Shopping & Services

Who moved the cheese? Blame Rich Priest, who a few months ago took over the Cheese Company, a little neighborhood cheese shop, and decided it could be moving a lot more. Not just more cheese — the store stocks about seventy kinds — but also gourmet to-go items, including prepared entrees, salads and soups from a menu that changes daily. Although the to-go concept has killed off bigger outfits, Priest has managed to make a go of it. Change is good. Deliciously good.

Jubilation and joy spread through Glendale last fall when a Super Target finally opened on Colorado Boulevard and Alameda Avenue, at a site that had formerly held a plain old Target. But this wasn’t just any superstore. In addition to the usual Super Target merch, like appliances (love that Michael Graves stuff), clothing, housewares and groceries, the vast retail outlet sells beer, liquor and 248 types of wine six days a week — and it’s the real stuff, not 3.2 grocery-store swill. State law allows the super chain to operate one liquor-selling establishment within the state, thanks to a loophole related to a pharmacy license. The Glendale store is the only Super Target in Colorado to offer boozy goods. So when the spirit moves you — or you want to be moved by spirits while picking up detergent and new sheets — head to Super Target.

One of northeast Denver’s most closely guarded secrets, Western Beverage is home to truckloads of beers, malted beverages and wine coolers handled by the Miller Brewing Company, including imports, microbrews and premium domestics. Every Saturday, the surplus is offered to the public at bargain-basement rates, usually as much as 50 percent off retail. A dolly-wielding public shows up at the crack of dawn, and the scene always has a sporting air, with elbows flying and tempers flaring over primo cases of Tecate and Sam Adams. So just where is this nirvana of the hops? We took a blood vow we would reveal it only in riddle form, so here goes: If you were a train following tracks into the industrial district near 50th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, you would ramble past a complex of warehouses to the east. Therein lurks beer, delicious beer. Good luck.

Nearly a year ago, wine retailer Dave Moore opened his South Broadway house of spirits along a rapidly changing Antique Row. Like the other stores on the stretch, the place is a real browser’s paradise: Dog-friendly and neat as a pin, Divino features tall, stacked shelves of great little wines, domestic and imported, inexpensive and spendy; each variety is handsomely marked with a round, stamped-metal price tag. Moore left the restaurant industry to try his hand at selling wine, and he’s never looked back. “Here,” he says, “I get to be surrounded by something I love, and that’s booze.” A world of it.

Sticker shock is common at Sav-A-Lot Foods, a minimalist supermarket where generic and name-brand goods go for pennies. The chain store isn’t fancy: There are no free samples, seasonal displays or credit cards accepted. But it’s always well stocked with staples, and usually with fine, fresh produce, too. How about ten limes, two pounds of pasta or a boatload of white rice for a buck? A gift to frugal shoppers everywhere, Sav-A-Lot makes it easy to shop and eat well, even when you’re busted.

The scent is the first thing to hit when you walk into Indus Imports, a nondescript market just off the multicultural South Federal strip. The odors of pungent masalas bouncing off a frenzy of saffron, fenugreek, cayenne, mustard, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric, amchoor powder and asafoetida make you want to lie down on the floor like Gandhi and never leave. But you will, eventually, loaded down with ghee, basmati rice, dal and dozens of mysterious spices all begging to jump together in a pot. There’s a gastronomic world of discovery to be found once you get your groceries home.

Don’t know a pho bo from a tom ka? Don’t fret. Even though Asian cuisines such as Vietnamese and Thai are now in full fashion, the ingredients lists for many dishes still scare off even the most globally minded gourmet. Fortunately, Asian Supermarket demystifies the herbs, spices and vegetables called for in many Eastern-inspired dishes. Worldly botanicals like galangal, Thai basil, lemongrass, star anise and lotus root are displayed in clear bags with English descriptions; you’ll also find your jellyfish, your fish balls, your fungus. The supermarket stocks run-of-the-mill goods like cookies, crackers and cleaning products, too. Unlike many of the items, the prices don’t need translation: The stuff is cheap. Last but not least, the spacious store carries noodles, fresh produce and rice, rice, rice. Forget high-dollar boutique grocers: Asian Supermarket is an adventure, and a steal, every time.

First there were health-food stores and co-ops — little eclectic-eccentric, tie-dyed, bring-your-own-bag places where hippies shopped for goat yogurt, yams and fresh tofu. But somewhere along the line, the stores got bigger. They supplied bags (even plastic ones), widened the aisles and branched into the gourmet-foods market. Hippies? Even if any were still around, they couldn’t afford to shop at these places now. Isn’t it time something gave? Enter Sunflower Market. The brainchild of former Wild Oats mastermind Mike Gilliland and his brother, Pat, the new store is a delightful setback in whole-foods merchandising, with lower prices, a less outrageous scope and an element of surprise: The get-it-while-you-can aisle features a changing stock of odd-lot grocery buys. In the garden of overblown health-food shopping, little Sunflower towers above the rest.

After years of deferred dreams and delayed plans, the Osage Mercado debuted last summer as a kind of test, sponsored by the Baker, La Alma/Lincoln Park and Sun Valley neighborhood groups. Apparently, it passed, because the Mercado is here to stay — at least for one long season. Beginning on Mother’s Day, it will continue on the first Sunday of the month through October. Designed to be part farmers’ market and part craft fair, it’s something like a mini People’s Fair, with community-based music and dance, kids’ activities and art projects planned each month. So come visit the ‘hood. You’ll never look at it quite the same again.

Smaller and less crowded than the market that takes over the Cherry Creek Bed, Bath & Beyond parking lot on Saturdays, the Colorado Fresh Market is held on Sundays from June through October. It’s the same zany mix of Colorado honey, Western Slope apples, goat cheese and cinnamon rolls, but at a far less frenetic pace. Here an organic farmer from Paonia will take the time to tell you just how he makes apple cider, and a local baker will serve you a piping hot baguette right out of the oven. Many of these merchants gave up their day jobs to indulge their love of food, and they’re happy to share their stories. Bring a lawn chair and your appetite.

It’s as close as we’ll get to walking under the boardwalk in Denver. But, hey, strolling under the viaduct ain’t bad — especially when you’re shopping in blazing mid-July heat. Weatherproofing is just one of the strategies behind the Viaduct Market, a cousin to the successful Ballpark Market bazaar. If a trial run in December is any indication, treasure hunters can expect the same quality mix already found at Ballpark: antiques, furniture, old and new clothing and jewelry, refreshments and those once-in-a-lifetime finds. So go: The Viaduct Market will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every fourth Saturday of the month from March until December. No need to flee when it rains on this flea.

Marczyk Fine Foods already corners the market on gourmet goods, so we won’t even start with the rundown of what they’ve got inside. But last year they went a step further and made the place just plain homey. “Come on over,” they invited. “Sit a while. We’ll cook you up a burger.” And so the Friday cookout was born. The new summer tradition returns in the spring, when the evenings grow long and linger-worthy. The charcoal grill will fire up again, serving friends, customers and strangers side by side at long community tables. Don’t like burgers, even when they’re fashioned from the finest beef on the planet? No problem. Pick out a piece of fish inside and they’ll grill that up nicely for you, too. Fridays at Marczyk’s are pure urban bliss.

