Well that was a quick transition from beautiful fall to
chilly snowy winter. I knew it was destined to come, I do live in Alaska after
all… But I really didn’t know what to expect! Talk of the town is that winter
came late this year (I’m not complaining) since it’s usually a “White
Halloween” in addition to a “Very White Christmas.” The brave trick or treaters
are usually buried in coats so you can’t see their costumes and they drive from door to
door and warm up in the car. However, this Halloween it still hadn’t snowed and
the temperatures were only in the high 40s. Look at that, I’m adapting already
saying “only high 40s” brrrr.
My friends Erin and Abe live at the end of a dead
end street, so they had a little Halloween party with a fire pit set up at the
end of the road. I was slightly disappointed in the number of trick or
treaters, especially since I drove into their neighborhood and saw hoards of
them. I guess not many were brave enough to venture down a dead end street. To
be fair, not many front porch lights were lit along their street, and I remember from my trick or
treating days that lots of lights = lots of candy! But it still made for a good
night of roasting hot dogs and smores, and jamming to the Monster Mash :)
Right after Halloween I jumped on a plane to Houston for a week long training class. I made the most of it by spending both weekends in Texas to
catch up with family and friends. I went to the Texas A&M football game in College Station and got to see my parents and brothers! And more importantly (sorry family), watch
Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans for likely the last time in person. After a fun
weekend in College Station, I headed back to Houston for my training class and
lots of delicious wining and dining. I had some Pumpkin cheesecake from the
Cheesecake Factory, mmmmm I have an obsession with all things pumpkin, some noms
from Max’s Wine Dive, the Counter, Baba Yega, Petrol Station, Barnaby's, Central Market, Spinkles Cupcakes yum, and Karbach Brewery. Oh and the ultimate biddy times lunch with Becca at Tiny Boxwoods on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we got to sit ouside by the garden and enjoy
our delicious sandwiches and mint lemonade :) To top off the last weekend, I
got to hang out with my ladies to watch another A&M game and then party at our favorite dancing places in Midtown!
 |
| Watching the fighting Texas Aggies |
 |
| Tailgating outside Kyle Field for the last time before the new stadium |
 |
| MMM MMM pumpkin cheesecake with Trisha |
 |
| Delish lunch with Becca + mint lemonade |
 |
| Aggie game number 2 in Texas with my Aggie ladies |
So I headed back to Anchorage on Sunday evening, knowing
that the first snow had begun on Saturday afternoon. Little did I know that by
the time I landed around midnight on Sunday night that it had snowed 6-7 inches!
Yikes, welcome to winter driving. It was so crazy driving home from the airport
because none of the roads had been plowed yet or really driven on since it had
been snowing all the way up until I landed… and I guess there is not a lot of
traffic late Sunday evening to pack down the snow on the roads. Anyway, I drove down the middle of Minnesota, one
of the two highways in town, going probably 20-30 mph in 6” deep snow. Talk about
terrifying. I had no idea where the lanes where, or if I was even close to the
median… luckily I made it home in one piece thanks to my trusty studded tires!
The past two weeks have been a real learning experience when it comes to
driving. Go slow always, but especially when making a turn. Never immediately
go on a green light in case someone is sliding through the intersection. And
make sure you can see the full tires on the car in front of you at a stop, so you won’t create
a knock on effect if someone hits you from behind.
 |
Stopped outside the airport parking garage cause I couldn't believe the snow!
Where is the road?! |
 |
| 6 inches to welcome me home |
 |
| Outside my window |
 |
| So much snow! |
 |
| Brrrrrr |
Also, I had to get a car scraper. Not just a little baby
hand scraper like I’m used to seeing in Texas. They passed out some heavy duty
ones at work that have a scraper on one end and a brush on the other to
brush off snow from the hood or the top of the car. It extends several feet so
you can get everything off from just one side of the car. Hopefully I won’t
have to use this tool often (thank goodness I have a garage). But it’s
important to have in case snow dumps down while I’m not at home.
Last step of preparation is remote start for my car. It’s
becoming more clear that I need to fork over the hefty investment to get this
installed. It was 1 degree when I left work one night this week and let me
tell you, the heater didn’t produce warm air until the last couple minutes of my commute. Auto start would allow me to turn on my car 5-10 minutes before I leave work so its toasty when I get in it. All I can say is thank goodness I have seat warmers that heat
up quickly! I actually never turn them off, toasty buns are important!
