Fashion a la Mode

I have been honestly searching for the perfect pair of sunglasses for the past month. I know, I know, its only been sunny for like, 4 days here in Minnesota, but regardless of the sun being scattered in its appearances, my sunglasses never are in theirs. I am one of those obsessive sunglass wearers (I didn’t know that was such a word until my Mac didn’t autocorrect me), I have even fallen asleep inside my house with them on. I think I found the style I desperately want, maybe need, (finally, stepping away from the wayfarer style I have been wearing for the past 2 years), and my style icon is none other than Malcolm X. …pause. Yes, I said Malcolm X. He made these brow-line glasses famous in the mid-twentieth century, and for that I give him credit.

The name comes from the fact that much like eyebrows frame the eyes, these frame the glasses themselves. Ray-Ban makes a line of glasses and sunglasses known as the Clubmaster, which is based on this classic style. AMC’s Mad Men has helped to reintroduce this style with the characters wearing them frequently. Flattering on most face shapes, even my rounder heart-shaped face, I’ll take em! 

Now go out at be protected by the (hopefully everywhere) sun... 

-N

No longer is it the 1920's but let's speakeasy about this! - entertainment a la mode

“A bar with no sign out front?  How do I find one of these things?”

Secret speakeasys have become a not-so-secret trend. San Francisco, Boston, New York City and Charleston each have at least one. Want to know something even better for us Minneapolis folk?  We have one right in our neighborhood….you ask where it is?  Well, based on my experience…all I can say is, “good luck”.  

For those of you who DO NOT know what speakeasies are, it is time to get a little educated. We will excuse you if your history classes are blurring together right now and you can’t actually recall what the prohibition is.   Ponder no more. The first thing you need to know is that during the prohibition (January 1920 to December 1933) bartenders had to get creative in their drink-making due to the lack of "legal" alcohol and they started using ingredients that masked poor tasting liquors like, ginger ale and rye. During the prohibition, rediscovering (and reinventing) premium, hand-made cocktails was highly valued.   Patrons crowded around the bar for a show in the art of making drinks. And a show they got- flipping bottles, adding fruits, sugars turning to flames atop the glasses, quite the spectacle. Second thing you need to know is that this circus of a drink-making all happened in hidden bars; behind restaurants, under buildings in cellars, unmarked doors, password protected. In lower-class versions of these bars, the term blind-pig was given to them, as these places would charge $.25 for patrons to enter and see a blind pig, then get a gin drink gratuitously, as evading the laws of the time. In upper-class speakeasies, men wore sport coats and women wore fancy dresses and paid quite the small fortune to enjoy these bootlegged drinks (provided by gangsters like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone).

"This ‘speakeasy’ business was one of the most independent and prosperous businesses in the world, especially in New York, for no other industry in the world could afford to kill its customers off like that,” Will Rogers wrote in a letter to The New York Times in 1928.

Recently in the US there have been bars like this popping up all over the place.  You might ask, “Why?”  They were replicated perhaps out of nostalgia, but more out of an obsession with the days of the prohibition.  Whether it is Nashville, Seattle, New York or Minneapolis, everywhere it seems that fancy cocktails are being created in their dark, shadowy and secret surroundings. Most of them are now modeled after the Mayflower Club, by far the swankiest of the speakeasies during prohibition, located in Washington D.C., close to the place where alcohol was banned! Sure, we can call them, “speakeasies” today, but technically thats an unfitting term, considering the business is now legal. And highly discussed!

We will leave you with one tip. (The one we went to is located in a basement… without a sign… in the Warehouse District) Good luck, and hopefully you aren't left lost and frustrated on a chilly march night looking for this place like we were. Trust us, once you get inside the secret door and past the bouncer, it's well worth it.