Category: Places

Festive at 5th Ave!

Earlier this week I realized that Christmas snuck up on me again. My gift list is only halfway complete, the tree isn’t up yet, and I’m still figuring out my menu for Christmas dinner. Thank goodness for the twinkle lights keeping us from becoming our buildings official Scrooges! In need of a strong dose of holiday motivation, I headed to the 5th Ave mall to soak in some over-the-top festive spirit and it didn’t disappoint: Christmas music, cheerful window displays, and gorgeous decorations all inspired me to dive in to my own holiday preparations.

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Give Experiences, not Things (UNLEASH Magazine)

YES

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. The horribly coined term “Thanks-getting.” Even Santa Claus. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think the holidays were all about THINGS. Buying things, giving things, getting things: Americans expect to receive an average of 12.9 gifts. This is, of course, a boon to the retail industry; Americans will each spend approximately $700 on holiday related items this year, totaling more than $465 billion (it’s also a boon to the debt industry, as the holidays lead to credit card overspending by an average of 16 percent).

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Shopping ShuzyQ

ShuzyQ

Tucked away behind Orso and Glacier Brewhouse is a shoe shopping nirvana by the name of ShuzyQ. Despite loving ShuzyQ since its arrival in Anchorage more than five years ago (how could you not love someplace that describes itself as “…a love letter to the practical Alaskan woman and the princess inside of her.”) I’ve never really thought about where all the lovely shoes come from (too busy thinking about how they all need to come home with me and live in my closet!) until last week when I chatted with Shawna, who co-owns the store with her mother, Dawn, about their recent buying adventure to Atlanta.

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Loving Ketchikan

Creek Street

Last week was my first visit to Alaska’s first city: Ketchikan. Like the other Southeast Alaska towns I’ve visited (and loved!) it offers the ocean on one side and mountains on the other – the best of both worlds! It was 60 degrees and sunny while I was there, and I didn’t touch my rubber boots or raincoat once; apparently, this is not normal.

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I am AWAIC on New Year’s Day (#ilovekbc)

I am AWAIC

Like most people, I fall prey to resolution-making for the new year. My resolutions generally fit into the category of “be better at everything” and are often hard to keep. But despite knowingly setting myself up for failure, one way I always start the new year feeling good is stopping by a Kaladi Brothers coffee shop.

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