All About the Arts

Live theatre was one of my first loves. I even toyed with the idea of becoming some kind of actor or performer back in my starry-eyed youth. I was never quite good enough to make that leap, but I still enjoy catching a live show a few times a year. 

My son and I decided to take my mom to see the live production of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" at the Performing Arts Center Thursday night. Presented by the Anchorage Concert Association, the show is put on by Plan B Entertainment, which produces high-caliber tours of Broadway titles.

Because I don't always plan ahead, we ended up with the "extreme side view seats", which I've sat in before and honestly are not bad at all. You get a slightly cut off angle of the right or left of the stage, depending on where you're sitting, but we were still close enough to see the Beast in all his glory and didn't miss a thing. Oh, and those seats are usually anywhere from $15-20 cheaper, which was a good thing since I was footing the bill!

The performance was fun, lively and featured all those favorite Disney songs plus a few new ones. The actors drew laughter, cheers and wild applause - they truly did an exemplary job. 

I've attended many performances put on by Anchorage Concerts and I have to say, I've seldom been even slightly disappointed. Their season for 2016-17 is winding down, with the play "To Kill a Mockingbird" running April 28 - May 7 and the amazing storyteller David Sedaris on May 13 (B and I will be attending that one, so look for a blog on it!)

Their 2017-18 season includes shows such as Cinderella and Steel Magnolias, musical guests Melissa Etheridge and Pink Martini, and closes in May with a production of Alaska's own Eowyn Ivey's story, "The Snow Child". 

Alaska winters are long, cold and dark. It's nice to break up the monotony with some culture, art, and sing-along worthy music. The Anchorage Concert Association has been bringing light to our winter days for many years, and sometimes a show is the perfect cure for winter blues.

Keep on Truckin'

I admit, I've always secretly longed to own a food truck. The thought of my own self-contained business, zipping around town, feeding the masses and making people happy, what's not to love about that?

Of course, as someone who has many years of experience in the restaurant industry and is part of a successful seasonal food business, I also know the reality of it, long hours, unreliable income, dealing with those people who aren't always so happy...probably the reason I don't have a food truck right now. But  I can still enjoy all the delicious eating that food trucks bring, and Anchorage has developed quite the impressive food truck scene over the years.

It started slowly and hesitantly, because it's difficult to operate food trucks in Alaska as more than a seasonal business. The popularity and expansion of Anchorage's Weekend Market helped grow the notion of mobile food units, and over the last few years, we've seen food trucks popping up all over town!

B and I decided to check out the Spenard Food Truck Carnival this past Saturday night. This was actually the last weekend food truck carnival they'd be hosting, as the seasonal K Street Eats opens in May. Located downtown on the corner of K and 8th Streets, K Street Eats is open Mon-Fri and for some special weekend events. There will be room for several trucks there, a nice range of food choices for any palate.

We got there right at 5pm, when it opened. It was a smaller event with just five trucks there. These included Yeti Dogs, Tasty Traveler, Sa Se Bon, Main Event Catering and my personal favorite, Babycakes Cupcakes. After perusing the menus, we decided to start with rolls from Main Event. 

Food trucking is just part of Main Event Catering.  They also have a full catering business and party rentals. They do weddings, corporate events, you name it. Their menu had quite a few items, maybe too many for a food truck (I've found the most successful ones seem to keep it to 3-4 items, max. Fast and simple.) and I was a little disappointed they were already out of brie for their bacon-brie-jam grilled sandwiches, considering it was only 530p when we approached the window. We decided to go with their popular "rolls", a variation of eggroll offering a variety of ingredients. One of Saturday's choices was the "rueben", basically a rueben sandwich deep fried in eggroll wrappers!

You get a lot of bang for your buck, very good portions and it was more than enough for B and I to share. We agreed that it was good, but the rueben flavor got a little overpowered by the deep frying. It was a tasty, gooey treat though and we ate it all!

Next up, I wanted to see what Tasty Traveler had to offer. Their menu was mainly tacos and burritos, with your choice of meats and fillings. We got the chimichurri steak taco and a citrus chicken taco.

Both were good, decent portions and had a nice flavor. The chicken had a nice little citrus zest. B said the steak was good, but a little cold. I imagine it can be difficult to keep temperatures consistent with mobile eateries, and again, I think it might be easier for some places to stick to a few menu items rather than trying to please the world.

The line at Sa Se Bon was too long...

So even though I was intrigued with the thought of some authentic Cajun food, we decided to move along to dessert.

Babycakes Cupcakes has become a well-known and popular place to get some of the most creative and delicious cupcakes in town. To be honest, I've become a bit obsessed with them (but not in a creepy stalker way....okay maybe a little...) and I usually gravitate toward their truck whenever I see it at an Anchorage event. They offer catering and do Pop up shops around town as well, so you never know where you might find a delectable cupcake! They could be anywhere, folks, just anywhere!