Highland resident Sandra Renteria is so concerned about Haiti, the tiny, war-torn Caribbean nation, that she’s become a cheerleader for the place. Dedicated to doing something for the Haitian people, she and her husband formed the Art Creation Foundation for Children, which is based in Jacmel, Haiti, and feeds and clothes children, most of them orphans, while teaching them to make traditional crafts. Renteria’s Denver shop, Indigena, specializes in Haitian art, including the children’s wares, along with a smattering of better-than-average handmades from Mexico, India and other far-flung locations; Indigena boasts some of the best Oaxacan carvings we’ve seen in the region. “Indigena wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Haiti,” Renteria says. It’s a small world, after all.

Turning water to wine is a tough, though handy, trick; it’s pretty advanced stuff, as far as miracles go. Manos Folk Art can help you enact something slightly less flashy. The colorful import shop specializes in goods from Mexico and Latin America, where the faithful make personal appeals to saints using small, symbolic milagro trinkets. The shop’s nice selection of metal milagros — in the shape of hearts, hands, lungs and limbs, among others — includes utilitarian Mexican designs as well as elaborate pieces from Peru and silver reproductions of vintage artifacts. The Manos staff will also direct you to local churches and shrines where you can petition the saints. Whether you want to pray or simply pump up your folk-art collection, Manos is a heavenly place to begin.

If clothes make the man, Suits Closet can make an employed man. To help male job-seekers obtain interview-appropriate duds, the non-profit job-placement agency DenverWorks recently reopened its clothing bank to underprivileged guys seeking work. Offered by referral to clients in need of the right stuff, the program doesn’t seem like much at first. But when you consider that a good suit can make the difference between landing a job and being shown the door, Suits Closet becomes one of those small steps for man and a giant step for mankind.

It’s every teenager’s birthright to endure the humiliating rite of passage known as the high school prom. Though formal events are a low priority for school-age youths and families living in shelters, that doesn’t mean homeless teens don’t want to put on a puffy dress or boutonniere and dance the night away with their peers. That’s why the Denver Public Schools created the Threads program, which started out as a prom-dress bank before evolving into a full-fledged store with hygiene items and racks of donated clothing kids can purchase with vouchers. Threads has been a huge success since it opened in a local school last fall (whose location is disclosed only to those eligible for the program). The concept has been expanded to serve homeless children in elementary school, who receive vouchers they can use at local Goodwill stores. Who knew something so positive could come out of prom night?

Here’s a good yarn: Shellie Lubowitz of the Shivering Sheep and Coppélia’s Needlepoint in Cherry Creek North so wanted to help the homeless that she organized an ongoing Sunday-afternoon knitting circle for that purpose. Participants get to knit, purl and gab while creating warm items — gloves, scarves, hats and blankets — for those who are exposed to the elements all winter long. Knit for the Homeless needles on through the end of April. Look for the new tradition to start up again next fall.

We don’t know when, or why, it happened, but knitting is suddenly hot, with knitting groups popping up like crop circles. La Ti Da, at home in a converted Old South Pearl Street cottage, came along at just the right moment. Knitting mavens Kim Allegretti and Rita Marshall knew exactly what they were doing when they opened the combination coffeehouse, yarn store and gift shop. La Ti Da not only caters to south Denver’s needle-wielding denizens by offering them a comfy place to gather, buy top-drawer yarns, learn new stitches or simply while away an afternoon; it also provides an outlet for local artisans, whose wares — teensy sweaters and poodle dresses for babies, stunning scarves, jewelry, pillows and more — line one homey alcove. Just the thing for a tight-knit community.

Tucked in the back corner of Boss Unlimited, a Kennedy-era vintage store, is an innocuous box stuffed with bolts of fabric. And what a fun box it is — full of mid-century mod fabrics that look oh-so-fresh in the current season of Jackie O-inspired fashion. The stock is small, but it changes frequently based on what owner Cynthia Wright scouts. And for the real DIY-er, there’s a valise packed with ’40s and ’50s patterns. Express yourself!

It’s a misnomer to call the Buffalo Exchange a vintage-clothing or thrift store. Nearly a fourth of its eclectic inventory is brand-new, cherry-picked from debut lines of contemporary streetwear that escape the notice of larger, more corporate, mall-based fashion chains (Denver’s Capitol Hill location is one of 24 nationwide). If a new indie line’s catching a buzz at the MAGIC fashion trade show in Las Vegas one week, it’s headed for the racks at the Exchange the next. The store’s bread and butter, though, is “recycled fashions,” and its heavily pierced in-store buyers excel at mining the garbage bags and laundry baskets trade customers bring in. Prices are generally lower than those at consignment shops offering similarly high-caliber brands and rare finds. We’ve walked out of Buffalo Exchange with a classic KISS tour shirt ($100 on eBay), a mint-condition Armani pullover ($180 new) and a pair of barely used leather Skechers ($80 new), all for less than sixty bucks. The store’s soundtrack is also suitably fashionable: No canned Top 40 here; just the best in edgy indie rock and electronic ambient. Herdy up.

The deals are hot at Twice as Haute, where ladies can pick up stylin’ black Banana Republic leather pants for $60, a red DKNY cocktail dress for $68 and a full-length white mink coat for $998 — plus the Kenneth Cole heels, Gucci purse, velvet fedora and gemstone jewelry to go with them. Located in an old house on 6th Avenue, the store carries labels like Burberry, BCBG Max Azria, Miss Sixty and Kate Spade for a smidgen of the original retail price. Be sure to check the tags closely: Items hanging for more than thirty days are automatically reduced another 20 percent. And if your closet deserves an “enter at your own risk” sign, Twice as Haute will take designer goods off your hands on consignment, as long as they are less than two years old and still in fabulous shape. Get ready to turn into a haute mama.

The conversion of Goodwill Industries’ north Denver store to a 99-cent emporium has been a hit with cash-strapped families, seniors and anyone else trying to stretch a buck. Clothes and housewares that may have been passed over at other stores get renewed attention here. With every item beckoning at the bargain price of $.99, it just makes cents.

Clean, well-organized and spacious, Mile High is a bargain hunter’s dream. How about a cashmere turtleneck for $1.99? Or maybe that immaculate leather jacket for six bucks? If you’re feeling flush, splurge on a Dooney & Bourke handbag for $14.95. There’s even a decent selection of books and crockery. Bring cash and your size chart: There are no fitting rooms, and Mile High doesn’t take checks or credit cards. But there is an ATM on the premises, and with prices this low, your bank’s service charge may be the most expensive transaction of the day.

Not too many clip joints have their own art gallery, but Cue Perez’s Hairspray is outfitted with large-scale work by local artists in various media, including photography, prints, oil and acrylic. The exhibits change every couple of months and complement the hip, industrial feel of the salon. A cut above, Hairspray elevates the art of beauty.

