by Mark Smiley | Dec 22, 2014 | Travel
(BPT) – It’s that time of year again, the time of year when you forget about sunburns and start worrying about windburn. Yes, sadly, the cooler months are here and winter is in full swing. That means long coats, scarves and an entirely different skincare routine.
Skincare you say? True, it’s easy to forget about your skin when it’s covered by all those extra layers, but dermatologist Dr. Anne Chapas, who is the founder and medical director of Union Square Dermatology, says cooler months are when skincare, particularly lip care, is most important. “The skin is our first line of defense against environmental elements, but the skin on our lips has extremely unique properties. It is one of the most sensitive areas of skin, so they require special attention in order to maintain a healthy appearance,” says Dr. Chapas.
With that in mind, Dr. Chapas offers these tips to help you keep your lips and the rest of your skin feeling and looking healthy no matter the temperature.
* Nurture your lips. The cooler months are hard on your lips. Not only are they exposed to cooler temperatures daily, behavioral habits like biting or licking your lips can also be damaging. “What most people don’t realize is that common behaviors such as drinking wine or coffee and eating salty or acidic foods can dry out the lips,” says Dr. Chapas. “But drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated and applying a moisturizing lip balm can help counteract the effects of these activities and improve your lip health.” Chapstick Hydration Lock Moisturize and Renew is a dual-ended lip balm that delivers long-lasting moisture to the lips and works great to keep the skin on the lips moisturized and replenished in the cooler months.
* Protect your hands. Your hands are often left exposed during the cooler months, especially if the cold air has dried your skin, making gloves or mittens painful to wear. Dr. Chapas says products that contain shea butter and lanolin are great for counteracting the abuse your hands endure.
* For your scalp. A thicker, moisturizing shampoo will reduce dryness on your scalp and prevent itchiness as temperatures drop.
* Remember the time of day. Don’t use the same skincare products for day and night. Instead, use products with protective, moisturizing benefits to guard your skin during the day. At night, switch to heavier creams that offer more hydration. Your skin will absorb this extra moisture while you sleep. For example, ChapStick Hydration Lock Day & Night contains two distinct formulas specific for day and nighttime use.
* Don’t forget the sun. Just because you’ve traded in your sunburn for windburn doesn’t mean you don’t need SPF. “UV damage can happen year-round,” says Dr. Chapas. “In fact, we are closer to the sun in the wintertime, and the sun can reflect off the snow, further amplifying its rays and causing sun damage. This makes it so important to incorporate sun protection into your skincare routine, regardless of the season.” Areas like the lips where skin is thinner will need even more attention and protection, since they are so sensitive.
On those coldest days when you’re bundled in layers, remember your skin needs extra protection and these simple tips will help your skin stay healthy during the cold weather season. To learn more about protecting your lips visit ChapStick on Facebook or Twitter. For more information on Dr. Chapas visit the Union Square Dermatology website.
by Mark Smiley | Nov 24, 2014 | Travel
(BPT) – You know that moving into a new home can be one of life’s biggest stressors – the packing, the paperwork, the unpacking and of course finding the nearest coffee shop. Making your new house feel like your home can help alleviate some of this stress and provide a safe-haven for some much needed relaxation.
“Everyone has a different sense of what home is,” says Elizabeth Lindmier of The Art Institute of Colorado. So while the same aesthetic won’t work for everyone, she offers her top five tips to start you in the right direction.
1. Texture and textiles – Instead of having a bunch of hard surfaces, cozy up your home with something soft or textured. This could be a blanket, curtains or area rugs. These items will also provide some acoustical value so noises aren’t echoing in an empty space.
2. Comfort – Have some place in your home where you can relax, recharge and feel at ease. “Make a space where you would like to spend time,” Lindmier says.
3. Color – A monochromatic scheme with pops of colors can bring you into a place where you feel comfortable and happy. “Do your research on color theory before painting any space,” says Lindmier. “Different colors can spark different moods, emotions and even behavior. Discover what you’d like a given space to accomplish, and use colors as a tool to create such environment.”
4. Lighting – There should be aesthetically pleasing lighting. Look at the difference between warm and cool lighting colors to decide what helps achieve the look you want. Also consider task, ambient and accent lighting for your space. “Lighting plays a key role in any home,” Lindmier says. “Through lighting design you can highlight design and architectural features, create lighting which is more useful to the human eye, and work with natural light while keeping energy use to a minimum.”
5. Clutter/stuff – “Less is more, but make it more meaningful,” says Lindmier. Get rid of your clutter. When sitting in your space, make sure you can look around and adore the things you see.