As far as clothing and gear goes, I'm not nearly as prepared as I thought I was. I did find a wonderfully warm down jacket that I love. I only had to start wearing it this week, but it's so warm and toasty. I really dislike the huge quilted Michelin Man jackets that you find everywhere so I was excited to find this great one from Eddie Bauer that doesn't have that quilted bulky pattern, yet its still rated to -20 degrees. I also have been getting tons of socks, both fun socks for around the house and Smartwool socks for activities outside. I got a super cute set of polka dot socks and an insulated polka dot rainjacket from this fabulous UK store called Boden. My mom introduced me and I frequently stalk their website for cute cold weather clothes. I've been wearing that jacket for at least the past month and a half until I finally switched over to my heavy duty one. Also, I've spent several weeks of back and forth on boot orders from Piperlime and Zappos (free shipping to AK), and I think I finally found a great winter snow boot. They should arrive tomorrow so fingers crossed. It is really unfortunate how I'm missing out on all the "Free Shipping" deals from my favorite stores... they all have fine print saying free shipping except for Hawaii and Alaska, boo. I've actually had to start wearing my Ugg warm boots to and from work to stay warm and I keep my high heels underneath my desk. It's a bit of a hassle to switch back and forth if I want to go out for lunch, but it's rather dangerous to walk in the snow and ice in heels! Getting ready just takes a little longer here to layer / delayer.
 |
| Warm down winter jacket! |
 |
| Cute packaging for my polka dot socks from Boden! |
 |
| Polka dot midweight rain jacket from Boden |
 |
| Polka dots up close :) |
I owe a big thank you to my friend Alex, who has given me some great recommendations on cold weather gear. Being from Ohio, he is used to the cold and how to dress for it. He has been super helpful sending me tips and advice on mittens and different base layers to keep me warm and dry! I also got a helmet to use for skiing, and actually all my winter activities since I'll likely fall in anything I try, including ice skating. I went to Play It Again Sports this week, which is a second hand sports gear shop, to find some used ice skates. I'm excited to try them out as soon as I'm confident all the lakes and marshes are frozen over!
 |
| New mittens |
 |
| New ski helmet |
 |
| Steal of a deal ice skates |
I survived my first outside snow run at 15 degrees last weekend! Brrr, I layered up and actually wasn't too cold except for my face. I don't know if I got wind burned or a little frozen haha, but my cheeks were red even the day after! I'll decided I needed a face mask of some type if I want to continue running outside. I also had spikes installed on an old pair of tennis shoes so I can stay upright on the snow and ice covered trails.
It was pretty crazy to see ice skaters out on the lagoon and ponds on my run! I'll probably wait another week or two to make sure they are completely frozen over before I venture into that activity, now that I have my new skates :)
 |
| Shoe studs to grip the snow / ice |
 |
| Post run red face! |
 |
| Snow packed trail |
 |
| Cross country ski grooves along the trails too |
 |
| Pretty snow covered trees |
 |
| Cross country skier |
 |
| Playing hockey on the lagoon |
 |
| Lagoon frozen over.. although I was too scared to step on it |
I did the Pub Run on Tuesday night for the first time in awhile, and definitely the first time that required more clothing than a tank top and running capris. It was a chilly 5 degrees and a 3.6 mile run! This time I was prepared with a facemask and a headlght so that I could see in the dark. The light is pretty awesome, its very bright and so lightweight that I hardly even felt it, especially with a hat on. Afterwards there is a raffle at the pub and I actually won a t-shirt and a water bottle! I never win, so it was super exciting. Several other folks in my group won too, including Emily's towel and mustache keychain, and Lindsey's free entry to the Turkey Trot. Yes there is a Turkey Trot in Anchorage and I'm so excited. It starts at 11am here so it will be nice a bright outside and it will probably be 11 degrees haha
 |
| About to start the Pub Run |
 |
| Raffle winners at the pub, post run |
 |
| New headlamp that stretches to fit on my forehead |
As the temperatures have dipped into the single digits this week, it's a little hard to get motivated to layer up and workout outside frequently. I decided if it's below 0 degrees, I shouldn't be outside haha, which hopefully doesn't happen too often here. So I've been using the free gym at my office a little bit. It's a nice lunchtime rejuvenation to head downstairs for a jog on the treadmill or the elliptical. Also, I'm in the process or getting the insanity workout DVDs to spice up my indoor workouts as well. Apparently they are insanely hard, imagine that from the title haha, but I hope to start those soon enough.
I had two trulyAlaskan moments this week. First being, only in Alaska would I get called into a conference room in
the middle of the day to check out the massive bull moose in the parking lot
with big ole antlers. It was probably 9-10 feet tall, just checking things out! Secondly, I slid through my first stop sign going downhill. My ABS brakes kicked in and I just kept sliding, yikes! I'm glad I experienced it in the daylight with no one around, but just a reminder to not rush through stop signs or lights.
The days are getting shorter.. the sun is rising at 9:19am today and will set at 4:11pm. Definitely getting darker which means I really want to hibernate :) But I'm excited about getting into the winter sports, and hey I'm only a month away to Dec 21, the winter equinox. After that, Anchorage will start gaining back daylight rather than lose.
Also, Thanksgiving is coming up next week, and its the first major holiday I'll be spending away from family. But I am doing a little of my traditional Thanksgiving up to Anchorage, by participating in the turkey trot brrrr. . And then I'll make my favorite pumpkin cheesecake and celebrate two Thanksgivings with my boss's family and then my friends up here. I'll probably be a little homesick though while all my family is together for the holiday.Speaking of family, I found out the most wonderful news this week! A big congrats to my dear cousin Emily and her husband Jim on their exciting baby announcement! Emily has always been like my older sister and I got the chance to live with her for two years in college and stand by her side on her wedding day. And now I couldn't be more thrilled to welcome a little Miller into the world in June! Yay love you guys :)
No comments:
Post a Comment