When it comes to plumbing mishaps, don’t bust a pipe: Fix it yourself and save a bundle. Whether you’re redoing the loo or merely replacing a rusted shower head, the stuff you need is sure to be cheaper at Do-It-Ur-Self, which offers used and surplus plumbing and heating supplies at ridiculously low prices. Oh, they have new stuff, too, but where’s the fun in that? Wander the aisles and you’ll find the kinds of antique fittings they just don’t make anymore — or sell at Home Depot. At Do-It-Ur-Self, you’ll never have to wash your money down the drain again.

It takes guts to enter the Lake Steam Baths. The 77-year-old Denver institution seems a little, uh, sketchy, squatting on a corner of West Colfax. But the experience is well worth the leap of faith. Ladies come Mondays and Thursdays to steam — both in a dry hot-rock and eucalyptus sauna — and whirlpool their tensions away; boys get the rest of the week. After a dip, try a full-body massage, a steal at just $28 an hour, or a mani/pedi. Just be sure to book in advance. And, yes, you’ve got to get naked.

So your house is under construction, your slumlord won’t fix the bathroom leak — whatever. You just need a hot shower, but at a certain point, you have to stop bumming showers off your friends. For a mere five bucks a day, the 20th Street Recreation Center — or any of the other 28 Denver Parks and Recreation gyms — will be there in your time of need. Don’t expect the Ritz — hell, don’t expect a Motel 6 — but the facilities are clean, and admission includes access to the workout facilities. Women even get private shower stalls (sorry, boys). Just don’t forget your shower shoes.

African Grey is similar to the Denver Zoo’s Bird World — only you can take the store’s feathered friends home with you. In addition to its namesake parrot, the shop also sells cockatoos, cockatiels, parakeets and finches. Though it’s hard not to go a little bird-brained from all the squawking in the place, the exotic animals make the racket endurable. Just be sure to watch your head. Like the birds at the zoo, some of the winged things are allowed outside their cages.

Folks may not worry much about bats in the belfry. Heck, they probably stopped making belfries decades ago. But squirrels in the attic? There’s an unwelcome bit of wildlife. Since last June, when Jim Clouse started his Lil Rascals service, fewer of our furry friends have been squatters (or slitherers: he does all wildlife) in homes around the Littleton area. Clouse charges a one-time service fee that includes inspecting the house to see where the secret squirrels are gaining entry. After setting traps, he hauls the unwanted nut-eatin’ guests away for a per-critter cost. As he says, “I only want to catch the squirrels that are bothering you, not your neighbors.” He also does repairs. Now, if you have elk in the basement…

A sick pet can’t tell you where it hurts; sometimes it’s hard to know whether kitty is entering her ninth life or just suffering from hairballs. The doctors at Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado use pure science to clear up such mysteries of the animal world. At the massive Englewood facility, pets receive better health care than most humans, with specialists in veterinary cancer, heart disease and rehabilitation on call 24 hours a day. A surgical and research hospital, VRCC takes an aggressive stance against disease, using the latest treatments and non-traditional methods like acupuncture; there’s even a staff dermatologist. Services aren’t cheap, but the center won’t bankrupt you with unexpected charges. It’s about time modern medicine went to the dogs.

Lost Fluffy or Fifi? Don’t expect the staff at the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter to help. Unlike the rest of the local shelters, DMAS takes no lost reports and makes no calls if a cat matching your description comes in. With limited resources, the best staffers can do is suggest you come check every day and send you off with a flier listing other centers to call. But for those with a tight schedule, dogtown.tv gets the shelter’s daily list of what’s been picked up and posts it online so you can see if it’s your beagle that came in or just someone else’s boxer. Remember, check regularly and check often: DMAS keeps animals for only five days before putting them up for adoption or euthanizing them.

The Maxfund Animal Center has long been known for finding abandoned critters good homes. Now it’s opened a low-cost spay and neuter clinic to help control the number of animals coming through the shelter’s door. Unlike other facilities, Maxfund will do the surgeries — ranging from $30 to $40 — for anyone in the community, regardless of income level. Shots and other basic veterinary services can also be had for a song.

Suzie’s Tartar Liquid is a painless solution to that rich, ripe dog breath emanating from your pup. A tablespoon of Suzie’s odorless, tasteless formula in your pet’s drinking water leads to cleaner teeth (and fresher breath) within a matter of weeks. Instead of swearing at their foul-panting pooches, sensitive pet owners swear by Suzie’s homegrown concoction.

Barbara Stone’s polar bears inhabit that peculiar juncture where wildlife art meets whimsy, just sidestepping kitsch. Her watercolors have surfaced in children’s books, on kimonos and calendars, at the Smithsonian, and in a TV special dealing with the artist’s pilgrimages to the Arctic to observe her subjects. You can find them at her gallery in Longmont, in an old church on Main Street.

Aspiring bards, novelists, journalists, essayists, students and screenwriters come to the Lighthouse Writers Workshop for help getting words on paper — and maybe even into print. Taught by local pros of the pen, the classes are small, intensive and inexpensive, which means that even those on a poet’s budget can afford to delve more deeply into their art. The schedule varies by season, but certain themes pop up in all of the courses offered: Lighthouse instructors emphasize storytelling, revision and breaking the blocks that inhibit creative expression. Classes are open to students of all skill levels, from novice scribes to graduate students and published authors. Even the most accomplished writer needs an editor. Sometimes they also need a teacher.

We use paper all the time — to write boring memos and long grocery lists, to cover things, even to blow our noses. Composition takes paper to another level. We don’t mean flimsy sheets jammed into the copy machine, but thick, grainy stationery that’s perfect for writing eloquent love letters. Tucked into the corner of LoDo’s Annex at the Steelbridge Lofts, Composition also carries funky journals for recording private thoughts, leather photo albums to guard precious memories, and unique greeting cards to convey the deepest of sentiments. Owner Jennifer Roberts understands that paper and design can inspire, so the next time you have something important to proclaim, let Composition help you say it.

In the mood to beat something with a stick? Dulcería El Pachangón has just the thing. The tiny boutique carries a colorful inventory of ready-made piatas, from Sesame Street and Simpsons characters to star shapes and animals. If you’d prefer something a tad more personal, bring in a photo of your favorite cartoon character — or, say, your boss or significant other — and ten days later, you’ll have a papier-mché model of it, ready for stringing up and pummeling. Dulcería Pachangón also stocks a truckload of treats for birthday parties, weddings and quinceaeras. The sweets range from traditional hard candies to Mexican confections like cucumber and chile lollipops and rose chews. Scoop it up by the handful or the pound and get ready to stuff.

Ever wish you’d kept all those dorky iron-on T-shirts you wore as a kid? If so, get a load of Sugar. Nestled among the vintage shops on Broadway, the year-and-a-half-old boutique has a huge selection of retro-’70s and ’80s iron-on transfers — as well as custom lettering — that can be applied to the shirt of your choice in minutes. Fancy unicorns? Atari? Joan Jett? They’ve got it. Sugar also carries a modest but unique array of men’s and women’s retro attire, jewelry and accessories. Sweet!

As much a museum as an antique shop, Packrat Antiques is overflowing with the weird, the odd, the curious and the bizarre. Some of the items for sale, such as vintage Western movie posters, are fairly typical, but they represent only a tiny portion of the store’s willfully eccentric collection. Scientific and medical instruments from eras gone by are a specialty: There are enough twisted gizmos, gadgets and doohickeys on hand to provide props for the next five David Cronenberg movies. As a bonus, Packrat features decorative items — such as a human skull and imitation eyes to put in it — sure to provoke conversation, if not terror. Here’s looking at you, kid.

