Last weekend the Symphony performed “The Planets” by G. Holst with an amazing video created by the Adler Planetarium of THE PLANETS. It was footage from NASA and computer renderings of researched data from the planets.

If you had any interest at all in the planets it was pretty amazing stuff. The music was awesome too. If you don’t listen to classical and never heard of Holst there was still a good chance you could enjoy this concert.

Next up the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra is tackling Queen. I’m not talking about British Royalty I’m talking about Rock N Roll. Yup. The Music of Queen.

Rock musicians from Jeans n Classics will be joining the Symphony. Take a trip back to the 70′s and 80′s with the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra.

Think Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are the Champions, Somebody to Love…this will be one fun concert!

The concert takes place February 10th and 11th at 8 p.m. in the Atwood Concert Hall. You can get tickets at www.centertix.net or call 263-ARTS (2787).

This is the way to learn to enjoy the symphony! If you never thought you would want to hear a symphony you may want to rethink. It is the music of Queen.

New name, new look, more great information about Anchorage.

Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau is now known as Visit Anchorage.

The point all along has been to give people the information they need as they plan how to make the most of their visit to Anchorage and the surrounding area.

Now the name fits the purpose. Visit Anchorage.

When people think of visiting Alaska they don’t always realize how much there is to do in the state’s biggest city that is uniquely Alaskan.

Visit Anchorage gives information on things to do in Anchorage and helps connect travelers with adventures in and around Anchorage.

The updated website offers such a wide variety of information you will probably need more than one look.

www.anchorage.net has links to train travel, boat tours, places to stay, places to eat…you can read comments from tourists who have tried various tours.

Currently you can even see a clip of highlights from the movie “Big Miracle” which was filmed in Alaska. This clip contains comments from the cast too.

As a local I was excited to see information I always search for when friends and relatives visit.

I even found some package deals on things I’ve always wanted to try.

Go to www.anchorage.net and find out what you never knew you needed to know about Anchorage.

Starting this Saturday, January 21st, you can get game cards from any of the participating restaurants and collect stickers to win gift certificates to your favorite downtown restaurants.

This year we have 25 restaurants participating. More eating fun! More places to get dining certificates to eat more!

You can only collect one sticker per card from each restaurant. The idea is that you want to try some new places.

You can turn in as many cards as you complete…so don’t limit yourself.

Every year people tell me how glad they were they discovered some new restaurant they might not have tried if it weren’t for this contest.

Try some place new, enjoy your old favorites, challenge yourself to eat out more often.

6 stickers gets you a $10 dining certificate to one of the participating restaurants.
12 stickers gets you a $25 dining certificate.
20 stickers gets you TWO $25 dining certificates
All 25 stickers gets you TWO $25 dining certificates AND TWO $10 dining certificates.

That is a LOT of certificates! A lot of great restaurants and a lot of fun!

Consider this contest your chance to chase away the winter blahs. We all have to eat don’t we? Why not win while you do it?

The contest runs until April 30th. You can turn in completed game cards at Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. 333 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 317.

We are in the big blue building on 4th between C and D Street. Come in the D Street entrance and take the elevator (on your right as you enter) to the 3rd floor.

Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. is right in front of the elevator doors. Call if you get lost, 279-5650.

Bon Appetite!

It is almost like a sophisticated drinking game.

You buy a prepaid card and then select and “pour” your own wine. This high tech system allows you to try some more expensive wines that you might not think to taste otherwise.

You can select from 32 different wines. Don’t worry if all your friends aren’t wine snobs. Whale’s Tail still has a full bar and a fun selection of foods.

My friend and I brought our appetites so we each got a burger and split a giant order of sweet potato fries. Yum. Our burgers were cooked to perfection and came just as we ordered them. They were delicious.

We were both more impressed with the self-serve wine system than we had anticipated. It was fun.

We enjoyed looking at all our options and getting small samples of a number of different wines. The great thing is we both have money left on our pre-paid cards so we have an excuse to go back again.

You can find hours and a menu for Whale’s Tail at http://captaincook.com/dining/whales-tail.

There are so many different reasons to go to Whale’s Tail…the food, the wine selection, the full bar. Pick whichever reason suits you and enjoy yourself.

Whale’s Tail is located inside the 4th Avenue entrance to the Hotel Captain Cook at 4th and I Street. Stop in.

You can help offer support to teenagers who are homeless. Instead of giving a gift that may or not be appreciated why not give a gift that could change a life.

Give to Covenant House Alaska in honor of friends and family that don’t want another candle or tie or holiday ornament.

I struggle with gift ideas for several people on my list every year. I don’t have a big budget so I feel like I often end up with things they don’t need or really want.

Last year I decided that instead of trying to find something in the $10 to $15 range that others would appreciate why not just give that $10 or $15 (or more) to a charity that could really use the money and would be something those friends wanted to support.

This year I gave to Covenant House Alaska in honor of two friends that I know work a lot with youth. Not a minute passed before I got a call from Covenant House thanking me for my donation.

This year Covenant House is more crowded than ever. I was told that my gift would make a difference in offering each of those kids a special holiday.

Covenant House Alaska is committed to making sure every homeless teen has a place to stay and the support they need to get their life on track.

I know you can think of someone or maybe several people on your shopping list that would appreciate a donation in their honor that helped a homeless teenager.

You can donate online at http://www.covenanthouseak.org/. There is also a wish list of items in case you don’t want to give cash. You can call 339-4407 to talk to someone about a donation.