We took a few to go, and headed back home. From top left we have the Unicorn, Purple Rain, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Cherry Blossom. All beautiful, perfect and oh so yummy!

There are more and more food trucks showing up around Anchorage every day, and I anticipate this summer will mean even more options to get your mobile food fix. In addition to the K Street Eats location, there is a food truck lunch every Thursday in the Chilkoot's parking lot in my own lovely downtown Spenard. You'll see food trucks this summer at many local Anchorage events, from Juneteenth to Pride to the 4th of July. Events are often listed on Facebook or in the ADN calendar, as well as on the websites of those trucks that have an online presence.

For authentic, unusual and always memorable food, remember to support local businesses and when you're feeling hungry, consider seeking out some food truck eats. Great food, great prices and great to grab-n-go!

Not So Fast, Fashion!

Until recently, I never thought much about where my clothes came from. Oh, I'd heard the term "Fast Fashion" and understood it usually pertained to those single-season, cheaply made clothes we can find at places like Forever 21 or H&M. But when my brother, Ben Ellis, who recently finished his BFA in Fashion Design and is an up-and-coming designer, explained not only the working conditions under which many of those clothes are made (sweat shops people, they are real) but also the wastefulness of it all, I started to take a hard look at my wardrobe and my own fashion choices.

Each year, we send more than 10.5 million tons of clothing to landfills, 95 percent of which is recyclable and reusable. Much of those clothing items, especially those cheap and easy poly blends, aren't biodegradable and end up taking up space on this planet for much longer than you ever wore them.

With that in mind, I decided to shop in my own closet first (I have a ton of clothes already) and when I do need to buy something, I made it a goal to buy small, buy local and preferably buy second-hand. 

Anchorage has its share of thrift shops. We all know about Salvation Army, Value Village and the new Goodwill. And those places can be fun if you want to spend time digging. But Anchorage also has some unique second-hand, consignment shops that offer designer label items at a fraction of the cost.

I decided to check out some of our own, locally owned second-hand stores, and see if I could find anything worth adding to my closet.

My first stop was at Second Run Clothing Store.  Located downtown in what's known as the SoNo District, Second Run is a cool little shop with an amazing assortment of clothes and accessories.

If you're looking for a special occasion dress, I highly recommend seeing what they have before you hit the big box stores. I was really intrigued with this darling little frock, but I have, alas, no special occasions looming anytime soon. 

The store is well-laid out with designer and name-brand clothing, purses, tons of shoes and some super cute boots, jewelry and even vintage furs. The prices aren't Salvation Army low, but you can find things for very reasonable prices compared to what you'd pay for them new, and they often have sales. All the clothes I looked at were clean, stain-free and had none of that weird musty vibe so often found in some of the thriftier thrift stores.

After I perused Second Run for awhile, I decided to continue my investigation and stopped in at Plain Jane Consignment. Located in the strip mall on Northern Lights and A Street, I'd driven by it a hundred times but never stopped in. 

Another well-laid out store, this shop seems to focus heavily on the designer labels, and their prices do reflect it. You aren't going to find that Kate Spade bag for $10 here, but I did find an older model Coach bag for $36! Pretty good deal. They had a huge assortment of jeans, the majority of which were reasonably priced, considering that most are upwards of $200 new. 

I saw a pair of Paige Premium jeans for less than $50. They also carry some really fun household stuff, again, this is upscale, not bargain basement.

And I'm not even gonna tell you how much these Prada shoes were. They're Prada. 'Nuff said.

I finished out my second-hand search with another shop I've driven by a million times but never stopped at, The Clothesline Consignment Store. Cited as having "fresh and fun" re-sale clothing, I stepped in and found it to be as fresh and fun as they advertise! 

Lots of clothes, jewelry, bags and shoes. Again, these aren't Value Village green tag prices. These are really nice, high quality, gently used items. They had a large 50 percent off rounder and I was really tempted by this J. Crew dress:

On Sale it was less than $20! And in near perfect condition. They have an upstairs area with even more stuff:

The salespeople were all very nice and when I found a cute necklace to purchase, the sales girl asked if I had a consignment credit. So if you need to clear your closets to make room for more, you can get store credit for your new used purchases! I didn't ask at the other stores, but I assume they have a similar policy. Just  don't try to bring in your ratty ol' sweater with dog hair and holes, these shops will only accept the best quality items.

I was happy to find that there are local places in Anchorage where I could buy fun summer outfits and maybe even some cool winter boots (later, much later. I'm not ready to talk about you, Winter! You go away for awhile, please!) And most importantly, it's good to know there are local businesses that support recycling used clothing and lessening our impact on the earth.

Re-use, renew, recycle. Make it your mantra and remember, shop local, shop small, shop second-hand! 

First Friday Fun

Friday nights are usually pretty mellow around our house. My guy, B, and I have hectic jobs and busy lives, so our normal routine involves relaxing at home and more relaxing at home.