The next time you’re out shopping for incense, a Balinese tapestry or a dagger to use in magical rituals, try SpiritWays. The East Colfax metaphysical shop has a wicked, double-bladed dagger, or athame, for every price range, starting with a small, economical Egyptian model for $30, complete with scabbard. Check out the Gil Hibben custom design series ($120 to $150) or the particularly ornate Isis Dagger, which at $99 comes with its own wall plaque. Typically, the ceremonies these daggers are designed for don’t involve the letting of blood, but make no mistake: They’re sharp and, as gun-store owners like to say, “ideally suited for home defense.” And you don’t need a special permit to own one.

The second and fourth Tuesday of each month, Arvada’s D Note welcomes Church at the Bar. Run by the local and open-minded Connected Life church group, it’s the only service in town during which attendees can celebrate the Holy Spirit with spirits and good craft beer. Bar-hoppers thirsty for a few shots of spirituality now have no excuse for skipping church.

Are Jesus and Buddha friends? The supporters of St. Paul’s Methodist Church’s weekly Christian/Buddhist contemplation hour think so. Every Sunday, the Capitol Hill church hosts a low-key, hour-long service that mates Buddhist and Christian philosophy and practice. The interfaith congregants are a reflection of the neighborhood’s eclecticism — expect aspiring monks in robes and housewives in sweats — and the program rotates like a prayer wheel. Most weeks, speakers from local temples and churches, including Christian pastors and Tibetan nuns, guide meditations and give talks on everything from right speech to redemption. The services provide an open, casual introduction to both Christian and Eastern practice. Be here now.

Medical emergencies aren’t known for being fun, since they’re often accompanied by blood, exposed bones, scrambled viscera, agonizing pain and more blood. So credit Swedish Medical Center with providing patients and their loved ones with a high-tech way to keep their minds off more unpleasant matters. Stalls in the emergency section of the hospital are outfitted with computers whose oversized screens and keyboards are mounted on swivel arms that extend over gurneys for easy access. Visitors can use the computers to watch any of 25 or so cable-television channels (the same selections available in regular rooms at Swedish), surf the Internet or play a variety of games. Getting hurt has seldom been so entertaining.

Plenty of adults enjoy arts and crafts every bit as much as the younger set. Recognizing this, Hot Pots!, a paint-your-own-pottery studio, has come up with special packages for birthday parties, bridal showers and plain old bonding. Now kids of all ages can indulge their inner Picassos, using cups, saucers, plates, bowls and figurines as their canvas. The staff provides instructions, supervision, advice and all the paint needed to create a mini-masterpiece — and for birthdays, a commemorative plate signed by all the guests is provided at no additional charge. Color them beautiful.

There comes a time in many girls’ lives when they move from playing with Barbie dolls to wanting to look like one. Lil’ Cuts can help with the transition. The salon is specifically designed with kids in mind and features a carousel-esque setup lined with individual video monitors to keep the tiniest tots occupied long enough for a trim. The staff also knows how to keep tweens happy, offering special rates for birthday parties at which the guest of honor and each attendee is coiffed, styled, buffed and pampered to perfection in the store’s full-service salon. After all, little girls get bigger every day.

Boulderite Leslie Potter was inspired to create a more durable line of girls’ clothing by her adopted Chinese daughter, Meili (“beautiful” in Chinese), who, as a crawler on two hands and two knees, wore out her Chinese silks faster than her mom could button them up. Potter’s perky denim-and-print collection blends cultures with style, mating the Mandarin collars and frog fasteners of the traditional Asian chi-pao with all-American jean jackets, tiered ruffle skirts and capris. The ultra-cute play ensembles have been selling like hot egg drop soup since Potter first started stitching them together, and not just to families of Chinese adoptees. Cute is international.

Louisville mom Terry Hsu-Gander shipped a little piece of China back home after visiting there and adopting two daughters. While picking up her girls, Hsu-Gander found the stylish children’s shoes she now imports and sells under the Frog Prince label. She moves most of the merchandise through her website, with the help of a sister living in Shanghai. With feather-soft leather uppers that come in brilliant swathes of contrasting red, black, white, lime green and tangerine, these shoes practically scream “Adorable!” Available in toddler and little girls’ sizes up to eleven, the Frogs are comfy and durable, appropriate for both dress and play. “My own kids grow out of them before they wear them out,” Hsu-Gander says of her shoes, which stand the test of time, mud, concrete and gravel. What a kick.

Babies have the sweetest little feet: You could wrap them in a banana peel and they would still look cute. Fortunately, Castle Rock stay-at-home mom and business-minded entrepreneur Jenny Chism devised a more appropriate foot covering for wee ones when she created Monkey-Toes. The tiny sneakers, hand-painted with ladybug, frog, bee and piggy motifs and tied up tight with squiggly shoelaces, can be purchased in sizes from one to ten at selected boutiques or online. Start monkeying around.

European babes have been snoozing in these things for years, but they’re a relatively new idea for naptime over here. The Angel’s Nest is really just a sleeping bag for tots, but there’s some deep-sleep thinking behind the concept. The bags are safer and more reliable than tangly, loose bedding, and they’re soft as a cloud and impossible to shake off. Denverite Jennifer Zinn so loved one sent to her by a sister in France that she hatched a plan to market her own, in two styles. Through her website, Zinn offers a standard “sleeping bag,” for babies still sleeping exclusively on their backs, and a “wearable bag” — sort of a closed romper with no legs for little ones old enough to roll around. The Nests come in a variety of cushy materials and seasonal weights. Rock-a-bye, baby.

Are there really as many babies out there as there are new shops catering to them? Must be. Such businesses are multiplying like rabbits as baby boomers’ kids create a baby boom of their own. And even though one place looks as cute as the next, Studio Bini stands out for a number of reasons, including its location on Tennyson Street, an urban stretch that’s found new life in the past few years. The tiny boutique is also a showcase for its owners, local children’s-clothing designer Linde Schlumbohm and artist Sandy Brudos. Bini overflows with cute: tie-dyed velvet dresses, miniature high-top sneakers, lace-trimmed poodle skirts, vintage cowboy prints, puffy swing coats and Kandinsky-esque ’50s-style Brubeck shirts for stylin’ tykes. We’ll take five!

Screw Baby Gap. Real rock-and-roll parents will appreciate the duds coming out of Denver’s most venerated house of music. There are no pink bunnies or fluffy booties here; the kid will be clamoring for the skull-emblazoned tanks (size infant and up) and other similarly goth creations. Do it for the children, man.

You don’t have to set fashion aside just because you’re having a baby. Haven’t you heard that pregnancy is the new black? Or was that last year? In any case, “It” moms and moms-to-be Reese, Sarah Jessica and Gwyneth have proven that it’s possible to set trends even as the belly balloons. Denver moms can do the same at Real Baby, a Highland store that stocks lace dresses and bags so hip you’d never guess they were designed to hold diapers. And there’s no reason Baby can’t turn heads, too. With tiny Aloha shirts, Kenneth Cole sneakers and sequined flip-flops, your young one can follow in your stylish footsteps — just as soon as he or she can walk.

