Category: People

The Magic Yarn Project

Have you heard of the Magic Yarn Project?

It’s a nonprofit that relies on volunteers to create yarn wigs for children going through chemotherapy, which often leaves young scalps too sensitive for traditional wigs. The yarn wigs are “comfy, soft, and warm, and invite children back to the world of play and daydreaming.” So far, 3,747 wigs and superhero beanies have been delivered to kids in 28 countries and the demand for magic wigs grows daily; every year, roughly 83,000 young girls, ages 2-10, are diagnosed with cancer (5,000 in the US).

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Alaska Wedding Collective

Five+ years ago my husband and I said “I do.” Our wedding was ridiculously fun and involved a lot of DIY (my maid of honor and her family actually BUILT US A WEDDING WALL complete with photos of our parents and grandparents on their wedding days and my mom made my wedding skirt) and pitching in by family and friends. Of course, plenty of wedding vendors were part of the day as well (favorites were Riza Brown and Josh Martinez, then of Chugach Peaks Photography) and I was lucky to find them (and would choose them 96,797,098,908 times over) during a time when Anchorage event planning felt fairly dated.

Since then, our local wedding scene has exploded with new wedding vendors, offering couples a seemingly endless array of options to create special occasions that effortlessly emphasize their personalities. On February 14, many of them displayed their talents at the Alaska Wedding Collective, an event offering interactive “action stations” to provide a truly special experience for attendees. Although my marrying days are long behind me I enjoyed every moment, probably because the evening felt more like a fun party than a wedding show.

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Love Note: This is Democracy (in the Snow)

Today was the Women’s March on Washington, and Anchorage turned out to the tune of 2,000 – 3,500 people. It was an incredible feeling to be part of such a massive, peaceful movement and I couldn’t stop smiling as we marched in the snow and as I saw photos of events all over the world rolling through my Facebook feed.

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Graying and staying: Alaska’s growing senior population (UNLEASH Magazine)

theyarethecutest

A couple months ago I read What the world’s best cities will look like in 2030, an article about how cities can prepare for and attract aging populations, and shared it on Facebook  with the question, “What can we do to become more age friendly and keep our seniors here?” Most responses cited the cold, dark winters and a few others mentioned the lack of affordable housing and challenging transportation as deterrents to staying. The general consensus seemed to be that once Alaskans hit retirement age, it’s snow bird time: relentlessly sunny skies and outlet malls, here we come!

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Bambinos Frozen Baby Food

Zoi!

Don’t be surprised if someday Anchorage’s Zoi Maroudas-Tziolas rules the world of baby food (or maybe straight up rules the world). She founded Babmino’s Frozen Baby Food during 2012 and after learning more about it, I’m convinced that it’s the future of fine dining (and casual dining, and snacking) for all the little people in our lives.

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Anchortown Style, by Alyssa

 

Alyssa

“Can I first start off by saying we as Alaskans are fabulous! Not only do we have a diverse sense of fashion ranging across the state… we get the benefit of dressing “down” while supporting our local industries. By dressing down I refer to Carhartts, Xtratufs, and camo on the weekends on our family hunting/camping trip and no ones judging us because we’re just being Alaskan! I love that as an Alaskan woman I get to wear my knee-high leather boots and stilettos all week in my professional work setting then, get to slip on my Xtratufs to head down to Kenai for the weekend festivities.

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Anchortown Style, by Penny

Penny

“I would describe fashion in Anchorage as casual, chic and sensible! The climate and environment effects what ‘style’ is in Anchorage.  In many other cities, it’s easier to wear fashionable clothing whatever the time of year. In fact, most people wear North Face or Patagonia down jackets because it’s trendy, not because the 40-degree winter weather calls for it. In Anchorage, you wear down jackets because you’ll freeze if you don’t. You wear knee high boots with jeans or a nice skirt because your legs might fall off otherwise.

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