But when First Friday in Anchorage comes around, we try to get out and explore some of the awesome art and experiences available in our fair city. Anchorage's downtown scene is always vibrant, but on First Friday it takes on a life of its own, sometimes to the point of being a bit too wild for us. With shows going on at the PAC this past Friday night, we decided to seek out some of the offerings closer to home and skip fighting downtown parking and crowds.

Our first stop of the evening was Anchorage Distillery. Tucked away in an industrial corner at 6310 A Street, Anchorage Distillery offers fine spirits made from grains grown right here in Alaska.  Their tasting room, a surprisingly light and airy spot, offers a nice array of specialty drinks. I tried the "Spruce Moose" made from their Aurora Borealis gin, and B had a Classic Mule, featuring Glacier Melt Vodka. They were both absolutely delicious and it was all I could do to sip my drink rather than suck it down like a lush!

Their First Friday event included a trunk show by artist Whitney Blount, of Temper & Forge  Designs. These delicate pieces are handmade and incredibly beautiful, perfect for casual wear or a more formal event. 

After finishing our drinks and taking some time to ooh and ahh over the jewelry, we decided that drinks on an empty stomach were a bad idea so we went to find food before we checked out some more events. B suggested a new place he'd heard good things about, called The Crazy Hook Pub. From the outside, I gotta say this did not look like a place I would ever go into. Blacked out windows and no real exterior charm, it looked like a midtown dive bar as opposed to a restaurant. But stepping inside left me pleasantly surprised!

The inside of The Crazy Hook is reminiscent of a Spanish galleon, with warm woods, industrial lights and sleek bartops, not to mention some pretty amazing murals!

Their menu is of the Asian-Fusion variety, with lots of apps and several dinner choices. We had the calamari and the chicken wings. The calamari has potential, but the aioli sauces they gave us were both kind of bland and the breading on the calamari (steaks, which were cooked quite nicely) was nothing special. The wings were very good, sticky and a little spicy with a teriyaki glaze. Being a newer eatery, I'd say they are still working out a few kinks. I usually try to give a restaurant some time and a couple chances, so even though the food wasn't perfect, we'll be back to see what else might be good.

Next stop was one strip mall over, Blue Holloman Gallery. Part of Anchorage for several years now, they partnered with Fromagio's Cheese Shop not long ago, creating a place where you can not only view and purchase beautiful art, you can also purchase and eat some of the most amazing cheeses, salamis and sandwiches I've ever had. We hung out there for a bit, enjoying live music, art and of course, cheese samples. I adore whimsical, unusual art and this was one of my faves:

The night was starting to wind down for us homebodies, but we just had to make one more stop, and I'm so glad we did. Located on Benson, right next to Bagoy's and Black Cup Coffee (another blog topic for another day...) 2 Friends Gallery features a plethora of eclectic and unique art.  I'd actually never been, and I can't believe what we were missing! They recently expanded and for First Friday, they showcased 25 local artists, with snacks and more live music.

  

This last piece is a light switch plate of all things, with a mechanism that makes it move from on to off when you turn the light switch! I have a feeling I'll be returning here time and again when I'm looking for a special gift (or maybe just a special something for my own house!)

B and I agreed that there's nothing more fun than checking out places we've never been. Considering I've lived here all my life, I love that there are still new and fun things to see and do every day. All my favorite things, art, food and shopping, rolled into one fun-filled First Friday!

As a lifetime Alaskan, I've grown up enjoying all that our great state has to offer. From fishing, camping, hiking, sightseeing or hunting, there's no shortage of outdoor activities and visitors flock here every year to experience them, as well they should. It's some of the most beautiful country in the world! And as you can see, its been a part of my life since I was very small...

But there's another side to Alaska, my Alaska anyway. While I love the outdoor opportunities and the amazing beauty of where I live, I'm also a dedicated city slicker who wants to enjoy art, music, shows, fashion and exceptional food. This is also part of who I am, and being in Alaska doesn't keep me from loving an urban life.

Not everyone realizes that Alaska is not only a place where one can explore the wide-open spaces and pristine wilderness, but also a mecca for interesting art, live music, local fashion, and restaurants to fulfill any foodies wildest dream.  In Anchorage, where I live, as well as other parts of the state, you'll find a decidedly urban vibe in certain areas, a vibe that can easily be missed if you don't know where to look for it.

I created this blog as a way to share some of my favorite urban Alaska places and experiences, as well as discovering new ones along the way. I'll be covering a lot of events in my hometown of Anchorage, but I'll also be exploring other towns throughout our state. I'll do my best to give you the newest, hippest, quirkiest places and adventures I can find, and offer you the chance to share your favorite places or experiences too!

So welcome to Urban Alaska Life, let's raise a glass  and make a toast to city slickers everywhere!