“Mies van der Rohe’s old adage, ‘less is more,’ certainly holds true here,” says Jackie Barry, Interior Design instructor at The Art Institute of Houston – North. “Select significant pieces of furniture and art to move. You don’t need to have or show everything you have all in one room.”
Barry also advises incorporating a concept called biophilic design, which recognizes the inherent need of humans to interact and affiliate with nature to achieve and maintain optimum health and well-being. “Bring the outside in; don’t neglect good views to the outside, accentuate them,” she says. “Let your garden and landscaping work for you on the inside. Connecting with nature can also have a calming and a comforting effect.”
For more information about The Art Institutes, visit artinstitutes.edu.
by Mark Smiley | Oct 24, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
It started out as a small teen center at the former YMCA in Glendale. The common area space had a pool table, a couch, and a ping pong table. Now, devoted space in the Glendale Sports Center has over 20 teens enjoying everything from Xbox and Wii to computers and tablets. Caroline Davis has been with the Glendale Sports Center for almost two months and she has jumped into her role with both feet. She is the teen coordinator for the Center and has begun to take the program to the next level. The primary focus of the teen program, which services teens ages 13 to 18, is to get them to be more active and involved and learning life skills. “We are trying to get the kids more active and more learned in life skills. We are working to put a ski and snowboarding trip together this winter at one of the four major resorts,” said Davis.
Most kids come from the Denver Public School system, West Middle School, and Cherry Creek High School. They are 7th to 12th graders and the majority of participants reside in Glendale. It is a drop-in program and open to anyone who is a member of the Glendale Sports Center. More programs for teens are being developed. “We have opened up the music, arts, and dance classes to the teens and are pushing for enrollment,” said Davis. “We are also going to bring in salsa and yoga instructors to enrich the program even more.”
The adult prep initiative is another program that has been launched. The Sports Center brings in different experts to lecture or present, such as Whole Foods in Glendale lecturing on nutrition and healthy snacking.
One of the biggest things to happen to the program over the years is receiving the tobacco grant from the Tri-County Health Department. It generated $30,800 over a two year span. The program was able to upgrade its computers and even add a tablet to its fleet of electronic devices. “The grant is aimed at preventing and teaching the youth on how to recognize big tobacco’s advertising toward the younger population, specifically teenagers,” said Steve Martinez, Programs and Teen Coordinator for the Glendale Sports Center. “Our work is advocating for different kinds of policies to be put into place such as tobacco free public spaces or stricter fines for those that litter with tobacco waste.”
One of the biggest projects from the tobacco grant was a public service announcement on smoking. The teens put together a public service announcement by directing, editing, and filming a basketball game between smokers and non-smokers. For those who are interested, the non-smokers won the game.
The teens also picked up cigarette butts around the Glendale Sports Center on National Kick Butts Day. This year, it coincided with Earth Day, April 22, 2014. Kick Butts Day is a day of activism that empowers youth to stand out, speak up and seize control against big tobacco at more than 1,000 events planned by independent organizers across the United States and around the world. Next year, Kick Butts Day is on March 18, 2015.
Also, the teens picked up 60 bags of trash, covered graffiti at Whole Foods, and worked all summer on other beautification projects.
For more information on the teen program at the Glendale Sports Center at Infinity Park, call Caroline Davis or Steve Martinez directly at 303-692-5778 or stop by and visit them at 4500 East Kentucky Avenue in Glendale. You can also visit their website at www.denverymca.org/glendale.
by Mark Smiley | Sep 29, 2014 | Travel
by Glen Richardson
Glendale staple Shotgun Willie’s is now open and will be serving liquor until 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights thanks to a new Common Consumption law (C.R.S. 12-47-103 et seq.) passed by the legislature in 2011.
State Senator Pat Steadman, a sponsor of the 2011 law that paved the way for Glendale’s extended drinking hours said, “Local governments should be allowed to set the hours of their establishments.” After the law was passed, the Glendale City Council approved the extended hours by a unanimous vote.
Shotgun Willie’s is the first establishment to get approval under the new law although casinos in Black Hawk and bars and restaurants in Morrison are considering it. “Now that casinos are allowed to stay open 24 hours, there is a lot of interest in Black Hawk of having later drinking hours,” said Steadman.
It is perhaps not surprising that Shotgun Willie’s was the first business to utilize the new law as Glendale was one of the prime backers of the new legislation.
The new hours brought the club to the attention of Brian Maass the investigative reporter for CBS4 Denver News. Maass, throughout his career, has made a living on doing specialty pieces on Shotgun’s and Glendale, usually in a negative light, and the latest story was no exception. Maass brought hidden cameras into the club for no apparent reason other than to have an employee on camera confirming the new hours which Maass acknowledged were wholly legal. On camera Maass made a Freudian slip first saying “wholly illegal” before correcting himself.
