The best parts of summer: adventure and the open road. Be ready to embark at a moment's notice with a whimsical tote bag and a pair of go-with-anything, go-anywhere Frye wedges. You'll always arrive in style, wherever the pavement leads. — Amy Haimerl
Top photo at left:
Inner Child Butterfly Bag ($79), Frolik on 32nd, 3715 West 32nd Avenue, 303-458-5575.
Frye "Gwen" wedge ($154), Strut, 3877 Tennyson Street, 303-477-3361.
Dog Days
Man's best friend is the quintessential summer accessory, getting you outside and on the trails. And be it Rottweiler or Jack Russell, a pup is better than any bar pick-up line for enticing hotties (of either sexual persuasion) into long, lazy afternoons. Don't have a date magnet of your own? That's okay. The MaxFund Animal Adoption Center is always looking for volunteers to take their dogs out for a quick jog around Wash Park or a hike in the hills. Just enroll in one of their training sessions, and you're on your way to a date-filled — and responsibility-free — summer. — Amy Haimerl
MaxFund Animal Adoption Center, 1025 Galapago Street, www.maxfundvolunteers.org, 303-595-4917.
Skin So Soft
Keep your body summer-perfect with the help of a few friends.
Mani/Pedi: Don't step out with nasty, skanky winter toes. Indulge in a mani/pedi from Tootsies the Nail Shoppe. Sisters Lauren and Castle Searcy opened the art-deco haven last November, and now it's the perfect retreat. $45 for an express manicure and pedicure. (Tootsies, 1021 South Gaylord Street, 720-570-0971.)
Bikini Wax: Whether you're waxing your back or your bikini line, the act is one of the most intimate of summer services. One false move, and you're bare down there. So why trust it as just an add-on service when the professionals at Wax in the City make waging war on your hairline their only mission? Getting lake-ready starts at $25. (Wax in the City, 1644 Market Street, 303-592-2929.)
Facial: French women know the secret to great skin: regular facials. Fight the effects of our dry Western climate and imitate those lovely ladies immediately. Revive Spa's menu of services is an easy introduction for the beauty-averse, but luxurious enough to satisfy longtime converts to the ritual. $40-$85. (Revive Spa, 500 East 19th Avenue, 303-284-2550.)
Quick Dip: The Brown Palace is a Denver institution steeped in years of history. Do a little steeping of your own with the twenty-minute Artesian Plunge into waters brought up from the 750-foot artesian well deep below the Brown. Enjoy a sea-algae masque and your favorite essential oils as you let a little more than Calgon take you away. $45. (The Spa at the Brown Palace, 317 17th Street, 303-312-8940.)
Starry, Starry Nights
This year, one of the great things of summer must come to an end. After twelve years, Boulder Outdoor Cinema declared 2007 to be its last season. No more couches brought in to watch the films that are projected on the rear of the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. No more controversy-generating short films before the main feature. But they're sending off the beast in style, with a lineup that includes everything from Sin City and Harry Potter to Monty Python and Pan's Labryinth. Catch the flicks for $5 on Fridays and Saturdays, June 8 — September 1.
Closer to home, there are plenty of other outdoor film fests to choose from — almost enough to see a movie nightly. — Amy Haimerl
Mondays: Film on the Rocks
June 18 — July 23 at dusk (seating starts at 6 p.m.)
Pulp Fiction, Sixteen Candles, Dazed and Confused, The Big Lebowski, Back to the Future and The Shining. Plus a special "surprise screening" in August with a U2 tribute band.
$10 · Red Rocks Amphitheatre · www.redrocksonline.com
Tuesdays: Detours — Road Films
May 29 — June 26 at 6:30 p.m.
Lost in America, Everything Is Illuminated, Last Orders, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Baghdad Cafe.
Free · Denver Central Library · www.denverlibrary.org
Wednesdays: River Flicks at Confluence Park
August 1 — 22 at dusk.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Beetlejuice, Big, The Sandlot.
Free · Confluence Park, 15th and Little Raven streets · www.greenwayfoundation.org
Thursdays: Films on Fillmore
July 12 — August 23 at dusk.
Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Princess Bride, The Muppet Movie, Titanic, This Is Spinal Tap.
Free · Fillmore Plaza, Second Avenue and Fillmore Street · www.cherrycreeknorth.com
Fridays: Stapleton Under the Stars
June 8 and 29, July 27 and August 31 at dusk.
Akeelah and the Bee, Happy Feet, Top Gun, Curious George.
Free · Stapleton · www.stapletonunderthestars.com
Saturdays: Flicks on the 'Fax
June 16 — August 11 at dusk.
Superman Returns, Over the Hedge, Click, Akeelah and the Bee, Charlotte's Web, Happy Feet, Nanny McPhee, Mission: Impossible III.
Free · Fletcher Plaza, 9898 East Colfax Avenue, Aurora · www.auroragov.org
Various Evenings: Movies in the Park
June 15 — August 18 at dusk.
Pursuit of Happyness, Madagascar, City Slickers, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Charlotte's Web, Superman Returns, Hitch, Finding Neverland, Open Season, Over the Hedge, Akeelah and the Bee, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, Curious George, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Free · various Denver park locations · www.denvergov.org/recreation
