Opened by three friends -- Fair, Christina Montgomery and Kim Burney -- in early July, Paris Loft stocks new and refurbished furniture, along with such home accents as handblown glassware, linens, pillows, candles, bath products and more. "We refinish everything ourselves, which is how we can keep our prices so affordable," says Montgomery. "And things are flying out the door."
The store also sells works by local artists and handbag designers. "We're really trying to create a sense of community," adds Fair. "We want to make it a personal and fun experience when you come in here to shop."
Paris Loft is at 1530A 15th Street. Visit www.parisloft.com or call 303-571-5638 for information. -- Julie Dunn
Asia Like It
SUN, 8/17
The dragon boats are back, and there's no question that they're here to stay. The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival celebrates its third birthday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at Sloan's Lake, with a supersized series of improvements: a new Gateway to Asia tent with cultural displays, an expanded race schedule featuring 48 rowing teams, a bigger marketplace with over eighty vendors of ethnic food and merchandise, a larger DragonLand kids' area, and more performances than ever before. If those numbers don't signify success, nothing does. There's a good reason for the event's growing popularity: The sponsors from Denver's pan-Asian community have left no detail unaddressed. From people-moving (free shuttles to and from the lake operate all day from the parking lot at Invesco Field) to people-pleasing, the fest's organizers have it all under control; the result is an entertaining and exotic all-ages romp in the August sun. For more information, call 303-722-6852 or log on to www.coloradodragonboat.org. -- Susan Froyd
Just Peachy
It's the fuzz!
THURS, 8/14
August is National Parks Month, National Immunization Awareness Month, National Catfish Month and National Foot Health Month, but it's also National Peach Month. And what would National Peach Month be without a couple of peachy Colorado celebrations? The 35th annual Palisade Peach Festival kicks off at 6:30 p.m. today with a free peach-ice-cream social and street dance in downtown Palisade. A concert and barbecue take place in Palisade Park tomorrow, and on Saturday, a 7 a.m. pancake breakfast will be followed by recipe contests, a festival parade, peach-eating contests and a whole mess of vendors and bands and activities for the kids.
Pitted against the Palisade Peach Festival is the Lafayette Peach Festival, also this Saturday. Lafayette's a lot closer than Palisade, and this festival will feature peach ice cream, peach cobbler, peach smoothies, and fresh organic peaches trucked in from Morton's Organic Farm located in (you guessed it) Palisade.
Both peach festivals sound like a lot more fun than the National Foot Health Festival. For Palisade information, go to www.Palisadecoc.com; for Lafayette details, call 303-926-4352. -- Jason Sheehan