Westword’s Michael Roberts, in an article on the matter, made fun of Maass’ use of “hidden camera techniques even though everything the club has done is completely overboard [meant ‘aboveboard’].”
Maass then had the male executive director of the Colorado chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Fran Lanzer, predictably declare that they were against extended hours. He stated what’s happening with Glendale in his opinion is a risky proposition. “If we have a uniform statewide cutoff limit, then every bar has to close by 2 a.m. and that means there is no incentive to leave one bar to try and get to another bar that is going to close later. If there is an option where people could go and potentially continue drinking and continue their night, that would be an incentive for people to drive drunk and take that risk,” said Lanzer.
On his 710 KNUS morning show, Dan Caplis then praised the Maass piece and took calls on the subject. Michael Brown also covered the topic on his drive time radio show on 630 KHOW.
The net effect of the publicity was packed crowds now on the weekends after 2 a.m. “It’s incredible,” said Marguerite Lucas, Shotgun Willie’s spokesperson. “Brian Maass really knows how to gin up business for the club and we are very grateful.”
The club even put in huge letters on their marquee on Colorado Boulevard, “Thank You Brian Maass.” The club indicated thanks to the boost given to it by Maass and the related publicity, they may consider adding some other days of the week to the extended hours program.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 29, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
The award-winning Bella Diva Dance is moving from Cherry Creek North to Glendale after four years at 3rd and Clayton. “It was great working with th
e city of Glendale. Obtaining permits is easier in a smaller city. There was not a lot of red tape,” said Caitlin Brozna-Smith, owner and founder of Bella Diva Dance Studio. They have invested over $10,000 in building a brand new dance studio in the Glendale Center located at 4309 E. Mississippi Avenue.
They are situated in the same shopping center where longtime Glendale businesses, Bistro Boys Catering, The Bo okies, and Dr. Proctor’s Lounge are located. Brozna-Smith’s business partner Erin Anderson shares the space with her business, Communitas.
The two met four years ago while Anderson was taking one of Brozna-Smith’s classes at the Cherry Creek Athletic Club. Communitas focuses on creating a healing space which includes massage therapy and extensive body work.
The Bella Diva Dance Studio, founded in 2010, does not focus on the traditional ballet or tap dance. Bella Diva Dance offers a unique blend of modern Egyptian, American and Lebanese style dance technique. Particular emphasis is placed on body awareness, proper alignment and clean movement execution
. They are a company dedicated to creating a community for belly dancers and samba dancers while elevating the art of both dance forms. They dance to share the joy and beauty of Middle Eastern and Brazilian dance through artistry, thoughtful innovation and quality classes.
“Bella Diva Dance is a female empowering experience. Whether it’s attending one of the classes that push you physically to try new and exciting movements with your body, or attending a show, BDD always does a great job. I would highly recommend the classes or the shows to everyone I know,” said Valley resident Kara Thomas.
Class structure is based on a Western format of beginning with a thorough warmup including isolations and stretching, and then moving on to clear movement breakdowns, drilling the basics, hands-on corrections and integrating movements through combinations, choreography and improvisational exercises. Above all else, Bella Diva Dance celebrates the joy, femininity and individual expression inherent in Middle Eastern & Brazilian dance. Classes are taught on a monthly series-based curriculum, either being four or five classes per month. New series start the first Tuesday and Thursday of each month.
Members of the Bella Diva Dance Performing Company regularly perform at private parties, birthday and bachelorette parties, weddings, and festivals, throughout the Denver metro area. “We love to get out in the community and perform. We get an incredible response from spectators who love the uniqueness of the performances,” said Brozna-Smith.
In addition to being the owner and founder of Bella Diva Dance, Brozna-Smith is currently on faculty at the University of Denver as an Adjunct Professor of Dance and Stage Movement in the Theatre Department and Lamont School of Music. The Lamont School of Music is widely recognized as a premier university music performance school with a long-standing tradition of excellence.
This September, Bella Diva Dance will be pioneering a kids dance program offering Children’s World Dance for children ages 7-12, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Also in September, Bella Diva Dance is bringing in Afro-Caribe dance founder Eulanda Shead Osagiede from London to conduct an Afro-Caribe Unleashed Dance Fitness workshop during the World Dance Workshop Weekend. Afro-Caribe dance is typically joyful and free-spirited, and is often performed to Caribbean, Jamaican, highlife, jazz or soul music. The workshop will be held on Sunday, September 14 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information on any workshops or classes, visit Bella Diva Dance’s website at belladivadance.com or call them at 303-359-9414.
by Mark Smiley | Aug 1, 2014 | Travel
by Mark Smiley
Ken Horwege is a legend in the local newspaper scene in the Cherry Creek Valley having started with the iconic Up the Creek newspaper in 1974, as one of publisher Stan Janiak’s first employees. Utilizing his skills learned as an Air Force captain in charge of public affairs he became the newspaper’s illustrator, photographer and column writer. In 1977 he shifted over to Southeast Denver Graphics where he has worked on dozens of publications from Rocky Mountain Christian to Colorado Country Music and for the last two decades on the Glendale Cherry Creek Chronicle as photographic and artwork enhancer.