Okay, so nobody actually gets knocked up at Comfort & Joy, but Joy Hewitt-Kind has made helping women conceive the specialty of her acupuncture practice. She’d been treating basic pains, illnesses and stress until a few years ago, when a client came to her after having repeated miscarriages. Kind intervened, and the woman came down with twins. No guarantees (thankfully!) that she can work the same magic for everyone — but she’s also been known to clear a migraine. And her touch is so gentle that most patients fall asleep before she’s even done placing the needles.

East meets West at the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where students practice the art of sticking it to the public. Every Saturday, the school opens as an acupuncture clinic. Supervised by physicians and others who’ve completed the school’s intensive Chinese-medicine program, the clinics help pupils fine-tune the arts of relieving pain and stress and treating disease by stimulating specific pressure points in the body. Even the needlephobe will have a hard time overlooking the deal: Sessions are $25, roughly half of what ‘puncture fans pay at salons and clinics around town. Just…hold…still.

Sweet Utopia is an anomaly in the 21st century — a store dedicated solely to relaxation and romance. Barbara Lynn Trattler’s north Denver hole-in-the-wall is a sensual curio, draped and dotted with little luxuries to help heighten the senses. Here you’ll find hand-dyed and beaded slip dresses, jingly Egyptian hip scarves, cut-flower stems, treasure boxes and lip-shaped truffles. Trattler also assembles hand-packaged Erotiberry gift baskets, which can include everything from massage oil and chocolates to champagne and flowers. You can’t buy love, but at Sweet Utopia, it’s fun to try.

We love supporting local designers, but even better is supporting local designers whose wares are cute enough to make the pages of top fashion magazines. Nicole Beckett started the Agogo Threads line out of her parents’ house in Golden, and last spring, she opened her first boutique, Agogo Star, in Boulder. Now Maya, Beyoncé and other celebs are wearing her vintage-styled dresses, skirts and halters in the pages of Cosmopolitan, Teen People and Bust. The Fairy Dust Frock and Petal Skirt With Crepe Tie-Front Top are sure to be killers for spring.

Science may never fully explain why certain women go gaga for the simplest things — a slender notebook from China, say, or a small, distressed-looking birdhouse. A cornucopia of feminine kitsch, Miss Talulah’s is such a woman’s treasure trove — a fun, arty adventure of a store in the burgeoning Ballpark neighborhood. Handmade soaps, folk-art chandeliers, vintage poster art from the Orient and handmade pillows are scattered among the nooks and crannies of the small shop; many of the display pieces are for sale, too. It’s a dense, dainty place for the girl who has everything…but still really needs a set of antique beaded candlestick holders.

Mile High Comics’ flagship store is home to the usual players in the comic-book universe: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse. But there’s so much more to Mile High, a twelve-year-old-boy’s wet dream of a store. Rows of glass cases in the 11,000-square-foot space hold Aliens, Iron Maiden and Futurama figurines while the shelves and walls are lined with graphic novels, manga and movie posters. Three days a week, guys come ready to role-play during epic tournaments of the popular game of Magic. Males dominate the clientele, but female sci-fi goddesses are also in the house, albeit in fictional form: Posters and paraphernalia honoring Agent Scully, Xena and Queen Amidala are abundant. C’mon, get geeky.

Brighten the bar mitzvah, or the table, with a stop at Aharon’s Books, where the massive selection includes everything from Kabbalah texts to a Yiddish version of The Cat in the Hat. A stop for

cooks as well as readers, Aharon’s carries all the accoutrements of a kosher kitchen, including challah covers, matzoh boxes and baking pans marked “parve,” “dairy” or “meat.” There are also mezuzahs for the home, jewelry for women, black hats for men, and kippot for everyone. For serving Denver’s Jewish community for six years, we say mazel tov to Aharon’s!

Craig Pea and Jay Salas have gone platinum with their line of zoot suits, dressing everyone from Snoop Dogg to David Bowie. Now they’re inking deals with retailers and high-profile sports-apparel companies to market their Chingaso Gear line of Latin-inspired fight clothes. Hoodies, tees, boxing robes, prison-orange jumpsuits — it’s all on the cutting edge of the highly coveted Latin market. But just because Pea and Salas are bustin’ out doesn’t mean they’ve lost their edge. After all, you’ve got to know the street to make clothes for it. Stay trucha!

A throwback to Denver’s cowtown past, Lancaster’s Western Wear caters to the last of the city’s real cowboys and ranchers — especially those who earn money on the rodeo circuit. Lancaster’s “Rock-N-Roll Rodeo Gear” department carries all the protective duds — from helmets and flak jackets to gloves, ropes and more — that a bucked-up bullrider could want. Looking to ride the ring in safety and style? This is your outpost.

Capitol Hill Books has always been a great place to while away an afternoon. And with the 10 percent-off card for frequent buyers, the 3,000-square-foot bookstore is habit-forming. The new travel section is just making matters worse. Because it’s stocked with 4,000 travel guides, armchair travel books, memoirs, dictionaries, language books and books in other languages, there’s no better place to see the world. Check the shelves regularly, because books on Thailand, Cuba, Vietnam and South America disappear quickly. But at just $5 to $6 a pop, it’s suddenly affordable to go places.

Janis Frame is a pusher. For Denver book collectors, her spacious Book Buffs Ltd. is as addictive as a line of coke. You can almost hear shoppers slapping their veins and muttering, “Just one more, man,” as they browse the shelves of fine first editions, limited editions and small-press releases. The store, which recently moved from the Golden Triangle to a new spot on South Pearl, boasts everything from obscure chapbooks to modern signed firsts, such as Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections — and it’s all impeccably organized and alphabetized. Each volume has its own siren song, luring readers to caress its cover, scan its pages, stroke its spine. Just one more, man.

Bookish bargain hunters come to browse the new and used titles at Ichabod’s Books, but they stick around to drink the coffee. The store’s modest cafe counter serves straight java, baked goods and espresso drinks, including a vanilla latte that’s pure perfection. On weekend afternoons, readers and loafers alike sip joe and sink into well-worn chairs that line the comfortably cramped floor. Yes, Starbucks has invaded Barnes & Noble, and Borders has its own cafe, but those superplex-style stores can’t touch the loose, Left Bank vibe of Ichabod’s, the literary heart of south Broadway.

Besides its broad selection of books, pamphlets and periodicals spanning the whole spectrum of radical and progressive issues, Breakdown really focuses on the “community” part of its name. The volunteer-run, non-profit space offers free classes and workshops, a computer lab and even a lending library, and also plays host to a variety of events such as art openings, discussions with touring leftist luminaries and showcases for acoustic and experimental music. In a political climate that’s increasingly constrictive and bleak, Breakdown is a much-needed voice of dissent and celebration.

