10 To Happiness

Stay Local, Denver!

I spent my Saturday afternoon downtown at the Handmade Homemade Market on 28th & Larimer. The farmers market type setting featured sustainable entrepreneurs alongside music, food, and local retail. The HAHO supports Denver's local economy, allowing small-scale businesses a chance to showcase their craft and expand their brand. My favorite craft there were the spoon bracelets and rings made by Made By Tay. The owner is young, has great prices, and does wonderful work.

She used a framed chalkboard to display her work, and handed out the cutest business cards.

 

I had to buy one. If you are looking to match me, contact her at madebytay@gmail.com

While I was there, I also stumbled upon another Denver gem. It's a brewery and tap room called Our Mutual Friend. It's located in the Five Points neighborhood and works to use local sources and participates in every step of the brew making process. They enjoy photography, music, food and, of course, a good beer. I loved the emphasis on remaining local and their unique and friendly atmosphere. They even feature Beer and Yoga on Mondays at 6:30 pm - count me in! 

First Friday - Santa Fe District

Last night was Denver's First Friday arts walk. I've talked about these events before, but it happens on the first friday of every month. The galleries open up their doors to everyone and sometimes even provide snacks and free spirits. I've gone to the past two First Fridays where we experienced the RiNo and Golden Triangle districts. Last night, we decided to explore the Art District on Santa Fe. More than 60 galleries and artist studios participated, which housed a vast variety of works. I like the other two walks better, but there was definitely some great artists on display.
For more information on Denver's First Friday visit this.

These trees were painted on stainless steal - the texture was so intriguing.

Some of the galleries seemed to go on for miles, this one had so many rooms and different floors.

Denver Chalk Art Festival

Yesterday and today marked Denver's Chalk Art Festival. More than 200 artists transformed the streets of Lerimer Square into an outdoor museum to promote art awareness and education.The festival featured great food, drink, and music. It was free and an all around great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Denver is the BEST city, hands down.

I wish I could have seen the final product...

I am amazed by the hard work these artists put into such temporary pieces. 

Moustache.

This one was my favorite, the artist somehow made the chalk appear three-dimentional. 

Denver Arts

Today the Clifford Still Museum was open for free, so I spent the afternoon wondering the museum. Still was a 20^th century, Abstract Expressionist painter who used colors to capture the tone of post World War II. His wife, Patricia Still, selected Denver as the beneficiary of his art, holding 2, 400 of his works. The building is specifically designed to display the works, consisting of bare concrete walls that allow the art to speak for itself. Visit the website for more information here. 

Beautiful Denver, it's finally Spring!

Still's yellow room

It's good to be home!

   

Bay Bridge Lights

Tonight San Francisco's Bay Bridge is going to be at the center of the public art world. Leo Villareal will use 25,000 light diodes to create a light show on the bridge. A  live webcast through NPR cill be shown at 8:00 p.m. PST (find it here).

First Friday

Happy Saturday morning- my favorite part of the week! Over this past weekend, I came back home to Denver, Colorado. Every friday it is our family tradition to go out to dinner. Each family member gets to choose the restaurant on a rotating basis. This week it was Restaurant Week in the Mile High City (see the restaurants and their menu's here). Restaurants around Denver set up a three course meal for an affordable price. Last night we ventured over to Satchel's on 6th (menu here). It's a quaint little place with a menu full of fresh and local ingredients. The restaurant overall wasn't anything to write home about, but the Camembert and New Potatoes with Fig Jam made the trip worth while.  

After dinner, we headed over to the Golden Triangle for the First Friday arts walk (check me out!). Nothing beats a night of art and free wine. Check out some of these amazing works below!