People, places, things, and ideas I love in Anchorage, AK
I loved reading the Salmon Love Haikus in the windows of Spenard Roadhouse and Snow City Cafe this summer. Who doesn’t want to read a little poetry – be it funny, sad, thoughtful, or poignant – while they await a tasty meal? And what better subject than everyone’s favorite: SALMON.
One of my favorite new publications is The Boardroom’s UNLEASH magazine, and not just because they asked me to write for them; I love the variety and depth of articles included each month. It’s a unique voice about inspiration, culture, and opinions in our community, and I hope that you check it out!
Here’s the article I wrote about talent-matching, co-working, and freelancing in Anchorage for this month’s publication. Continue reading “Talent-matching, Co-working, and Freelancing in Anchorage (UNLEASH Magazine)”
Last night I went to a concert and now I don’t want to work or have lunch, I just want to listen to Pink Martini.* And I am: hooray for Pandora!
Anchorage is full of insanely stylish people who have a rich, unique, nuanced approach to fashion in Alaska. I didn’t have to search hard to find style – it’s everywhere.
Continue reading “Finding my style (aka the style search concludes!)”
When I started this project, Fernanda Conrad, blogger extraordinaire and author of countless Wardrobe Wednesday posts, told me “There’s only one rule: have fun.”
I tried to remember her words during the few times I shared my outfits. It was hard to have fun sometimes – just look at those outtakes! For every even remotely okay photo (which were few and far between) there were forty+ gems like the ones above (and I’m not even sharing the worst ones).
“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.
“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.
“As an Alaskan girl I have the urge to wear UGG boots and a North Face vest 300 days out of the year (and I’m sure most have been in my shoes at some point); the other 65 days are dedicated to Extra tuffs and flannel button ups. Not to say this look isn’t adorable or extremely comfortable, it just doesn’t fit the part for every occasion. There are a few simple and basic things you can do to add style and class to your everyday wardrobe: when you add the wool mittens with the exposable finger tips and the headband, you have the look to kill and it’s simple to leave the house feeling and looking on point.
Interested in sharing why you live in Anchorage, and what would make you leave? Hop online and take the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation’s Live.Work.Play. survey to help shape the future of Anchorage; you’d better hurry though; it closes Monday, August 31!
Here’s why I choose Anchorage for living, working, and playing:
I grew up here and my roots are deep. When I left for college I didn’t expect to move back, but after graduation and a couple of years on the east coast, I felt the pull to return. Not only is my family here, I love the larger community – it’s easy to make a difference and there are so many incredible, creative, passionate, FUN people to meet. As a city, there’s plenty of room for growth and although sometimes I wish we were farther along, most of the time I’m happy and excited to be part of determining our future. We’re in the enviable position of learning from other cities around the world and applying that knowledge to Anchorage in a way that works just for us…our future is incredibly bright.
“Fashion, to me, is like the waxing and waning of a fickle moon. I don’t pay much attention to it until full moon craziness ensues. Fake-n-bake skin, those shoes with the fishbowls in the heels and excessively bedazzled jeans are just a few examples. Now style – that’s something completely different. Style is innate and individual and unique. What looks great on one person will look dismal on another. And style changes to reflect many things; moods, circumstances, location and age.