In Books Unlimited’s old home on University Boulevard and Evans Avenue, the cozy quarters and musty smell of yellowed pages made you want to curl up with one of the store’s good books. Unfortunately, there was no space to curl up in. In its new home on Colorado Boulevard, Books Unlimited has retained its charm and gained ample browsing room — and a parking lot. It also sports some once-forgotten treasures: While relocating 80,000 books last fall was a monumental task, the store’s owners discovered many buried treasures when they finally unpacked. Limited-edition reference books, signed tomes by Isabel Allende, Oscar Hijuelos and Jay McInerney, as well as a nine-volume set of Abraham Lincoln’s papers, have all been restored to their rightful spots on the shelves of the new and improved book nook.

If a craving for a shot of Fellini and a mocha frappé strikes at the same time, head to Juma’s DVD, which squats in the back of the Bohemian Bean Internet cafe and coffeehouse. Browsable in person or on the web, Juma’s rental catalogue includes a bit of everything, from Luis Buuel to Jack Black, Disney to DeMille. Once you’ve rented something, you won’t have to hock your jewelry to pay late fees if you can’t return the goods on time. And because the place keeps coffeehouse hours — 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day — it’s likely to be open whenever you desire a dash of La Dolce Vita.

Though the 45 isn’t the hippest musical format on the market, those seven-inch slabs of plastic are still coveted by collectors across the country. As such, stores catering to this clientele continue to exist in most major cities, with prices for used singles generally starting at several dollars and skyrocketing from there. Wax Trax, however, contains box after box after box of 45s priced as low as a quarter; most of the others are fifty cents. The charges for long-players are usually on the low end of the scale, too, which helps explain why vinyl lovers who travel to Denver make a beeline for Wax Trax. Those of us who live here have a lot less distance to cover to take advantage of a local treasure.

Picture the cover of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band: the Beatles wearing satin uniforms, surrounded by flowers and a bouquet of bright minds, including Aleister Crowley, Marlene Dietrich, Sonny Liston, Lenny Bruce, Carl Jung and Bob Dylan. That’s sort of the feel that comes through in group photos of the Twist & Shout staff, a colorful strata of music lovers who man the store’s racks of new and used titles, multiple listening stations, large magazine and book collection, boutique, trade counter and special-order desk. It takes a capable, close-knit crew (if not a village) to keep a business like Twist aloft, and a special touch to make customers feel comfortable. Many of the store’s counter jockeys are musicians who know that music is a deeply personal thing, so they won’t shame your purchase, whether it’s Seven and the Ragged Tiger or The Best of Sweet. Is it possible that Twist is getting better all the time?

File sharing? Absolutely not, say the creators of Beatport. But this much they promise: They won’t sell your e-mail address, and they have a zero-tolerance policy on spam. Beatport also boasts one of the most impressive collections of drum and bass, breaks, trance and hard house on the web. Designed by Denver DJs and launched in January, Beatport offers downloads of its general catalogue for 99 cents each; new releases are $1.49. The site’s stated target market is “end users” — that is, “club goers and dance music enthusiasts from around the world,” not other DJs. Whatever you say, man. All we know is, if you bring us Boulder tribal producer Jon Nedza for a buck and a half a pop, we’ll pack our iPOD with his tracks.

Cathy Kimmal created her own little secret garden in the French Flat, a French-country-style salute that sucks you into a different time and place the minute you amble in the door. It could be the way it smells — like lavender and pear — or the quaint tromp l’oeil details painted across the walls and floors by Kimmal’s talented daughter, Keri. There’s something delightfully handed-down about the place, which is crammed with French-made candles, well-placed antiques, tarnished garden ornaments and fragrant topiaries. The French Flat is definitely a family affair: In addition to Keri’s murals, works by husband Will include miniature working greenhouses and gardener’s cold frames built from old, weathered windows. Quelle jolie.

A gift shop tucked away inside the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, QuiltMarket is anything but trendy. But that’s part of its charm: You’ll find things here — old-fashioned, grandma-pleasing, Little House on the Prairie things — that you won’t find anyplace else. Run by, catering to and representing quilters, the market is hung with affordable handmade quilts; also for sale are small wall hangings, porcelain miniatures celebrating classic quilt designs, books and quilting supplies, including patterns, pre-made tops and blocks. It’s a little patch of joy in the material world.

Walk into Room and prepare for a look that’s both warm and austere. If mid-century design appeals to you, you’ll feel right at home in the corner-bodega-turned-furniture-store, which recently joined other Uptown businesses catering to an influx of new residents. Owner Merlin Parker, who honed his search-and-rescue skills at Larimer Street’s huge Architectural Antiques salvage emporium, has put together an airy selection of sleek blond-wood bureaus and Danish Modern living-room sets punctuated by handsome teak floor lamps, brightly colored molded plastic chairs, curvy abstracted figurines and other fitting accoutrements. We like the view in this Room.

Does size matter? When you’re trying to furnish a 5,000-square-foot loft with three-story ceilings and still retain some of its drama, we’d have to say it does. Trouble is, there just aren’t that many places where you can just pick up a ten-ton marble fireplace surround or a sculpted stone ram the size of an elephant. But at Belcour, you can. Not everything stashed in this spacious retail warehouse of decorative antique folderol (some dating back to the seventeenth century) requires a crane to be carried out — but every piece carries the weight of Old World elegance.

Loft living is still the rage in Denver, and Paris Loft is keeping all those tony abodes supplied with an abundance of style and romance. When co-owners Kim Burney and Maria Fair opened their brick-walled home store last year, they stocked it with classics both modern and retro, then mashed it all together. The combination gives the place the feel of a hip granny’s attic. Here you’ll find color-washed Leonardo Swing drinking glasses paired with antique tin canisters, be-ribboned black Scottie-dog soaps, a bright-red wine bar masquerading as a British phone booth, cigar-box handbags, tapestry lampshades and satin pillow frames ringed with a poofy feather fringe, for starters. Listen, loft-dwellers, they’re speaking your language.

Mom, we know you want to toss them in the trash, but just hold your horses (and your nose) and listen up: Old sneakers can be recycled into a resurfacing material used at athletic facilities and playgrounds. It doesn’t matter what they smell like; ChaRM will pulverize them and turn them into something useful, free of charge. There are some guidelines: Shoes with metal cleats, zippers or spikes or covered in mud won’t make the cut. And if they look like they might have a chance at a second life, the folks at ChaRM suggest giving them to one of several local athletic-shoe stores participating in the Shoes for Africa donation program. Phew. What a relief.

Remember roller skates — four wheels on a boot sole, one in each corner, with a sturdy toe bumper? They’re scarcer than typewriters these days, but Sports Plus is stocked to get you rollin’. In addition to used roller skates, the South Gaylord consignment shop boasts some of the best prices in town on all kinds of pre-owned sports gear. Prices on children’s goods are especially reasonable, which make shopping for active, growing kids a little less painful. The store, which also sells (and services) new equipment along with clothing and shoes, is the perfect place to find everything from this summer’s bike to next winter’s skis. And guess what? When Junior outgrows his new used soccer shoes next fall, you can bring ’em in and sell ’em back. May the cycle be unbroken.

Everything old is new again at She-She, a great place to get your wardrobe up to date — or is that back to date? We’re not talking bellbottoms and platform shoes here. The store’s owner, Crystal Sharp, makes custom Victorian-style dresses and sells vintage handbags, gloves, hats and costume jewelry from smart decades pre-dating the ‘70s. Think Scarlett O’Hara. Think Coco Chanel. Think Audrey Hepburn. Just don’t think about driving by without going in.

