Two months into Gustavo Arellano’s book tour for ¡Ask a Mexican!, a collection of many of his weekly columns, the U.S. Senate killed immigration reform — again. Arellano didn’t need to hear the news to know what had happened; he could tell just by the intensity of his e-mail. “When…
Twenty years ago, studies showed that families in the United States who spoke Spanish at home tended to earn less money and be less educated than their English-speaking neighbors. But according to Devin Jenkins, a Spanish professor at the University of Colorado at Denver and CU’s Health Sciences Center, times…
I still endure family taunts almost twenty years after the day I ran my bike into a parked car and took it upon myself to splint my two “broken” pinkies back to health with Popsicle sticks and tape. My first attempt at mountain biking ended in a similar way —…
My father was a mountain-biking freak. He’d jet from Littleton up to Conifer on what he called a “short ride,” and he was a dynamic presence at the ride-across-the-state cycling events in which he participated. He’d occasionally try to get me to join him on these week-long “adventures,” and I’d…
Between the junk, the treasures disguised as junk and the priceless people-watching, there’s nothing like a good flea market. When Motyka Johnson, a coordinator at the Aurora History Museum, decided to organize First Saturdays Summer Flea Markets, she was hoping to do something unlike the run-of-the-mill festivals and farmers’ markets…
I will always remember having to sit through the annual orchestra concert for my middle school in Aurora, suffering the absolute worst renditions of old standards from Tchaikovsky and Mozart. For years afterward, that’s what I thought all symphony music sounded like. It took me a long time to get…
Back in the late ’70s and early ’80s, when everyone suddenly discovered sushi and Akira Kurosawa, it was hip to be a Japanophile, and I was. And even now, when sushi bars proliferate almost as quickly as Starbucks, I still appreciate not only the unique Japanese sense of grace and…
Why do we love First Fridays on Santa Fe Drive? Because they’re really just artsy block parties, blessed with a communal sensibility that comes together monthly in a culture clash of diverse artist enclaves — highbrow, lowbrow, commercial and committed — and swirling humanity. To that end, two of the…
This year, the Central City Opera House — built from the proceeds of the Gold Rush, restored during the Great Depression and now the nation’s fifth-oldest operating opera house — turns 130, and it still feels pretty. Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story opens with a sold-out performance tonight and continues…
Imagine asking a roomful of people to scream out a name and location for your play. Add character, plot and theme, then knead and stretch until you’ve got (hopefully) a discernable beginning, middle and end. Got it? Now do this without rewrites, without rehearsals, without anything except your wits and…
It’s Fourth of July and Cat is eating barbeque. So no fancy commentary, just pretty pictures from Tuesdays showings at the fall/winter 2007 Paris Haute Couture shows. Enjoy. (Photos courtsey of Elle.com; click on the images for slide shows of each collection.) Chanel:…
When bad pockets happen to good people…and other fashion travesties on the weekly Vogue Best Dressed List.** **Yes, Best Dressed. Go figure…
It’s Fourth of July weekend and the city is emptying out, so there’s only one shindig on this week’s list of fashionable events. But it’s a big one: Glorification! On Friday, July 6, The Fabric Lab is taking over the city like masked marauders, throwing guerrilla fashion shows across town…
Photos courtsey of Elle.com. Click here for a slide show of the collection. Huh. Felipe Oliveira Baptista’s collection strikes Cat as incredibly ready-to-wear. Where’s the pizazz and sizzle and over-the-topness? Or at least the exquisite detailing? Plus, on the whole it seems slightly derivative of recent pop culture. Seriously, Mexican…
This is one of those cases where a picture really is worth a thousand words. This image is from the July issue of Lucky, and if that’s the best they could get the model to look with a team of stylists and hair/makeup people dedicated to her very gorgeousness, you…
Photo by Mark Manger. For those of you who are fans of Lee Alexander Jewelry, Cat has very sad news: Designer Christa Rost shut down operations. It seems that she and her husband are expecting a baby, so Christa is giving up her business. (Cat hopes it will only be…
Photos via Style.com. Click here for a complete slide show of the collection. The big event yesterday at the Fall 2007 Paris Haute Couture shows was, of course, Christian Dior. John Galliano was celebrating his tenth year heading up the house, which was celebrating its sixtieth anniversary. To mark the…
Selections from the fall/winter 2006/2007 Givenchy (left) and Christian Dior collections. (Photos via British Vogue.com.) Today marks one of Cat’s favorite annual rituals in fashion: The fall/winter Paris haute couture shows. Yes, Cat loves ready-to-wear for shopability, but she prefers the fancy and fantasy of haute couture — particularly for…
Photos by Taylor Sullivan Uptown, downtown, around town. Cat just didn’t know what the weekend would look like. And anything is possible on a summer Friday. This was proven swiftly and deftly by a just-out-of-the gate apparel designer Tina Jolliffe, who threw an insanely successful solo premier show… by herself…
[jump] Here’s the second installment of Cheap and Chic Monday, where the fashions are all under $100 — and usually on sale. Enjoy. Top row, left to right: 1. Rachel Pally Drape Front Dolman Dress from Shopbop.com $114, was $228 (under $100 with the Fourth of July discount) 2. Provence…
Photos by Taylor Sullivan Wendy VanDerMaas is celebrating. You see, it’s the second anniversary of her cute-casual-chic boutique, Swank (2405 West 32nd Avenue), so she’s hosting a champagne bash on Saturday, June 30, from 6 to 9 p.m. In honor of the big night, Cat asked her what she would…
New York Times: The return of RM, the designer formerly known as Roland Mouret. Cool Hunter: Huh. A house of camoflage. This may take even Cat’s love of camo too far. Elle.com: It’s a rave new world. Washington Post: Hard times for an “It Girl” – a look at Paris’s…