Being a teenager is hard. Being homeless and a teenager just shouldn’t happen!

Covenant House Alaska offers what homeless teenagers need! Give because it helps.

Specializing in thinking outside the box Treft.Punkt is fun, fresh and friendly. Combining the talents of Photographers Mitch Kitter of PropagandaAK and Shalem Mathew of Shalem Photography this studio offers a fresh feel to wedding photos, graduation pictures and more.

Mitch, Shalem and their staff are friendly and enjoy offering a new vision to familiar photo ops. You won’t find any rows of bridal parties lined up in these photos.

It is fun to wander through the studio and see the diverse selection of photos. A bride and groom cuddled up together in a boat in the water, a high school senior sitting in the woods…

When I think of wedding pictures I have never thought of art. Looking at the wedding photos in Treft.Punkt I felt like I learned something about the bride and groom.

This is art. This is a window into someone’s personality.

Mitch and Shalem aren’t afraid to use nature and outdoors scenes seem to dominate the wedding photos I saw.

Outside the box seems to be an understatement. I don’t know that these guys have even seen the box. It definitely isn’t anywhere near their studio.

Mitch and Shalem get to know their subjects and seem to have a gift for bringing out the best and the fun in people.

Currently Treft.Punkt has a photo booth project happening. You can come by any time day or night and take your photo from now through January. There is a pedal outside the shop you step on to set off the camera which is inside.

In February they will host a First Friday party to show off the pictures that have been taken and photos can be purchased. This is a fund raiser for West High School’s Photography Program.

Stop by to take your own picture for the fund raiser and then wander through the studio and check out the great photos.

Treft.Punkt is located at 245 W. 5th Avenue, Suite 108. This is the outside of the 5th Avenue Parking Garage, so 5th Avenue between B and C Streets. Call 907-868-2639 or email info@treftpunkt.com or find Treft.Punkt on Facebook.

Many of the downtown shops have spruced up for the holidays with wonderful, winter window displays! Check out the map on this website and tour the streets and behold the beauty!

The G Street Gang have thought up some spectacular sales so you can find what you need for that special someone and save yourself some money in the process. Check out this website for coupons and discount offers.

Check out the many deals for money off on art and other wonders at Artique, Octopus Ink, Sevigny Studio, Fiddlehead Gallery, Cabin Fever, The Quilted Raven and Modern Dwellers!

When you are done shopping you can get a free dessert with your lunch or dinner at Sack’s Cafe and a free cookie with your coffee at Kobuk Coffee Company.

That is a LOT of savings in just a few blocks! These deals are good Friday, Saturday and Sunday only so don’t miss out.

Saturday, December 10th at noon there is a free Tuba Concert at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (621 W. 6th Avenue). Nothing brings on the joy of Christmas like tubas in concert!

With all this going on you don’t want to miss out on a weekend of fun downtown.

It just isn’t Christmas time for me without It’s A Wonderful Life and the radio version at Cyrano’s is great!  A fun twist on a classic.

From the fabulous set to the talented cast It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play entertains and brings the audience along into the 1940′s.

The cast of five brings to life all the characters from the movie while providing radio sound effects.

I have to admit that watching adults play children added some amusement to parts of the movie that have never made me laugh before.

Watching how the sound effects are produced is a part of the fun and the cast seemed to enjoy this aspect of the play as much as the audience did.

If you enjoy the movie you simply must come see Cyrano’s Theatre Company’s presentation of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play.

Cyrano’s is located on the corner of D Street and 4th Avenue.

The show runs from now until Dec. 13th.  You can visit www.cyranos.org to learn show times or get tickets.

I am in love with the Miche purses. This concept is genius! You buy a basic bag and then change out the shell on the outside of the bag to match your mood or your wardrobe.

Miche means never having to move everything you want out of one purse into another just to dress up. The shells come in a wide range of styles from fun to classy.

Bottoms Boutique has a wide variety of fun and fancy shoes too. Heels, got em, boots, got em, flats, got em.

They carry a wide selection of Alegria shoes that are oh so comfortable and fun.

Many of the heels are too high for me to walk in, but there is enough variety that even I could find some shoes that are just right for me.

Jeans have always been an issue for me. Designers do not have my body type in mind when they make jeans.

I’m short, but my legs are too long for a petite. I’m not big, but I have hips so generally things that fit over my hips then slide down or bag on the rest of me.

Again the variety of styles at Bottoms Boutique and the expert staff were able to find jeans that even I could be seen in public in!

Bottoms Boutique is on the corner at 6th Avenue and C Street, just outside the 5th Avenue Mall.

Stop by and find what you need for fashion below the waist.

Visit www.bottomsboutique.com to find out store hours and basic information about the store.

This great new consignment shop sells a wide selection of items so you will be sure to find something you want to take home.

Vintage Leather and Faux Fur jackets, Vintage Costume Jewelry, Vintage Cowboy/Cowgirl Boots, Vintage Men’s Clothing too!

There are some great vintage wedding dresses you won’t want to miss too.

Feathers Boutique carries a great mix of items from the 20′s to now.

Hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday Noon to 5 p.m.

On D Street near 4th Avenue (417 D Street), Feathers Boutique and Vintage Consignment is a warm welcoming shop. Step in and find a little bit of the past to enjoy today. Phone (907) 258-3000 if you have questions.