March 2015 – Gretchen Loves Anchorage

The Hot Smoker

There are many, many reasons to love Fire Island Bakery. The croissants, for one. The fact that they’ve brought back the concept of a neighborhood bakery to Anchorage, for another. Then there’s the chocolate chip cookies. And the poppy seed onion rolls. Of course, the scones, muffins, cupcakes, and more.

But I recently found a new reason: Fire Island is now offering classes! Topics range from sourdough to viennoiserie, both of which sound interesting, but most intriguing was the “Hot Smoker” class taught by Carlyle.

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Dream it. Do it.

TEDxAnchorage was this weekend, the culmination of months of anticipation (excitement, terror, and everything in between). My biggest takeaway was how amazing and kind people are – family, friends, and people I just met. I’m going to share more about the overall experience later (TEDxAnchorage volunteers are the best!) but for now, THANK YOU to everyone who sent encouraging texts, emails, FB messages, voicemails, flowers, and shared a part of their Saturday afternoon with me.

For those that have asked, the text of my speech is below.

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PSA: Test your vitamin D

I recently visited my doctor to make sure my health was in order, and when she inquired about testing my vitamin D levels, I offhandedly said, “Sure, why not?” Imagine my surprise when I scored an eight… out of 30-100 (the “healthy” range). Basically, I was severely deficient in vitamin D by every standard out there.

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Love Note: Rendezvous Come on!

Another Rondy in the books… for those of you that don’t know, Fur Rendezvous is the nation’s premier winter festival (and my favorite way to liven up this time of year). The city turns out for all sorts of events: fireworks, pond hockey, a parade, the horn and hide auction, a melodrama, the Miners and Trappers Ball, frostbite footraces, snow sculpture competition, a carnival, outhouse races, snow shoe softball, a talent competition, and the much-loved running of the reindeer – there’s definitely something for everyone! It’s so much fun to see downtown Anchorage fill up with people excited to be part of Rondy (especially my buddy over at You Know Juneau). Just another reason to love Anchorage.