Ivan & Alyosha- music a la mode

Born and raised in Seattle, Ivan & Alyosha started with Tim and Ryan.  They have recently expanded their band to four and Tim and Pete joined.  The band has perfected a pop-folk sound incorporating tight-knit harmonies that are extremely pleasing to the ears.  They are currently navigating the indie rock world and creating their own path.  Even though they are hopefuly for their big break, nothing is holding them back from doing what they love.  They recently finished a tour through the US making stops in Tribeca, New York, Washington D.C. and Nashville.

 

Plus, things are different this time around. Tim and Ryan are joined by two others – Tim Kim and Pete Wilson, Tim’s brother. The band built a studio in a barn at Ryan’s parent’s house in Snohomish, 45 minutes outside of Seattle. Snohomish provides an idyllic setting with a charming main street lined by bars and little distraction. Self-recording their upcoming EP allows the guys more time together to create and perfect the new songs. Recently the band spent a week in New York playing gigs at 92Y Tribeca, Maxwell’s in Hoboken and Brooklyn’s Littlefield. They also took a trip to NPR Headquarters in Washington DC to record an NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and opened a run of shows for the Jayhawks’ Mark Olson.

In “Easy To Love,” from their self-released debut EP The Verse, The Chorus (Cheap Lullaby Records) Tim Wilson and Ryan Carbary create simple pop-folk, and Tim showcases his knack for paring a lyric down to just emotion.

If you like Ivan & Alyosha already, check out: Avett Brothers, Andrew Bird, Cinnamon Band, Travis, and Rufus Wainwright.

Dainty Little Things- Fashion a la Mode

Good things come in small packages.  Or so the saying goes.  Now don't get me wrong, I am a huge advocate of big, outrageous, costume jewelry.  A huge supporter of bright colors and statement pieces.  But my go-to, day-to-day pieces are my dainty ones.  (Rose gold items to be exact.) Now they can come in any metal: silver, gold- rose or yellow, titanium, tungsten if you wish, but my personal favorites are my rose gold ones.  I got my great grandmother's wedding band from my grandpa when I turned 18, and haven't taken it off since.  Others, I've accumulated over the years. The nice thing about these pieces is you can find them anywhere, at any price, and mix and match at your will.  Anthropologie, while they carry amazing and big statement jewelry, also carries a ton of small, dainty pieces.  They add a lot to an outfit without being too much!

Sugary Sweets and a little Spice- Wednesday A La Mode

Nothing like a weekend of ice fishing up north to help get your creative juices flowing.  My partner in crime, Nicole Catherine Anderson, and I did not catch a fish, but we did however catch a few ideas on our long journey to and from Gull Lake (okay fine it was only 2 hours).  We had a chance to talk about what has been inspiring us lately in our own lives, ranging from fashion, art, career dreams, mormon bloggers (we are starting to believe all great bloggers are mormon, odds are not in our favor), to the pure beauty of frigid and snowy Northern Minnesota.  Dear friends and weekend getaways are always good for the soul, and this time, just the right push that we needed to put all of our ideas that have been swirling around in our heads into this thing we call a blog- Wednesday a la mode, to be specific.
This time around, we want to dwell on all of the sweet, sweet things in our everyday lives that we believe take a little extra effort to capture, but are well worth it (to us at least).  We hope you can find some enjoyment out of our blog as well and what we believe to be the beautiful things all around us. They may seem small or petty to others, but we believe that these are things in life that are a shame to NOT to notice.  Art, music, fashion, food, good reads and all things creative are not only the things that sweeten up our lives, but also add a little spice.  And who doesn’t want to spice things up a bit?? xoxo- Randi & Nicole