Ancient Frigidaires may look cool, but that doesn’t make them practical. They’re too

small, they need constant defrosting, and they often just don’t work at all. Fortunately, it’s possible to remain retro without sacrificing modern technology. Sweet Potato is an outlet for Northstar refrigerators, roomy coolers fitted with up-to-the-minute shelving, optional icemakers and energy-saving mechanics. But it’s the outsides of these babies that will blow you away, especially the hot-rod colors — Flamingo Pink, Robin’s-Egg Blue, Buttercup Yellow and Candy Red, among others. The cool machines are also stamped with a chrome logo reminiscent of the vintage Chrysler emblem. The only things missing are the fins. Get ready to rev up your kitchen.

The handbag is an objet d’art at Babareeba, a veritable time capsule of all things stylish from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. They’ve got handbags in crocodile, metal and straw; handbags in pink, black and multi-colored tapestry; handbags big and handbags small. To complete the outfit, Babareeba sells fur-collared grandma coats, cashmere cardigans and shoes, shoes, shoes. All of the pieces are secondhand, but they look as good as new. Stepping into the store, a jewel of the Highland shopping district, is like going back to a kinder, gentler, more fashionable time.

You could spend weeks at Yankee Trader and still not see everything, so you’ve really got to go there with some idea of what you’re going to look at. We chose the Trader’s cross-cultural toy gallery. Not only is it impressive from a collector’s point of view, but it provides some of the most fascinating and fun looking in town. Even the most average Joe will get a kick out of the metal trucks and cars in varying degrees of decay that line the walls. Elsewhere on the floor, glass cases house a corral full of high-stepping Breyer horses, various Robby the Robot models and vintage Halloween memorabilia. There’s even a box full of original Topps Garbage Pail Kids cards that somehow managed to survive past the ’80s. Whether you’re looking to buy a rare treasure or relive your last few childhoods, Yankee Trader’s dandy.

Designer Kelly Cannon only recently moved from a ten-by-ten-foot retail space in Cherry Creek North to a spacious corner shop on Antique Row, but she’s already filling it to the rafters. Pink Zebra spills over with her frothy feather-boa pillows, bed linens and throws that pair rich tapestry fabrics with bead and feather embellishments. In addition to Cannon’s own creations, the expanded Zebra displays a growing stock of furniture and flourishes — and unmistakable whimsy. But perhaps the biggest news is the store’s co-existence with all of the purely vintage shops that line Antique Row. New merchandise to blend with the old — a taste of things to come? Watch South Broadway morph before your eyes.

It’s hard to make a shopping list when you’re heading for Big Lots. The inventory changes every week, which means you’re likely to find a garden hose where a bag of kitty litter once sat, a can of sardines in place of boxed tea. But as any dedicated bargain hunter knows, the thrill of the hunt is part of the fun. What’s more exhilarating than scoring a jumbo-sized tin of Danish butter cookies for $1.50 or a set of wineglasses for less than the cost of a bottle of Blue Nun? As unpredictable as the merchandise is, the deals are consistently jaw-dropping, making Big Lots the perfect place to purchase inexpensive kitchen and bath items, party supplies, decorations and even canned and dry foods. A gem for college students and bean counters alike.

If your living room is crying out for a hand-carved, hand-painted armoire from India, or maybe a tree-trunk table imported from Pakistan, try Foreign Accents. The gallery-style retailer sells furniture and artifacts from all over the world at wholesale prices, which means you can spice up your home without leaving it. Foreign Accents specializes in dining sets, trunks and cabinetry, much of it manufactured by artisans in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Unlike many other internationally flavored furniture stores in town, this one is affordable, with a sales staff that’s knowledgeable but not aggressive. Lively up yourself — and your space.

Remember those automatic photo booths that used to be fixtures at the mall — cramped little capsules with thoroughly unflattering light? Sadly, they’ve vanished from the urban shopscape. But Glamour Shots is still around to fill the shopping-mall-photography void. Park Meadows is home to the studio chain’s only metro location; kids and adults come here to get dolled up for Hollywood-style sessions in front of the flashbulb. Staff photographers shoot in a variety of genres, from boudoir babealicious to book-jacket serene, and the doting Glamour staff will get you gorgeous in no time. All you have to do is say cheese.

The Colorado Mills Super Target covers more ground than a few small towns in rural Colorado. You could live comfortably inside the uberstore if you really had to — subsisting on groceries, watching TV, snuggling up with fancy bedding. It wouldn’t be such a bad life. True, Target’s a huge-ass chain. But we love it anyway, partly because the company emphasizes stocking American-made goods and enjoys a reputation as a progressive employer. And its recent move to hire A-list designers was pure genius, resulting in an ever-expanding line of budget designer clothes, linens, appliances, furniture and cosmetics. When do we move in?

The art of Andean weaving so inspired Boulder designer Nicole Linton that she left behind a stack of careers as a Spanish teacher, jewelry designer and decorators’ liaison to become a decorator herself. The result was Linton’s unique line of woven alpaca pillows and rugs, all distinguished by their bold geometric patterns and colors. Later, she opened e’bella on the Pearl Street Mall. While Linton’s bright textiles form the store’s centerpiece, the companion pieces — from candy-colored plates to textured, hand-knit snowball handbags — provide perfect counterpoints. E’bella is a lovely place to go when you want to put together a warm, modern look for your home.

Herbs & Arts operates on the belief that the power to heal comes from within — the self and the earth — not from over-the-counter drugs or expensive prescription meds. Smelling of incense and other aromatics, the funky shop on East Colfax peddles tarot decks, books, crystals and ceremonials for use in Wiccan and pagan prayer. There’s also an extensive book collection; where else will you find volumes on fairy folklore? But the real magic happens behind the counter, where dynamic staffers mix up their own blends of potions and powders to cure whatever ails you, from a hangover to anxiety to withdrawal from tobacco. (The signature “I Quit Smoking and Now I’m Nuts” herb tea is a popular item for those kicking the habit.) They’ve got herbs to boost the immune system and oil diffusers to calm the nerves, all for far less than the cost of a bottle of aspirin. A stop here is a good starting point for those on the path to homeopathy.

Tran Wills loves Colfax, and Colfax loves her. After just five months in business, the 22-year-old’s subterranean shop, the Fabric Lab, is already busting at the seams with the confections of twenty local designers. The Colfax T-shirts, featuring a trs-hip ’70s beatbox, are becoming a cultural icon, but Wills also consigns gorgeous couture pieces as well as bags and simple, beaded jewelry. Located below the hip hair-styling salon Hairspray, the eclectic store is a work in progress. But Wills is helping bring life to the once-tired strip — and Denver’s once-tired fashion scene.

