you know you live in Alaska

- when you forget how it is you're constantly surrounded by snow (or you just stop noticing the snow all together) because it's always too cold to actually snow

- when snow-shoe baseball is really a sport, played outside in the middle of February

- when moose decorate lawns & the city like ornamental ceramic deer used in the lower 48

- when the rest of America is referred to (& thought of) as the "Lower 48"

- when anything above 10 degrees is warm enough to go without long underwear

- when anything above 20 degrees is warm enough to drive with the windows down

- when enormous snow blowers suck up the snow on roads, spray it into dump trucks only to haul it across town & use it to cover other roads for dog-sled racing tracks.

- when snowmobiling is known as snow-machining

- when boots are perfectly acceptable bar & dancing footwear

- when you leave the kitchen faucet dripping over night so that the pipes don't freeze

- when you put your food outside when the refrigerator is full

- when hot water is HOT WATER. no messin' around about heat here.

- when children spend their recess doing laps around the playground on skis in tshirts

- when anything people typically do for summertime entertainment in the Lower 48 takes place (& is enjoyed!) outdoors in the middle of the winter.

I have so much to learn.

you haven't moved enough in life to know - the couch will fit anywhere, says my boss.

EXACTLY.

hiking FlatTop Mountain

first friday

is an event held in Anchorage every month during which the art galleries around town open up their shops & provide hors d'oeuvres and wine to the public as they make their way though their gallery & around town.

a night out on the town for sophisticated people minus the bar + rich, (expen$ive), beautiful art

or, as we saw it - a free bar crawl around town in fancy boutiques.

it was pretty awesome!

some grapes here, some crackers & cheese there, some fresh spring rolls here

& free wine everywhere.

(sign me up!)

I really did enjoy it & I do plan to go back and visit some of these galleries when they're not packed front to back, left to right with people. I even spoke with a man at one of them earlier in the afternoon about their "local artist" wall where they feature a different artist each month. Well tonight I got to meet the photographer who's work was on display - and this man working there said I might even be able to get my stuff up on their walls. How cool would that be??

who knows!

so if I were to pick an Alaskan "must have" tshirt, this would be it.

I'm gonna have to get one eventually.

(at octopus ink)

I spent all afternoon walking the Coastal Trail that runs along the Cook Inlet.

The sun is out, the sky is blue.

It's beautiful & so are you.

ah.. I get it now.

being an adult means being able to choose whether or not you want to eat the heels of a loaf of bread

&

getting to stay in bed all day while calling it "working from home"

the hummus i made just now was so damn good, i mean soooooooooooo damn good.

unfortunately so were the cookies left sitting out on the counter.

seriously.

& you seriously need to check out this recipe:

1 can of chickpeas

1/4 cup of chickpea juice (the stuff that you'd normally drain out of the can)

3-5 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 tbsp tahini

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cilantro chopped

Okay - I didn't actually measure out anything for this, just do it to taste!

& I didn't add all of the chickpea juice, maybe just half of what was in the can.

So these are the steps I followed:

in a food processor,

1. toss everything in.

2. blend.

BAM, DONE.

The most INCREDIBLE hummus of your life, right there.

You can thank me later :)

I visited the Anchorage museum today

(free after 3 on Thursdays)

so much history

so many alaskan artifacts

& some awesome art.

I think I'll start going every Thursday after work,

I walk by it on my way home anyway.