A free spirit, Horwege has never married despite a lifetime of flings and at age 72 it does not look like will ever become the “marrying kind.” He has filled his free time with an incredible array of activities from being one of the state’s top clog dancers to attending conventions and historical re-enactments in full regalia. He has a room full of authentic uniforms and costumes which allows him to time travel from the American Revolution to World War II and out into space to Star Trek’s Klingon planet of Kronos.
Ken Horwege was born May 30, 1942, at Ft. Benning, Columbus, Georgia. Ken attended grade and high school in St. Francis, Kansas, graduating in May 1960. He attended college at the University of Kansas, graduating in May 1964 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Commercial Art degree.
At KU, he was in the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps; he was named as a distinguished AFROTC Graduate, and commissioned as a second lieutenant, Air Force Reserve. In October 1968, he was assigned as a Public Affairs Officer at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico. Ironically, this is the base where my dad, Paul Smiley, served from 1968 to 1972. Ken wrote the public relations operations plan for the base conversion from F-100 to F-111 aircraft operations.
Ken was honorably discharged from the Air Force in October, 1970. “I was too outspoken. I think I pissed off one too many colonels.” Upon his discharge, he moved to Colorado to become a ski bum. From 1971-74, Ken drove a taxi.
His many hobbies keep him fit and healthy. Into his eighth decade, Horwege doesn’t show any signs of stopping. He indicates he has never been sick a single full day in his entire adult life. “I have my annual medical check once a year and otherwise I don’t see a physician any other time during the year,” declares Horwege.
As far as retiring, he declares “You’ve got to be kidding. Retire to what. I love my life and I love working at Southeast Denver Graphics. I have never been a person who likes to sit still and do nothing. The only time I plan to stop working is when they put me six feet under the ground.”
Horwege became interested in dancing in 1979, when he won the dance contest at his 20th high school reuni 
on. After winning, he decided he needed more formal lessons to continue. He took classes at Colorado Free University. In 1983, Horwege joined the Hoofin’ High Country Cloggers, a group founded in February 1979. His first performance was that same year for the People’s Fair at East High School.
The Hoofin’ High Country Cloggers performs all across the country at festivals and private events, including conventions, weddings, and other gatherings. Routines vary from intricate four-person dances to spectacular six- and eight-person dances. Clogging is a type of folk dance in which the dancer’s footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible percussive rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the heel keeping the rhythm.
The group has performed at the People’s Fair, Taste of Colorado, and Rocky Mountain Bluegrass Festival, among others. Perhaps one of their most notable performances was at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, in 1991. They danced to the music of the original Dixie Chicks who had been playing together for just two years at the time. The band was formed in 1989 by Laura Lynch on upright bass, 
guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, and the multi-instrumentalist sisters Martie and Emily Erwin.
In addition to performing with the cloggers, he is also part of the Denver and District Pipe Band, a group of musicians and dancers enjoying the music from Scotland, Ireland, and beyond.
Another interest for Horwege is dressing up in costumes. His favorite holiday since he was a kid is Halloween. He has always been fascinated with it. In 1985, Horwege met Rocky the Leprechaun in Telluride which inspired him to dress up as a leprechaun. Since 1982, Rocky (Brougham) has been the Luck Leprechaun at all Bronco home games and five Super Bowls.
Since his days as a unit historian in the Air Force, Horwege has been interested in old war uniforms. He dresses in full uniforms that date back to the American Revolutionary War, World War I, and World War II, to name a few. In fact, when he attends military balls and other individual vignettes, he corrects others who may not be completely authentic in their dress code. “If I see stripes on a uniform that are not accurate, I correct them,” said Horwege.
Horwege also enjoys dressing as a Klingon from the Star Trek series and attending conventions such as Comic-Con. The biggest thrill for Horwege has been meeting William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca from Star Wars), and David Prowse (Darth Vader from Star Wars). He would most like to meet Patrick Stewart someday, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek the Next Generation and Professor Charles Xavier in the latest X-Men movies.
Horwege is an advocate for being social but you won’t find him connected to any social media platforms. He enjoys traveling and performing with his groups. He doesn’t have to answer to anyone and he likes it that way. His strongest advice is to stay fit, healthy, and active and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