Opened in October 2001, Colorado Mills has yet to catch the retail fire its developers had hoped for. We don’t quite understand why. It’s an easy distance outside of town — the “scenic” route along Colfax provides a bonus driving tour of Lakewood’s finest dive bars — and its ninety shops are a manageable mix of upscale, stylish and practical, with good deals in every one. (Slightly less scenic but more direct routes along Sixth Avenue and C-470 provide easy access for those in a hurry.) There’s a food court with ample seating, a family fun center and, best of all, a Super Target. True, the Outlets in Castle Rock have eight more stores, and bargain shopping at Loveland’s outpost of outlets is a tad more picturesque. But Colorado Mills has something its competitors don’t: an As Seen on TV store!

Chain-store, shmain-store. Complain all you like, but if you’re gonna shop at the mall, you’d better get used to it. Anthropologie — the frou-frou Parisian-style sister of the trendy, all-American Urban Outfitters across the way — helps take away the sting of homogeneity. The boutique takes modern retro dressing to the edge by reviving the studied detail of old clothes: the memorable colors, vintage prints, unique trims and ornamentation such as pleats, eyelet and lace. The ultra-soft modern fabrics stretch, cling, cohere and gracefully follow the figure (assuming you still have one). A true concept store, Anthropologie also stocks accessories and home decor to match its clothes, so load up your shopping bags and take home a perfectly coordinated lifestyle.

The Tattered Cover revolves around language. So why is it so hard to find words to adequately praise it? Not content to simply be the region’s finest bookstore, the Denver landmark became a symbol of our times in 2000, when owner Joyce Meskis refused to turn over buyer info to police, a move that made her a hero among booksellers and civil libertarians alike. On a less grand scale, her stores are comfy, community-oriented and pleasantly stuffed with a vast stock of new and used titles. The LoDo store’s activity calendar is exhaustive, as well, with near-nightly readings by authors both obscure and internationally known. But wait — there’s more! The store’s coffee is yummy and cheap! And this year, the TC began carrying parking-meter keys, available for purchase in any amount — which makes so much sense, we wonder why every LoDo business doesn’t do it. Then again, if every business operated like the Tattered Cover, we’d never run out of interesting things to look at, think about, participate in, discuss, admire and, yes, buy. And what fun would that be?

Artist Lauri Lynnxe Murphy and collector Barbara Pooler recently changed the location of Pod from a spot within the Andenken Gallery to new digs on Santa Fe Drive, in a space that once housed the ILK Gallery as well as Murphy’s own studio. But Pod’s purpose remains the same: to support artists by selling the one-of-a-kind things they make. And what things they are! Pod swells with Murphy’s own Sugarpuss bags made of recycled fur coats and wig hair; Chinese-print brocade bustiers; beadwork; small framed works; tiny signed prints sold in vending-machine eggs; and a huge selection of local Squid Works comics. Overhead flies a creepy-cute brigade of ceiling-hung angels, complete with felted human hair and tea-stained teeth. (According to Murphy, they’re made by a Danish artist who smuggles them into the States.) Pod may soon expand further into the storefront space and offer workshops and other activities; in the meantime, it’s a place where you can shop without feeling vacuously shallow about it. It’s for art, after all.

The Far East Center is more of a vicarious travel experience than a shopping mall — an exotic otherworld seated at the corner of Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue. The double-decker complex boasts a Vietnamese bakery, a couple of hair and nail salons and two well-stocked Asian grocery stores that traffic in fresh, live fish, cookware, tea and spices. At Truong An, you’ll find unique and affordable gifts such as bamboo plants, paper lanterns and cute Korean stationery. The center’s always-packed parking lot’s a pickle, but the prices are right and the offerings endlessly interesting. And when the shopping weakens your knees, there’s plenty to eat: We’ll take the Far East noodle joints over the food court any day. Celebrate the Year of the Monkey: Go East.

Cherry Creek got a much-needed boost of flava with Urban Outfitters, a welcome outpost of urbanity in the shopping center’s rarefied air. The only store in the mall to display its goods in plywood crates, the chain retailer is both outlandish and practical. A pop-up version of the Kama Sutra sits next to a book on how to build an outdoor shed; rugs made of shredded T-shirts share space with teapot lamps and Snoop Dogg action figures. Urban Outfitters is a relatively inexpensive and fun place to find a book of vintage Playboy centerfolds, Day-Glo jewelry and a T-shirt collection that’s worth a visit on its own; one top features a pig bearing flowers and pleading, “Please don’t eat me…I love you.” We’ll oink to that.

The Germans took things to the extreme for years, allowing their beloved hounds to eat at the table in public restaurants. And while nobody here is advocating that (at least not openly), there are folks who like to take their favorite pup out for a round of relaxing shopping. If they visit Aspen Grove, they won’t be in the doghouse: While there are a few dog-dissers (hello, Starbucks) at the outdoor mall, most stores post signs welcoming their four-legged friends.

Yeah, parking tickets suck. What makes them even worse is writing a check to cover the cost, tracking down an envelope and a stamp, and remembering to put the hateful package in the mail. While the Denver Parking Violations Bureau’s website doesn’t entirely take the sting out of the process, it does eliminate some of the additional tasks. By clicking the “Pay-By-Web” button on the home page and following along step by step, users can charge a ticket to their Visa or MasterCard, saving a few pennies and some additional frustration in the process.

Face it: Parking downtown will always be a pain. But the Tabor Center parking garage is an oasis in a desert of parking meters. It costs twelve bucks to park there all day, but the garage is much more than just an auto warehouse. Different services are available on different levels of the structure: Leave your car on Level E, and Center Line Detailing Car Wash will clean it ($15 to $25) while you shop. On Level C is same-day dry-cleaning and auto repair: Midas Auto Service Experts will pick up your vehicle, change the oil or whatever else you need and return it to the garage. Speedy Auto Glass will even come and fix windshields. What parking meter can do all that?

Aspiring gardeners who don’t know the difference between a weed and a seed pod will find plenty to dig into on Colorado State University’s Master Gardener website. So will those looking for specific information on delightfully dirty subjects like composting and mealworms. The site is an exhaustive font of information for both the seasoned and the stupefied, with tips on everything from lawn care and pest control to plant selection and keeping your window fern alive. Visitors can also ask questions directly of those earthy wizards known as master gardeners. It isn’t easy being a green thumb, but CSU’s site makes it a little less mind-boggling.

Cold sweats, cravings, minor panic attacks. Never mind actually quitting — these are some sensations experienced by dedicated smokers who simply stop to contemplate a puff-free life. But deep down, even the heaviest huffers know what a wretched, toxic habit smoking is. It’s just that giving it up is so damn…hard. Colorado Quitline and QuitNet, free services operated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, make it easier by offering online and telephone counseling, referrals and medical info to those hoping to snuff their addiction. Funded by money from the huge multi-state tobacco settlement of 1998, Quitline and QuitNet are known to be effective strategies: Smokers who use the services are three times more likely to stay smoke-free for at least six months longer than those who never pick up the phone or log on. Ready to kick? Reach out and touch someone.

The Denver Public Library’s newly revamped website offers a welcome selection of no-hassle, no-cost online resources for cardholders, from complete car-repair manuals (wiring diagrams included!) to Bradford legal forms and movie, music and book reviews. An astonishing range of periodical databases offer full-text articles from health, business, popular and scholarly publications. And don’t get us started on the genealogical tools and links. Log on and dig in.